ffc, 
 
 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, j 
 
 
HISTORY 
 
 NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 Biographical Sketch 
 
 JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 By CORTES JACKSON. 
 
 "Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth. 
 
 
 DENVER, COLO.: 
 
 Collier & Cleaveland Lith. Co. 
 
 Printers. 
 
 1887. 
 
.Si 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1887, 
 
 By CORTES JACKSON, 
 
 [n the office of the Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C. 
 
TO 
 
 My loved, and venerable 
 
 (Hotter, 
 
 Whose sweet counsel for more than three-score 
 years has oast a soft light along life's path- 
 way, ever pointing onward and upward 
 to that city whose builder and 
 maker is God, this volume 
 is affectionately in- 
 scribed. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR, 
 
INTRODUCTION- 
 
 PUSTCE the day that St. John held the pen of 
 ^ inspiration on the Isle of Patmos to the 
 present, never has the spirit of inquiry been 
 as active. Truly, men are running to and fro, 
 seeking more light — particularly on matters of 
 a religious character ; men are eagerly look- 
 ing this way and that seeking for light on the 
 one, all absorbing theme of a future state. 
 This spirit of inquiry may be seen animating 
 the bright faces of children in our Sunday 
 Schools. 
 
 Religion is bold enough to hold out the hand 
 of honest investigation, and shrinks not from 
 the most searching criticism. The Bible is 
 the book that proposes to solve this, the most 
 intricate of all problems ; for this reason the 
 Bible is subjected to a fiery ordeal from some 
 of the most subtle and powerful minds of the 
 age, but, thank God, His flaming sword is 
 guarding His sacred word ; the face of Moses 
 shines as bright as when the brow of Sinai 
 smoked as a furnace and a nation worshipped 
 
at the feet of their Creator. The wisdom of 
 Job throws a strong light on ancient literature ; 
 his integrity to God is soothing ten thousand 
 bleeding hearts the world over. The clarion 
 notes of Joshua's trumpet are shaking the 
 walls of the Pa^an world ; the name and smoke 
 from Elijah's altar is typified in the hearts of 
 enlightened nations. The Samsons are not 
 all slumbering on the lap of Delilah, the spirit 
 of David is in the field, the prophetic words 
 of Isaiah are as immovable as the polar star, 
 the wisdom of Solomon has lost none of its 
 power, and the voice of Him who spake on 
 the placid waters of Galilee as never man 
 spake, and the scathing words of Peter who 
 spoke in the presence of the Holy Spirit, the 
 eloquent tongue of Paul, the fiery words of 
 James, and John, the leading star of the world 
 in sublime imagery — the combined wisdom of 
 these matchless spirits constitute the beacon 
 light of the grandest spirits of the age, and a 
 grand army of men have this motto inscribed 
 on their banner, "I am the light of the world," 
 and the marching order of this invincible army 
 is, "Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations." 
 
The highest aim of a Christian's life should 
 be to have his name enrolled in this army of 
 the faithful, and ready to give an answer to 
 every man that asketh you a reason of the 
 hope that is in you with meekness and fear. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THE Apostle Paul writes to his son Timothy, 
 "From a child thou hast known the Holy 
 Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise 
 unto salvation through faith which is in Christ 
 Jesus." These words of the apostle have 
 prompted me to gather some of the most 
 prominent historical facts pertaining to the 
 history of our New Testament, putting them 
 in book form — hoping they will assist young 
 persons to see the genuineness of the New 
 Testament books— not knowing of a similar 
 work for Sunday schools, and believing the 
 words of God are in harmony with such work 
 — Deut. vi. 7, "And thou shalt teach them dili- 
 gently unto thy children, and thou shalt talk 
 of them when thou sittest in thine house, and 
 when thou walkest by the way, and when thou 
 liest down and when thou risest up." The 
 Saviour taught, "Suffer little children to come 
 unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven." 
 Let us remember well the destiny of our 
 
6 
 
 state and church will soon be committed to 
 the hands of the children of the coming gen- 
 eration. This truth cannot be too firmly im- 
 pressed on the hearts of those who love the 
 words of Jesus, "And ye shall know the truth, 
 and the truth shall make you free." And the 
 words of the apostle testify, "Where the spirit 
 of the Lord is there is liberty." As we are 
 walking in the sunshine of this blessed freedom 
 may God help us to guard with a jealous eye 
 the liberties of our children, remembering 
 that, to a large extent, our public schools have 
 been robbed of the Bible, and the children 
 left to grope their way in moral darkness by 
 a power that thinks no good of our religious 
 liberty. This should force us to be the more 
 determined to teach the Bible and Bible liter- 
 ature in our Sunday Schools that children may 
 know the certainty of those things wherein 
 they are instructed, remembering it is a 
 Christian duty to "walk in wisdom toward 
 them that are without, redeeming the time." 
 
 As to the general arrangement of this work, 
 it may not be all that could be desired, but I 
 trust its simplicity and truthfulness will claim 
 
for it an acceptable place in Sunday School 
 literature. 
 
 I hope, giving the Apostle Peter a promi- 
 nent position among those who compiled the 
 New Testament will meet with thoughtful 
 consideration from those who have not con- 
 sidered him in this line of work. 
 
 If this book becomes a favorite with that 
 class of people who have neither time nor 
 means to acquire such knowledge, I have ob- 
 tained my reward. 
 
 ESP^I hope, as far as practicable, teachers 
 in Sunday Schools will introduce this as a 
 premium booh. 
 
History of the Now Testament 
 
 No book has so firmly rooted itself in the 
 heart of the American people as the New 
 Testament Scriptures. In the innermost life 
 of the American home its silent teachings 
 have moulded the characters of the grandest 
 and purest of our nation, by whose wisdom 
 the tree of religious and political liberty has 
 been enabled so to nourish that nations are 
 crowding to seek a home under the shadow 
 of its branches. The Bible, by its fruits, has 
 forced the infidel to admit it is the book of 
 Christian civilization; and shall I hesitate to 
 spread before the children of our Sunday 
 Schools a history of our New Testament? 
 Surely they are entitled to such knowledge 
 as large numbers are devout Christians. God 
 being my help, they shall have a few historical 
 facts, easily understood, and which no man 
 will gainsay. In commencing, it will simplify 
 the work to submit a few questions. 
 
 i. How many books are there in the New 
 Testament I 
 
10 
 
 2. By whom were they written ? 
 
 3. Who selected the books ? 
 
 4. At what time was the work done ? 
 
 5. By what rule was the selection guided ? 
 
 6. About what time was the work com- 
 pleted ? 
 
 7. How were the books preserved ? 
 
 To answer these questions plainly, seems to 
 be a duty imposed on Christians by the words 
 of the apostle, Col. iv.- "Walk in wisdom 
 toward them that are without, that ye may 
 know how ye ought to answer every man." 
 The first question is briefly answered by stat- 
 ing that the New Testament is composed of 
 twenty-seven books. 
 
 The second question is easily disposed of 
 by saying, from the most reliable testimony, 
 it is admitted that they were written by 
 Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, James, 
 Peter and Jude. 
 
 Before answering the third query, it will 
 not be without interest to notice a few things 
 pertaining to these books. They were written 
 at different times; often the writers were 
 wide apart. Matthew wrote while in Judea; 
 
11 
 
 Mark, in Rome; Luke, in Greece; John, in 
 Ephesus; Paul, in Corinth. Some were writ- 
 ten to churches, others to individuals; not 
 unfrequently they were written under the 
 most trying circumstances, as the Asostle Paul 
 wrote chained in prison, weeping. Most of 
 these writers were illiterate ; but Luke was a 
 physician and a learned man. Paul's writings 
 reveal the greatness of his natural and acquired 
 abilities. On undisputed authority it appears 
 about the close of the first century a number 
 of historical books of the character of Mat 
 thew, Luke and John had been written, setting 
 forth the life, doctrine, death, resurrection and 
 ascension of Jesus Christ of Bethlehem of 
 Judea, and a great many epistles written by 
 the Apostles and other Christians on matters 
 relating to the building up of the churches. 
 Possibly one hundred and fifty books of this 
 character at this time might have been found 
 deposited in chests belonging to the older 
 churches — Jerusalem, Ephesus, Rome and 
 others. How the work of examining and 
 testing these books, selecting those of a 
 divine character, and rejecting others, and by 
 
12 
 
 whom this work was commenced, should be 
 shown clearly and certainly. The Apostle 
 Paul justifies this position in his defence be- 
 fore King Agrippa : "I speak freely ; for I 
 am persuaded that none of these things are 
 hidden from Him, for this thing was not done 
 in a corner." In one of his epistles he testifies 
 that Christ was seen at one time after his res- 
 urrection of about live hundred brethren. 
 "After that he was seen of James; then of 
 all the Apostles." 
 
