How did such a dreadful situation arise in the first place? Sad to say, the man responsible was a man of God, a Christian brother. That brother's name is B.B. Warfield, and the following is a brief description portraying the truth of how "a little leaven leavens the whole lump." The time is in the late 1800's and early 1900's.
J.S. Buckminster had persuaded the officials of Harvard College to publish an American edition of Griesbach's2 1809 Greek New Testament, as he viewed text criticism "a most powerful weapon to be used against the supporters of verbal inspiration." Warfield, the eventual champion of the Princeton school, was well aware of this "weapon" and determined to neutralize it. However, in attempting to accomplish this goal he compromised his previous commitment and views on inerrancy, altering them into a new doctrine. The result on American conservatism was that lower (textual) criticism came to be viewed as "safe".
Princeton had for many years been a conservative Presbyterian bastion of faith, fully dedicated to verbal inspiration and inerrancy. True, some accommodations crept in after 1834, yet Princeton remained reasonably true to the Word. Prior to Warfield's arrival in 1887, no Princetonian had attained expert status in the young discipline of New Testament text criticism (though his mentor Charles Hodge had studied two years in Germany). Like Hodge, Warfield felt that one had to study in Germany to be abreast of critical issues. He also was aware that in New England text criticism (the so-called "lower criticism") was undermining the orthodox view of verbal inspiration.
With a letter of introduction from Philip Schaff, Warfield entered the University of Leipzig in 1876 for a year's study. Previously, as a firm believer in inerrancy, he had fully subscribed to the Westminster Confession which upheld the doctrine of preservation with regard to the Bible of the Reformation. After 1876, Warfield - guided by his Common Sense philosophy - consciously rejected the "Scholastic"3 approach and became the first American to become an authority in the theory and praxis of "Enlightenment"4 New Testament text criticism at Princeton.
During his year at Leipzig, Warfield's resolve weakened under the constant barrage of "variant readings" and Hortism. He had come to believe the true text had in some places been lost though he still felt, for the most part, it had remained untouched through time. Warfield and Hodge had come to embrace the Westcott-Hort theory believing that these men were exemplary models of evangelical scholarship while at the same time attuned to German methods. Warfield now saw as his calling the integration of Biblical criticism with the historic view of verbal inspiration.
In short, neither Warfield, Hodge nor most evangelicals since have realized that what they correctly recognize as "that dangerous higher criticism" is inexorably interwoven with and subtly tied to the "safe" discipline of lower criticism. Warfield had intended to defend "verbal inspiration" from
2 To recall Griesbach's canon regarding variant readings being "suspicious" if they favored othodox teachings of the Church, see page 1. Then consider that Westcott and Hort venerated Griesbach's name "above that of every other textual critic of the New Testament." Westcott and Hort, Introduction, op. cit., p. 185.
3 Scholasticism: the philosophical and theological method taught in Medieval schools which revived in the 16th through the 20th centuries. It embodied the use of Aristotelian logic as an aid to better understand the Christian revelation. It was an attempt by intellectual process to attain a deeper penetration into the inner meaning of Christian doctrine, thus philosophy had a great role in scholastic thought. Utilizing thesis method, it represented an attempt to reconcile reason and faith, philosophy and revelation.
4 The Enlightenment: a "freedom of the intellect" movement in 18th century Germany which spread into much of Europe. It was founded upon the presupposition of faith in the omnipotence of human ability. The Enlightenment sought the path to absolute truth through "pure reason", observation and experimentation without guidance from anyone else. Its adherents distrusted all authority and tradition in matters of intellectual inquiry.
