IV. Moses

All this investigation of the past hundred years has, however, a tragic side, for the further the researches were carried, the more did they tend to place the Bible beyond the reach of the people. Anyone who will consult the current literature concerning the results of these exhaustive studies can convince himself of this fact. The difficulty arose because the Bible was dissected and split up, particularly in the case of the Old Testament, in an attempt to show, for instance, that a certain passage occurring in one part of the Bible owed its origin to a different current of tradition to that of a passage in another part. Also, that during the course of time the whole subject matter had gradually become welded together, in a form which made it necessary for it to be first separated out in this scholarly manner, in order that it might be understood. Hence, in a certain sense, the outcome of these investigations must be looked upon as tragic, since they were fundamentally wholly negative in character and contributed nothing toward the continuance of that vivifying influence which the Bible is capable of exerting, and which has lived in the hearts and souls of mankind for thousands of years.