last of the prophets, till the publication of the New Testament, about
four hundred and sixty years elapsed. During the life of Jesus Christ,
and for some time after his ascension, nothing on the subject of his
mission was committed to writing. The period of his remaining upon earth
may be regarded as an intermediate state between the old and new
dispensations. His personal ministry was confined to the land of Judea;
and, by means of his miracles and discourses, together with those of his
disciples, the attention of men, in that country, was sufficiently
directed to his doctrine. They were also in possession of the Old
Testament scriptures; which, at that season, it was of the greatest
importance they should consult, in order to compare the ancient
predictions with what was then taking place. Immediately after the
resurrection of Jesus Christ, his disciples, in the most public manner,
and in the place where he had been crucified, proclaimed that event, and
the whole of the doctrine which he had commanded them to preach. In this
service they continued personally to labour for a considerable time,
first among their countrymen the Jews, and then among the other nations.
During the period between the resurrection and the publication of the
New Testament, the churches possessed miraculous gifts, and the prophets
were enabled to explain the predictions of the Old Testament, and to
show their fulfilment. After their doctrine had every where attracted
attention, and, in spite of the most violent opposition, had forced its
way through the civilized world; and when churches or societies of
Christians were collected, not only in Judea, but in the most celebrated
cities of Italy, Greece, and Asia Minor, the scriptures of the New
Testament were written by the Apostles, and other inspired men, and
intrusted to the keeping of these churches.
The whole of the New Testament was not written at once, but in different
parts, and on various occasions. Six of the Apostles, and two inspired
disciples who accompanied them in their journeys, were employed in this
work. The histories which it contains of the life of Christ, known by
the name of the Gospels, were composed by four of his contemporaries,
two of whom had been constant attendants on his public ministry. The
first of these was published within a few years after his death, in that
very country where he had lived, and among the people who had seen him
and observed his conduct. The history called the Acts of the Apostles,
which contains an account of their proceedings, and of the progress of
the Gospel, from Jerusalem, among the Gentile nations, was published
about the year 64, being thirty years after our Lord’s crucifixion, by
one who, though not an Apostle, declares that he had “perfect
understanding of all things, from the very first,” and who had written
one of the Gospels. This book, commencing with a detail of proceedings,
from the resurrection of Jesus Christ, carries down the evangelical
history till the arrival of Paul as a prisoner at Rome. The Epistles,
addressed to churches in particular places, to believers scattered up
and down in different countries, or to individuals, in all twenty-one in
number, were separately written, by five of the Apostles, from
seventeen, to twenty, thirty, and thirty-five years after the death of
Christ. Four of these writers had accompanied the Lord Jesus during his
life, and had been “eye witnesses of his majesty.” The fifth was the
Apostle Paul, who, as he expresses it, was “one born out of due time,”
but who had likewise seen Jesus Christ, and had been empowered by him to
work miracles, which were “the signs of an Apostle.” One of these five
also wrote the book of Revelation, about the year A. D. 96, addressed to
seven churches in Asia, containing Epistles to these churches from Jesus
Christ himself, with various instructions for the immediate use of all
Christians, together with a prophetical view of the kingdom of God till
the end of time. These several pieces, which compose the scriptures of
the New Testament, were received by the churches with the highest
veneration; and, as the instructions they contain, though partially
addressed, were equally intended for all, they were immediately copied,
and handed about from one church to another, till each was in possession
of the whole. The volume of the New Testament was thus completed before
the death of the last of the Apostles, most of whom had sealed their
testimony with their blood. From the manner in which these scriptures
were at first circulated, some of their parts were necessarily longer in
reaching certain places than others. These, of course, could not be so
soon received into the canon as the rest. Owing to this circumstance,
and to that of a few of the books being addressed to individual
believers, or to their not having the names of their writers affixed, or
the designation of Apostle added, a doubt for a time existed among some
respecting the genuineness of the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Epistle of
James, the second Epistle of Peter, the second and third Epistles of
John, the Epistle of Jude, and the book of Revelation. These, however,
though not universally, were generally acknowledged; while all the other
books of the New Testament were without dispute received from the
beginning. This discrimination proves the scrupulous care of the first
churches on this highly important subject.
