The Historical Basis and Integrity of the New Testament
Table of Contents
10. The Number of Its Books
The number of such books, received in the greater part of Christendom, has been twenty-seven, since the provincial Council of Carthage, A.D. 397. They have been divided roughly into historical, epistolary and prophetic. Amongst the Epistles, First Peter and First John were early ranged with those of Paul as forming one series; but subsequently, the Epistles were divided into Pauline and Catholic, and then put into separate. volumes. In respect of ecclesiastical recognition, the books were, while the Canon still remained open, divided into such as were " acknowledged or received otherwise uncontradicted," and those that were " disputed," or treated with suspicion: so Eusebius.
11. Their Chronological Order
We can determine the chronological order of some of
the books; of the rest it may be said that the Gospels were probably written in their present order; John's subsequently to the Second Epistle of Paul (see 21: 18); and that the book of Acts must have been preceded by most of Paul's Epistles, if not by that of James and the First of Peter.
12. The Titles of the Books
Of no New Testament book can it be said with certainty that the titles were given to them by their authors. The documents from which they are derived differ amongst themselves. Some give long, others short titles, the latter being generally the more ancient. Thus in the oldest copy, we have as the title of the fifth book, merely " Acts," which the " Vatican " (B) expands into " Acts of Apostles," but a scribe of the " Alexandrine " MS (A) in the subscription-which is all that remains-into " Acts of the Holy Apostles." The subscriptions of the following books are quite misleading: First Corinthians, Galatians, First and Second Thessalonians, First Timothy, and Titus, as Paley has shown.
13. The Time of Their Composition
Is there evidence for the usual statement that the books of the New Testament were all composed within the first century of our era? The author, or manufacturer, of " Supernatural Religion" has spent his talent in setting up the contrary, but that writer rejects evidence when it does not suit his theory." In the absence of any positive indication, the statement of Barrow may be accepted. " If we leave out of account the writings of the apostle John, the remaining books of the New Testament were written somewhere between A.D. 45-70, whilst the most probable date of John's writings is A.D. 70-100. We cannot, however, expect to find they were, as promulgated, all forthwith placed in one collection. " The Christians of this age 'while the first witnesses still lived-" drew their knowledge of the gospel mainly from the same sources to which Luke refers in the preface of his Gospel, from oral tradition received directly or indirectly from them who from the beginning were eye-witnesses and ministers of the word."
14. The Common Belief
We shall place the grounds of the common belief before the reader, assured that these will gain rather than lose importance by being stated plainly and concisely, without being careful to disguise the weak side of the argument. Is not Christ's power made perfect in weakness? E. E. W.
19. Justin Martyr
With Justin Martyr, who died about A.D. 165, we are near the time when written records definitely replace' tradition. The Memoirs of the Apostles, to which Justin refers as "called Gospels," and the sources of his facts, there now seems no reason to doubt were the Four Gospels which we possess. The writers of these " Memoirs," Justin has told us, imparted instruction as to all things concerning our Savior Jesus Christ." (Second Apol. p. 75.) We have here in embryo a canon of the gospels; it is clear that, if Justin is to be trusted, he must have taken pains to decide between genuine and spurious accounts, so as not to be at sea amongst authorities, as represented by some moderns. Such materials as Justin employed extraneous to our Gospels he may have derived from tradition, without using apocryphal gospels at all. Otherwise, as Mr. Sadler asks, " How is it that he discards all the lying legends with which these gospels teem?" Westcott is able to say: " It would be possible to re-write from Justin's works a considerable part of the records of Christ's life as given by the first three evangelists."*** It is noteworthy that Justin is a witness for the apostolic authorship of our " Revelation."
2. Its Objective Side
There is, however, a very deep interest attached to viewing the truth of God objectively, as having an historical basis; for facts, whether divinely communicated or gathered in a merely human way, are objective before they can be subjective; that is, they have a value and an importance entirely independent of the way in which they concern ourselves, or in which they are apprehended by us. There is a real source of edification, and a matter for praise to God, in tracing historically how He has watched over and cared for His word. His glory is indeed involved therein, and we shall see that He has not been unmindful of it.
21. The Muratorian Fragment
Something like a canon is to be found in a document edited, from a manuscript now at Milan, in the last, century by Muratori; hence called the Muratorian Fragment. Its date may be put at about. A.D. 170. This venerable document enumerates all the books of our New Testament, with the exception, it seems, of the Epistle to the Hebrews and the Epistles of James and Peter. It treats as scripture an Apocalypse of Peter, since rejected. We are able to judge from it approximately what the sentiment of the Western. Church was at that time.
22. The Post-Apostolic Fathers
We have next to examine the evidence for the New Testament books of the ecclesiastical leaders of the second and third centuries, and in particular that of Irenwus, Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian.
