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ON THE
INSPIRATION OF HOLT SCRIPTUKE;

OR. ON THE

CANON
OF THE
#U an* |ttfo ftnttmnt,

AND ON THE

APOCRYPHA.

ON THE

INSPIRATION OF HOLY SCRIPTURE;

OR, ON THE

CANON

Oli) ani Stlii vJcsiitnmtt,

AND ON THE

APOCRYPHA:
TWELVE LECTURES,
DELIVERED BEFORE THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE.
BY
CHR. WORSWORTH, D. D.,
CANON OF WESTMINSTER;
FORMERLY FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE,
AND PUBLIC ORATOR OF THE UNIVERSITY.

FROM THE LAST LONDON EDITION.

PHILADELPHIA:
PUBLISHED BV HERMAN HOOKER,
S. W. CORNER OF CHESTNUT AND EIGHTH STS.
1854.

PRINTED BY ISAAC ASHMEAD.

Mtv47

yri^

PREFACE
TO THE SECOND EDITION.

The present is a revised Edition of Discourses delivered before
the University of Cambridge in 1847 and 1848, and published in
accordance with the will of the pious and learned Founder of the
Hulsean Lectureship.
The design of the present volume is described in the Introduc
tory Lecture ; and the Author has now only to invite the reader's
attention to one general observation.
Theological Writers in this country, especially in the last and
present century, have laboured with great diligence and zeal in
demonstrating the Inspiration of Scripture from internal evidence.
And their researches are entitled to the highest praise, and have
been productive of most beneficial results.
Something, however, of great importance has still remained to
be done, for the same end, though in another manner.
Almighty God has always ha'd, and will never cease to have, a
Visible Church in the World : and ever since His Word to man
has been written, He has employed the Ministry of his Church to
proclaim that Word, and to guard it, and to assure the World of
its Inspiration.
It is, also, no less true, that wheresoever men have forgotten or
despised this office of the Church in keeping, promulgating, and
authenticating His Word, there they have been prone to call in
question its Inspiration, or to reject certain parts of it, according
to the suggestions of their own imaginations.

VI PREFACE.
In proof of this statement, it is sufficient to refer to the melan
choly examples of some Biblical Critics on the Continent, and in
our own Country : which prove, that whosoever separates Scrip
ture from the Church, is in imminent peril of losing both.
Be it also remembered, that the Head of the Church is Christ;
and that the testimony of the Church to Scripture, both of the
Old and New Testament (as the Writer has endeavored to show in
the following Lectures,) is no other than the testimony of Christ;
and that internal evidence, however cogent, cannot be complete,
without His testimony, which is delivered to us through the
Church. The Author's endeavor in these Lectures, has been to apply
this argument, from the external testimony of the Church and of
its Divine Head, to Both Testaments, and thus to supply a de
ficiency which has probably been felt by younger Students of
Theology, and by ordinary readers, for which classes the present
Lectures are mainly designed.

CONTENTS. LECTURE I.
What the foundation is on which the Canon of Scripture rests, . 9
LECTURE II.
"What the foundation is of the Canon of the Old Testament, . . 29
LECTURE III.
The testimony of the Early Church on the Canon of the Old
Testament,  56
LECTURE IV.
On the true Character and Position of the Apocrypha, .... 84
LECTURE V.
What is the foundation of the Canon of the New Testament, . . 105
LECTURE VI.
On the Lispiration and Authorship of the four Gospels and the
Acts of the Apostles,  126
LECTURE VII.
On the Inspiration of St. Paul's Epistles  145
LECTURE VIII.
On the Inspiration and Authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews, 166
LECTURE IX.
On the Inspiration and Authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews, 179

Vlll CONTENTS.
LECTURE X.
On the Inspiration and Authorship of the Catholic Epistles, . . 204
LECTURE XI.
On the Inspiration and Authorship of the Catholic Epistles, . .222
LECTURE XII.
On the Inspiration and Authorship of the Apocalypse  240
APPENDIX A.
THE ROMISH ARGUMENTS IN BEHALF OF THE TRENT CANON.
Vincenzi, Sessio Quarts Concilii Tridentini Vindicata ; Romge,
1842  265
APPENDIX B.
ON THE TRUE CHARACTER AND POSITION OF THE APOCRYPHA.
Hooker,  268
APPENDIX C.
st. augustine's language concerning the apocrypha ; and con
cerning THE JEWISH CHURCH AS THE GUARDIAN OF THE CANON
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT,  279
APPENDIX D.
ON THE CONSEQUENCES WHICH WOULD FOLLOW FROM THE ENTIRE RE
JECTION OF THE APOCRYPHA,  283
APPENDIX E.
on st. Paul's epistle to the Hebrews.
Primasius Uticensis,  285

LECTURE I.

John iv. 39—42.

"And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on Sim for the
saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever 1
did. So when the Samaritans were come unto Sim, they besought
Sim that Se would tarry with them: and Se abode there two days.
And many more believed because of His own word; and said unto
the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we
have heard Sim ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ,
the Saviour of the world."
Great is our reason for gratitude to Almighty God that
His Holy Word is disseminated in almost every climate
under heaven, and that our own country has been permitted
to take an active part in the blessed work of its diffusion.
Much cause also have we for thankfulness that, in our own
Authorized Version of Holy Scripture, we possess the bene
fit of a Translation combining simplicity and dignity of lan
guage with perspicuity and fidelity of interpretation. Pre
cious, however, as these two privileges are, yet perhaps it
may be justly affirmed that the paramount blessing which
we enjoy, as a Church, is this — that Holt Scripture, pure
and entire, is our Rule of Faith ; and that nothing is to
be preached by the ministers of the Church of England, as
of necessity to salvation, which is not read in the Word of
God, or may not reasonably be concluded from it.
But the office which, by God's providence, the Church

10 THE FOUNDATION ON WHICH [LECT.
of England has been called to discharge in the guardian
ship and dissemination of Holy Scripture, and the inestima
ble gift which He has vouchsafed to her in her Authorized
Version, and the privilege He has conferred upon her in
enabling her to assert the Supremacy and Sufficiency of
Holy Scripture in matters of Faith, not only supply just
reasons for thankfulness to Him, but they are also solemn
calls to calm investigation and clear demonstration of the
grounds upon which certain Books are believed by us to be
Scripture ; that is, to be the Authentic Word of the One,
All-wise, All-holy, and Almighty Creator and Governor of
the world.
Suppose we receive into our hands an English Bible.
Suppose we offer it to the illiterate or unbelieving. Sup
pose we bear it with us into distant lands, and appeal to it
as an unerring Standard of faith and practice. Suppose
also that the question, is then put to us, How do you show
that these writings, and these alone, are indeed the Word of
God? Should we, let me ask, be prepared with such an
answer to this most important question as would carry con
viction to the mind of the inquirer ?
Again, we have not only the simple and incredulous to
deal with. Many also there are of our fellow-Christians in
this and other lands, who acknowledge with us that God has
spoken to the world, and has revealed His will in writing,
but who do not agree with us in the names and number of
the Books of which that writing consists. Some receive
more than we do ; some less. Are we, then, able and readv
to show that the Books, neither more nor less, which we
receive as Inspired, are indeed those in which the Revela
tion of God to man is contained ?
Further still: during a period of now three hundred
years, and especially in our own days, great efforts have

I.] THE CANON OF SCRIPTURE RESTS. 11
been made by learned Theologians* of the Romish commu
nion, to prove the two following propositions : —
1st. That the Books which in our Bibles are commonly
called Apocrypha, are of equal authority with the other
books of the Sacred Volume, which we call Canonical, for
the proof of articles of faith ; and,
2ndly. That the Books of the New Testament were not
generally received, as inspired, by the Christian Church till
ihe fourth century after Christ, f
Now, if the former of these two propositions be true, then
it would follow that the Canonical Scriptures, as we receive
them, are not a sufficient rule of faith, but require the addi
tion of the Apocrypha. And if the latter assertion be
proved, then the written Word, even with the addition of
the Apocrypha, cannot be, what ive maintain it is, a suffi
cient Mule of Faith; for, according to that hypothesis, the
first three centuries immediately succeeding the Apostles
passed away without a distinct knowledge of what was Scrip
ture and what was not ; which we cannot imagine would
have been the case, if Holy Scripture were the all-sufficient
rule of the Christian faith.
If also the Scriptures were not recognized as the Word
of God till the fourth century after Christ, then we have
here a remarkable instance of a new Law of Faith and Prac-
* e. g. Perrone, Professor of Theology in the Roman College of the
Jesuits, Loci Theologi 1047 — 1107, ed. Paris', 1842. Vincenzi, Profes
sor of Hebrew in the Roman Archigymnasium. Sessio iv. Concilii
Tridentini Vindicata, Romse, Typis S. C. de Propaganda Fide, 2 vols.
Romee, 1842 — 4. Malou, Professor of Theology in the University of
Louvain. Lecture de la Sainte Bible, 2 vols. Louvain, 1846.
f Dr. Milner, End of Controversy, Letter xi., "The Canon of Scrip
ture was fixed at the end of the fourth century." Dr. Newman's
Essay on Development, p. 142. " On what ground do we receive the
Canon (ofthe New Testament,) but on the authority of the Church of
the fourth and fifth centuries ? The Church at that era decided that
certain Books were of authority.'' See below, Lecture V.

12 THE FOUNDATION ON WHICH [LECT.
tice emerging, as it were, long after the Apostolic age ; and
it will be impossible for us to assign any limit to the process
of Development, both dogmatical and practical, of which, if
we may so speak, the canonization of books, more than two
hundred years after their composition, is so striking an ex
ample. The pious Founder of the Hulsean Lectureship in this
University intended thereby to serve the cause of Revealed
Religion and of the Christian Church ; and since it is essen
tial to the maintenance of Christianity that the grounds
should be clearly understood on which it is affirmed that the
Canonical Books of the Old and New Testament, as received
by the Church of England, constitute the complete Word of
Inspiration (for " the main principle whereupon our belief
of all things therein contained dependeth, is, that the Scrip
tures are the oracles of God Himself,"*) I propose, with the
Divine blessing, to examine the reasons which persuade us
to recognize these writings as divine, and these alone.
May the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, Who
spake by the Prophets and Apostles, endue us with wisdom
to perceive and with power to speak the truth, and give you
willing and understanding hearts to receive and retain the
same! Before we proceed further, it must be defined, what we
mean by Canonical Boohs, and by the Canon of Scripture.
The term Canon properly signifies a measuring Reed or
Rule ;f and is sometimes applied to the tongue of a balance,
* Hooker, III. viii. 13.
t The words (tip, xdwa, xavuv, Latin canna, and English cane, are
of the same stock, and are used for a measuring reed, xd%o.fiof oftoios
frdp&u, Revel, xi. 1, hence the Canon of Scripture is ' arundo et men-
sura fidei,' Victor. Petav. ad loc. cf. Ezech. xl. passim, and Origen. de
Principiis, i. 2; "certa linea perfectaque regula." The word Row

wv

I.] THE CANON OF SCRIPTURE RESTS. 13
which indicates by its position whether the scales are in
equilibrium. Hence, Canonical Books are those which form
the Divine Rule, by which men ascertain whether they are
walking orderly in the straight path of God's Law, and by
which they examine themselves, whether they are in the
Faith,* and weigh their lives, as it were, in the Balance of
the Sanctuary. In a word, the Canon of Scripture is the
divinely inspired Code of Belief and Practice.
Such is the sense in which we shall use the words Canon
and Canonical. This statement is very necessary to be
borne in mind ; for, as we shall see hereafter, the word Ca
nonical is not unfrequently used in a wider sense by some
early Christian Writers; and is sometimes extended by
them, so as to embrace those Books which in our Authorized
Version are termed Apocrypha, and which may be more
properly called JEcclesiastical Books, as having been read
from time immemorial in the Christian Ecclesia or Church ;
which, certain other Books, properly ' called Apocryphal,
never were.f
It being thus premised, that in these Discourses we shall
employ the word Canonical in its strict sense of appertain
ing to the Divine Rule or Canon of Faith and Practice, we
now proceed to inquire, —
How do we prove that certain Books are Canonical, and
that they constitute the Canon of Scripture ?
was used in a critical sense by the Alexandrine grammarians to desig
nate those Authors who were received (lyxpwofievoi) as models (Aucto-
res Classici) in their respective departments of Literature. See
Ruhnken. Hist. Crit. Orat. Gr. xciv. Thus the word was made ready
to the hands ofthe Apostles (Gal. vi. 16.) and subsequent Theological
Writers, for the use in which it is employed by them. Cf. Lectures
on the Apocalypse, pp. 124, 125, 2nd ed. Credner's Geschichte des
Kanons, pp. 7—59. Halle, 1847.
* 2 Cor. xiii. 5. t Compare Hooker, V. xx. 7.

14 THE FOUNDATION ON WHICH [LECT.
To this important question, very different replies are given
by different parties.
I. Some affirm that they themselves have an intuitive per
ception of the Divine nature of Scripture, and that they at
once recognize the Bible to be distinct from, and superior
to, all other compositions. The Spirit of God within us,
they say, witnesses to the Spirit in the Scriptures, that the
Scriptures are the Word of God.*
To this we reply, It is perfectly true that Scripture is
admirably adapted to produce in every mind really influ
enced by the Holy Spirit, an intimate persuasion that it is
the Word of God. But, " the things of Gfod knoweth no
man, but the Spirit of Gfodj" and the question is, How do
we know that we ourselves have the Spirit ? We are for
bidden in Scripture to believe every spirit, and are there
commanded to try the spirits, tvhether they be of (rod ; and
we have no way of trying them, except by the Word of
God. We must, therefore, first be sure that we have the
Word, before we can ascertain whether we possess the Spirit
of God. And, therefore, we cannot prove the Word by the
Spirit within us, which must itself wait to be proved by the
Word ; but, when we have proved that we have the Word of
God, and from that Word have assured ourselves that we
have the Spirit, then, and not till then, we may rely on the
witness of the Spirit within us to the Divine Spirit in tho
Word. Let us also observe, that if our own persuasion, antece-
* Confessio Belgica, Art. r. Augusti Libri Symbol, p. 172. Con-
fessio Gallica, ibid. p. iii. The language ofthe XXXIX Articles, (viz.
" Sacra Scripturse nomine eos Canonkos libros Veteris et Novi Testa
ment intelligimus, de quorum auctoritate in Ecclesia nunquam dubi-
tatum est,") as compared with that of these Confessions, capable though
these confessions are of Hooker's charitable construction, (III. viii.
15,) is very remarkable, and the more so because the Augsburgh Con
fession does not enter into the question of the grounds of the Canon
at all.

I.] THE CANON OF SCRIPTURE RESTS. 15
dent to, and independent of, external evidence were to be
regarded as an adequate proof of the Inspiration of Scrip
ture, then the consequence would be, that there would be a
multitude of Books differing greatly from each other, all
possessing an equal claim to Inspiration. There is scarcely
any Religion in the whole world which has not its own
sacred Books, which its votaries receive as inspired. And
if the testimony of men's minds were to be accepted as a
sufficient proof of inspiration, then what claims would the
Bible have above those of the Koran ? And to speak only
of Christians : some continental Reformers of great celebrity
were betrayed by an arbitrary abuse of private judgment*
into irreverent expressions concerning certain books of the
New Testament, for instance, the Epistle of St. James and
the Apocalypse. Were they justified herein, and shall
these books be rejected by us ? No. We do not, and will
not, so deal with them.
Again, the Church of Rome would require us to receive
the books of Tobit and of Judith, and sundry others, as of
equal authority with the Pentateuch and the Gospel, because
she is convinced that they are inspired. Are those books
therefore the Word of God ? By no means.
* See Seckendorf, Hist. Lutheranismi, Schol. iv. ad Indicem Pri-
mum, Luther's Vorrede zur Uebersetzung, &c, 1524. Also Dewar on
German Protestantism, pp. 117, 212. Todd on the Apocalypse, p. 8.
There is scarcely a book in the Bible, which, either in whole or part,
has not been treated as spurious by some one or other of the Divines
of Germany and Switzerland, who have thus given a great triumph to
Romish Theologians, who thence conclude that the "World can have
no Bible, without a Pope. See Perrone, Loci Theol. p. 1077. (pt. ii.
cap. i. prop. 2.) Malou, Lecture de la Sainte Bible, ii. p. 17. (Lou
vain. 1846.) Let me not, however, say this without referring to the
valuable work of Kirchhofer, Quellensammlung zur Geschichte des
Neutestamentlichen Canons, Ziirich 1844, which is characterized by a
spirit of piety and sobriety. The same may be said of Havernick's
Einleitung in das Alte Testament, Erlang. 1836, and Guerike's In-
trod. to the New. Leips. 1843.

16 THE FOUNDATION ON WHICH [LECT.
Again, some of our own writers* would have brought the
rest of the world to their own persuasion, that the spurious
work called Apostolic Constitutions, and some others of
similar stamp, have an equal claim to be regarded as in
spired with the Books of the New Testament. Was this
reasonable or excusable ? Far from it. Do we not, there
fore, see clearly, that by making our own private persua
sions the standard of Scriptural Canonicity, we should
undermine the foundations of the Canon of Scripture, and
make its Inspiration a matter of doubt ?
II. There have been others who would rest content with
the following proof that Scripture is the Word of God.
The condition of the world without Revelation, they justly
observe, shows that a Revelation was necessary. A Reve
lation being needed, we have it, they add, in Scripture.
For the Books of Scripture treat of a period of time co-ex
tensive with the world's existence ; they deal with the most
lofty and abstruse subjects ; many of them were written by
unlettered men, and, yet, in dignity and sublimity they far
transcend all human compositions ; and all the learning of
this world has never been able to discover any error in
them ; but, on the contrary, the more minutely they are ex
amined, the more striking is their beauty, and the more evi
dent is their truth. Observe also the wonderful harmony of
all the parts of the sacred Volume, although from the time
of the writing of Genesis to that of the Apocalypse, there
intervened more than fifteen hundred years : surely, there
fore, the Bible came from Him with whom a thousand years
are but as one day.-\ See also how accurately the prophe
cies of the Old Testament are fulfilled in the history of the
New. Who could predict such distant events with such
* e. g. Whiston, Tentamen de Const. Apost. Lond. 1711, and even
Richard Montague, ad Orig. Eccles. 394.
t 2 Pet. iii. 8.

I.J THE CANON OF SCRIPTURE RESTS. 17
minute circumstantiality, but He alone who beholds and
sees all things at a glance, and governs all things by His
Word? Consider, also, what a series of wonderful interferences,
all tending to preserve, protect, and diffuse the sacred
Volume, are presented to us in the records of its history,
extending over more than three thousand years. Certainly,
it will be confessed, that the object of such special providen
ces was something more than human. Nay, more, if the
Bible is not God's Word, it cannot be regarded with favor
by God ; for it professes to be from Him : and if this pro
fession is false, it must be most offensive to Him ; and it
cannot be supposed that He has been working for so many
hundreds of years to protect a fraud, and to disseminate a
falsehood against Himself.
Again, it is a matter of history, that the most wonderful
beneficial effects have been produced by the Scriptures.
Nations have been reclaimed from barbarism, and rescued
from vice, and emancipated from idolatry, by their means.
We ourselves are witnesses of their divine power. Our
moral, social, and political life, liberty, and happiness, are
results of the doctrines preached by Christ and His Apos
tles. We know, also, from testimony independent of Scrip
ture, and even opposed to it, that the Writers of these Books
died for the faith which they were taught ; we see that they
affirm their own Inspiration, and we are assured by contem
porary witnesses, that they gave evidence of it by working
miracles, and by speaking in languages which they had
never learnt. Is t in any degree credible that they, and
the thousands who heard and saw them, and were converted
by them, and suffered for the faith which they received
from them, should have been deluded in this great matter ?
Is it possible that God should have allowed mankind to be
so deceived by persons speaking in His name ? Is it not
impiety to imagine that, by enabling them to foretell future

18 THE FOUNDATION ON WHICH [LECT.
events, and to speak with tongues, and to work miracles,
and to preach doctrines consonant with, though far trans
cending, the dictates of nature, reason, and conscience, He
should have authenticated their message to the world, if
they had not been sent by Him ?
These are most important considerations ; and are very
necessary to be borne in mind in their due order and de
gree. They are essential for the proof of the inspiration of
Scripture ; but they are not of themselves sufficient for that
purpose. They suppose a knowledge of Scripture and of History,
and are not adapted to arrest the attention of the careless,
the ignorant, and the unbeliever, who require some living
voice, awakening their mind, directing them to Scripture,
and informing them concerning it.
Besides, even supposing a person to be excited and guided
to the study of Scripture, these evidences, of which I have
just spoken, are not sufficient to produce a conviction of its
inspiration in all its parts; they do, indeed, prove that God
has spoken in Scripture, but they do not show that all the
Scripture — that is, every part of the Bible — is, as St. Paul
says, " given by the inspiration of God;"* and they do not
refute the claims of all other books to be regarded and
received as the Word of God.
We require something moref to demonstrate that; and
this need has been recognized by the writers of Scripture,
and by the Holy Spirit who inspired them. If Scripture
sufficiently proved itself by its own qualities, or by the his
tory of its authors, or by its results, the Holy Spirit (with
reverence be it spoken) would not have taken so much care
to provide other visible evidence of its divine character.
The Pentateuch would not have been laid up in the Holy of
rtaaa ypafprj Btirtvivatoi, 2 Tim. iii. 16.
t See Hooker II. iv. 3. and III. viii. 13. Laud against Fisher sect
16 and 18.

I.] THE CANON OF SCRIPTURE RESTS. 19
Holies, near the Ark of God.* St. Paul would not have
deemed it necessary to warn his hearers against being de
luded by letters " as from him," nor to affix visible tokens
to all his epistles, f
Again : supposing that the authors of certain Books of
Scripture were proved to be inspired, it does not follow,
necessarily, that all that they composed, and published for
the use of the Church, was inspired. St. Barnabas, as we
know from Scripture, was a good man, full of the Holy
Ghost,\ yet his Epistle is no part of Canonical Scripture.
Besides, there are many Books of Scripture, — such as the
Book of Judges, Ruth, the Chronicles, Job, and others, — of
which the authors are unknown ; so that it is clear that the
proof of the inspiration of the Books of Scripture must rest
upon some other grounds besides those of our knowledge of
their authors, or even of the fact of their authors being
inspired. III. We are now brought to consider a third assertion
concerning the grounds of the Canon of Scripture, — the as
sertion of the Church of Rome. She affirms that we can
have no certainty upon this subject, except by resolving our
faith into the teaching of the Church. She would have us be
lieve, that whatever the Church — by which she always means
the Roman branch of the Church — delivers to us as Scripture
is to be received by us as such, because she delivers «'£.§
* Deut. xxxi. 26. 1 2 Thess. ii. 2. 18. t Acts xi. 24.
j! This has been the assertion of the Church of Rome from the
eleventh century to our own day. It is one of the dictates of Pope
Gregory VII., that " No Book or Chapter is to be regarded as Canoni
cal without the Pope's authority;" See Cardinal Baron. Annal. Eccl.
xi. p. 632, ad a. d. 1076. Pighius says, " The Church (of Rome) can
give Canonical authority to books which have no such authority from
themselves or their Author." See his Hierarch. iii. 3. Stapleton as
serts the same, Relect. Contr. 5. qu. 2. art. 4. Controv. 5. lib. 9. c. 14;
he says, that the Shepherd of Hermas and Apostolical Constitutions

20 THE FOUNDATION ON WHICH [LECT.
In support of this allegation, she maintains that the
Church is more visible and apparent than Scripture, and is
also more ancient than Scripture ; for the Church was in
existence before a word of Scripture was written; and Scrip
ture was committed to the keeping of the Church ; and what
ever she propounds as inspired is to be accepted as the Word
of God ; or, in other words, according to her teaching, the
Canon of Scripture rests on the authority of the Church of
Borne. These affirmations contain three fallacies.
1. They confound the present Church of Rome, which is
only a part, and a corrupt part, of the Church, with the
primitive Church Catholic. We can prove — and shall here
after do so — that the decrees of the existing Church of
Rome concerning the Canon of Scripture are inconsistent
with, and subversive of, the teaching of the ancient uni
versal Church of Christ respecting that subject. And it is
because we revere the testimony of the primitive Catholic
Church, and the testimony of the Divine Head of the
Church, namely, that of Christ Himself, that we cannot
accept the Canon of the present Church of Rome.
2. Let it be granted that the Church is more visible than
Scripture, yet it in no way follows therefrom that Scripture
derives its authority from the Church; or that what the
Church (and much less what a part of the Church) delivers
to us as Scripture, is therefore, and for no other reason, to
be received by us as such. To use a familiar illustration, — a
sign upon a road shows the traveller the way to a city : the
sign is more visible than the city, but it does not make the
city ; and, if it were destroyed, the city would still remain ;
may be added to the Canon, if the Church of Rome pleases. And the
Roman Professor Perrone thus writes in his Theological Lectures (ii.
p. 1051, 1052. ed. Paris, 1842}, " The Roman Church, being the Mother
and Mistress of Churches, had power to constitute the true Canon of
Scripture."

I.] THE CANON OF SCRIPTURE RESTS. 21
and when the traveller arrives at the city, the city proves
itself to be the place which the sign indicated, and thus
proves the credibility of the sign. So, the Christian Church,
it is true, directs us to Scripture, but she does not make
Scripture, nor give authority to it : but, on the contrary,
the Word of God gives authority to the Church, and proves
the truth of her testimony concerning Scripture.
3. It is said that the Church is more ancient than Scrip
ture ; that there was a Church of God on earth before the
Old Testament ; and that the Christian Church existed be
fore any of the New Testament was written ; and therefore,
it is said, Scripture depends upon the Church. But this
proceeds on the false assumption, that the authority of
Scripture is grounded on the fact of its being written;
whereas it is wholly derived from its being the Word of
God. Scripture is God's Word written ; the writing of the
Word is no necessary condition of its existence, though it is
a quality very useful for the preservation and diffusion of
the Word. The Church is, indeed, called by St. Paul, " the
Pillar and Ground of the truth ;"* the Pillar of truth it is,
as being a visible witness ; and it is the Ground of truth, as
upholding the same ; but the Church is itself based upon the
Word of God, spoken by Christ who is Himself the Logos
or Eternal WoRD.f Other foundation can no man lay,
says the same Apostle, than that is laid, Jesus Christ.
And again, Ye are built on the foundation of the Apostles
and Prophets ; that is, on the Word of God preached by
Christ's Ministers both before and after His coming Jesus
Christ Himself being the head corner stone. We are born
again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the
Word of God. Of His own will begat He us with the Word
* 1 Tim. iii. 15. 2tfiia.o$ xoi 'ESprwufia.
f Hence St. Irenseus (iii. 2.) calls the Gospel the Pillar and Founda
tion of the Church (aivXav xai atrjptyfw, fiji Exxtyam; to svor/ykxtov^)

22 THE FOUNDATION ON WHICH [LECT.
of truth;* and this Word, preached and afterwards written,
is subsequent to, and derived from, Christ ; for, in the begin
ning was the WoRD.f
The Church, then, is a divinely instituted Society of be
lievers, who are born by Water and the AVord ; the Church
is cleansed and sanctified by the Word, for Christ loved the
Church, and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify
and cleanse it with the washing of Water by the Word.%
She therefore owes all her being and her beauty to the
Word ; and she is, therefore, posterior to the Word, though
not to the writing of the Word. This Word proceeds from
Christ, the Alpha and Omega of all God's revelations ;
and§ by God's will, for our salvation, it was consigned to
writing, and it has been committed by God to the custody
of the Church, who is commanded to preach the same ; but
it' is as preposterous to affirm that it owes its authority to
the Church, as it would be to say, that a Royal Writ depends
for its validity on the Keeper of the Great Seal ; or that the
power of the Monarch is derived from the Herald who pro
claims his accession to the throne.
It is to be observed, also, that, by resolving our belief in
the Canon of Scripture into the tradition of the Church, as
the sufficient aoad. final cause of our assent to the same, we
should, in fact, be undermining the foundations of the Church
herself, and leave ourselves without any ground for belief in
her teaching ; for this belief rests on the Word of God. But
if the Word of God is to depend entirely for its authority on
the witness of the Church, then we shall have, in fine, the
Church bearing testimony to herself, — a kind of evidence
which no one can be bound to receive. And this objection
is much stronger against the Romish theory, when we re
member that it would require us to resolve our faith in the
Canon of Scripture, not into the tradition of the primitive
* James i. 18. f John i. 1.
% Ephes. v. 25, 26. § Rev. i. 8.

I.] THE CANON OF SCRIPTURE RESTS. 23
universal Church, but into that of the existing Roman
branch of it, which is at variance with that of the Catholic
Church ; so that, in fact, it would leave us without any sure
ground for belief, either in Scripture or the Church.
IV. What, then, it may now be inquired, are the grounds
on which we affirm that the Books called Canonical by the
Church of England were dictated by the Holy Ghost ?
First of all, we reply, it is an indubitable fact that a reli
gious Society, known by the name of the Church, exists,
and has existed in this country since the time of the Apos
tles : and this Society exercises a visible authority, and dis
charges certain public offices in Prayer, and Preaching, and
the Ministry of the Sacraments, in public buildings called
churches, throughout the Realm. This Society appeals to
the eye and to the ear of all ; and from its extent, numbers,
and antiquity, is entitled to be heard with respect. The
Church presents us with a Volume,* called the Holy Bible,
containing writings which she affirms to be inspired by God.
But, observe, she does not require us to receive them on her
sole authority. The Church of England does not found the
claims of the English Bible on the sanction of the existing
English Church. No : she appeals to the testimony of the
Church Universal, in and from the time of CJirist and His
Apostles to this hour. " In the name of the Holt Scrip
tures," she says, in her sixth Article, "we do understand
those Canonical Books of the Old and New Testament, of
whose authority was never any doubt in the Church." Thus
the Church of England takes us as it were by the hand, and-
leads us upward by an ascending scale of past generations,
and places us on the elevated platform of primitive Christi
anity ; she lands us, as it were, on a mountain of transfigura-
* See Hooker III. viii. 14, and II. vii. 3.

24 the foundation on which [LECT.
tion, in the company of Moses, and Elias, and the Apostles,
and of Christ Himself.*
We find, and we shall hereafter endeavour to show, that
Jesus Christ and His Apostles recognized the Scriptures
of the Old Testament in the hands of the Jews ; that He
stamped the Jewish Canon of Scripture with His own Divine
seal. We have received that Canon, and are authorized
and obliged to do so by our belief in Christ ; and we know
that the Old Testament in our hands agrees precisely with
that in the hands of the Jews at the time of our Lord's
Ministry, and in the hands of Christ Himself. This, I say,
we can prove from the concurrent witness of a countless
number of Copies and of Versions of the Old Testament
preserved both by Jews and Christians in every quarter of
the globe.
Hence our belief in the integrity and inspiration of the
Old Testament rests on the testimony of Christ.
But you may ask, perhaps ; Must we not first prove that
the Old and New Testaments are inspired before we can
establish the authority of Christ ?
No: it is sufficient for this purpose, to show that the
Books of the Old Testament and the New are genuine and
authentic. As our Lord Himself says ; The Works which I
do they witness of Me ;f and these works are authenticated
by the primitive, contemporaneous reception and public
reading of the Gospels, in which those works are recorded.
But on this point more will be said hereafter.
To proceed : With respect to the New Testament, the
* Hence the assertion of St. Augustine, on which Romanist Divines
lay so much stress, as if it confirmed their theory, is seen to be per
fectly reasonable ; " Ego vero Evangelio non crederem nisi me Eccle-
siae commoveret auctoritas." Contra Epist. Fundam. c. 5. The
Church may well be said commovere; but it is the Word alone which
non commovet sed stabilit, solidat, immobilem reddit.
f John v. 35.

I.] the canon of scripture rests. 25
primitive Apostolic Church of Christ exercised a fourfold
office : first, that of a contemporary Witness to its genuine
ness and authenticity; next, that of a Guardian of its in
tegrity; next, that of a Herald, by public reading and
interpretation of it in her religious assemblies, and by diffu
sion of copies of it into all parts of the world ; and, finally,
that of a Judge, by vindicating its divine character, and by
distinguishing it from all supposititious writings claiming to
be inspired, and by visiting their authors with severe spirit
ual penalties.
Now, we affirm, that the Apostles of Christ would never
have asserted their own writings to be inspired, unless they
had been persuaded of the truth of that assertion ; they
would never, as they did, have commanded the Church to
receive their word not as the word of men, but, as it is in
truth, the word of God,* and to read itf in religious assem
blies, as such ; and the primitive Church would never have
received and read it, if she had not been convinced by mira
cles that it was what it professed to be. Nor, be it said
with reverence, would Christ have signally distinguished
those who claimed to be His ministers and chosen followers,
if the claim which they made to Inspiration had been false ;
He would not have guaranteed that claim, by enabling them
to work miracles in His name, the performance of which is
proved by the record of them in the New Testament received
as divine by the Church contemporary with it. Thus, we
see that the testimony of the Church of England to the inj
spiration of these Books rests on the witness of the primitive
Church ; and that is founded on the authority of Christ.
Further : having had our attention arrested by the Church,
and being guided by her to certain Books which are pro
pounded to us by the Apostles and by Christ Himself; and
finding that we have the testimony of the Church from the
* 1 Thess. ii. 13. t Col. iv. 16 ; 1 Thess. v. 27.
3

26 THE foundation on which [lect.
time of the Apostles to our own, to their Inspiration, we
then, as reasonable men, are irresistibly moved to devote
ourselves to the study of these writings. And among other
facts stated in Scripture, we find this, that Christ, whose
Divine character is proved by His works,* promises in the
New Testament to be ever with His Church, and to guide
His Apostles into all truth ;f that is, our belief in her initial
testimony, concerning the Canon of Scripture is confirmed
and assured to us by Christ Himself.
Nor is this all. Having been led by the Church to the
Scriptures, we find by experience that the more we bestow
our time in hearing and reading them, the more they answer
our received opinions concerning them ; and then those other
important considerations come in, to which we have already
adverted.J The more we examine them, the greater reason
we perceive, — in their beauty, simplicity, majesty, and sub
limity, in the divine purity of their doctrine, in the wonder
ful harmony of all their parts, in the benefits they have con
ferred upon the world, in the completion of their prophecies,
in the miracles wrought by Christ and His Apostles, — to be
more and more convinced of the divine origin of the Scrip
tures. And. finally, the Holy Spirit Himself, whose word
they are, witnesses to our spirit in this persuasion, and con
firms, settles, and stablishes us immovably in the faith that
the Scriptures received by us through the Ministry of the
Church are indeed the Word of God.
This proof is one of. universal application ; it comprises
all the parts of Scripture. The Church does not present to
us merely this or that chapter or book, but she delivers to
us the whole Canon of Scripture as sealed by Christ and
His Apostles, and declares the whole to be Divine. She
* John v. 36 ; x. 25 ; xiv. 11. Matt. xi. 2—6.
t Matt, xxviii. 20. John xvi. 13.
X Above, p. 10—18.

1.] THE CANON OF SCRIPTURE RESTS. 27
addresses herself audibly, visibly, and intelligibly to all men,
— to the careless, to the illiterate, to the unbeliever; she
speaks to the poor and to the simple, to the noble and the
wise ; and she demonstrates to every man that he is without
excuse, if he receive not the Books of the Old and New
Testament as the Word of God.
It will be my endeavour, in the following Discourses, to
exhibit more particularly what has now been presented to
you in a concise and summary manner ; and I would now
only observe, in conclusion, that the text consists of four
verses from the history of the Samaritan woman in the fourth
chapter of the Gospel of St. John ; and that I have chosen
them as affording an apt illustration of the present argu
ment, and as fixing it in the memory of the hearer.
The Samaritan woman went her way into the city, and
said to the men, Come see a man which told me all things
that ever I did ; is not this the Christ ? Then they went
out of the city and came unto Him, and many of them be
lieved on Him for the saying of the woman which testified,
He told me all that ever I did.
So it is with the Church. She has received the Word of
God ; she is the divinely-appointed Witness, Keeper, Herald,
and Interpreter of the Divine Law ; but God alone is the
Legislator from whom its authority flows. She exercises a
manuductory and ministerial office, but not a final and
magisterial jurisdiction. By experience we know that her
authority propounding Scripture to us as divine, is the first
outward motive which induces us to esteem it such.* The
Church brings us to Christ ; Christ authorizes the testimony
which she has given, and confirms it by words and works of
His own, and thus proves the credibility of the Church.
The Samaritans, being brought to Christ by the woman, be-
* Hooker, III. viii. 14.

28 THE FOUNDATION ON WHICH, &G. [LECT. I.
sought Him that He would tarry with them. He complied
with their request. He abode with them two days. So,
when we are brought to Christ by the Church, we beseech
Him to abide with us. He graciously remains with us in
His Holy Word, and, by His grace given to our continued
prayer and meditation upon it, He confirms us more and
more in our belief of its Inspiration. He remains with us
not two days only, but all days.* He shows us by infalli
ble proofs that He Himself is the great Prophet of the Old
Testament, and the great Apostle of the New ; that He is
indeed, Himself, as the blessed Evangelist calls Him, the
Word of God, who was in the beginning with God, and
who is God.-f Thus, the Incarnate Word instructs and
assures us of the divine authority of the Written Word, and
we now say to the Church, as the Samaritans said to the
woman, Now we believe, not any longer% because of thy
saying ; for ive have heard Him ourselves, and knoiv that
Ms is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.
* Matth. xxviii. 20, Eyu pi$ vjiuv ilfu rtaras fa; r;fiipas.
f John i. 1, 2. t oixiru.

LECTURE II.

Rom. iii. 1, 2.

" What advantage then hath the Jeio? or what profit is there of circum
cision? Much every way. Chiefly because that unto them were
committed the oracles of God."
It was my endeavour, in the preceding Discourse, to state
in general terms the nature of the evidence on which we
receive as Canonical — that is, as the divinely appointed
Rule of our faith and practice, — those Books which are pro
pounded to us as such by the Church of England, and those
alone. It was then observed, that as soon as we are capable of
perceiving any thing by our intellectual faculties, we find a
religious Society in existence, dating from the time of the
Apostles, and pervading all parts of our country. This
Society, called the Church of England, presents to us
certain Books as inspired, and grounds her assertion of
their Inspiration not on her own authority, but on the testi
mony of the Universal Church in and from the age of
Jesus Christ and His Apostles ; that is, ultimately on the
witness of Christ Himself. Having received this warrant
for the Inspiration of the Scriptures, we are moved to search
them diligently ; and the more time and study we bestow on
them, the stronger our belief in their Inspiration becomes ;
and by the influence of the Holy Spirit, whose Word Scrip-

30 THE FOUNDATION OF THE [LECT.
ture is, and whom our Heavenly Father* gives to all who
ask Him faithfully, we are settled and stablished in the be
lief that Scripture is the Word of God.
Such is the outline of the proof of the Divine authority of
the Books of the Old and New Testament. My present
purpose is, with the Divine blessing, to demonstrate more
specifically what was then stated in a comprehensive man
ner ; and first of all to treat of the Old Testament.
In this portion of the argument I propose to show why we
receive as Canonical those Books, and those alone, which
we designate as such ; next, to examine the arguments of
those who would require us to receive certain other Books,
which we call Apocryphal, and who will not communicate
with us or with any one who does not and cannot receive
these additional books as inspired, and of equal authority
with the others ; and lastly, to examine the history and posi
tion of the Apocryphal books, and to invite your attention
to the wisdom and felicity of that middle course which the
Church of England, following the steps of the Church
Catholic, has pursued with respect to them.
These are the topics, my brethren, which will be considered
in the present and two following Discourses ; and my inten
tion is, if health and strength are granted me, to extend the
inquiry further, in the Lectures of the ensuing October, and
in them to examine the grounds on which we receive as
Canonical the Books of the New Testament.
Our present concern is with the Old Testament ; and I
would now proceed to show that its Books, as soon as they
were written, were delivered by Almighty God to the keep
ing of His own people, the Jews ; that by them they were
received as inspired, and preserved pure and entire till the
coming of Christ : that they, and they alone, were acknow
ledged by Him as .the sincere Word of God, that, being so
authenticated by Christ, they passed into the hands of the
* Luke xi. 13. '

II.] CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 31
Christian Church; and have been preserved unadulterated
and unmutilated, and conveyed by an uninterrupted succes
sion even to ourselves at this day.
Let us commence our inquiries with the Pentateuch, or
Five Books of Moses.
The injunctions of Almighty God concerning it afford the
clearest proofs of His providential care for the declaration
of its sanctity and for the maintenance of its inviolability.
To Moses God Himself gives this testimony: My servant
Moses is faithful in all Mine house;* and when Moses had
written the Book of the Law, he delivered itf unto the
Priests, the sons of Levi, which bare the Ark of the Cove
nant, and unto all the elders of Israel, and he commanded
the Levites to take the book and to put it by\ the side of the
Ark of the Covenant, to be there for a witness against the
people of Israel.^
Let us remember that the Ark of the covenant was within
the Holy of Holies; that upon it the Divine Presence rested
in awful majesty ; that it was permitted to the High Priest
alone to enter the Holy of Holies once a year ; and that
God, on two signal occasions, vindicated the holiness of the
Ark, by punishing with death the men of Bethshemesh who
looked into it,|| and Uzzah who touched it with his hand ;Tf
and we shall acknowledge that the integrity and sanctity of
the Sacred Volume could not have been guaranteed and de
clared in a more striking and effectual manner than by this
* Numb. xii. 7 ; Heb. iii. 2.
f Hence St. Clement of Rome well says (i. 43,) o ^axaptos ittatos
Bapdrtuv iv ofod toi oi'xco Mudiujs ta Suitstay/j.ha avtu ridvto. iatifisiiiaato
iv tali tspacg $Lfi\oi$ w xo.1 irtTixoXovdyGav ot "Kowioi rtpo^tfat Gvv&Tttfxaptw
poitftS toig bit1 wvtov VEVOftoB itrifdvoif.
X Not in, but by; see Bp. Patrick on the passage.
| Deut. xxxi. 9, 24— -26. See Josh. xxiv. 26.
|| 1 Sam. vi. 19.
1 2 Sam. vi. 6. 1 Chron. xiii. 9.

32 THE FOUNDATION OF THE [LECT.
its juxtaposition with the Ark, enshrined in the Holy of
Holies.* Let us observe also the other means prescribed by God
for its public recognition as His Word. At the end of
every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, j
in the Feast of Tabernacles, when all Israel were assembled
before the Lord, first in the Tabernacle and afterwards in
the Temple, the Law of the Lord was to be read before all
the people. And accordingly we find| that there was not a
word of all that Moses commanded which Joshua read not
before all the congregation.
This public Reading of the Pentateuch in the presence of
those many thousands who had been eye-witnesses of the
miracles which it records, supplies a very strong proof of its
veracity and of its inspiration. It was like a solemn appeal
to all the Israelites for an attestation to those miracles
which they themselves had seen. And these miracles, be it
remembered, are the credentials of the Divine Legation of
the Author of the Pentateuch : they are the seals of his In
spiration. Further : for its greater honour and security, Almighty
God commanded that the kings of Israel, as soon as they
were enthroned, should make, with their own hands, a tran
script of the Law from the copy guarded by the Priests and
Levites. § Accordingly we find that, as late as the times of
* Juvenal says, xiv. 102: " Tradidit arcano quodeunque Tolumine
Moyses." The word Arcanum, as Cicero explains it, is derived " ab
area, in qua quae clausa sunt tuta manent." (Cic. de Fin. ii. 26.)
Perhaps the Author may be allowed to refer, on the religious uses of
arcce and xiatat, to the authorities cited in his note on Theocritus xxi.
56, and xxvi. 6. The expression of Juvenal, arcanum Yolumcn, is re
markably appropriate to the Five Books of Moses, and may, perhaps,
have been derived (even though Juvenal might not know the fact)
from the connection of the Pentateuch with the Ark.
f Deut. xxxi. 10. X Josh. viii. 35.
\ Deut. xvii. 18. Josh. i. 8. See also the authorities quoted by

II.] CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 33
Jehoash, one of the ceremonies of the Coronation of the
Jewish Monarchs was the delivery to him of the Testimony
by the Priest.*
It is asserted by Christian writers of unimpeachable vera
city^ whose testimony appears to be corroborated by that
of the Jewish historian Josephus,J that not only the Penta
teuch, but all the Books which the Jews received as inspired,
were deposited in the Sanctuary of God ;§ that is, as St.
Paul says, the Oracles of God were committed to them,\\ and
were kept by them in His House.
Concerning the Prophetical Books of Holy Scripture, it is
certain that they profess to be dictated by God, and that
they were received as such by the Jews, who were under
Rivetus Jes. Vap. p. 553. This copy of the Priests appears to be that
which is called by Maimonides, Hilcoth Tephillim vii. 11. "the book
of the Court i. e. of the Priests." See Schmid, Historia Canonis, p.
229, 231. Lips. 1775. Vitringa Synag. Vet. p. 181, 182.
* 2 Kings xi. 12, and 2 Chron. xxiii. 11.
f Tertullian de Cult. Foem. i. 3. Epiphanius. S. Augustine, de
Civ. Dei, xv. 23. Canon Scripturarum qui servabatur in Templo
Hebrasi populi succedentium diligentia Sacerdotum. Joannes Da-
mascen. de Orthod. fid. iv. 18 ; and Vitringa de Synag. Vet. 177.
X Who speaks (Antiq. iii. 3, and v. 1) of the i] iv hp£> waxst/iivr;
ypa$r[ and ta- iv iipu avaxiipsva ypdfifiata. See also De Vita, sua, c.
75, where he speaks of his having saved the Itpa ypdfipata, at the
taking of Jerusalem, zaptaanivov Titov. These appear to have been
the copies belonging to the Temple. In his History of the Jewish
Wars, vii. c. v., he relates that the Law was borne in the Triumph of
Titus, at Rome, and afterwards deposited in the Imperial Palace.
j! See Josh. xxiv. 26. "'Joshua wrote these words in the Book of
the Law of God ;" i. e. annexed the book of Joshua to the Pentateuch,
and deposited it in the Holy of Holies, beside the Ark. Comp. 1 Sam.
x. 25. " Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and
wrote it in a Book and laid it up before fhe Lord;" which shows that
the Tabernacle was a depository of sacred Archives. Cp. Schmid,
Histor. Canon, p. 233, and 1 Kings ii. 3.
I] Rom. iii. 2.