 The apostles sought not out of the way 
 places, neither did they confine their manifes- 
 tations of supernatural power to the rabble, 
 but preferred large cities, the centers of power 
 and learning, and shrank not from the pres- 
 ence of philosophers, statesmen and rulers of 
 nations. That man)' had in the times of the 
 apostles written concerning Christ and His 
 doctrine, may be inferred from reading the 
 first chapter of Luke, "For as much as many 
 have taken in hand to set in order .a declara- 
 tion of those things which are most surely 
 believed among us, it seemed good to me to 
 write unto thee in order, most excellent The- 
 
13 
 
 ophilus." Probably this was written before 
 A. D. 60. Luke warrants the conclusion that 
 many of those historical books had been writ- 
 ten at this early date. In the fifteenth chapter 
 of the book of Acts it is recorded that letters 
 were written by the church in Jerusalem and 
 sent to the brethren in Antioch Syria and 
 Cilicia by the hands of Barnabas and Paul 
 about the year A. D. 52. When these epis- 
 tles were read the brethren rejoiced. In the 
 Apostle Paul's letter to the Colossians he 
 requests that his epistle be read to the Laocli- 
 ceans. These books and epistles were written 
 on vellum or parchment made from the skins 
 of goats or sheep, prepared for the purpose. 
 When not in use they were rolled up and 
 deposited in a chest, kept in the church for 
 such purposes, and carefully guarded. Such 
 was the practice of the early Jews. What 
 Moses received of God he was commanded to 
 write in a book. Ex. xvii., 14. "And Moses 
 instructed the Levites to take the book of the 
 law and put it in the side of the Ark of the 
 Covenant." Deut. xxxi., 26. 
 
 To show that such was the custom of the 
 
14 
 
 early churches, we give a quotation from a 
 writer of note who lived in the Second cen- 
 tury, Marcion. who says that the gospels came 
 down "from the very beginning" and "from 
 the apostles," and bad been kept as a sacred 
 deposit in churches planted by the personal 
 labors of the apostles. The practice of send- 
 ing epistles from one church to another, we 
 have shown from Paul's letter to the Colossians; 
 by such practice the early churches became 
 familiar with the writings and teachings of 
 each other. This fact is plainly taught by the 
 following words of the Apostle Peter, "Even 
 as our beloved Brother Paul, also, according 
 to the wisdom given him, hath written to you ; 
 as also in all his epistles." In those days the 
 apostles often traveled from one church to 
 another, "and when they had preached the 
 gospel to that city and had taught many, they 
 returned again to Lystria and to Iconium and 
 Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples/' 
 In those days of trial and persecution the 
 churches felt they were bound together by a 
 common cause, as they had a common enemy* 
 To encourage them they received special words 
 
15 
 
 from the Holy Spirit. Such words are found 
 in Acts, "The Holy Spirit said, separate me, 
 Barnabus and Saul." Often they were animated 
 by a love of independence, as Paul declares in 
 his first epistle to the Thessalonians, that he, 
 " laboring night and day because he would not 
 be chargeable unto any of you, we preached 
 unto you the gospel of Grod." In these clays of 
 poverty, toil and bitter persecution, books and 
 epistles continued to accumulate in the churches. 
 No doubt this fact arrested the attention of 
 the apostles. Possibly as early as the year 
 50, they began to realize the truth that so 
 many books would lead to confusion, errors 
 and probably divisions. The question would 
 naturally come up, are all these books to be 
 accepted in the churches as the word of God ? 
 Should not these books be carefully examined 
 by competent authority \ Did not the words 
 of the Saviour furnish this power? He had 
 taught the apostles that the Holy Spirit should 
 •teach them all things, and bring all things to 
 their remembrance whatsoever He had said 
 to them. Again He taught : When the spirit 
 of truth is come, He will guide you into all 
 
16 
 
 truth. Did not this teaching foreshadow the 
 future work of the Apostles ? Were they not 
 careful to follow the instructions of the Holy 
 Spirit, that the apostles considered it a part 
 of their mission to put whatever they had 
 taught the churches in writing, that they might 
 be kept for the use of the church in future 
 ages. 
 
 This may be gathered from the Second 
 Epistle of Peter, "Moreover, I will endeavor 
 that ye may be able after my decease to have 
 these things always in remembrance ;" from 
 the words of the Saviour to Peter, " I will 
 give unto thee the keys of the Kingdom of 
 Heaven." At another time He spoke to him 
 in tjiis wise, "Feed my sheep ; feed my lambs." 
 From such scripture would not the eyes of 
 the apostles and the church be turned to 
 Peter as the man to commence one of the 
 most important works ever committed to the 
 hands of the primitive church, namely, the 
 selecting of those books that should be re- 
 ceived in the church as the word of God in 
 all ages to come ? Were not the apostles 
 with him on the day of Pentacost, when be 
 
 
17 
 
 nobly began this work by standing up in the 
 presence of the Holy Spirit and preaching 
 Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and pro- 
 claimed His triumphant resurrection? And 
 a few years after who but Peter, in the face of 
 his Jewish brethren, had the boldness to preach 
 free salvation to Jew and Gentile, testifying, 
 "of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter 
 of persons, but in every nation he that feareth 
 Him and worketh righteousness is accepted 
 with him ? " Also, on reading his words as 
 recorded in his Second Epistle, "Even as our 
 beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom 
 given unto him, hath written unto you in all his 
 Epistles." Here are the Epistles of Paul 
 spoken of by Peter, and their wisdom admitted 
 from this time to the present. Have not the 
 Epistles of Paul been generally admitted as a 
 part of God's word ? With these facts before 
 us, can we reasonably draw any other conclu- 
 sion than that the Apostle Peter commenced 
 the work of selecting those books which com- 
 pose our New Testament ? 
 
 Is it not pleasant to realize that Peter, for 
 more than eighteen centuries, has been feed- 
 
18 
 
 ing the lambs of God with the bread of life \ 
 All are willing to admit that Peter was 
 guided by the Holy Spirit, and wrote his 
 epistles about the year CO. If the conclusion 
 reached is not at fault, it shows that the work 
 of compiling the New Testament was begun 
 as early as A. D. 60. From the best history 
 we have, this work was continued for more 
 than forty years by the Apostles, fathers and 
 elders of the churches, in a work of such vital 
 importance to the perpetuity of the church 
 and salvation of. men. I believe good men 
 are ready to admit those men were guided by 
 the light of God's word, and upheld by the 
 power of His Holy Spirit; and no doubt the 
 following words of Jesus were like bright 
 clouds by day and a pillar of fire by night: 
 "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh 
 profiteth nothing; the words that I speak 
 unto you, they are spirit and they are life." 
 Possibly these words were constantly before 
 those holy men, as a rule to guide them in 
 this work ; and those sacred books and Epistles 
 that possessed the power to enlighten the 
 mind and quicken the heart, imparting a 
 
19 
 
 spiritual life, were accepted as God's word. 
 This was divine testimony, and no other than 
 the work of the Holy Spirit. Such books 
 were not slow in taking a deep and lasting 
 hold on the hearts and lives of individuals, 
 rapidly gaining power over one congregation 
 and another, confirming the truth that they 
 were the words of the Holy Spirit. In testi- 
 mony whereof, the Apostle James writes: 
 "Of His own will begat us with the word of 
 truth." This grand work of the Spirit went 
 on quietly ; no confusion, no strife, but swiftly 
 from church to church. Their power was felt 
 in the various churches of the first century. 
 Scattered abroad in many countries, those 
 books which make up the New Testament 
 were chosen as God's word. Those books 
 that failed to enlighten the mind and impart 
 a spiritual life were neglected and rapidly 
 went out of use, and but very few have sur- 
 vived to the present time. Remember, up to 
 this time history furnishes no account of the 
 convening of a general council of the various 
 churches for the purpose of deciding what 
 books or Epistles should be accepted as the 
 
20 
 
 word of God, and what books should be re- 
 jected; but, as shown above, this important 
 work was quietly performed by good and 
 faithful men, guided by the word and spirit 
 of the Lord. 
 
