important element in the conclusions; but unless one has followed those
who have reached the conclusions into every detail of their
investigation, he is hardly competent to pass a valid judgment. And it
is well to remember what seems to be an indisputable fact, that with
very few exceptions Old Testament experts everywhere agree essentially
on these results, and that an ever-increasing number of serious Old
Testament students whose competency and sincerity cannot be doubted
feel compelled to accept these conclusions, convinced that the
traditional views cannot be maintained without numerous modifications.
This fact may not establish the truth of these conclusions;
nevertheless, it may serve as a sufficient reason for the consideration
of another question: Should the truth of the conclusions enumerated be
established beyond a possibility of doubt, what would be the effect
upon the Christian conception of the Old Testament? What would become
of its inspiration or authority, of the supernatural in its history, of
the work and character of Moses, Isaiah, or David; and, perhaps most
important of all, what effect would this have upon the authority of
Jesus Christ himself?

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The most important and vital of these questions may be considered
first. How do the conclusions of the nontraditional higher criticism
affect the authority of Jesus Christ? This question arises chiefly in
connection with investigations into the authorship of Old Testament
books, especially of the Pentateuch, the Psalms, and Isaiah. It is
asserted that since Christ quotes and refers to passages from the books
bearing the names of Moses, David, and Isaiah, apparently as if they
had been written by these men, any claim that these passages were not
written by the authors mentioned is an indication of unbelief, an
insult to Christ, and a denial of his authority. "If Moses did not
write the Pentateuch," says L. W. Munhall, "or any portion of it, and
the highest critics (Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit) declare he did,
it would be a lie. It would be none the less a lie, even though the
Jews held traditionally that Moses was the author of these books. The
testimony of the _Highest Critics_ is absolutely unerringly and
eternally true, and he who hesitates to receive it as against all other
testimonies is disloyal to the truth."[19] Clearly, this statement is
based upon the assumption that Jesus gave deliberate decisions on
questions of authorship,