OF course, age is that which gives value, in a general way, to any evidence. Then the evidence is divided principally into four divisions.
1. the Existing GREEK MANUSCRIPTS.
The earliest copies date in the fourth century, and then run down to the time of printing, in the fifteenth century; so that, from the time each of the books of the New Testament was written, till the fourth century, there is a blank, as far as Greek manuscripts are concerned, but which period is in a measure bridged over by other evidence.
For fifteen centuries the word of God was handed down by the use of the pen; and although there were such persons as writers who were paid for copying manuscripts, there can be no doubt that many hundreds of copies of the New Testament were made by the monks in their cells, after the monastic order came into existence. Whatever abuses were connected with that order—and they grew to be many and serious—this good was done by them. Amid changes and revolutions, they preserved the sacred writings, and perseveringly increased their numbers by the use of the pen.
It has been thought by some that the monks introduced the decoration of manuscripts; but this is not correct, it came early in vogue. Jerome, in the fourth century, complained that too much space was occupied with the ornaments. It began with ornamental initial letters, which were increased in size, until they became very large; then they had long ornamental pendants, and some made to trail along the bottom of the page also, thus occupying three sides of the page. Some of these ornaments were elaborate works of art, interspersed with rich colors and gold.
Strange as it may seem, it is yet true, that the ornaments to the early manuscripts form strong evidence as to the corruption of the Romish church. In the decorations to the early manuscripts by the monks there is no trace of the worship of the Virgin, the invocation of saints, purgatory, &c.; but when we come to the eleventh century and onwards, these and other corruptions are all interwoven with the ornaments executed by the monks. Thus, though good work was done in the cloisters, as the monks came to be corrupt, they left their "dirty fingermarks" upon the copies they made.
Some manuscripts were written entirely with letters in gold and silver. One of the Gothic versions of the New Testament is written in silver, with the initial letters in gold. It was executed about the fifth century, and is now preserved in the-royal library of Upsal. It is known as the "Codex Argenteus," the silver copy.
2. THE VERSIONS; That Is, the Early Translations of the New Testament Into Other Languages.
These in a measure bridge over the period between the writing of the books of the New Testament and the Greek manuscript. While the earliest Greek manuscript is of the fourth century, the earliest version is of the second century, the Syriac being the oldest. The Thebaic dates in the third century, and others in the fourth.
The use of these Versions is great, not to tell us the meaning the various translators attached to certain Greek words (though they are also useful for this at times, but), because they tell us what was in the Greek copy at the date the translation was made. For instance, each early Syriac version lets us know what was in his copy in the second -century, and of course his copy must have dated still earlier; so that we get by this means within, perhaps, a hundred years of the date when some of the Epistles were written.
That the Versions have come down to us more ancient than any Greek manuscript is perhaps owing to the violent persecution commenced by the Roman emperor Diocletian, who made a special point of demanding every copy of the sacred scriptures, on pain of death. All that were obtained were burned. This persecution extended A.D. 303—312, and it has been seen that our earliest Greek copies date in the fourth century, so that it seems doubtful if we have any that escaped that fiery persecution. When peace was restored to the church, the copies would have been rapidly increased.
3. THE FATHERS; That Is, the Early Writers in the Church, Who Quoted Scripture in Their Writings.
It, may be thought that these are open to suspicion, on account of the early heresies that crept into the church; but it must be remembered that, as we have seen, the New Testament was translated very early into other tongues, and was thus widely circulated, so that if a man had quoted scripture falsely, he would surely have been detected, and put to shame. We are not aware that any were charged with doing this; they rather sought to explain it away in some manner. It is true that in some cases the Fathers may have quoted scripture, as we often do, from memory, but this may be often detected and guarded against by a careful comparison.
In the Fathers we get to a date yet earlier than any version. We reach up to some who are believed to have been instructed by the apostles personally, and who came into contact with many who had seen our Lord. The few who are accredited to have lived in the time of the apostles, called Apostolic Fathers, and who are referred to as quoting scripture, are, 1, CLEMENT, supposed to be the one named in Phil. 4:33And I entreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlaborers, whose names are in the book of life. (Philippians 4:3) (now called Clement of Rome, to distinguish him from Clement of Alexandria). 2, POLYCARP, martyred A.D. 169. 3, BARNABAS, first or second century. 4, IGNATIUS, martyred A.D. 107.
Thus we see that we have the gaps, in a measure, filled up. The Fathers go back to the first and second centuries; the Versions to the second and third centuries; and the Greek Manuscripts to the fourth century.
4. THE LECTIONARIES; That Is, the Manuscript Service-Books Used in the Church, Which Consist of Portions of Scripture. Some Contained Portions From the Gospels Only; and Others, From the Acts and Epistles.
Of the Lectionaries alone there are some hundreds, and they have as yet received comparatively little attention. The other three branches of evidence have been used freely. And though, as we should naturally think, the Greek manuscripts have the greatest weight, yet the VERSIONS, and the quotations from the FATHERS, must by no means be neglected, some of these, as we have seen, being older than any Greek manuscript that is spared to us. None of the LECTIONARIES are older than the eighth or ninth century, and carry, of course, less weight.