THE TWO ISAIAHS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXX, Issue 139, 13 June 1896, Page 3

THE TWO ISAIAHS.

To the Editor op ." The Evening Mail." .Sm.— A newspaper discussion fnvariably turns on side issues, and as my time is too precious, and your space too valuable, to be used for valueless contentions, I must respectfully decline to be drawn, even by "An OldfDisoiple,'* into what I am sure would result in nothing,' except, perhaps, to make the confusion oa theological interpretation more conlounded. If " Old Disciple " will read my former letter again, he will see it is not/ on " Two Isaiahs," but ao attempt to give a reasonable interpretation of the earlier verses of Isaiah 51. The question at issue was not " who wrote it?" but " what does it mean ?" Incidentally, I mentioned what schol-rs say, but whether there are two or 40 Isaiahs hud nothing to, do with either the genuineness or interpretation of the passage. I have been an humble student of Hebrew and cognate languages ior nearly 20 years, and have read everything upon whioh I could lay my hands that would help me to understand the language id Which Isaiah was written, and I have no hesitation in saying, in my judgment, which may not be wgrth vdry much to' I.'1 .' Old Disoiple," we have the latest and best results of modern conservative scholarships gathered together in the works of Cheyne und Driver on Isaiah. And further, there is not a scholar, so far as I kuow, whose opinions are worth serious attention of students of the preeent day but what agrees with the conclusions at whioh . these great English soholarß and Divines have arrived. Refuted forsooth 1 Has "Old Disoiple" read either of t.he books named ? I am certain he has not, or be would know they have never oalled in question the genuineness of the latter part of Isaiah, Both Cheyne and Driver believe the whole book to be an inspired utterance. All ihey contend for, in the interests of truth and exaot scholarship, is that it is the inspired utterances of two prophets instead of one, und bo does every other scholar who js able to critically examine and weigh evidence, apart from a theological opinion tliey wish to bolster up. Previous to 1887 the authority of Delitzscb, one of tho greatest Hebraists and reverent soholars known to modern times, could be quoted against the dual authorship of Isaiah. But when his new commentary on Genesis appeared, he shows he no longer bolds it. Even as far back as 1881 iv bis " Old Testament History of Redemption" Delitzsch is tou honest a man' not io yield to the irrefragable arguments of modern reverent critics. Driver, after stating the evidence upon whicii he bases his conclusions, says : •- " No dout-t this conclusion would have been geuerally accepted had it not been imagined that the value o! prophecy was in some manner impaired by it, or that some doubt was east by it on tbe prophetic inspiration of ihe author, Apprehensions of ibis nature h.ivu indeed beta expressed by tome writers' in terms bttraying how imperfectly tbey bavo understood the view they were comb -.tini.', and how seriously tbey have conceived the historical situation which it postulated lor the prophtt." My attention has been given to tbe teaching, of Jesus ior the past two years,] and I cannot remember one reference, direct or indirect, to the authorship of Isaiah. The prophet is certainly quoted, but does a quotation from an Old Testament writer, even by our Lord, Bettle the question and guorantee the certainty that any of the books of the Old Testament were written by the autLoia whose names i . y bear ? The Rev A. F. Kirkpatrick, i anon of Ely, and Regius i'rolessur ol Hebrew in tbe University of Cainbiigi*, gave a series of licuuesm tbe Cu.hciiiai ot at. Asaph, in which this qutstiou ia dmcUßSed. 'Jl nese lectures bave been publisbe*; under the title of "The Divine Library of the Old Testament " Tbe volume liu-s before me. On page Bhe says : -" It may indeiid be asktd whether the New Testament references do not deoide many of these questions for the reverent believer, and pre- 1 elude critical investigation. If tbe Pentateuch is referred to as the law of Moses, or the latter chapters of Isaiah are quoted as the book of tlie propht Isaiah, are we bound to believe that the one was written by Moses, tho other by Isaiah ? If this position could bd maintained, Christian criticism would be an anomaly and an impossibility. And there are somo teachers who do not scruple to put before us the awful dilemma, "You mqstohoose'between Christ and criticism." I call it an awful dilemma because, as it seems to me, it may amount to telling the student of the Old Testament that he must be false to his Divine Master, or falso to the reaton which God has given him,— and thac not in mysteries which are outside the province of reason, but in which reason is capable of judging." . . . "But I firmly believe that we are not forced to make tho choice. It is not I beliove contrary to the Catholic doctrine of our Lord's Person, to suppose that in suoh matters His knowledge was the knowledge of His time, There oan be no impropriety or irreverence in suoh a view when we are expressly told tbat Be advanced in wisdom as well as in stature." This quotation will answer the last question of "An Old , Disoiple." The present Bishop of Manchester has ably discußsed this problem in ; a series of sermons on " The Teaching of i Christ," which "An Old Disciple" would . do well to read. ThU closes the discussion t so far os lam concerned.— l urn, etc, Edmund C. Isaac, j Congregational Church, June 9. |

By tha Taupo, which has arrived at Auckland irom the Islands, news was received that the trouble between the Jb'rench authorities and the natives oi 'Kariatea was still continuing. Recently the islanders erected a ilagstati and hoisted the British ilng, stating that they still adhered to their resolve riot to come uuder the I'iench protectorate. A French man -of - war took tbe British Consul from Rapeete to Kariatea to couusel and advise the natives that thoy could not Ily the British Hag nor could they receive any protection from the British. The natives, however, continued firm, saying that tbey looked upon Queen Viotoria as their mother. The end of the matter was that the flag-itafl waa shot down by the gunß of the warßhip, but the, natives,. nothing daunted, soon had another flagstaff ereoted, and when the Taupo left there .were three staffs from which the British* flag waa flying, The ' French

authorities are now keeping a strict surveillance over the island, and are endeavouring to subjugate the natives by a starvation process.