rapidity, and acknowledged with a universality of consent truly wonderful. Such writings as were directed to particular churches were immediately accredited ; while the circular letters or epistles generally were longer left in doubt. Each individual church and teacher received all of the apostolic writings which they were in a position to ascertain by legitimate evidence. "With regard to most of the books composing our present Bibles general consent was established from the first, while with regard to a few a period of doubt and investigation intervened. During this period they were distributed into two classes. 1st. The homologoumena or universally received, comprising the large majority of the books we possess. 2d. The antilegomena or the controverted, 2d Peter, James, Jude, 2d and 3d John, Kevelations, and Hebrews. Most of this last class, however, were received by the majority of Chris- tians from the beginning, and their evidences, after the most thorough scrutiny, secured universal assent by the fourth cen- tury.— See Jones' New Method, Part I., chap. v. ; Kitto's Bib. Ency., Art. "Antilegomena."
11. Give a synopsis of the argument establishing) the genuine- ness of the boohs contained in the received canon of the New Tes- tament.
1st. Any writing proved to be written by an apostle, or under the supervision of an apostle, is to be regarded as part of the canon of Scripture.
2d. The universal or the nearly universal consent of the early Christians to the fact of the derivation of a Writing from an apostle, or from one wilting under an apostle's supervision, conclusively establishes the right of such a writing to a place in the canon.
3d. The fact that the early Christians unite in testifying to the genuineness of most of the books constituting our New Testa- ment, and that a majority of these witnesses testify to the genu- ineness of all of them, is abundantly proved.
(1.) The early Christian writers in all parts of the world con- sent in quoting as Scripture the writings now embraced in our canon, while they quote all other writings only for illustration, not authority.
(2.) The earliest church fathers, beginning with Origen, about
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A. D. 210, furnish for the guidance of their disciples catalogues of the hooks they held to he canonical. Jones, in his work on the Xew Testament Canon, Yol. I., pp. 60-63, cites thirteen of the earliest catalogues, ranging from A. D. 210 to A. D. 390 ; seven of these agree perfectly with ours ; three others agree per- fectly with ours, only omitting Eevelations ; one other omits only Eevelations and Hebrews : one other agrees with ours, only speaking doubtful of Hebrews ; and one other speaks doubtfully of James, Jude, 2d Peter, 2d and 3d John.
(3.) The earliest translations of the Scriptures into other lan- guages prove that, at the time they were made, the books they contain were recognized as Scripture, a. The Peshito or ancient Syriac translation, made during the first or second century, includes the four gospels, Acts, all the epistles of Paul, the epistle of James, and the 1st epistle of John, and the 1st of Peter. Eevelations was probably longer in being recognized, because its contents were so mysterious that it was not as much read or as diligently circu- lated as the others, b. The Italic or early Latin version is not now extant, but it is believed to have contained the same books afterwards embraced in the vulgate or version of St. Jerome, A. D . 3S5, which agrees wholly with ours.
4th. The internal evidences corroborate the external testimony.
(1.) The language in which these books were written (later Greek qualified by Hebrew idiom) proves their authors to have' lived in Palestine, and at the precise age of the world in which their reputed authors did live there.
(2.) They present precisely that unity in essentials with cir- cumstantial diversities which is most convincing. Paley (in his Horae Paulina?) has demonstrated that the Acts and the Pauline Epistles mutually confirm each other. See also Blunt's Unde- signed Coincidences, and the various Harmonies of the Gospels. The whole Xew Testament forms an inseparable whole.
(3.) They have all been found precious by God's spiritual church of all ages, and are quick and powerful to the conscience.
5th. With respect to those smaller writings, the testimony for which is not as absolutely unanimous as for the rest, there re- mains this invincible presumption, that God would not permit his true people all over the world and of all ages to corrupt his word with the admixture of human compositions.
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98 THE CANON OF SCRIPTURE.
12. What special questions do the writings of Mark and Luke present ?
The testimony that the second and third gospels were really written by these men is unanimous and unquestioned, but as they were not apostles the question is as to the proof that their writ- ings are inspired.