23. Irenieus
Irenus, born in Asia Minor about A.D. 140, received christian instruction in youth from Polycarp. Later on he made his home in the West, and was bishop of Lyons from A.D. 177 to 202. He was the author of a treatise against heresies, which has come down to us in a Latin translation. We are indebted to Eusebius for extracts from the original Greek, which bear upon the authority of books of scripture. Irenus has quoted most of the books of our New Testament, and these he called " Holy Writings " and " Oracles of God," the exceptions being the Epistles of James, Second Peter, Jude, Third John, and perhaps those to the Hebrews and Philemon. But he seems to have been acquainted with the Epistle to the Hebrews, Irenus is unhappily a witness for the use in his day of the " Shepherd of Hermas," which he cited as scripture he also regarded the first epistle of Clement almost as canonical. But his testimony is of peculiar value for the Gospel of John, which modern rationalism still seeks with the utmost vehemence to undermine. We have his voucher also for the apostolicity of our Apocalypse.
24. Clement of Alexandria
The mention of the name of Clement of Alexandria demands a few words as to the atmosphere in which this writer lived and labored. Alexandria had been more or less from the time of Philo-contemporary with Gamaliel -a center of learning and dialectics employed upon scripture, which was compared with the philosophical, chiefly Eastern systems. What was a sort of Jewish Academy became under christian influences a Catechetical School, inheriting in past the perturbed ideas of Jewish thinkers. Where fable, fancy and mysticism entered largely into men's thoughts, we cannot be surprised if " Apocryphal " writings, whether of the Old or of the New Dispensation, exerted considerable influence, and obtained undue consideration from a man of even Christian principles such as Clement. He was of heathen parentage, and born about the middle of the second century. For ten years after his conversion he presided over the Catechetical School. According to Eusebius, Clement must have used all our canonical books. The work that has rendered this Alexandrian Father famous is his Stromata, in which he has quoted largely from the New Testament books, without reference however to James, Second Peter, Second and Third John. His testimony to the apostolic authorship of the Apocalypse of John is marred by his also regarding as apostolic the Letters of Clement of Rome and Barnabas, besides the Shepherd of Hermas, and the Apocalypse of Peter. (Cf. Euseb. Eccl. History, 4. 13.)
25. Tertullian
Contemporary with both Irenmus and the Alexandrian Clement, was Tertullian of Carthage, one of the ablest of early christian writers, and deserving of the praise bestowed upon him by Westcott. He was born about A.D. 160, and died some time before the year 240. Tertullian was a principal vindicator against Marcion of the apostolic writings. As Irenmus and Clement of Alexandria, he maintained that he had succeeded to an in heritance transmitted from the apostles. We can gather from his writings that Tertullian acknowledged besides the four Gospels and the Book of Acts, thirteen Epistles of Paul (Hebrews excluded), Jude and the Apocalypse. He has spoken of the " Evangelic Document ' and the " Apostolic Document," but in one of his works has-employed Hew Testament as a designation of the whole of these scriptures recognized by him. (Cf. Prax. 100.15.) Tertullian kept free, for the most part, from apocryphal books of the present dispensation. His testimony against, the Shepherd of Hernias is most pronounced. It is interesting that he referred to the autographs of the Epistles as if still extant in his day. (De praesc.100. 36.)
26. The Old Latin Version of the New Testament
In connection with this Latin Father we may introduce the testimony of the Latin Version of the scriptures, used in his time. This was the Vetus Latina, of special interest to British students, because it was used in these islands for centuries after Jerome's version became the usual " authorized version" of the West. But our concern with it in these pages is as to the question whether the Old Latin contained the whole of the common New Testament. Reuss maintains that it did not; and Westcott thinks that it originally discarded the Epistle to the Hebrews, because the form of a certain passage cited by Tertullian as from the Epistle of Barnabas rather indicates that he translated it from the Greek of the epistle by others designated " to the Hebrews," as Tertullian was unable to resort to any existing Latin versiont. The Epistle of James exists in one of the Codices Corbienses, but there is no relic of any old Latin version of Second Peter. The most we can say, therefore, is that the Vetus Latina gave substantial support to the New Testament as we have it. E. E. W.
27. Christian Standing and Condition: Part 2 (Also, the Historical Basis and Integrity of the NT)
AND when we come to the eight passages brought for ward in support of the term " state," we must confess to being more than astonished. In not one instance, as the simple reader would surely have expected to have found, is the word " state " represented in the original, either in the Hebrew or in the Greek, nor are the word or words, so rendered in these passages, even similarly rendered into English in the other instances in which they occur in the originals. It is painful to think of the intense occupation of mind, for intention to mislead we cannot suppose, that could have cited these eight passages in support of the definition of the term " state," that it is sought to establish, as that with which " the scriptural use of the term state is seen to agree."
