THERE was once a large family—a very large family—of several generations, all descended from one common father. He was very great, and he had enormous possessions, which he had bequeathed to various branches of the family.
Some years since—though the various descendants were in possession of and enjoying their several estates—a strong desire arose to possess a more correct copy of their father's will. Communications were made with different branches of the family in various places, inquiring into the subject.
They discovered that the original writing was lost, but various copies existed. These were collected together, and compared, but the family were surprised to find that no two copies exactly agreed. At a cursory glance they were found to agree in the main. The estates of A were not given to B; nor the estates of B to C, &c. And some of the family thought that as the copies agreed in the main, there should be no further search.
Others thought it best to say nothing about the various differences. It might unsettle the minds of some of the younger members of the family, who were happily ignorant of their existence. If they heard of these differences they might doubt of the execution of the original altogether.
Others were startled at the discovery, and asked, Do we hold our estates only on a tenure that will not bear investigation? Pray let us endeavor to get at the real truth. If these differences exist, let us know the full extent of them. Although the few copies we have may not differ in the main, further search may bring to light greater differences. We are building for the future upon the supposed stability of our titles; we must know whether these titles are good. Nothing now will satisfy us but a thorough and searching inquiry.
Others took another line. They did not doubt of the stability of the titles to their estates; but they desired to read the heart of their great father.
He had not only given them estates, but he had expressed his interest and affection for them. They desired to get at his very words—to enter into his affection for them, and to understand his thoughts of love concerning them.
Others also greatly desired to read his very words that they might better understand his wisdom. He had given them the benefit of his great insight into the character of men and things, with cheering encouragement on the one band, and solemn warnings on the other. They feared lest anything should be lost, even what might appear to some to be the least.
Others knew that their great father had spoken to them a good deal about himself, and they were convinced that they should endeavor to obtain every word he had said.
Thus for these and other reasons it was judged to be highly desirable that a very extensive search should be made for copies of the will; that those found should be carefully compared, and all the alterations noted: They should endeavor to account for the alterations; and above and beyond all they should endeavor to ascertain what was the exact wording of the will.
With these objects, one here and another there set diligently to work at their task. The task was indeed laborious: they obtained many copies and proceeded to compare them carefully and note all the differences.
But they were soon struck with the fact that some copies were much older than others, and the older they were, the nearer they were to the original, and so were of course the more valuable. But of some it was no easy matter to judge the age. It was known that at a certain period the style of writing had been decidedly changed. This fact led to the division of the copies into two distinct classes; but as to which was the oldest in each class was not so easy. The material on which the document was written was scrutinized, and every little variation in the writing noted that would in any way throw light upon its age.
There were also other branches of the inquiry. One was this. It was ascertained that in certain documents, written by some of the family, they had given extracts from the will: and some of these turned out to be of an early date. These were of great value, because they proved what was their copy of the will at the time the quotation was made.
Further, it was ascertained that some of the family had journeyed into foreign parts, and had settled there, and for their benefit the original will had been translated into foreign languages. On inquiry, it was ascertained that some of these translations had been made very early. These were of great use, as they showed what was in the translator's copy when the translation was made.
With all these and other materials the labor became immense. All had to be compared, and the variations carefully noted; the documents being separated and valued according to their various ages.
The next step was to endeavor to ascertain the cause of the variations. In many places it was purely accidental. The writers had in some places mistaken one word for another. In others, words were accidentally omitted; and in others, words were added. In other places the alterations appeared to be done purposely. Apparently the copier had thought he could improve the wording, without perhaps thinking of the importance that would be attached to the identical words of this famous will.
Now the ascertaining of the cause of the variations was at once the means of removing a great many of them as variations. They were ascertained to have been accidental alterations, and were dismissed accordingly. But this would not clear up all. In some the preponderance of the evidence was overwhelming for one reading over another so as to settle indisputably which was correct, and this decided many questions. Still, a few remained in which it was difficult to decide which was the word actually used in the original.
On the whole, the result was highly satisfactory. The investigation has stamped an absolute certainty upon the will. Not a single point of importance is left in doubt or is surrounded by difficulty, and there remain only a few places where the actual words cannot be ascertained.
The family have great cause for thankfulness. Their estates are sure to them: they can read the heart and learn the intentions of their great father to them in his own words: they can profit by his wisdom, by his instruction, and by his warnings. And all this not simply in generalities, but in his own words. As if he was now speaking to them, they listen, and they hear his accents of love, and they learn himself. Thus are they happy and are blessed.
This will is the word of God. This family is the saints of God.
All scripture was given by inspiration of God, and it was written; but the original has been lost. There are many copies in existence; but they all more or less differ.
There have been and are men who have spent the best part of their lives in comparing the various copies: they have duly considered the value of each, and have carefully sought to discover the true text as it stood in the original.
The above is in no sense an exaggerated account of the history of the text of the New Testament. For many years the question lay entirely dormant. It was not until the year 1514 that the printing of the first Greek Testament—the Complutensian—was finished; but before it could be printed, the question had to be considered, "What copy shall be taken?" And although it was known that the manuscripts differed, yet, the fact that there were in existence a great many Greek copies was not known, and the nature and the extent of the-variations had not then been fully ascertained. What copies were actually used for that edition is not now known, but they must have been comparatively few.
Other printed editions followed in rapid succession, by various editors, each one referring, as he had opportunity, to an increased number of manuscripts, with the various other sources of evidence. By degrees all evidence began to be valued, and to be used for deciding on the true text of that which
God had caused to be written.
But, as we have intimated above, this caused alarm in the minds of some Christians, and they felt it their duty to protest against the making public the variations in the Greek manuscripts, judging that it was unsettling scripture, and, as John Owen called it, an attempt "to correct the word of God." Dr. Whitby was another who felt alarmed at that which was being brought to light. We can give them and others credit for their zeal for God's word, but they were certainly mistaken, as we hope to make plain as we proceed with our inquiry.