At length these books, which had not at first been admitted, were, like
the rest, universally received, not by the votes of a council, as is
sometimes asserted, but after deliberate and free inquiry by many
separate churches, under the superintending providence of God, in
different parts of the world. It is at the same time a certain fact,
that no other books beside those which at present compose the volume of
the New Testament, were admitted by the churches. Several apocryphal
writings were published under the name of Jesus Christ and his Apostles,
which are mentioned by the writers of the first four centuries, most of
which have perished, though some are still extant. Few or none of them
were composed before the second century, and several of them were forged
as late as the third century. But they were not acknowledged as
authentic by the first Christians; and were rejected by those who have
noticed them, as spurious and heretical. Histories, too, as might have
been expected, were written of the life of Christ; and one forgery was
attempted, of a letter said to have been written by Jesus himself to
Abgarus, king of Edessa; but of the first, none were received as of any
authority, and the last was universally rejected. “Beside our Gospels,
and the Acts of the Apostles,” says Paley, “no Christian history
claiming to be written by an Apostle, or Apostolical man, is quoted
within three hundred years after the birth of Christ, by any writer now
extant or known, or, if quoted, is quoted with marks of censure and
rejection.” This agreement of Christians respecting the Scriptures, when
we consider their many differences in other respects, is the more
remarkable, since it took place without any public authority being
interposed. “We have no knowledge” says the above author, “of any
interference of authority in the question before the council of
Laodicea, in the year 363. Probably the decree of this council rather
declared than regulated the public judgment, or, more properly speaking,
the judgment of some neighbouring churches, the council itself
consisting of no more than thirty or forty bishops of Lydia and the
adjoining countries. Nor does its authority seem to have extended
farther.” But the fact, that no public authority was interposed, does
not require to be supported by the above reasoning. The churches at the
beginning, being widely separated from each other, necessarily judged
for themselves in this matter, and the decree of the council was founded
on the coincidence of their judgment. In delivering this part of his
written revelation, God proceeded as he had done in the publication of
the Old Testament scriptures. For a considerable time, his will was
declared to mankind through the medium of oral tradition. At length he
saw meet, in his wisdom, to give it a more permanent form. But this did
not take place till a nation, separated from all others, was provided
for its reception. In the same manner, when Jesus Christ set up his
kingdom in the world, of which the nation of Israel was a type, he first
made known his will by means of verbal communication, through his
servants whom he commissioned and sent out for that purpose; and when,
through their means, he had prepared his subjects and collected them
into churches, to be the depositaries of his word, he caused it to be
delivered to them in writing. His kingdom was not to consist of any
particular nation, like that of Israel, but of all those individuals, in
every part of the world, who should believe in his name. It was to be
ruled, not by means of human authority, or compulsion of any kind, but
solely by his authority. These sacred writings were thus intrusted to a
people prepared for their reception,--a nation among the nations, but
singularly distinct from all the rest, who guarded and preserved them
with the same inviolable attachment as the Old Testament scriptures had
experienced from the Jews.
7. Respecting the lateness of the time when the scriptures of the New
Testament were written, no objection can be offered, since they were
published before that generation passed away which had witnessed the
transactions they record. The dates of these writings fall within the
period of the lives of many who were in full manhood when the Lord Jesus
was upon earth; and the facts detailed in the histories, and referred to
in the Epistles, being of the most public nature, were still open to
full investigation. It must also be recollected, that the Apostles and
disciples, during the whole intermediate period, were publicly
proclaiming to the world the same things which were afterward recorded
in their writings. Thus were the Scriptures, as we now possess them,
delivered to the first churches. By the concurrent testimony of all
antiquity, both of friends and foes, they were received by Christians of
different sects, and were constantly appealed to on all hands, in the
controversies that arose among them. Commentaries upon them were written
at a very early period, and translations made into different languages.