34 THE FOUNDATION OF THE [LECT.
God's special guidance and protection, and who were not
only warned by Him against false Prophets,* but were en
joined by Him to put them to death. The parents them
selves of a false Prophet were commanded to execute judg
ment upon him.f Thus the reception of the Prophetical
Books by God's people is a strong proof of their Inspiration.
Here also it is to be observed, that the word " Prophet"J
among the Jews, and the corresponding word in the New
Testament, is applied not only to one who predicts future
events, but also generally to any one sent by God to declare
His will. Hence it is that " the Law and the Prophets"
comprehend all% the Books of their Scripture ; and when it
is asserted by Jewish writers that their Prophets were in
spired, this affirmation is meant by them to apply to the
Writers of the Historical as well as the Prophetical Books
contained in the Old Testament. The Book of Psalms was
further secured and promulgated by liturgical use.||
Thus, we see the Providence of God exerting itself in a
most signal manner for the preservation and publication of
the Sacred Books ; and no less remarkable were the interfe
rences of the same Almighty and Merciful Power to rescue
them from destruction at several times.
For some centuries before their captivity, the Churches of
Israel and Judah were corrupted with idolatry and supersti
tion. There was a famine of hearing the Word of the
Lord. If In the reign of King Asa, the Prophet Azariah
said, Now for a long season Israel hath been without the
* Deut. xiii. 5 ; xviii. 20. Jer. xiv. 15. f Zech. xiii. 3.
X SOM xpo^ttje.
\ This was the popular classification. " The Law, Prophets, and
Kethubim," (or Hagiographa,) the more scientific one. Both are used
in the N. T., Luke xxiv. 27, 44.
|| Our Lord also cites it as "the Law," John x. 34. Is it not writ
ten in your Law, I said, Te are Gods ? Ps. lxxxii. 6.
^ Amos viii. 11.

II.] CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 35
true God, and without a teaching Priest, and ivithout Laiv.*
In the next reign, that of Jehoshaphat, when the Levites
were sent on a circuit to teach in the cities of Judah, they
had, we read, the Book of the Law with them ;f an expres
sion which appears to intimate, that though the Law existed,
copies of it were scarce. In the times just preceding those
of King Hezekiah, the Temple had been shut up, and was
almost fallen into ruins, and no offerings were made upon
the altar.f But that pious King restored the Liturgy, and
renewed the reading of the Law.§ Again ; in the two fol
lowing reigns of Manasseh and Arnon, the Nation relapsed
into Idolatry, so that the good King Josiah, the successor of
Arnon, remained a stranger to the Law, even till the eigh
teenth year of his reign, when the Sacred Volume|| was
found by Hilkiah, the Priest, in an obscure nook of the
Temple, where, probably, it had been secreted by some of
the Levites, to preserve it from the idolatrous rage of King
Manasseh, who had set up an idol in the House of the Lord,
and built altars for all the Host of Heaven in the Courts of
the Temple.1T
It is evident from these historical details, that the Word
of God was often in imminent danger of extinction. Yet
one single fact suffices to prove that the Scriptures were
preserved pure and entire through all these corrupt and
idolatrous times. Not only did God institute and continue
a perpetual succession of Priests, whose duty it was to keep
knowledge, and that the people should seek the Law at their
mouths, for they are the Messengers of the Lord of Hosts,**
but from the ages of Samuel downwards there was an unin-
* 2 Chron. xv. 3. t 2 Chron. xvii. 9.
j 2 Chron. xxix. 7. 2 2 Chron. xxxi. 4. 21.
|| 2 Chron. xxxiv. 15. This appears to have been the " Temple
Copy;" placed by the Ark.
If 2 Chron. xxxiii. 5.
** Mai. ii. 7.

36 THE FOUNDATION OF THE ' [LECT.
terrupted succession of Prophets* who were raised up by
God, to be Watchmen of the House of Israel, to sound the
trumpet in Sion, to cry aloud, and show the people their
transgression, and the house of Jacob their sin.-f The Pro
phets, we know, did rebuke the people for their iniquities ;
it is certain, from their writings and their sufferings, and
from Christ's testimony to them, that they executed their
office faithfully. But they never let fall a single syllable
intimating that the Word of God had been mutilated or
adulterated by the Jews. Such mutilation or adulteration
would have been sins far too heinous to have been passed by
unnoticed or connived at by them, if they had been com
mitted. Hence we may safely conclude that no such mutila
tion or adulteration ever took place.
We should be guilty of great ingratitude to God, if we did
not confess, with thankfulness, that it was of His Almighty
goodness that the written Word was preserved, when it
seemed on so many occasions to be, as it were, on the brink
of destruction. Nor, ought we to be less thankful for His
mercy in giving us these irrefragable proofs of its preserva
tion, which otherwise, under the circumstances of the case,
might have been liable to be questioned by anxious doubts,
and to be controverted by sceptical surmisings.
We recognize additional reason for gratitude to Him on
these two grounds, when we pursue our historical inquiries
further. In the seventy years' Captivity the Jews almost forgot
their vernacular tongue ; still, God raised up chosen instru
ments among them, to preserve and expound the Law, even
at Babylon : and He has vouchsafed us evidence of this in
the Book of the Prophet Daniel, who is described as a man
* What Josephus calls tr\v run rtpotyrjtuv axpifirj StaSox^v.
t Isa. lviii. 1.

II.] CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 37
skillful in all wisdom,* and who cites the Laio of Moses, and
the Prophets,-\ and studies the Book of the Prophet Jere-
miah,% and is referred by an Angel to the Scripture of
Truth.% Further : it is clear, from what is recorded of Ezra, after
the return of the Jews to Jerusalem, that the Scriptures
had been preserved entire throughout the Captivity. Ezra
is styled in Scripture a Priest, a Scribe of the Law of the
God of Heaven ;\\ and, in obedience to that Law, he ordered
the Feast of Tabernacles to be kept in the seventh month ;
and brought forth the Law of Moses, and read it for seven
days in the ears of all the people. It appears to be unques
tionable,^ that Ezra, assisted (as it would seem) by the Pro
phets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi,** all of them inspired
persons, and recognized as such by Christ Himself, — (for it
is certain that the Books written by them were a part of the
Jewish Canon of Scripture which Christ received,) — it is
indubitable, I say, that Ezraff revised the copies then extant
ofthe Jewish Scriptures, and collected them into one volume,
and completed the Canon of the Old Testament.
The minor Prophets are specified by the Son of Sirach, as
* Dan. i. 4. t Dan. ix. 6. 11. 13.
X Dan. ix. 2. I Dan. x. 21.
|| Ezra vii. 12, margin.
If See the authorities cited by Bp. Cosin, on the Canon, and Carpzov.
Introd. in V. T., cap. xviii. p. 307. ed. Lips. 1721. and Havernick,
Einleitung in V. T. p. 24—34. 44. 63.
** Some Jews of St. Jerome's age believed Malachi to be the same
person as Ezra; Malachi (i. e. angel or messenger) being an official
name. See S. Hieron. in Mai. S. Aug. De Civ. Dei, xx. 25.
ft See S. Iren. iii. 25. (with note of Feuard.) Euseb. H. E. V. 8. S.
Hilar. Prolog, in Psalmos. Theodoret. Prsef. in Psalm. S. Chrysos-
tom (Homil. 8 in Hebr.) says that " God inspired a holy person to col
lect them, Ezra: afterwards God so ordered it that they should be
translated by the LXX. And," he adds, " Jesus Christ came, and
adopted these books; and His Apostles diffused them every where."

38 THE FOUNDATION OF THE [LECT.
Twelve, and no more ; Let the bones of the Twelve* Prophets
flourish. Malachi is called by the Jews " the Seal of the
Prophets," because he closed the prophetic writings, and
his concluding prophecy, concerning Johnf the Baptist,
connects the end of the Old Testament with the. beginning
of the New.
The Jewish historian, Josephus, expressly states that no
Book written after this period was regarded by the Jews as
inspired. J It was a very providential circumstance, as we
shall see, that the Canon of the Old Testament was then
closed. But to return. God, in His infinite mercy, converted
even the calamities of the Jews into means and occasions of
securing and diffusing His Holy Word. The Captivity had
been a grievous affliction; the loss of their language, and
the dispersion of their brethren, were sore trials : but God
elicited good from all these evils.
This appears as follows. Although the Temple was re
built, it had not the visible sign of God's presence. But now
* Eccles. xlix. 10. Cp. Acts vii. 42, where St. Stephen refers to
them as comprised in one Volume.
t Mai. iv. 5. Hence are to be explained our Saviour's words (Matt.
xii. 13.), All the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. See
Smith's Discourses, p. 301.
X The important citations from the Rabbis in Smith's Discourses,
p. 288. 250. Euseb. Chronic, lib. ii. "Sue usque divinse Scripturse."
And "ad annum primum Seleuci," Demons. Evangel, viii. init.
St. Jerome writing in Palestine says (ad Isa. xlix. 21), " Post
Haggseum et Zachariam et Malachiam nullos alios Prophetas usque
ad Joannem Baptistam videram;" a most important testimony; and
S. Augustine in his de Civ. Dei, xvii. c. ult., (one of his last works,
completed only two years before his death, and therefore of higher
credit than his earlier declarations in his work On Christian Teach
ing, and at the Councils of Hippo and Carthage,) says, " Post
Malachiam, Haggaeum et Zachariam et Esdram non habuerunt Pro
phetas usque ad Salvatoris adventum. Hos Judas in auctoritatem
Canonicam receptos novissimos habent."

II.] CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 39
Synagogues arose* in every part of the land ; in them, copies
of the Scriptures, made with the most scrupulous fidelity,
were kept in a sacredf chest, as the Original Volume had
been guarded in a chest, near the Ark, in the Holy of
Holies, in the Tabernacle and Temple. In these Synagogues
the Law of God was read three times a week ; and thus His
presence was diffused over the land, and the whole of Pales
tine became a Temple.
The Syrian King, Antiochus Epiphanes,J the ferocious
persecutor, the type of Antichrist, endeavoured to destroy
the Old Testament ; When they had rent in pieces, we read,§
the Books of the Law which they found, they burnt them
with fire ; and whosoever ivas found with any Book of the
Testament, or if any consented to the Law, the King's com
mandment was that they should put him to death. This
record proves the general diffusion of the Old Testament at
that time, and the veneration in which it was held by the
Jews. And when Antiochus prohibited the public reading
of the Law, then, analogous lessons from the Prophets were
substituted in its place ; till at length, when he was removed
by death, both the Law and the Prophets were read in the
Synagogues, and continued to be read through, year by
year, until the Advent of Him, of whom Moses and the
Prophets did write, and Who came to fulfil them all.
Besides: this diffusion of Scripture was not confined to
Palestine. The loss of the original Hebrew as a vernacular
tongue, necessitated the production of Chaldaie paraphrases,
* A Synagogue, say the Rabbis, is to be erected wherever there are
ten persons of full age and leisure to attend its service. See Lightfoot
in Matth. iv. 23. In our Saviour's time, no town in Judsea was with
out a Synagogue; Tiberias had twelve, and Jerusalem four hundred
and eighty. Prideaux, Connection, i. book vi. vol. ii. p. 166. Oxford,
1820. t They are still so kept to this day. See Buxtorf, Synagoga, c. 14.
X B. C. 175—164. 1 1 Mace. i. 54, 55.

40 THE FOUNDATION OF THE [LECT.
for the use of the people, after their return. This, again,
produced a class of regularly trained Expositors or Scribes,
learned in the Law and in the, Prophets. They first appear
to us ranged by the side of Ezra, the Priest, standing on
the pulpit of wood, at the Feast of Tabernacles, as is re
corded in the Book of Nehemiah, and interpreting into
Chaldee what Ezra read in the original Hebrew.* Similarly
the proper Lessons of the Law and the Prophets, read first
in the original Hebrew according to a stated Calendar in
the Synagogue, were rendered orally, paragraph by para
graph, into the Syro-Chaldaic vernacular language, by an
interpreter, f
In the Chaldee Paraphrases, thus framed, happily for
Christianity, was deposited the sense in which most learned
Jews of that and the succeeding age understood the pro
phecies of Scripture; and from them it. is clearly proved
that many predictions were applied to the Messiah by the
best instructed Jews from Ezra to the Christian era, which
later Jews, apostatizing from the faith of their forefathers,
would alienate from Christ. Thus the loss of the vernacular
tongue served not only to preserve Scripture by a Transla
tion, but to interpret it by an Exposition.%
Another instrument providentially supplied the learning
of Ezra's age was the Masora,§ in which, with wonderful
scrupulousness and fidelity, not only the number of para
graphs, but even of letters in the Sacred Text was regis
tered, and the whole carefully guarded from either curtail
ment or addition.
Let us now turn our eyes to the west of Judsea. By the
the conquests of Alexander of Macedon and his Generals,
* Neh. viii. 3. 10.
t See Prideaux, ii. p. 166—184. Pt. I. book vi.
X See Bp. Pearson on the Creed, Article ii. p. 82 and p. 117, Notes.
ed. Lond. 1715.
\ Prideaux, ii. p. 135. Ilottinger, Thesaurus, p. 131 — 138.

II.] CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 41
the Greek language was widely diffused, and had become
the familiar tongue of the principal cities of Western Asia,
Syria, and Egypt. Partly by force, and partly by choice,
Jews vf ere' dispersed* in large numbers in these cities : hence
arose the necessity of a Greek version of the Scriptures for
them and their proselytes. Accordingly, about two hundred
and eighty years before the birth of Christ, a translation,
commonly called the Translation of the Septuagint, or
Seventy, — whether from the number of the translators, or
of the elders of the Jewish ^Sanhedrim, — was made at Alex
andria in Egypt; and thus, by God's providence, a Greek
Translation, made by Jews and for Jews, and publicly read
in the synagogues of the Jews, — one, therefore, against
which the Jews could not make any exception, and one in
the universal language of the Gentile world, — was prepared
for the use of the Evangelists and Apostles of Christ writing
the New Testament in Greek. From this Septuagint ver
sion, and not from the original Hebrew, the Latin Transla
tions were made, which were used in the Western Church
even to the time of St. Jerome, that is, to the end of the
fourth century, f
Thus we see that additional provision was made for the
preservation, diffusion, and exposition of the Old Testament.
By the dispersion of the Jews, by the erection of synagogues
in which the Sacred Books were read, and by the multiplica
tion of copies of the Original Text and of Translations of it
throughout the whole civilized world, the Old Testament was
safely guarded against addition or mutilation. This was
God's work. If we may so speak, the soil of the whole
world was thus ploughed into deep furrows, ready to receive
the sacred seed of the Gospel from the hands of the Divine
Sower. * Concerning these Stasrtopal or dispersions, see Bp. Pearson, Op.
Post. ii. p. 31 ; and what is said below, Lecture XI,
t See the authorities in Hottinger, p. 338 — 343.
4

42 THE FOUNDATION OF THE [LECT.
Of this prospective adaptation we have beautiful evidence
in the New Testament. We behold our Blessed Lord enter
ing the synagogue,* as His custom was, on the Sabbath
day ; we see the book of Isaiah given Him, and we hear Hint
expounding the Proper Lesson of the day, and applying it
to Himself. At Jerusalem, after the Ascension, St. James
says that Moses of old time hath in every city them that
preach Mm, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath
day.-\ We hear St. Paul declaring in the synagogue at
Antioch in Pisidia after the reading of the Law and the
Prophets, that because the Jews knew not Christ nor yet
the voices of the Prophets, which are read every Sabbath day,
they fulfilled them in condemning Him.% We hear him
pleading at Caesarea before the Praetorian judgment-seat,
and boldly asking, King Agrippa, believest thou the Pro
phets? I know that thou believest.§ At Lystra we see the
child Timothy reading the Bible. || If we pass into Greece,
we behold Paul at Thessaloniea, as his manner was,% going
into the synagogue of the Jews, and three Sabbath days rea
soning with them out ofthe Scriptures; we see the Berrhceans
searching the Scriptures daily.** Even in the luxurious
Corinth, we find Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue,
joining himself as a fellow-labourer to Paul of Tarsus,ff who
reasoned there in the synagogue every Sabbath. Crossing
the Mediterranean to Alexandria, we see Apollos, an elo
quent man mighty in the Scriptures,%% and ready to become
a Christian missionary in Achaia, and mightily convincing
the Jews, and that publicly, showing by the Scriptures that
Jesus is Christ.§§ And if we bend our steps along the
desert road leading from Gaza to Ethiopia, we meet the
* Luke iv. 16. t Acts xv. 21. J Acts xiii 27.
I Acts xxvi. 27. || Acts xvi. 1; 2 Tim. iii. 15.
If Acts xvii. 2. ** Acts xvii. 11. tt 1 Cor. i. 1.
XX Acts xviii. 24. ?g Acts xviii. 28.

II.] CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 43
Statesman of Candace sitting in his chariot, and reading
Isaiah the Prophet.*
Such is the evidence in the New Testament, concerning
the diffusion of the Old and the consequent preparation for
the New, at the coming of Christ.
Two questions must now be asked ; and most important
they are.
(1) Did these different individuals and congregations, dis
persed so widely, receive the same Scriptures f
And (2) were those Scriptures of the Old Testament the
same as we receive ?
(1) Most providentially for the cause of true Religion, the
Almighty Author of Scripture has so ordered it that we
have two witnesses of unexceptionable authority on this
subject : one from the great metropolis of the eastern part
ofthe Jewish Church, Jerusalem; the other from the capi
tal of the western, Alexandria: both Jews, both contempo
rary with the Apostles : the one Josephus, the other Philo.
Josephus was a Priest, a Pharisee, of the family of the
Asmonean princes, deeply versed in the literature of his
own country and in that of Greece, and obliged, by his
peculiar studies as a controversialist, and as a historian of
his own nation, to examine the documents connected with it,
and to cultivate the literature of Greece, in the language of
which he wrote.
One of his latest productions was a polemical treatise
against Apion, a celebrated Grammarian of Alexandria, con
cerning the antiquity of Jewish annals. In this work he
enumerates and describes the Books which his countrymen,
the Jews, received as Inspired. He testifies, that, " al
though many years had then elapsed since their composition,
yet no one had ever dared to add any thing to them, or to
take aught from them, or to make any change in them ; and
* Acts viii. 28. »

44 THE FOUNDATION OF THE [LECT.
that it is a principle engrafted in all Jews, even from their
birth, to regard them as the Oracles of God, and to cleave
to them, yea, and gladly to die for them, if necessary."
Such is the testimony of Josephus concerning the Old Tes
tament. These Books he says, are Twenty-two* in number, and
embrace a period from the Creation to Moses, and from
Moses to Artaxerxes (that is, to the time of Ezra ;) these
he affirmed to be rightly received as inspired by God,f and
he distinguishes between these Books, and those which re
late to the period after Artaxerxes, (that is, our Apocrypha,)
by saying that these latter are not regarded as of like credit
with the former, because the previous exact succession of
Prophets% was not continued after that epoch.
The Books, therefore, which all the Jews received as in
spired, in the time of Christ, are precisely the same as are
received by ourselves.
It has been alleged by sorne persons, that this testimony
of Josephus comes from Jerusalem alone,- and that the west
ern or Alexandrine Jews had a different Canon of Scripture.
To this we reply : First, Josephus says that the Canon
which he is setting down was received by all the Jews, and
that they would all contend for it even to the death; and
next, Josephus is, it is true, a Jew of Jerusalem, but then
he is writing, writing in a controversial treatise, to a Gram
marian of Alexandria — that is, he is writing from the Fast
* For the specification of these Twenty-two, or (as by a slight modi
fication in arrangement) Twenty-four, as they are sometimes called.
t Stxauos Bita rtirttatsvftiva.
X Compare 1 Mace. ix. 27, (circ. b. c. 161,) speaking of the cessa
tion of Prophets at that time, " There was great affliction in Israel
the like whereof was not since the time that a Prophet teas not seen
among them;" so iv. 46, " They laid up the stones in the mountain of
tho temple in a convenient place, (b. c. 165,) until there should come a
Prophet to show what should be done with them." Cf. 1 Mace xiv
41.

II.] CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 45
to West ; and even if we could bring ourselves to believe
that Josephus had any intention to deceive in this solemn
matter, we cannot imagine that he would have ventured upon
the public assertion which he has made concerning all Jews,
if the Jews of that very city in which his antagonist resided,
namely, Alexandria, had themselves been an example, by
which his statement might have been refuted.
But, we have another Jewish witness, to whom we have
already referred ; one from Alexandria itself, and also con
temporary with the Apostles, Philo. He, too, was a Phari
see, and of a priestly family, and went, on a public mission
as is supposed, from the Jews of Alexandria, to Jerusalem,
to offer prayers and sacrifice in the Temple there, which he
calls the "Temple of Ms fathers."*
When we consider the reverence of the Jews for their
Sacred Books, to which, using almost the same terms as
Josephus, Philof bears witness, saying, that they had not
altered a single word in them, and would rather die ten
thousand deaths than contravene the Law, it is incredible,
on the one hand, that an Alexandrine Jew should have gone
up from Egypt to Jerusalem, to worship in the Temple there ;
or, on the other hand, that he should have been permitted
bj the Jews of Jerusalem to do so, if the Scriptural Canon
of the one had differed from that of the other, — yes, and
differed so widely as it would have done, if the Apocryphal
Books, being equal to a sixth part of the Canonical Scrip
ture, had been received as inspired by the one, and not so
received by the other. J
* See the conclusive evidence collected by Bp. Pearson in Acta
Apost. Lect. i. 9, and Opera Posthuma, ed Churton, Cone. III. vol. ii.
p. 31, to show that Jerusalem with its Temple, was regarded as the
Metropolis of all the Jews in the Apostolic age, wheresoever dispersed.
t Ap. Euseb. Prasp. Ev. viii. 6. /mj /5»//»ot avtovs fiovov tZiv ytypa/ips-
vav xivqaai, u%%a xav nvpuixic avtove artoSavslv vrtofinvai Sdttov i}' tois
ixcivov vo/jtotc xal iBiatv ivavtlo, rtuaOrivai. He is speaking specially of
the Pentateuch.
X It is worthy of observation, that Philo, who lived in the city

46 THE FOUNDATION OF THE [LECT.
Again : we know, from the first chapter of the second
Book of Maccabees, that the most cordial amity prevailed
between the eastern and western Jews. The Alexandrian
Temple* at Leontopolis, in Heliopolitan Egypt, was built
after the model of that at Jerusalem ; and its religious rites
corresponded with that of the sanctuary on Mount Zion ;
and Philo's journey to Jerusalem, for the sake of religious
worship, is ' doubtless an example of a practice common to
all the Jews of the dispersion at that period. Indeed, not
to mention the Greeks, (i. e. the Hellenistic Jews,) who as
we read in the Gospel of St. John,f came to the Feast of
the Passover — the concourse of Jews from Egypt, and from
the parts of Libya about Cyrene,% and from all other quar
ters of the habitable globe, on the day of Pentecost, that is,
on the solemn anniversary of the Giving of the Law from
Mount Sinai — the flocking together, I say, at Jerusalem for
that Festival, of Jews, devout men out of every nation under
Heaven, may, I think, be regarded as a proof that they all
agreed in receiving the same Books as the Word of God.
On the whole, then, we find that certain Books were com
posed in the interval of time between Moses and Ezra, a
period of a thousand years ; and that these Books were pre
served in the Holy of Holies, and read in the Synagogues
as Divine Writings. We find, also, that these Books pro
fess to be inspired by God ; that they were received and
which appears to have produced a great part of the Apocrypha, never
cites the Apocrypha, (see Hornemann, de Canone V. T. ex Philone, p.
28,) which he certainly would have done if it had been accounted Ca
nonical at Alexandria in the Apostolic age. Josephus, as we have
seen, does refer to the Apocrypha, and distinguishes between it and
the Canonical Books.
* See Josephus Antiq. xiii. 3, and the Authorities cited in Haver-
nick's Einleitung, p. 70 — 72, on the identity of the Hebrew and Alex
andrine, Canon.
t John xii. 20. J Acts ii. 10.

II.] CANON OF !THE OLD TESTAMENT. 47
guarded as such by the Priests, Princes, and People of God ;
and that the universality of this reception, and the faithful
ness of this custody, is proved to us by His Prophets. We
also find, that, by multiplication and diffusion of copies, and
translations of them, and by perpetual public recitation and
interpretation of them, their sanctity was declared, and their
integrity secured.
We have now arrived at the momentous question, How
were these Books received by Him of whom all the Law and
the Prophets did write ;* the Author and Finisher of our
Faith ;f the Alpha and Omega% of all God's revelations, —
Jesus Christ ?
Our Blessed Lord was a constant attendant at the worship
of the Synagogue, and He took part in the public reading
and exposition of the Sacred Books of the Jews: thus, He
gave a practical . testimony, and a personal sanction, to the
tenets of the Jews concerning those Books. He, the Son of
God, received as divinely -inspired Scripture what the Jews
received and delivered to Him as such. He affirmed those
Books to be written by the Holy Ghost ;§ and claimed to be
received as the Messiah on the authority of their prophe
cies. || He frequently called those Books, " The Scrip
tures ;" He commanded the Jews to search their Scriptures ;^f
He said, It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one
tittle of the Laiv to fail;** and again, Verily I say unto you,
Till heaven and earth pass one jot or one tittle (that is, one
yod, the smallest letter, and one point of a letter,) shall in
no wise pass from the Law, till all be fulfilled ;\\ and again,
The Scripture cannot be broken.^. He declared that the
Sadducees' erred, by not understanding the Scriptures.^
They have Moses and the Prophets: let them hear them.\\\\
* John i. 45. t Heb. xii. 2. X Rev. i. 11.
I Mark xii. 36. || John v. 46 ; Luke xxiv. 27, 44.
If John v. 39. ta; ypa$d$. ** Luke xvi. 17.
tt Matt. v. 18. XX John x. 35. \\ Matt. xxii. 29.
|||| Luke xvi. 29.

48 THE FOUNDATION OF THE [LECT.
He defined the Prophetical age between the limits of Abel
and Zacharias.* In His walk with the two Disciples to
Emmaus, after His Resurrection beginning at Moses and all
the Prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scrip
tures the things concerning Himself.-^ He said to His
Apostles, These are the words which I spake unto you while
I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which
were written in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and
in the Psalms, concerning Me.% So spake the Lord of
Life. And, therefore, the writings of Moses and all the
Prophets, and the Psalms, — that is, all the Books received
by the Jews under these names, were all the Scriptures to
Christ. It is therefore clear that our Blessed Lord joined with
the Jews in receiving what they received as Scripture. And
therefore he joined with them also in not receiving, what
they did not receive as such. He therefore did not receive
the Apocrypha as inspired.
Again : the Apocryphal Books amount to as much ss a
sixth part of the Old Testament. If they are inspired, how
is it that our Blessed Lord, who is so earnest in His exhor
tations to search the Scriptures, and in His quotations from
them, should never, as far as we know, have cited so much
as a single sentence from them§ all ? How is it also that
* Matt. :xxiii. 35. The Zacharias, slain "between the temple and
the altar,"' is the last of the Prophets whose death is mentioned in the
Old Testament Canon. 2 Chron. xxiv. 19 — 21.
t Luke xxiv. 27.
X Luke xxiv. 44. He here refers to the threefold division of the
Scriptures among the Jews, the Law, the Prophets, and the Ketubim
pr Hagiographa, which together made " all the Scriptures."
2 Citation, it is obvious, would not prove Canonicity; for Aratus,
Menander, and Epimenidcs, are cited by St. Paul. But non-citation
is a very strong proof of uncanonicity ; and in the case under conside
ration, is very like a providential protest from Our Lord Himself
against the canonization of the Apocrypha.

II.] CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 49
He, who showed Himself so zealous for the honour of the
House of God,* and who censured the Scribes and Phari
sees in the severest terms, for making the Word of God of
none effect by their traditions,-\ should never have breathed
a single sentence of reproof against them for any mutilation^
of the Sacred Volume, a most heinous sin, of which they
were guilty in the highest degree, if the Apocryphal Books
are inspired ? On the contrary, Christ Himself, as we have
seen, publicly communicated with them in the reception of
the Scriptures which they received as the Word of God;
and, by consequence, as we have said, He communicated
with them in the non-reception of those which they did not
receive as such.
What Christ did, His Apostles, taught by Him and in
spired by the Holy Ghost, did likewise. They affirm that
the Scriptures came not by the will of man, but that they
who wrote them spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. %
God, at sundry times and divers places, spake unto the Fa
thers, by the Prophets.\\ They recognize the Scriptures as
in the hands of the Jews. The great advantage of the Jews,
says the Apostle, is that to them were committed the Oracles
of God.^ What, therefore, was committed to- them was
God's Word, and what was not committed to the Jews, was,
in St. Paul's judgment no Oracle of God. Again, to the
Israelites, he says, pertaineth the adoption, and the glory,
and the covenants, and the giviny of the law, and the service
of God, and the promises.** What, therefore, did not per
tain to them was no part of the sacred deposit of Divine
* John ii. 17. t Mark vii. 13.
X S. Jerome says, very justly, in Isai. cap. vi. (torn. iii. p. 63. ed.
Bened.) Si aliquis dixerit Hebrasos libros a Judseis esse falsatos,
audiat Originem . . . quod nunquam Dominus etApostoli, qui csetera
crimina arguunt in Scribis, de hoc crimine, quod erat maximum, reti-
cuissent. $ 2 Pet. i. 21. || Heb. i. 1.
If Rom. iii. 1, 2. ** Rom. ix. 4.

50 THE FOUNDATION OF THE [LECT.
Truth. Accordingly, the Apostles never quote any of the
Apocryphal Books as the Word of God.*
Again, to Timothy, the son of a Jewess, St. Paul writes :f
Of a child thou hast known the% Holy Scriptures, which are
the things that are able to make thee wise unto salvation ;
and all Scripture, that is, every part of Scripture,§ is given
by inspiration of God. What, therefore, can be more evi
dent than that all that the Jews received as Scripture is
inspired, and that what they did not so receive is not Scrip
ture? Let us advert here to a remarkable fact. The Original
Word for Scripture is rpa<j»j {Graphi) and this Word is a
general one, and signifies any Writing. Now, this Word
occurs fifty-one times in the New Testament. But it is
never once applied there to any other kind of Writing than
the Writings of the Old and New Testament — the Scriptures.
Hence it is evident that Christ and the Authors of the New
Testament regarded the Old Testament as a Writing dis
tinguished from all other Writings ; as the Writing, that is,
the Writing of God. And, we may add, by speaking of
their own books as Graphai also, the Apostles place the
New Testament on the same level as the Old; they assert
it also to be Divine.
Thus, then, my brethren, we have a blessed assurance
from Christ Himself, that the Books which the Jews received,
* The few passages in the New Testament which are alleged to be
cited from the Apocrypha, are, in fact, not from the Apocrypha, but
from Canonical Books of the Old Testament. This has been shown by
Bp. Cosin. pp. 23 — 27, and by Mr. Hartwell Horne, Introduction, &c,
Appendix, p. 464,* Lond. 1846 ; and is acknowledged by Dupin on the
Canon, 1 § iv. note.
t 2 Tim. iii. 15.
t The definite articles are to be observed here, ta i£pa ypdfipata,
ta b^vvdfieva, x. t. 7..
§ rtasa ypafij. 2 Tim. iii. 16.

II.] CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 51
and which we have received from them, constitute the pure
and entire Word of God. The New Testament canonizes
the Old ; the Incarnate Word sets His seal on the Writ
ten Word. The Incarnate Word is God ; therefore the in
spiration of the Old Testament is authenticated by God
Himself. Let it also be observed here, that we who believe in
Christ, have stronger grounds for faith in those Scriptures,
which were given to the Jews, than even the Jews themselves
to whom they were given, and by whom they were guarded
and delivered to us; for we have the witness to them of
Christ, and, believing Him to be God, we receive them on
the assurance of God.
It is not possible to reflect on this important subject with
out emotions of sorrow that our Roman Catholic brethren
should have fallen into the dangerous error, of which the
Jews were never guilty ; that of adding certain books to the'
Canonical Scriptures of the Old Testament, and of excom
municating and anathematizing all who do not receive these
Books as inspired.
This was done by the Church of Rome at the Council of
Trent, in the year 1546. By the decree then passed, and
still enforced by her, she makes the reception of the Apo
crypha as inspired — and by consequence the non-reception
of the Canonical Books as the complete Word of Inspiration
— a term of communion with herself.
Before we embark on the consideration of this essential
difference between her and ourselves, let me remind you, my
younger hearers, that this question concerning the Canon of
Scripture is one in which, from the ambiguity of language,
you' may easily be entrapped into error, unless you are care
fully on your guard. You will be in danger of being de
ceived in this matter, if you are betrayed into entering on
what is called the Patristical part of the controversy with-

52 THE FOUNDATION OF THE [LECT.
out adequate study and reflection. I propose to treat on
that portion of the argument in the next discourse ; but I
would earnestly exhort you to keep your minds steadily
fixed on the following points ; and then you cannot easily be
perplexed by any subtleties in dealing with this subject.
1. Our Roman Catholic brethren* are accustomed to call
our Canon the " Canon of the Scribes and Pharisees," and
to taunt us with " preferring the Canon of the Synagogue to
that of the Church." True, you will reply, our Canon is
"the Canon of the Scribes and the Pharisees;" for "the
Canon of the Scribes and Pharisees" is the Canon of
Christ ; — true, you will add, it is the " Canon of the Syna
gogue ;" for the Canon of the Synagogue is "the Canon of
the Church of Christ."
But, you will then proceed to say, that the Canon of
Rome, alas ! is neither the Canon of the Scribes nor of
Christ ; it is neither the Canon of the Synagogue nor of the
Church : it is only the Canon of Rome ; and by enforcing
her Canon on all she is guilty of a sin which the Jews, with
all their offences, never committed, that of adulterating the
Holy Scriptures, and of requiring that the word of man
should be received as the Word of God.
The Church of Rome will not deny that the Apocryphal
Books existed in the time of Christ and His Apostles. If
she does deny it, and affirms that they were written after
the Christian era, then, since it is certain that they were not
written by Christians, she must allow that she has canonized
books written by persons who did not receive the teaching
of Christ. This, I suppose, she will not admit. But it is
certain, and she does not deny, that these Books, with
scarcely any exception, were written before the coming of
Christ. And, if these Books, as she affirms, are inspired
now, assuredly they must have been inspired when they were
•
* See e. g. Perrone ii. 1059.

II.] CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 53
first written. The lapse of eighteen hundred years may im
pair a book, but it can never raise an uninspired book into
an inspired one. Eternity itself cannot change the word of
man into the word of God.
And, if these Books were inspired when they were first
written, our Blessed Lord, who knew all things, must have
known, and would certainly have acknowledged, them to be
inspired ; and would have required them to be received as
the Word of God. But Christ did not receive them as such.
He communicated with the Jews who did not so receive them :
He recognized the Books which they received as " the Scrip
tures ;" and His Apostles, sent by Him, with the solemn
declaration, " He that heareth you heareth Me,"* and
taught by the Holy Ghost who spake by the Prophets and
led the Apostles into all truth, never received them as in
spired. Therefore these books are not inspired ; and to
affirm that they are inspired is no less a sin than to accuse
the Apostles of unfaithfulness, and to arraign Christ Him
self of ignorance, and to charge the Holy Spirit of Truth
with falsehood ! What words, therefore, can describe the
guilt which makes the reception of these Books as inspired,
a term of Church communion, and denounces imprecations
upon all who do not and cannot receive the word of man as
the Word of God?
These anathemas of yours, — we must therefore now reply
to the Church of Rome, — these anathemas of yours fall not
only upon us, but upon the Apostles of Christ, yea, and
even upon those Divine Persons of the Ever Blessed Trinity
to whom we owe all truth and grace.
But let us, my beloved brethren, practise what we have
been taught. We have learnt not to render railing for
railing,^ but to pray for them who despitefully use us.%
Though they curse, yet bless thou. Therefore let us implore
Him who pray«d for His murderers that our brethren of the
* Luke x. 16. t 1 Pet. iii. 9. X Mat. v. 44.

54 THE FOUNDATION OF THE [LECT.
Church of Rome may be delivered from the gall of bitter
ness, and bond of iniquity* in which Satan has bound them
now for these three hundred years ; lest upon them should
come the heavy woe spoken of by the prophet David : " His
delight was in cursing, and it shall happen unto him ; he
loved not blessing, therefore shall it be far from him."f
2. One general observation of great importance must be
added here. Infallibility is claimed by Rome ; and on this
foundation she erects the proud structure of her towering
pretensions. Where this Infallibility resides, whether in the
Pope or in a Council, she has not decided ; but whenever a
Council makes a decree, and the Pope confirms it, then she
affirms that it is to be received as of divine authority.
This claim of Infallibility has been often encountered by
arguments from abstract propositions. But perhaps there
is no better way of meeting it than by reducing the question
to one of fact. If the Church of Rome has erred, she can
not be infallible ; if she has erred in so fundamental a matter
as the Canon of Holy Scripture, on which Christianity rests,
she has erred fatally ; if she has enforced this error as a term
of communion, she has erred presumptuously, and if she has
so erred, when speaking in a Council authorized by the Pope,
then all the Roman theories of Infallibility are false ; and,
the foundation gone, the fabric falls.
Now the fact is, that the Church of Rome at the Council
of Trent affirmed with an anathema, that the Apocryphal
Books are inspired; and the PopeJ ratified this decree,
which therefore, according to all Romish theories, must be
infallibly true; and Rome binds this decree on the con
sciences of men with a solemn oath. But we have shown
that the testimony of Christ and of the Holy Spirit witness-
eth that the Apocryphal books are not inspired. If, then,
the Church of Rome were infallible, then Christ would not
* Acts viii. 23. t Ps- cix. 16. J Pius IV.

II.] CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 55
be Omniscient, and the Holy Spirit would not have guided
the Apostles into all Truth.* But the Apostles were taught
of God; the Holy Ghost is "the Lord and Giver of Life ;"
Christ knoweth all things.f Therefore the Church of Rome
is not infallible, but she has erred, and still errs, in a fun
damental article of faith, viz., concerning the Books of
Scripture. And in setting up a claim to Infallibility she
errs most dangerously; and her system, founded on this
claim, is a house built on the sand ; and they who rely on
her authority resist the Spirit of Truth, and God hath sent
them a strong delusion that they should believe a lie.%
Lastly, let us bless God that in His infinite goodness He
has given us the light of His Holy Scripture to cheer and
guide us in our way through this vale of tears, and to com
fort us in our last passage through the valley of the shadow
of death; and that He has vouchsafed us the fullest assur
ance of the Inspiration and Integrity of the Scriptures, by
the testimony of His Ever Blessed Son, "that we may be
filled with all joy and peace in believing, and may ever
abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost.§"
* John xvi. 13 ; xiv. 26. t John xvi. 30.
X 2 Thess. ii. 11. \ Rom. xv. 13.

LECTURE III.

1 Cor. xiv. 36.
\

" What, came the Word of God out from you, or came it unto you only ?"*
To the Jews, says St. Paul, were committed the Oracles
of God.-f The Jewish Church, as was shown in the last
Lecture, was the divinely appointed depository and guardian
of all the written Revelations made by God to man, before
the coming of Christ. It was recognized as such by Jesus
Christ Himself.
From the testimony of Jews contemporary with Christ
and His Apostles, we ascertain the number and names of
the Books received by them as inspired ; and those Books,
which they received, we receive also ; and those alone. Our
Canon of the Old Testament is precisely the same as that of
the Church of the Jews ; that is, it is precisely the same as
the Canon of Jesus Christ.
Here, as has been already said, we are at issue with our
brethren of the Church of Rome. At the Council of Trent,
in the year of our Lord 1546, she affirmed that certain other
Books, — namely, those of Tobit, Judith Wisdom, Ecclesias-
ticus, Baruch, the first and second Books of Maccabees, and
certain additions to the Book of Esther, and to that of
Daniel, namely, the Song of the Three Children, the story
* Or, i. e. unto you alone, ei; i/iaj popovr, f Rom. iii. 2,

III.] ON THE CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 57
of Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon, are to be regarded
with the same reverence and* devotion as the writings of
Moses, and of the Prophets, and as the Epistles and Gospels
of the New Testament, which she in common with other
Christian Churches receives as inspired.
In the solemn decree, f then promulgated at that Council
the Church of Rome proceeded so far as even to anathe
matize all who did not receive these other Books as inspired ;
and, at this day, she requires all her Clergy, and all her
Academic teachers, to affirm, by oath, that they who do not
receive this decree cannot be saved.%
On the other hand, the Church of England, in her Sixth
Article^ declares that "the Church, as Hierome saith,
doth read" such other Books as those just enumerated, " for
«xample of life, and instruction of manners : but yet doth
not apply them to establish any doctrine."
The practice, also, of the Church of England is to read
certain chapters from some of these Books in her public con
gregation, on some festivals and week-days. But none of
the Proper Lessons for the Lord's Day% are taken from any
of them ; and while the Church of Rome blends them in her
Bible indiscriminately with the other Books of Scripture, the
Church of England, in her Bible, places them in a separate
compartment by themselves.
It will be perceived, therefore, that we follow a middle
course with regard to these Books ; we concede to them a
place in our Bibles and in our Churches ; but we do not
allow them the same place, or read them at the same time,
* " Pari pietatis aifectu ac reverentia."
t A brief history of this Session is given in the Author's Letters to
M. Gondon, Letter iv.
X It says " such other books as," &c, and therefore does not bind
any one to the exact catalogue.
§ Hence, — when a Festival, for which an Apocryphal Lesson is pro
vided, falls on a Sunday, the Canonical Lesson of the Sunday ought
to be read in the Church.
5

58 TESTIMONY OF THE EARLY CHURCH [LECT.
with the Canonical Books. We receive and read certain
portions of some of them with Scripture, but we read no par$
of any of them as Scripture ; whereas, the Church of Rome
not only receives them as inspired Scripture, bat imposes
them, under anathema, as such.
We have entered on this solemn subject with no other
design than that of manifesting God's goodness, in giving
and preserving to us His Holy Word ; and with humble
desires of quickening in our hearts and yours a spirit of de
vout thankfulness for this inestimable gift ; and with a sober
but steadfast hope of promoting the cause of Truth and Love.
Therefore, let us earnestly pvay to the Divine Majesty,
who dictated the Scriptures, and. who is the Author of
Truth and Peace, that He may illuminate our hearts an<3
minds with His Holy Spirit, while we examine the reasons
which are adduced by our Tbrethren of the Church of Rome,
to persuade us that the Books which we call Apocrypha
ought to be received as the Word of God.
In support of that assertion, the divines of Rome plead
with us as follows :
1. To the Jews were committed ihe Oracles of God. Be
it so. Behold, then, we show you, they say, the Apocryphal
Books in the Septuagint Version of the Old Testament, — a
Version, as you allow, made by Jetvs, for the use of Jeivs,
and read in their Synagogues during almost three centuries
before the coming of Christ.
Therefore, the Divines of Rome infer, the Apocryphal
Books are part of the Divine Oracles. If they are not,
Christ would have reproved the Jews for mixing them up
with the Divine Word. You must, therefore, receive these
Books as Scripture.
2. The Septuagint Version, they observe, was employed
in the New Testament by the Apostles1 and Evangelists
citing from the Old, and it was regarded with the greatest
veneration by the Fathers of the Eastern Church ; by some

III.] ON THE CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 59
of them it was looked upon as inspired equally with the
Hebrew original; and it is the Scriptural standard of the
Greek Church at this day.
3. Besides this, it was the original of all the Latin Ver
sions of Scripture used in the Western Church, till the time
of St. Jerome, — that is, till the end of the fourth century.
The Septuagint, therefore, is avouched by the Holy Spirit
employing it in the New Testament ; it was sanctioned by
the authority of the Christian Church, as well as by that of
the Jews. It cannot be pretended that the Universal
Church was in error on this vital question, — what Books are
Scripture, and what are not. What, then, would have be
come of Christ's promise that He would be ever present
with this Church ? See you not, therefore, they ask, that
by rejecting the Apocryphal Books, you charge the whole
Church with error, and assert that the Word of Christ has
become of none effect ?
Such, my Brethren, are the allegations* of the Divines of
Rome. What is to be said to them ?
1. We readily allow that the Apocryphal Books are con
tained in the Manuscripts and Editions of the Septuagint
Version, as it now stands. We find there the Books of
Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, and the rest ; but this proves too
much, for we see also certain otherf books which the Church
of Rome does not admit into her list of sacred Books ; so
that, if the Manuscripts and Editions of the Septuagint are
to be regarded as standards of Scripture, then the Church
of Rome has rejected part of the Word of God.
But the truth is, that, at the time when the Septua
gint Version of the Old Testament was made, few, if any,
of the Apocryphal Books were even in existence. That
Version dates from about two hundred and eighty years be-
* See Vincenzi, Sessio iv. Council. Trid. Vindicata: Pars. ii. Propp.
ii. — iv. Romae 1844.
t 3 Esdras, 3 and 4 Maccabees, Prayer of Manasseh.