 From reliable history it is probable that 
 prior to the year A. D. 50, quite a number of 
 the New Testament books were in use among 
 the churches. It is generally admitted that 
 the Apostle John lived to about the close of 
 the First century ; and if we conclude that at 
 this time all of our sacred books were received 
 in the churches as divine, we cannot be far 
 from the truth. Possibly John may have 
 been familiar with most of them. 
 
 To show that the books of the New Testa- 
 ment were written and received as God's word 
 in the First century, we will introduce the 
 testimony of men of undoubted character, 
 who wrote in the Second, Third and Fourth 
 centuries. It has been said, as pertaining to 
 the history of the church of the Second cen- 
 tury, Polycarp stands pre-eminent, He was 
 born about the year A. D. 58, and very early 
 in life became a member of the church, prob- 
 
21 
 
 ably when about fifteen years old. "Remem- 
 ber thy Creator in the days of thy youth." 
 From reliable church history it is reasonable 
 to believe that he had "conversed with many 
 who had seen Christ," and that "he was 
 instructed by Apostles." For many years 
 he was Bishop of the church in Smyrna. It 
 is stated that he was a disciple of the Apostle 
 John about the close of the First century. He 
 was a man of character and standing among 
 the churches that had been planted by the 
 Apostles. This gave him the best of oppor- 
 tunity of being acquainted with their writings. 
 He wrote a number of epistles to the different 
 churches ; one of these, written to the church 
 in Philippi, has been preserved. It was writ- 
 ten about the year 115. In this he alludes 
 to Paul's Epistle to the same church, and 
 exhorting the brethren to observe its teach- 
 ings. He makes frequent quotations from 
 the historic books of Matthew, Luke and 
 Mark, making liberal quotations from Acts, 
 most of Paul's Epistles, and one of Peter's; 
 sometimes quoting almost entire chapters. 
 These facts, coming from a man who had 
 
22 
 
 been taught by an Apostle, is undoubted tes- 
 timony that those books were in use in the 
 churches in his time as books written by the 
 authority of the Holy Spirit Such a conclu- 
 sion stands firm to the present day. 
 
 Irenseus, Bishop of Lyons, about 176, wrote 
 that he had seen and talked with Polycarp. 
 "I can tell the place in which the blessed 
 Polycarp sat and taught, and his going out 
 and coming in, and the manner of his life ; 
 how he related his conversation with John 
 and others who had seen the Lord ; all which 
 Polycarp related agreeably to the Scriptures. , ' 
 This godly man ended his life at a martyr's 
 stake about the year 155. 
 
 The second person we call attention to is 
 Clement of Alexandria, born about the year 
 166 ; a man of learning, whose influence was 
 felt over a large portion of the civilized world. 
 From the writings of Eusebius, it appears that 
 Clement speaks of Paul's Epistle to the 
 Hebrews as being written in Hebrew, and 
 translated by Luke into the Greek. Quite a 
 number of his writings are extant. From 
 these we can gather every name of the New 
 
23 
 
 Testament books, except three or four of the 
 Epistles. Eusebius testifies that he made no 
 regular catalogue of New Testament books, 
 but he gave an explanation of them all, which 
 is equivalent. 
 
 The next person is Tertullian of Carthage, 
 a man of great influence in the churches of 
 Africa. He wrote about the close of the 
 Second century. He testifies that in his time 
 there was a Latin version of the New Testa- 
 ment current in Africa; on sifting carefully 
 the testimony of these three eminent men, 
 may not the conclusion be a safe one, that at 
 the close of the Second century all the princi- 
 pal books of the New Testament were current 
 all over the civilized world as the works of 
 the authors to whom we still ascribe them? 
 Tertullian was the one to give this collection 
 of books the title of the New Testament. 
 
 In order to correct an erroneous impression, 
 which has gained a foothold in the minds of 
 many good people, permit us to make the 
 following statements : According to church 
 history, about 364, a large number of churches 
 met in council in Laodicea ; and, some thirty- 
 
24 
 
 three years after, a similar council convened 
 in Carthage, largely represented by churches 
 in Africa. Remember, the object of those 
 councils 'was not for the purpose of decid- 
 ing what books should be received by the 
 churches, and what should be rejected; noth- 
 ing of this nature was attempted. Their main 
 object appears to have been to confirm in use 
 those sacred books which had been handed 
 down to the churches by the fathers. (Those 
 fathers were the apostles, elders and early 
 disciples, who had gained positions of noto- 
 riety in the church by their godly work.) 
 Please bear in mind, in those councils no 
 attempt was made to vote any of the books 
 of the New Testament into position or out of 
 position, into power or out of power, as a vote 
 is usually taken ; but many years before those 
 councils convened, those books which com- 
 pose our New Testament had gained their 
 places in the hearts, and their power over the 
 lives of the early Christians, as has been stated 
 above. 
 
 It will be of interest to the young reader to 
 give a few items concerning the council which 
 
25 
 
 met in Carthage about A. D. 397. It was 
 
 composed of the bishops of the African 
 churches in the Roman province of that 
 name. This council recorded the names of 
 the books of the New Testament in the fol- 
 lowing order: "Pour books of the Gospels, 
 one book of Acts of Apostles, thirteen Epistles 
 of the Apostle Paul, one of the same to the 
 Hebrews, two Epistles of the Apostle Peter, 
 three of John, one of James, one of Judas, 
 one book of the Apocalypse of John." In 
 conclusion, the council states: "We have 
 received from our fathers that these are to 
 be read in the churches." Please notice these 
 words — no voting, no effort to place any book 
 into position or out, but confirming the use of 
 those books received and in use by the fathers 
 of the churches. 
 
 In connection with what has been said, 
 will not the words of Paul be in place — 
 1 Cor. xv. 3 : " For I delivered unto you, 
 first of all, that which I received; how that 
 Christ died for our sins, according to the 
 Scriptures ; was seen of Cephas, then of the 
 twelve; after that He was seen of about five 
 
26 
 
 hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater 
 part remain unto this present ; after that He 
 was seen of James, then of all the Apostles; 
 last of all He was seen of me." Remember, 
 this is Paul's testimony, written while he was 
 in Philippi, about twenty-seven years after 
 the crucifixion of Christ. About three years 
 after this the Apostle Peter, writing from 
 Babylon, testifies, 11 Pet., i:lC, "For we have 
 not followed cunningly devised fables when 
 we made known unto you the power and 
 coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were 
 eye witnesses of His Majesty." Peter declares 
 that he has written these things, that after his 
 decease the brethren might always have them 
 in remembrance. These words of Peter are 
 worthy of note ; that his testimony should be 
 kept in remembrance in all ages by the 
 churches. Is not this satisfactory evidence 
 that, about the close of the Fourth century, all 
 the books of our New Testament were in use 
 as "Divine Scriptures," and had been held in 
 high esteem by the "Fathers" of the venerable 
 Bishops who sat in this council ? And they 
 testify that these books had been in use so 
 
27 
 
 long as to be regarded by them as having 
 proceeded from the Apostles. It will be of 
 interest to state that Athanasius of Alexandria, 
 a noted Greek writer, who wrote about A. D. 
 340, gives a list of the New Testament books, 
 which is the same as we have, lie declares 
 that those who had been "eye witnesses and 
 ministers of the Word" had delivered these 
 to the fathers. 
 