We think many of our readers will be unable to refrain from asking themselves the question, Did the writer not know that they were not represented in the original? and, if he did not, was he not in good faith bound to have made a thorough investigation of the real value of these terms before, in so dogmatic and critical a manner, making statements that so fundamentally affect the blessing of souls? Is there not a moral wrong in this way of dealing with divine truth, that quotes, as scripture, words for which there is no equivalent in the original, and even calls special attention to the word " state " by putting it into italics, while the actual word or words in the phrase which are represented in the original are left in ordinary type. Why was not " royal," the word actually in the original, put in italics as well as the word " state"? Why not for the same reason, " low," and "former," and " last," and " low," and " your," and " in whatsoever... I am "?
We should not have felt it needful to have written in this way were it not for the ostensibly critical character of the tract, and for, to say the least, the one-sided way in which criticism has been carried out. Had it been even said, " and with this the scriptural use of the term state (as given in our English bible) is seen to agree," there would have been less to complain of. Any way, we think we are justified in stating, as the result of our investigation of the subject, that there is no true verbal basis whatever in scripture for the distinction sought to be established between christian " standing " and " state in accordance with the respective definitions given to these terms.
As to the definitions themselves we have no hesitation in saying, that we believe they are the human expression of the writer's own conception of christian standing and state, and have neither the direct nor indirect support of scripture. Where does scripture state that christian standing " is the title and ability, through grace, for a fallen undone creature to be before the throne of God without judgment overtaking him"? Where, that christian state is " what the person is, or the circumstances in which he is"? He may attempt to make " the grace wherein we stand " answer to the one; and " in Christ " represent the other, and thus dividing and defining them build a system of theology on the difference between christian standing and Christian state, but the word of God by the Spirit of God, we are bold to say, will give him no support in doing this, and the only effect for himself, and those who adopt his views, will be to take the eye off Christ, and put the conscience outside the direct action of the word of God.
The word of God brings Christ before our souls, and, call it " standing " or call it " state," tells us that He " was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification," that " being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into the grace wherein we stand;" " There is therefore no condemnation to them that are im Christ Jesus;" " of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification and
redemption;" " as in Adam all die so in Christ shall all be made alive;" " if any man be in Christ he is a new creation;" " he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him;" " blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in the heavenlies in Christ, according as he bath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love ' having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved; in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;" " and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness of God by faith;" " giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son; in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins;" " and ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power;" " this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand;" and " herein is love with us made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as he is, so are we in this world."
Oh! how far better is it to feed in the rich and ample pastures of God's own blessed word, and there learn what, in virtue of Christ's work on the cross, He has made us before Himself, in and through Christ, in unchangeable and unvarying blessedness, than to wander in the cold and narrow fields of human definitions, human reasonings, and human forms of expression in the search to find a " standing " here, and a " state " there.
We have been in the habit of speaking of " our standing," and of " our state," meaning by the one, all that God. has made in eternal and unalterable blessing in Christ, and by the other, the practical answer in our soul's experience and our walk to this standing, hence a state varying and changing with ourselves; and to the use of these terms, in the well-established and familiar ways to which we have been long accustomed, we may well and safely adhere, but this is not to divide our actual and /unchanging blessing in Christ into two distinct parts, and, by doing so, change the true force of these terms in a way that loses to the soul the simplicity and solidity of what is meant by " our standing," and the practical effect for the conscience of what is meant when we speak of " our state." C.W.
(To be continued, the Lord willing.)
(Continued from page 260.)
UNREVISED NOTES OF READINGS ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN WITH J. N. D. IN DUBLIN, 1880.
We have been speaking, up till now, of the divine nature of Christ, now we get (ver. 29) His work. We have His work in two characters: He is the Lamb of God that takes away sin; and He baptizes with the Holy Ghost.
First, He is " the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world "-note, not sins. " Behold the Lamb of God," that is God's lamb, what specially appertains to God Himself—" the Lord's lot." He takes away the sin of the world, not here the sinner's sins, but the sin of the whole world; this will be the new heaven and new earth, where there will be no sign or trace of sin. We have had an innocent world, and a sinful world, then we shall have a righteous world depending on God's Lamb. God's Lamb He is in every sense: thank God He has borne our sins, too! but here it is abstract. God's Lamb is from, God, according to God, and for God. In the very place of sin He has perfectly glorified all that God is-" God is glorified in him; if God be glorified in him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him"-without waiting for the day of the glory with men. According to the thought of chapter xiii., He goes at once into the glory of God. " I have glorified thee on the earth," He says, and as a consequence He goes back as Man into the glory He had with the Father before the world was.