60 TESTIMONY OF THE EARLY CHURCH [LECT.
fore Christ. Now the events narrated in some of the Apo
cryphal Books, — those of the Maccabees for instance, — did
not take place till a hundred years after that epoch. The
Book of Ecclesiasticus, as we learn from its preface, could
not have been composed before the year 200, and did not
appear in its present Greek form till about one hundred and
thirty years before Christ. The Book of Wisdom is still
more recent. The dates of the other Apocryphal Books
cannot be exactly determined ; but this signifies little, for it
is certain that none of them were ever received as inspired
by any of the Jews who used the Septuagint Version; and
it is equally certain that they have never been received as
inspired by any of the Hebrew nation to this day.*
The Jews have always affirmed that the prophetic Spirit
ceased with the timest of Ezra. Be it observed, also, that
the Apocryphal Books do not profess to be inspired, as the
Canonical Books do ; indeed, they expressly disclaim all
pretensions to Inspiration ; they affirm that the Prophetical
Spirit was not continued to the time at which they were
written ; they assert it has ceased, and they express a hope
and belief that it will be afterwards restored.^ They claim
indulgence! from the reader for their own imperfections.
In this acknowledgment of their own failings, they either
speak the truth or they do not ; take either supposition, and
it is clear they cannot be inspired.
It is very true that the Jews, who were acquainted with
* S. Cyril expressly affirms that the LXX translated only the
XXII Canonical Books. And compare Allen's Modern Judaism,
Chapter i. Lond. 1830 ; and Dupin on the Canon, i. ch. vi. sect. 4, who
acknowledges that none of the Apocryphal Books were originally in
the LXX ; and compare Mr. Grinfield's Apology for the Septuagint,
pp. 51, 67, 80, 149, 158, 159, where it is shown that the existence of
the Apocrypha in modern editions of the LXX affords no evidence of
its Canonicity.
t See above, pp. 37 and 44, note.
J Prolog. Ecclesiastici, and 2 Mace. xv. 38.

III.] ON THE CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 61
the Apocryphal Books, treated them with respect, especially
the Books of Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus, as we treat them,
and as they will deserve to be treated, and as they ever have
been treated by the Christian Church. But, so far from
regarding them as inspired, the Jews, as is well known, im
pute to Christians, as a great sin, that they receive them as
inspired; and they say that by so doing, the Nazarenes, as
they call us Christians, have been guilty of adding to the
Word of God.
Two things there are, my Brethren, which now operate
very powerfully against the conversion of the Jews to
Christianity. One is the notion, with which they are pos
sessed, that we worship other beings* besides God, and that
by embracing Christianity they would be guilty of idolatry.
The other is, that we receive the Apocrypha as inspired,
and that, if they became Christians, they would be conspir
ing with the corrupters of their own Scriptures, and expos
ing themselves to the punishment of those, who, in defiance
of its commands, add to them or take from them, and would
so incur an anathema from the God of Israel. f
It cannot, I think, be denied, that in both these imputa
tions the Jews mistake the Church of Rome for the Church
of Christ.
To speak only of the latter particular. They confound
her practice with our belief; and hence it is plain, that the
Church of Rome, by her Trent Canon of Scripture, has not
only separated herself from the Apostles and from the rest
of the Church, but has raised a barrier against those of the
Jews who would otherwise enter into it.
That the Jews of the Apostolic age received as inspired
those books of the Old Testament, and those alone, which
* See Sandys, Europge Speculum, pp. 244, 245. Lond. 1673. Ful
ler's Pisgah-sight, v. chap. 5 (Append.) p. 198. H. More's "Works, p.
428. Leslie's Short Method with the Jews in the Scholar Armed, ii.
p. 470. t Deut. iv. 2 ; xii. 3.

62 TESTIMONY OF THE EARLY CHURCH [LECT.
we so receive, and that they carefully distinguished the
Apocryphal books from the Canonical, has been shown in
the last discourse, from the testimony of Josephus and
Philo, two learned Jews, one from the eastern portion of
the Jewish Church, the other from the western ; both of
them contemporary with the Apostles.
That Christ and His Apostles received the Jewish Canon
of the Old Testament, and delivered it into the hands of the
Christian Church to be guarded by her as a sacred deposit,
together with the New Testament, has also been proved.
That the Scriptures of the Old Testament so delivered were
received by the Christian Church, and have been read in
her public congregations, together with the Gospels and
Epistles from the Apostolic age to the present hour, is
abundantly evident from Christian Fathers and Church
Historians ; and that a book which was in existence in the
Apostolic age, and was not inspired then, could not become
inspired in any subsequent age, is a proposition, which all
who are free to exercise their reason, must, I think, admit
to be true.
Having stated the fact that the Jews of the present day
ground one of their strongest objections to Christianity on
the erroneous supposition that the Christian Church receives
the Apocryphal books as inspired, — an allegation which
would be true, if the Roman Branch of the Church were
the Catholic Church of Christ, — I would here submit to
your consideration another argument which appears suffici
ent of itself to prove, that the Primitive Church of Christ
never received any of the Apocryphal Books as inspired.
The early Church was collected in a great measure from
the seed of Abraham. All the Apostles were Jews ; the
first fifteen Bishops* of Jerusalem were all of Hebrew ex
traction ; and it is certain that the Jews do not admit, and
never have admitted, the Apocrypha into their Canon. Now,
* Euseb. II. E. iv. 5.

in.] ON THE CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 63
what I would observe here is, that if the Apostolic Church
had received the Apocrypha as inspired, an obstacle would
thus have been presented to the Jews which would have
impeded their entrance into the Church ; whereas, we know,
on the contrary, that to the best instructed among them, such
as Symeon, and Nathanael, and Apollos, the passage from
Judaism to Christianity was easy and natural. The Syna
gogue was the Porch of the Church. If the Primitive
Church had required the Jews, as the Church of Rome re
quires all men, to receive the Apocrypha as of equal autho
rity with the Law and the Prophets, such a proposition
would have been rejected with indignation and abhorrence.
Let it also be remembered, that we have abundant records
of the various points at issue between the Jews and the early
Christians, in the writings of the ancient Fathers, for in
stance, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and Cyprian. And
some of these relate to the text of Scripture. But nothing
can be adduced from any of them, or from any quarter
whatever, to show that there ever was any controversy or
difference between the Jews and first Christians concerning
the Canon of the Old Testament. And no one can imagine
that the Jews, who, as Philo and Josephus testify, would
sooner die a thousand deaths than suffer a word in their
Bibles to be altered, would allow Christians to add twelve
books to their Old Testament, and yet never utter any re
monstrance against that addition. On the contrary, many
of them readily and eagerly embraced the Gospel, and be
came its most illustrious preachers.
It is therefore clear that the Church of Rome, by canon
izing the Apocrypha, has inflicted a great injury on the
people of Israel as well as on the Church of Christ. She
has put herself in a false position with respect to both ; and
as long as she maintains her Trent Canon she cannot hope
to be an instrument of heaven in the conversion of the Jews ;

64 TESTIMONY OF THE EARLY CHURCH [LECT,
and therefore she cannot be a faithful witness of Christ, and
a true preacher of His Gospel, until she rescinds it.
How, then, it may be asked, have our Roman Catholic
brethren been able to persuade themselves, and would fain
persuade others, that the Apocryphal Books are to be re
ceived as the Word of God ?
To speak the truth, I am convinced that not one in a hun
dred among them has ever examined this question. They
have allowed themselves to be taken captive by one of the
wiliest devices which the Evil Spirit has ever framed to en
snare the souls of men, the doctrine — speciously called — of
the Infallibility of the Church; whereas it is the Church of
Rome whose decrees are obtruded upon them, in opposition
to those of the Church, and of Christ Himself.
But having been once inveigled by the Tempter to wrap
up the talent of their Reason in the napkin of Papal Infal
libility, they think that they have no more occasion for
thinking. And therefore it is more incumbent upon us to
offer up earnest supplications to the Throne of Grace in
their behalf, that God would be pleased to awaken them
from the slumber in which they are entranced, that they
may be saved from the doom of the unprofitable servant at
the Great Day.
But do we then affirm that none of our Romanist brethren
have investigated this question ? No ; far from it. We
bear a ready testimony to the labor and learning which
some of the most eminent among them, even in our own
day,* have devoted to this inquiry. But we do not hesitate
to assert that they have endeavored rather to defend the
decrees of Trent than to promote the cause of Truth.
They speak as men bound by a secret spell. Having
given themselves up to a system founded on the assertion of
Infallibility, they are no longer free ; they write in chains.
* See above, p. 11.

III.] ON THE CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 65
They know full well, that if they once allow the Church of
Rome to have erred in so solemn a matter as the Canon of
Scripture, the fabric of their faith falls to the ground.
Therefore the decrees of Trent are to be maintained at any
cost. Hence, their main doctrine, that the Church of Rome
never has erred and never can err, has involved them in a
necessity of erring ; and until they renounce Infallibility
they can never recover the Truth.
The question, I repeat, with them is not so much concern
ing the Canon of Scripture as concerning the Canon of
Trent ; it' is not concerning the Word of God, but concern
ing the dictates of Rome. And till God gives them grace
to love the Truth, and wisdom to embrace it, and courage
to profess it, instead of hugging the chains of error in which
the Arch-Enemy enthrals them, it is almost fruitless to
attempt to show them the real character of the Trent decree
respecting the Old Testament.
But, my younger hearers in this English University, it
may be a profitable work to guard you against the subtleties
by which that Decree has been advocated ; and I feel a
strong persuasion that, if you will carefully examine this
single question concerning the Canon of Scripture, you
will not only be secure against the reasonings of Romish
controversialists in this important matter, but you will be
convinced of the hollowness of the Romish system in gene
ral ; and you will be filled with gratitude to God for His
mercy towards you, in assuring you of the Inspiration and
Integrity of His Holy Word, and in making you members
of a Church, which, in this all-important matter, has been
endued by Him with wisdom to tread in the steps of Christ
and His Apostles, and of the Primitive Church.
We have already examined the argument derived by
Romish Divines from the existence of the Apocryphal
Books in the present editions of the Septuagint Version.

66 TESTIMONY OF THE EARLY CHURCH [LECT.
2. Let us now proceed to observe, that it is pleaded by
Romish Theologians on behalf of these Books, that some
early Christian Writers appear to distinguish between the,
Jewish and Christian Canon of the Old Testament, and to
allow that, though these Books were not received into the
Canon of the Jews, yet they were admitted in the first ages
of Christianity into that of the Church.
3. It is alleged also in their behalf, that these Books are
not properly called Apocryphal, but Ecclesiastical, as being
read in the Christian Ecclesia, or Church; that they are
often cited with great reverence by the early Fathers of the
Church; that they were sometimes even styled by them
Scripture and the Word of God ; that by some of the Fa
thers, and by a Council of the Church at the close of the
Fourth Century, that of Carthage, they are even termed
Canonical, and that they appear to be there placed on a
level with the inspired Books of the Old Testament.
It was from a consideration of these allegations that I
took occasion to exhort you, in the last Discourse, to be on
your guard how you enter, without due circumspection, on
the Patristic portion of this subject. It requires a careful
attention to the meaning of terms, which may be perplexing,
unless viewed in relation to their context and to the general
teaching of the Church. But, if you engage in the inquiry,
and prosecute it with this caution, it will amply repay you
for your pains ; it will then afford you the greatest delight
and the most solid satisfaction. Let me endeavor to show
this. It is, then, perfectly true, that the Apocryphal Books
are rightly called Ecclesiastical, as being read in the Eccle
sia or Church, and as distinguished from writings properly
called Apocryphal, or concealed, and not so publicly read.
But this does not show them to be inspired, ,or to have been
so regarded by the Church. Be it remembered that, the

III.] ON THE CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 67
fact of a book not being read by the Church by no means
necessarily proves that it is not Scripture, and that the
reading of a book in the Church is no conclusive proof that
it is Scripture. The Book of Canticles was not usually
read in the ancient Church, nor is it in ours, but it is Ca
nonical Scripture. On the other hand, the Epistles of
Clement and of Barnabas, the Shepherd of Hermas, and the
Acts and Sufferings of Martyrs, were, we know, read in
some ancient Churches ; but they are not therefore inspired.
Again, it is also true that some Christian Fathers say that
the Church receives the Apocryphal Books which the Jews
did not receive. And why? Because the Church reads
them in her public congregations, which the Jews do not in
theirs. In this sense it is truly said that the Canon of the
Church differs from the Canon of the Jeivs. But then the
Church does not receive these Ecclesiastical Books as of
equal authority with the Books of the Prophets and Apos
tles ; that is, she does not receive them as inspired.
We also say to our Romanist brethren, — you show us
passages in the Fathers, in which these Books are quoted,
and you require us therefore to receive them. True, we re
ply, they are quoted ; but this does not prove them to be in
spired. We show you, in return, that the Apostle St. Paul
cites verses even from heathen poets, — Menander, Aratus,
and Epimenides ;* — and assuredly they were not inspired.
On the other hand, we would have you observe that nei
ther the Apostle, nor any of jhis Brethren, nor their Divine
Master, ever quoted a single sentence from any one of the
Apocryphal Books of the Old Testament, f — a fact wholly
unaccountable if the Apocrypha is inspired ; and which
seems to be a providential and prophetical protest on the
part of Our Lord and His Apostles, against the canoniza
tion of these Books. It is quite true that the citation of
* 1 Cor. xv. 33. Acts xvii. 28. Tit. i. 12.
t See above, p. 49.

68 TESTIMONY OF THE EARLY CHURCH [LECT.
them would not prove them to be inspired; for heathen
poems, as we have seen, and some of the lost Apocryphal
Books are cited in the New Testament. But the non-cita
tion of them does prove them to be not inspired. You say,
indeed, that some of the Canonical Books of the Old are not
cited in the New Testament. Be it so that some were not
specially quoted by Him: — but what then? The entire
Canon of the Old Testament, as we have shown, was author
ized by Christ,* whereas no part of the Apocrypha, much
less the whole, was received by Him.
But, you rejoin that some of the Fathers quote some of
these Books as Scripture, and call them Canonical. Tes ;
and you know well, or, at least, you ought to know, that the
terms Scripture and Canonical are often used by some of
the Fathers in a very wide and general sense ; and it is the
part and duty of Christian wisdom and charity so to inter
pret their words and phrases, as to render them consistent
with the general teaching of Christ and the Church ; and
not to assign to them a meaning which sets that teaching at
defiance. The word Scripture means Writing; and, in a large
sense, the Apocryphal Books may well be called Scripture, as
being a part of the writings which the Church distinguishes
from profane compositions, treating them with peculiar hon
our, and reading them in public congregations, for instruc
tion in virtuous living. You know that even the works of
the Fathersf themselves are sometimes called Scriptures, by
Ecclesiastical Authors, and by certain of your own Popes ;
but you do not pretend that, by so styling them they ever
meant to intimate that those writings are inspired.!
Again ; the word Canonical means regular, or, belonging
* See above, pp. 47 — 49.
t See tho examples collected by Bp. Cosin, liii. Ixxvii. lxxxi. xciii. c.
X In Doci-ct. lmn Pars Dist. xix. c. 6. the Decretals are called " Ca
nonical Scripture."

III.] ON THE CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 69
to a Rule; and the Apocryphal Books may well be called
Canonical in a certain sense, that is, as giving salutary
moral rules; though not Canonical for Articles of Faith;
and (as St. Jerome expresses it,) read in the Church, " for
example of life and instruction of manners, but not applied
by it to establish any doctrine."
In fact, these Books occupy a middle* position between
the Books strictly called Canonical and those strictly called
Apocryphal ; and hence it has come to pass that they them
selves have sometimes been called Canonical, and sometimes
Apocryphal. They are Canonical, as distinguished from
those Books which are properly termed Apocryphal ; and
they are Apocryphal, as not rising to the dignity of those
which are Canonical.
These statements may be well illustrated by the language
and the practice of the Church of England, with respect to
the Apocrypha :
1. As to the plea founded on the reading of the Apocrypha
in the Church.
The two Books of Homilies, made in the reigns of King
Edward the Sixth and Queen Elizabeth, are said in our
Thirty-fifth Article, " to contain a godly and wholesome
doctrine, and therefore," says the Article, "we judge them
to be read in Churches." The Homilies contain a godly doc
trine, and are, therefore, to be read in the Church. But no
one, I suppose, imagines that the Church of England in
making this decree, regarded them as inspired, or intended
that any one should so regard them. In like manner, the
Apocryphal Books were read in the public assemblies of the
Church, but were not regarded by the Christian Fathers as
the work of the Holy Ghost, because they were so read.
* Whence they are called Hfinsaot, xai yntovti, us dv ti$ ilrtot, tuv
dtoyOftas "Koyav foy g. Amphilochius.

70 TESTIMONY OF THE EARLY CHURCH [LECT.
2. Concerning the term Scripture, as applied to the
Apocryphal Books. The First and Second Books of Homi
lies were published about the years 1547 and 1562, respec
tively ; and, in the year 1562, our Sixth Article, as it now
stands, was first published. It distinguishes the Apocryphal
Books from the Canonical, and declares that the Apocryphal
are not to be applied to establish any doctrine. The Homi
lies, therefore, and the Sixth Article are almost contempo
raneous expressions of the judgment of the English Church.
Now, if we refer to the Homilies, we find the Apocryphal
Books often cited there, and termed* " Scripture," and
even " the Word of God,"-f as being comprised in the Sacred
Volume of that Word. But it would be a great perversion
of judgment on our part, on the strength of these citations
in the Homilies, to affirm, in defiance of the Sixth Article,
that the Church of England receives the Apocrypha as in
spired; and it is no less erroneous in the Romish Contro
versialist, on the ground of similar citations of the Apocry
pha, in the works of the early Fathers, to assert, in direct
opposition to the explicit language -of the Catholic Church,
that she regards the Apocryphal Books as of equal authority
with Canonical Scripture.
3. It is not my intention to affirm confidently that none
of the Fathers of the ancient Church ever cited an Apocry
phal book as if it were inspired. No: the Fathers were
men, and therefore fallible ; and we do not resolve our belief
in the Inspiration of the Old Testament into the testimony
of individual Fathers, or even of all the Fathers. We do
not rest on human authority, but divine. We receive those
books, which we call the Old Testament, because they were
received by Christ. This being premised, let us remember
* The Book of Wisdom is so called, pp. 226. 232. Tobit is so called,
p. 361. The author of Baruch is called a prophet, pp. 173, 513, ed.
Oxf. 1822.
t Wisdom is so called, p. 106, ibid.

III.] ON THE CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 71
the difficulties under which the primitive and mediaeval
Church laboured, — difficulties of which we, in this age of
printed Bibles and Prayer-Books, can scarcely form an idea.
Let us consider that some of the Apocryphal Books were
read in the Church, and were commonly joined together
with the Canonical in Manuscript Copies of the Bible. Then
we shall not be much surprised that they should have been
sometimes honoured with the appellation of Scripture; but
our hearts will be filled with thankfulness to God that there
is such a strong consentient voice of testimony from almost
every part of the Church Catholic, from the age of the
Apostles to the time of the Council of Trent, concerning
the Divine authority of the Canonical Books of the Old
Testament. We have here a cloud of witnesses. At the head of them,
as has before been said, stands Our Blessed Lord Himself.
Then the Holy Apostles. In the next century, we see
Melito, Bishop of the Apostolic Church of Sardis, requested
by his flock to make a book of extracts from the Old Testa
ment, for the use of his own Church, and going to Palestine
for full assurance concerning the number and names of the
Books of the Old Testament, received by the Church of the
country where the Gospel of Christ was first preached. We
see him, when he had obtained authentic information on
that subject, setting down the Catalogue of these Books.
And this Catalogue coincides precisely with our own Canon.
But, (say the Romanist Divines,) the catalogue of Melito
comes from Palestine ; it was, therefore, the Canon of the
Jews, and not of the Church. What a strange assertion is
this ! The catalogue of the Jews ! Melito was a Christian
Bishop ; he went to Palestine on a Christian embassy : with
a view of framing a Book for the use of a Christian Church.
What, then, had he to do with the Jewish Canon, as such ?
True, he sets down the Jewish catalogue; but he does so,
not because it is Jewish ; not because it differed from that

72 TESTIMONY OF THE EARLY CHURCH [LECT.
of the Church of Palestine ; but because it agreed with it :
because the Canon of the Jews was the Canon of the Church ;
because, in a word, it is the Canon of Christ.
This testimony of Melito is confirmed by St. Cyril, Bishop
of Jerusalem, who, in his Lectures to his Christian Cate
chumens, delivers precisely the same catalogue of Scriptures
ofthe Old Testament; and warns them against confounding
the Apocrypha with inspired writings. Surely it will not be
contended here, that a Christian Bishop was delivering a
Jewish Canon, as such, to candidates for Christian Baptism.*
If now we pass from Palestine to Alexandria, the birth
place of the Apocryphal Books, we hear the learned Origenf
asserting that the Canonical Books are Twenty-Two, whose
names he recites: we find also Athanasius distinguishing
clearly between the Apocryphal and inspired writings, and
declaring that nothing is to be added to the latter. St. Epi-
phanius, a native of Palestine and Bishop of Salamis in
Cyprus, testifies that the Apocryphal Books were never ad
mitted into the Sanctuary of the Jewish Temple ; and that
* I have not appealed to the testimony of the Council of Laodicea
in its sixtieth Canon, because its genuineness is denied, not without
some show of reason, by some Romanist writers. See Vincenzi, i. c. i.
p. 187. 199. If we suppose it to be genuine, and, on the whole, it
appears to be so, then the reason why this Council might have thought
lit, as in that age, when so many counterfeit and heretical books were
current under the name of Scripture, to limit the public readings in
the Church to the Canonical Books, strictly so called, is well stated by
Hooker. t Origen's correspondence with Africanus (i. p. 3 — 30. ed. Paris,
1733) shows that the additions to the Book of Daniel were not in the
Hebrew Canon in his age. In vindicating himself for having quoted
the History of Susanna, he does indeed express an opinion that it may
be a true history, and have been cut off from the Book of Daniel by
the Two Elders, p. 22 — a notion which appears to indicate that more
reliance is to be placed on his evidence as to facts in this matter than
on his sagacity. In his Prolog, ad Cartica i. p. 36, he well says, " ah
Sebrceis Eloquia Dei ad nos videntur esse translata."

III.] ON THE CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 73
though useful and salutary, they are not received into the
order of Divine Scriptures.
If we proceed westward, and penetrate to the northern
extremity of the Adriatic Sea, we receive a similar witness
from the Roman Presbyter Ruffinus at Aquileia, who, after
reciting the Canonical Books as we receive them, declares,
" These are the Books which our Fathers enclosed within
the Canon ; they judged that on these the articles of our
faith must stand." He then proceeds to state that there
are certain other Books, not called Canonical, but Ecclesias
tical, — that is, our Apocrypha, as appears from his specifi
cation, — " which Books," says he, " our forefathers have
thought fit to be read in the Church, but not to be applied
to establish any article of faith.
But, while we adduce this testimony we do not intend to
affirm that there is nothing in the writings of any of the
Christian Fathers which may be alleged to give some coun
tenance to the opposite side of the question. No : I have
already stated that certain expressions are used by some of
the ancient Fathers, which, if taken by themselves, might
seem to afford some ground for that position.
For example, you might be perplexed at first by the lan
guage of the Council of Carthage, held at the close of the
fourth century, at which St. Augustine was present.
One of the decrees of this Council seems to place the
Apocryphal Books in the same rank with Moses and the
Prophets. It enjoins that nothing but Canonical Writings
should be read in the Church under the name of Holy Scrip-r
ture, and it proceeds to annex a Catalogue of Canonical
Books, among which it enumerates the Apocryphal.
What, then, is to be said to this decree ?
1. We reply, that no Council of the Church, — no, nor a
hundred Councils, — can make a book to be inspired which
was not inspired before; and that if the Apocrypha was in
spired in the fourth century, it must have been inspired in
6

74 TESTIMONY OF THE EARLY CHURCH [LECT.
the first; and that if it had been inspired in the first, then
Christ and His Apostles would have received it as such.
But they did not so receive it ; and therefore it is not in
spired. If, then, the Council of Carthage intended to affirm that
the Apocrypha is inspired, it erred in so doing ; as it cer
tainly did err, when it ascribed the Books of Wisdom and
Ecclesiasticus to King Solomon, whereas they were not
written till seven hundred years after Solomon's death.
2. We also observe that this Decree of that Council pur
ports only to be a declaration* to be communicated to other
Churches beyond the seas, for their approval and confirma
tion ; and it must be noted that the Council of Carthage
was only a provincial one : and, therefore, its decrees are
not binding on the whole Church.
3. Besides, the members of this Council having decreed
that only Canonical Books should be read in the Church,
proceed to say, in support of their Decree, and as a reason
why it should be confirmed by other Churches, — that they
themselves had received such and such books to be read in
the Church. They also permit in the same decree that the
Acts of the Martyrs should be read in the Church on their
respective Anniversaries. But these Acts were not inspired;
and were never imagined to be so. Therefore, they did not
intend to use the term Canonical in its strict sense of in
spired, but in the sense of read in the Church ;f and they
affirm that nothing is to be so read but those Books which
they had received from their fathers as Canonical in this
* De confirmando isto canone transmarina Ecclesia consulatur.
Hoc etiam frutri et consacerdoti nostro Bonifacio vel aliis earum par-
tium Episcopis pro confirmando isto canone innotescat, quia (i. e. that)
a patribus ista accepimus in Ecclesia legenda. Liceat etiam legi pas-
siones martyrum cum anniversarii dies eorum celebrantur.
t This is conceded by the Romanist writer Jahn. See Havernick,
Einleitung, p. 85.

III.] ON THE CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 75
sense, — that is, as so read, — and which they enumerate as
such. 4. St. Augustine, who was present at this Council, is the
best interpreter of its words ; and he shows that this is the
true meaning of the Decree. He affirms that the Canon of
Scripture, strictly so called, was established in the time of
the Apostles. Whatever, therefore, was received by them
as inspired, is, in his judgment, inspired ; and nothing else.
He affirms also that the Jews had no inspired persons
among them between Malachi* and John the Baptist. The
Apocryphal Books were written at that interval. Therefore,
in his judgment, they are not inspired.
But he sometimes uses the word " Canonical" in a wider
sense. He says in his work1 on Christian Doctrine, that
" of the Scriptures called Canonical, those are to be pre
ferred which are received by all Churches, and that those are
to be placed next which are acknowledged by the major and
graver part of Christendom."
Now, let me inquire, can any reasonable man speak of
preference of one Canonical Scripture, properly so called, to
another ? There cannot be degrees in Inspiration. There
cannot be more or less in what is Divine. It is therefore
clear that the word Canonical is sometimes used by Augus
tine in a laxer sense, so as not only to designate writings
strictly speaking inspired, but also to embrace those which
were held in reverence and read by the Church. And the
word Canonical was employed in this large sense by the
Council of Carthage, of which Augustine was the most illus
trious member.
5. Waiving other considerations which might be adduced
here, if it were worth while, f we readily allow that, from the
influence of the Septuagint Version, into which the Apocry
phal Books were introduced one by one, and from the almost
exclusive use of this Version, and of Latin translations from
* See above, p. 38, Note. t See them in Bp. Cosin, p. 96 — 118.

76 TESTIMONY OF THE EARLY CHURCH [LECT.
it, instead of the Hebrew original, the African Church, in
the fourth century, was in danger of confounding the Apo
cryphal Scripture with the inspired Word of God ; and it is
by no means improbable, that but for a providential inter
position, such a confusion as this might have been propa
gated in the West.
In tracing the history of the Church, we see a continuous
series of attempts, on the part of the Devil to turn the good
things of God into evil, — not only by open hostility, but also
by an insidious pretence of great' veneration for the good.
Scripture, being one of the best of God's gifts, has ever
been the special object of his open and secret attacks. In
deed, to a reflecting mind, one of the strongest arguments
for the Divine origin of the Bible arises from the perpetual
assaults of the Evil spirit upon it ; and from the no less con
stant interferences of Almighty God in its behalf.
The existence of the Septuagint Version was, as we have
seen, a great blessing to the Church, by diffusing and pre
serving Scripture ; but the Tempter labored to turn this
blessing into a bane. He endeavored to do so by using the
Septuagint as an instrument for drawing men's eyes from
the Divine original to the human translation ; and by tempt
ing them to substitute Greek and Latin Versions, which
were blemished by imperfections, in matter and manner, for
the authentic Hebrew ; and it cannot, I think, be denied,
that one of the main causes of the neglect of the Hebrew in
the Western, and, indeed, in the Eastern Church, was a
popular notion that the Septuagint was inspired.
Hence, in the fourth century, the danger existed, of which
we have spoken. But here, at this critical juncture, almost
at the time when the Council of Carthage was sitting, the
mercy of God, ever watchful over His own Word, graciously
interfered. He was pleased to raise up a person, eminently
qualified, by birth, position, and intellectual endowments, to
vindicate and maintain the unique Inspiration of those

III.] ON THE CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 77
Books, which had been received by the Church of the Jews,
and by Christ Himself.
This was St. Jerome. Born in Dalmatia, trained in the
learning of Greece and Rome, he traversed in his youth the
greater part of European and Asiatic Christendom, and be
came intimate with the most eminent Doctors of the Church.
He was welcomed at Rome, and chosen to be Secretary of
its Bishop, Damasus, and seemed marked out to succeed to
the Episcopal throne of the Imperial City. But God had
other, and, we may add, greater work for St. Jerome to do.
He sent him far away from the splendours of Rome, to a
quiet hermitage at Bethlehem. There, from his silent re
treat, he instructed the world. There, he gave himself up,
during twenty years, to the study of God's Holy Word in
its original language. He bestowed the first Latin Version
of the Hebrew Text on the Western Church. This was his
great service to Christendom ; for which his memory will be
ever blessed ! What a beautiful subject for contemplation,
— especially to you, my brethren, who are blessed with holy
hours of religious leisure in these Academic shades, — is St.
Jerome in his college at Bethlehem ! How beneficial may
the fruits of your labours be to mankind at large, in distant
lands, and in all generations !
But I pass on. In this Latin Version, St. Jerome gave
distinct testimony concerning the Books of Scripture, which
were found in the original Hebrew, and were received as in
spired by the Jews, to whom were committed the Oracles of
God ; and thus Almighty God appeared to have intervened
by his instrumentality to prevent for ever any confusion be
tween the Apocryphal Books and those which Christ ac
knowledged as written by the Holy Ghost.
Behold, another cause here for thankfulness to God, for
His care of Scripture and of the Church. Behold St. Je
rome, a Doctor of the West, — yes, from Rome itself, — dwel
ling at Bethlehem, the birth-place of the Incarnate Word,

78 TESTIMONY OF THE EARLY CHURCH [LECT.
there devoting many years to the study of the Divine Ora
cles in the Hebrew tongue ; and thence proclaiming to the
West, in the Latin Prefaces which he prefixed to his Trans
lation of the Canonical Books, the all-important Truth con
cerning the Inspiration of those Writings, and those alone.
Yes, assuredly, we have great reason to adore God's
goodness in sending him to the East, and in employing him
in the vindication of the Divine Honour of the Holy Scrip
tures, at the very time when such a service was most needed.
And we may reflect, with devout satisfaction, on the circum
stance, that our own Church has shown her gratitude to God
for this providential interposition, by commemorating St.
Hierome by name in her Sixth Article, and by adopting
his words, concerning the authority of Canonical Scripture,
as distinguished from the Apocrypha.
St. Jerome's evidence on the Canon of Scripture may be
summed up in few words. He receives as inspired those
twenty-two Books, which were received by the Jews, and
which were received by Christ. Whatsoever (he says) is
beside these is Apocryphal.*
The Church of Rome also, as well as the Church of Eng
land, refers to St. Jerome ; she commemorates him in her
Breviary, as raised up by God, to be " a principal Teacherf
of the Church in the exposition of Holy Scripture." She
prefixed those Prefaces of St. Jerome, of which I have
spoken, as distinguishing the Canonical Books from the
Apocrypha, to her ownj Editions of the Bible even up to
the time of the Council of Trent. But, then, in that late
age, — the middle of the sixteenth century — she forsook the
teaching and practice of Christ and His Apostles in this
* "Quicquid extra hos in Apocryphis ponendum."
t Breviar. Roman. Sept. 30, p. 822, ed. Paris, 1842. "Deus, Qui
Ecclesise Tuse in exponendis Sacris Scripturis beatum Hieronymum,
Doctorem maximum, providere dignatus es."
X See Bp. Cosin on the Canon, c. 71.

III.] ON THE CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 79
great matter ; she surrendered herself up to be blinded by
the Evil one ; .she was no longer willing to behold the Truth
which St. Jerome asserted, and which his Prefaces teach ;
and she did an act, which neither she, nor any Church in
Christendom, had ever done before; she not only affirmed
that the Apocryphal Books are equal in authority to the
Apostolical and Prophetical, but she dared to anathematize,
as heretics, and to attempt to cut off from all hope of salva
tion, all who do not receive them as such.
What does she say to this ? She alleges that Jerome's
testimony relates only to the Canon of the Jews, and that
he prudently* recommends, yes, prudently recommends,
that, in arguing with them, the Christian should treat no
Book as Canonical but what they received as such ! As if
Jerome was writing to the Jews, or with a view to them, and
not for the use of the Christian Church, especially for the
Western World ! As if he does not say expressly, that the
Arocryphal Books are read by the Church, but are not re
ceived by the Church as Canonical Scripture !f
Indeed, so explicit is St. Jerome's evidence on this sub
ject, that the Benedictine Editor of his works, Father Mar-
tianay, felt himself obliged to make the following remarkable
acknowledgment :
" I cannot disguise the truth that they who assert that
Jerome is setting down the Jewish Canon, and not the
Canon of the Church, err very far from the truth, and im
pose on their readers their own opinions, instead of that of
St. Jerome."J
* See Vincenzi's argument, Appendix A. (6.)
t Vol. i. p. 939.
X Ed. Paris, 1693. vol. i. p. 322. The original words of Father
Martianay are as follows: — "De Hebrceorum non Ecclesice Canone
haec verba Hieronymi intelligenda esse docet Marianus Victorius ;
asserit quoque Ricardus Simon Hieronymum non e sua, sed ex Juda>
orum sententia loquutum, ubi nonnullos libros in Ecclesia (Romana)
Canonicos inter Apocrypha volumina esse ponenda decernit. At dis-

80 TESTIMONY OF THE EARLY CHURCH [LECT.
How, then, it may be asked, does he defend the Romish
Canon ? By means of the unhappy theory, lately pro
pounded among us, — the true and only theory of Romanism,
— the theory of development.
"We know,"* he says, "that now, after the Decree of
the Council of Trent, all these Books," (that is, all the
Apocryphal) " are to be received with the same veneration
as the other Scriptures ; but in the time of St. Jerome, as
appears from St. Jerome himself, these Books were read by
the Church for instruction in life and manners, but were not
received by her among the Canonical Scriptures."f
simulare non possumus Scriptores illos procul a vero recedere propri-
amqu.e non Hieronymianam obtrudere lectoribus opinionem. Id
manifeste evincunt verba quae leguntur in Prasfatione Hieronymi in
Libros Solomonis Fertur, &c.
" Videant nunc Marianus ac Simon quo sensu Hieronymus dixerit
' Igitur Sapientia, quce vulgo Salomonis inscribitur, et Jesu filii Sirach
liber, et Judith et Tobias non sunt in Canone.'
" Scimus ajv.i6.em post decreta Concilii Tridentini hos omnes libros
pari cum coeteris veneratione ab omnibus vere piis et orthodoxis esse
suscipiendos. Sed nunc quaestio est de tempore Hieronymi, quando,
ut ex eodem constat, libros jam dictos legebat quidem Ecclesia ad
sedificationem plebis, quum tamem ipso non reciperet inter Candnicas
Scripturas." * Ed. Paris, 1693. vol. i. p. 322. See the original words in the
foregoing note.
t See ibid. vol. i. p. 939, and especially vol. i. p. 1170, and vol. v.
p. 1113, " Apocryphos tempore suo fieri Canonicos nihil vetat. Com
pare Alphons. a Castro adv. User. i. c. 2. Olim ab aliquibus dubita-
tum est de libro Sapientice, Tobice, Judith, &c, nunc vero nulli de hac
re dubitare licet quia Ecclesia, postmodum divino Spiritu amplius
illustrata, censuit libros prajfatos meliore quam antea lapillo numeran-
dos." So Cardinal Bellarmine, de Verbo Dei, i. 10, admits that the
Apocrypha was not received by the Church in St. Jerome's time,
" quia nondum generale Concilium de his libris statuerat." See also
M. Canus, Loc. Theol. ii. 2, 11, and a remarkable passage of Professor
Vincenzi in Appendix A. (a) ii. to this Volume. So also Perrone, ii.
p. 1053. " Ecclesia Romana omnium Ecclesiarum Mater et Magistra
sua potuit auctoritate constituere vcrum Scripturarum Canonem." In

III.] ON THE CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 81
According to this doctrine, which is indeed the doctrine
of Rome, a Book may be inspired in the sixteenth century,
which was not inspired in the fourth ! The word of man
may, after a lapse of more than a thousand years, become
the Word of God ! And the Church of Rome claims the
power of working this change !
This doctrine leads to Infidelity.
I propose to say more, in the next Discourse, on the mo
tives by which the Church of Rome was actuated in framing
the Trent Decree concerning the Canon of Scripture, and
to speak at large on the true character and position of the
Apocryphal Books.
In conclusion, I will now offer two observations, which do
not appear to have been always borne in mind by those who
have discussed the ^question between the Churches of Eng
land and Rome, with respect to the Canon of the Old Tes
tament. First, then, we would address our Romanist Brethren :
You bring us passages from early Christian writers, in which
the Apocryphal Books are called Scripture, Canonical
Scripture ; you show us that they were read in the Church ;
and that a Council of the Church, at which St. Augustine
was present, classes them with Canonical Books.
But all this (we say it respectfully) is nothing to the pur
pose. We read page after page, volume after volume, of
your works on this subject ; and we find ourselves compelled
to close the book, and exclaim, What is all this but multiply
ing words without knowledge ? We will not say it is decep
tion for deception's sake ; but we do say that it is a complete
p. 1062, he says, that the Canon of the Old Testament had not been
completed (Canonem nondum confectum ab Ecclesia) in the fourth
century, when, says he, the Apocryphal Books " Canonici nequaquam
erant."

82 testimony of the early church [lect.
misstatement of the whole question between us. That
question is, not whether the Apocryphal Books were treated,
and are to be treated, with reverence, — for the Church of
England so treats them, — but, whether they are of equal
authority for establishing Articles of Faith with Moses and
the Prophets, and with the words of Christ and His Apostles.
This you assert ; and this we deny. We deny it on the
authority of Christ Himself. If the Apocryphal Books are
inspired, they must have been inspired at the time of Christ's
ministry, and must have been received by Christ as such.
They were not so received by Him ; therefore they are not
inspired. And shall you, or shall any man, shall all gene
rations of men that ever lived, presume to suppose that they
know more than Christ concerning His own Word ? Shall
you or any man ascribe to the Holy Spirit what He who
was conceived by the Holy Ghost, as Man, and who sent the
Holy Spirit, as God, never received as His ? Persist not,
we entreat you, in this dreadful sin, of claiming to know
more concerning the things of God than the Son of God.
But this is not all. You not only affirm that the Apocry
phal Books are of equal authority with those of Moses and
the Prophets, but you will not communicate with any who
do not receive the Apocryphal Books as inspired ; you ana
thematize all who do not receive them as inspired. What !
we say, Are you the author of Scripture ? Came the Word
of God out from you ?* Or, came it to you alone ? Can
you make and unmake it, as you please ? Will you dare to
imprecate curses on those who do not receive, what Christ
never received ? Nay, by so doing, you pour out your ana
themas, not only upon us, but upon the holiest men of
Christendom ; you say Anathema to Jerome, Anathema to
Ruffinus, to Athanasius, to Cyril, to Melito ; Anathema to
the ancient Churches of Palestine and Asia, Anathema to
* 1 Cor. xiv. 36.

III.] ON THE CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 83
the ancient Church of Rome, and even to the Apostles them
selves. We dare not proceed further.
Rather let us remind you, with earnest prayers for your
salvation, as well as our own, and for the union of us all in
one and the same faith, that, by imposing this term of Com
munion on us, you withdraw yourself from the Communion
of the true Church, and of Christ. You excommunicate
yourself. And yet the Spirit of Evil has such awful power
over you, that, when you are thus blinded by him, you
fondly imagine that you alone can see !
Therefore, renounce your claim to Infallibility, and so
free yourself from error, and embrace the truth. Revoke
your Anathemas ; rescind your excommunicating decrees ;
and so return to the Unity of the Church, and to the arms
of Christ !
May it please God to take the veil from your eyes ! and
let us all, my brethren, — seeing this fearful instance of the
malice and power of Satan, — be ever on our guard ; let us
watch diligently, and pray fervently to God, that He would
not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.*
* Matt. vi. 13.

LECTURE IV.

1 Cor. ix. 22.
" I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some."
We have much cause to deplore the prevalence of party-
strife in religion among us, we have greatly to lament our
own lack of zeal in the cause of Christ, and deeply to mourn
the tyranny of worldliness and the ravages of schism, by
which Church Discipline has been weakened, and the pro
fession of strange doctrines been made familiar to our ears ;
yet, amid these causes for dismay, we have great reason to
admire and bless the goodness of Almighty God to the
Church of England, in enabling her to maintain Scriptural
and Catholic Orthodoxy in her Public Formularies of Faith.
He has been graciously pleased to endue her with a pru
dent, patient, and charitable spirit, and with grace to pre
serve it in trying circumstances of great difficulty ; and it
may safely be affirmed, that, by means of her Christian
quietness, which some would censure as weakness, and even
through the operation of these restraints, which have modi
fied and controlled her agency, she has been providentially
preserved from perilous innovations, so that she now finds
herself in a favourable position for promoting God's glory
by the maintenance of His Truth.
It may, indeed, appear presumptuous to affirm, that, at
the present epoch of the world's history, the hopes of Chris-

ON THE TRUE CHARACTER, AC. 85
tianity rest mainly, under God, on the safety of the Church
of England ; but it may, I think, be shown, from the cha
racteristics which distinguish her among the Churches of
Christendom in this generation, that to her specially belongs
the solemn duty and the high privilege of maintaining and
propagating the Gospel ; and that if she be true to herself,
in holding fast that which she ha3 received, and in working
out her own system without fear and without compromise,
she will enjoy the favour of the Most High, and be a glory
and blessing to the world.*
The felicity of her present position is mainly due to her
forbearance and self-possession, in not allowing herself to be
betrayed, by impatient irritation against error, into aban
donment of ancient truth.
Because some other Churches, especially that of Rome,
have elevated certain objects to a dignity far above their
real deserts, and have thus swerved from the practice of the
ancient Church, and marred the proportion of Faith,\ the
Church of England has not, therefore, thought good to run
into the opposite extreme, and to strip these objects of their
due honour and prescriptive rights. She has not thus put
herself out of communion with Antiquity by irreverence,
because others have done so by superstition. But, while
she has removed the abuse, she has wisely retained the good
things which were abused, and has restored them to their
ancient use ; and, by keeping her eye steadily fixed upon
the past, she is enabled to walk more surely in the present,
and to look forward more hopefully to the future.
Thus she is truly Catholic. She communicates with the
One Holy and Universal Church of Christ, of all times and
of all places. Thus, also, she is truly a Missionary Church ;
* It is scarcely necessary to add, that the Author here includes the
Irish, Scottish, American, and Colonial Churches communicating with
the Anglican.
t Rom. xii. 6.

