Abstract
There are two methods of critical study of the Bible, one of which is old, and the other new. The first is the literary or exegetic method, the second is the historical or comparative method. These methods are not of necessity antagonistic, but as a rule they have been separately pursued, the one mainly in the study in Europe, the other mainly in the field in the East. It is, of course, evident that the ignorant explorer may do harm rather than good. If he does not take pains to study the necessary languages, to understand the alphabets, and the hierglyphs which he may be likely to find, to provide himself with historical, ethnological, and scientific data from the best sources, he may easily fall into errors due to enthusiasm, and retard rather than advance knowledge.