As the Lamb of God, Christ perfectly glorifies God in John 13; as the Son, He perfectly glorifies the Father in John 14
It is a wonderful thing the cross; there, and there only, was God fully glorified. Where do we find the love of God in all its fullness? At the cross: " Hereby perceive we the love, because he laid down his life for us." Where do we find perfect righteousness against sin? At the cross: " He made him to be sin, for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." Where do we find absolute obedience? At the cross, where Christ was before God in the very place of sin: " obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Where was the majesty of God fully vindicated? Nowhere but at the cross: "For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings." The more we look into the cross-and we must come to it first as poor sinners that need salvation-the more we shall wonder at God's love. We get in the cross man in absolute hatred to God and all the power of Satan; Man, much more than man, in absolute obedience; and God in perfect righteousness against sin. All man was in goodness in Christ; all man was in badness; and all God was in love and righteousness, came out at the cross. Every question of good and evil was settled at the cross. The new heaven and new earth are founded on it. Though all our blessing is wrapped up in it, " God's Lamb " is for God's glory-for Himself and according to what He is,
It is a blessed thing to study what Christ was clown here, not that we can ever fathom it. What a wonderful thing that He could say, " Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life to take it again "He could give a motive to God. As to comforters he had none; He went through all sorts of trials, denial, conflicts with Satan, and yet see what His spirit was in going through it all-how perfect in obedience. It is profitable indeed for us to eat His flesh and drink His blood. Look at the perfectness of the Lord, in another way, in Gethsemane: He was sweating great drops of blood when He was only even thinking of the cross, and yet He can go to His disciples and speak to them just as quietly and gently as if nothing was the matter, and then go back again and pray. We get possessed with things, they overwhelm us, but it was never so with Christ, they never took Him out of Himself, so to speak, though He suffered as no one else could suffer. We see nothing but perfectness in Him. There is nothing like it-of course there is not, but it is well to behold it, and have it always before our eyes.
Second, He is " He which baptiseth with the Holy Ghost." Here, first, we have Christ marked out by God Himself-by the Father: " Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him;" and then we get Him as the One who communicates the Holy Ghost to us: " The same is he which baptiseth with the Holy Ghost;" and in this connection we have: " For him bath God the Father sealed" (John 6:27); " How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and hath power." (Acts 10:28.) Both the expressions, " sealed " and " anointed," are used as to Christ. The character of all the life of Christ here on earth was by the power of the Holy Ghost: " If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God then the kingdom of God is come unto you" (John 7:39); " After that he, through the Holy Ghost, had given commandment unto the apostle he had chosen." (Acts 1:2.)
Then, after His ascension, He received the Holy Ghost a second time, not for Himself, but for others: " Therefore being by the right hand of God, exalted, and having received the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear." (Acts 2:33.) This answers to John 7:39: " But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe him should receive; for the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified;" the Holy Ghost, as personally present in believers on earth, did not then exist.
Thus, first, we get Christ Himself anointed and sealed, as perfect Man; and then, having wrought redemption, which brings us unto His own place-" Because as he is so are we in this world " (1 John 4:17)He gives us, from the glory where He now is consequent upon His work at the cross, the Holy Ghost, so that we are consciously in it. The Holy Ghost is given, notice, to those that " believe;" this is not the quickening power of the Holy Ghost, but what follows the place we are in through faith: " And because ye are sons, God bath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." (Gal. 4:6.) Not only are we sons " by faith in Christ Jesus " (Gal. 3:26), but, through the Holy Ghost, we have the consciousness of being sons.
By Christ's death everything as to man's relationship with God is changed; the veil was rent from top to bottom; Man-much more than a man-has entered the holiest, and, consequent on His entering there in the virtue of His sacrifice for us, the Holy Ghost has come down to give us the consciousness of our place before God, and with this He is the Spirit of Sonship; He sheds abroad the love of God in our hearts; and He is the earnest of the glory, which we have not yet got. Hence the possession of the, Holy Ghost is what characterizes the Christian: " Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." (Rom. 8:9.)
The Holy Ghost has always quickened souls, from Adam on, but that is a very different thing to what we have here Christ as Man-having wrought redemption through His death, having gone through judgment for us, having been made sin for us, having taken His place as Man at the right hand of God-sending the Holy Ghost to dwell in believers; so that, "As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly." (1 Cor. 15:48.) There was no accomplished redemption, and no man in heaven to be revealed in the Old Testament.
As a child of Adam I am washed and forgiven; but what place have I got? Suppose I owed a million and it was paid for me, and that was all, I might starve afterward. There is the work of Christ as regards our old state; all has been totally put away, both sins and sin-" Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures " (1 Cor. 15:3), this takes away the fruits-" In that he died he died unto sin once " (Rom. 6:10), and we have died with Him, this takes away the tree for faith: then as to the place we have got, we find its full character in Ephesians, where Christ is not looked at as the quickening Son of God, but as Man dead, and then when God raises Him from the dead, He raises us with Him-the same power takes Him and us up together.