86 ON THE TRUE CHARACTER [LECT.
for she is enabled to hold intercourse with Jew and Gentile,
and to bring them both unto Christ. Thus, like the great
Apostle, she may say, " I am made all things to all men,
that I might by all means save some."
Such reflections arise in the mind, when we come to con
sider the topic to which we are now advanced in our argu
ment ; the course pursued by the Church of England with
respect to the Apocrypha.
In her Sixth Article, after reciting the names of the
twenty-four Books of the Old Testament, which she receives
as Canonical, — using that word in its strict sense of consti
tuting the Divine Rule of Faith, — she proceeds to say,
" The other Books, as Hierome saith, the Church doth read,
for example of life and instruction of manners, but yet doth
it not apply them to establish any doctrine. Such are these
following: the third Book of Esdras," — and the rest which
we commonly call Apocrypha.
A certain honour, it will be observed, is here conceded to
the Apocryphal Books. And a certain authority is denied
them. They are recognized by the Church of England as
having a didactic use for virtuous life and godly conversa
tion ; but they are delared to possess no validity for esta
blishing Articles of Faith.
This declaration of the Church of England is illustrated
by her practice. She places them (the Apocrypha) by them
selves in her Bible ; she orders certain portions of some of
them to be read at certain times in her public congregations.
It is clear, then, that she regards them with respect, but
not as inspired. If she did not revere them, she would not
require them to be read with Scripture : and if she believed
them to be inspired, she would read them as Scripture, and
prove from them Articles of Faith.
It will be remarked, also, that, in this Article, the words,
" The Church doth read, but doth not apply," are spoken
of the Church Universal. That is, the Church of England

IV.] AND POSITION OF THE APOCRYPHA. 87
appeals here to the Church Catholic; and by appealing to
it, she implies, that she respects its judgment, and that she
conforms to its practice. And it is evident that she believes
herself to be following its example, when she gives to these
Books a place in her Bibles, and cites certain of them in
terms of high esteem in her Homilies, and reads some of
them in her public assemblies, at the same time that she
distinguishes them from the inspired Word in her Bibles,
and never reads any of them in her Churches upon the
Lord's Day.
The wisdom of this middle course of proceeding, with
regard to these middle Books, — for so the Apocrypha are
called by the ancient Church,* — cannot be more clearly
evinced than by a comparison of its results with those of the
two extremes on either side of it.
1. Some Protestant Communions, on the one hand, would
banish the Apocryphal Books altogether from the Bible and
the Church.
2. The Church of Rome, on the other hand, makes a be
lief in their inspiration a term of Communion with herself,
and declares such a belief to be necessary to salvation.
Words cannot adequately express how much it would be
to be deplored, if the Church of England had ever followed,
or ever should follow, either the one or the other of these
two courses.
It may be solemnly affirmed that, if she were ever to take
either of these two steps, she would greatly weaken her con
nection with the past; she would grievously impair her
Catholicity ; and England would be disqualified from dis
charging the duty of a faithful witness of ancient Truth,
and from prosecuting her glorious career, as the great Mis
sionary Nation of the World.
In order to show this, first let us consider the former of
these two courses. * See above Lect. iii. p. 69.

88 ON THE TRUE CHARACTER [LECT.
I. Some persons, even in our own Communion, have al
lowed themselves to speak of the Apocrypha in very dis
paraging terms. In the words of the judicious* Hooker,
they have bestowed much pains in " raking together what
soever might prejudice or in any way hinder the credit of
Apocryphal Books." And we may add, that, without any
regard to the general drift of these Books, they have in
volved them all in a sweeping condemnation, on the strength
of certain words and sentences occurring in some of them.
Far be it from us to arraign the motives by which they
have been actuated. The feelings which have animated
them for the most part, have been, doubtless, those of holy
zeal for God's Word, and of anxious desire that no human
compositions should usurp the place of the Divine Oracles.
Conceding, then, as we do most willingly, all credit due to
such sentiments as these, yet we must still be permitted to
ask, — and we must not shrink from asking, — whether they
have not allowed themselves to be carried away from the
firm footing of reason and charity, by their zeal against the
Church of Rome, which treats the Apocrypha as inspired ?
Have they not visited her sins upon the Books which she
has too highly extolled ? Have they not suffered themselves
to forget the wise and beautiful instructions contained in
many of these Books ? Have they duly remembered, that
these Books serve to fill a chasm in the history of God's
Church, and to show His goodness to her in the interval of
time between the two Testaments, and exhibit the holy and
heroic graces which He was pleased to bestow upon her in
that season of trial, when she had no prophetic voice to
cheer her? Have they borne in mind, that they give ex
pression to her sorrow for her widowhood, and to her hope
and longing for the coming of the Desire of all Nations ?f
* Hooker, V. xx. whose observations are commended to the reader's
careful consideration. See Appendix B. to this volume.
t Haggai ii. 7.

IV.] AND POSITION OF THE APOCRYPHA. 89
Have they not been tempted to forget the reverence paid to
these Books, from the Apostolic times, by the Church Ca
tholic, and by our own Branch of it ? Have they not set up
their own private opinion against the public consent of
Antiquity, and been -betrayed into a spirit of irritation, as
if, because these Books have been raised too high by Rome,
therefore, we must needs pull them down from their proper
place, and trample on them with contumely and scorn ?
But our own private wills are our worst counsellors ; and
they who listen to them will generally find, that by so doing
they have effected nothing so completely as their own injury
and shame.
So it is here.
Two allegations are made by some against the Apocrypha ;
and under colour of them it is said we ought to banish them
from our Bibles a'nd our Churches.
1. It is urged, that they authorize Romish Tenets, such
as the doctrine of Merit, Prayers for the Dead, Worship of
Angels : and it is further alleged that, because they seem to
countenance such errors as these, they were canonized by
the Church of Rome at the Council of Trent.
2. It is averred that some of these Books contain fabulous
legends and immoral teaching; that they recommend, by
precept and example, certain actions at variance with the
Law of God.
These are serious charges. But supposing that they who
make them with so much eagerness could really substantiate
what they affirm, what would they gain thereby ? Plainly
this ; — while aiming a blow at the Church of Rome, they
would wound the Church of Christ, which has ever treated
these B*ooks with reverence; and they would wound the
Church of England, which cites these Books in her Homi
lies, enumerates them with honourable mention in her Arti
cles, gives them a place in her Bible, and reads portions of
7

90 ON THE TRUE CHARACTER [LECT.
them for example of life and instruction of manners to her
People. It is therefore evident that, if we who are Ministers of the
Church of England are disposed to make an undiscriminating
assault upon the Apocrypha, we must begin with retracting
our subscriptions to our own Articles. We must make for
ourselves new Homilies, a new Prayer-book, and a new
Bible. And if we succeed in our adventure, — which Heaven
forbid ! — we shall greatly weaken the cause of the Gospel,
and advance that of Rome.
Again: if the Apocryphal Books do indeed authorize
Romish doctrine, and were therefore canonized at the Coun
cil of Trent, then, it would appear, that the ancient Fathers,
who treated these Books with respect, and the ancient
Church, which read them, could not have disapproved those
Romish doctrines. Then, too, it would follow that the
Church of England herself teaches Romish doctrines ; for
she reads these Books. And therefore, either these Romish
doctrines are not false doctrines ; or, the ancient Church
Catholic and the Church of England are indirectly involved
in the errors of Rome.
But, is it true that the Apocrypha was canonized at Trent
because it authorizes, or even seemed to authorize, Romish
doctrine? Far from it. The Church of Rome was in no
want of the Apocrypha to authorize any articles of faith.
She was in no need of any written authority for that. She
affirmed at that Council* that her own unwritten Traditions
are sufficient to prove any article of faith. Her own prac
tice is her Bible. As her practice varies, so does her Bible.
She conforms herself to nothing, and would have every thing
conform to her. She had, therefore, no need of the Apo
crypha. But it was her practice to read it ; she supposed
* Concil. Trid. Sess. iv. Perrone ii. p. 1217.

IV.] AND POSITION OF THE APOCRYPHA. 91
that it had been canonized by two infallible Popes,* and
therefore she concluded it was inspired.
Her own practice, I repeat, was her law; and this was
proved remarkably in the canonization of the Apocryphal
Book of Baruch at the Council of Trent. That Book had
not been mentioned by name by any previous Council, or in
the lists of the two Popes just mentioned. But it was read
by the Church of Rome,f and had been canonized by a third
Pope, Eugenius the Fourth. Therefore at the Council of
Trent the Book of Baruch was set down as inspired ; a fact
which proves that it was the practice of the existing Church
of Rome, and not any opinion that the Apocryphal Books
authorize Romish doctrine, which produced their canoniza
tion at Trent ; for there is no Book in the whole Bible which
condemns more strongly such superstitious and idolatrous
usages as have corrupted the faith and worship of Rome
than this Book of Baruch, which was then declared to be
inspired. Again : the canonization of the Apocrypha at Trent is to
be ascribed, in no inconsiderable degree, to the incompe
tency of the members of that Council. That sessionj of the
Council in which the Apocrypha was canonized, under sen
tence of anathema on all who denied its inspiration, con
sisted only of fifty-three Bishops, very few of whom were
skilled in theological learning, and these fifty-three, it is
known, were 'divided in opinion on this matter. § Relying
on the practice of Rome as their guide, and on the Vulgate,
* Popes Innocent and Gelasius.
t Sarpi's History of Council of Trent, ad a. d. 1546.
J The fourth Session of the Council of Trent, a.d. 1546. See the
names of these fifty-three in Labbe"s Concilia XIV. p. 745. Streitwolf,
Libri Symbol. Eccl. Cath. II. p. 21. Cp. Letters to Gondon, Letter iv.,
for a fuller description of the Council.
I Sarpi's History of the Council of Trent, ad ann. 1546. See also
Cardinal Pallavicini's History, lib. vi. cap. xi.

92 ON THE TRUE CHARACTER [LECT.
or Latin Version, which she had adopted, and which they
designated as the authentic standard of Scripture, and which
contains these Books blended with the Canonical, they gave
no due consideration to the subject; and, as if driven on by
a spirit of infatuation, they came to a hasty conclusion and
bound themselves and others, or rather surrendered them
selves to be bound by the Enemy of mankind, in the chains
of error. And how much soever learned and reflecting Ro
manists may now desire — and we cannot doubt that many
of them do desire — to be rid of this decree, yet they cannot
free themselves from it, unless they are prepared to renounce
the doctrine of Infallibility upon which the Papal system is
based. May God of His mercy grant that they may have
grace to reject error, disguised under the mask of Inerrancy,
and, by allowing themselves to be fallible, recover truth !
But to return. We do not scruple to affirm that, what
ever may seem to be the tendency of certain expressions in
some of the Apocryphal Books taken by themselves, yet the
teaching ofthe Apocrypha, fairly construed, is condemnatory
of Romish error, and in harmony with Catholic Truth.
2. We are now brought to consider the second allegation.
While we thus speak, do we intend to say that no flaws may
be found in the Apocrypha? By no means. We do not be
lieve them to be inspired ; we are sure that they are human
compositions, and that, as such, they partake of the imper
fections of humanity. We do not, therefore, read the Apo
crypha as Canonical Scripture ; and we believe that the
blemishes, which are referred to, will be found only in those
Apocryphal Books, or in those portions of the Apocryphal
Books, which we never read. And we proceed to say that,
even from these imperfections themselves, every thoughtful
person will derive lessons of great practical utility.
The case of reading the Apocrypha is very similar to that
of the commemoration of the Saints of God by anniversary
festivals and religious services. What the Saints are to the

IV.] AND POSITION OF THE APOCRYPHA. 93
Divine Author of all Sanctity, that the Apocryphal Books
are to Inspired Scripture.
The Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, in the eleventh
chapter, ushers in a long train of Patriarchs, Prophets,
Saints, and Martyrs, of whom the world was not worthy;
and yet not one of these who are there canonized by the
Holy Ghost, was exempt from human frailty. So the Church
of Christ inserts in her Calendar the names of those whose
memories live in the heart of Christendom. All these were
men of like infirmities with ourselves; and by celebrating
their festivals we glorify Him from whom all their graces
were derived; and the purity and brightness of the One
Only perfect example, Jesus Christ, shows Itself in more
radiant lustre when compared with these lesser lights, al
though they are confessed to be what human nature has
produced most excellent. And by dwelling reverently on
the memories of the Saints departed in God's Holy Faith
and Fear, we hold spiritual communion with the mystical
Body of Christ in every age. So in reading and revering
Apocryphal Books, we maintain our fellowship with the
Church Catholic, which has long received and read them ;
we love, and live in, the past; we do what is so beautifully
taught in the Lesson of that Apocryphal Book of Ecclesias-
ticus,* read in the annual commemorations of Founders and
Benefactors in our ancient colleges in this University, we
praise famous men and our fathers that begat us.
So, even by the imperfections of these Books thus read
and revered, we feel ourselves admonished and incited to
admire the unattainable perfection, and to adore the Divine
beauty, of the Inspired Scriptures, from which the wisdom
of the Apocryphal Books has been derived, like rays stream
ing from one glorious orb of inexhaustible light, and to
* Chap. xliv. See Celebratio Ccense, &c. in Commendationibus
Benefactorum, Lond. 1560. Anno 2do. Eliz. where the reading of this
lesson is enjoined.

94 ON THE TRUE CHARACTER [LECT.
which they bear a willing testimony of lowly homage and of
devout veneration.*
Further; The end of the commandment is charity ;f and
we are forbidden to put a stumbling -block% in any one's
way, or to give offence to any ; we are commanded by God
to do all things for mutual edification, and for His glory.\
But by banishing the Apocrypha from our Bibles and our
Churches, we should violate these sacred precepts ; we should
destroy one of our means of communion with other Churches,
and should produce discord, where Christ intended that there
should be only love.
If you carry a Bible, without the Apocryphal Books, into
Greece, Asia, and Palestine, — that is, into those countries
to which the Gospel owes its origin and language, you would
be told that you have not the Bible, but only a mutilated
copy of it. The Greek Church, which agrees with the an
cient Church Catholic in venerating the Apocrypha, which
is contained in its authorized Septuagint, but does not regard
it as inspired, would renounce you as guilty of neoteric and
sectarian error, if you presented her with a Bible not con
taining the Apocrypha.
If you pass over to Italy and France, or to Spain and
Portugal, and endeavour to circulate such Bibles among
persons, who, as we all assert, are in great need of the
Scriptures, — I mean our Roman Catholic Brethren in those
countries, — they will immediately say to you, " This may
be an English Bible; but it is not the Bible of Christendom.
* See Ecclus. Prolog. " My grandfather Jesus, when he had much
given himself to the reading of the Law and the Prophets, and the
other Books of our Fathers [td a%xa (3iJ3ax'a) was drawn on also himself
to write something pertaining to learning and wisdom." See also
Ecclus. xiv. 5, concerning Moses; Ecclus. xlvii. 8, concerning David;
xlvii. 15, concerning Solomon; xlix. 6 — 10, on Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and
the Twelve Prophets.
1 1 Tim. i. 5. % Rom. xiv. 13. 1 Cor. x. 32. 2 Cor. vi. 3.
I 2 Cor. xii. 19. Eph. iv. 29. 1 Cor. x. 31.

IV.] AND POSITION OF THE APOCRYPHA. 95
It excludes Books which the Eastern and Western Churches
have never ceased to read, from the earliest times to this
hour." You may, perhaps, reply, that the Apocrypha contains
unsound doctrine, and questionable history. But to this
they will oppose the authority and practice of the Church.
They will ask you, " Whom shall we believe ? You, or
Eighteen Centuries ? Nay, which of the two shall we believe,
you, or your own Church ? You vilify the Apocrypha : your
Church reads it; she lauds it in her Articles, which you,
perhaps, have subscribed ; she cites it in her Homilies, which
you would have us receive. Either, therefore, you or your
Church are in error. Either your Bible or your Prayer
Book is wrong. Choose which alternative you will; it is
indifferent to us. Return then to your homes. First recon
cile yourselves to your Church; make your Prayer Book
tally with your Bible; and then come and evangelize us!"
Such, my beloved brethren, would be the language which,
under the circumstances supposed, we must be prepared to
hear from every well-instructed persons in those countries.*
Let me also observe, as a most important point, that by
rejecting the Apocrypha, which has now been read in our
own Church, and in the Universal Church, for so many
hundred years, we should, in fact, be guilty of the very
same sin with which we charge the Church of Rome.
What is that ?
It is the imposition of new terms of Communion, unknown
to the Catholic Church. If, indeed, the reading of the Apo
crypha can be shown to be sinful, then let it be rejected by
all means ; for we are no advocates for peace without truth.
But this has never been proved; and the fact of its being
read by the Church for so many centuries will satisfy most
persons, to say the least, that it may be read without offence.
* See Appendix D.

96 ON THE TRUE CHARACTER [LECT.
And if so, then comes in the obligation upon us, — and a most
solemn obligation it is, — not to impose any new term of
Communion, by which the peace of the Church may be dis
turbed, and a rent made in the body of Christ. It matters
little whether the new term consists in addition or subtrac
tion. The new term of Communion which Rome imposes is
the reception of the Apocrypha as inspired; the new term
which we should impose would be the total rejection of the
Apocrypha. Both of these two courses are schismatical. I
do not intend to say that the rejection of the Apocrypha is,
in itself, abstractedly speaking, in any degree to be com
pared with the canonization of it ; but what I mean is, that
there is a breach of Christian unity in both cases ; and no
thing profiteth without charity;* and wilful schism is a
great sin. It is clear, then, that by banishing the Apocry
pha, we should imitate Rome ; we should impose a new Bible
as a term of Communion; and instead of doing all in our
power, that the religion of Christ may have free course and
be glorified,^ we should make the Bible a stumbling-block to
Christianity. At three different epochs in the History of the Church of
England the Apocryphal Books were the object of violent
attacks from parties who preferred their own private opinions
to the judgment and practice of the Church. I allude to the
Hampton jCourt Conference at the commencement of the
reign of King James the First; the Savoy Conference at
the Restoration of King Charles the Second; and again, to
the abortive attempt made for a religious comprehension, as
it was called, at the era of the Revolution of 1688. The
parties to whom I refer strove to eject the Apocrypha from
the Churches and Bibles of England. Happily their at
tempts were frustrated : and thus it is, that, by the wonder
ful Providence of God overruling our own devices against
* 1 Cor; xiii. 1—3. t 2 Thess. iii. 1.

IV.] AND POSITION OF THE APOCRYPHA. 97
ourselves, the Church of England at the present day occu
pies a glorious position, from which she looks back upon the
Past with thankfulness, and on the Future with hope.
II. We have thus, as in duty bound, dwelt on the evils
which would have arisen from the rejection of the Apocry
pha. We now pass on to consider those which result from
the reception and obtrusion of it as inspired.
1. To impute to God what does not belong to Him is an
offence no less than to deny Him His honour due ; and no
Church can hope for His blessing, if it is wilfully guilty of
this sin. Such an act must bring its own chastisement.
2. Again: the Great Head of the Church desires and
commands that all the members of His mystical Body should
be joined together in unity. Violations of Church-unity are
sins against Christ. The adoption and imposition of any
new term of Church Communion, especially in so solemn a
matter as the Word of God, is a grievous breach of Unity,
and consequently is a heinous offence against Christ. And
a Church which is guilty of this sin must, in this respect, be
the object of His displeasure, and may look to be visited
with His wrath.
3. Besides; one of the main functions of the Church of
God is, and ever has been, to be a faithful Keeper of His
Word. The Church of Rome has corrupted that Word by
canonizing the Apocrypha. She has thus proved herself
faithless. And if she is not trustworthy in this prime and
paramount duty of a Church, who can be excused in surren
dering himself to her guidance? "When the blind lead the
blind shall they not both fall into the ditch?"*
4. Further : it is evident that the canonization of the
Apocrypha greatly impairs the efficacy of a Church in her
missionary character.
No Church which isolates herself by imposing new terms
* Matt. xv. 14.

98 ON THE TRUE CHARACTER [LECT.
of communion can do the work of the Church Catholic. She
may, perhaps, make proselytes to herself; but she cannot
incorporate men as sound members in that Church which is
and ever will be one and the same in faith.
Now, the reception of the Apocrypha as inspired, which
was never received as such by Christ and His Apostles, or
by the Church after them, and the making such a reception
an article of Faith, and a term of Communion, is virtually,
as far as it goes, an act of self-excommunication, and by
consequence an abdication of Apostleship.
5. Let us consider also how the reception of the Apocry
pha as inspired affects the relations of a Church, so receiving
it, to the Jews.
Our Blessed Lord says that " Jerusalem shall be trodden
down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be ful
filled."* The Conversion of the Jews may therefore be re
garded as the consummation of the work of the Christian
Church on earth. It will be her last labour of love on the
eve of the Sabbath of Eternity.
The capacity, therefore, of a Church for the performance
of this glorious work is one of the best criterions of her
faithfulness. A Church which has disqualified herself for
this office, and disfranchised herself from this privilege, can
not be a sound Church ; for she cannot aid in realizing God's
gracious designs to His ancient People, and cannot there
fore be approved by Him.
Now, you will, bear in mind that the ancient Christian
Apologists, — for instance, Justin Martyr and St. Augustine, f
— relied much on such arguments as the following in their
discussions with the Jews.
* Luke xxi. 24.
t Judsei sunt Notarii, Librarii, Capsarii, Scriniarii, Bajuli Christi-
anorum. Sec Justin Martyr, and St. Augustine in Appendix. C. (g)
(h) (,-) (A) {I).

IV.] AND POSITION OF THE APOCRYPHA. 99
We Christians prove our cause, they said, from the Old
Testament, that is, from Books which you Jews cannot
allege that we have fabricated or tampered with ; for we
have received these Books from you. We show the truth of
our Religion from those writings which we derive from you,
our bitterest enemies ; and which you, we allow, have guarded
with scrupulous fidelity. We acknowledge, in the words of
that noble Hebrew of the Hebrews,* the great Apostle St.
Paul, that to you were committed the oracles of God,-\ and
that you have received the lively oracles to give unto us.% Yes,
you bear in your hands the divine title-deeds of Him whom
you have crucified. And from them we prove His Messiah-
ship. We require no other evidence than what your Scrip
tures afford. You, therefore, have done, and are still doing,
the work of Clerks and Notaries, of Roll-keepers and Reg
istrars for us.§ Nay more ; by a just act of Divine retribu
tion, you, by your dispersion into all lands, and by your
public reading of the Old Testament in your synagogues
every Sabbath day in all the world, have been the Heralds
— yea, without your knowledge and against your will have
been, and still are, in a certain sense, the Apostles and
Evangelists — of Him whom you have taken and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain. || And now, like a wander
ing Cain of near twenty centuries', you, by your vagrant
condition and miserable aspect, and by the mark set upon
you, by God, preach the innocence of your brother Abel,
that Good Shepherd whose blood you have shed ; and you
prove to the world that the offering which He made for the
sins of all men on the altar of the Cross has been graciously
accepted by God.
You may ask, perhaps, How is it, if you bear in your
hands the Old Testament, and if the Old Testament preaches
Christ, and if Jesus be the Christ, that you did not receive
* Phil. iii. 5. t Rom. iii. 2. X Acts vii. 38.
I See above, Note t, on the preceding page. || Acts ii. 23.

100 ON THE TRUE CHARACTER [LECT.
Him? Here, we reply, is another proof of the truth of
those Scriptures, and of His Messiahship ; for your unbelief,
and your rejection of the Messiah, is plainly predicted in
those very Books of the Old Testament which you bear in
your hands. Lord, who hath believed our report?*
" Those things which God before hath showed by the
mouth of all His prophets, that Christ should suffer, He
hath so fulfilled."!
But, thanks be to God, it is prophesied also in the same
Books, that the blessed time is approaching when the veil
will be taken from your hearts. As the Prophet says, " The
children of Israel shall abide many days without a King,
without a Prince, without a Sacrifice, without an image,
without an Ephod, and without Teraphim ; afterward shall
the children of Israel return and seek the Lord their God,
and shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter
days. J They shall look on Him whom they pierced."§ And
the divine Apostle of Christ takes up the joyful strain, and
thus proclaims the gracious promise of God : " I would not,
brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, that
blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fulness of
the Gentiles be come in ; and so all Israel shall be saved. "||
Therefore, in accordance with these prophecies, we call
upon you to awake, and to turn to- the Lord your God ; we
implore you to join with us in fulfilling God's designs pro
claimed in His own Word, so that, by your reception into
the Church, which was purchased by the blood of His dear
Son, and which is the true Zion, the Jerusalem from above,
the mother of us all, the mercy of the Lord may appear to
all, and the earth be filled with His knowledge as the waters
cover the sea.\
* Isa. liii. 1. t Acts i"- IS- Luke xxiv. 25 — 27.
X Hosea iii. 4, 5. g Zech. xii. 10.
|| Rom. xi. 25, 26. If Isa. xi. 9.

IV.] AND POSITION OF THE APOCRYPHA. 101
Of such a kind was the language of the Ancient Christian
Fathers to the people of Israel.
But observe how the strength of this glorious appeal in
behalf of Christianity is paralyzed, how the melody of its
holy music is untuned, by the obtrusion of the Apocryphal
Books as inspired.
Once receive and impose the Apocryphal Books as in
spired, and you can no longer say, with the ancient Fathers
of the Church, that you prove Christianity against the Jews,
from the Books which the Jews receive as inspired. For
they do not receive the Apocrypha. Indeed, as was before
said, the Jews, mistaking the language of Rome for that of
the Catholic Church, urge it as an objection against Christi
anity, that it has added to the Word of God other books of
human composition, and that it affirms these books to be of
equal authority with it, and that it requires all Christians to
receive them.
Nor is this all. If we impose the Apocrypha as inspired,
then, so far from listening to our appeal, the Jews would
turn round upon us, and say, Your own Scriptures recognize
us as the divinely-appointed depositories of the Word of
God. Your Apostle Paul says that to us were committed
the oracles of God.* Your Messiah says that we have
Moses and the Prophets.-f He worshipped and preached in
our synagogues. He acknowledged our Canon of Scripture.
But your Apocryphal Books were no part of our sacred de
posit. They" were never admitted into our Holy of Holies.
So far, then, from proving your Gospel from our Scriptures,
you stand convicted by your own Gospel of corrupting our
Scriptures. You are condemned by your own Prophet. We
leave you to Him. First agree with Him whom you adore
as Christ, and then come to us and preach Christianity.
Thus, my brethren, we perceive that, by the canonization
* Rom. iii. 2. t Luke xvi. 29.

102 on The true character [lect.
of the Apocryphal Books, the Church of Rome, instead of
promoting God's glory by aiding in the fulfilment of His
gracious design for the restoration of the Jews, has done
much to embarrass and impede that glorious work. She
has made the Christian Church appear to be in contradiction
with its ancient self and with its Divine Founder. She has
thrown a stumbling-block in the way of God's ancient people,
and has made their darkness more thick, and their hearts
more hard. She has incapacitated herself from taking any
part in their conversion. The veil must be taken from her
own eyes before she can make the least movement in taking
the veil from the heart of the Jews. She must allow herself
to have been in error, before she can teach the truth. She
must rescind the decrees of Trent, before she can preach
the Gospel of Christ. The reformation or destruction of
Rome will, in all human probability, precede the conversion
of the Jews.*
Therefore, in fine, my beloved brethren, looking upon the
work which the Church of Christ has yet to perform in the
propagation of the Gospel both among Jews and Gentiles,
we have infinite reason for thankfulness to Almighty God
for watching over the Church of England with the eyes of
His mercy, and for guiding her by His wisdom in the right
way, neither swerving to the right hand nor to the left ; so
that she is now in a condition to preach the glad tidings of
the Gospel to the whole world, and to fulfill the merciful
designs of the great Bishop of our souls, for the fetching
* The Jews have a remarkable tradition, that " when Rome is de
stroyed, then will be the redemption of Israel ;" and that " whatever
their Prophets have said concerning the destruction of Edom, will be
verified with regard to Rome ;" and that in " the sixth millenary
period of the world, Rome will be destroyed and the Jews restored."
See Kimchi ad Obad. and in Esa. xxiv. R. Abrah. Sebah. in Gon. 1.
Targum ad Ihren. iv. 22. Vitring. in Apoc. xviii. 6. See some inter
esting materials on this topic in Mede's Works, Book V. cap. viii. p.
902. The Roman Editors have erased these testimonies.

IV.] AND POSITION OF THE APOCRYPHA. 103
home of the people of the earth who are still scattered like
sheep upon the mountains of ignorance and unbelief, and of
bringing them together into one fold, under one Shepherd,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Thanks be to Almighty God that He has given us visible
tokens of His Divine Favour, and of His gracious Will that
the Church of England should go on and prosper in this
blessed enterprise. He has endued her with increased
power for discharging this great work, to which she has been
called by the natural position, the commercial activity, and
the colonial possessions of our country. In 1847 we had
already seen twelve Bishoprics founded in our colonies with
in the preceding twelve years ; and the erection of four addi
tional Sees in our foreign dependencies at the commencement
of that year, and of three other Sees since that time, are
eventful circumstances, which we hail with joy as happy
auguries that the Shechinah of the Divine Glory is with us.
Yet, some there are, who, instead of looking with glad
ness and gratitude on these blessed signs of God's goodness,
would turn with yearning hearts in other directions, and
would speak coldly and timidly of the graces and hopes of
their spiritual Mother; as if they even thought it a merit
not to despair of the Church of England! What! Despair
of the Church of England ? Despair of a Church which has
the Word and Sacraments pure and entire, and an Apostolic
Ministry to dispense them? We must, then, despair of
Christianity. The Church of England has the Word of God to preach,
and, thanks be to God, she has never disqualified herself
from preaching it. She holds the Bible in her hands pure
and unadulterated. She opens it to the eyes of the world.
She has not thrown herself out of the Communion of the
ancient people of God, by adding to the ancient Scriptures ;
nor, has she set herself against the authority, and cut her
self off from the Communion of the Universal Church of

104 ON THE TRUE CHARACTER OF THE APOCRYPHA.
Christ, by withdrawing the due and accustomed reverence
from those other Books which have ever been publicly held
in esteem by the great body of Christians, as fraught with
wise precepts and holy examples, and completing the his
tory of God's providential dealings with His Church, in her
interval of patient hope and trial between the Old Testa
ment and the New.
Thus, like the great Missionary Apostle, while she makes
no compromise of the Truth, she treads in the paths of
Peace ; She is made all things to all men, that she may by
all means save some. '
Let me specially exhort you, my younger brethren, to
imitate her spirit. Pray to God that you may be like-
minded with her. Be thankful to Him that you have here
the privilege of being trained in one of her great schools of
the Prophets ; use aright the blessings which you here en
joy. Then, if you are true to her, and to yourselves, — if you
unite Evangelical Faith with Apostolic Order and Catholic
Love, you will have the glorious privilege of advancing the
work of the Church on earth, and of sharing her bliss in
Heaven.

LECTURE Y,

Is. viii. 16.

'¦ Bind up the testimony, seal the law among My disciples."
The New Testament is hidden in the Old, and the Old is
displayed in the New ; each is in harmony with the other,
and the same God is Author of them both.
In the preceding Discourses, it has been my purpose to
state the reasons for which we receive the Books of the Old
Testament as the Word of God ; and my design, in the
present and following Lectures, is to treat of the Canon of
the New Testament, and to show the grounds on which we
acknowledge those Books, which are contained in the volume
bearing that name, to be a part of the divinely appointed
Rule of Faith and Practice, and, therefore, to be of equal
authority with the Canonical Books of the Old Testament.
The Canon of the Old Testament, as we have seen, is
authorized by Christ Himself, who acknowledged all the
Books, of which it consists, to be the Word of God, and
referred His hearers to them as such ; and it will be my
endeavour to prove that we have the same Divine sanction
for the Canon of the New. Christ is the great Householder
who bringeth forth out of His divine Treasure things New
and Old.* Both Testaments bear the impress of His signet;
* Matt. xiii. 52. Lactant. iv. 20. In utroque Testamento Idem
Testator, Christus. 8

106 WHAT IS THE FOUNDATION [LECT.
He says of both alike, Bind up the Testimony, seal the Law
among My Disciples.
Let us join in prayer to Him, that He would shed on us
the beams of that Spirit which illumined His Prophets and
Apostles, and enable us to see His presence in His Word,
and to believe in our hearts, and acknowledge with our lips,
that " all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for in
struction in righteousness, that the man of God may be per
fect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."*
Such being our aim, let us first consider the difficulties
which have been thrown in the way of this belief ; and next,
let us examine in detail the evidence by which a sound faith
in the inspiration of the constituent parts of the New Testa
ment is shown to be reasonable, and necessary to salvation.
On the present occasion, we will confine ourselves to the
former part of this inquiry.
The objections which have been made to the Canonical
authority of the New Testament proceed from two quarters.
First, from the open enemies of Revelation ; and secondly,
from those who would make Scripture to depend on the
authority of their own Church.
The form taken by these objections is as follows : Jesus
Christ, they observe, committed nothing to writing; and
none of the Books of the New Testament were written while
He was on earth ; nor, were they all composed till from ten
to sixty years after His Ascension into Heaven. There is
no passage in the New Testament which specifies the names
and number of the Books which compose the Christian Scrip
tures, and assures us of their Inspiration ; and, even if there
were, such passage would require some independent guaran
tee of its own veracity. * 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17.

V.] OF THE CANON OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 107
Again ; it is said, we possess writings of eminent Christian
Teachers, who were either companions or scholars of the
Apostles, namely, the Apostolic Fathers, as they are called,
Barnabas, and Clement, and Hermas, the friends and fellow-
labourers of St. Paul, and of Ignatius and Polycarp, the Dis
ciples of St. John. One of these, Barnabas,* is called an
Apostle-f in Scripture ; three of the other four were Christian
Bishops. Now, in their writings, it is alleged,! we have little
notice taken of the New Testament ; the names of the Evan
gelists are not once mentioned in them ; whereas, it might
surely have been expected, that, if the New Testament had
been received as inspired, in the age of the Apostolic Fa
thers, they would have made copious citations from it.
Still, further; though it was of the greatest importance
that the Church should possess full assurance concerning
the momentous question, what Books are inspired, and what
are not? yet, we find, that, even in the third, fourth, and
fifth centuries, certain Churches entertained doubts concern
ing the inspiration of some Books of the New Testament ;
and we do not find, that any Catalogue of all the inspired
Books was made by any Council of the Church, till late in
the fourth century, when such lists were published by the
Synods of Laodicea and Carthage ;§ and then, it is said, but
not till then, the Canon of the New Testament was finally
fixed and established.
From these allegations the following conclusions are de
rived. 1. On the one hand, they who do not wish well to Chris-
* For argument's sake the Epistle extant under the name of St.
Barnabas is here supposed to be genuine ; it is certainly of primitive
times. t Acts xiv. 14.
X Bolingbroke's AVorks, Letter V. vol. i. p. 177.
I Hobbes' Leviathan, pt. iii. c. 33. Toland's Amyntor, pp. 47, 56,
64. See the citations in Leland's View, i. p. 36, ed. 1798. i. p. 50.
Hickes' Treatises, i. p. 73, Oxf. 1847.

108 WHAT IS THE FOUNDATION [l.ECT.
tianity would thence infer that the doctrines of the Gospel
are questionable, since the Inspiration of the documents
which contain them, was, they say, so long a matter of
doubt. 2. On the other hand, they who elevate their own Church
to a dignity higher than the Bible, having first persuaded
themselves that their own Church is the Mother and Mistress
of all Churches,* would fain persuade us that Scripture de
rives its authority entirely from their Church; and that,
therefore, Holy Scripture cannot be a sufficient Rule of
Faith. The Church, they say, did not know what Scripture was,
for three centuries after it was written, which could not have
been the case, if Scripture were the Rule of Faith. Nor is
this all. They next proceed to say, that, if the Church, — by
which they mean the Church of Rome, — was able to givef
divine authority in the fourth century to Books, which had
existed from the first, there can be.no limit to her knowledge
and powers and, therefore, if we wish to believe in the
inspiration of the New Testament, we must also believe im
plicitly whatsoever the Church of Rome has hitherto pro
pounded, or may hereafter propound, as necessary to ever
lasting salvation.
Such difficulties as these, my brethren, have been thrown
in the way of a sound belief in the Inspiration of the New
Testament; and the fact that some of these objections have
been confidently repeated! in our own days, and have led to
* Perrone de Locis Theol. p. ii. c. 1. Scripturas Canon non ab una
Ecclesia constitui debet, si Ecclesia ilia non esset omnium Ecclesiarum
Mater et Magistra. Porro Ecclesia Romana, cum privilegio fruatur
primatfls in universam Ecclesiani, sua potuit auctoritate constituere
verum Scripturarum Canonem. See also above, p. 20.
t See above, p. 20, and the passages quoted in Letters to Gondon.
p. 83 (3rd ed.), and Sequel (2nd ed.), pp. 85, 96.
X Dr. Milner's End of Controversy, Letter xi. " Was this abrogation
of the First Rule of Christianity deferred till the Canon of Scripture

V.] OF THE CANON OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 109
the most disastrous results, would of itself be a sufficient
reason to us for a careful examination of this subject : even
if it were not essential that all Christians of every age should
fully understand the grounds on which the Scriptures of the
New Testament, together with the Old, are to be received
as the entire and unerring Word of Almighty God.
Let us now examine these allegations.
First, we allow that no Catalogue of the books of the New
Testament is found in the extant decrees of any Council of
the Church more ancient than those of Laodicea and Car
thage, toward the close of the fourth century. But, waiving
the argument that the decrees of many earlier Councils have
been lost, and that such catalogues may have existed in
them,* we affirm, and shall proceed to prove, that the books
of the New Testament had been received as inspired not
only long before that age, but in and from the time in ivhich
they were written; and that those_two Councils, in publish
ing these lists, did not imagine, that they were making, or
could make, any Book to be Canonical which was not Ca
nonical before. They did not intend to enact any thing
new but only to declare what was old ; just as the Church of
England, in the sixteenth century, when she published a list
was fix^d at the end of the fourth century?" — Newman's Essay on the
Development of Christian Doctrine, p. 160. " On what ground do we
receive the Canon as it comes to us but on the authority of the Church
of the fourth and fifth centuries? The Church of that era decided~-not
merely bore testimony, but passed a judgment on former testimony —
¦ decided that certain books were of authority. We receive that decision
as true; that is, we virtually apply to a particular case the doctrine of
her infallibility." See also p. 167. " If (in the first three centuries)
the Imperial Power checked the development of Councils, it availed
also for keeping back the power of the Papacy. The Creed, the Canon,
in like manner remained undefined. The Creed, the Canon, the Papacy,
the QEcumenical Councils all began to form, as soon as the Empire re
laxed its tyrannous oppression of the Church."
* See Bp. Kaye's Tertullian, p. 314, ed. 1826.

110 WHAT IS THE FOUNDATION [LECT.
of the Canonical Books of the Old Testament in her Sixth
Article, did not pretend to give any new authority to those
Books, but only affirmed what the Church had believed con
cerning them from the beginning.
The Inspiration of the New Testament was recognized as
soon as it was written.
1. In proof of this it may be observed, that, in the public
Council Chambers, in which the ancient Synods of Christen
dom met, a Royal Throne* was set in the midst, and the
Sacred Volume of the Four Gospels was placed upon it, as
a visible image of Christ's presence, and as a divine rule, by
which all their decrees were to be directed. It is expressly
recorded of the most illustrious Council of the Church, that
of Nicsea, which was held forty years before that of Laodicea,
that it had before its eyes the Books of the Evangelists,
Apostles, and Prophets ; and that its decisions were founded
on the written Word of Inspiration. f The insertion of the
words, " according to the Scriptures," in the Nicene Creed,
is very significant of this fact.
* S. Cyril, in his Apologetic Discourse to Theodosius, describing
the Council of Ephesus, says (Labbe, Concil. iii. p. 1044,) "The Sa
cred Synod being assembled in Mary's Church, had Christ Himself
for their Head ; for the Holy Gospel was on a solemn Throne preach
ing as it were to the venerable Prelates, ' Judge ye right judgment.' "
t Constantine, in his Speech to the Nicene Fathers (Theodoret, i.
7,) says, that they " have the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit in writing
(avdyparttov,) for (he adds) the Books of the Evangelists and Apostles,
and the oracles of the ancient Prophets teach us clearly and thoroughly
(sa^uJs ixTtuiSevovat,) what we ought to believe concerning God. Where
fore (he continues) let us lay aside all hostile contention, and let us
decide our controversies from the Divinely Inspired Books." In his
letter to Eusebius, Bishop of Coesarea (Socrat. i. 7,) the Emperor an
nounces his decree for the erection of Additional Churches at Constan
tinople, and for the writing out of Fifty Copies of the Divine Scriptures
[Sduv ypatyuv) for the use of the Church. He thus endeavoured to
repair the injury inflicted by Diocletian in the destruction of Churches
and Bibles.

V.] OF THE CANON OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. Ill
2. Again ; although it is allowed that no Synodical Cata
logues, earlier than the fourth century, are now extant, of
the writings of the New Testament, yet, we must remember,
that many such Catalogues of those writings are found in
the works of eminent Fathers, both of the Eastern and
Western Church, anterior to that time.
It must also be remembered, that these Fathers set down
these lists, not as neiv documents, but as received by them,
through uninterrupted transmission, from the times of the
Apostles.* These Catalogues, therefore, embody the belief,
not only of the Church of the third and second centuries,
but of the first ; they contain the testimony of the Apostolic
Churches to the Inspiration of the Books of the New Testa
ment. 3. Yet further. Even the bitterest foes of Christianity
have been converted by God into witnesses of this Truth.
The fiercest persecution which the Church has yet been
called to endure, was that which raged throughout the
Roman world at the beginning of the fourth century, under
the Emperor Diocletian, who strained every nerve to exter
minate Christianity. He imagined that the best means for
effecting his impious purpose would be to destroy the Houses
of God and the copies of the Word of God. Therefore he
levelled the Churches with the dust, and ordered diligent
search to be made in all parts of the Empire for Volumes
of the Christian Scriptures. These, when found, were com
mitted to the flames, f It is evident, therefore, that it was
* Origen ap. Euseb. vi. 25, refers to " the ancients [ot apxalof,) and
Eusebius says he sets down his own Canon according "to ecclesiasti
cal tradition" (iii. 25 ;) and S. Athanasius ascribes his "to the eye
witnesses and ministers of the -word from the beginning" (Epist. Festal. ;)
so S. Cyril (Cateches. iv. 35.) attributes his Canon to " the Apostles
and ancient Bishops ;" and RufSnus, in Symbol, p. 26, says, " These
are the Books of the Old and New Testament, which according to the
tradition of our fathers are believed to be inspired by the Holy Ghost."
t Euseb. H. E. viii. 2. Lactant. De Mort. Persecut. c. xii.

112 WHAT IS THE FOUNDATION [LECT.
a fact notorious even to Pagans, that certain Books were
revered by Christians, and that in them the religion of
Christians was contained. The New Testament, we say,
was known even to Diocletian, as the Old had been to Anti
ochus Epiphanes ;* and Diocletian treated the New as An
tiochus had treated the Old, and with very similar results.
It is also certain that those Christians who were then
guilty of surrendering copies ofthe sacred or Divine Books,-\
as they were called, to the imperial emissaries, in order that
their own lives might be spared, were regarded by their
brethren as Apostates ; they were called Traditores, or
Traitors, for this act of surrender, and were visited with the
heaviest penalties by the Church. J
Hence it is clear that certain Evangelical Writings must
have been then generally recognized as distinct from all
other compositions, and as constituting a definite collection.
And this, as we shall afterwards see, was no other than the
New Testament received by us at this day.
Thus, the fierceness of man has been turned to ihe praise
of God;§ and the endeavours of Satan to subvert Christian
ity have served more fully to authenticate the Scriptures on
which Christianity rests. Even Antiochus and Diocletian
have become witnesses of the Inspiration of Holy Scripture.
4. Still more. The Arch-enemy of mankind has ever
laboured to destroy the Gospel, not only by open assault,
but by secret plots; He has attacked the Church by foes
within as well as without, by heresy as well as by persecu
tion. * See above, Lect. II. p. 39.
t " Libri Deifici." See the Passio of S. Felix in Baluzii Miscell. ii.
p. 77. S. Aug. Brevic. Collat. cum Donatistis, c. xv. c. 17.
X Concil. Arelat. (a. n. 314.) can. 13." Credner, Geschichte des Ca
nons : Halle, 1847, p. 63. Hooker, V. lxii. 7. The controversy ofthe
Church with the Donatists turned on the question whether Csecilianus
had been ordered by a Traditor or not.
& Ps. Ixxvi. 10.

V.] OF THE CANON OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 113
He has not only gone about roaring as the Lion, but he
lurks in crafty ambush as the Dragon.* But Heretics as
well as Persecutors, have been made by God to advance the
cause of the Church. Christ, the Divine Conqueror, has
gone both upon the Lion and the Adder ; the young Lion
and the Dragon He treadeth under Hisfeet.-f He has con
verted the insidious malice, as well as the cruel rage, of the
Evil One into occasions and instruments for the promotion
of His Glory, and the Establishment of His Truth. Even
in primitive times, there were false teachers, who privily
brought in damnable heresies ;% and they could not propa
gate their false doctrines except they stifled the true. What,
therefore, did they do ? They mutilated or rejected the
Christian Scriptures. Some of them endeavoured to com
bine Christianity with Judaism, and to make a composite
religion of the two ;§ some would have separated Jesus of
Nazareth from Christ the Son of God.|| They, therefore,
rejected those parts of the New Testament, which were hos
tile to their heresies. Others received the New Testament,
but rejected the Old ;\ others recognized both Testaments,
but perverted them by false interpretations.** Others com
posed Apocryphal Writings in support of their erroneous
* S. Aug. in Joan. x. Non cessat Inimicus persequi. Inde dictus
Leo et Draco. Leo propter apertam iram, Draco propter occultas in-
sidias. Sed quid dicitur Christo ? Conculcabis Leonem et Draconem,
Ps. xci. 13.
t Ps. xci. 13.
X 2 Pet. ii. 1.
\ The Ebionites and Nazarenes.
|| The Cerinthians, Alogi, and others.
t The Carpocratians, Marcionites, and Manichseans, Hieron. adv.
Pelag. 1. 2. The former, however, received only part of the New
Test. Iren. i. 27 ; iii. 12. Tertullian. de Came Christi, c. 2, 3. adv.
Marcion. iv. 1 — 6.
** The Valentinians, Tertullian. Prsescr. Hreret. c. 38, and others.
Iren. iii. c. 12. — Priscillianists, August, de Hseres. c. 70.

