The Testimony of the Bible Concerning the Assumptions of Destructive Criticism — Context and Discussion

The Foreword’s Stated Purpose and Audience

The foreword explicitly targets readers who lack "time nor the equipment to enter the field of criticism." Wishard acknowledges that "abler pens" are answering critics, but he offers a simpler approach: presenting biblical testimony on a "precept upon precept" plan. The phrase "lest we forget" echoes Deuteronomy 4:9, reinforcing the booklet’s catechetical intent. The foreword does not engage specific critical arguments; instead, it promises to let God speak. This framing suggests the book will be a compilation of scriptural passages with minimal commentary, aimed at reinforcing traditional belief rather than scholarly refutation.

The Middle Excerpts: Defending Isaiah’s Authorship

In the chapter on Isaiah, Wishard argues against critics who deny the prophet wrote chapters 40–66 because Cyrus is named before his birth. He counters that God, as the author of prophecy, "declaring the end from the beginning" (Isa. 46:10), can predict names as readily as events. He cites the prophecy of Josiah in 1 Kings 13:2, fulfilled 300 years later, as precedent. Wishard also points to Isaiah’s distinctive phrase "the Holy One of Israel," which appears 22 times in the book but rarely elsewhere. This linguistic evidence, he claims, supports single authorship. The argument relies on divine omniscience and internal consistency rather than historical-critical methods.

The Later Excerpts: Stylistic Variation and Prophetic Voice

Wishard addresses the objection that the later chapters of Isaiah differ in style from the earlier ones. He compares this to Milton’s Paradise Lost differing from his prose, or John Watson’s sermons rising above his fiction. The prophet, he argues, writes on a "higher level" when inspired by the theme of redemption through a suffering Messiah. This defense assumes that the Holy Spirit elevates the writer’s language for sublime subjects. Wishard does not deny stylistic variation; he reinterprets it as evidence of divine inspiration. The argument is rhetorical, appealing to common literary experience rather than textual analysis.

The Structure of the Booklet and Its Argumentative Strategy

The table of contents lists ten chapters, moving from general attitude to specific books: Moses, Leviticus, Isaiah, Jonah. The chapter "God His Own Interpreter" suggests a concluding appeal to Scripture’s self-authentication. Wishard’s method is to cite biblical passages that affirm traditional authorship and then argue that critics impose arbitrary rules. He accuses critics of demanding more "synchronous events" than necessary, likening them to a tailor requiring twenty yards of cloth for a suit that needs only ten. This analogy reveals the booklet’s polemical tone: it dismisses critical methods as unreasonable while affirming the Bible’s internal testimony as sufficient.

Readers approaching this booklet should note that Wishard does not engage with specific critical works or scholars by name. His evidence is entirely scriptural, and his arguments assume the Bible’s inerrancy and divine authorship. The excerpts show a work designed for a lay Christian audience seeking reassurance rather than academic debate. For a first reading, pay attention to how Wishard selects and arranges biblical passages to counter critical assumptions, and consider how his analogies (tailor, Milton, Watson) function as rhetorical devices. The booklet is best understood as a pastoral defense, not a scholarly treatise.

There’s something touching about Wishard’s earnest defense, a faith reaching for evidence in an age of doubt—I found myself thinking of how the old hours of prayer once held that same steadying rhythm. The The Divine Office: A Study of the Roman Breviary — Key Ideas to Explore lingers near that memory, a quieter sort of testimony, worn soft by repetition.