The Christian is a person whose body is the temple of the Holy Ghost; who looks back and sees by divine teaching the value of redemption, and who, possessing the Holy Ghost as the earnest, looks on to the glory he has not yet got. He is not in the flesh; Paul says, " when we were in the flesh " (Rom. 7:5), and " ye are not in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you." (Rom. 8:9.) In Rom. 7, after the first few verses, the man, as in the flesh, is still weighing his place with God by what he is himself, like the prodigal son before he had met his father-" make me as one of thy hired servants " (Luke 15), reasoning from himself to what his father might be; not from what his father was, as he knew after he had met him. God puts us into Christ, and gives us the Holy Ghost to give us the consciousness of it-" Of him are ye in Christ Jesus;" " for all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory
of God by us." (2 Cor. 1:20.) " Us " is always the word of the Holy Ghost. The difference between " anointing " and " sealing; " is, that anointing is the figure of our receiving the Holy Ghost, and sealing that we belong to God. Sealing is for the individual-I am sealed for myself, you for yourself; but as there is only one Holy Ghost in that way we are one -"For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body." (1 Cor. 12:13.)
In Rom. 8 we get three characters of the Holy Ghost: He is "the Spirit of God," in contrast with the flesh; " the Spirit of Christ," as that by which Christ as Man walked, and which forms our characters; and " the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead," as the power by which our bodies will be raised.
" If any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his," means, we are not Christ's till we have got it; we may be on the way. The operation of the Spirit in quickening is one thing, but that my body is the temple of the Holy Ghost is another, and much lost sight of. When the blood was put on the lintels God had really taken the Israelites in hand, and they were safe; saved is a much stronger word than safe. If I am saved I have got out of the flesh into Christ: " There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus;" we do not get salvation till Romans viii. This alters everything. When the blood was on the lintels God's character was that of judge: He did not come into them; and this was mercy. At the Red Sea He became their Savior: and the Israelites " saw the salvation of Jehovah," as those who had passed out of the condition to which judgment and all the power of Satan attached.
Christ was delivered for our offenses; this clears the as a child of Adam, and in that state it is mercy securing me for the judgment of God. "In Christ" I am before God in Christ's place of acceptance and blessing.
The natural order of blessing, so to speak, is what we find in Acts 2:38: " Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sills, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." The only thing that hinders the reception of the Holy Ghost is the want of simple faith in the work of Christ. The moment the Holy Ghost is received the soul cries, "Abba Father." If any one can cry " Abba, Father," he has the Holy Ghost; he has the known place of relationship with God as a son.
(To be continued, the Lord willing.)
(Continued from page 266.)
THE HISTORICAL BASIS AND INTEGRITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. THE FIRST SYRIAC VERSION.
Turning now to the churches of the East, we come to the version which is the most venerable of all translations of the New Testament, the Peshito Syriac, belonging, it is considered, to the second century. The primitive version contained all the books now received except Jude, Second Peter, Second and Third John, and the Apocalypse, which last would seem to have been added to it in. the sixth century. We shall revert to this when speaking of the Nestorians.
Having thus glanced at the Canon in the second-as regards the West, some way into the third-century, the reader needs to keep in mind the result of our inquiry. The seven following books have remained subject of some merely local doubt: Hebrews, James, Second Peter, Second and Third John, Jude and Revelation. Of these the Eastern Churches-of which the Syriac was typical -embraced Hebrews and James in their acknowledged collection; the Western, Second and Third John,* Jude and Revelation. Second Peter alone everywhere continued to lack recognition.
ORIGEN.
Biblical study made great strides through the great.
If we may believe these two Epistles formed one book, as in the " Muratorian Fragment."
gift for work of this kind which displayed itself in the celebrated Origen. lie was born about A.D. 136 at Alex- andria. After having been connected with the Academy -there, he devoted himself to the collation of the texts of Greek versions of the Old Testament with a persevering ardor that calls for our admiration. Greatly, however, must we regret that the spiritual instinct he undoubtedly possessed, or pious sentiment by which he was governed, was not proof against the influence the Alexandrian Bible had upon Christians of that age. In respect of the difference between a divine and human book of the Jewish dispensation, we find his testimony, whether in Eusebius's Eccl. Hist. (bk. vi.) or in Origen's extant works, far from satisfactory.
(Continued from page 274.)
28. His Account of the Canon
Origen applied to the Christian books, in their collected form, the title of "New Covenant" (or Testament), as on his De Princ. iv. 1. He has spoken of the doubts that some had as to the Epistles of James, Second Peter, Second and Third John and Jude, besides as to the authorship of Hebrews. Upon most of the apocryphal writings of the Christian dispensation he bestowed unmeasured condemnation. As to the " Shepherd," however, Origen's judgment seems to have fluctuated. His position as to the Canon has been stated thus: " Origen would limit the Bible in the highest sense to the acknowledged books, both in the Old and New Testaments, that is, the Hebrew Canon, and the four Gospels, the Acts, First Peter, First John, thirteen Epistles of Paul, and the Apocalypse, for he seems to have been unacquainted with the doubts which were raised as to the last book. The use of other writings he commits to the discretion of individuals, without suppressing his own opinion as to the very unequal value of different books." Origen died in the year 234.