114 WHAT IS THE FOUNDATION [LECT.
doctrines,* and circulated them, as of equal authority with
the Books of the New Testament.
But what was the result of all these pernicious devices ?
They aroused the Church and made her lift up her voice as
a trumpet,^ they made her blow the silver trumpet of her
holy Convocations^ to condemn their authors in her Synods,
as enemies of God, and of His truth. §
Thus, the rejection or mutilation of Scripture by Heretics
gave occasion for the vindication, assertion, and manifesta
tion of Scripture by the Church ; and has been among the
means employed by Divine Providence for assuring succes
sive generations, that the New Testament, as handed down
to them, was received by the primitive Church as the Word
of God.
But, it may be said, these statements do not prove that
the Books which we now receive are identical in substance
with those which were then received ; and that our New
Testament Was recognized by the Primitive Church.
We, therefore, proceed to observe, that we possess an un
interrupted series of writings from the Apostolic times to
the present day; and that these contain quotations from the
Books of the New Testament ; and that we have Commenta
ries upon it, reaching downward to us, in unbroken succes
sion, from the third and fourth centuries ; and that many of
these Commentaries exhibit the text of these Books ; and
that we have hundreds of ancient Manuscripts of these
Books, from all parts of the world ; that we have ancient
Versions of them in numerous languages ; and that these
various and independent witnesses coincide with each other,
* Bardesanes, Epiphan. Haar. 66 ; and the Gnostics generally. Iren.
i. 17. t Isa. lviii. 1. % Num. x. 2.
I Tertullian. de Baptism, c. 17. The case of the author of the
Acts of Paul and Thecla. Hieron. Vir. Must, in Luca says, that he
was convicted by St. John. See also Can. Apost. lxii.

V.] OF THE CANON OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 115
and concur in testifying the fact, that the Scriptures of the
New Testament existed in primitive times as they exist now,
and have been transmitted, pure and entire, from the hands
of the Apostles to our own.
5. Nor is this all. The Books of the New Testament
were addressed, for the most part, not to private individuals,
¦ but to Public Societies; to particular Churches, and to the
Church at large. The Authors of these Books enjoined
that they should be publicly read.* In the annals of the
early Church we often meet with mention of Ecclesiastical
Officers, called Anagnostse, or Readers,-f whose duty it was
to recite the Sacred Scriptures in the ears of the people in
the Church. We find, also, from early Christian writers,!
that the reading of the Gospels and Epistles of the New
Testament, was an essential part of the Public Worship of
God in the Christian Church, just as the reading of the
Law and the Prophets of the Old Testament was a part
of the Public Worship in the Synagogue.
By this public reading, the Books of the New Testament
were canonized as soon as they were written; thus they
* Col. iv. 16. 1 Thess. v. 27. Their communication to all is im
plied by 2 Thess. iii. 14.
t For instance, Cyprian, Epist. xxiv. xxxiii. xxxiv., and before him
Tertullian, Praescr. 41, "Hodie diaconus qui eras Lector." — Apol. 39.
Coimus ad Literarum Divinarum commemorationem.
X Justin Martyr, Apol. i. c. 66, 67, p. 83. ed. Bened. See also
Epist. ad Diognet. p. 502. Tertullian Apol. 39, de Anima, 9. Praescr.
Haeret. c. 36.' Percurre ecclesias apostolicas apud quas ipsse adhuc
cathedrae Apostolorum suis locis prsesident, apud quas authenticce
literal eorum recitantur, sonantes vocem, repraescntantes faciem unius-
cvjusque. And speaking of the primitive Church of Rome, he adds,
" Legem et Prophetas cum Evangelicis et Apostolicis Literis miscet."
See also adv. Marcion. iv. 5. Videamus quid legant Philippenses.
Thessalonicenses, Ephesii ; quid etiam Romani de proximo sonent. In
the ancient Frag. Can., ap. Muratori, occur the expressions, " legi in
Ecclesia," and "publicari in Ecclesia populo," concerning books of
the New Testament.

116 what is the foundation [lect.
were every where proclaimed to be divine, and thus they
were preserved entire.
Their dissemination into all parts of the world, and the
veneration in which they were held, rendered it impossible
that they should be altered, either by addition or curtail
ment ; and when any partial alteration was ever attempted,
as we have seen it was by heretics, it was condemned as a
flagrant crime.
I do not now enter into the question, whether there are
not some Books in the New Testament, concerning the in
spiration of which doubts were entertained in some portions
of the Church in early times. This inquiry is reserved to a
more suitable place in our argument. Let us now pass on
to consider the remaining objection stated at the commence
ment of this Discourse.
Christ, it is said, wrote nothing. No Book of the New
Testament was composed while He was on earth ; and in the
writings of the Apostolic Fathers, friends and scholars of
the Apostles, little notice is taken of the Books of the New
Testament ; which, it was alleged, would not have been the
case, if they had been received as inspired in the Apostolic
age. What is to be said here ?
It is quite true, that as far as we know, nothing was com
mitted to writing by our blessed Lord Himself. It is also
certain that no Book of the New Testament was written
till some years after His Ascension ; and that the Books of
the New Testament were not all written till the close of the
first century.
And, let me add, these facts afford another proof of their
Inspiration. 1. For, suppose the Founder of a religion to give an ac
count in his own person of the miracles he professes to have
wrought ; or, suppose him to publish a report of the moral
and spiritual doctrines which he delivered : it is plain, that

V.] OF THE CANON OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 117
the strength, of the historical evidence would rest on his own
credibility ; nor would it be wonderful, if his own exposition
of his doctrines were found coherent and clear. Thus, for
example, the authenticity of the Koran depends on the
veracity of Mahomet ; and it can .found no pretence to be a
supernatural revelation on any ground of internal con
sistency. But how different is the case of the New Testament*!
Here we have several writings, not composed by the Found
er of Christianity, nor during His sojourn in the world, nor
in the vernacular tongue of the Writers; but written in
Greek by unlettered Galilsens, many years after their Mas
ter had been removed from them ; and giving independent
accounts of supernatural works, and spiritual discourses on
the most abstruse and mysterious subjects ! Yet these are
found to be all consistent with each other. They are re
ceived as the Word of God by innumerable congregations
of men contemporary with the Authors themselves. They
are preserved entire in a marvellous manner. ¦ They have
produced wonderful effects — ever generating fresh benefits
to the world; every day softening barbarous tribes, and
cheering benighted Nations with heavenly light and love.
How, my brethren, can we explain this wonderful phe
nomenon ? Its solution is to be found only in the fulfilment
of our Lord's promise to His Apostles ; " These things have
I spoken unto you being yet present with you; but the
Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will
send in My Name, He shall teach you all things, and bring
all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto
you. When He, the Spirit of Truth is come, He will guide
you into all truth, and He will show you things to come :"
for which cause they were ordered not to premeditate, when
brought before Rulers and Kings, for it is not ye that speak,
but the Holy Ghost.* And again : These signs shall follow
* Mark xiii. 11.

118 WHAT IS THE FOUNDATION [LECT.
them that believe, they shall speak with neio Tongues.*
Sceptics may give, and have given, other accounts of the
matter, but we confidently affirm, that the form and sub
stance of the New Testament can be accounted for by its
Inspiration, and by it alone.f
In further illustration of this statement, let us consider
briefly the case of that Apostle, who was employed to con
tribute more than any other to the writing of the New Tes
tament — St. Paul. He never saw Christ on earth ; he was
a bitter persecutor of Christianity ; humanly speaking, he
was of all men the least qualified to preach the Gospel.
For some time after his conversion he was suspected and
feared by the Christians, and never ceased to be hated by
the Jews. Yet he was chosen to be the special messenger
ofthe Gospel to the most enlightened nations of the world.
The solitudes of Arabia were his school for the Apostleship.
He conferred not with flesh and blood ; and the persecuting
Pharisee emerged into the Christian Saint without any
teaching of man.! What Cause, my brethren, except that
of Truth and of God, would have chosen, or could have em
ployed with success, such an Instrument as this? How
could St. Paul have effected what he did for the conversion
of the world, if he had not been filled with the Holy Ghost,
* Mark xvi. 17.
t Hence Eusebius, H. E. iii. 24, says, " The Apostles were rude in
speech ; but by the demonstration of the Holy Spirit working with
them, and by the miraculous power alone of Christ consummated
through them, they announced the knowledge of the kingdom of Hea
ven to all the world. This they did by the assistance of supernatural
strength." S. Dionysius of Alexandria (ap. Euseb. iv. 23) contrasts the
xvptaxai ypacfai with his own. Compare S. Iren. i. 46, 47, and iii. 1.
Thcophil. ad Autolyc. iii. p. 124. S. Amphil. S. Chrys. Homil. in
Matth. i. Origen. Homil. in Luc. init. de Prine. i. Praaf. c. 8. Euseb.
iii. 4. S. Ilieron. Praef. in Matt. Evang. for ancient assertions of the
Inspiration of the New Testament.
X Gal. i. 11—24.

V.] OF THE CANON OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 119
and instructed by visions and revelations of the Lord?*
Surely the choice of the instrument, and the marvellous
effects which it produced, must rivet our belief that the
excellency of the power of the Gospel which St. Paul preach
ed, is not of man, but of God.-\
2. Let us now consider the objection, that little notice is
taken by the Apostolic Fathers of the Books of the New
Testament. The preaching of the Apostles and Evangelists, for some
years after the Ascension, was only by word of mouth.
Catechising, or oral teaching, was first necessary in order to
prepare the world for the reception and profitable use of
Scripture ;! and Catechising, as we see from St. Luke's pre
face to -his Gospel, was first employed, before the Gospel
was written. But we also learn from the same preface, that
it was requisite that the Gospel should be written, in order
that they who had been catechised should be more fully
instructed in those things which they had heard by word of
mouth.% The committal of the Word to writing arose too
as a consequence from the foresight the writers had of their
approaching death, || or from their departure to distant
lands, or from their imprisonment, or from the circulation
of heretical writings ; all which circumstances were provi
dentially converted by Almighty God into means of perma
nent blessing to the Church.
The Apostolic Fathers wrote at that very time when the
oral teaching of the Apostles was still sounding in the ears
of Christendom. Hence their great value. They represent
to us the feelings of the primitive Church as -an audience.
They are an echo of the voice of Christ. They are contem-
* 2 Cor. xii. 1. Eph. iii. 3. f 2 Cor- iv. 7.
X Luke i. 4, and 1 John ii. 14. " I have written unto you . . . because
the Word of God abideth in you."
I Luke i. 4.
|| 2 Pet. i. 14. Euseb. ii. 15 ; iii. 24. Epiphan. Haeres. Ixix. c. 23.

120 WHAT IS THE FOUNDATION [LECT.
porary and independent witnesses of Scripture; they show
that what is there taught was believed in the Apostolic
Church. They give us the general effect of Christ's teach
ing ; and, in proof of their authenticity, they convey to us
some sayings of our Blessed Lord, which are not contained
in the written Gospel, but are in full harmony with it.*
And, even the flaws and blemishes which occur in their
works are not without their use ; for they remind us, what
the Apostles would have been, if they had not been in
spired ; and what we ourselves should be, if we had not the
Written Word.\
But is it really true that these Apostolic Fathers were
unacquainted with the books of the New Testament, or that
they did not regard them as inspired ? Far from it. It is
indeed true that their own hearts were full of what they had
heard,\ and that they spake mainly from that. And no
wonder. Every one is more vividly affected by what he
hears than by what he reads. But in all their own writings,
if we may so1 speak, they take the New Testament for
* See Bp. Pearson, Vind. Ignat. i. 43 : ii. p. 99, and Lardner, Credi
bility, i. p. 288. 294 ; Jones on the Canon, i. 353. sqq.
t The inconveniences to which oral tradition is liable, showed them
selves even in the Apostolic age ; e. g. in the popular opinion that St.
John should not die, in the diversity of opinions concerning the dura
tion of Christ's ministry, and in the belief of the proximity of the
Second Advent : these were corrected by Scripture or from Scripture,
John xxi. 23. 2 Thess. ii. 2. Concerning the last point, see the de
tails in Lectures on the Apocalypse. These aberrations suggest many
reflections concerning the precariousness of tradition at this late age,
and concerning the necessity of a written Canon.
X See the account of Papias, in Euseb. iii. 39, on the relation of oral
to written teaching in primitive times. We have in Papias, an ex
ample of excess of devotion to oral tradition, to which kind of tradition
Chiliasm and other errors held by some in our own days, even zealous
opponents of written tradition, are attributable. See Lectures on the
Apocalypse.

V.] OF THE CANON OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 121
granted ;* they suppose their readers to be familiar with it ;
they imitate the Apostolic Epistles in their introductions
and salutations, and in their whole tone and treatment of
their subject.
To descend to particulars. St. Barnabasf quotes passages
from St. Matthew as Scripture; St. Clement,! writing to
the Corinthians, refers them to St. Paul's Epistle; St. Igna-
tius§ places the Evangelists and Apostles on a par with the
Prophets, and speaks of St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians ;||
St. Polycarp,Tf the latest of the Apostolic Fathers, refers the
Philippians to the Epistle of St. Paul, and confesses that
neither he himself, nor any one like him, can come up to
the wisdom of the blessed and glorious Apostle. He ex
presses his confidence that they are well versed in the Scrip
tures;** he declares that whosoever perverts them to their
own lusts, is of the devil ;ff and he makes numerous citations
from the Gospels and Epistles, which he adduces as of equal
* The scantiness of direct Scripture citations in the writings of the
Apostolic Fathers is justly regarded as a proof of the genuineness of
those writings. The larger Greek edition of St. Ignatius abounds
with Scripture quotations ; and if the passages in which the smaller
and fewer Greek Epistles differ from the Syriac were interpolations,
and were introduced in the third or fourth century, (as some have
imagined,) they also would doubtless have been interspersed with
Scripture texts.
t Cap. 4. compare Matt. xx. 16; xxii. 14. Cap. 5. cp. Matt. ix. 13.
X I. 47. " Take into your hands the Epistle of the blessed Paul the
Apostle. What wrote he to you in the beginning of his teaching?"
(tov siayyiuov, comp. Rom. ii. 16; xvi. 25. 1 Cor. xv. 1. Gal. i. 11;
ii. 2.) " Verily he enjoined you spiritually concerning himself, and
Cephas and Apollos, because even then, you had made parties among
you." (1 Cor. i. 12.)
\ Ad Philad. c. 5. c. 7. c. 9. ad Smyr..c. 7.
|| Ignat. Epist. ad Ephes. c. xii.
\ Ad Phil, c, 3, and c. 11. These passages are not noted by Lardner.
** Ad Phil. ,c. 12.
tt Ad Phil. C 7. 05 dv jieBo&evrj ta 'Koyta toi Kupiou-
9

122 WHAT IS THE FOUNDATION [LECT.
authority with the Old Testament; and finally, his whole
teaching was in harmony with the Scriptures*
Of this we are assured by his disciple, St. Irenseus, the
venerable Bishop of Lyons, who thus writes :f "I remem
ber," says he, " the things which took place when I was
young, better than those which occurred lately. I recollect
well the place in which the holy Polycarp used to sit and
speak. I remember his going out and his coming in, his
person, and manner of life, and the discourses he made to
the people, and how he described his intercourse with the
Apostle St: John, and with the rest who had seen the Lord ;
and how he recited their sayings concerning Christ, His
miracles, and His doctrine; and how, having received re
cords from eye-witnesses of the Word of Life, he recounted
them agreeing in every thing with the Scriptures.% These
things, through the mercy of God then given me, I used
eagerly to hear and write, not on paper, but in my heart ;
and by God's grace I shall ever ponder them in my mind."
Such is the account which St. Irenseus, the eloquent and
learned champion of Christianity, and the holy martyr of
Christ, has given of his master Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna,
also a martyr of Christ, and scholar of the blessed Disciple
whom Jesus loved.
' St. Polycarp, as we have said, is the latest of the Apos
tolic Fathers. § His Epistle to the Philippians, of which we
have spoken, was written about fifteen years after the death
of St. John. || He connects, as it were, the Apostolic age
* See Jacobson, Patres Apost. p. 599; Lardner's Credibility, i. 327
—333. ed. 4to. Lond. 1815.
t Ap. Euseb. v. 20. See also Iren. iii. 3.
X rtdvta %v[xrpuva tai$ -ypa^tuj.
\ He suffered martyrdom, a. d. 147, according to the calculations of
Bp. Pearson; others place his death later, see Jacobson, Patr. Apost.
liii. || From cap. xiii. p. 489, ed. Jacobson, it is clear that it was written
before the martyrdom of St. Ignatius, i. e. before a. d. 116, or a. d. 107,

V.] OF THE CANON OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 123
with the one succeeding it; he introduces us to the period
when the sound of the oral teaching of those who had seen
the Lord becomes fainter and fainter, till at last it dies
away. In proportion as the voice of the Apostles fails, the
words of the Scriptures become more and more distinct;
they are more and more frequently quoted, as may be seen
in the writings of the succeeding Fathers, — Justin Martyr,
Tertullian, and Irenseus, — till at length they become all in
all. Thenceforth, the Disciples of Christ fixed their eyes,
and dwelt with their hearts, on the ivritten Testament of
their beloved Lord and Master, as children look upon the
last will of a dear Parent. For it was the Testament of
their Heavenly Inheritance, written by the Spirit of Christ,
and sealed with His precious Blood.
Thus, we perceive that the reception of the New Testa
ment, by the primitive Church, as the unerring Word of
God, is guaranteed by irrefragable proofs. It is evinced by
Catalogues; it is proclaimed by Councils; it is shown by the
fury of Persecutors, and by the fraud of Heretics ; by the
courage of Martyrs, and by the zeal of the Church. It is
declared by a continued succession of writers, from the age
of the Apostles to our own.
This reception of the New Testament by the primitive
Church, must, I think, be allowed by all candid minds, to
be an irrefragable proof of its Inspiration. For the Books
of the New Testament contain accounts of miracles, stated
to have been wrought by the Apostles, and of their speaking
with new tongues, and of their predicting future events, — in
a word, of their performing those very acts by which Divine
Inspiration is proved. God " bare them witness, both with
signs and wonders, and with divers miracles and gifts of the
according to some chronologers. St. John survived to the time of
Trajan, (Iren. iii. 1; ii. 22,) who reigned from a. d. 98, to a. d. 117.

124 WHAT IS THE FOUNDATION [LECT.
Holy Ghost."* Now, the Books in which these accounts
are given profess to be inspired ;t and they were received
and publicly read as such by large congregations of persons,
living at that very time, and in those very places, in which
these proofs of Inspiration are affirmed in these Books to
have been given. The persons, in whose hearing these books
were first read, must have known, whether these miracles
were really performed or no. And if these miracles had not
been performed, they would have rejected these Books as
fabulous. But the fact is, they received them as true, and
not only as true, but as divine. This reception, then, this
public reading, this canonization of these Books, this divin-
ization of them, if I may so speak, is a contemporaneous
and oecumenical testimony to the fact, that these proofs of
Inspiration were really exhibited! by the authors of these
Writings, and, by consequence, that their own assertion of
their Inspiration is' true.
To this testimony, therefore, of the primitive Church, we
appeal with confidence; for it is the testimony of Christ
Himself. But we do not stop here. Having received this witness
of the Church to the Inspiration and Integrity of the New
Testament, we pass from external to internal evidence; we
examine the Books themselves; and the more time and study
we bestow upon them, the more our faith in their Inspiration
grows ; the more we are convinced by the harmony of their
parts with each other and with the Old Testament, by the
beauty and dignity of their composition, by the nobleness
* Hebr. ii. 4. >
t 1 Cor. ii. 4, 5—13; vii. 40; xiv. 36, 37. 1 Thess. i. 5. 2 Tim. iii.
16, compared with Gal. i. 11, 12. Eph. iii. 3. 1 Pet. i. 12; iv. 11.
2 Pet. iii. 2; iii. 16. Rev. iii. 6.
X S. Aug. De Civ. Dei, xxii. 6, expresses this argument very briefly
aud well, Canon Scriptuarum miracula facit ubique recitari . . nee in
populis, nisi credita, legerentur.

V.] OF THE CANON OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 125
and loveliness of their morality, and by the mysterious
sublimity of their doctrines, by their marvellous adaptation
to the nature and needs of man, that the Scriptures are not
the words of man, but of God ; and that they are the full
and sufficient Deposit of that Divine Revelation and Super
natural Truth to which the Church, " built upon the founda
tion of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ Himself
being the chief corner stone,"* owes her existence, and on
which she depends for her preservation ; and, by the grace
of the Holy Spirit, who led their writers into all truth,\ we
are firmly settled in the belief that they are indeed the Bread
of Life, and are able, by God's mercy, "to make us wise
unto salvation, through faith in Jesus Christ."!
* Eph. ii. 20. 1 Cor. iii. 9. 11. t John xvi. 13.
% 2 Tim. iii. 15.

LECTURE VI.

John xxi. 23, 24.

"Jesus said not unto him, Se shall not die, but, If Iicill that he tarry
till I come, what is that to thee? This w the disciple which testifieth
of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testi
mony is true.
It was my endeavour in the last Discourse to state the
grounds generally, on which the Books of the New Testa
ment are to be received, as forming, together with those of
the Old, the complete divinely-appointed Rule of Christian
Faith and Practice ; and I now proceed to examine those of
the New Testament, in detail, and to confirm more specific
ally, and to develop more fully, what was then asserted with
respect to them in their collective character.
On the present occasion my purpose is to speak of the
Historical Books — that is, of the Four Gospels, and of the
Acts of the Apostles : and the question to be considered
is — Why are they to be received as the Word of God ?
The foundation of Christianity is laid in the belief that
the Scriptures, as we possess them, are given by Divine in
spiration ; and in order that this foundation may stand
securely, it must rest on the basis of sound reason. This is
the foundation which we would now endeavour, by God's
help, to establish, and build up your belief in the authority
of the Gospel.

INSPIRATION OF THE GOSPELS, AC. 127
This work, important at all times, is the more urgent at
the present day, when all the great questions concerning the
relative authority of Scripture and the Church, and their
dependent controversies, are opening upon us. If we desire
to be ready to give to ourselves and to every man that asketh
us, a reason of the hope that is in us,* we must diligently
examine the grounds upon which the Scriptures are to be
believed and asserted to be God's Word ; and we must be
carefully on our guard, not only against the attacks of those
who would impugn this truth, but also against the dangerous
teaching which places it on a false foundation.
Many there are who teach — indeed all the divines of the
Church of Rome who have treated on this subject agree in
the doctrine — that belief in the inspiration of Scripture rests
on the authority of the present Church, by which they mean
their own branch of it. And they would inquire of you, my
brethren, — On what principle do you receive the Gospels of
St.- Luke and of St. Mark, who were not Apostles, and yet
do not receive the Epistle of St. Barnabas, who is called an
Apostle in Scripture, and is there said to have been a devout
man, full of the Holy Ghost ff On what ground, again,
they would ask you, do you receive the Epistle to the
Hebrews, whose author is uncertain, and yet not receive the
Epistle of Clement, whose name, as St. Paul says, is written
in the book of Life ?% And they would have you reply to
these questions — that you receive the one, and do not re
ceive the other, on the testimony of the Church ; by which,
as I have said, they mean the Church of Rome.
This step being gained, they would then proceed to say,
— You owe, then, the Scriptures to the Church ; you would
not possess them, if she had not given them to you ; and
therefore if you will not be inconsistent you must listen to
all she says ; you must not receive her testimony in one
point, and reject it in another ; you must believe, unreserv-
* 1 Pet. iii. 15. t Acts xi. 24. X Phil. iv. 3.

128 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
edly, whatever she delivers to you, and follow unhesitatingly
wheresoever she leads you.
But, my beloved brethren, we would build on a very dif
ferent foundation from this. We do not hesitate to confess
that we have received the Scriptures from God through the
Ministry of the Church. But the Scriptures are not the
Word of the Church, but the Word of God. They owe their
authority not to her, but to Him : and he has appointed her
to guard the Scriptures which He has delivered to her, and
to proclaim to us that they are from Him.
Again, we do not scruple to allow that we know no higher
earthly authority than the universal Church of Christ. We
believe one Catholic and Apostolic Church. We believe
her to be the Spouse and Body of Christ.* We know that
Christ says that the gates of hell shall never prevail against
her, and that He will be ever with her, even to the end of
the world.f But we know also, that the Church of Rome
is not the Catholic Church, and therefore we do not receive
her testimony as that of the Catholic Church. Yet we do
not hesitate to say that even for the present Church of
Rome herself, as far as she still agrees with the universal
Church of Christ, — as, for example, in retaining the Lord's
Prayer, the Ten Commandments, a Threefold Ministry, the
three Creeds, the Christian Scriptures and Sacraments,
though grievously marred and mutilated in her hands, — we
entertain such feelings as are due to the truth of Christ,
wheresoever it may be found. But then we are compelled
to add, that because we reverence the teaching of the Uni
versal Church, that is, of the Church of all times and espe
cially of the Apostolic times, therefore we cannot receive
any one of those doctrines by which the Church of Rome
has corrupted the faith of the Apostles, — we cannot receive
the Apocrypha which they did not receive, and command us
to receive — lest we should incur the Apostolic anathema,
* Eph. v. 23—33. Rom. xii. 5. t Matt. xvi. 18 ; xxviii. 20.

VI.] OF THE FOUR GOSPELS AND THE ACTS. 129
" If any man, or even an angel from heaven, preach to you
any thing beside what we have preached to you, let him be
accursed."* Holding these principles, we believe that the external
testimony on which the Scriptures are to be received, is not
that of any present portion of the Church, but that of the
Universal Church ; that is, it is the authority of the Holy
Apostles and of Jesus Christ.
We shall now proceed to show that the Historical Books
of the New Testament are sanctioned, and delivered, and
guaranteed to us as the Word of God by this testimony.
Here let me first say a few words on the form in which
these Books are presented to us at this day. They come
before us as a part of a Volume. We see them combined,
like the "writings of one and the same Author, published at
the same time. Perhaps some of you may not have had an
opportunity of considering at what periods, and under what
circumstances, these Books were published, and by what
means they have been preserved to us. Perhaps even our
very familiarity with them as we commonly see them, may
have occasioned erroneous or imperfect conceptions with re
spect to them.
Let me, therefore, exhort you to divest yourselves of such
notions as a view of these Books, presented to us merely as
they exist in our own day, in outward form and fashion like
other books, may have produced in your minds. Think not
of the Gospels as parts of a printed Book piiblished at once,
but think of them as separate compositions, written by differ
ent Authors, and published at differnt times and in different
countries. Think of them as they were seen in the earlier
ages of the Church, not as they appear now.
Again, in order to conceive adequate notions of their
* Gal. i. 8, 9. hi tt; hvayyildlhtat, rtap 6 7iaph%dfiitt . . . idv 5j/i«s
rj dyy&o$ i§ cwpowoi ivayyiTllrjtai, rtap 5 cvrjyyt7.iadjj.i9a, dvdBt/ia 'itsto.

130 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
divine dignity, think of them, for example, as they were be
held in that Great Council of the Church in the fourth cen
tury, to which we owe the Creed that bears its name, the
Council of Nicsea.* Think, I say, of the Holy Gospels,
there placed on a Royal Throne, venerated as a visible re
presentation of Christ's august presence, and as the unerring
Rule of the Catholic Faith. Behold them there appealed
to as a Divine Oracle by the Fathers of that Council, sum
moned from all parts of Christendom, in an age while the
field of the Church was still fresh and sparkling with the
spiritual dews which had fallen upon it in gracious abund
ance on the day of Pentecost.
The venerable Bishops who composed that Council
had just escaped from the fiery trial of persecution ; and
the main endeavour of the Persecutor, who wielded the
sword of the Empire of the World, had been to wrest the
Gospels from their hands, and to commit the Christian
Scriptures to the flames. f But these Fathers of the Church
were fully persuaded that these Books were written by the
finger of God ; and they were willing to seal this belief with
their blood, rather than to betray them to the Destroyer-!
Further : in order to elevate our notions concerning the
Gospel to a proper level, it is of great importance to ex
amine the works of the Christian Writers of that and the
preceding centuries. There we see clearly with what a reve
rential spirit the Church of Christ then treated them. To
the minds of some in our own days, their notions may appear
fanciful, and their expressions may sound hyperbolical ; but
the fault, be assured, is not theirs, but ours. Let us re
member that their language declares the judgment of the
holiest men of Christendom, who, from their circumstances,
were best qualified to pronounce an opinion on this solemn
subject ; and that they who thus speak, proved their sincerity
* A. D. 325. Soe above, p. 110. t Ibid.
X Ibid. p. 111.

VI.] OF THE FOUR GOSPELS AND THE ACTS. 131
by their zeal for the Gospel, and by their readiness to die
in its behalf.
If, then, we would cherish a devout spirit of veneration
for these Divine Books, we may profitably remember, that
the Christians of that period, looking at the holy source and
blessed effects of the Four Gospels, spake of them as the
Four spiritual Rivers of Paradise, issuing from one Divine
holy fount, and watering the Garden of Eden ;* that is,
coming forth from the Well-spring of Life, irrigating the
Christian world by their refreshing and fertilizing streams,
and making it to blossom as the rose, and to bring forth rich
fruits, and golden harvests, to be stored in the garner of
heaven. Again : looking at the origin of the Four Gospels, and
at the Divine attributes of Unity, Omniscience, Omnipotence,
and Eternity, which God has in rich measure been pleased
to bestow upon them by His Holy Spirit, the Christian
Church found a prophetic picture of them in the Four living
Cherubim, named from heavenly knowledge, seen by Ezekiel
at the river of Chebar.f Like them the Gospels are Four
in number ; like them they are the Chariot of God who sit-
teth between the Cherubim :% like them they bear Him on a
winged Throne into all lands : like them they move wherever
the Spirit guides them : like them they are marvellously
joined together, intertwined with coincidences and differen
ces ; wing interwoven with wing, and wheel inwound with
wheel ; like them they are full of eyes, and sparkle with
heavenly light ; like them they sweep from heaven to earth,
and from earth to heaven, and fly with the lightning's speed,
and with the noise of many waters. " Their sound is gone
* S. Cyprian, Ep. 73. See S. Hieron. Procem. in Matth.
t Ezek. i. 5—26, and x. 1—22. S. Iren. iii. 11. I 8. S. Athanas.
Synops. Script, p. 55. S. Hieron. in Matth. Prooem. Ep. 1. ad Pauli-
num. Praef. Auct. Inc. apud Augustin. in Joann.
X Psalm xcix. 1 ; lxxx. 1 ; xviii. 10.

132 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
out into all lands, and their words unto the end of the
world."* Once more ; the Ancient Church recognized the Four
Gospels in the Four Living Creatures of the Apocalypse,
seen by St. John in heaven, and crying " Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come."|
Such, my beloved brethren, were the terms in which the
early Church of Christ spoke of the Four Gospels ; and from
them we may catch some portion of the sacred flame of love
and awe which warmed her breast. Nor are these expressions
without their use, in assuring us of the important fact, that
although, as we have seen, other witings were then extant,
pretending to evangelical authority, yet it is clear from her
language,! as now cited, that the Church of Christ rejected
those writings, and recognized four Gospels, and four
only; and these four Gospels were identical in name, in
form, and in matter, with those received by ourselves at this
day. In further evidence of their fourfold character, we may
observe that one of the earlier Christian writers employed
himself in making a Harmony of the Gospels, and, from the
name§ which he gave to his work, it is certain, that four
Gospels, and/owr only, were then received by the Church.
I pass on to remark that, if we trace the four Evangelic
streams back toward their source, we find that they are all
derived, through Apostolic channels, from Christ Himself.
* Ps. xix. 4.
t Rev. iv. 4 — 11. See the authorities cited in Lectures on the
Apocalypse, Lect. iv.
X See also Origen ap. Euseb. vi. 25. jkoki tinaaaa. Homil. in Luc.
p. 932. Euseb. iii. 25. dyia tttpaxtiii. S. Hieron. ad Paulin. Quad
riga Domini.
# Tatian, scholar of Justin Martyr. See Euseb. iv. 29, on his Dictr
tessaron. On the Harmony of Theophilus Antiochenus, see Hieron.
ad Algas, iv. p. 197.

VI.] of the four gospels and the acts. 133
The author of the first Gospel, St. Matthew, was an
Apostle of Christ.* He wrote about ten years after the
Ascension, for the special use of his own countrymen, and
of the Christian Church of Jerusalem, the mother of all
Christian Churches, which was first governed by St. James,
the Lord's brother, and continued to flourish during the
earlier part of the second century, f The first written Gos
pel, then, be it remembered (that is, the first Evangelical
Record of Christ's miracles, preaching, death, resurrection,
and ascension,) was composed for the use of that very coun
try in which our Lord's life was passed. It was circulated
in that very city in which our Lord suffered. This is a
striking proof of the confidence of the Apostles in the truth
of Christianity. They did not shrink from inquiry, but
challenged and courted it. This Gospel, so written, was
received as Scripture by the Church at Jerusalem. And
this reception and public reading of St. Matthew's Gospel,
as not only a true history, but as divinely inspired, in the
Church of Jerusalem at that period, is one of the strongest
evidences that could be given of its Veracity and Inspira
tion. St. Mare wrote his Gospel under the dictation of the
Apostle St. Peter,! who calls him his son% in the faith : and
* Euseb. iii. 24. S. Hieron. Prooem. in S. Matth.
t Till Hadrian's time. Euseb. Dem. Evang. iii. 5.
X Iren. iii. 10. 6. Euseb. iii. 39 ; vi. 14. (from Clem. Alex.) Demon.
Evang. iii. 5. Hieron. Script. Eccl. c. i. and c. 8. Tertullian. adv.
Marcion. iv. 5. Euthym. Zygab. i. p. 15. Epipham. Hseres. li. 4. St.
Peter says (2 Pet. i. 15,) " I will endeavour that after my departure
(jitEtfa trjv iixrjv I' %ohov) ye may have these things in remembrance."
This seems to be a promise fulfilled by the Apostle bequeathing to
them St. Mark's Gospel, and appears to explain the meaning of the
disputed passage of Irenaeus, iii. 1, ftctd ti\v nitfpou xai naiixou
"E30AON Mapxos o [ia8j]tris xai apfirjvfvtris Jlitpov, xai avtbs td'ifto
Tlstpov xripvsoo/xhva ycypa^ws rjfilv rtapaSiStoxs. See also Smith on the
Voyage of St. Paul, p. 218. <* 1 Pet. v. 13.

134 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
it is observable, as in full accordance with this account of
the authorship of these two Gospels respectively, that from
St. Matthew's Gospel* alone we learn that the Evangelist
belonged to the despised class of Publicans, while it is not
he, but another Evangelist (St. Luke,)f who tells us the
honourable fact that Levi left all, rose up, and followed
Christ. And in like manner the infirmities of St. Peter
are recorded with the most circumstantial fulness in the
Gospel of Marcus his son; but we are left to gather our
knowledge of his virtues and of the praises with which he
was honoured by his Divine Master, from the other Gospels.
St. Luke's Gospel, as all Christian antiquity witnesseth,!
is due to the Apostle St. Paul, who was made " an able
minister of the New Testament,"! by "knowledge given
him above measure, in visions and revelations of the Lord ;"||
and to St. Luke's fidelity St. Paul bears testimony, when he
speaks of him as the beloved physician,^ who alone is with
him,** and probably, as the brother whose praise is in the
Gospel throughout all the Churches.\\
St. Paul was the Apostle, St. Luke the Evangelist, of the
Gentiles.!! The same spirit was in them both. Hence, in
St. Luke's Gospel especially, there is a rich storehouse of
comfort and hope for all who sit in darkness and the shadow
of death. Here the good Samaritan, Christ Himself, pours
oil and wine into the wounds of the broken-hearted. Here
* Matt. iv. 9, compared with Mark ii. 14. Luke v. 27 ; and Matth. •
x. 3, compared with Mark iii. 18. Luke vi. 15, whence Euseb. Dem.
Ev. iii. c. 5, says well, MarOaio; iavtov atijXiftvii jilov. The whole
passage of Eusebius deserves a careful perusal.
t Luke v. 28.
X Iren. iii. 1. Tertullian. adv. Marcion. iv. 2; iv. 5. S. Hieron.
Script. Eccl. c. 7.
g 2 Cor. iii. 6. || 2 Cor. xii. 7.
H Col. iv. 14. ** 2 Tim. iv. 11.
tt 2 Cor. viii. 18. Chrysos. Homil. in Act. i. Hieron. Vir. Illust.
7. Euseb. vi. 25. XX Origen ap. Euseb. vi. 25.

VI.] OF THE FOUR GOSPELS AND THE ACTS. 135
He calls them home in the parable of the Prodigal. Here
He accepts them in the Publican. Here He visits them in
Zacchseus. Here He pardons them in the penitent thief.
The fourth and last Gospel, which was written at or soon
after the close of the first century, is also from an Apostle
— St. John. Thus all the four Gospels are seen to be due
to Christ's Apostles, who received special promises from
Him that He would send them the Holy Ghost to teach
them all things, to bring all things to their remembrance,
and guide them into all truth,* and of whom it is said, that
"when He had ascended up on high, He gave some Apos
tles, and some Evangelists, for the edifying of His Church."f
Thus we behold the four Evangelic streams, when traced
upward, issuing from the Apostolic wells which spring up
from the One Divine Fountain of living waters, " who said,
" Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him>
shall never thirst ; but the water that I shall give him shall
be in him a well of water springing up unto everlasting
life."! The last Gospel, as we have said, was written by St. John.
He was the disciple whom Jesus loved ;§ he was the disci
ple who leaned on His breast at Supper, when He instituted
the Feast of Love, in which the Church will show forth her
Lord's death till He come ;|| he was the disciple to whom
Jesus said on the Cross, Behold thy Mother, and who thence
forth took her to his own home.^
The other Apostles were taken away, one after the other,
by violent deaths, — by the cross, by the sword, by wild
beasts, and by the stake. St. John survived them all. He
was miraculously rescued from the furnace,** and at length
* John xiv. 26 ; xvi. 13. t Eph. iv. 11. J John iv. 14.
\ John xiii. 23. || 1 Cor. xi. 26. \ John xix. 27.
** Erom the cauldron of boiling oil, under Domitian. Tertullian.
Praescr. Haer. 36. S. Polycarp. in Victor. Catena, ap. Feuard. Iren.
iii. 3. Cotel. Patr. Ap. ii. 205.

136 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
died a natural death, at the age of above a hundred years.*
The other Apostles were sent to Christ by force ; St. John
tarried till Christ came for him, and gently took him to
Himself. Theirs was the martyrdom of death, his the mar
tyrdom of life.
The beloved Disciple of the Incarnate Word was provi
dentially preserved to a great old age, not only to refute the
heretics who denied the Lord that bought them, and to con
vince us of the Divinity of the Uncreated Word who was in
the beginning with God, but also to complete the witness of
the Written Word, and to vindicate its Inspiration from the
forgeries of false teachers, and to assure us of its fulness
and divine character.
In confirmation of this assertion, let us now refer to a
fact, attested by ancient and unexceptionable witnesses. f
Towards the close of his long life, copies of the three Gos
pels of St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. Luke, which at
that time, we are informed, had been diffused throughout
Christendom, were publicly brought to St. John, in the
city of Ephesus, of which he was the Metropolitan, by some
of the Bishops of the Asiatic Churches ;! and in their pre
sence St. John openly§ acknowledged these three Gospels
* Eusebii Chronicon. Hieron. Vir. Illust. IX. Comment in Matth.
xx. 22 ; lie died anno aetat. 120, according to Auct. Inc. cited in next
note. t Canon Muratorianus, Clem. AI. ap. Euseb. vi. 14. Euseb. iii. 24.
Epiphan. Hasr. li. S. Hieron. Script. Eccl. c. 9, in Matth. Prooem.
Victorin. in Apocalyps. -Bibl. Patrum Max. iii. 418. Auct. Incert.
apud Chrysost. Montfaucon. viii. 132, Appendix. Auct. Inc. ap.
Augustin. in Joann. compulsus Joannes ab Asia3 Episcopis scripsit.
. . Legerat Evangelia trium Evangelistarum et approbaverat fidem
eorum et veritatem, and the next note but one.
X See the passages collected by Arohbp. Ussher, Original of Bish
ops and Metropolitans, p. 63. Oxf. 1641.
§ Theodor. Mopsuest. (who flourished in the end of the fourth cen
tury,) says, (in Catena in Joann. Corderii, Mill. N. T. p. 198, ed.

VI.] OF THE FOUR GOSPELS AND THE ACTS. 137
as inspired, and, at their request, composed his own Gospel
in order to complete the Evangelical Record of the Life and
Teaching of Jesus Christ.
The second Evangelist St. Mark, authenticated the first,
St. Matthew, by adopting much of his gospel ; so, the third,
St. Luke, guaranteed the first and second ; the fourth, St.
John, omitted much that the preceding three had related,
and related what they had omitted ; and so canonized them.*
Let it be remembered that the three earlier Gospels were
at that time received by the Church as inspired ; and if St.
John had not been fully persuaded of their Inspiration, —
he, who writes to others, Beloved, believe not every Spirit,
but try the Spirits whether they are of God,f — would not
have approved them as inspired, as he did, but he would
have rejected them as falsely claiming to be divine.
Nor, again, acknowledging them as divine, would he have
presumed to add his own Gospel as the consummation of
theirs, unless he had been also sure that what he himself
wrote was dictated by the same Divine Spirit who had in
spired the other three.
It is also clear, that, by composing his own Gospel as the
complement of the three preceding ones, he has given an in
fallible assurance to us, that we, who have the four Gospels,
1723.) i!tr,vectv (°Lo<*w?js) trjs aia/Sslas tov; ytypa$>6ta$ ifytjai Si j3paj;ia
7tapa%i%ti$6ai (toi; tpiaiv tvayytfaotaii)' irti tovtois rtapdx%tjais d&t7.f£jv
(iv tij \Acyta) iy'sveto tavta a fia"KiGta dvayxaio. jepti^ rtpog hibasxa'kiav ,
7tapa"Kh%hip.^.hva 65 opa toi$ %.ot7ioi$ (£vayyi%iotai$) ypa4ac fata 6rtov&ijs'
o xai Ttntoinxhv.
* As a specimen of the manner in which St. John takes the other
gospels for granted, the reader will remember John xx. 1. Mary
Magdalene seeth " the stone taken away from the sepulchre." What
stone ? St John had not mentioned any stone. The answer is ; the
stone described by the other Evangelists (Matth. xxvii. 60 ; Mark xv.
46,) as placed by Joseph on the mouth of the tomb, and sealed by
Pilate's order. (Matth. xxvii. 66.)
t 1 John iv. 1.
10

138 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
possess a complete, divinely inspired, History of our Lord's
Ministry. In the closing words of the twentieth chapter of his Gos
pel, St. John may be regarded as setting his Apostolic Seal
on the whole Evangelic Volume which he holds, as it were,
in his hands, and calls this Book ; " Many other signs truly
did Jesus in the presence of His Disciples, which are not
written in this Book ; but these are written that ye might
believe that Jesus is the Christ ; and that believing ye might
have life through His Name."*
This Book : such is the name given by St. John to the
Four Gospels. Thus we find that they are brought together
into One. They all come to us through the hands of St.
John. Thus, in a spiritual sense, is fulfilled our Lord's
prophecy to him, " If I will that he tarry till I come, what
is that to thee?"f St. John ever tarries with us in the
Gospel, which, as our Lord declares, must " first be published
to all nations, and then shall the end come."! Thus he
tarries till Christ comes.
What better witness could we have or desire of the one
ness, the fulness, the integrity, and the Inspiration of the
Gospels, than the Beloved Disciple, who was specially quali
fied to understand divine things, by the unsullied purity of
his life, even from his youth, who leaned on our Lord's
breast at supper, and drank in heavenly truth from His
Divine lips ; and to whom Jesus Christ gave the most en
dearing pledge of His confidence and love, by commending
to him His Mother from the Cross ?
Who, again, a more faithful and competent authority in
this solemn matter, than that Apostle, whose life, appears to
have been prolonged by Christ beyond that of all his Apos
tolic brethren, for this very purpose, that he might comfort
Christ's widowed spouse, the Church ; that he might take
her also, if we may so speak, to his own home ; and vin-
* John xx. 31. t Ibid. xxi. 22. J Matth. xxiv. 14

VI.] OF THE FOUR GOSPELS AND THE ACTS. 139
dicate against false teachers the Divine honour of her
Lord? May we not, therefore, safely say, that by the hands of
the beloved disciple, Christ Himself has set His seal on the
Gospels ; and that in receiving them through the hands of
him who leaned on our Lord's breast at supper, we do in
fact receive them from the mouth of Christ ?
We proceed now to the remaining historical Book of the
New Testament, the Gospel of the Holy Spirit,* (as it has
been called, from its describing His Descent,) the Acts of
the Apostles.
We shall find that its Inspiration also is guaranteed to us
by the same authority as that of the Holy Gospels.
The Acts of the Apostles, which the author, St. Luke,
connects in his preface with his Gospel, of which it forms
the sequel, was written, as well as his Gospel, in the com
pany and under the direction of St. Paul ;f and it may be
regarded as a practical exhibition of the truth, taught by
St. Luke's Gospel, that the glad tidings of salvation were
to be preached to the Gentile World.
Some heretics of very early times were charged by con
temporary Christian writers with rejecting the Acts of the
Apostles ; a charge which proves that this book was then
received as Scripture by the Church.% Indeed, this fact is
uncontrovertible ; and, omitting other evidence of it, I pass
on and refer to the important circumstance that the Book
of the Acts of the Apostles was acknowledged as Scripture
by St. John, somewhat in the same manner as the Gospels,
and in the same city, Ephesus, of which he was the Chief
Spiritual Pastor.
* S. Chrysost. in Acta Apost. i. 5.
t Iren. iii. 14, 15. Tertullian. adv. Marcion. iv. 2. Euseb. iii. 4
Hieron. Cat. Script. 7. See Biscoe on the Acts, i. 502 — 540.
X Tertullian. Praescr. Haer. 22. Adv. Marcion. v. 2.

