There is probably no book on earth that has ever had anything like
so large a circulation as that which is known as the Bible; and yet
few among the many millions who possess a copy ever think of asking
themselves the question, “Where and how did it originate?” They are
satisfied with the _ipse dixit_ of their parson that it “came from
God.” That may be sufficient to satisfy the unthinking multitude, but
it does not suffice for thinking people, who prefer to follow the
dictates of their reason rather than rest on the mere word of a man or
a number of men who are paid to preach that the Bible is the word of
God, and whose incomes would cease if their followers thought otherwise.
What is this Bible? Where did it come from? Let us see. As we now
have it, it consists of a number of books, which are divided into two
main portions, the Old and the New Testaments, the former being made
up of the five books said to have been written by Moses under God’s
inspiration, and called the Pentateuch, and a number of historical,
poetical, and prophetic writings; and the latter consisting of four
narratives of the life of Jesus, called the Gospels, a narrative of
the Acts of the Apostles, a number of letters, and the Vision or
Revelation of one John. The number of books which make up the Bible
has varied from time to time, according to the fancy of the age; but
about 360 years since a Council of Protestants determined that a number
of hitherto received sacred writings were not the “Word of God,” and
finally decided that only those now included in the authorised version
were of divine origin. Before that time the following books had formed
part of the Bible—viz., Tobit and Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus,
Baruch, Epistle of Jeremiah, Song of the Three Children, Susanna, Bel
and the Dragon, and Maccabees, all of which are considered canonical at
the present time by the Roman Catholic Church. Besides these writings
there are a large number of others that have, at different times,
occupied positions of honour in this ever-varying compilation, but
which are now almost forgotten by pious divines, and entirely unknown
by their credulous and ignorant dupes.
Dr. Dupin, Professor of Philosophy at the Paris University, and one of
the most pious and learned Christian writers of his time, gives a list
of over 150 books that have, from time to time, been held sacred, and
said to have formed part of the “Word of God,” as follows:—