29. The Alexandrian New Testament in the Third Century
Of the usage in the Alexandrian Church between Origen's death and the time to which the earliest remaining MSS of the New Testament (classed as Alexandrian) take us back, Westcott says: " it more and more turned in favor of the disputed books." For the evidence of this the reader might well consult the same writer's " General view of the Canon."
THE WESTERN NEW TESTAMENT OF THE SAME PERIOD.
In the Western Churches there continued to be no recognition of James and Second Peter; neither was the Epistle to the Hebrews regarded as apostolic. So much for the third century.
THE TIME OF EUSEBIUS.
The Christians who had thus far maintained a position distinct from the mass around them-votaries of heathenism-were marked nevertheless by some very developed corruption. They were tried from time to time by persecution; whilst it was blessed to some, the comparative freedom from it that others enjoyed was used by Satan to promote amongst them spiritual pride and other worse evils. Eusebius has depicted the low state of the Lord's people in his time. The saints disregarded divine chastisement, until, as this historian expresses it, " the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in His anger, [and] cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel." (Eccl. Hist. bk. 8.) For the tenth time the fires of persecution were kindled. (Cf. Rev. 2:10.)
3. The Grounds of Its Reception
The attention of christian readers in England has of late been especially called to the text and translation of the New Testament scriptures. But before believers occupy themselves with such important matters it is well for them to consider the grounds upon which the New Testament is received as the text book of Christianity, in the completeness and integrity of which it is that we are most concerned.
30. The Diocletian Persecution
"The persecution of Diocletian," writes Westcott, " offers singular parallel to that which Antiochus Epiphanes directed against the Jews."-I. The imperial edict, issued in A.D. 303, directed that " the churches should be razed. and the scriptures consumed with fire." (Euseb. Eccl. Hist. 8. 2.) " Both resulted in determining more closely than before the limits of the sacred volume, by giving scope to the practical exhibition of the popular feeling, hitherto vague and wavering." The persecuted, no less than the persecutors, understood well at what the blow was aimed. The enemy cared not for " useless writings": he would put forth all his power to destroy the Canonical Scriptures. The persecution was carried on with greatest vehemence in Africa and in Syria: when the storm was over, the tried ones gave their voice with a peculiar emphasis as to what they had deemed the word of God.
31. In Africa
In Africa some Numidian bishops had refused to acknowledge the appointment of Caecilian to the see of Carthage upon the ground, amongst others, that he had been ordained by a " traditor," or one who had betrayed the holy scriptures. Donatus headed the malcontents, who took their name as a party from him. As Westcott says, if we regard their rigid views in general, " we may see in the opinions of the Donatists, the strictest judgment of the African churches upon the Canon."-f- Now, according to Augustine, each side was " bound by the authority of both Testaments," and alike acknowledged " the Canonical Scriptures." (Ep.129. 3.) And what were these for the New Testament? " The Gospels, the Apostolic Epistles, the Acts of the Apostles, the Apocalypse of John," (C. Crest. 1. 1,31. 3.) If the Epistle to the Hebrews is here included, it is evident that the African assemblies accepted the New Testament in its present form.
32. In Palestine
Not so, however, in Palestine. Eusebius was in that land at the time of the persecution: he has related scenes he beheld. (Eccl. Hist. bk.8.) He would of course "Bible in the Church," p. 144.
I bid., p. 145. On the other hand it is singular that Augustine, himself not very particular, was able to reproach the Donatists with using Second Maccabees.
observe what books the Christians held dear amidst the havoc done to their treasures.
33. The " Acknowledged " Books
Now in a celebrated passage of the third book of his " History " he has given, as universally acknowledged, fully canonical books: the Four Gospels, the Acts, Paul's Epistles, First John, First Peter, and, with some reservation, the Apocalypse. These, it was considered, all satisfied the two conditions of being written by the persons whose names they bore, and by apostolic persons.
34. The " Disputed " Books
The Epistle of James (in one place treated amongst " spurious " books), Second Peter, Second and Third John and Jude rank in his list as ἀντλεγόμενα, or " disputed," though generally recognized, semi-canonical books: they were not in the Testament (οἰκ ἐν διαθήκῃ). Second Peter, he here says, was by some regarded as unauthentic, that is, not Peter's own work; the rest bore the real names of their authors, but doubts were felt whether these were the apostles of the same name. Nevertheless such books were " well known by most." Further on we are informed that they were "read aloud in most churches."
35. The " Spurious " Books
Amongst the books he, like Origen, treated as νόθα, spurious or entirely uncanonical, are the Shepherd-which he said earlier on he had found in most of the ancient copies-the Epistle of Barnabas (in the sixth book of his " History classed with disputed books), the Apocalypse of Peter (elsewhere called " disputed "), and the Gospel of the Hebrews. These he did not believe were written by apostolic men.
36. The " Absurd and Ungodly " Books
Other books, again, he called ἄτοπα καὶ δυσσεβη, absurd and ungodly, such as the Gospels of Thomas and Matthias and like heretical writings, amongst works Clem. Alex. had called ἀπόκρνφα καὶ νόθα.