140 ON the inspiration and authorship [lect.
It is recorded by Tertullian and St. Jerome, that when a
certain presbyter of Ephesus had published a book in St.
Paul's name, entitled the Acts of Paul, with the intention,
as he alleged, of doing honour to the memory of that Apos
tle, St. John convicted the Author, and condemned the
Book.* Now we know that St. Luke's work, the Acts of the Apos
tles, was then received ; and if it had not been what it pro
fesses to be, and what it was believed to be, an inspired
record of the Acts of St. Paul, we may reasonably conclude
that St. John would have condemned it also. His rejection
of the one book of Acts was tantamount to a recognition of
the other.
Let us bear in mind the peculiar situation in which St.
John, the Apostolic Metropolitan of Ephesus, the capital of
the Asia of the New Testament, in which city he died and
was buried,! is thus seen to stand to the Gospels, which he
there authorized in the presence of the Asiatic Bishops, and
to the Acts of the Apostles, which he also sanctioned by
proscribing the Apocryphal Acts of Paul, written by the
Ephesian Presbyter. We shall thus see a new light thrown
on the address in the Apocalypse to St. John's own Church
of Ephesus, "Unto the angel of the Church of Ephesus
write ... I know thy works and thy labour, and thy pa
tience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil ;
and thou hast tried them, which say they are Apostles, and
are not;"! a passage, which will appear more significant,
when we remember the part which the Church of Ephesus
took, in the person of St. John, in vindicating the genuine
Scriptures from the supposititious, and in assuring the Uni
versal Church of their Inspiration. Considering also that
the Apocalyptic address is from the mouth of Christ Him-
* Tertullian. de Baptism. 17. Hieron. in Catal. Vir. Must, in
Luca 7.
t S. Hieron. de Vir. Must. 9. Euseb. iii. 20. % Rev. ii. 1, 2,

VI.] OF the four gospels and the acts. 141
self, we may add, that it appears to contain a ratification
from Him of St. John's act in canonizing the Gospels and
the Acts. He tried those who were Apostles, and distin
guished the true from the false.
Thus, my brethren, we see, that as by the hands of Moses,
who was faithful in all His house,* God placed the first
Five books of the Old Testament in the Holy of Holies,
by the sidef of the Ark of the Covenant, and thus avouched
them as divine, so Jesus, the Mediator of the New Testa
ment, has committed the Christian Pentateuch, as a
sacred deposit, to the keeping of the Ark of His Church, by
the hands of His beloved Apostle St. John.
Moses died, but the Holy of Holies remained : so St.
John expired, but the Church of Christ lives. The Holy of
Holies, to which the Pentateuch was consigned, was a stand
ing witness of the divine character of the Books committed
to its trust. So the Church, the Christian sanctuary, not
confined, like the Levitical oracle, to one place, but diffused
throughout the World, is a visible and audible Witness of
the inspired Gospel. And therefore St. John appeals to
her testimony. This is the disciple, he says, which testifieth
of these things; and the Church echoes a response, We know
that his testimony is true.% Such, we say, is the voice of
the Church, which received and read these books as inspired
writings, as soon as they were penned ; and has guarded
them entire to this day. Such is her voice to the World.
Her voice, be it remembered, is the voice of Christ ; for
ye have an unction from the Holy One,§ writes St. John,
and ye know all things; and the Church is the pillar and
ground\\ of the truth, the mystical body of Christ ;^f He
loves her as Himself,** and has promised to be ever with
* Heb. iii. 5. t See above, p. 30. J John xxi. 24.
I 1 John ii. 20. || 1 Tim. iii. 15. % Eph. i. 23.
** Eph. v. 25, 29.

142 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
her.* Thus her witness is not her own : it is the witness of
the Son of God.

It does not fall within the scope of our present design, to
show how the belief produced by this outward testimony to
the Inspiration of the Evangelical history is confirmed by
the internal evidence supplied by the Gospels themselves.
The demonstration in which we, my brethren, are now
engaged, is of a different kind, and possesses special advan
tages, commending itself by its comprehensive character,
and not only declaring the truth of particular passages, and
the inspiration of particular portions of the Sacred Volume,
but bringing the whole together under the hand of Christ,
in order to receive the superscription of His Divine signa
ture, and the authentication of His Divine seal.
By this process we refute at once all the cavils of the
Sceptic, arguing from supposed difficulties in particular
passages of Scripture, and thence questioning its Inspira
tion. In conclusion, let me offer two practical exhortations on
this momentous subject. The Books of which we have been
now speaking are not the words of man, but of God Him
self. This is the assertion of the Church of England, which
reads them daily as such. And the Realm of England pro
fesses the same faith in their Inspiration, when, on the most
solemn public occasions, civil and judicial, she delivers them
to her Citizens, in order to bind them by the sacred obliga
tion of an Oath, and places them in the hands of her Sove
reigns, when they are crowned and enthroned in the temple
of God.
This belief, as we have shown, is authorized by Christ
Himself. But, my brethren, it must, alas ! be owned that our prac
tice, both public and private, is greatly at variance with this
* Matt, xxviii. 20.

VI.] OF THE FOUR GOSPELS AND THE ACTS. 143
profession. We acknowledge the Divine authority of the
Gospel ; but when we look at our present condition, domes
tic, social, and national, it must assuredly be confessed that
we are very far indeed from living and acting under an
abiding sense that the Gospel is the Word of God. Too
many among us, like the Heretics of old, have composed
other Gospels — Apocryphal Gospels — for ourselves ; and
have thus set aside the Gospel of Christ. Some have writ
ten for themselves a Gospel of Mammon ; some a Gospel of
Ambition; some a Gospel of godless Expediency; some a
Gospel of Intellectual Pride ; some a Gospel of Fashion, or
of Honour, as it is most falsely called, — Gospels no less
opposed to the Gospel of Christ than those heretical Gospels
of the ancient Gnostics which were condemned by the Apos
tle St. John.
Do we suppose that these our forged Gospels can be
otherwise than hateful to Christ ? Do we remember, that
If any,* even an Angel from Heaven, preach to us any
other Gospel than what the Apostles preached, he is to be
anathema ? Do we remember what care our Divine Lord
has taken to give and to preserve to us His own Gospel ?
Do we recollect that the Gospel of Christ is our only safe
Guide of practice public and private, — that it and it alone
is the code by which we shall be judged? He who has
given us the Gospel ; He who has inscribed His signature
upon it; He who has stamped it with His seal; He has
warned us of this — " The Word which I have spoken to
you, the same shall judge you at the last day."f
Let me therefore earnestly exhort you, my younger hear
ers, to make the Gospel of Christ your only Rule of Life.
Whatever it may cost you, fling away all false Gospels.
Cast them into the flames, as the Ephesians! did their magi
cal books. Remember, Christ has said : " Heaven and
* Gal. i. 8, 9. t John xii. 48. X Acts xix. 19.

144 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP, <fcC.
earth shall pass away, but My Words shall not pass
away."* One more caution, and I have done. We possess an ines
timable privilege in our ready access to the Gospel. We
are familiar with it from our infancy. We have it in our
Churches, our Houses, our Lecture-Rooms, our Schools, —
almost every where. But this great benefit may become a
snare to us, if we are not on our guard. Unless we keep a
watch over ourselves, our very familiarity with the Gospel
may degenerate into irreverence, irreverence may sink into
profaneness, and profaneness into unbelief. Holy things, if
not treated holily, will recoil upon us for our unholiness.
They will avenge their own cause, by becoming instruments
of punishment. Let us therefore earnestly pray, that, in
reading and hearing the Gospel, we may have grace to re
member always that we are reading the Word and hearing
the Voice of God. Then custom will only beget greater
reverence. Familiarity with the Divine word will increase
our awe for it.
The beloved Disciple, St. John, who was admitted into
the nearest intimacy with the Incarnate Word, was chosen
by Him to write concerning His Divinity ; He who leaned
on His breast at supper speaks most clearly of the Godhead
of Christ. So let us dwell on the written Word. So, if I
may thus speak, let us lean, as it were, upon it, and imbibe
heavenly wisdom from it. With St. John, let us handle and
adore. Then, with the same Apostle, the more we know,
the more we shall love. Then we shall be like him who
says, " That which was from the beginning, which we have
heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have
looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of
the Life," and who says also, "In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God."
* Matt. xxiv. 35.

LECTURE VII.

2 Pet. iii. 15, 16.

" As our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given unto
him hath written unto you ; as also in all his Epistles, speakiny in
them of these things; in which are some things hard to be under
stood, which they that are unlearned and unstable ivrest, as they do
also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction."
In the preceding Discourse, it was my purpose to show
that the Inspiration of the Historical Books of the New
Testament, that is of the Four Gospels and the Acts of
the Apostles, is avouched to us by the Apostolic Churches,
and by the Apostles themselves, and especially by that
Apostle, who . from his circumstances was eminently quali
fied to bear witness on this subject; I mean the beloved
Disciple St. John. Our conclusion then was, that, if we
bear in mind the relation of the Church, and of the Apos
tles, and of St. John, to Our Blessed Lord, we cannot
hesitate to acknowledge, that their testimony on this solemn
matter, is no other than the testimony of Christ.
We now proceed to consider the remaining Books of the
New Testament; and on the present occasion it will be my
endeavour to state the grounds on which the Epistles of
the Apostle St. Paul are to be received as a part of Ca
nonical Scripture, or of that Written Rule which has been

146 ON THE INSPIRATION OF [LECT.
given us by Almighty God, for our direction in those things
which we must believe and do, in order to our everlasting
salvation. Their claim to Inspiration, as we shall see, rests on the
same foundation as that of the Historical Books, namely, on
the authority of Christ ; and we shall, I think, find on in
quiry, that there exists a beautiful analogy between the
nature of the means which Christ has been pleased to em
ploy, in order to assure us of the Inspiration of the Evan
gelical History, and of that of the Apostolic Epistles.
Our present concern is only with those Thirteen Epistles
which bear St. Paul's name at their commencement; that
is, with all the Epistles commonly received as his, except
that to the Hebrews, which does not so bear it, and is re
served for future consideration.
By way of introduction to our argument, let me first state
briefly the evidence on which we affirm that these thirteen
Epistles were written by St. Paul; and that we possess
them at the present day, in precisely the same form and
substance as that in which they first came from the hands
of the Apostle.
It is remarkable, that St. Luke, the author of the Acts of
the Apostles, and the companion of St. Paul on his journeys,
does not inform us of the number and names of St. Paul's
Epistles ; indeed he says nothing of his having written any
Epistles at all. The fact, which, perhaps, more than any
other in the great Apostle's life has served to promote God's
glory, and the good of His Church, was the writing of these
Epistles, and the sending of them to seven different Churches.
And, be it observed, these Epistles to those Churches were
all written and sent in the time embraced by the history of
the Acts of the Apostles. Yet this fact is not even alluded
to in that Book.
Now, if the Acts had been written under mere human
direction, this omission, I think, would have been morally

vii.] st. paul's epistles. 147
impossible. How then is it to be accounted for? It is due,
I believe, to the circumstance that St. Luke was enabled to
foresee that the number and names of St. Paul's Epistles,
their authenticity and inspiration, of which it was essential
that the Church should be assured, would be guaranteed by
other means : and it deserves to be considered whether this
very silence of St. Luke concerning so important a matter
in the life of St. Paul, does not come in as a confirmation,
the more powerful because unobtrusive, of the great truth,
that the Apostolic Historian was guided by supernatural
direction, not only in what he has said, but (which is an
effect of Inspiration, not so often observed, but not less im
portant,) in what he has left unsaid.
I. But to proceed. How then do we show that the
Epistles ascribed to St. Paul were written by him ? And
that they have been preserved safe and entire to this day ?
1. They all bear his name. Paul, an Apostle of Jesus
Christ : this, or something like it, is the style in which they
commence. Again, in the beginning of some of them, the
writer associates other persons with himself. Paul, and
Sylvanus, and Timotheus, to the Church of the Thessaloni
ans.* Thus, he cites two witnesses to their genuineness.
Again, at their close, he delivers particular messages from
various individuals to other parties. These persons, also,
are thus brought in as witnesses.
2. He did not write his Epistles with Ms own hand. One
exception there was to this practice, the Epistle to the Ga
latians;^ in which he expressly mentions the fact of his
writing that Epistle with his own hand, in order to obviate
any doubt as to the genuineness of the others not so written.
But his usual habit was to employ an amanuensis. I, Ter-
* 1 Thess. i. 1. 2 Thess. i. 1. t Gal. vi. 11.

148 ON THE INSPIRATION OF [LECT.
tius, who wrote this Epistle, salute you in the Lord.* This
amanuensis also was a witness.
3. Though, (as was usual for authors in those days,) St.
Paul dictated his Epistles to a secretary, yet he invariably
subscribed them with his own hand. " The salutation of
Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every
Epistle; so I write. f The salutation by the hand of me
Paul; remember my bonds. The salutation of me Paul
with mine own hand. If any man love not the Lord Jesus
Christ, let him be anathema."
4. We must bear in mind that he sent his Epistles by
private, special, messengers. Thus Timothy and Titus were
the bearers of the two Epistles to the Corinthians. Phoebe,
it seems, conveyed that to the Romans ; Tychicus, that to
the Colossians and Ephesians;! Epaphroditus, that to the
Philippians. These messengers, whoever they were, bore
testimony to the hand from which the Epistles came.
5. Further still, which is most important to be observed,
Nine of these Thirteen Epistles are addressed, not to private
individuals, but to public communities, to Christian Cliurches,
and indeed to the Church at large.
Their language is, " Paul and all the brethren which are
with me unto the Churches of Galatia.§ Paul unto the
Church of God, which is at Corinth, with all the Saints that
are in all Achaia, with all that in every place call upon the
name of Jesus Christ our Lord."||
6. Nor is this all. The Author commands these Churches
to read his Epistles in their public religious assemblies. At
the close of the first Epistle which he wrote, — the first to
the Thessalonians, — St. Paul thus speaks; "I adjure! you
* Rom. xvi. 22.
t 2 Thess. iii. 17. Col. iv. 18. 1 Cor. xvi. 21.
X See Bp. Pearson in Jacobson's Patres Apostolici, Ignat. ad Ephes.
c. 12.
? Gal. i. 1, 2. || 2 Cor. i. 1. 1 Cor. i. 1, 2.
\ opxi'fu. 1 Thess. v. 27.

VII.] ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES. 149
by the Lord, that this Epistle be read unto all the holy
brethren." 7. We may reasonably conclude that this order was
obeyed, from the Second Epistle to the same Church, in
which he* praises the Thessalonians for their faith ; which
he would not have done, had they disobeyed his command to
read his former Epistle. And he takes for granted, that
the Second Epistle will be made known to all persons in the
same manner. " Brethren, stand fast and hold the tradi
tions which ye have been taught whether by word, or our
Epistle;" . . . and, " If any man obey not our word by this
Epistle, note that man, and have no company with him."f
Besides, it is clear that this order thus given in the first
Epistle which he wrote, and reinforced in the second to the
same Church, was obeyed, as a matter of course, by all the
Churches to which his Epistles were sent. This may be in
ferred from the fact, that to the Corinthians he says, " We
write none other things unto you than what ye read or! ac~
knowledge;"! and, in one of the last Epistles which he
wrote, that to the Colossians, he assumes that this Epistle
will be read by that Church ; and he gives direction for its
communication to another Church. " Salute the brethren
which are in Laodicea, and when this Epistle is read among
you, cause that it he read also in the Church of the Laodi-
ceans."|| 8. Finally, it is evident, that St. Paul's Epistles were so
received, and were read as divinely inspired Scripture, to
gether with the Old Testament and the Gospels of the New,
- from the testimony of Ignatius^ and Polycarp,** the disci-
* 2 Thess. i. 3, 4 t 2 Thess. ii. 15 ; iii. 6 ; iii. 14.
X And (xai) is in some MSS.; not or. \ 2 Cor. i. 13.
|| Col. iv. 15, 16. The Epistle from Laodicea was probably the
Epistle to the Ephesians, communicated to Colo'ssae through Laodicea.
See Bp. Pearson on Ignat. ad Ephes. c. 12.
\ Ignat. ad Ephes. c. 12.
** Polycarp. ad Phil. c. 3. 11, 12. The Epistle to the Ephesians is
here classed with the Psalms, as Scripture.

150 ON THE INSPIRATION OF [LECT.
pies of St. John, and from Clement,* the fellow-labourer of
St. Paul ; and, as we shall show, from his brother Apostle,
St. Peter.
Thus, in the peculiar circumstances of the composition, of
the transcription, and of the transmission of these Epistles,
we possess a large amount of contemporary testimony that
they are the writings of St. Paul; and in the reception of
them as his, and in the public reading of them in religious
assemblies for Divine worship, by the Christian Churches,
to which they were sent as soon as they were written, we
have a solemn attestation from large contemporary com
munities of men to the same effect.
Since, also, from the day of their promulgation to the
present hour, there never has been a time in which these
Epistles, so written, and so received, and so read, have ceased
to be read in the public assemblies of Christendom, either in
their original Language or in the Translations which have
been made of them into almost every tongue under heaven,
therefore it may be confidently affirmed, that there are no
ancient writings in existence, whose Genuineness and' In
tegrity are established on stronger evidence than the Epis
tles of St. Paul.
II. We must now inquire — what is the proof of their In
spiration ?
First, we reply, the Author claims to be inspired.
In the first Epistle from his pen St. Paul thus writes:
" When ye received the word of God which ye heard of us,
ye received it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth,
the word of God.f He that despiseth, despiseth not man,
but God, who hath also given unto us His Holy Spirit.! We
* Clement ad Cor. i. c. 47. The Epistle to the Corinthians is here
called Eiayyia.Kw; and it is said that verily Paul wrote it in the Spirit,
lit1 &%.->]9tiai itvsvfiattxus.
1 1 Thess. ii. 13. X 1 Thess. iv. 8.

VII.] ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES. 151
speak not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but
which the Holy Ghost teacheth."* He declares to the Ga
latians, that he is " an Apostle not of men, neither by man,
but by Jesus Christ;"! and that he received what he preached
" not from man, neither was he taught it, but by the revela
tion of Jesus Christ." He praises them for receiving him
"as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus."! To the Thes
salonians he says : " Our Gospel came not unto you in word
only, but ... in the Holy Ghost.§ He recounts to the Co
rinthians his " Visions and Revelations of the Lord."|| He
distinguishes between what he says as a man speaking from
himself, and what he declares as an inspired Apostle. In
the one case, he says, " that which I speak, I speak it not
after the Lord;" in the other, not I, but the Lord. And
again: Ithink^ that I have the Spirit of God.**
Hence it is clear, that the writer of these Epistles lays
claim to Inspiration.
But — Yes, it may be replied, and so have many persons
who have been deluded by vain imaginations. Every enthu
siast who has deceived himself or others has boasted of
supernatural revelations. But what is the proof, that, in
the case of the Writer of these Epistles, the assertion is
true ?
Let us examine this question.
First, then, let us look at the person who wrote them.
He was the object of bitter antipathy to the Jews, who stig
matized him as an apostate ; and for some time after his
conversion he was regarded with jealous suspicions by the
Christians, whom he had persecuted with furious zeal. No
one had more powerful prejudices to encounter on all sides
* 1 Cor. ii. 13. t Gal. i. 1. 12. J Gal. iv. 14.
§ 1 Thess. i. 5. || 2 Cor. xii. 1. 1F Soxu. I deem, or judge.
** 1 Cor. vii. 6. 10. 12. 40.

152 ON THE INSPIRATION OF [LECT.
than St. Paul. No one's claims, even to honesty and sin
cerity, much more to supernatural gifts, were sure, on all
accounts, in all places, to be more strictly scrutinized than
his. Consider, next, the places to which he addressed his Epis
tles. Cast your eyes upon the habitable globe, as it existed
in the age of St. Paul. He did not choose his own native
Tarsus ; he did not select obscure villages and illiterate mu
nicipalities. No ; he indited his Epistles to the most illus
trious Cities of the world. Sea-ports crowded with ships,
Marts thronged with merchants, Schools echoing wflh
Eloquence, Citadels crowned with Temples, — Streets and
Squares adorned with Museums, Baths, and Theatres, all
that could minister to the physical enjoyment and intellec
tual pride of man, — these were the characteristics of those
Cities which St. Paul chose to address. He encountered
heathenism there. There he planted the Cross.
1 Behold the first City which he addressed — Thessalonica.
Seated on a noble bay, plying a rich trade with the East
and West by sea, and placed on the great High-road from
Italy to Asia, and from the North of Greece to the South, it
collected within its walls a vast and active population of
heathens and of Jews, — Paul's inveterate foes.
Here was his first Auditory. To them he writes with the
authority of a man speaking from Heaven. What confi
dence in himself and in his cause does this selection prove !
Whom did he next address ? Corinth. The Seat of the
Proconsular Government of Achaia ; the centre of the com
merce and literature, and of the luxury and vice, of Greece.
Here he had many enemies, even among professing Chris
tians. Some were of Cephas; others, of Apollos ;* many
had been beguiled by the heretical wiles of a false Teacher,
who denied St. Paul's authority, and earned a wretched
popularity by preaching a hollow religion, with no solid
* 1 Cor. i. 12.

vii.] st. Paul's epistles. 153
morality or fixed articles of faith. Many, also, there were
at Corinth, whose fastidious ears had been charmed by the
soft and melodious accents of practised rhetoricians ; and
whose tastes were too effeminate to relish the stern and
healthy eloquence of the bold free-spoken Apostle.
Yet St. Paul was not daunted. The Divine Spirit moved
in his heart. He felt it there. He would not, therefore,
stoop to gain favour by flattery. He calls the wise Corin
thians babes ; he tells them that they have need of milk, and
cannot bear strong meat.* He rebukes some of them sharp
ly for disbelieving the Resurrection of the body.f He
orders them to excommunicate the incestuous member of
their Church-! He reproves the most eminent among them,
for an ostentatious display of spiritual gifts. "§ He censures
others for irreverence at public worship, and at the celebra
tion of the Lord's Supper.|| He shows, in a word, that
God has " not given him the spirit of fear, but of power,
and of a sound mind."!
He next writes to Galatia, the stronghold of Judaism.
He will not bribe them by praise. Rather, " 0 foolish Ga
latians !" he exclaims, "who hath bewitched you, that ye
should not obey the truth ? How turn ye again to the weak
and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in
bondage ?"**
From Corinth he sends a letter to the great Capital of
the World — Rome. He had not yet visited it ; yet he as
sumes that his name is well known to the Church there.
He speaks to it with all authority. He promises to impart
to it spiritual gifts. " I am debtor both to the Greeks and
to the Barbarians, both to the Wise and to the Unwise : so,
as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the Gospel to
you that are at Rome also. "ft
* Cor. iii. 1, 2. t Ibid. xv. 12. J Ibid. v. 13.
I Ibid. xiv. 12. || Ibid. xi. 17. 1f;2 Tim. i. 7.
** Gal. iii. 1 ; iv. 9. tt Rom. i. 11, 14, 15.
11

154 ON the inspiration of [lect.
What a powerful conviction does he thus show of the truth
of his own mission ! He, a Jew of Tarsus, ventures to write
in such terms as these to the imperial City, whose armies
were marching on every land, and whose fleets were floating
on every sea, and who dictated laws to the world. To Rome
he went, having appealed to Caesar; and from his lowly
dwelling there, Paul, the prisoner of the Lord,* wrote to
Philippi, a Roman Colony in Macedonia. He addressed
that Church in terms of approval, such as he had not ex
tended to more splendid cities. He wrote also to Colossae,
a magnificent town of Phrygia, and condemned the vain
Philosophy^ of some who were eminent there. He wrote,
also, to Ephesus, the flourishing emporium of Ionia,! the
resort of the votaries of the " great goddess Diana, whom
Asia and the world worshipped;" he describes the crowds
who adored her as " having no hope, and without God in the
world,"§ and affirms that, in order to be saved, they must
embrace the Gospel which he preached ;|| and that they who
"were sometimes darkness would then be light in the
Lord."! Such, my beloved brethren, were the Cities which St.
Paul chose to address in the Epistles written by him at in
tervals during a period of about ten years; beginning in the
fifteenth year after his conversion, and ending in the fifth
before his martyrdom.**
We pause here to observe, as a most remarkable fact,
that, as we have now seen, the Apostle St. Paul, who was
the special object of prejudice in various quarters, who was
pursued with unrelenting hatred by the Jews, and who had
many difficulties to encounter, even among Christians ; who
* Eph. iii. 1 ; iv. 1. Philem. 9. t Col. ii. 8.
X Acts xix. 27, 35, 37. 2 Eph. ii. 2—12 ; iv. 17—19.
H Ibid. ii. 5—8. If Ibid. v. 8.
** Bp. Pearson, Annales Paulini, ii. 12 — 20.

VII.] ST. PAUL'S epistles. 155
was forsaken by Demas* and by others ; who had no one
like-minded ;f who on one occasion was left alone! with St.
Luke, and on another of great trial had no one to stand by
him ;§ whose claims, therefore, to Inspiration had no human
power to back them, did address letters to the Christians in
the greatest cities of the world, in which he had numerous
adversaries; and that in these letters he often speaks in
terms of severe censure of those whom he addressed, and
that in these letters he lays claim to Inspiration, and com
mands them to read them publicly in their religious assem
blies, as sacred Books, precisely in the same manner as the
Books of Moses and the Prophets were read in the Syna
gogues ; and that this command was obeyed, without excep
tion. This is a most striking fact.
The question now arises, How came it to pass that this
order was executed ?
There can be but one reply. They, to whom the letters
were sent, were convinced of their Inspiration. Otherwise
they would have rejected them.
And by what means were they so convinced ?
There was but one way — by Visible Proofs. They could
never have been persuaded, except by miracles wrought by
the Writer in their presence, or in that of credible witnesses.
True, indeed, if St. Paul had wrought miracles, and if his
doctrine had not been in accordance with God's Law, natu
ral and revealed, then, we allow, miracles would not have
sufficed to establish his claim to Inspiration. || But, since
the teaching of St. Paul is in perfect accordance with Divine
Truth as impressed on the face of Creation, and as declared
by Moses and by Christ, then Miracles wrought by him were
attestations from Heaven that what he asserted was true,
* 2 Tim. iv. 10. t Phil- ii- 20. % 2 Tim. iv. 11.
\ 2 Ibid. iv. 10, 11, 16. || Deut. xiii. 1—5.

156 ON THE INSPIRATION OF [LECT.
and that therefore the claim which he makes to be inspired
is authorized by Almighty God.
Did, then, Paul really give these proofs of Inspiration ?
His companion, St. Luke, replies to this question : " God
wrought special miracles at Ephesus by the hands of Paul,
so that from his body were brought unto the sick, handker
chiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and
the evil spirits went out of them."* Again: "Long time
abode he in Iconium, speaking boldly in the Lord, who gave
testimony to the word of His grace, and granted signs and
wonders to be done by his hands."f These, be it observed,
are assertions that miracles were wrought by St. Paul in
populous cities ; and the Acts of the Apostles, the Book in
which these assertions are made, was publicly read as the
Word of God in the Churches of those very cities where it
affirms the miracles to have been wrought.
These Cities therefore by this public reading proclaimed
the truth of those Miracles : they are Witnesses of it : and
whole communities could not be deceived in this matter ;
therefore, these Miracles were wrought, and St. Paul's In
spiration is proved.
Turn also to the Epistles themselves. In them St. Paul
frequently appeals to miracles, which he asserts that he
wrought in the presence of those very persons and societies
to whom he addresses his Epistles, and by whom they were
to be openly read. " Truly," says he to the Corinthians,!
" the signs of an Apostle were wrought among you in all
patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds." He
refers the Romans to the witness of all Europe. " I will
not dare to speak of those things which Christ hath not
wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient by word and
deed, through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of
* Acts xix. 11, 12. t Ibid. xiv. 3.
X 2 Cor. xii. 12. See 1 Cor. ii. 4, 6 ; ix. 2. 2 Cor. iv. 2 ; vi. 4. Eph.
iii. 7. Gal. ii. 8 ; iii. 5. 1 Thess. i. 5. Compare Hebr. ii. 4.

VII.] ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES. 157
the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem, and round about
unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the Gospel of Christ."*
Now, be it remembered, these asseverations are made in
Epistles addressed by St. Paul to large communities, in
cities where he had many adversaries. These affirmations
too concern things which are averred by him to have been
done in their- presence, or in that of other trustworthy per
sons. And on the strength of these acts, the Author of
these writings claims to be acknowledged as inspired, and
commands that his Epistles, (in which this claim to Inspira
tion is made,) should be read as the Word of God. And
these Epistles, containing this claim, are read by these com
munities. This reading of them is a public, practical,
contemporary proof that these miraculous acts were really
wrought, and that, therefore, St. Paul's claim to Inspiration
is avouched by Almighty God.
Thus, we see, my brethren, that the greatest Cities of the
World then in existence, bear testimony to St. Paul's divine
mission. From Thessalonica to Corinth, from the shores of
the Euxine to those of the Adriatic, from the banks of the
Ilissus to those of the Tiber, his claims, as soon as made,
were hailed and allowed by a responsive voice of harmonious
assent, which has never died away, from that hour to this,
but has gone on extending itself on every side to the fur
thest regions of the globe.
Again, these communities had a peculiar character. They
were Churches, and, as such, they possessed special graces
and special authority. ' The early Churches had the power
of discerning spirits,-\ as we know from St. Paul ; they are
commanded to try the spirits^ by St. John ; therefore they
had supernatural helps for pronouncing a true judgment on
* Rom. xv. 18, 19.
t 1 Cor. xii. 10. For proofs of miraculous charismata existing in
the early Church, see S. Iren. ii. 57.
X 1 John iv. 1.

158 on the inspiration of [lect.
inspired writings. And when, as is the case with respect to
the inspiration of St. Paul's Epistles, the suffrages of all the
Churches, which compose the Universal Church, agree with
one voice, and have agreed for eighteen centuries, their wit
ness cannot be false. If it were, then Christ's promise, to
be always with His Church,* and to send HisSpirit to teach
her all things, and to guide her into all truth,f would have
failed of its effect. No. We do not hesitate to affirm, that
the testimony of all Christendom for eighteen hundred
years is no other than the verdict of Christ.
So far, then, we perceive that the Inspiration of St.
Paul's Epistles rests on the same ground as that of the
Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles.
But we may trace the analogy further.
The Inspiration of the Four Gospels and the Acts of
the Apostles is, as was shown in the last discourse, speci
ally authenticated by Christ through the beloved disciple
St. John. That of the Epistles of St. Paul, as we shall
now briefly show, is attested by Christ through St. Peter.
In the passage which I have chosen for the text, St.
Peter calls all Paul's Epistles by the name Scripture. St.
Peter, I say, so calls them ; for, whatever may be alleged
concerning the canonical\ authority of the Epistle from
which the text is taken, it was doubtless written by St.
Peter.§ * Matt, xxviii. 20. t J°hu xiv. 26.
X See this question considered below, Lect. XI.
g The writer of this Epistle calls himself an Apostle, and identifies
himself with St. Peter. Simon Peter, a servant and an Apostle of
Jesus Christ. (2 Pot. i. 1.) These are its first words. Its Author,
also, refers to a former Epistle written by himself to the same parties
(2 Pet. iii. 1 ;) and we possess such an Epistle written by St. Peter.
Again, the writer describes himself as having been a witness of the
Transfiguration of Christ on the Soly Mount (2 Pet. i. 18,) at which

vn.] st. paul's epistles. 159
Let us next observe, that he wrote it in anticipation of his
own immediate death. " I think it meet,"* says he, " as
long as I am in this tabernacle to stir you up by putting you
in remembrance, knowing that shortly I must put off this
my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ showedf me.
Moreover, I will endeavour that ye may be able after my
decease to have these things always in remembrance."
Now St. Peter suffered martyrdom by crucifixion, accord
ing to our Lord's prophecy,! recorded in the last chapter of
St. John's Gospel ; and this event took place at Rome, in
the year of our Lord 68, the same year as that in which St.
Paul was beheaded as a Martyr in the same city.§
Therefore, when St. Peter wrote his Second Epistle, all
St. Paul's Epistles had been written. They had been col
lected together, and formed, as it were, a Volume, publicly
known as St. Paul's ; and all these Epistles, so collected,
are called " Scripture" by St. Peter.
Now, the word here translated Scripture,|| which pro
perly means simply a Writing, occurs fifty-one times in the
New Testament ; and in all these fifty-one places it is applied
to the writings of the Old or New Testament, and to no
other.^ Therefore, Peter by calling all St. Paul's Epistles
" Scripture," places them on a level with the Books of
Moses and the Prophets, that is, with those Books which
had been received and quoted as the Word of God by
Christ Himself.
none of the Apostles were present but James, and John, and Peter.
The writer, then, of this Epistle was the Apostle St. Peter.
* 2 Pet. i. 13.
t ihr[Kaah. 2 Pet. i. 14, 15. Compare John xxi. 18.
X John xxi. 18.
I See Bp. Pearson, Annales Paulini, p. 25. || Tparp^.
t See above, p. 50, where it is observed that this exclusive reserva
tion of the word ypatyri shows the design of the Holy Spirit to put the
New Testament on a par with the Old, and to distinguish them both
from all other writings whatsoever.

160 on the inspiration of [lect.
Thus, St. Paul's Epistles are canonized by Christ, through
St. Peter.
Let us also observe the evidence which shows that no
better witness could have been employed for this purpose,
than St. Peter.
First, his impartiality in this matter is unquestionable.
Some persons had endeavoured to set him up as a rival to
St. Paul. I am of Cephas,* were the words of a powerful
party. Many looked upon Peter, and John, and James, as
the three main pillars of the Church, f St. Peter's sympa
thies were with the Jews to whom he had a special mission,
and among them were St. Paul's bitterest foes ; and on one
occasion, St. Peter, through mistaken partiality for them,
was betrayed into a weak concession at Antioch ; through
fear of alienating them, he abstaining from eating with the
Gentiles.! Bearing all these things in mind, let us remember that
St. Paul, in one of his Epistles, calls himself " not a whit
behind the very chiefest Apostles ;"§ that in another, he
says, that he "laboured more abundantly than they all;"||
that in another, he declares that " he has the care of all the
Churches,"! and says, " so ordain I in all the Churches ;"**
and in another, that to the Galatians, he recounts the cir
cumstances of St. Peter's infirmity and compromise at An
tioch, to which I have just referred, and says that he with
stood Peter to the face, because he was to be blamed.
In admiring, therefore, St. Peter's frank generosity and
beautiful disinterestedness in referring to the Epistles of his
beloved brother Paul, in which all these things are contained,
we must also affirm that those Epistles could not have had a
more impartial, and therefore a better, witness than St. Peter.
* 1 Cor. i. 12. t Gal. ii. 9.
X Ibid. ii. 11—16. I 2 Cor. xi. 5 ; xii. 11.
|| 1 Cor. xv. 10. H 2 Cor. xi. 28.
** 1 Cor. vii. 17.

VII.] ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES. 161
One word here on another important subject. How could
St. Paul have ventured to use such expressions, as those I
have just cited, concerning himself in his Epistles, if St.
Peter had been Infallible, and had been Supreme Visible
Head of the Church ? and if such had been the case, How
could St. Peter himself have received these Epistles as
Scripture ?
Let our Romanist brethren consider these two questions.
. . . But I pass on.
When the Apostle Peter wrote his Second Epistle, from
which our text is taken, he was old, and knew that the time
was at hand when he must obey Christ's words to him,
Follow thou Me.* He was now preparing to follow Christ,
to stretch forth his hands and to be girded to the Cross.
What a solemn tone of seriousness, therefore, is there in
this his testimony, his farewell testimony, concerning the
Epistles of St. Paul ! Surely the Holy Spirit was then
with him. Surely his dear Lord and Master was with the
aged Apostle when he thus wrote : and in the words of the
dying Martyr, acknowledging and commending St. Paul's
Epistles as Scripture, we have, we may venture to say, the
declaration of Christ.
It deserves carefully to be remarked, that the great
Apostle St. Paul, of whose Epistles we have been now
speaking, and who was St. Peter's companion in dying for
Christ, when, like him, he takes leave of the Church, aims
also, like Peter, to rivet her attention, and fix her whole
mind, upon Scripture.
In his Second Epistle to Timothy, — the last which he
wrote, — St. Paul says, " I am now ready to be offered, and
the time of my departure is at hand ; I have fought a good
fight, I have kept the faith ; henceforth is laid up for me a
* John xxi. 22. Cp. 2 Pet. i. 14.

162 ON the inspiration of [lect.
crown of righteousness."* And that no one might doubt
how this crown is to be won, he says to his beloved son in
the faith, " Continue thou in the things which thou hast
learned, and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou
hast learned them, and that from a child thou hast known
the Holt Scriptures, which are ablef to make thee wise
unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus." All
Scripture, he adds, (that is, all writing called Scripture,
and therefore St. Paul's own Epistles, called Scripture by
St. Peter,) — " All Scripture is given by Inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly
furnished unto all good works."! Such were among the
last words of St. Paul.
To sum up what has been now said. In the last discourse
it was shown, that it was reserved for the old age of St.
John to bear testimony to the Inspiration of the Gospels,
and of the Acts of the Apostles. I have now endeavoured
to show that it was reserved for the old age of St. Peter
to attest that the Epistles of St. Paul are the Word of
God. Among the twelve chosen Apostles, St. John was speci
ally beloved of Christ, and St. Peter was eminent for his
love to Christ, — Lord, Thou knowest all things, Tlmu know-
est that I love Thee.% St. John and St. Peter were joined
together by love to their Lord and to one another. They
were attendant on Him in His private retirements ; on the
mountain of Transfiguration, and in the garden of Gethse-
mane. Together they prepared the room for the Institution
of the Lord's Supper ; together they visited the tomb of the
* 2 Tim. iv. 6—8.
t TA' Swd/ttva, properly, "The things which are able," as con
trasted with all other writings. This ought to be carefully observed.
X 2 Tim. iii. 14—17. <S John xxi. 15.

VII.] ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES. 163
risen Saviour ; together they went up to the Temple to
pray; together they healed the cripple at the Beautiful gate
of the Temple ; together they were sent by the Apostles to
Samaria, to administer the rite of Confirmation ; and now,
having been lovely and pleasant in their lives, in their death
they are not divided.* Peter and John, the loving and
loved Apostles, are chosen by Christ Himself to be witness
es for ever to His Church of the Inspiration of His Written
Word. Let me now offer two practical observations, and I have
done. From what has been said now and in the last discourse,
we see clearly that no one who loves the truth, and is duly
sensible of what Christ has done for us, to assure us of the
Inspiration of Scripture, can venture to assert, — as has,
alas ! been asserted by some in our own day, — that the
Canon of the New Testament was not settled till the fourth
century, and that, if we will believe the New Testament to
be inspired, we must receive all the doctrines which are
taught by the Church of Rome !
The fact is, my brethren, as we have seen, the Canon of
the Gospels and of the Acts of the Apostles and of St.
Paul's Epistles was settled as soon as they were written; and
it was fixed, through the agency of the Apostles, by Christ
Himself. Therefore all the arguments drawn from the alleged late
ness of the Canon, in order to impugn the sufficiency of
Scripture as the Rule of Faith, fall to the ground.
Lastly, by means of the three Apostles, St. John, St.
Peter, and St. Paul, we, who live now, have received from
Christ Himself a divine witness to the Sufficiency of Holy
Scripture as our Rule of Faith. Christ, dying on the cross,
gave a special token of love to St. John, Behold thy Mother.
* 2 Sam. i 23.

164 ON THE INSPIRATION OF [LECT.
And St. John, closing the Evangelical Canon, says, " These
things are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the
Christ, and that believing ye might have life in His Name."*
Christ, risen from the dead, gave a special charge to St.
Peter, "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me? Feed My
Sheep." Christ, having ascended into heaven, gave a spe
cial commission to St. Paul. " I have appeared unto thee
to make thee a Minister and a Witness both of these things
which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will
appear unto thee, delivering thee from the people and from
the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, to open their
eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the
power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness
of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by
faith which is in Me."f
Therefore in the farewell words of these three Apostles- to
the Church, we hear Christ. In those of St. John, we hear
Jesus Christ, speaking to us from the Cross ; in those of St.
Peter, Jesus Christ risen from the dead; and in those of
St. Paul, Jesus Christ ascended into Heaven.
These three great Apostles, thus beloved, charged, and
sent by Christ, spent many years in faithfully preaching the
Gospel; and when they were about to quit the world, and
to go to Christ, they all left one and the same parting ad
monition to the Church.
And what was that ?
St. John, at the close of his Gospel, St. Peter and St.
Paul, in the last Epistles which they wrote, when they were
ready to be offered up, and the time of their departure was
at hand, all agree in referring the Church to Scripture.
This, they tell her, is the sacred deposit, in which the
truth is stored; this, when they were about to leave the
world, they bequeathed to her as a perfect Rule of Faith,
* John xx. 31. t Acts xxvi. 16—18.

VII.] ST. PAUL'S EPISTLES. 165
and an unerring Guide to Heaven. Thanks be to Christ !
this Rule, this Guide we have. Let us therefore use it
aright. " He that hath ears to hear let him hear. These
things are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the
Christ, and that believing ye might have life in His Name."

LECTURE VIII.

2 Pet. iii. 15, 16.

'• Ecni as our beloved brother Paid, according to the wisdom given unto
him, hath written unto you ; as also in all his Epistles, speaking in
them of these things; in which are some things hard to be under
stood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do
also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction."
In the last Discourse, upon these words of St. Peter, it
was my endeavour to state the grounds upon which the
Thirteen Epistles, which exhibit the name of St. Paul at
their commencement, are to be received as the Word of
God; and the Epistle to the Hebrews, which does not
bear his name in any part of it, was then reserved for future
consideration. I would now request your attention to that Epistle ; and
I propose to examine, in this and the following discourse,
the question of its Authorship, and how its claims to In
spiration are established.
This is a very important subject. The contents of this
Epistle are of a most solemn character. The Eternal Ex
istence and Divine Nature of our Blessed Lord ; His opera
tions in creating and governing all things ; His Humanity ;
His Priestly Office ; the Plenitude of the Atonement made
by Him upon the Cross ; His heavenly Intercession for us ;
the true nature of the Mosaic Law ; its harmony with the

THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 167
Gospel, to which it was subservient and introductory, and
in which it was fulfilled and abrogated; the yearning of the
Patriarchs for Christ; the finality of the Gospel which He
preached ; the sin of despising it ; the heinousness of falling
from the faith and of wavering in it ; the certainty of Judg
ment, of Heaven and of Hell ; these are the sublime topics
of this glorious Epistle.
Again ; the occasion on which it was written gives greater
solemnity to it. It was addressed primarily to Hebrew
Christians at Jerusalem* and in the East; and secondarily,
to all converted and unconverted Jews; and finally, to all
Christians and to all men of all ages in the world.
It appears, that some to whom it was first directed had
been induced by Jewish teachers, or by fear of persecution,
or by the frustration of a mistaken hope of soon seeing
Christ's second Coming, to forsake public worship, as if
Christ would never come at all; others had sunk into apa
thy; others had given themselves up to worldly cares and
sinful lusts; others had denied their baptism, had apostatized
from Christianity and fallen back into Judaism. Their cir
cumstances, therefore, were such as to call for a clear an
nouncement of the terrors of the Gospel. They were to
learn from the fearful judgments which fell upon the Israel
ites in the Wilderness for despising Moses, that, much more,
no one can escape who rejects Christ; and that though He
is infinite in mercy to those who fear Him, yet, to all who
receive not His Word, and obey not His precepts, " Our
God is a consuming fire."f
Let it also be observed, that, from the peculiar nature of
its contents, we may justly regard the Epistle to the Hebrews
as one of the most efficient means under God for bringing
* See S. Chrysostom's Introduction to this Epistle, iv. p. 428. ed.
Savil. t Heb. xii. 29.