Formal catalogues of them were published, and they were attacked by the
adversaries of Christianity, who not only did not question, but
expressly admitted, the facts they contained, and that they were the
genuine productions of the persons whose names they bore. In this manner
the Scriptures were also secured from the danger of being in any respect
altered or vitiated. “The books of Scripture,” says Augustine, “could
not have been corrupted. If such an attempt had been made by any one,
his design would have been prevented and defeated. His alterations would
have been immediately detected by many and more ancient copies.” The
difficulty of succeeding in such an attempt is apparent hence, that the
Scriptures were early translated into divers languages, and copies of
them were numerous. The alterations which any one attempted to make
would have been soon perceived; just even as now, in fact, lesser faults
in some copies are amended by comparing ancient copies or those of the
original. “If any one,” continues Augustine, “should charge you with
having interpolated some texts alleged by you as favourable to your
cause, what would you say? Would you not immediately answer that it is
impossible for you to do such a thing in books read by all Christians;
and that if any such attempt had been made--by you, it would have been
presently discerned and defeated by comparing the ancient copies? Well,
then, for the same reason that the Scriptures cannot be corrupted by
you, neither could they be corrupted by any other people.” Accordingly,
the uniformity of the manuscripts of the Holy Scriptures that are
extant, which are incomparably more numerous than those of any ancient
author, and which are dispersed through so many countries, and in so
great a variety of languages, is truly astonishing. It demonstrates both
the veneration in which the Scriptures have been always held, and the
singular care that has been taken in transcribing them. The number of
various readings, that by the most minute and laborious investigation
and collations of manuscripts have been discovered in them, are said to
amount to one hundred and fifty thousand; though at first sight they may
seem calculated to diminish confidence in the sacred text, yet in no
degree whatever do they affect its credit and integrity. They consist
almost wholly in palpable errors in transcription, grammatical and
verbal differences, such as the insertion or omission of a letter or
article, the substitution of a word for its equivalent, or the
transposition of a word or two in a sentence. Taken altogether, they
neither change nor affect a single doctrine or duty announced or
enjoined in the word of God. When, therefore, we consider the great
antiquity of the sacred books, the almost infinite number of copies, of
versions, and of editions, which have been made of them in all
languages, in languages which have not any analogy one with another,
among nations differing so much in their customs and their religious
opinions,--when we consider these things, it is truly astonishing, and
can only be ascribed to the watchful providence of God over his own
word, that, among the various readings, nothing truly essential can be
discerned, which relates to either precept or doctrine, or which breaks
that connection, that unity which subsists in all the various parts of
divine revelation, and which demonstrates the whole to be the work of
one and the same Spirit.
8. Having considered the appellations by which the Bible is
distinguished, the books of which it consists, the time and manner in
which they were collected, it may not be improper to subjoin a few
observations on the genuineness and authenticity of the Scriptures, on
their high original and divine authority, and on their great importance
and utility.
It should here be considered, that the genuineness of the Scriptures
proves the truth of the principal facts contained in them; to which
purpose we may observe that it is very rare to meet with any genuine
writings of the historical kind, in which the principal facts are not
true, unless it be in instances where both the motives which engaged the
author to falsify, and the circumstances which gave some plausibility to
the fiction, are apparent; neither of which can be alleged in the
present case with any colour of reason. As this is rare in general, it
is more rare when the writer treats of things that happened in his own
time, and under his own cognizance and direction, and communicates his
history to persons under the same circumstances; all which may be said
of the writers of the Scripture history. Beside, the great importance of
the facts mentioned in the Scriptures makes it more improbable, that the
several authors should either have attempted to falsify, or have
succeeded in such an attempt. The same observation may be applied to the
great number of particular circumstances of time, place, persons, &c,
mentioned in the Scriptures, and to the harmony of the books with
themselves, and with each other. These are arguments both for the
genuineness of the books, and truth of the facts distinctly considered,
and also arguments for deducing the truth from the genuineness.
Moreover, if the books of the Old and New Testaments were written by the
persons to whom they have been ascribed, that is, if they be genuine,
the moral characters of these writers afford the strongest assurance,
that the facts asserted by them are true. The sufferings which several
of the writers underwent both in life and in death, in attestation of
the facts delivered by them, furnish a particular argument in favour of
these facts. Again, the arguments here alleged for proving the truth of
the Scripture history from the genuineness of the books, are as
conclusive in respect of the miraculous facts, as of the common ones. It
may also be observed, that if we allow the genuineness of the books to
be a sufficient evidence of the common facts which they record, the
miraculous facts must also be allowed from their close connection with
the others. It is necessary to admit both or neither. We cannot conceive
that Moses should have delivered the Israelites from their slavery in
Egypt, or conducted them through the wilderness for forty years, at all
in such manner as the common history represents, unless we suppose the
miraculous facts intermixed with it to be true also. In like manner, the
fame of Christ’s miracles, the multitudes which followed him, the
adherence of his disciples, the jealousy and hatred of the chief
priests, scribes, and Pharisees, with many other facts of a common
nature, are impossible to be accounted for, unless we allow that he did
really work miracles. And the same observations hold, in general, of the
other parts of the Scripture history. We might urge that a particular
argument in favour of the miraculous part of the Scripture history, may
be deduced from the reluctance of mankind to receive miraculous facts;
which would put the writers and readers very much upon their guard, and
would operate as a strong check upon the publication of a miraculous
history at or near the time when the miracles were said to be performed;
and thus it would serve as a strong confirmation of such a history, if
its genuineness be previously granted.