E. E. W.
4. Supernatural Religion
In the year 1874 a work issued from the English press impugning the foundation upon which our Gospels rest; this, Christians have been accustomed to believe, was laid in the first century of our era. Learning, dissociated from accuracy, has been employed with practiced ability by the anonymous writer of " Supernatural Religion," to deprive us, if possible, of this belief. The work we have mentioned leaves " the reader when he closes it with the feeling that the Bible stands before him like a fair tree all stripped, torn and defaced, not at all like a tree whose leaves are for the healing of the nations:" so writes Matthew Arnold. In the course of the present inquiry
* "God and the Bible," page 13.
we shall ascertain whether or not the several Christian books suffer from the processes of historical criticism, and if such an investigation of the sources of faith teach not other lessons, than " Supernatural Religion " was meant to instill into the minds of English people.*
5. The Prima Facie Claims of the New Testament to Reverence Within Ch
In taking up this subject we would cherish, rather than at all suppress, the sentiment that becomes every student within Christendom of writings which have established themselves in the consciousness of man as none others. Every reader must be aware of the effect upon civilization of the spread of them. Alike do skeptics and positive opponents of New Testament truth acknowledge the beneficial results to society of the precepts enshrined in the familiar volume. They will allow that man has thereby learned how to think of himself, how of his fellows and the relations between them, in such wise as ethical treatises of the old world failed to teach, notwithstanding that the same need was felt in ancient times as now; how, moreover, man shall think of heaven and its claims upon him-modified as may be the admission thereof-of the future state and its dread realities. But mere evidence of this, sufficient as it is for educating the judgment, cannot satisfy the aspirations of man.
6. The Inquiry Is More Than a Literary One
Care must be taken lest the consideration of this topic become nothing more than a literary inquiry. May writer and reader each seek wisdom from above, that the materials which are so plentiful be weighed in the balances of God's holy presence 1 " He giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not;" and amongst His precious gifts, suited to man's present condition, is the faculty whereby our senses are exercised to discern between good and evil of every kind. Human attainment cannot avail us in the absence of sobriety of mind or humility of spirit.
7. Connection Between the Old Testament and the New
The Old Testament gradually leads up to the New. But without the fuller revelation which the New Testament imparts, it is impossible to comprehend the purpose or meaning of the ancient " oracles of God." The scribe instructed to the kingdom of heaven brings out of his treasure things new and old. The manifestation of God through the christian scriptures, and in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ, is the elucidation and the complement of all contained in the Old Testament. The law, which came by Moses, was Israel's tutor up to Christ. Not only the law, but the prophets were until John. It is the spirit of the law which pervades the Old Testament ** but Christ Himself is the solution of every problem contained in it. By Him came grace and truth: the freshness and power of love and light together characterize the New Testament.
8. Interval Between the Close of the Old Testament Canon and the Peri Evangelists
But there is a long interval between the time of Nehemiah, when Malachi wrote his prophecy, and the appearance of John the Baptist. It is necessary to inquire into the history of this intermediate period, rightly to understand the state of things in Palestine at the time to which the Gospels relate. Information as to this the reader should seek elsewhere. For the events connecting Nehemiah's day and the time of Antiochus Epiphanes the student is dependent mainly on accounts furnished by Josephus, which relate to isolated facts. The Jewish historian wrote without the control, salutary or not, of rabbinical authority. Then, for the Maccabean period the histories in the Apocrypha avail, not always trustworthy. When they are silent, recourse must be had to Josephus. His works also familiarize us with the Herodian period, in which opens the New Testament, or series of books in Greek, received by us from early Christians as generally acknowledged by them to be part of the written word of God and the basis and guide of christian faith and life.
9. The Language of the New Testament
Greek, we may believe, was chosen by the Holy Spirit to be the vehicle of these communications, as, through the conquests of Alexander the Great, the language most widely employed at that time, and in particular that of the so-called Hellenist Jews, who made public use of the Septuagint, or Greek version of the Old Testament, and were, so far as converts to Christianity, principal agents at the first in the promulgation of the. faith outside Palestine.
17. The Apostolic Fathers - Clement of Rome
Clement of Rome-quite probably spoken of in Phil. 4:3-was the author of an Epistle to the, Corinthians written, it would seem, towards the close of the first century, and comprised in a list of books of scripture furnished by the Codex Alexandrinus. In this letter we find " such a fusion of different points of apostolic teaching" as to warrant Westcott's assertion that " the church in which Clement lived welcomed the teaching not of one apostle only, nor of one group of books, but of all." Clement seems to have died soon after the apostle John.
IGNATIUS.
Ignatius of Antioch, in his Epistle to the Philadelphians, refers to the " Gospel " and the "Apostles.'' (Ver. 5.) He was martyred not later than A.D. 116. Dr. Lightfoot has, in the " Contemporary Review " for
February, 1875, examined very thoroughly the use made of Ignatius's Epistles by the writer of " Supernatural Religion."