168 ON THE inspiration and authorship [lect.
about the great work which still remains to be performed by
the Church of Christ, — the Conversion of the Jews.
We are now led to inquire, — Is this Epistle Inspired?
To this question we reply, first, that the Church of which
we are members, following the judgment of the Church Uni
versal, ascribes it to the Apostle St. Paul,* and although, if
it be proved not to be his, its claims to Inspiration would not
therefore be annulled : yet, if it be the work of that Apostle,
then the arguments employed in our last Discourse, with re
spect to the Thirteen Epistles which bear his name, must be
applied to this Epistle also ; and St. Peter, in acknowledging
all St. Paul's Epistles to be Scripture, as he does in the
words of the Text, will have avouched its Inspiration by his
Apostolic authority.
Is, then, this Epistle St. Paul's?
Some persons, as you are aware, and I believe we must
say a majority of Biblical Critics in Germany at this day,
answer the question in the negative.^
1. St. Paul, they observe, was the Apostle of the Gen
tiles. He calls himself by that title. Could he, then, write
to the Hebrews ? Since, also, St. Peter was the Apostle of
the Circumcision, as St. Paul himself acknowledges,! would
not St. Paul, by writing to the Hebrews, have invaded St.
Peter's office ? And does not St. Paul, as well as St. Peter,
condemn those who are busy-bodies and intrude where they
* The Church of England, in her Authorized Version, entitles it
" The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Sebrews;" and in her Book
of Common Prayer, in the " Order for the Visitation of the Sick," she
says, " St. Paul saith in the twelfth chapter to the Sebrews,'' and in
her "Form of Solemnization of Matrimony," it is said, "Marriage is
commended of St. Paul to be honourable of all men;" i. e. in Sebrews
xiii. 4.
t See Credner, Einleitung in N. T. g 108—208.
X Gal. ii. 8.

VIII.] OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 169
ought not?* Would he not thus have done what is censured
not only by St. Peter but by himself?
2. Besides. Look, they say, at the Epistle itself. St.
Paul's Thirteen Epistles bear his name at their commence
ment; but this to the Hebrews is anonymous. Would St.
Paul, they inquire, have omitted here, what he took care to
insert there? Why this inconsistency; especially when so
important a point as the authorship of the Epistle was con
cerned? 3. Further, the tone and style of the Epistle, it is alleged,
are not St. Paul's. In his genuine Epistles he speaks with
authority, and rebukes with sternness. But, here, for the
most part, the language is mild and subdued. Again, in his
undisputed Epistles, he writes with impassioned fervour and
energetic vigour, and his style is vehement and abrupt. As
he himself says, he " came not with excellency of speech,!
not with enticing words of men's wisdom," and he says, he
" is rude in speech, yet not in knowledge."! But the dic
tion of the Eipstle to the Hebrews is remarkable for its
polished elegance. Its periods flow in soft and melodious
cadences; its arguments are arranged with systematic ex
actness ; and the whole composition is like a laboured mas
terpiece of a practised Rhetorician.
4. Again, at the close of the Epistle we read, " I beseech
you, brethren, suffer the word of exhortation ; for I have
written to you a letter in few words. "§ The Author of the
Epistle to the Hebrews, therefore, describes that Epistle as
a short one. But St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Galatians,
says, " Ye see how large a letter I have written to you with
mine own hand."|| St. Paul, then, calls that Epistle a long
one. But the Epistle to the Hebrews is twice as long as
that to the Galatians. How could the same person have
* 2 Thess. iii. 11. 1 Pet. iv. 15, ayyotpwtrtlaxotoi.
t 1 Cor. ii. 1, 4, 13. % 2 Cor. xi. 6.
I Heb. xiii. 22. || Gal. vi. 11.
12

170 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
called that to the Hebrews short, and that to the Galatians
long ? and since St. Paul wrote that to the Galatians, can
the Author of that to the Hebrews be St. Paul ?
5. Further, still, it is said, the Eastern and Western
Churches now receive the Epistle to the Hebrews as in
spired, and as the work of St. Paul. But this was not
always the case. In the second, third, and fourth centu
ries, (for we speak not now of the first century,) the Church
of Rome* did not acknowledge this Epistle as Canonical
Scripture ; indeed, it was not till the fifth century that the
Italian Church finally received it as an inspired Book, and
as the work of that Apostle.
6. Nor is this all. On this ground of the non-reception
of this book by the Church of Rome, the Divines of that
Church would persuade us that the Canon of the New Tes
tament was not settled till the end of the fourth century or
the beginning of the fifth — that is, three hundred years after
it was written. Therefore, they allege that Scripture can
not be the Rule of Faith; and that it depends on the
Church, (by which they mean the Church of Rome,) to
decide what is Scripture and what is not, and that their pre
sent Church might even now declare a Book to be Scripture
which has not hitherto been received as such.
Hence, we perceive the importance of the question — Is
the Epistle to the Hebrews the work of St. Paul ?
1. We reply, This letter was certainly written very early.
* It is omitted in the Canon Muratorianus ; rejected by Caius the
Roman Presbyter. Euseb. vi. 20. Hieron. Cat. Script, e. 5 and c.
59, and ad Dardan. p. 608. Ad Esaiani iii. 6. torn. iii. p. 60. Pope
Gelasius, recognizes only thirteen Epistles of St. Paul. See also the
authorities in Routh, Reliquise, iv. p. 26. Tertullian, however, though
ascribing it to Barnabas, says that it is "receptior apud Ecclesias''
than the Pastor of Hernias, (de Pudic. c. 20.)

VIII.] OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 171
It is quoted by Polycarp,* the disciple of St. John, and is
imitated (as early Christian writers observed, and as exami
nation proves) by St. Clement of Rome, the fellow-labourer
of St. Paul,f in Tne Epistle which Clement wrote in the
name of the Church of Rome, of which he was Bishop, to
that of Corinth ; and which is still extant.
2. The Epistle to the Hebrews was written in St. Paul's
lifetime. It speaks of the temple of Jerusalem as still stand
ing, and of the temple worship as still going on.! And,
though it warns the Church of the doom hanging over Jeru
salem, ye see the Day approaching ,\ yet it is clear from it
that the war waged against Jerusalem by Vespasian and
Titus had not yet commenced.
Now, this war began in the reign of Nero, and St. Paul
was martyred in the last year of that emperor ;|| therefore,
St. Paul was alive when "the Epistle was written. Since,
also, the writer promises to visit the Hebrews, in company
with Timothy, " Know ye that our brother Timothy is set
at liberty, with whom, if he come shortly, I will see you ;"!
it would seem that it was written before St. Paul had placed
Timothy as Bishop, at Ephesus, which was in the year of
our Lord LXIV., two years after his own liberation from
his first imprisonment at Rome, with which the history of
* Routh, Eccl. Opusc. p. 23.
t Euseb. iii. 38. Hieron. Script. Eccl. xv. " omnind grandis in
utraque similitude" The references to the parallel passages are
placed side by side in Mr. Jacobson's edition of the Patres Apostolici,
p. xi. ; and by Professor Stuart, i. 77. 94 ; and by Mr. Forster in his
work on the Apostolical Authority of the Epistle to the Hebrews,
Sect. xiii.
X Theophyl. Arg. Epist. ad Hebr. i vabs tti awsmt^xti.
\ Heb. x. 25.
|| See the authorities quoted by Bp. Pearson, Annales Paulini, a. d.
lxi. — lxvii., and Mr. Clinton's Fasti Romani, pp. 44 — 48.
\ Heb. xiii. 23.

172 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
the Acts of the' Apostles ends ; and four years before his
second imprisonment and martyrdom, in the same city.
3. This mention of Timothy, as our brother, with whom I
will see you, has been thought by some, among whom it is
enough to mention the learned Bp. Pearson,* to be sufficient
to indentify the author with St. Paul. For St. Paul often
joins Timothy with himself in the addresses of his Epistles,
St. Paul called Timothy his work-fellow, and three times his
brother ; and St. Timothy is not so styled by any other wri
ter of Holy Scripture.
Besides, there was something very appropriate in his
being called " our brother, or the brother," by St. Paul,
writing to the Hebrews. For Timothy was the son of a
Jewess ; and St. Paul had shown his charitable condescen
sion to the Hebrew Christians in his particular case. Him
— that is, Timothy, we read in the Acts of the Apostles —
"would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and cir
cumcised him" (not from any opinion of the necessity of
circumcision at that time, but from charity!) "because of
the Jews which were in those quarters ; for they knew all
that his father was a Greek."!
At the same time, by now calling him his own brother and
theirs, he may be supposed to remind the Hebrews, that in
* Opuscula Posthuma, 1. c. viii. p. 59. "Vel ille unicus versiculus,
Cognoscite fratreni nostrum Timotheum dimissum, &c, satis mihi pro-
bat earn Epistolam a Paulo scriptam esse. Neque enim Barnabae,
neque Clementi, neque Lucre ea verba tribui possunt, tanquam ab
eorum aliquo de Timotheo scripta. Cui si adjunxeris testimonium ex
secunda Petri Epistola (2 Pet. iii. 16.) a nobis jam allatum, non video
quomodo quisquam negare possit earn Epistolam esse Pauli, nisi putet
de ea re semper dubitandum esse de qua quispiam aliquando dubita-
verit." t See S. Augustine's Correspondence with S. Jerome on this sub
ject. Epist. xxviii. xl. Ixxii. lxxv. lxxxi. lxxxii. ed. Bened.
X Acts xvi. 3.

VIII.] OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 173
Christ Jesus "there is no difference between the Jew and
the Greek ; but that they are all brethren.
Precisely, in the same manner, St. Paul, writing to the
Greek Church of Corinth, calls Titus, who was a Greek, our
brother. The expression, therefore, Timothy our brother, to say the
least, suggests St. Paul as the author of the Epistle.
Let us then be allowed, for argument's sake, to suppose
that it was written by St. Paul ; and let us see whether on
this hypothesis the phenomena of the Epistle, if we may so
call them, may be accounted for, and the difficulties of which
we have spoken, as raised against this supposition, may be
solved. 1. First, then, as to the alleged impropriety of St. Paul
writing to the Hebrews. St. Peter, it is true, was the
Apostle of the Circumcision ; and St. Paul, of the Gentiles.
But this did not exclude the one or the other from the care
of any part of the Church. Christ's commission to the
Apostles, was " Go ye into all the world ; preach the Gospel
to every Creature." Hence, as St. Peter, the Apostle of
the Jews, was the first to win Gentiles to the Church, so St.
Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles, never ceased to labour for
the salvation of the Jews.
St. Paul, we say, was the Apostle of all men. He had
the care of all the Churches. " He made himself the Ser
vant of all, that he might gain the more ; to the Jews, he
became as a Jew; to them that are without the law, he made
himself as without the law ; he made himself all things to all
men, that he might by all means save some."*
Specially was he anxious for the good of the seed of Abra
ham, for they were his own Kinsmen according to the flesh.
"I am a Hebrew of the Hebrews."! "Are they He
brews ?" he exclaims, " so am I. Are they Israelites ? so
am I. Are they the Seed of Abraham ? so am I."! There-
* 1 Cor. ix. 19—22. t phiL hi. 5. {2 Cor. xi. 22.

174 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
fore" he says ; " Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to
God for Israel is, that they may be saved.* I have great
heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart . . . for my
brethren, my Kinsmen according to the flesh, "f And, if
such was his affection for all the seed of Abraham, how
much more for those among them who were endeared to him
by fellow-membership in the body of Christ ? He had made
collections in all parts of Europe for the relief of the bodily
wants of the Saints at Jerusalem ;% how much more would
he take care to provide for their souls ?
Besides : as no one was more zealous than St. Paul to
promote the salvation of his own Kindred, so no one was
more capable of doing so. He was " a Pharisee, the son of
a Pharisee;" he had been' brought up at Jerusalem, " at the
feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect man
ner of the law of the fathers ; and after the straitest sect of
their religion he had lived a Pharisee." He was, therefore,
eminently qualified to reason with those of his own nation
on the true nature and end of the Mosaic Law ; in a word,
to handle all those subjects, which are treated with so much
learning, eloquence, and wisdom, in the Epistle to the He
brews. Upon the whole, so far is it from being the fact that there
is any real ground for surprise that St. Paul should have
written to the Hebrews, that we should, on the contrary,
rather be disposed to expect that he would Aaue_written to
them, and to feel astonishment if he had not done so.
2. Let us now open the Epistle. § The thirteen other

* Rom. x. 1. t Rom. ix. 2, 3.
X Ibid. xv. 25. Acts xxiv. 17.
\ S. Chrysostom has discussed this part of the question in a very
successful manner in his Introduction to the Epistle to the Hebrews,
iv. pp. 427 — 430. ed. Savile. See also the prefaces of Theodoret, iii.
p. 541-3. ed. Hal. 1771, and Theophylact, ii. 647. ed. Bened., who
take the same view.

VIII.] OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 175
Epistles commence with St. Paul's name ; which occurs no
where in this. . . . But is it not therefore St. Paul's ?
St. Paul had good reasons for prefixing his name to them.
Might there not be equally good reasons that his name
should be withheld here ?
He prefixed it where it is prefixed, in order to assure
those who received the Epistles, that they came from him ;
and to call their attention to what he had to say as an
Apostle of Christ.
Besides ; these Epistles, be it observed, were written to
Gentiles ; and forasmuch as he was the Apostle of the Gen
tiles, he magnified his office, and claimed to be heard by
them in virtue of it.
But his circumstances, in addressing the Hebrews, were
very different from those under which he wrote to the Gen
tiles. It is true, indeed, that it was necessary that the person
from whom the Epistle came should not be unknown, in order
that its reception might be insured. And they whom the
author of the Epistle to the Hebrews desired to assure of
the fact, knew well the hand from which that Epistle came.
This is clear from the words in the Epistle, " Pray for us,
that I may be restored to you; Know ye that our brother
Timothy is set at liberty, with whom, if he comes shortly, I
will see you."
These expressions, I say, prove that they to whom the
Epistle was sent in the first instance, knew from whom it
came; and, doubtless, the bearer of the Epistle informed
them by whom he was sent.
We shall see in the sequel that there was another, and, as
I think, sure criterion in the letter itself, by which they
might know whose it was.
Besides ; it is certain that this Epistle would never have
been read as Scripture in the Church of Jerusalem, and in

176 ON the inspiration and authorship [lect.
all the Eastern Churches, as we know it was from the days*
of St. Paul, unless the Bishops and Presbyters of these
Churches had known who its author was, and that he was
inspired by God.
It is clear, therefore, that the name of the writer was
withheld, not from any view of entire secrecy, much less for
any clandestine or surreptitious purpose ; and that the author
was well known to his friends, and could be known by all
who might inquire of them.
But this Epistle was intended, not only for friends, but
for lukewarm waverers, for Judaizing Christians, and for
unchristianized Jews, — that is, for false brethren and for in
veterate foes.
Now, St. Paul's name was obnoxious to Judaizing Chris
tians on account of the bold and uncompromising manner in
which (as is recorded in the second chapter of the Epistle to
the Galatians,) he had acted at Antioch, when he rebuked
St. Peter openly to his face, for abstaining from eating with
the Gentile converts, through fear of those of the Circum
cision, who came down from Jerusalem ; many of whom de
sired to be both Jews and Christians, and so in fact were
neither Jews nor Christians.
St. Paul was abhorred by the unconverted Jews as a rene
gade. The last time we hear of his being at Jerusalem,
more than forty of them had banded themselves together
under an oath, that they would neither eat nor drink till
they had killed Paul. " Of the Jews five times received I
forty stripes save one." Now what emotions would have
been excited in their breasts by the name of Paul! They
* Theodoret. Arg. in Epist. ad Hebr. speaks of its being read in the
Churches from the Apostolic times, i% ov tUv drtotstoXixZtv ypa/i/.idtav ai
toi ©soij /iit&azov lxxVi\olai. He quotes Eusebius, saying, that "all
the ancients acknowledged it to be St. Paul's :" and says that the Arians
had then begun to question its genuineness, on account of the testimony
it gives to the Divinity of our Blessed Lord.

VIII.] OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 177
would have recoiled from it with scorn and execration. The
sight of it would have deterred them from reading an Epistle
to which it was prefixed. They would have felt indignant
that Paul the Christian, whom they had known as Saul of
Tarsus, and whom they scorned and execrated as an apos
tate, should presume to write to the Hebrews! The very
sound of the name Paul would have roused a crowd of angry
feelings and bitter prejudices in their minds. Thus, in their
case, the prefixing of the name to the Epistle would have
almost frustrated the purpose for which it was written.
St. Paul had been taught by his Master Christ that the
time would come when men would hate His Disciples, and
cast out their name as evil. He had learnt also from Christ
not to cast his pearls before swine ; and to unite the wisdom
of the serpent with the harmlessness of the dove. Christ
displayed by His own example what- He taught by precept;
He witnessed a good confession before Pontius Pilate. But
when, on one occasion, the men of His own city, Nazareth,
had sought to throw Him down from the brow of the hill on
which their city was built, Jesus, passing through the midst
of them, went His way. And when at another time, the
Jews took up stones to cast at Him, He hid Himself, and
went out of the Temple, going through the midst of them,
and so passed by.
On many occasions, He charged the spectators of His
'merciful and mighty works not to make Him known, lest
they might prematurely provoke the jealousy and malice of
His enemies. He would not throw any stumbling-block in
their way; He would deliver them, as far as He was con
cerned, from all temptations to sin.
So St. Paul; he shrunk from no necessary avowal of the
truth, but he would not gratuitously excite the least preju
dice ; he courted no unnecessary perils ; and, in a spirit of
holy prudence and divine charity, he did all in his power to
make Truth acceptable and attractive, even to its worst foes.

178 ON the inspiration and AUTHORSHIP, AC.
His language was, " Let no man put a stumbling-block in
another's way. Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor
to the Gentiles, nor to the Church of God. Give no offence
in any thing, that the Ministry be not blamed."
On the one hand, he would make no compromise with err
or; on the other, he would sacrifice himself for the erring.
He knew that the Cross was a stumbling-block to the Jews,
and foolishness to the Greeks ; but yet he would glory in the
Cross alone, and would know nothing but Christ, and Him
crucified; he would affirm that the offence of the Cross
should never cease ; And why ? Because men could not be
saved without it. But he would be content " never to eat
flesh as long as the world stood, if his meat made his brother
to offend."
He would not, therefore, withhold his Name where his
Name was necessary. 'Nay, he would seal his testimony to
the truth, not only with his Name, but with his blood. But
he would not obtrude his Name where it was likely to pro
voke hatred and other sinful passions, and to repel any from
those saving truths which he had been commanded by Christ
to preach.
Assuredly, then, there were very .good reasons why St.
Paul, (supposing him to have been the author of this Epistle,)
should not have prefixed his name to it. And, since these
reasons do not apply with any thing like the same force to
any one else as they do to St. Paul, therefore, the very non
appearance of the Author's name in the Epistle to the
Hebrews, instead of diminishing, does in fact, increase the
probability, that its author is St. Paul.*
But I will pause here for the present, and reserve my
further observations to the next Discourse.
* See this argument very well stated by the African Bishop Prima-
sius, in the Appendix E. to this Volume.

LECTUEE IX.

2 Pet. iii. 15, 16.

"' Ecen as our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given unto
him, hath written unto you ; as also in all his Epistles, speaking in
tliem of these things; in which are some things hard to be under
stood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do
also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction."
We pass now to another point, — the tone of the Epistle
to the Hebrews.
3. It is true that the writer does not speak in the same
authoritative language as is employed by St. Paul in his
Epistles. He exhorts and implores, rather than rebukes and
commands. But is not this precisely what might have been
expected from St. Paul addressing the Jews? They re
quired to be treated with the greatest delicacy and circum
spection, especially by him. Some of the Jewish Christians,
too, might resent the interference of any other teacher than
St. Peter or St. James, on the ground that they were com
mitted to their charge.
In order, as it seems, to obviate this objection, the Author
of the Epistle to the Hebrews does not write to the Rulers
of the Jewish Church; and he inculcates very strongly on
the Hebrews, more than once, the duty of obedience to their
Rulers ; thus intimating that he wrote with their sanction,
perhaps at their request.

180 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
Others, who might be aware that the Epistle was from
St. Paul, might scorn the exhortations of one who had been
notorious at Jerusalem as a persecutor and injurious, and
had been instrumental in shedding the blood of the first
Christian Martyr, St. Stephen, among those to whom he
now addressed an Epistle, in behalf of the faith which he
had caused others to blaspheme.
Can it be wondered at, that St. Paul, writing under such
circumstances, should speak in a tone of mildness, gentle
ness, and humility? The remembrance of his own past life
in Jerusalem must have inspired him with a penitential spirit
of forbearance. It is hardly possible to imagine a more diffi
cult task, one requiring more delicacy and tenderness, — than
that to be performed by a person in the situation of St. Paul
writing to the Hebrews.
4. Next, as to the alleged discrepancy in the expressions
to the Galatians and to the Hebrews.
In the last chapter of the Epistle to the Galatians, St.
Paul says, " Ye see how large a letter I have written to you
with mine own hand." At the close of the Epistle to the
Hebrews, the Author says, " Suffer the Word of exhortation,
for I have written to you a letter in few words." Can, then,
it is asked, the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews be St.
Paul? To this we reply, This discrepancy is imaginary. As has
been already observed,* the Epistle to the Galatians is the
only one which St. Paul wrote with his own hand. The
rest were dictated by him to an amanuensis ; and subscribed
with a salutation at the end in his own hand. " The Salu
tation by the hand of me Paul : which is the token in every
Epistle. So I write."!
The Epistle, then, to the Galatians, though comparatively
a short one, was a long one for St. Paul to write with his
* Lecture VII. p. 147. t 2 Thess. iii. 17.

IX.] OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 181
own hand ; and the Epistle to the Hebrews, though compara
tively a long one, was not a long one to be dictated to
another. 5. Let us now consider the objection from alleged discre
pancy of style between the Epistle to the Hebrews and the
acknowledged Epistles of St. Paul.
It cannot be denied that the Epistle to the Hebrews is
eminently distinguished among all the books of the New
Testament by the purity and elegance of its language, the
graceful ^ow of its periods, the skillful disposition of its
parts, and the oratorical treatment of the subject.
This did not escape the notice of ancient Christian Critics,
especially that of the learned Origen, who, maintaining that
the Epistle is St. Paul's, conjectured that, while the substance
of the Epistle to the Hebrews is his, the diction might, per
haps, be the w.ork of some other person, whom the Apostle
employed to clothe his sentiments in words.
This hypothesis is ingenious, and, if admitted, would not
affect the Canonical authority of the Epistle. For we know
from Scripture, that the Holy Spirit has been pleased to
operate in Interpretation of tongues, as well as in original
dictation ; and to show His power not only in inspiring the
heart and guiding the hand of one and the same man, but
also, if we may so speak, in making one man's mouth the
organ of another's heart ; and it would be enough for us to
know that St. Paul had approved the Epistle to the Hebrews
as expressing his own mind, and that it had been delivered
by him as Scripture to the Church, and from him received
by her as such.
It may here be remarked, that there is a great discrepancy
of style between the first and second Epistles of St. Peter ;
and that St. Jerome, led perhaps by Origen's hypothesis
concerning the Epistle to the Hebrews, endeavoured to
account for this discrepancy, by saying that St. Peter had

182 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
employed two different Interpreters or Secretaries for the
composition of his two Epistles.
There is also a marked difference of style between the
Apocalypse and St. John's Gospel and Epistles.
This, too, attracted attention in ancient times ; it was the
subject of a special dissertation from the pen of one of the
most celebrated of Origen's scholars, Dionysius, Bishop of
Alexandria,* who, while he asserted in strong terms the
Inspiration of the Apocalypse, expressed some doubt as to
its being the work of St. John.\
Thus, we see, that in the New Testament there are three
different writings, commonly ascribed to three Apostles, St.
Paul, St. Peter, and St. John, respectively, on the ground
of external and internal testimony, and yet differing in
style from their acknowledged writings, and on the strength
of that difference, certain critics of eminence have been in
clined to withdraw, either partially or entirely, these writ
ings from these three Apostles. In two of these three cases,
the genuineness of the words alone, and in the third case,
the genuineness of the words and substance has been ques
tioned. If, now, it can be shown that, notwithstanding this dis
crepancy of style, one of these three writings does really
belong wholly and solely to the Apostle whose claim to its
authorship is questioned, not only would that claim be estab
lished, but we should also have advanced far towards refut
ing the argument from discrepancy of style against the
substantial and verbal genuineness of the other two.
Now, this may be shown, as it appears to me, with respect
to the Epistle of St. Peter, and also the Epistle to the
Hebrews. The language of the Author of the Second Epistle,
ascribed to St. Peter, seems altogether to forbid the sup
position, that the words of that Epistle did not come from
* Euseb. vii. 25. f See Lardner, Credibility, i. 634. sqq.

IX.] OF/THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 183
the same person as the ideas. He says expressly, " This
Second Epistle, beloved, I now write unto you,"* just as it
said in the first Epistle, I write! to you by Silvanus a faith
ful brother, as I judge; in both cases this Word implies, I
apprehend, verbal authorship. If this be so, I would observe,
that the case of discrepancy of style between St. Peter's two
Epistles is much more striking than that of discrepancy be
tween the Epistle to the Hebrews and St. Paul's acknow
ledged Epistles.
For both St. Peter's Epistles (as appears from the first
verse of the third chapter of the Second Epistle) were ad
dressed to the same persons at nearly the same time; whereas,
St. Paul's thirteen Epistles are written to one class of per
sons, and the Epistle to the Hebrews, to another class ; and
the parallel between his case and St. Peter's would only
hold, if we had an undoubted Epistle of St. Paul to the
Hebrews ; and even then, supposing that differed from our
Epistle, the discrepancy between St. Peter's two Epistles,
written at the same time to the same parties, would make us
hesitate before we questioned the genuineness of our Epistle,
on the ground of style alone.
We will not dwell longer on the argument from St.
Peter's Epistle ; for the case of the Epistle to the Hebrews
may well stand by itself: and we now proceed to observe,
that so far from being surprised at a discrepancy between
an Epistle written to Hebrew Christians, and Epistles writ
ten to Gentile Christians, we ought rather to expect a dis
crepancy; and it may also be affirmed, that there is not a
greater difference of style between the Epistle to the
Hebrews, and some of the acknowledged Epistles of St.
* tavtrjv fjSr] Sivtipav vuiv ypdfya irtiato7.ijv. 2 Pet. iii. 1.
t typa^a. 1 Pet. v. 12. Like " scribebam" or " scripsi," in Latin- -
where we should say, "I write." Silvanus was the bearer of the
Epistle.

184 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
Paul, for example, those to the Ephesians and Colossians,
than there is between these two Epistles and other acknow
ledged Epistles of St. Paul ; for instance; that to the
Galatians. For this and other reasons, considering St. Paul merely
as an ordinary writer, we would maintain that the objection
on the ground of style to the genuineness of the Epistle to
the Hebrews, is of little value.
Authors uninspired can write, and do write, in different
styles on different occasions, just as great Masters paint in
different manners. What can be more different than the
Odes and Satires of Horace ? But not to multiply instances,
let me refer only to the writings of a celebrated Christian
Father, St. Cyprian. His Epistle to Donatus, which is
found in his works, is written in a florid and exuberant style,
totally different from that of his other writings, so that a
critic who would decide from style, would immediately pro
nounce that it is not his.
Yet his fellow-countryman, St. Augustine, assures us of
its genuineness ; and speaks thus of it ; " St. Cyprian, by
writing once in this style, showed us that he could write thus
if he chose to do so ; but by not writing thus more than once,
he proved that he did not choose to do, what he had shown
once that he could do."*
Now, we are speaking, be it observed, not of badness or
goodness of style, but simply of difference of style. St.
Cyprian, we .see, wrote very differently in one work from
what he did in all his other works ; and who will say that
what St. Cyprian could, St. Paul could not do ?
What, now, is the peculiarity in style of the Epistle to
the Hebrews ?
It is, as Origen expresses it, its Grecian composition.!
But St. Paul was born and bred in a learned Grecian
Colony, and, in his Epistles, he shows his familiarity! witD-
* S. Aug. do Doct. Christ, iv. 31. t Euseb. vi. 25.
X Tit. i. 12. Acts xvii. 28. 1 Cor. xv. 33.

JX.] OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 185
Greek Poets, and by certain parts of some of his Epistles,
he has proved that it was by choice and design that he did
not write in the polished language of his Greek and Asiatic
contemporaries, and that he could have written, as they did,
if he had thought fit to do so.
It may be reasonably assumed that St. Paul would do
what was most conducive to the end in view. The style in
which the Epistle to the Hebrews is written, was the best
suited for the purpose of that Epistle. This may be con
cluded from the excellence of the work, proving the wisdom
of its author, whoever the writer may be, and from its re
ception in the Church, proving its Inspiration. The fitness
of the style used is proved by the fact of its use. And,
therefore, we may conclude that St. Paul would have used
it as being the best suited for the purpose.
But you may say, why did he not therefore write in this
style in his other Epistles ?
I reply as follows : —
To the Corinthians and the Greeks generally, who idolized
human eloquence, his preaching was " not with excellency
of speech nor with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in
demonstration of the Spirit and of power," in order, as he
himself says, that their faith " should not stand in the wis
dom of men, but in the power of God ;" and that it might
not be alleged, that " their conversion, through his means,
had been the learning and skill which he had by being con
versant in book, whereas the other Apostles," who had no
such learning and skill, " prevailed because God was with
them."* No one should say that Paul had ministered ex
citement to them, and had fascinated them by Rhetoric, and
that, like a crafty Greek retailer,! he had adulterated the
pure Gospel to suit their taste. The Apostle, therefore,
* See Hooker, iii. viii. 10, whose words these are.
t xaTtrpMi. ov yap iafisv u>s ot rtoM.oi, xarttp.ivovtis, x. t. X. See Bent-
ley's admirable Sermon on this text, 2 Cor. ii. 17.
13

186 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
abstained from writing to them in a polished style. He
would win them to the faith by solecisms.
But the Hebrews were a very different audience. Their
Septuagint Version was full of exotic words and barbarous
idioms. They could not be spoilt by the graces of a polished
style. There was no danger of it being said of them that
they had been charmed into Christianity by eloquence. And •
by writing to them in the style in which the Epistle to the
Hebrews is written, St. Paul would prove to the world that
he had not written in a similar style to his Greek and Asiatic
converts, not because he was unable, but because he was un
willing to do so.
The Greeks, then, in reading, as they would do, the
Epistle to the Hebrews, would learn the reasons for which
St. Paul wrote to the Greeks, for the most part, as he did ;
they would thence derive a higher opinion of St. Paul's
character, and of the truths which he taught ; and the
Hebrews, in turning to St. Paul's Epistles to the Gentiles,
would rejoice to find in them the fervour and the force of
their own Prophets, and they would thence learn to value
the more what St. Paul wrote to themselves.
Thus, we say, St. Paul, in being as it were a Hebrew to
the Greeks, and a Greek to the Hebrews, served the cause
of both.
The question, therefore, returns : Could he have written
in the style, in which the Epistle to the Hebrews is written ?
I have already stated his natural qualifications for doing so,
and have endeavoured to show that the Hebrew tone, if we
may so call it, of his Epistles to Greek and Asiatic Churches,
by no means diminishes the probability that he could or
would write in a Greek tone to the Hebrews.
There were many reasons, as we have shown, why St.
Paul should write to the Hebrews; and he spake with
Tongues more than all the rest, and, such being the case, it
may well be supposed, that whatever he required, beyond

IX.] OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 187
his natural qualifications, to enable him to write in the style
in which the Epistle to the Hebrews is written; would be
supplied to the Apostle by the Divine Spirit, who with
the gift of Tongues, gave him also the power of using them
in divers manners, according to the exigencies of the case.
" For all these worketh that one and selfsame Spirit, dividing
to every man severally as He will."
On the whole, then, it does not appear to be so reasonable
to infer a difference of authorship, — either in words or ideas,
from a discrepancy of style between the Epistle to the
Hebrews and some of St. Paul's Epistles, as to conclude
from the discrepancy of style, that there was an adequate
reason for such discrepancy, and to recognize the wisdom of
the Apostle and of the Divine Spirit, by whom He was
guided, in the choice of means best suited to the nature of
the ends.
The principle of this observation, may, I think, be ex
tended to the Second Epistle of St. Peter and the Apoca
lypse ; but on these, more may be said on another occasion,
and we return to the Epistle to the Hebrews.
6. Though the discrepancy of style which subsists between
it and St. Paul's acknowledged Epistles, does not affect its
genuineness, yet, let me here add, if it be genuine, we may
well expect to find a certain similarity of mind and manner
between it and his undoubted Epistles.
And we do find this similarity in fact.
There is a marked resemblance in the use of particular
words and phrases, of which there are many which are
found in the Epistle to the Hebrews, and in the acknow
ledged writings of St. Paul, and in no other books of the
New Testament.
Abundant evidence has been given of this fact by a learned
writer,* in his elaborate work on the Apostolical Authority
of the Epistle to the Hebrews.
* Rev. C. Forster, B. D. London, 1838. Sections i. — iv.

188 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
It may be mentioned, by way of illustration here, that
the insignificant particle tt (and) affords a remarkable speci
men of this verbal coincidence. This convenient conjunc
tion is, I believe, never or scarcely ever used by St. Peter,
nor by his disciple St. Mark; it is not used more than ten
times by all the other writers in the New Testament, except
St. Luke and his companion and master St. Paul, by whom
together it is used about 180 times; and it is very often
used in the Epistle to the Hebrews.
7. The verbal and idiomatic coincidences between St.
Paul's Epistles and the Epistle to the Hebrews have been
fully displayed in the admirable work to which I have just
referred ; and I proceed to add a few words on the simi
larity of mind and manner in the one and the other.
A former Master of one of our Colleges, and one of our
greatest Divines, Dr. Barrow, has the following just remark
at the commencement of one of his Sermons:* "It is," he
says, " the manner of St. Paul in his Epistles, after that he
hath discussed some main points of doctrine or discipline, to
propose several good advices and rules, in the observance
whereof the life of Christian practice doth consist. So that
he thereby hath furnished us with so rich a variety of moral
and spiritual precepts concerning special matters, subordi
nate to the general Rules of Piety and Virtue, that out of
them might well be compiled a Body of Ethics, or system of
precepts, de officiis, in truth and completeness far excelling
those which any philosophy hath been able to devise or de
liver. These he rangeth not in any formal method, nor
linketh together with strict connection, but freely scattereth
them so as from his mind (as out of a fertile soil impregnated
with all seeds of wisdom and goodness) they did haply spring
up, or as they were suggested by that Holy Spirit, which
continually guided and governed him."
Such are the words of Dr. Barrow. For an example of
* Serm. vi. On the duty of Prayer, i. p. 69, ed. 1683.

IX.] OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 189
this truth, it may suffice to refer to the ethical conclusion of
St. Paul's great dogmatic Epistle, the Epistle to the Ro
mans. At the close of its eleventh chapter, he passes from
the region of spiritual doctrine, and (to adopt Dr. Barrow's
figure) begins to sow the precepts of moral practice. He
scatters the seed thickly, and, as some would say, almost at
random. Now, if we turn to the close of the Epistle to the He
brews, we find precisely the same thing. Near the end of
the twelfth chapter, the author passes from doctrine to prac
tice; the seed sown here is very much the same as in the
Epistle to the Romans, and the manner of sowing is the
same. The latter parts of these two Epistles are like two
gardens cultivated by the same hand. That hand, I believe,
was St. Paul's.
Let me notice a peculiar characteristic in them both. You
remember, in the Epistle to the Romans, the verse, "Let
love be without dissimulation, abhor that which is evil, cleave
to that which is good."* As these words stand in English,
there is nothing remarkable in their construction. But the
construction of the original is very remarkable: % dyd^
dwTtoxpito^, ajtootvyovvtts to rtovrjpbv, xoKkututvoi tiu dyaflw. Mere We
have two nominatives absolute; and, what is still more re
markable, we have a noun feminine nominative absolute, (^
dydxri dvvTioxpitoi) branching out suddenly into a participle
masculine nominative absolute (d-jtoatvyavvtii tb Ttovtjpbv, xoxhafuvoi
tu ayaOZ.) If I mistake not, another instance of this con
struction can hardly be found in the New Testament, except
in one place.f And that is the parallel practical portion to
which I have just adverted, at the close of the Epistle to
the Hebrews.!
* English Version, xii. 9.
t Something similar occurs in another of St. Paul's Epistles, 2 Cor.
ix. 10. i/xuv, ifXovti&fiEvoi. See also v. 12, 13. 7ttBt,ossvovea, $o%a£6invoi.
X Heb. xiii. 5.

190 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
There we read, " Let your conversation be without covet-
ousness, and be ye content with such things as ye have." The
Original here IS, cujH^apyupoj 6 tpo7to$l dpxovfjihvoi tol$ jiapovrsiv.
This remarkable construction, let it also be observed, has
this peculiar value, that it seems to point to the Apostle St.
Paul as the Author of the language of the Epistle to the
Hebrews, in which it is found, while the whole Chapter
identifies him with the substance. Nor is this all. If we
turn back to the passage in the Epistle to the Romans, we
find that the precept, being joined on as it were by stalks
and branches with other similar precepts, has its root, if I
may so say, in a text of Holy Scripture, — " For it is written,
Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord." So the
precept in the Epistle to the Hebrews: "Be content with
such things as ye have, for He hath said, I will never leave
thee nor forsake thee."
Not only, therefore, is the seed sown, and the manner of
sowing, in the Epistle to the Hebrews very like that of St.
Paul, in his known Epistles ; but there is a mode, — an unique
mode, may I call it, — of grafting, also, in the one and the
other ; whence we infer, that, of the Hebrews also the Apos
tle St. Paul might have said, " Ye are God's husbandry ; we
are labourers together with him: I have planted, I have
watered, and God hath given the increase."
8. Before we quit the argument from internal evidence,
let me invite your attention to certain other points in the
Ep'istle which seem to identify the author with St. Paul.
The writer says, at the commencement, " God, who spake
in times past to our fathers;" and he cites numberless pass
ages from the Old Testament; but in no one case does he
cite them as written, but always as spoken. This, as is
known, is the way in which Jews writing to Jews quote
Scripture.* The author, therefore, was of Jewish extrac
tion, as St. Paul was.
* St. Matthew, for instance, always introduces his quotations as
said. See Townson's works, i. 101.

IX.] OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 191
I have already spoken of his reference to his brother
Timothy. The author speaks of his bonds.* St. Paul was
in prisons frequently, in deaths oft. The author says that
he will shortly visit them. St. Paul, we know, was just set
at liberty, when this Epistle appears to have been written.
The author says, " They of Italy salute you."! St. Paul was
in Italy at the time this letter appears to have been sent;
and he wrote several Epistles there. The writer promises
to visit those to whom he writes, and desires their prayers,
that he may be restored to them. This St. Paul does fre
quently. The author declares that he " trusts he has a good
conscience;" this is St. Paul's usual language also.!
9. Further, let me call your attention to the following
circumstance. St. Paul, it is true, has prefixed his name to
thirteen of his Epistles ; and thus he has given us one cri
terion whereby we may be assured of their genuineness ; and
this initial guarantee does not appear in the Epistle to the
Hebrews; and I have endeavoured to account for its absence.
But let me now remind you, that there was another token
by which St. Paul avouched his Epistles; not an initial but
a final one ; I mean his Apostolic salutation at the close of
his Epistles. " The salutation of Paul with mine own hand;
which is the token in every Epistle. So I write."
Now, it may be asked, in what did this salutation consist ?
If we examine the thirteen Epistles, to which the name of
St. Paul is prefixed, we find that, near their conclusion, they
all contain (with some merely verbal variations) the phrase,
" The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you;" and
St. Paul himself indicates that this Apostolic Benediction is
* Heb. x. 34. If ShSfioli is the true reading, which is most probable.
t This, after all that has been said to the contrary, seems to be the
true translation of ot arc' 'itaxia; ; like " Pastor ab Amphryso." The
other version (" They who are come from Italy,") gives no very intel
ligible idea: ypd^eitrjv imatoX^v anb 'itaXias, says Theophylact.
X Acts xxiii. 1; xxiv. 16. 2 Cor. i. 12. 2 Tim. i. 3.

192 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
what he means by the salutation of me Paul; for, in the
passage which I have just quoted, he says, " The salutation
of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every
Epistle: so I write," and. then he adds immediately, "The
Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all." These
words, then, "the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ," were
St. Paul's salutation, written by his own hand. This was a
token by which all his Epistles were to be known. And a
most beautiful and interesting token it is !
10. I would further remark that this salutation, found at
the close of every one of St. Paul's Thirteen Epistles, is not
found in any one of the Epistles of any other Apostle, written
in St. Paul's lifetime. It is employed by others after his
death. It is used in the last book of the New Testament,
the Apocalypse, and also, by St. Clement of Rome. Hence
we see, it was not only adopted by St. Paul as his own badge,
but, being known by others to be so, it was reserved to him
by his brethren during his life. Soon after his death, it was
used by others, and it has now become the ordinary conclusion
of sermons and liturgies, in all parts of Christendom. And
this salutation employed by St. Paul as his own criterion in
each of his Thirteen Epistles, and not used by any other
Apostle, in St. Paul's life, is found in the Epistle to the
Hebrews, which ends thus: "They of Italy salute you:
*Grace be with you all, Amen."
Therefore, we conclude, the Epistle to the Hebrews was
written by St. Paul.
11. Let us now test this hypothesis by external evidence.
The Epistle to the Hebrews was sent to the Church of
Jerusalem, the Mother of all Churches, and was diffused
from Jerusalem, which was the centre of the Jewish, and the
* The original has more precisely % x^-f-i • • • the grace, i. e. of our
Lord Jesus Christ, be with you.

IX.] OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 193
source of the Christian Religion. To the testimony, there
fore, of the Church of Jerusalem, and of the other Churches
of the East, we must appeal for authentic information con
cerning the Epistle to the Hebrews.
Now it is unquestionable, that this Epistle was read in
the Churches of the East from the time in which it was
written, and was received by them as a genuine and inspired
writing of the Apostle St. Paul.
Who can be better witnesses on this subject than St.
Irenseus and St. Cyril ? The former, the scholar of Poly
carp, cites the Epistle as inspired and as St. Paul's.* The
latter, the Bishop of Jerusalem, in his catechetical Lectures,
gives the names of the Books of the Old and New Testa
ments, and among them he recites the fourteen Epistles of
St. Paul, and affirms that the Books which he enumerates
were delivered down as he describes them, in an uninter
rupted succession, by the primitive Bishops, and by the
Apostles themselves.
Who, again, a more competent witness than St. Jerome,
living in Palestine, at Bethlehem, in the fourth century,
whose opinion is of the greater value, not only on account
of his vast erudition, but because he came from Rome, and
brought with him from the West the prejudices of the Latin
Church of his age'against the Epistle to the Hebrews ; pre
judices no doubt occasioned by the fact that the heretical
doctrines of the Montanistic and Novatian! teachers in the
West, concerning the impossibility of renewing unto repent-
* Euseb. v. 26, and the fragments published by Pfaffius, pp. 26,
119. t See Kirchofer, Geschichte des Canons, 240, 243, 247, 425 ; and
S. Hieron. adv. Jovinian. ii. p. 195. S. Ambrose de Poenit. ii. 2,
acknowledges the Epistle as St. Paul's, and vindicates the sixth
chapter from the Novatian misinterpretation. It is also ascribed to
St. Paul in the Synopsis Scripturae, which bears the name of S. Atha-
nasius, ii. p. 53.

194 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
ance a second time after the commission of heinous sins,
were grounded on their interpretation of the earlier verses
of the Sixth Chapter of this Epistle.
St. Jerome, then, bears witness that the Epistle to the
Hebrews was received as St. Paul's by all the Churches of
the East, and by all the Greek Christian writers from pri
mitive times, and he himself receives it as such ;* and it
cannot be doubted that the testimony and authority of the
great western Doctor, St. Jerome, was mainly instrumental
in correcting the judgment and practice of the Roman
Church, and in restoring to her the Epistle to the Hebrews.
To the witness of the Church at Jerusalem may be added,
as we have said, that of all the Churches of the East not
only individually, but assembled in Synods, at Antioch,!
Nicsea, and Laodicea ; and when we bear in mind that these
Churches were for the most part planted by St. Paul, and
governed in the first instance by persons appointed by him,
as Timothy, Titus, and others, their testimony amounts
almost to an assurance from St. Paul himself.
But there is one Church, not founded by St. Paul, whose
evidence is of peculiar value, — the Church of Alexandria.
This Church was eminent for the great learning and
critical acumen of its earlier teachers, and therefore its
judgment is of greater weight. St. Athanasius, Bishop of
Alexandria, in the fourth century, unhesitatingly received
this Epistle to the Hebrews as St. Paul's-! Before him,
two of the most learned writers of that Church, Origen, and
his teacher, Clement, of Alexandria, did the same. Their
evidence is more interesting, because it is clear that they
had carefully considered the subject, and were eminently
qualified to judge of compositions in their own language.
* Epist. ad Dardan. ii. p. 608.
t The Peschito or ancient Syriac version recognizes this Epistle as
St. Paul's.
X Epist. Festal, xxxix. Idem Decr. Syn. Nic. i. pp. 265, 266, 268.