9. In connection with the preceding proposition we may observe, that the
genuineness of the Scriptures proves their divine authority. Porphyry in
effect acknowledges the truth of this proposition, in its reference to
the book of Daniel, by being unable to devise a method of invalidating
its divine authority implied in the accomplishment of the prophecies
which it contains, without asserting that they were written after the
event, or that they were forgeries. Many of the other books of the Old
and New Testaments have unquestionable evidences of the divine
foreknowledge, if they be allowed genuine; such are those supplied by
Moses’s prophecy concerning the captivity of the Israelites, or of a
state not yet erected; Isaiah’s concerning Cyrus; Jeremiah’s concerning
the duration of the Babylonish captivity; Christ’s concerning the
destruction of Jerusalem, and the captivity that was to follow; St.
John’s concerning the great corruption of the Christian church; and
Daniel’s concerning the fourth empire in its declension; which last was
extant in the time of Porphyry, at least; that is, before the events
which it represents. The truth of the proposition might also be argued
from the sublimity and excellence of the doctrines contained in the
Scriptures; in no respect suiting the supposed authors, or the ages in
which they lived, their education or occupation; so that, if they were
the real authors, we are under the necessity of admitting the divine
assistance. The converse of this proposition, namely, that the divine
authority of the Scriptures infers their genuineness, will be readily
and universally acknowledged. Moreover, the truth of the principal facts
contained in the Scriptures proves their divine authority. Such is the
frame of the human mind, that the Scripture history, allowed to be true,
must convince us that Christ, the Prophets, and the Apostles, were
endued with a power greater than human, and acted by the authority of a
Being of the highest wisdom and goodness. By such mode of reasoning it
is shown that the genuineness of the Scriptures, the truth of the
principal facts contained in them, and their divine authority, appear to
be so connected with each other, that, any one being established upon
independent principles, the other two may be inferred from it. On the
subject of the inspiration of the Scriptures, see INSPIRATION.
10. Another argument in favour of the genuineness of the books of the
Old and New Testaments, and of the truth of the principal facts
contained in them, may be deduced from the manner in which they have
been transmitted down from one age to another; resembling that in which
all other genuine books and true histories have been conveyed down to
posterity. As the works of the Greek and Roman writers were considered
by these nations as having been transmitted to them by their ancestors
in a continued succession from the times when the respective authors
lived, so have the books of the Old Testament been accounted by the
Jews, and those of the New by the Christians; and it is an additional
evidence in the last case, that the primitive Christians were not a
distinct nation, but a great multitude of people dispersed through all
the nations of the Roman empire, and even extending itself beyond the
bounds of that empire. As the Greeks and Romans always believed the
principal facts of their historical books, so the Jews and Christians
did more, and never seem to have doubted of the truth of any part of
theirs. In short--whatever can be said of the traditional authority due
to the Greek and Roman writers--something analogous to this, and for the
most part of greater weight, may be urged for the Jewish and Christian.
Now, as all sober minded persons admit the books usually ascribed to the
Greek and Roman historians, philosophers, &c, to be genuine, and the
principal facts related or alluded to in them to be true, and that one
chief evidence for this is the general traditionary one here recited,
they ought, therefore, to pay the same regard to the books of the Old
and New Testaments, since there are the same, or even greater, reasons
for it. Beside, these traditionary evidences are sufficient; and we thus
obtain a real argument, as well as one _ad hominem_, for receiving books
thus handed down to us. For it is not conceivable, that whole nations
should either be imposed upon themselves, or concur to deceive others by
forgeries of books or of facts. These books and facts must therefore, in
general, be genuine and true; and it is a strong additional evidence of
this, that all nations must be jealous of forgeries for the same reasons
as we are.