But something is also required of the opposite party. At the very
threshold of the investigation they must be asked to lay aside, so
far as is possible, those prejudices against the Bible which have
naturally arisen in their minds from the obstinacy with which
views, which they knew to be untenable, have been forced upon
their acceptance as the undoubted teaching of God, so that they
may enter upon the investigation with unbiassed minds. Then they
must be careful to distinguish between established facts, and
theories however probable. There is something very fascinating in
a well constructed theory. Theories have again and again done such
good service in opening the way, first, to the discovery, and then
to the arrangement of facts, that we are very apt to assign to
them an authority far beyond that to which they are really
entitled. When, for instance, we have ascertained that a certain
number of facts are explained by some particular theory, we are
apt to assume prematurely, that the same theory must account for
and be in harmony with all similar and related facts; or, if we
have satisfied ourselves that certain results MAY have been
produced in a particular way, we are in great danger of being led
to conclude that they MUST have happened in that way. No mere
theory can have any weight against a statement resting on solid
evidence, but where the evidence is weak, or, what is practically
the same thing, where the knowledge of that evidence is defective,
a probable theory must carry great weight in influencing our
judgment. Care must therefore be taken to keep theories in their
proper place. Where we have to deal with well-established facts,
any interpretations to which those facts may lead us may be taken
as also established, but interpretations which are suggested by
theories only must be regarded as provisional, and liable to