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. “Higher” criticism is distinguished from “lower” 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:
“Thus this simple fact completely demolishes the elaborate theories of the so-called ‘higher critics’ concerning the Book of Genesis.”
(E.W. Bullinger, Number in Scripture, ch. II, section ‘Phrases of the Bible — Tol’doth’)
He situates higher criticism within his broader rejection of scientific positivism:
“God gave man this ‘bread of life,’ and he analyses instead of eating it! God gave man His Word, and he criticises instead of believing it! This is the ‘wisdom’ of man ‘up to date’… This is ‘Higher Criticism’! Truly ‘the world by wisdom knew not God’ (1Cor. 1:21).”
(Bullinger, Number in Scripture, ch. II, conclusion)
Bullinger’s response is not defensive but offensive: “Instead of making the Bible conform to Science, Science must conform to the Bible.” (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 — 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 (b2) he contrasts living Truth with the rationalist approach:
“When 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.”
(George H. Warnock, Evening and Morning, ch. 1)