"An Impossibility" William Robertson Smith. V
Last time we saw that the College Committee did not come to a decision on the case of William Robertson Smith , but referred the matter to Robertson Smith's presbytery, the Free Presbytey of Aberdeen. Smith, annoyed at the thought of a long and drawn-out discussion, the case and his reputation being kicked, as a football, around the Free Church for years, demanded a formal indictment, known as a 'libel'.
The libel was a long and comlicated document, couched in legal language. It charged Smith with eight specific offences, in summany that:
1. The Levitical laws did not date from the time of Moses, but from a later date.
2. Deuteronomy was not a historical document, but the claim to be one is a literary device.
3. The sacred writers took freedoms and committed errors like any other authors.
4. Certain books of the Bible are works of fiction.
5. The Song of Songs has no spiritual significance.
6. The New Testament citations of Old Testament books by titles then current cannot be regarded as proof of their actual authorship.
7. The predictions of the prophets were due to spiritual insight, not immediate divine revelation.
8. The reality of angels in the Bible is a matter of assumption rather than direct teaching.
The Presbytery deliberated on the libel and finally voted. When the results of the vote were announced it was found that Robertson Smith had been cleared by a very slender minority. Any thoughts of victory on the part of Smith and his friends were soon disappointed, however, as the members of the presbytery who dissented from the final verdict decided to appeal to the General Assembly of the Free Church.
At the Assembly of 1877 the members voted as to whether or not Professor William Robertson Smith should be tried for heresy and, if he was, whether or not he sould be suspended pending trial. The vote was in the affirmative in both cases. Robertson Smith was to be tried for heresy before the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland, and until the trial was complete he was to be suspended from his teaching function as a precaution.
Scotland eagerly awaited the results of the trial, the more so when it was announced that Principal Rainy, the one man who could sway the Assembly, was to give a course of lectures in London on The Bible and Criticism in 1878.
Which lectures, in their bearings on the fate of William Robertson Smith, we shall, if the Lord will, consider next time.
The libel was a long and comlicated document, couched in legal language. It charged Smith with eight specific offences, in summany that:
1. The Levitical laws did not date from the time of Moses, but from a later date.
2. Deuteronomy was not a historical document, but the claim to be one is a literary device.
3. The sacred writers took freedoms and committed errors like any other authors.
4. Certain books of the Bible are works of fiction.
5. The Song of Songs has no spiritual significance.
6. The New Testament citations of Old Testament books by titles then current cannot be regarded as proof of their actual authorship.
7. The predictions of the prophets were due to spiritual insight, not immediate divine revelation.
8. The reality of angels in the Bible is a matter of assumption rather than direct teaching.
The Presbytery deliberated on the libel and finally voted. When the results of the vote were announced it was found that Robertson Smith had been cleared by a very slender minority. Any thoughts of victory on the part of Smith and his friends were soon disappointed, however, as the members of the presbytery who dissented from the final verdict decided to appeal to the General Assembly of the Free Church.
At the Assembly of 1877 the members voted as to whether or not Professor William Robertson Smith should be tried for heresy and, if he was, whether or not he sould be suspended pending trial. The vote was in the affirmative in both cases. Robertson Smith was to be tried for heresy before the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland, and until the trial was complete he was to be suspended from his teaching function as a precaution.
Scotland eagerly awaited the results of the trial, the more so when it was announced that Principal Rainy, the one man who could sway the Assembly, was to give a course of lectures in London on The Bible and Criticism in 1878.
Which lectures, in their bearings on the fate of William Robertson Smith, we shall, if the Lord will, consider next time.
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