 Eusebius, who wrote the first church his- 
 tory that has come down to our day, flourished 
 in the close of the Third century. He is 
 called the- father of church history. It ap- 
 pears he was Bishop of the church in Csesarea. 
 He lived in the time of a severe persecution, 
 which took place in the year 305 of Diocletian, 
 a Roman emperor, when all the books of the 
 Sacred Scriptures were commanded to be 
 burned. This shows that at this early date 
 the Christian Scriptures were well known to 
 the heathen world, and in use all over the 
 Roman empire. 
 
 Origen, one of the most eminent Greek 
 writers of the early church, wrote early in 
 the Third century. His book against Celsus, 
 
28 
 
 written in defense of Christianity, is consid- 
 ered one of the most noted books of antiquity. 
 In this book he gives a complete catalogue of 
 the New Testament books. 
 
 In summing up the testimony of these 
 eminent men, we have traced the existence 
 of the books of our New Testament to the 
 second generation after that of the Aj^ostles, 
 and at that time they were widely circulated 
 over the world as Apostolic writings, and they 
 testify they had received these books from 
 their fathers, who had received them from 
 the contemporaries of the Apostles. About 
 the close of the Second century the books of 
 the New Testament were in such demand that 
 they were translated into other languages. 
 This fact shows that the doctrine taught in 
 these sacred books had created a deep interest 
 in the heart of other nations beside the Jews, 
 and this was done in the face of powerful 
 enemies. 
 
 Having briefly given a few of the leading 
 facts concerning the history of the twenty- 
 seven books of our New Testament down to 
 about the close of the Fourth century, is it 
 
29 
 
 not one of the most remarkable facts in the 
 history of the church that about this time 
 God, in His wisdom, had a complete copy of 
 the Bible, including the books of the New 
 Testament, written in Greek? The church 
 lost all knowledge of the existence of these 
 books for over 1,500 years; then He directs 
 the steps of that good man Tischendorf to the 
 foot of Mount Sinai, and brings to the light of 
 the world the most valuable of Biblical treas- 
 ures — the Sinaitic manuscript. Surely the 
 steps of the good man are ordered by the 
 Lord. 
 
 How these sacred books were preserved 
 and handed down from one generation to 
 another, dating from the council in Carthage, 
 A. D. 397, to the date of Tyndales— transla- 
 tion more than a thousand years — is of deep 
 interest to the church, and can be studied, 
 with profit by young Christians. 
 
 In the Fourth century Damasus, Bishop 
 of Rome, applied to a man noted for his 
 great learning and piety, at that time living 
 in Bethlehem of Judea, by the name of 
 Eusebius Heronymus, better known to his- 
 
30 
 
 tory as St. Jerome, to give a faithful version 
 of the New Testament. After much patient 
 toil he completed a noble work in A. D. 385 ; 
 and possibly it would be safe in concluding that 
 he used many manuscripts written in the last 
 days of the Apostles. His version acquired 
 the title of Vulgate, or common version. It 
 has been written : "No other work has had 
 such influence on the history of the Bible. 
 For more than a thousand years it was the 
 parent of every version of the Scriptures in 
 Western Europe, and its influence is quite 
 perceptable on oar authorized version." And 
 let it be remembered, that from the date of 
 this Latin vulgate to the time that John 
 Wickliffe made his translation into the Eng- 
 lish, was a period of almost a thousand years, 
 which is spoken of in history as the Dark 
 Ages. Remember, in all this dark period, 
 through the use of this Latin vulgate, God 
 raised up good and faithful men, who con- 
 tended earnestly for the faith once delivered 
 unto the Saints. It was a period when 
 ignorance and vile superstition had the con- 
 trolling influence over the nations of Europe, 
 
31 
 
 and the word of God was sought by kings 
 and priests — not that they might learn the 
 way of truth, but destroy it from the face of 
 the earth. While nations and kingdoms rose 
 and crashed against each other, fell in ruin 
 and passed away forever, God kept an eye 
 over His sacred word. In His own good 
 time He put it into the heart of His faithful 
 servant, Wm. Tyndale, for the first time to 
 translate His word from ancient Greek manu 
 scripts into England's native tongue. Remem- 
 ber, John Wickliffe had made his translation 
 about one hundred years before, from the 
 Latin vulgate, but few copies were put in 
 circulation, as it was before the art of print- 
 ing had been invented. Tyndales' translation 
 was the first New Testament printed in the 
 English language, which was completed in 
 1526. This was but the dawn of a brighter 
 and more glorious day for England. It will 
 be interesting to the young reader to learn 
 through what trials and dangers Tyndale had 
 to pass in order to accomplish his grand work. 
 While collecting his Greek manuscripts, on a 
 certain occasion, he made this noble declara- 
 
32 
 
 tion : " If God spare me I will one day make 
 the boy that drives the plough in England to 
 know more of the Scriptures than the Pope 
 does." At this time the art of printing had 
 become a success, and he had determined that 
 England should have the word of God spread 
 among her people, if it should cost him his 
 life. The Pope was his bitter enemy, and 
 England was not his friend. He was com 
 pelled to nee into Germany, where the cold 
 winds of poverty pinched him sorely; but 
 the Lord was with him, and helped him to 
 collect a sufficient number of manuscripts to 
 complete his work. Remember, all the earlier 
 English versions were but translations of a 
 translation, being derived from the Vulgate or 
 older Latin versions. Tyndale is the first to 
 go back to the original Hebrew and Greek, 
 seeking for the truth. He embodied that in 
 so noble a translation, that no improvement 
 of great importance has been made to the 
 present clay. "Every succeeding version is 
 in reality little more than a revision of Tyn- 
 dale's; and it has been remarked, that our 
 authorized version owes to him chiefly the 
 
33 
 
 ease and beauty for which it is so admired.' 1 
 Mr. Froude says, "The peculiar genius which 
 breathes through the English Bible, the min- 
 gled tenderness and majesty, the Saxon sim- 
 plicity, the grandeur, unequaled, unapproached 
 in the attempted improvements of modern 
 scholars — all are here bearing the impress of 
 the mind of one man, and that man Win. 
 Tyndale." 
 
 We have hastily followed the history of 
 the New Testament from the year A. D. 64 — 
 about the time Peter wrote his Epistle — to the 
 printing of Tyndale's translation in 1520, a 
 long period of more than thirteen centuries ; 
 and surely those who pause and reflect over 
 this dark period of the world's history, will 
 be deeply impressed with the wonderful over- 
 sight that God has over His sacred word, 
 realizing the words of the Apostle, "The 
 Heavens shall pass away with a great noise, 
 and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, 
 the earth, also, and the works that are therein 
 shall be burned up ; but the word of the Lord 
 endureth forever." In this troublesome period 
 thousands of valuable books were lost, to ap- 
 
34 
 
 pear among men no more forever. God's 
 word emerged from this gloom to shine in 
 the hearts of men with all its wonted power, 
 and to-day the world can behold nations 
 walking in all the splendor of God's inspira- 
 tion. " Righteousness exalteth a nation, but 
 sin is a reproach to any people." 
 
 A few more items will bring us down to 
 our standard version First, remember the 
 early copies of the New Testament were not 
 divided into chapters and verses, as at present ; 
 the division into chapters was made in 1248, 
 and into verses about 1551. The number of 
 the verses were placed in the margin. This 
 division of the chapters into verses was recog- 
 nized by the Geneva Bible, which was a most 
 excellent work, made and published in Geneva 
 about 1559, by a company of English scholars 
 who, like Tyndale, on account of bitter perse- 
 cution, had ned from England and made cheir 
 home in Geneva. This was the first copy of 
 the New Testament to use italics for all words 
 not occurring in the original. About the year 
 1633, a small edition was published in Hol- 
 land, in which the verses were marked by 
 
35 
 
 breaks in the texts, (and not by numbers in 
 the margin.) This form has been adopted 
 in our standard version, often at the expense 
 of the sense of the text. 
 
