Old Testament Studies: An (Un)Academic Modern History Nicholas J. Campbell

Lord Kames believed that societies became increasingly better and so the Old Testament is a relic of earlier, flawed culture and mythology but the creation of humans in Genesis was essentially true.

John Toland rejected traditional interpretations of the Bible and wanted modern scholars to use newer techniques to analyze meaning of the language and the placement of biblical books within the canon. He believed that both the Old and New Testaments taught the law of nature when they were interpreted properly.

Thomas Morgan called himself a Christian deist and argued that the Old Testament was political religion used to enslave the Israelite people and entirely at odds with true Christianity and the religion of nature.

William Warburton argued that the Old Testament does not talk about human immortality or the afterlife because the Israelites had a special divine provision where they received earthly rewards and punishments based upon their following of the law.

William Stevens argued that Benjamin Kennicott was deceived by Jewish forgers and no variant manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible were legitimate and these forgeries were intended as a Trojan horse to infiltrate and destroy Christianity.

Bossuet organized history into epochs and claimed that the Old Testament shows God's interaction with humanity and the devolvement of human culture that can only be rectified by divinely appointed monarchs.