the injunctions of the Apostles on a level with the words spoken by the holy Prophets in former ages, and recognises the Epistles of his beloved brother Paul' as a part of the Sacred Writings (2 Peter iii. 2; 15, 16).

6

Thus, then, the Christian Church has received as authoritative the writings which could justly claim Apostolic authorship or Apostolic authorisation. Respecting a few of the Books comprehended in the New Testament, as the Second Epistle of St. Peter and the Epistle to the Hebrews, doubts were entertained, for some years, in some of the Churches; but the Canon, as we now have it, was finally settled at the third Council of Carthage, A.D. 397; and the Christian Church justly prizes its Sacred Writings as its greatest treasure.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE SACRED WRITINGS OF CHRISTIANITY-THE FORMATION OF THE CANON OF THE

IT

NEW

TESTAMENT-INSPIRATION—

PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION.

T is not difficult to form a conception of the manner in which the collection of Sacred Books which we designate the New Testament was formed. The worship of the early Christian Churches resembled, to a great extent, that of the Jewish synagogue. Not only was solemn prayer offered to God, but the ancient Scriptures were publicly read, and addresses and exhortations founded upon them were delivered. In Christian assemblies the elder or elders who gave addresses set forth the facts of the life, the death, and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, unfolded the doctrines of the gospel, and enforced the duties which it inculcated. Usually, also, on the Lord's day, the supper of the Lord was observed, as a solemn act of spiritual communion and of a covenant-relation to God in Christ.

It will give vividness to our conceptions if we select a particular case, to illustrate the gradual formation of the canon of the New Testament. The Church at Philippi was founded by the Apostle Paul; and he ever cherished towards it a peculiar attachment. In his absence, the elders of that Church, doubtless, often referred to his teaching, while they encouraged the believers to steadfastness in their profession, and to a holy walk and conversation. But on one Lord's day a special interest is given to the assembling of that Church. St. Paul is a prisoner at Rome, uncertain whether he will ever be

permitted to visit them again, or whether his earthly career will be speedily closed. The Philippian Christians have not been unmindful of his position and wants. They have sent to him Epaphroditus with a practical expression of their sympathy and love. And now, once more, Epaphroditus appears in their midst, bringing with him a Letter from the revered and beloved Apostle who had led many among them to Christ. That Letter is publicly read in their assembly, just as the Scriptures of the Old Testament are read; and henceforth the Epistle to the Philippians takes its place among the Sacred Writings, and is read again and again as an authoritative exposition of Christian doctrine and duty. Nor is this all. The Church at Philippi learns that other Epistles have been sent by St. Paul to other Christian Churches; and, while rejoicing to send copies of that addressed to them to every Christian community within their reach, they take measures to procure copies of these other Epistles.

It is pleasing to trace, in the New Testament, the intimations of the intercourse which subsisted between neighbouring Churches, as well as the solicitude of the Apostles, that their writings should be publicly read and carefully pondered. In the very earliest of St. Paul's Epistles,-the first of those to the Thessalonians, he says, 'I adjure you by the Lord that this Epistle be read unto all the brethren' (1 Thess. v. 27); and in closing his Epistle to the Church at Colossæ, he writes, And when this Epistle hath been read among you, cause that it be read also in the Church of the Laodiceans, and that ye also read the Epistle from Laodicea,'-this last being, in all probability, the Epistle to the Ephesians, which, as a circular Epistle, was doubtless addressed to many Churches in that district. In these passages there is a distinct recognition of the practice which obtained in the early Christian Churches of publicly reading the writings of the Apostles, a practice continued among us to this very day, and which afforded the greatest possible security for the uncorrupted preservation of these invaluable documents.

By this process the collection of the Christian Scriptures was gradually formed, the Memoirs of the Saviour's life and ministry written by Apostles, or authenticated by them,-the Gospel of St. Mark, for instance, being authenticated by St. Peter, and that of St. Luke by St. Paul,-together with the Letters of the Apostles, being read in the Churches as on a level with the Scriptures of the Old Testament.

It is not within the design of this work to exhibit the evidence by which the genuineness and authenticity of the several Books of the New Testament are sustained. This evidence belongs rather to the province of Introduction to the Books respectively. But it is important to note that these writings are appealed to by a succession of Christian authors, from the time of the Apostles until now; and some of them, in particular, are very largely quoted. It may be safely affirmed, that the study of the works comprehended in the Ante-Nicene Christian Library will produce a profound conviction, that the writings which we now read in our Christian assemblies as the Books of the New Covenant are those which have been so read in Christian Churches from the earliest ages.

One illustration of this subject may be briefly given. The testimonies of early Christian writers to the Fourth Gospel are numerous and striking. Justin Martyr, to whom we have already referred, quotes, in his first Apology, as the words of our Lord, Except ye be born again, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.' Hippolytus, who wrote towards the close of the second, or the beginning of the third, century, says, Thus, then, was the Word made flesh, even as the blessed John says. For he sums up the things that were said by the prophets, and shows that this is the Word, by whom all things were made. For he speaks to this effect, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made." And afterwards he says, "The world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not; He came unto His own, and His own received Him not." The

testimony of Irenæus is still more copious and striking. This eminent man, having spent his earlier years in Asia Minor, removed to Gaul, and became bishop of the Church at Lyons about A.D. 180. He wrote an elaborate treatise ' Against Heresies.' In refutation of the sentiment of the Gnostics, that the God of the Old Testament, the Creator of the world, in which so much evil is found, was a different Being from the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, he appeals to almost innumerable passages of the Holy Scriptures, and he quotes largely from the Gospel according to St. John. Having cited passages from the Gospels of St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. Luke, in opposition to the error in question, he goes on to say, 'John, the disciple of the Lord, preaches this faith, and seeks, by the proclamation of the Gospel, to remove that error which by Cerinthus had been disseminated among men, and a long time previously by those termed Nicolaitans, that he might confound them, and persuade them that there is but one God, who made all things by His Word; and not, as they allege, that the Creator was one, but the Father of our Lord another. The disciple of the Lord, therefore, desiring to put an end to all such doctrines, and to establish the rule of truth in the Church, that there is one Almighty God, who made all things by His Word, both visible and invisible; showing, at the same time, that by the Word, through whom God made the creation, He also bestowed salvation on the men included in the creation, thus commenced his teaching in the Gospel:"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made. What was made was life in Him, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not."'* In a similar manner does Irenæus quote passage after passage from the fourth Gospel, as written by that Apostle who was favoured with the special friendship of the adorable Redeemer. *Against Heresies,' Book III., ch. xi. Clark's Ante-Nicene Library.