 In order that we may appreciate the motive 
 which led King James of England, in 1604, 
 to consider the matter of a new version, which 
 led to our standard version, it will be neces- 
 sary to briefly state the religious condition 
 of England at that time. There were three 
 versions of the Bible in use among the people, 
 each reaching out for popular favor. The 
 Geneva was rather the favorite of the peo- 
 ple at large — a rival version known as the 
 Bishop's Bible, which was supported by 
 ecclesiastic authority; while the great Bible 
 of Henry VIII. might have been seen chained 
 to stone or wooden desks in many of the 
 rural churches. The tendency of these rival 
 versions was to foster a feeling of variance 
 among the people. With such surround- 
 ings King James thought, very wisely, the best 
 thing to do was to call together a company of 
 fifty-four men noted as scholars, men of high 
 standing, and a few men not connected with 
 
36 
 
 religious party, but noted for great learning. 
 With this company, after years of honest 
 toil, King James was enabled to give to 
 England, in the year 1611, a grand version 
 of God's word, which, for more than two 
 hundred years, has been the leading power 
 of Christian civilization. This is "how Ave 
 have obtained the New Testament that we 
 hold in our hands to-day, and millions of our 
 race are enjoying the same blessing. We 
 shall thank the Lord if this short history will 
 enable the Christian to give a reasonable 
 answer to the question of, How did we obtain 
 the New Testament ? 
 
 Believing it will be acceptable to a large 
 majority of readers, we shall briefly give a 
 history of the new version in connection with 
 this. It will not be out of the way to pay 
 some attention to three important manu- 
 scripts that were counted worthy of careful 
 attention by the revisers. One of the most 
 important of these manuscripts is that of the 
 Vatican. It is generally considered to be the 
 most ancient of the three ; by some writers it 
 is believed to be over fifteen hundred years 
 
37 
 
 old. It is the property of the Roman Catholic 
 Church, and is deposited in the Pope's library 
 in Home, and is usually spoken of as the 
 Vatican manuscript. On account of its great 
 age, and other reasons, it is held in very high 
 esteem by Bible scholars ; but on account of 
 its not being a complete copy of the New 
 Testament, its value is limited, as a number 
 of entire chapters are wanting. It has seven 
 hundred leaves of fine vellum, about one foot 
 square, bound together in book "form ; the 
 writing is perfectly clear and legible after a 
 lapse of fifteen hundred years; each page 
 contains three colums, and the writing is in 
 capital letters, without any division between 
 the words. This was done at a time when 
 writing material was scarce and expensive. 
 This manuscript has been in the Vatican about 
 five hundred years. 
 
 The Sinaitic is the next we call attention 
 to. It has been given this name on account 
 of the place where it was discovered by Dr. 
 Tischendorf, a German scholar who spent 
 many years of his life in hunting up ancient 
 Bible manuscripts. It is written in Greek, 
 
38 
 
 and contains most of the books of the Old 
 Testament and all of the New complete, mak- 
 ing it the most valuable of all manuscripts; 
 written on fine vellum, containing 790 pages, 
 about thirteen inches wide and full fourteen 
 long. Trusting that it will add interest to 
 our work, we will give a short account of its 
 discovery, which- was accomplished in 1859, 
 by Dr. Tischendorf, the great German scholar, 
 who spent the most of his life in the study 
 of ancient manuscripts of the Bible. He 
 traveled all over the east, searching every old 
 library he could get access to, often under 
 very trying circumstances. In the year 1 844, 
 he visited a convent situated at the loot of 
 Mount Sinai. On examining the library of 
 the convent, in a hall, he noticed a basket full 
 of old parchments. What was his surprise to 
 find a number of sheets of the Septaugent 
 (Greek) Old Testament, the most ancient- 
 looking manuscripts he had ever seen. With 
 these valuable sheets he returned to Germany. 
 In 1853, he made another visit to the convent, 
 but without making any new discovery. But, 
 not willing to give up his search for the truth, 
 
39 
 
 in 1859, again lie made his appearance at the 
 foot of that sacred mountain where Moses re- 
 ceived from the hand of God that law which 
 has become the guiding star of the civilized 
 world. This time he came with commenda- 
 tions from the Czar of Russia. One evening, 
 walking with the steward of the convent, the 
 monk asked him into his cell to take some 
 refreshments. Scarcely had they entered the 
 cell, when he took down a bundle wrapped in 
 red cloth. Tischendorf opened the parcel and 
 found, not only those fragments that he had 
 seen fifteen years before, but also other parts 
 of the Old Testament — the New Testament 
 complete. He says: "I knew that I held in 
 my hand one of the most precious Biblical 
 treasures in existence, a document whose age 
 and importance exceeded that of any I had 
 ever seen, after twenty years' study of the 
 subject. ,, Through the influence of the of- 
 ficials of the Greek Church, after much diffi- 
 culty, he finally succeeded in obtaining the 
 manuscript for the Imperial Library, at St 
 Petersburg. After all his toils and trials, 
 about the month of November, 1859, he had 
 
40 
 
 the pleasure of presenting it to the Czar of 
 Russia, and to-day it is the property of the 
 Greek Catholic Church, safely stored in the 
 Library of St. Petersburg. 
 
 How significant that God should select this 
 sacred mountain where, more than 3,000 years 
 ago, He appeared in all His grandeur, and 
 gave to His servant, Moses, His written law ! 
 Surely it was a suitable place to keep His 
 Holy Word for fifteen hundred years, while 
 nations and kingdoms have passed away for- 
 ever, that His children of to-day might read 
 its sacred pages. 
 
 The Alexandrian manuscript has 793 leaves, 
 and two columns to the page. It is not a com- 
 plete copy of the New Testament, as more 
 than twenty chapters of the book of Matthew 
 are wanting, and parts of other books are 
 missing. It is safely deposited in the British 
 Museum as the property of the English nation. 
 It was presented to King Charles I. of Eng- 
 land, by Cyril Lucar, Bishop of Constanti- 
 nople, in 1628 ; possibly, it is some 1 ,400 years 
 old. 
 
 Is it not rather remarkable that the three 
 
41 
 
 great manuscripts just described, the most 
 important known, are in possession of three 
 great religious bodies of the world ? It will 
 be seen that the men who gave to the world 
 the new version, had many advantages over 
 those who gave us the standard version; the 
 new version is the combined work of thirty- 
 five scholars in Europe and fifteen in America. 
 In this company seven denominations were 
 represented; the first edition was published 
 in England and America in May, 1881. This 
 is how we obtained our new version, which has 
 been printed by millions. Surely, the time is 
 not far in the future when the knowledge of 
 God's word will cover the face of the earth as 
 the waters do the mighty deep. 
 
 By some persons it is claimed that the 
 Sinaitic manuscript gave no new light to the 
 authors of the new version. If this be true, 
 does it imply that it was of no valued JNot 
 by any means, no one will call in question 
 its value in more ways than one, as some have 
 concluded that it confirmed the truthfulness 
 of some matters around which for years there 
 had lingered a feeling of uncertainty ; and its 
 
42 
 
 value to the church at large will never be 
 overestimated. In its mission to the church 
 of to-day, it stands as the councils of Laodicea 
 and Carthage stood to the early churches — as 
 those councils confirmed the sacred books 
 then in use — as those books which had been 
 handed down to the churches by the Apostles 
 and elders as the word of God. In the pre- 
 serving of this manuscript the wisdom of Gocl 
 is manifested; here is a complete copy of the 
 New Testament, written more than 1,500 years 
 ago, every word in it clear and distinct, and 
 in all the leading truths of our holy religion, 
 agreeing with the translation made by St. 
 Jerome in A. D. 385, and Wm. Tyndale, in 
 1526, and King James, in 1611, and the new 
 version, in 1 881, confirming to the world that 
 God had His Word faithfully taught in all 
 these ages. 
 
