But though the ancient MSS. of the Scriptures which have descended to our times have not been wilfully al- tered, they have, nevertheless, been subject to the vicis- situdes incident to copying in the course of transmis- sion. Still, the uniformity of the MSS. which are dis- persed in so many countries and in so great variety of languages is truly astonishing. The various readings consist almost wholly in palpable errors in transcrip- tion, grammatical and verbal differences, such as the insertion or omission of a letter or article, the substitu- tion of a word for its e(|idvalent, or the transposition of a word or two in a sentence. Taken altogether, the)' neither change nor affect a single doctrine or duty an- nounced or enjoined in the Word of (iod. From the recent herculean labors in examining the IMSS. and col- lecting the variations, we have for tiie New 'I'est. the in- vestigations of iMill, Bengel, Wettstein, (iriesbach, ]\Iat- thasi, Scholz, Lachniann, Tischendorf, Mai, Tregelles, and Scrivener, who have examined several hundreds of MSS. and compared their differences. The old versions also, such as the several Syriac copies, tiie Latin, (Joth- ic, etc., have been C(imi)ared and tlieir sujiposed varia- tions added to the lists. Even the quotations found in the fathers have been sulijected to the same ordeal, and all their discrepancies and peculiarities seized on and subjoined to the formidable catalogue. The vari- ous readings of Greek New-Test. Scriptures, thus multi-
plied by the fidelity of collators, may now amount to more than u hniidrt'd tlidinfund. Tliis immense com- bination of labor has established so convincingly the astonishing preservation of the sacred text, cojiied, nevertheless, so many thousands of times — in Hebrew during thirty-three centuries, and in Greek during eighteen hundred years — that the hopes of the enemies of religion in this channel have been overwhelmed; while the faithfid can rijoice in the fact that they pos- sess in all their puritj- those writings which are able to make them wise unto salvation.
SCRIPTURES, UsK of, in the Early Ciiukch. We have seen above that great care was taken by the fathers of the Christian Church to secure a speedy trans- lation of the Scriptures into the languages of the sev- eral nations as they were converted to Christianity. Eu- sebius (/Ve Fraj). EiHm(f.\\h.Ti.i\,c.\) saj'S, "Thej' were translated into all languages throughout the world ;" while Theodoret (/>e Ciirund. Gro'cor. Affect. Serin. 5, t. 4, p, 555) declares " that every nation under heaven had the Scripture in its own tongue." This translation was done to encourage its reading bj' the people, and, still further to secure this end, it was an ancient custom to have Bibles in the vulgar tongues laid in a convenient part of the church for the people at their leisure to em- ploy themselves in reading. Not only men and women were allowed to read, but children also were encouraged and trained from their infancy to tlie reading of the Holv Scriptures. Catechumens were obliged to learn the Scriptures as part of their discipline and instruction, and they formed the chief part of the studies of the cler- gy. Both the clergy and monks were -accustomed to have them read to them at their meals, and many be- came so well versed in the Scriptures that they could repeat them by heart. Nor were the people denied the privilege of reading the Scriptures in their liomes, but were rather encouraged to thus [irepare themselves for the public services. In these latter the Scripture les- sons, which were always two at least, and sometimes three or four, were taken from both the Old and the New Test., except in the Churcii of Rome, where oidy epis- tle and gospel were read. Those who witliheld the Scrijitures from the peo|)le were considered to be guilty of sacrilege; but such an offence was unknown to the ancients. It was considered a crime to yield up the Scriptures to persecutors demanding them, and those thus guilty were styled Iraditores, or betrayers. See Bingham, Christian Antiq. (see Index).
Scriver, Chuistian, a Lutheran clergyman and writer of devotional works in the 17th century, tlie con- temporary and friend of Spencr, was born at Rendshurg, in Holstein, Jan. 2, IC'29. His childhood was spent ini- der the care of a widowed mother in the trying period of the Thirty Years' War; but a wealthy merchant— the brother of Scriver's grandmot Iter— finally made provi- sion for his needs. After suitable preparatory studies, Scriver became a private tutor, and in 1G47 entered the University of Rostock. In 1(J53 he was archdeacon at Stendal, and in 16G7 pastor at Magdeburg, witli which position he combined other offices, e. g. that of a schol- arch, and finally a senior in I he government of the Church. He refused to leave INIagdeburg in answer lo repeated calls to Halbersta<it, to Berlin, and to the court of Stockholm, but was in advanced age induced to ac- cept the post of court preacfier at Quedlinburg. In lOlt'i he suffered an apoplectic stroke, and on April 6, 1693, he died. He had been married four times, and had had fourteen children born to him, but he outlived all his wives and children except one son and one daughter.
The name of Scriver has lived among the common people through the publication of his Seelenschalz (Mag- deburg and Leips. 1737; Schaff'hausen, 1738 sq., 5 ))arts in 2 vols, fol.), a manual of devotion which he dedi- cated to "the Triune God." and which deserves high commendation. Another work deserving of mention is