higher criticism
Definition
Higher criticism is the 19th-century scholarly approach to the Bible that investigates the historical, literary, and redactional history of the biblical texts independently of the dogma of divine inspiration. âHigherâ criticism is distinguished from âlowerâ or textual criticism (which aims to establish the original text); it addresses questions of authorship, sources, dating, and composition.
In this corpus, higher criticism refers primarily to the Documentary Hypothesis (JEDP theory) for the Pentateuch and comparable source theories that call Mosaic or apostolic authorship into question. All corpus authors reject higher criticism, though with differing arguments.
Author Usage Variants
E.W. Bullinger
Bullinger mounts the sharpest rejection of higher criticism. In Number in Scripture (1921) he refutes the Documentary Hypothesis through numerical analysis of the toledoth sections of Genesis:
âThus this simple fact completely demolishes the elaborate theories of the so-called âhigher criticsâ concerning the Book of Genesis.â
(E.W. Bullinger, Number in Scripture, ch. II, section âPhrases of the Bible â Tolâdothâ)
He situates higher criticism within his broader rejection of scientific positivism:
âGod gave man this âbread of life,â and he analyses instead of eating it! God gave man His Word, and he criticises instead of believing it! This is the âwisdomâ of man âup to dateâ⊠This is âHigher Criticismâ! Truly âthe world by wisdom knew not Godâ (1Cor. 1:21).â
(Bullinger, Number in Scripture, ch. II, conclusion)
Bullingerâs response is not defensive but offensive: âInstead of making the Bible conform to Science, Science must conform to the Bible.â (ibid.)
Stephen Jones
Jones implicitly rejects the Documentary Hypothesis through his numerological hermeneutic. His entire method in The Biblical Meaning of Numbers presupposes the unity of Scripture across multiple authors â a premise rendered untenable by the JEDP assumptions. His citation of Bullinger as an authority marks his position within the same tradition of Scripture apologetics through numerical design.
George Warnock
Warnock rejects higher criticism through his pneumatological hermeneutic: the Word of God is a living reality that cannot be grasped through analytical dissection. In Evening and Morning (E&M) he contrasts living Truth with the rationalist approach:
âWhen men begin to lay aside the Scriptures on the assumption that they have gone beyond what is written in the Word, they are destroying the very foundation upon which solid Christian character is built.â
(George Warnock, Evening and Morning, ch. 1)