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NEW TESTAMENT BOOKS. 
 
 Matthew, written in 
 Mark, 
 Luke, 
 John, 
 Acts, 
 
 Romans, " 
 
 I. Corinthians, 
 II. Corinthians, 
 
 Galatins, " 
 
 Ephesians, 
 Philippians, 
 Colossians, 
 I. Thessalonians, " 
 II. Thessalonians, " 
 I. Timothy, 
 II. Timothy, 
 Titus, 
 
 Philemon, " 
 
 Hebrews, 
 James, 
 I. Peter, 
 II. Peter, 
 I. John, 
 II. John, 
 III. John, 
 Jude, 
 Revelations, ' f 
 
 Judea 38 
 
 Rome 64 
 
 Greece 64 
 
 Ephesus 68 
 
 Rome 64 
 
 Corinth, sent to Rome 57 
 
 Ephesus 56 
 
 Macedonia 57 
 
 Corinth or Ephesus 53 
 
 Rome _ 61 
 
 Rome— — .--,- .___ 65 
 
 Rome . 62 
 
 Corinth 52 
 
 Corinth 52 
 
 Macedonia 58 
 
 Rome 65 
 
 Macedonia 56 
 
 Rome 62 
 
 Rome _ 63 
 
 Judea 61 
 
 Rome . 64 
 
 Rome 65 
 
 Ephesus 68 
 
 Ephesus 69 
 
 Ephesus 69 
 
 Place not known. 
 
 Patmos or Ephesus 96 
 
 43 
 
QUESTIONS 
 
 FOR 
 
 Sunday School Work, 
 
 No. 
 
 QUESTION. 
 
 Page 
 
 I 
 
 How many books in the New Testa- 
 ment? _ _ 
 
 
 2 
 
 Who are the authors? . 
 
 IO 
 
 3 
 
 Were they learned men? 
 
 II 
 
 4 
 
 When was the first Epistle written? 
 
 13 
 
 ■5 
 
 On what were they written ? 
 
 13 
 
 6 
 
 Where were they kept? 
 
 J3 
 
 7 
 
 Was this the practice of the Jews ? 
 
 13 
 
 8 
 
 Were the Epistles sent to churches? 
 
 13 
 
 9 
 
 How many books and Epistles were there 
 
 
 
 at the close of the First century ?__ 
 
 11 
 
 IO 
 
 Who began compiling the New Testa- 
 
 
 
 ment ? 
 
 T 7 
 
 ii 
 
 When was the work completed ? 
 
 20 
 
 12 
 
 By whom was the work done? 
 
 18 
 
 n 
 
 What words of Christ influenced them ? 
 
 18 
 
 14 
 
 Was it the work of men? 
 
 IQ 
 
 m 
 
 When was Polycarp born ? 
 
 20 
 
 16 
 
 What does he say of the New Testa- 
 
 
 
 ment? _ _. 
 
 ?,T 
 
 17 
 
 What does Irenseus say of Polycarp ?__ 
 
 22 
 
 18 
 
 What is said of Clement? 
 
 22 
 
 IQ 
 
 What is related of Tertullian? 
 
 23 
 
 20 
 
 What church council convened in 397 ? 
 
 24 
 
 21 
 
 What was its object ?.„ ... 
 
 24 
 
QUESTION. 
 
 What is recorded of this council? 
 
 Who were th: church fathers? 
 
 What is Paul's and Peter's testimony? 
 
 What is the testimony of Athanasius? 
 
 Who wrote the first church history ? 
 
 What is the testimony of Eusebius? 
 
 Who was Origen and what his testimony? 
 What is the testimony of Athanasius, 
 
 Eusebius and Origen? 
 
 About what time was the first transla- 
 tions made? , 
 
 What copy of the New Testament was 
 written about the close of the Fourth 
 
 century? 
 
 How long was it hidden away? 
 
 In what language was it written? 
 
 In the Fourth century, what noted trans- 
 lation was made? 
 
 By whom was the work done? 
 
 What is the title of this translation? 
 
 What was its influence over the nations 
 
 of Europe? . - 
 
 How long was it from the date of this 
 
 translation to Wickliffe? 
 
 By what name is this period known in 
 
 history? 
 
 Who made the first translation from 
 
 Greek into English? 
 
 When was it published? 
 
 When did printing become a success? 
 
 What declaration did Tyndale make? 
 
 In what country did he finish his work? 
 
 What is said of his translation ? 
 
 4 6 
 
 Page 
 
 25 
 24 
 
 26 
 
 27 
 
 27 
 
 27 
 27 
 
 28 
 30 
 
 29 
 29 
 29 
 
 30 
 29 
 
 30 
 
 30 
 
 30 
 
 30 
 
 31 
 31 
 32 
 32 
 32 
 32 
 
No. 
 
 QUESTION. 
 
 When was the New Testament divided 
 
 into chapters and verses? 
 
 Where were the numbers of the verses 
 
 placed? ^ 
 
 What Bible was the first to accept this 
 
 division? . _ 
 
 By whom was this Bible made? ___- 
 
 When were the verses marked by breaks 
 
 in the texts? __ 
 
 What caused King James to order a 
 
 translation? „ . 
 
 When was this version completed? 
 
 What is said of this version? 
 
 What are the three most important 
 
 manuscripts in the world? 
 
 Where are they deposited? 
 
 Who discovered the Sinaitic? 
 
 Why is it considered the most valuable ? 
 
 Describe it and give its age .— — 
 
 Of what advantages was it to the revisors 
 
 of the New Version? . 
 
 Who composed the company of revisors 
 
 of the New Version? „ 
 
 What relation does the Sinaitic manu- 
 script hold to the church of to-day? 
 
 Page 
 
 4 6 
 
 47 
 48 
 
 49 
 5o 
 
 5i 
 
 52 
 53 
 54 
 
 55 
 56 
 57 
 58 
 59 
 
 60 
 61 
 
 34 
 
 34 
 
 34 
 34 
 
 35 
 
 35 
 36 
 36 
 
 36 
 37 
 38 
 38 
 38 
 
 41 
 
 4i 
 
 42 
 
Biographical Sketch of Our Saviour. 
 
 IN this brief sketch, we shall attempt to 
 bring together a few of the leading facts 
 as given by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. 
 As a historian, Luke stands in the front rank, 
 and in the second chapter he relates many 
 interesting facts that are omitted by the others. 
 In the seventh verse, the humble birth of the 
 Christ is given with a truthful simplicity; 
 and in the eleventh verse, for the first time, 
 His birth is proclaimed in the beautiful lan- 
 guage of the angel to the shepherd: "For 
 unto you is born this day in the city of David 
 a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." And 
 there was with the angel a multitude of the 
 heavenly host praising God. And from Mat- 
 thew ii. 9, we learn that a star guided the 
 shepherds to where Jesus was born. And 
 Herod the king, wishing to see Christ, Joseph 
 being warned by an angel, took the young 
 child with his mother, and fled into Egypt, 
 where they remained until the death of the 
 
 19 
 
50 
 
 king. After this they returned to the ]and 
 of Israel and dwelt in the city of Nazareth. 
 Lnke gives us all the information we have 
 concerning the childhood days of the Saviour 
 in Luke ii. 40 : "The child grew, and waxed 
 strong in spirit, filled with wisdom ; and the 
 grace of God was upon him." In the forty- 
 second verse we are told he went up to Jeru- 
 salem with his parents, and was twelve years 
 old, and when his parents had completed their 
 mission, after they had been a day's journey 
 on their way home, they noticed the child 
 Jesus had tarried at Jerusalem. When they 
 found him not in their company, they re- 
 turned and found him in the temple, sitting 
 in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them 
 and asking them questions. And all that 
 heard him were astonished at his understand- 
 in^; and answers. 
 
