Faith and criticism, too often cast as adversaries, are in fact kindred instruments in the search for divine truth—each shaped by the same Creator who authored both reason and revelation. Rather than enemies, they are the twin wings of the soul’s ascent, complementing and challenging one another in the great cathedral of sacred inquiry.
Faith and Reason: Partners, Not Rivals
There is no intrinsic discord between faith and criticism, any more than between revelation and reason or faith and philosophy. These emerge not from competing sources but from the unified mind of God, who, being truth itself, cannot contradict Himself. True faith invites examination; genuine criticism seeks truth. Just as authentic philosophy stands distinct from sophistry, so does a faithless skepticism differ from reverent scrutiny. Abuses do not negate the value of the gifts. The Apostle’s injunction to “test all things” and “hold fast that which is good” resounds as an eternal summons. Faith, rightly formed, births understanding; and understanding, deepened by reason, completes the circle of belief.
The Battleground of the Apostolic Age
Surveying the apostolic age, one beholds a spiritual battlefield where every doctrinal position, historical claim, and theological principle faced scrutiny. The era bristled with opposing forces, schools, and philosophies. Nothing was exempt from examination—yet through the furnace of trial, the citadel of Christian faith endured. The sixteenth century saw Roman Catholicism contend with Evangelical Protestantism; the nineteenth confronted the starker choice between Christianity and unbelief. Where once the dispute centered on interpretation, now the very inspiration and authorship of Scripture are questioned.
The Spirit of the Age and the Challenge of Scepticism
We inhabit an era defined by inquiry, invention, and doubt. Scepticism, like an unseen vapor, permeates the intellectual atmosphere. Its omnipresence cannot be denied or ignored. The early Church Fathers contended with Gnostic myths; we contend with rationalist reductionism. Nothing is now received on mere authority; all must be proven, examined, and explained. The Protestant cannot return to the papal infallibility of yesteryear any more than the earth can cease its revolution around the sun. Light now reveals what darkness once concealed.
Why Christ Wrote No Book
Why did Christ, unlike Mohammed, leave no written text? Writing was not beneath His dignity; He once stooped to trace in the dust. God Himself inscribed the Law on Sinai’s tablets, only for Moses to dash them upon Israel’s apostasy. A book penned by Christ might have suffered the fate of those tablets—revered to the point of idolatry or altered by human hands. Instead, He gave us not a dead letter, but a living Spirit. His words, breathed by the Spirit, became life in the hearts of men. Though He wrote nothing enduring on papyrus, His Spirit inspired apostles whose writings, despite being assailed, burned, or altered, remain vessels of divine truth.
The Spirit Behind the Letter
The Holy Spirit, not parchment and ink, is the living pulse behind the sacred text. Scripture’s very imperfections call the Church to constant study and sanctified imagination. Every reader must labor faithfully with the gifts given to his generation. The Spirit who inspired the New Testament continues to illuminate it.
Faith’s Ascent Through Adversity
Faith is no idle sentiment but a power forged in adversity. In the past fifty years, the apostolic writings have endured the searing fires of modern criticism. That they emerge, scarred yet standing, is itself testimony to their truth. Their resilience under fire proves their vitality.
Two Faces of Scepticism
Scepticism comes in two forms. One is earnest, as in Thomas, seeking truth with trembling hands. The other is cynical, as in Pilate, sneering “What is truth?” and walking away. The former deserves sympathy and engagement; the latter resists all argument. Still, the honest doubter may serve the Church more than the lazy believer. Even DeWette, the noble critic, though he lamented dying without victory, confessed near death that in no other name but Jesus Christ could salvation be found.
The Rise of Modern Criticism
Nineteenth-century rationalism, born in the land of Luther, spread with vigor across Europe and America. Unlike the shallow scepticism of the eighteenth century, this new rationalism is erudite and passionately engaged. Yet it often presumes too much. Like ancient Gnosticism, it claims a monopoly on truth. But there is criticism that builds as well as criticism that tears down. The former, rooted in history and charity, must prevail.
The Value and Limits of Criticism
Modern criticism has scrutinized every page of the New Testament, illuminating much, yet missing the divine for the human. Orthodoxy once erred in the opposite direction—treating inspired authors as mere stenographers of the Spirit. The truth lies in their union: the Bible is God’s word through the voice of man. It captures humanity in all its color—from virtue to vice—and reveals the divine mind engaging fallen flesh. It is a literary Incarnation.
The Historical Emergence of Scripture
No doubt, the New Testament arose from specific moments in history, shaped by the journey from Jerusalem to Rome, from Jew to Gentile, from disciple to apostle. Critics rightly explore these contexts. Ironically, some who would dismantle the faith have clarified it. Their labors have, in many cases, strengthened the Church’s understanding.
Providence in Apostolic Literature
The literary history of the apostolic age was providential. Christ finished His earthly mission but launched a greater work through His Spirit and Church. The Acts of the Apostles narrate this ongoing mission—Spirit-filled men turning the world upside down with living and written word alike.
Naturalism and Its Limits
Unbelieving criticism observes only surface and form, denying divine causality. It treats miracles as myth, history as brute fact, nature as self-contained. But if God exists—and He does—then miracle is not a violation, but a revelation. Christ’s miracles cannot be separated from His person. His sinless nature, His words, His works—all testify to His divine origin. The Christ of faith and the Christ of history are one.
The Supernatural and the Apostolic Witness
Strip away the supernatural, and the apostolic age collapses. Paul without Damascus is a riddle without resolution. His conversion demands explanation—and rationalists themselves stumble upon the edge of miracle. The Spirit, not human genius, moved those humble apostles to build the Church upon the foundation of Christ.
The Fortress of Experience
For the believer, the supernatural is not an abstraction but a reality. One who has been healed by Christ needs no philosophical defense. Like the blind man of old, he proclaims: “I was blind, now I see.” This testimony, unshaken by critique, is stronger than syllogisms.
The Reliability of the Canon
Admit the minor textual uncertainties and compositional debates; they pale before the overwhelming evidence for the authenticity of the apostolic writings. By the mid-second century, the four Gospels were publicly read as sacred Scripture from Syria to Gaul. Their early and widespread reception defies any theory of late invention.
The Testimony of the Synoptics and Paul
The Synoptic Gospels reflect a pre-70 A.D. world—one in which Jerusalem still stood. The Epistle to the Hebrews alludes to ongoing temple rituals. Even critics like Baur and Renan concede the early dates of key texts: Romans, Galatians, Corinthians, and the Apocalypse. These five books—admitted even by the harshest critics—suffice to establish historical faith. Within thirty years of Christ’s resurrection, His voice echoed in Paul and John.
The Power of Internal Witness
Yet stronger than external attestation is the internal majesty of Scripture. These texts speak with a voice unlike any other. They outshine every classic of Greece and Rome in purity, power, and permanence. Their isolation among human writings is their distinction.
History’s Verdict
Interpret men and movements by their fruits. Christianity endures this test better than any philosophy or religion. From the shores of Galilee flowed a river of life that still nourishes the world. The Roman Empire, born in conquest, has crumbled. The Church of Christ, born in sacrifice, endures and expands.
The Unquenchable Light
Christianity is not merely a religion of the book—it is the living Word enfleshed. Even if every manuscript were lost, the truth would remain. Remove the Gospels and Epistles, and civilization itself would descend into shadow. But that will never be. The sun of righteousness cannot be extinguished. It shines, it warms, it illumines. Its light breaks through every cloud.
MAGNA EST VERITAS ET PRAEVALEBIT.
“Great is the truth, and it shall prevail.”