POLYCARP.
Polycarp, " bishop of the Catholic Church at Smyrna," was the writer of an Epistle to the Philippians, which " abounds in references to the books of the New Testament," though not by name. This was written soon after the martyrdom of Ignatius. Of Polycarp it is said " He heard St. John, and was himself heard by Irenaeus. His testimony connects two ages." He died a martyr about A.D. 166.
18. Epistle of Barnabas
The Epistle of Barnabas is found in the original Greek at the end of the Codex Sinaiticus, and confessedly belongs to the early years of the second century. In the fourth chapter occur the following words, "Let us take care that we be not found as it is written, Many are called, but few are 'chosen." The formula here employed, as it is written, was, as Tischendorf maintained, " that by which expressions out of scripture are distinguished from all others, and marked out as the word of God written. To the suggestion of Volkmar, that the citation is not really from the Gospel of Matthew, but from 4 Esdras 8. 3, the Leipsic critic has furnished an effective reply. Dr. Davidson, in his work on the canon, does here but really echo Volkmar.
PAPIAS.
So far the New Testament " was a collection of facts„ and not a collection of books, of the spirit and not of the letter." As late as A.D. 140 we find a certain Papist. saying, " I did not consider things out of the books to be of so much good to me as things from a living and abiding voice." (Euseb. Eccl. History 3. 39.)
16. The Canon Not Determined by Any New Testament Writer
It does not appear from the New Testament that any of the writers held a commission to close the christian canon neither on the one hand, Paul-as would, independently of date, be very improperly inferred from Col. 1:25-nor on the other, John; though in his case there is more semblance of finality. (Rev. 22:18,19.) We pass on to the generation of Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, and Polycarp of Smyrna, generally called " Apostolic Fathers," as being each a link between the apostles and those christian leaders of later epochs, who have been dignified with the simpler title of " Fathers."
1. The Historical Basis and Integrity of the New Testament: Part 1
No Christian, if asked what were the most momentous and fruitful pursuit for those that apply their hearts to seek out wisdom, would hesitate in his answer: there is, there can be, nothing like the study of the New Testament. In these writings we meet with a complete revelation vouchsafed, while yet the believer can but know in part; they place GOD before him in that light in which it is his privilege to walk, where the understanding is quickened and the heart gladdened by the things revealed to the soul's affections.
ITS SUBJECTIVE SIDE.
" God, who at sundry times and in divers manners, spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last clays spoken unto us by [His] Son," by Him whose words shall abide when heaven and earth alike have passed away. The Gospels contain our Lord's utterances on earth; the remaining New Testament books His words from heaven. (Cf. John 16:12,13; Acts 1:1 Rev. 1.; Rev 10.) The impression we receive in a favored land, and from earliest childhood, of the power of Christ's word, of its unction, ever operative and ever fresh-which indeed, thanks be to God, adheres somewhat to all who have at any time experienced it-might well render useless the consideration of these scriptures in any other
aspect than that in which they form the food of the believer's life. (Cf. 1 Cor. 14:37.)
15. The Historical Basis and Integrity of the New Testament: Part 2
BIBLICAL EVIDENCE OF AN EARLY, THOUGH PARTIAL, COLLECTION OF NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES.
THE first trace of any definite series in use of New Testament writings is in 2 Peter 3:15, seq. Mention is here made, in an essentially " Catholic " (general) Epistle of " all " Paul's Epistles, thus affording presumption of the general circulation of every one of them. With the reserve imposed by this passage, we may say, after Westcott, that " the Old Testament was the Bible of the Apostolic Church:" see 2 Tim. 3:15 and compare Acts 17:11. If we would read the feelings cherished by early converts from Judaism as to the Old Testament writings, it would doubtless be to say that " there was no sense of incompleteness in their record, no desire for any permanent supplement to their contents." Moreover, the expectation of the Lord's second coming was so earnest and simple that the need can have been but little felt of any definite collection of christian scriptures being made for the use of future times. It was long before any one could say, as Augustine, that the scriptures were "accessible to all." (Eph. 137.)
(Continued from page 236.)
EARLY TESTIMONY, MANY SIDED WITHIN THE CHURCH ITSELF.
The distinguishing traits of Christians of the circumcision who had their center in Jerusalem-of Jews jealous for the Law, " some of whom began by regarding the Lord as a Teacher "-and of " those who accepted the higher views of His Person and work which were unfolded by St. Paul and St. John,"* as well as the opposed systems of extremes on each side, represented respectively by the Nazarenes and Marcionites, must not here detain us. Without stopping to consider whether the ancient Catholic Church, from which have been transmitted to us the New Testament scriptures, was formed by the aggregation of these different elements, we may, in view of the trouble caused to the Church by Gnostics-in their attempt to impress oriental philosophy upon christian doctrine take consolation in the fact that we find witnesses for christian scripture amongst the upholders of such views.