 In this brief narrative the Saviour manifests 
 a strength of mind remarkable for one so young 
 in years. ]NTo wonder that he developed into 
 the grandest teacher of our race. How strange 
 of all the words of wisdom that he spoke in his 
 youthful days, but one brief sentence is placed 
 
51 
 
 ou record. Luke records he said to his pa- 
 rents : u How is it that ye sought me ? wist 
 ye not that I must be about my Father's 
 business? " Did not the Saviour, in this brief 
 expression, foreshadow the grand mission of 
 the redemption of our race, which his Father 
 had given him to work out? And we are 
 told that he went down with his parents to 
 Nazareth, and was subject unto them. In this 
 we have a lesson of love and duty to parents, 
 taught for the children of all ages. From this 
 time on we learn that "Jesus increased in wis- 
 dom and stature, and in favor with God and 
 man." 
 
 By the Jews Joseph was looked upon as the 
 father of Christ, and by occupation Joseph 
 was a carpenter. It was the custom among 
 the Jews for the son to follow the occupation 
 of the father. We learn from Mark vi. 3: 
 "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, 
 the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, 
 and Simon ? and are not his sisters here with 
 us?" Here we have a faithful picture of a 
 family consisting of parents, sisters and four 
 brothers, in which Jesus lived and toiled until 
 
52 
 
 lie was about thirty years old. And about 
 this time John came, Luke iii. 3 : "Came into 
 all the country about Jordan, preaching the 
 baptism of repentance for the remission of 
 sins." And we learn from Mark i. 9 : "Jesus 
 came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was bap- 
 tised of John in Jordan," and a voice came 
 from heaven saying: "Thou art my beloved 
 Son;" and in verse thirteen: "He was there 
 in the wilderness forty days tempted of Satan ; 
 and was with the wild beasts ; and the angels 
 ministered unto him." What the nature of 
 this sore conflict with Satan and the wild 
 beasts of the desert was, will remain forever 
 unknown. It may be that the ministration of 
 the angels consisted in giving him power to 
 resist the wiles of the devil, and protect, him 
 from wild beasts. 
 
 Immediately after his temptation in the 
 wilderness, as recorded in Luke iv., a remark- 
 able conversation took place between him and 
 Satan. Jesus being now about thirty years 
 of age, for the first time he enters the grand 
 arena of the world as a public teacher of our 
 fallen race. In his public teaching, his man- 
 
53 
 
 ner was as one having authority — his doctrine 
 so remarkable that those who heard him were 
 astonished. Often his words were as kind and 
 gentle as those of a mother. "Come unto me, 
 all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I 
 will give you rest." "Jesus said unto her, 
 'neither do I condemn thee; go, and sin no 
 more.'" In reproving sin, his words were 
 sharp and pointed : "Woe unto you, Scribes 
 and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye shut up the 
 kingdom of heaven against men; for ye 
 neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye 
 them that are entering to go in." "Ye are 
 of your father the devil, and the lust of your 
 father ye will do." Where can words be found 
 so pure and elevating as the following, that 
 have the power to enlighten the mind, refine 
 the heart, and cast a light along life's path- 
 way, ever with an upward tendency, until 
 the enraptured soul has caught a glimpse 
 of the eternal world? "I am the light of 
 the world; he that followeth me shall not 
 walk in darkness, but shall have the light 
 of life." "God is a spirit, and they that 
 worship Him must worship Him in spirit 
 
54 
 
 and in truth." Are not these the words of 
 inspiration ? 
 
 We learn from Luke that the custom was 
 to enter the synagogue on the Sabbath day, 
 and to stand up and read. When he came 
 to the city of Nazareth, where he had been 
 brought up, he read from the book of Isaiah, 
 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because 
 He hath anointed me to preach the gospel 
 to the poor; He hath sent me to heal the 
 broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the 
 captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, 
 to set at liberty them that are bruised, to 
 preach the acceptable year of the Lord." 
 Here the Saviour introduces himself to his 
 brethren as a teacher sent from God, and for 
 his authority the word of God as spoken by 
 the prophet Isaiah ; and to their astonishment 
 he declares : "This day is this Scripture ful- 
 filled in your ears." 
 
 The leading facts have been briefly narrated 
 in the life of Jesus Christ as given in the four 
 books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, 
 from his birth to his baptism, and his coming 
 before the world as a public teacher ; and I 
 
am not sure it would be in keeping with the 
 mission of our work to follow the Saviour in 
 all his work and labor of love to his death on 
 the cross (which took place when he was 
 about thirty three years of age), for they are 
 faithfully narrated in God's word so plain that 
 a wayfaring man need not err therein. We 
 have closely studied economy, that we may be 
 able to offer this book so that all may be en- 
 abled to buy and read it ; for it has the power 
 to kindle upon the altar of the human heart a 
 fire that shall burn forever. And that the 
 man of God may be perfect, thoroughly fur- 
 nished unto all good works, I will add the 
 following: The Apostle Peter says: "Be 
 ready always to give an answer to every man 
 that asks you a reason of the hope that is in 
 you." The Saviour, once on a time, asked the 
 question* "Whom do men say that I, the 
 Son of man, am?" In this age of inquiry, 
 how often do Christians have this question 
 asked by men of intelligence: "If there 
 lived 1,800 years ago such a man as Jesus 
 Christ, as you Christians affirm, I should like 
 to have some testimony from ancient history 
 
56 
 
 not found in the Bible?" We learn from 
 Grecian and Roman history that about the 
 time our Saviour came, there was a general 
 expectation that some remarkable person 
 would make his appearance. And that such 
 a person did appear, and that he taught a 
 strange doctrine, and performed wonderful 
 works that no man could account for, is 
 attested by the following witnesses: Caius 
 Cornelius Tacitus, who was praetor of Rome 
 about the year A. D. 88 ; as a nistorian and 
 writer he stands high; Celcus, the famous 
 Epicurean philosopher, lived about the year 
 A. D. 173; Porphyry, who flourished about 
 the year A. D. 270, wrote many books, and 
 some were against Christianity; Julian the 
 Apostate, as he is styled by some, because at 
 one time he embraced Christianity, and after- 
 wards apostatized, and wrote some seven books 
 against Christianity. 
 
 In keeping with the mission of our work 
 we are only allowed to make a summary of 
 the testimony of the writings of these eminent 
 men. Some of these persons held high posi- 
 tions under the Roman government. Such 
 
57 
 
 testimony will hardly be called in question 
 by persons of intelligence. We will name a 
 few gleaned from their writings : First — In 
 the reign of Augustus Caesar there was born 
 in Judea, Jesus, who is called the Messiah. 
 Second — On account of persecution, he was, 
 by his parents, taken into Egypt, and shortly 
 returned to Judea. Third — That Jesus, who 
 is called Christ, was publicly executed at 
 Jerusalem as a criminal while Pontius Pilate 
 was governor of Judea, and Tiberius empe- 
 ror of Rome. Fourth — The genuineness of 
 the four Gospels and book of Acts. Fifth — 
 Many things concerning the manners, doctrine 
 and worship of the primitive Christians are 
 distinctly named. 
 
 For the benefit of those who think they are 
 guided by reason, and call in question the 
 truth of the Bible, permit me to invite their 
 attention to this fact: We know it has 
 pleased God to respect our reasoning facul- 
 ties, for He saith in His word, "Come, let us 
 reason together, saith the Lord." For this 
 cause He has pleased to rest the proof of the 
 truth of His revelation upon matters of fact. 
 
58 
 
 This brings the demonstration within the 
 reign of evidence. Now, what class of men 
 make it their business to deal with evidence ? 
 The legal profession. The head of this pro- 
 fession in England is the Lord Chancellor. Is 
 it not a remarkable truth that the three last 
 Lord Chancellors have been deeply religious 
 men? Now, who will say that such men, 
 whose reasoning faculties have been trained 
 to the highest state — men who are not com- 
 mitted to a profession which requires certain 
 belief, but who are lawyers ; that these men 
 would accept the truth of Christianity with 
 blind unreason, would be absurd. They only 
 believe because they know. Here is, then, a 
 safe foundation for less favored people. Now 
 if such master-minds as the last Prime Min- 
 ister of England, who is one of the most 
 erudite men living; and some of the most 
 profound lawyers of our own country, who 
 have given time and thought to sift the evi- 
 dence upon which the truth of Christianity 
 rests, have concluded the evidence is sufficient, 
 that the reasoning is sound, the conclusion 
 firm, then is it not reasonable and safe for us 
 
59 
 
 to accept the truth, they have proven for us, 
 and say the word of God is true and abideth 
 forever ? The Bible is that word. 
 
 " It is better to trust in the Lord than to put 
 
 confidence in men. 11 
 
 " For ever, O Lord, thy word' is settled in 
 heaven 11 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 On looking over the History of the New 
 Testament, the conclusion is sustained that it 
 is a part of the Bible, as much of its doc- 
 trine — which is of such vital importance to 
 the Christian world — is received directly 
 from the Old Testament. Christ and his 
 apostles quote largely from its sacred pages. 
 
 Believing it will be appreciated by young 
 persons, we invite attention to some truths 
 that are of profound interest to those who 
 feel an interest in a future state. God has 
 been pleased, in His wisdom, to reveal these 
 things to man step by step, as he became able 
 to bear the light. God saw that it was good 
 so to teach man for more than three thousand 
 years, until He had elevated him to that state 
 where " he heard unspeakable words, which it 
 is not lawful for man to utter." The Bible 
 gives this revelation by teaching man, First 
 — That in the beginning God hath created all 
 things, upholding all by the might of His 
 
62 
 
 power. Second — That there is but one true 
 and living God; that He hath appeared and 
 communed face to face with man. TJiird — 
 That there are spiritual beings called angels. 
 Fourth — God himself is a spirit. Fifth — 
 That after the death of this natural body 
 man will enter a spiritual world, where he 
 will live eternally. Sixth — That God reveals 
 Himself to man as a being of reason, and man 
 possessing the same power. "Come, now, and 
 let us reason together, saith the Lord." In 
 doing this he manifests himself as the Son of 
 God clothed with a mortal body, to be 
 tempted, tried and suffer in all respects as a 
 man, and yet without sin. Through His per- 
 fect life He offers eternal life to all who will 
 love and obey Him, revealing Christ as the 
 author of eternal salvation. How elevating 
 the thought of man and his Creator commun- 
 ing together, his reasoning faculties giving 
 him the power to understand these revelations 
 which he so earnestly desires. The Bible 
 raises the curtain of the unseen world, reveal- 
 ing God in a spiritual world surrounded by a 
 host of spiritual beings clothed in pure white, 
 
63 
 
 in a state of blissful enjoyment. These beings 
 God is pleased to call angels ; and the light 
 of this world is the countenance of the living 
 God. This world is called Heaven, and all 
 who will love and obey God are promised a 
 home in this beautiful world after the toils, 
 cares and sufferings of this life have ended; 
 yea, that the highest idea of human hap- 
 piness shall be realized, namely — that father, 
 mother, brother and sister and friends are 
 invited to meet and dwell together with God 
 and angels. This is the problem of human 
 life solved upon a bright and glorious plan, 
 reason confirming, amen, amen. 
 
 The Bible reveals another state in the un- 
 seen world, which is a state of outer darkness, 
 and is presided over by an evil being, whose 
 name is Satan ; and those who enter this state 
 on account of evil deeds committed while in 
 the body, are banished from the presence of 
 God and His holy angels, for ever and ever 
 to dwell in this state which is called Hell. 
 The Bible reveals to man good and evil, ex- 
 horting him to cleave unto that which is 
 good, warning him to shun the very appear- 
 
04 
 
 ance of evil. It is revealed, that between 
 these states, that is Heaven and Hell, there 
 is a great gulf fixed which utterly prevents 
 anyone from passing from one place to an- 
 other. These are a few momentous matters 
 revealed to man by the Christian Bible. 
 Other books are as silent as the grave on 
 these great truths. "Oh, give thanks unto 
 the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy 
 endureth forever." 
 
THE NEW TESTAMENT, 
 
 WITH 
 
 APOSTOLIC REFERENCES. 
 
 There is no other Testament published that has 
 the same references. They bring to light the fact 
 that the parables and teachings of the Saviour 
 are explained and taught by the Apostles. The 
 life of Christ and the eight writers are placed 
 at the beginning of the writings of each one. A 
 most useful and instructive table, giving the para- 
 bles and miracles in each book, is added. No book 
 published has been so highly spoken of by the fol- 
 lowing eminent scholars and publishers : 
 
 G. H. Laughlin, President of Hiram College, 
 Ohio; David H. Moore, Chancellor of Denver 
 University, Colo.; Robert Graham, President Col- 
 lege of the Bible, Lexington, Ky. ; H. M. Heart, 
 M. A., Dean St. John's Cathedral, Denver, Colo.; 
 Prof. J. W. McGarvey, Lexington, Ky. ; Rev. Reu- 
 ben Jeffrey, Pastor First Baptist Church, Denver, 
 Colo.; Elder Isaac Errett, editor of Christian Stand- 
 ard ; E. T. Drinkhouse, editor of the Methodist 
 Protestant; Elder J. F. Rowe, editor of the Chris- 
 
tian Leader ; Prof. Wm. Hurt, author New Testa- 
 ment Commentary, Edinburgh, Scotland. 
 
 What these men say as to the value of this book 
 is summed up in the following words: 
 
 " Elder Jackson has succeeded well in showing 
 that God's plan of interpreting the Holy Scriptures 
 is His own word. The author has shown scholar- 
 ship and a due regard to the essential meaning of 
 God's word." 
 
 "These Apostolic references show the word of 
 God rising in majesty, shaking off the interpreta- 
 tions of priests, pastors, bishops and popes, showing 
 that God's word is self-interpreting." 
 
 " I am delighted with the second edition of your 
 Reference Testament. I wish every unbeliever 
 would read your Life of Christ, and that of the 
 Apostle Paul. The book is eminently suited for 
 missionary work. I venture to say that a reader 
 who will carefully study the New Testament with 
 these references, will learn more of the plan of 
 salvation than from more than half the commenta- 
 ries ever written; and no minister that will use 
 these references one month in preparing his dis- 
 courses but what will use them the rest of his life." 
 
 " The plan of Rev. C. Jackson's Apostolic refer- 
 ences is eminently logical, simple and scriptural. 
 The life of the Apostle Peter is richly worth the 
 price of the book; and why have not these tables 
 
67 
 
 been put into our Testament more than one hun- 
 dred years ago?" 
 
 The following is a sample : 
 
 PARABLES AND FIGURES OF SPEECH. 
 
 RECORDED BY 
 
 MATT. 
 
 MARK. 
 
 LUKE. 
 
 JOHN 
 
 Axe laid root trees 
 
 Whose fan in hand 
 
 Ye are the salt ,__ 
 
 iii. 10 
 iii. 12 
 v. 13 
 v. 14 
 
 v. IS 
 vi. 13 
 vii. 2 
 
 
 iii. 9 
 iii. 17 
 
 
 Ye are the light 
 
 
 
 
 Light a candle 
 
 iv. 21 
 
 viii.x6 
 
 
 Let not left hand 
 
 
 Measure meet to others 
 
 A well of living" water 
 
 iv. 24 
 
 vi. 38 
 
 iv.I4 
 XV. I 
 
 I am the vine 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Those buying this book will have the advan- 
 tages of the New Version, as the differences are 
 noted at the bottom of the page. 
 
 jfgi^Price of the book, bound in cloth, $1.50. 
 
 Send money, Postoffice Order or Check. 
 
 Cortes Jackson, 
 Box 1 866, Denver, Colo. 
 
Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
 Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
 Treatment Date: June 2005 
 
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