IX.] OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 195
" The style," says Origen,* " of the Epistle to the He
brews has not that plainness which was characteristic of the
Apostle Paul, who confessed himself to be rude in speech ;
and any one who is capable of judging concerning style,
must allow that it has more of a Grecian air in its composi
tion! than his other Epistles ; but, on the other hand, every
one who is conversant with the Apostle's writings must also
confess that the sentiments of this Epistle are magnificent
and the conceptions not inferior to those of any of the
received works of St. Paul."
"My own opinion," he adds, "is this; the diction and
texture of the expressions are the work of some one who
committed to paper what was delivered orally by his Master,
the Apostle St. Paul. Whatever Church, therefore, receives
this Epistle as St. Paul's, let it be honored for so doing, for
it was not without good reason, that the primitive writers!
delivered it to us as his : but who committed it to writing is
known to God ; the history that has come down to us is that '
this was done either by Clement, the Bishop of Rome, or by
St. Luke, who wrote the Acts and the Gospel."
In another place Origen reckons fourteen Epistles of St.
Paul. Therefore he received the Epistle to the Hebrews as
his. Such is the testimony of Origen. His master, Clement
of Alexandria, thus speaks :§ " The Epistle to the Hebrews
is the work of St. Paul; it was composed by him in Hebrew,
* Ap. Euseb. vi. 25. Origen cites this Epistle more than two hun
dred times in his extant works ; and expressly recognizes it as his in
numerous places, viz. in his Epist. ad Afric. i. p. 19. See Kirchhofer.
p. 244.
t EXk-rjvixuttpa tr[ avvBidhi. X Ot apxouot avSps;.
§ Euseb. vi. 14. See also Clement's Adumbrationes ad 1 Pet. Epist.
"Lucas Pauli ad Hebraeos interpretatus Epistolam;" and his Stro-'
mata vi. p. 645, where he quotes the Epistle as St. Paul's.

196 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
and translated by St. Luke into Greek :* hence the resem
blance between its style and that of the Acts of the Apostles.
St. Paul did not prefix his name and title, 'Paul an
Apostle,' to it; with good reason, — for he was addressing
those who were prejudiced against him ; and therefore he
prudently withheld his name, lest he should deter them from
reading it. Besides, as a holy presbyter used to say to me,!
since our Blessed Lord was specially the Apostle! of the
people of Israel, therefore, through a spirit of reverence, St.
Paul did not assume this title in writing to them ; and be
cause also he was specially the Apostle of the Gentiles."
These testimonies of Clement and Origen appear to be
more valuable even on account of the private theories — in
the case of Clement, of a Hebrew original, and in that of
Origen, of a distinct Author of the language — by which
these testimonies are accompanied. It is clear that these
theories were suggested by what we have already considered,
I mean the discrepancy of style between the Epistle to the
Hebrews, and the undisputed Epistles of St. Paul. And
this discrepancy which generated these theories would
doubtless have tempted them to assign the Epistle to some
other person than St. Paul, if they had been able, in con
science, to do so. The evidence of the Pauline origin of
the Epistle must have been very strong to force them upon
these theories. Let us observe, also, that these theories are
only private opinions, and are propounded as such, and do
not now require further notice, except as they are convertible
into important testimonies to the genuineness of the Epistle.
These testimonies are from persons born only a little more
* This seems to be disproved by numerous paronomasias: no%vjx.ipui
TtoTjvtpoytas arcdtap dfirjtap x- t- %., v aring evidence of an original.
t Supposed to be Pantaenus. See Appendix E.
X It is observable that the author of the Epistle so calls Him, Heb.
iii. 1 ; and He is not called so by any other writer in the New Testa
ment.

IX.] OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 197
than a century after the Epistle was written ; and as they
ground what they say on the testimony of the ancients, and
as their ancients must have been contemporary with the
Apostles, we are brought back by their testimony to the
times of St. Paul himself.
Such then is the testimony which we receive from Alex
andria.* Now, be it remembered that the Church of Alexandria
was founded by St. Mark,! whom St. Peter calls his son,
and who was with St. Paul at Rome in his first imprison
ment, and for whom he sent in his second imprisonment!
just before his death, because he was profitable to him for
the ministry ; and we know that St. Mark was present at
Rome at St. Paul's and St. Peter's martyrdom. § The tes
timony, therefore, of the Church of Alexandria, may be
regarded as the testimony of St. Mark ; and the testimony
of St. Mark is that of St. Peter and St. Paul.
This, I say, is a probable supposition ; and it is confirmed
by the language of our text, which is from the second Epistle
of Peter the teacher of St. Mark, and the brother Apostle
and fellow-martyr of St. Paul. This second Epistle was
written by St. Peter a very short time before his death, and
like his First Epistle, || was addressed by him, the Apostle of
the Circumcision, to the Hebrew converts of the East.!
St. Peter there says, "As our beloved brother Paul,
according to the wisdom given unto him, has written unto
you;" therefore St. Paul had written to those persons whom
* Other early Alexandrian witnesses, to the same effect, might be
adduced, e. g. S. Dionys. ap. Euseb. vi. 41, Alexander ap. Socr. H. E.
i. 3, both these were Bishop's of Alexandria.
t S. Hieron. de Viris Illust. xxxvi. Alexandriae a Marco Evange-
lista semper Ecclesiastici fuere .doctores. Euseb. v. 10.
t 2 Tim. iv. 11. \ Iren. 3. 1.
|| See 2 Pet. iii. 1.
\ See Bp. Pearson, Opera Posthuma, Diss. I. viii. p. 59=p. 358, ed.
Churton.

198 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
St. Peter then addressed., And who were they ? Hebrews.*
Therefore there was some Epistle of St. Paul to the He
brews. Therefore that inscribed to the Hebrews, and
received as his by the Church of Jerusalem and by the
Eastern Churches, was written by St. Paul.
Further : St. Peter, in the text, divides St. Paul's Epistles
into two classes : " as our beloved brother Paul has written
unto you, — as also in all his Epistles;" — that is, he distin
guishes the Epistle to the Hebrews from the rest, and thus
makes his testimony to it more significant : and he goes on
to vouch for them all as Scripture, that is, as divinely
inspired ; and therefore we have a special testimony from
the Apostle St. Peter, that the Epistle to the Hebrews is
St. Paul's, and that it is the Word of God.
This testimony is of more importance, when we remember
that St. Peter was the Apostle of the Hebrews, and that he
had been openly rebuked by St. Paul for his temporary
weakness in abstaining from eating with the Gentiles at An
tioch, through partiality to the Jewish converts. It is worthy
of remark, that St. Peter sent his first Epistle by the hand
of Silvanus, or Silas, whom he calls a faithful brother, ! and
who was the Special friend of St. Paul,% and whom St. Paul
chose§ as his own companion, in the place of Marcus, St.
Peter's son. Surely nothing could be more honorable to St.
Peter, nothing more charitable, nothing more edifying to
Jew and Gentile, than that he, the Apostle of the Hebrews,
now about to die together with the Apostle of the Gentiles,
for the faith in Christ, should bear witness to St. Paul's
ivisdom in his dealings with the Hebrews ; and that St.
Peter should show, that, though he had been openly re
proved by St. Paul, St. Paul was his beloved brother ; and
* Euseb. iii. 4. tols i% 'Efipalav oJffH' iv Staffrtopa.
t 1 Pet. v. 12.
X 2 Cor. i. 19. 1 Thess. i. 1. 2 Thess. i. 1.
I Acts xv. 39, 40.

IX.] OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 199
that he should set his authoritative Apostolic seal on St.
Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews, and recognize it as Holy
Scripture, and thus declare to Jew and Greek, and to
Christians and men in all ages and countries of the world,
that there was no difference between his own teaching and
that of St. Paul, — that he fully adopted what St. Paul had
written, — that the Gospel of the Apostle of the Gentiles and
of the Apostle of the Circumcision was one and the same
Gospel, — that they had both one Lord, one Faith, one Bap
tism. And as if Christ Himself, in His mercy, was desirous of
adding His Own Divine sanction to this testimony of one
ness, He was pleased to call these two great Apostles
together to Himself by a glorious martyrdom for that one
faith, in the same city, and in the same year, and, as is
generally believed, upon the same day.*
I will now offer some practical conclusions.
1. Let us admire and bless God's goodness for the assur
ance He has given us of the Inspiration of this Epistle,
which contains so much instruction on the sublimest points
of Christian Doctrine, and on the cardinal articles of Chris
tian Duty ; and which, though, as St. Peter predicted, it has
been wrested by the unlearned and unstable to their own
destruction, has ever served, and will ever serve, to refute
all the strange and dangerous doctrines of those who deny
the Lord who bought them.
2. Let us bless God for the special mode by which we are
assured of the genuineness of this Epistle, — I mean the in
strumentality of St. Peter. Let us also thank God for the
lessons of wisdom, gentleness, and charity, — especially in
dealing with those who may be prejudiced against us — which
* S. Hieron. de S. Paulo, v. " xivm0 Neronis anno, eodem die quo
Petrus, Romae, pro Christo capite truncatus est, anno post passionem
Domini xxxv." Bp. Pearson, Annales Paulini, p. 25.

200 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
we are taught by the tone and manner in which this letter
was written by St. Paul.
3. We find that the Epistle to the Hebrews was received
as Scripture by St. Peter, who is claimed by the Church of
Rome as the divinely-appointed channel of a pretended in
fallibility, and that it was imitated by St. Clement, who was
Bishop of Rome in the first century. Thus we see it was,
originally, received by the Church of Rome. We find also
that it was received in every other part of Christendom, and
has never ceased to be so received from the time of the
Holy Apostles. But there was a period of time in which,
while received in all the Eastern Churches, it ceased to be
received by the Church of Rome; and its reception was in
termitted in that Church during the second, third, and fourth
centuries,* and then it began to be again received by the
Church of Rome, and has ever since continued to be so.
What are the conclusions from these facts ?
We infer, —
1. That the Canonical Authority of the Epistle to the
Hebrews was established as soon as it was written ; and that,
therefore, all the arguments derived from the partial and
temporary non-reception of this Epistle to prove the alleged
lateness of the Canon, and all the inferences from that alle
gation, are groundless.
2. That the Church of Rome has erred, with regard to
the Canonical Authority of this Epistle. If she is right in
receiving it now, as no doubt she is, she erred in not receiv
ing it formerly during three centuries.
* The testimony of St. Augustine on this matter is remarkable (De
Peccator. Meritis, i. 27) : "Some (says he) doubt concerning the Epis
tle to the Hebrews (alluding to the Church of Rome), but I am more
influenced by the testimony of the Eastern Churches which receive it
as Canonical."
Evidently then St. Augustine did not regard the authority of Rome
as supreme and infallible. S. Jerome, also, we have seen, corrected
Rome in this matter by means of the Eastern Church.

IX.] OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 201
3. That the Church of Rome has erred, and does err
most perniciously and presumptuously, in affirming that the
Church of Christ owes the Canon of Scripture to her ; or in
the language of one of her Popes,* Gregory the Seventh,
that " no Chapter or Book of the Bible is to be regarded as
Canonical, without the Pope's authority."
4. That the Church of Rome cannot be trusted for what
she delivers by her own authority, on the ground of any
supposed infallibility derived by her from Christ through
St. Peter. For she was not a faithful guardian of the truth
taught by St. Peter, and acknowledged by St. Clement,
concerning this Epistle of St. Paul, that it is indeed a part
of Holy Scripture. And this truth, be it observed, was
taught by St. Peter concerning an Epistle written from
Italy, and probably from Rome itself.
5. That the Church of Rome, so far from having authorized
the Canon of the New Testament, as she alleges, does in
fact owe her own Canon, as far as this Epistle is concerned,
to the testimony of St. Peter faithfully preserved by the
Eastern Church, which she denounces as heretical and schis-
matical ; and that, as far as the Church of Rome was con
cerned, the Epistle to the Hebrews had lost its canonicity
for three centuries, and in all probability would never have
recovered it ; and that it is therefore a happy thing for the
Church of Rome, and for Christendom, that the Church of
Rome is not the Catholic Church.
6. Lastly, We see here, my beloved brethren, by a prac
tical example, what the true grounds of the Canon of the
New Testament are. It does not rest, as our Romanist
brethren fondly dream, on the testimony of their own pres
ent Church ; nor on that of any particular Church in the
world; for the Church of Rome has erred, by her own
showing, in this matter ; and any particular Church may
* Greg. VII. ap. Card. Baron. Ann. ad a. d. 1076.
14

202 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
likewise err, as our Nineteenth Article teaches. The Light
of the Seven candlesticks of the Universal Church will, it is
true, never be removed, for, as St. John says, Christ Him
self walketh in the midst of the Candlesticks ;* but any one
of the candlesticks may burn dimly or be removed, and
another candlestick be planted in its room. Our appeal,
therefore, concerning the Inspiration of Scripture, as con
cerning all other matters, is not to any particular Church,
but to the Church Universal, and to her Divine Head ; it is
not to the Present only, but to the Past ; not to men, but to
Christ. * Rev. i. 13.

ADDITIONAL NOTE, 1851.
Since the above Discourse was delivered and printed, it has been
alleged* that the Sixth Article of the Church of England cannot be
subscribed "in its literal and grammatical sense," because it declares
that " in the name of Holy Scripture we do understand those Canoni
cal Books of the Old and New Testament of whose authority was never
any doubt in the Church."
For, it is said, if we subscribe this Article in its literal sense, we
exclude the Epistle to the Hebrews, and the Second Epistle of St.
Peter, and the Epistle of St. James, — of whose authority doubts were
entertained by some in the Church in ancient times.t
This objection is urged by one who has fallen away to the Church
of Rome, and is one of the reasons adduced for that step.
In order to refute this allegation it is only requisite to read the
Sixth Article with attention. The Framers of that Article knew well
that doubts were entertained by some in the early Church concerning
the authority of certain books in the Kew Testament ; and, therefore,
having first declared that they receive as Holy Scripture those books
of whose authority no doubt was ever entertained in the Church, they
wisely added another clause, to provide for the case of such Books as
* Dodsworth's " Anglicanism considered in its Results," pp. 70—72.
t See below, p. 200.

IX.] OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 203
those of whose authority some doubts were entertained by some in the
Church. This additional clause is as follows : —
" All the Books of the Kew Testament as they are commonly receiv
ed, ice do receive, and account them Canonical."
It is unquestionable that the Epistle to the Hebrews, and the other
Books named with it, are " commonly received" in the Church ; and
therefore it is clear that the Church of England receives them as
1 Canonical. And her Bible, — in which the Canonical Books are sepa
rated from the Apocrypha, — sufficiently declares this fact.
And now let me be permitted to observe, that this endeavour to de
duce an argument in favour of the Church of Rome from the Epistle
to the Sebrews, will remind the reflecting reader, that the history of
that Epistle (as has been shown in the preceding Discourse) displays
in a striking manner the feebleness of the foundation on which that
Church builds her claims.

LECTURE X,

Jude 17.

" But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of
[i. e. by] the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ."
From the Epistle to the Hebrews we pass to the seven
Catholic or General Epistles, as they are called, which,
in the oldest existing copies of the New Testament, are
commonly placed before the Epistles of St. Paul, but, in our
English Bibles, stand after them.
Both in ancient and modern Bibles they are found in the
following order : first, the Epistle of St. James, secondly and
thirdly, two Epistles of St. Peter; fourthly, fifthly, and
sixthly, three Epistles of St. John ; seventhly and lastly,
the Epistle of St. Jude, from which our text is taken.
It has been commonly supposed* that this order is found
ed on considerations partly of the time of their composition,
and, partly, of the ecclesiastical dignity of those by whom
the Epistles were written.
St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Galatians, speaks of
"James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars ;"f and
in this order their Epistles stand.
* Mill. Prolegomena in N. T. § 236.
t Gal. ii. 9. Sco Bedae Prolog. This order may suggest to the
reader some reflections concerning the supposed supremacy of St.
Peter.

OF THE CATHOLIC EPISTLES. 205
Immediately after the Ascension St. James was appoint
ed Bishop of Jerusalem. His Epistle is addressed to the
Jewish Church, as was the Gospel of St. Matthew. It is
well known, that the lost sheep of the House of Israel* were
the first who engaged the care of the Apostles, in accord
ance with the command and example of Christ ; and it is
highly probable that, as St. Matthew's was the first of the
Gospels, so the Epistle of St. James was the first of the
Apostolic Epistles.
St. James suffered martyrdom at Jerusalem in the year
of our Lord 62, and St. Peter was martyred at Rome in the
year 68.
The namef Catholic, or Universal, which has been applied
to these Seven Epistles since the fourth century, was given
them, it is commonly supposed, because, for the most part,
they are not addressed to particular Churches, but to all.
And it has also been supposed that they were so designated
to distinguish them from heretical and spurious writings,
which began to be disseminated even in the times of the
Apostles ; and in this sense, Catholic Epistles would signify
orthodox and canonical^. Epistles, Epistles received as such
by the Catholic Church.
The case of these Epistles demands special consideration.
The Books of the New Testament, which have hitherto en
gaged our attention, — I mean the Four Gospels, the Acts of
the Apostles, and St. Paul's Epistles, — were, as we have
seen, received as divine Scripture by all Christian Churches,
as soon as they were written.
But this is not so with all the Catholic Epistles. Indeed
* Matth. x. 6 ; xv. 24.
t Euseb. vi. 14. Concil. Laod. lix. Cyril. Catech. iv. Athanas.
Epist. Festal.
X They were also sometimes called Epistolce Canonical in early
times, as by Junilius Afer, by Cassiodorus, and St. Jerome.

206 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
only two of them, namely, the First of St. Peter, and the
First of St. John, were unanimously acknowledged as Scrip
ture in the first century.
At that time there were some Churches which were ac
quainted with the other five, and yet were in doubt as to
their divine authority ; and even so late as the beginning of
the fourth century, though these five Epistles were then
received as Scripture by the majority of Churches,* yet
there were some Churches which were still in suspense with
regard to them ; and it was not till the end of that century
that they were recognized as Divine Writings, wherever they
were known.
From these acknowledged facts the following inferences
have been drawn.
1. It has been argued by some, that, since these five
Epistles were not received by all Churches for three centu
ries after they were written, therefore the Canon of Scrip
ture (by which we mean the divinely inspired written Rule
of Christian faith and practice) was not completed till the
end of the fourth century; and therefore that Scripture
cannot be the Rule of Faith.
For it cannot be supposed, they say, that the Church was
without a Rule of Faith three hundred years, and all parts
* Origen. ap. Euseb. vi. 25, says oi ndvtet receive the 2nd and 3rd
of St. John, and that the 2nd of St. Peter djityifidxkitai ; Euseb. iii. 25,
says that the Epistles of James and Jude, the 2nd of Peter, and the
2nd and 3rd of John were dvtixeyofitvai, yvupifiai 8' Spas toi; 7toVhols ;
and again, avt&syoptvat, cyiios 8e rfapi Tttelatois twv 'Exx^tjatastixuv
yvyvaoxofisvai, and he expressly testifies of the Epistles of James and
Jude, ttSfihv xai tavta$ fistd iZiV %oi7iZtv iv TO.£i>dtais SsSyjfjioaihvfihvai
'Exx^oiats. Euseb. ii. 23. St. Athanasius received all tlie Catholic
Epistles (Epist. Festal, ii. p. 38), and they are all received by the
Councils of Carthage and Laodicea, before the end of the fourth cen
tury, and by St. Jerome, ad Paulin. iv. p. 574.

X.] OF THE CATHOLIC EPISTLES. 207
of Scripture were not universally known as Scripture till the
end of the fourth century.
2. Further, it is alleged that, since these five Epistles of
which we are now speaking, were not universally received as
Scripture till the end of the fourth century, and since they
are now recognized by all as inspired, therefore no valid
argument against the Inspiration of the Apocryphal Books
of the Old Testament can be raised from the fact that they
were not received in the first ages of Christianity.
For if it could, it is added, we must, by the same reason
ing, reject Five of the Seven Catholic Epistles.
3. The fact also is, that the Church of Rome places these
Five Epistles in precisely the same relation to the Neiv Tes
tament as she does the Apochryphal Books to the Old. She
calls these Epistles and Apocrypha by the name of Deutero-
Canonical, or Books of the Second Canon; not meaning
thereby that any of them are, in her opinion, in any degree
inferior in value to those of the first Canon ; but thereby
affirming with an anathema on all who hold the contrary,
that, though they are subsequent in authorization, they are
not inferior in authority.
One of the most celebrated writers of her communion in
the present day, a Theological Professor at Rome, thus
writes :
" Of the Books of the Old and New Testament, some
are called Proto-eanonical, others Deutero-eanonical. The
Proto-canonical, or those which were first received into the
Canon ; the Deutero-eanonical are those which were after- ,
wards admitted into it.
" The Proto-canonical Books ofthe Old Testament are
those which were received by the Jews. The Deutero-
eanonical, or those of the Second Canon, are Baruch, Tobit,
Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, and the two Books of the
Maccabees, which were afterwards received into the Canon
of the Church" (the writer means the Canon of the Church

208 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
of Rome, which so received them at the Council of Trent,
in the middle of the sixteenth century.)
" The Proto-canonical Books," (he adds) " of the New
Testament are, the Four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles,
thirteen Epistles of St. Paul, one of St. Peter, one of St.
John.
• " Those of the Second Canon are, the Epistle of St. Paul
to the Hebrews, the Second Epistle of St. Peter, the Second
and Third of St. John, that of St. James, and St. Jude,
and the Apocalypse.
" Both these classes of Books, the Proto and the Deutero-
eanonical," he says, "have the same authority in the Ca
tholic Church" (the writer means the Church of Rome),
"which acknowledges no distinction between them.''*
According to these allegations, it would follow that belief
in the inspiration of Scripture must resolve itself in the end
into belief in the inspiration of the Church of Rome.
No regard would be paid, or would be due, to the qualifi
cations of the authors of the Books in question, or to the
contents of those Books, or to the testimony of the primitive
Church of Christ concerning them, or to that, either of the
Apostles, or even of Christ Himself.
You see then how important it is that the true character
and position of these five Catholic Epistlesf should be care
fully examined and clearly understood.
To speak first of the Epistle of St. James.
This Epistle, which stands first in order, and has always
so stood,J appears, as I have said, to have been written first
in time.
St. James, as we are informed by a Disciple§ of St. John,
* Perrone, de Locis Theologicis, p. 1048. ed. 1842.
t i. e. 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, James, Jude.
J. Euseb. ii. 23. i\ rtputn tuv 6vofta£oft£vav xaBo"kixu>v.
I Papias. See Routh, Rcliquias, i. pp. 3, 16, 198, 203. Compare
Dr. Mill's Dissertation on the " Brethren of our Lord," in which the

X.] OF THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES. 209
was the son of Cleopas or Alphseus and of Mary, the sister
of the Blessed Virgin. This Mary was one of the women
who stood before the cross at the Crucifixion and carried
spices to the tomb of our Lord, and was one of the first to
whom He showed Himself alive after His Resurrection ; and
Cleopas, the father of St. James, was one of two Disciples
who walked with Him to Emmaus. St. James, then, was
our Lord's Cousin according to the flesh, and, in the Jewish
manner of speaking, is termed in Scripture the Lord's
brother.* He was one of the Twelve, and, as St. Paul in
forms us, was honored by our Lord with a special manifesta
tion after the Resurrection.
After the Ascension of Christ, he was appointed by the
Apostles Bishop of Jerusalem, where he remained for about
thirty years — till his death. His position there was one of
great difficulty, and called for the constant exercise of those
supernatural gifts, with which he was endued. After the
Crucifixion, that ill-fated City was the scene of the worst
crimes. It was torn with intestine factions, defiled with riot,
profaned by blasphemy, maddened by fanaticism, and de
luged with blood. Here St. James dwelt — like Lot in
Sodom. Let us remember, also, that it was a task demanding
divine wisdom so to preach the Gospel as not to disparage
the Law, and so to build up the Church as not to undermine
the Temple ; and to show to Priests and Scribes that it was
the greatest glory of Moses, whom they read, but did not
understand, to have been a faithful witness of Christ, whom
they with wicked hands had crucified and slain. Yet,
though he was beset with these difficulties, such was the
learned Author assents to the opinion that Cleopas and pVlphasus are
two forms of the same name, which was the opinion of St. Jerome,
and is also adopted in Guerike's Einleitung, p. 490.
* Gal. i. 19. Cp. Matth. xii. 40 ; xiii. 55. Mark vi. 3. John ii. 12.
1 Cor. ix. 5.

210 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
courage and gentleness of St. James, that he commanded
the respect not only of Christians but of Jews, and was called
James the Just.
His Epistle is addressed to the Twelve Tribes, to Jewish
Christians and to unconverted Jews.
Let us pause here to remark, as a providential circum
stance, that the Temple and City of Jerusalem were not de
stroyed immediately after the Crucifixion. It would have
been very difficult for Christian teachers to preach the Gos
pel to the twelve tribes of the dispersion, if these Christian
teachers had been obliged to go in quest of these scattered
tribes. But, happily these tribes came up to Jerusalem at
the three great yearly Festivals.
Thus these great Jewish Festivals became occasions and
means for the diffusion of the Gospel of Christ.
This fact is clearly brought out in the history of the first
Day of Pentecost after the Passover at which our Lord suf
fered. The events of that day — the Descent of the Holy
Spirit, the Gift of Tongues, the miracles wrought by the
Apostles, their preaching in the name of Jesus, newly risen
from the dead — were, doubtless, immediately conveyed by
the ebbing streams of the homeward-going Tribes into all
the regions of the earth.
It cannot be doubted that the Epistle of St. James, ad
dressed to the twelve Tribes, was diffused in this manner.
Thus, the dispersion of the Jews, and their connection
with Jerusalem as a centre of religion, was, in the hands of
Divine Providence, one of the most effective means for pro
pagating Christianity. The pilgrim-troops of the Law be
came Caravans for the Gospel.
But to return to St. James. He exclaims to the Jews :
" Ye have condemned and killed the Just One (that is,
Jesus Christ), and He doth not resist you." Further; to
the Christians he commends patience, humility, prayer. He
writes as a Bishop both to the Clergy and Laity of the

X.] OF THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES. 211
Church, and gives warnings and directions concerning their
respective duties. He remonstrates on the coldness of their
devotion, especially in prayer. On the luxury and pride of
the wealthy, and the servile adulation of riches, even in
Church assemblies, on the prevalence of a mere dry and
fruitless profession of faith,* on the reckless and profane
use of oaths in familiar conversation. To the Jews, again,
he addresses tremendous warnings, called for by their sins,
above all, by the rejection and crucifixion of Christ, which
was soon to be avenged by God's fierce wrath and retribu
tion ; " Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your
hearts." Soon was their own curse to fall upon their
heads; "His blood be upon us and upon our children!"
To them St. James says : " Be afflicted and mourn, and
weep. Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your
miseries that shall come upon you." And then the Apostle
turns to the Christians and says: "Be patient, brethren,
until the coming of the Lord ; Be ye patient, stablish your
hearts ; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge
not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned:
Behold, the Judge standeth before the door."
Such is the language of St. James — the Christian Jere
miah. Is this Epistle inspired ?
Consider first the Author. The Lord's Brother ; called
by Him to be an Apostle, and breathed upon by Him ; filled
with the Holy Ghost ; chosen by the Apostles to preside
* James i. 22 — 27 ; ii. 14 — 26. The so-called faith against which
St. James raised his voice, was that of those who imagined that if they
were distinguished from the heathen by acknowledging the One True
God, they were sure of acceptance from Him, whatever their lives
might be, ot TJyovst (says Justin Martyr, Dialog, p. 370,) ott, itav
dpapttAoi 'uGi, Bsbv Se yivtioxu>aiv, ov jir) Xoyiatjtat ok5*0!.s Kuptoj apapt tav.
See Guerike, p. 494. St. Paul's expostulations were specially ad
dressed to those Jews who maintained that the observance of the
whole Law of Moses was the cause of Justification.

212 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
over the Mother Church of Christendom ; framing a decree,
at the Council of Jerusalem, which contained the solemn
words : It hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us ;
treated with special deference by St. Peter and St. Paul,
and by all the Apostles ; reverenced for his holiness by
Christians and Jews; and sealing with his blood as a Martyr
the faith which he preached as an Apostle.
Surely an Epistle, which came from such a man as this,
might well claim to be inspired.*
But, how, then, it may be asked, is it to be explained that
this Epistle was not received as inspired in all Churches in
the first and second centuries ?
Doubts, it is true, we reply, were entertained at that time
in some quarters concerning its Inspiration. But, first of
all, be it observed, it is one thing for the authority of a book
to be doubted, and another thing for it to be rejected. No
doubt was entertained any where in the first century con
cerning the Apocryphal Books of the Old Testament ; they
were known to be not inspired. But, concerning the Epistlef
of St. James, and the other four Catholic Epistles, which
have been before mentioned, doubts were entertained by
some; and the very fact of the doubt proves that they who
doubted might have their doubts cleared up, and receive
these books as inspired.
And, next, we know, that these doubts were cleared up.
All these five Epistles were received in course of time by all
who had once doubted concerning them.
Next, it is to be remembered, that though some doubted,
* It is well shown by Whitby (on James v.), from Josephus, how
accurately the predictions of St. James concerning Jerusalem were
fulfilled ; and this isa strong proof of inspiration.
t The reason why the Epistle of St. James was not universally re
ceived from the first appears to have been, that some imagined it to be
at variance with the teaching of St. Paul. This was Luther's ground.
See above, p. 15, and tho passages quoted from Luther in Guerike's
Einleitung, p. 499. Others reasons are mentioned below.

X.] OF THE CATHOLIC EPISTLES. 213
others did not doubt, but received all these Five Epistles
from the beginning ; and the very doubts of those who did
doubt are presumptive proofs that they who did not doubt
had good reason for not doubting, and that they acted
rightly in receiving these Epistles from the very first.
Be it remembered, also, that the question at issue was not
concerning a light matter, but respecting one of unspeakable
importance. It was not concerning the genuineness of a
Poem, or the authenticity of a History. No. It was no
thing short of this, — Is this Writing from Man, or from
God? Therefore, Christians were bound to pause till they had
conclusive evidence whereon to decide ; lest, haply, they
should ascribe what was divine to man, or impute what was
human to God.
Let us, ialso, observe, that, in those early times, innumer
able* writings bearing the names of Apostles and Evange
lists, were disseminated by heretics. Spurious and heterodox
compositions were diffused under the name of the Authors
of these very Five Catholic Epistles. We read of forgeries
then current, such as the following : " The Book of James,"
"The Gospel of Peter," "The Preaching and Revelation
of Peter," " The Acts of John," " The Gospel of Jude."f
Therefore, in their genuine writings, the Apostles charged
the primitive Churches to be upon their guard against sup
posititious Books. "Be not shaken," says St. Paul, "by
word or by letter as from us as that the day of Christ is at
hand." "Beloved," says St. John, "beljeve not every
spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God ; because
many false Prophets are gone out into the world."
The primitive Churches, therefore, were obliged to exer
cise a sage caution. It was their duty to doubt. They
* Called by Irenaeus, i. 18. djivBritov nxijBos drtoxpvfyav xai vie^v
t See the copious list given by Jones on the Canon, pp. 28- -31.

214 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
would have been very culpable, if they had not suspended
their judgment concerning the authority of Epistles, brought
to them with the name of Apostles of Christ, till the Inspi
ration of such books was avouched to them by indisputable
evidence. They were under a most solemn obligation to
wait, till such evidence could be procured, and not to receive
books even of the highest intrinsic value on insufficient
grounds. It was certain, that, if these books were really
inspired, authentic proof of their inspiration would be given
in course of time ; whereas, if any uninspired book were
once received as Scripture, then, it was very probable that
false doctrine would come in with it ; and it was certain,
that the confidence of the people in the authority of the
books which were really inspired, and had been received as
such, would be shaken, and so the foundations of Christian
ity would be undermined.
While, therefore, we see good reason in the circumstances
of the case, why some should have doubted concerning the
Inspiration of these Epistles, we derive a firm assurance
from these same circumstances, that those Churches which
did not doubt concerning their Inspiration, but received
them as Scripture from the first, acted rightly in doing so.
I have spoken of the demurs of some Churches concern
ing these Epistles ; and of the wise caution exercised by
the Church generally in the reception of Books into the
Canon of Scripture. And let me now add, that we owe it
to this wise caution, or rather, we would say, to the Holt
Spirit suggesting it, that no Book, which has been once re
ceived by the Christian Church, has ever been proved to
have been received without adequate reason. Thus, our
trust in the judgment of the Church, as a whole, is strength
ened by our knowledge of the discreet and circumspect
manner in which that judgment was exercised.
It is very satisfactory to know that no book was admitted
into the Canon of Scripture, before its credentials were

X.] OF THE CATHOLIC EPISTLES. 215
rigidly examined, and that every book which we receive as
Scripture has passed through a most searching and scrutiniz
ing ordeal. And our belief in the Inspiration of all the
Books of Scripture now universally received, is thus con
firmed by the doubts which deferred the reception of some
small portions of Scripture in certain parts of the Church.
It must also be remembered, with respect to these five
Catholic Epistles, that there were points in them (and we
know what those points were*) which might and did in the
first instance suggest doubt ; but which, when afterwards ex
amined, did dispel doubt and rivet conviction.
For instance, St. James in the commencement of his
Epistle does not call himself an Apostle, nor the Lord's
Brother, but a Servant of Jesus Christ. The same is the
case with St. Jude. Till the reason of this was explained,
it might be doubted whether these Epistles were really writ
ten by Apostles and Brethren ofthe Lord.* Just as it was
doubted by some whether the Epistle to the Hebrews was writ
ten by St. Paul, because it had not his name prefixed to it.
Again, St. Jude in his Epistle refers to the contention of
Michael the Archangel with the Devil, for the body of
Moses, of which we read nothing in the Old Testament ;
and St. Jude, also, was thought to refer to an Apocryphal
Book, the Book of Enoch. Hencef demurs arose concern
ing this Epistle. But, when these matters were cleared up,
then, what had caused a scruple was an occasion of greater
assurance. J
* See above, p. 212, and note in the next page.
t Jude 14. See St. Jerome, Catal. Script, iv. "Quia de libro Enoch,
qui apocryphus est, assumit testimonium;" but (adds St. Jerome),
" auctoritatem vetustate jam et usu meruit et inter Sanctas Scripturas
computatur." X 1 Cor. ix. 5. Gal. i. 19. For it is evident that a person counter
feiting an Apostle would have called himself an Apostle, and have en
deavoured to imitate his style, and would have abstained from using
suspicious writings. Eusebius well remarks (Dem. Evang. iii. 5.)

216 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
So again, the style of the Second Epistle of St. Peter* is
different from that of the first ; and in the second and third
Epistles of St. John, the author calls himself a Presbyter^
or Elder, and not an Apostle. These points excited surmise.
Time was required to explain them ; the judgment of certain
Churches was held for a while in suspense ; but, finally, and
without exception the suffrages of all inclined in their favour.
They were all received, by all Churches, in all places ; and
so all doubts concerning them were at an end.
Let us return to the Epistle of St. James. Was it re
ceived as Scripture in some parts of the Church, as soon as
it was written ?
1. Abundant evidence might be adduced to show that it
was generally known and received in Jerusalem, and by the
Twelve Tribes of the dispersion, to whom it was addressed.
In proof of this, I would observe, that St. James was
martyred at Jerusalem, at the Passover of thej year 62 ;
that it was quite in character with St. John's humility to call himself
o 7ipta^vtipo$. See also the remark of St. Dionysius ap. Euseb. vii. 25.
The same may be said of St. James and St. Jude, calling themselves
not Apostles nor " Brethren of the Lord," but simply Soixot 'I^soi
Xpiaroi. See Clem. Alex. Adumbratio in Ep. Judae, p. 1007, ed. Oxon.
"Judas, extans valde religiosus, non dixit seipsum fratrem Domini.
Sed quid dixit ? Judas servus J. C, frater autem Jacobi."
* Jerome, Catal. Scrip, i. St. Jerome, in his Epist. 120, c. i!. says,
" The two Epistles of St. Peter differ in style ; whence we perceive,
that according to the exigency of circumstances, he used different in
terpreters." Whatever may be thought of this solution, it shows the
difficulty and explains the delay in the reception of the Epistle in cer
tain churches. Besides, the text 2 Pet. ii. 20, was abused by the
Montanists and Novatians, in the same way as Heb. vi. 1 — 7, and
thus the reception of the Epistle in some places was delayed for a
time. t See note t, preceding page.
X See Bp. Pearson, Annales Paulini, p. 19. Bede says that St.
James suffered the 30th year, St. Peter the 38th, (St. Jerome says the
37th,) and St. Jerome says that St. John died the 68th year after our
Lord's passion.

X.] OF THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES. 217
and the circumstances of his martyrdom are narrated as
follows, by a person who lived in the age next to the Apos
tles, the Church Historian Hegesippus.*
After describing the sanctity of St. James's life, the
writer thus speaks. " The religious sects, then prevalent at
Jerusalem, were wont to address this question to St. James,
'Which is the Door of Jesus?' These sects," adds the
writer, " did not believe in the Resurrection, nor that Christ
would come to reward every one according to his works.
But when many Jews of high station were converted by St.
James, an uproar was made by the Scribes and Pharisees,
exclaiming, that all the people was expecting the coming of
Jesus as the Christ. They, therefore, came to St. James,
and said, ' We entreat thee, restrain the people, for they are
all gone mad after Jesus, as if he were the Christ. We im
plore thee, therefore, to instruct all, who have come up to
the Passover, concerning the truth. For we all venerate
thee ; we all bear testimony to thee, that thou art Just, and
no respecter of persons. Stand, therefore, on a lofty place
of the Temple, that thou mayst be seen and heard by all ;
for all the Tribes with the Gentiles have come up to the
Passover.' .... They placed him, therefore, on a pinnacle
of the Temple, and cried aloud, ' 0 thou Just man, whom
we all ought to believe, tell us, since the People is going out
after that Jesus who has been crucified, tell us, which is the
Door of Jesus ?'
" Such was their question. To which St. James replied
with a loud voice, ' Why ask ye me concerning Jesus the
Son of Man ? He sitteth in heaven on the Right Hand of
power, and will come again on the clouds of heaven.' . .
Upon this many of the people exclaimed, ' Hosanna to the
Son of David !' But St. James was cast down headlong by
the Scribes and Pharisees; and falling upon his knees and
* Ap. Euseb. ii. 23. Comp. Dem. Ev. iii. 5.
15

218 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
praying, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they
do, he was stoned and beaten to death."
Such is the narrative of Hegesippus concerning the mar
tyrdom of St. James.
Much perplexity has been occasioned by the words which
occur twice in this history, " Which is the Door of Jesus?"
As they appear to bear upon our present subject, and as no
satisfactory explanation,* as far as I am aware, has as yet
been offered of them, perhaps the following endeavour to
account for them may be viewed with more indulgence.
The Jews, we know from the Acts of the Apostles, were
exasperated at the rescue of St. Paul from their hands ; and
we learnf from early Church history, that they therefore
determined to wreak vengeance upon St. James. It has
been justly observed,! that the publication of St. James's
Epistle, addressed to the Jews at Jerusalem, as well as to
the Tribes ofthe dispersion and to the Jewish converts, — to
whom doubtless copies were carried by those who came up
to the periodical Jewish feasts, and so the Epistle was dis
persed throughout the world,. — was very obnoxious to some
of the Jews, especially to the higher classes, because it an
nounced the Woes that would soon fall upon them and upon
their Country.
The Tribes, to whom it was addressed, came up to the
Passover; and the Rulers hoped, by means of flattery or
menace, to obtain from St. James some recantation of what
he had written. It appears from the narrative we have
quoted, that the expression, " Which is the Door of Jesus?"
was a question addressed to the Apostle in a tone of sarcasm
and derision. " The people is gone wild after Jesus : they
expect that He will immediately appear. Which, then,
* The various opinions may be seen in the Variorum Notes to
Eusebius, ii. 23 ; and in Lardner's Life of St. James, ch. xvi.
t Euseb. ii. 23.
X By Lardner. See also Macknight, Preface to St. James, sect. iii.

X.] OF THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES. 219
is the toay ? What the road by which He will come ? Which
the Door by which He will enter?"
Such seems to be the meaning of the question.
And further: it contains, I believe, a reference to a
striking passage in St. James the Just's, own Epistle, — " The
coming of the Lord draweth nigh, behold the Judge standeth
before the Door."*
To this question St. James replied, " He will come on the
clouds of Heaven ;'' Jesus, the King of glory, has entered the
Doors of Heaven ; through the everlasting Doorsf of Heaven
He will come to judge the World.
If this supposition be true, then it would appear probable
from this reference to the Epistle, that it was generally
known at Jerusalem, and to the Twelve Tribes of the Dis
persion, and to the ChurchesJ of Palestine.
2. Let me observe, also, that this Epistle is contained in
the Pschito or early primitive version of the Syrian Church,
in the second century, and this Church from its neighbour
hood to Palestine, where the Epistle was written, had the
best means of ascertaining its authority. It was received
also by the Roman Church§ in the second century, and is
frequently quoted by St. Clement, || Bishop of Rome, the
* James v. 8, 9. Compare Matt. xxiv. 33. " It is near, even at the
Door." In the words also, " Thou art no respecter of persons," there
may, perhaps, be a reference to James ii. 1. 9. The words in his
Epistle ifovtvaat £ tbv Atxouoi/, oix avtttdaastat ifuv (v. 6.) ; and rto7.v
iaxvht SfTjfft; ktxoiav iv£pyovjj.£vt] (v. 16.), have a special interest con
sidered in connection with the dying prayer and martyrdom of "the
Just" Apostle of the Just.
t Ps. xxiv. 7—9.
X The words in St. James, Ep. ii. 2, prove the existence of public
religious assemblies among those to whom he wrote; and an Epistle
from a Bishop of Jerusalem would be read in them.
| It is cited by Tertullian de Orat. c. 8. adv. Jud. 2; by Origen it is
cited as the Epistle of James in John iv. p. 306. Homil. 13 in Genes.
and passim.
|| Capp. x. xxiii. xxxviii.

220 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
fellow-labourer of St. Paul. And further : St. Jude, in his
Epistle, introduces himself as the brother of James; by
which he seems to intimate that James was well known to
those whom he himself addresses. This was probably the
case by means of an Epistle ; for James, as far as we know,
never left Jerusalem. Besides, some early* interpreters
affirm that St. Paul himself refers to St. James, when he
says, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, " Remember your spi
ritual guides, who have spoken unto you the Word of the
Lord, whose faith follow, considering the end of their con
versation;'^ that is, meditating on the close of their labours.
Here it has been thought with much reason, St. Paul re
fers the Hebrews to the glorious martyrdom of the Bishop
of Jerusalem, and to the Word of the Lord spoken by him
in his Epistle.
3. Further; There are more than ten different passages
of a moral and doctrinal character in St. Peter's First
Epistle (an Epistle, be it remembered, universally received
as inspired, from the first, and written afterf that of St.
James,) which coincide literally more or less with passages
in the Epistle of St. James. § Thus St. Peter, or rather the
* Theodoret ad loc.
t Heb. xiii. 7.
X For it was written only a short time before St. Peter's own death,
(see below, p. 223, which took place a.d. 68. And St. James was
martyred a. d. 62. Bede says very rightly, " Petrus imminente pas-
sione secundum scripsit Epistolam cum multo ante" Jacobus misgrave-
rat ad Christum."
| Compare James i. 1. =1 Pet. i. 1.
James i. 2. =1 Pet. i. 6.
= 1 Pet. iv. 12.
James i. 11. = 1 Pet. i. 24.
James i. 18. = 1 Pet. i. 3.
= 1 Pet. i. 23.
James ii. 7. =1 Pet. iv. 14.
James iii. 13. = I Pot. ii. 12.
James iv. 1. =1 Pet. ii. 11.

X.] OF THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES. 221
Holt Spirit speaking by St. Peter, bears a strong, though
silent, witness to the Inspiration of this Epistle. He could
not give a clearer testimony to it, than by adopting parts of
it and incorporating it in an inspired Epistle.
We therefore arrive at the conclusion, first, that the sacred
functions, divine endowments, and saintly life and death of
St. James, the Lord's Brother, the First Bishop of Jerusa
lem, render it probable, a priori, that an Epistle, addressed
by him to the converted and unconverted Jews is divinely
inspired; and that, secondly, in fact, the Epistle of St.
James was received as Scripture in the age of the writer,
by persons whose verdict is conclusive concerning its In
spiration; and we add, that the Epistle itself, especially
when considered with respect to the circumstances under
which it was written, confirms this belief.
4. Let me add, lastly, — and this remark, be it observed,
applies to all the Five Epistles, — that the subsequent suffrage
of the whole Church in favour of these Epistles proves that
those particular Churches judged aright, who received these
Epistles from the beginning.
Christ never promised Omniscience or Infallibility to any
one part of His Church. But He did promise to be alway
ivith His Church, and to guide her into all truth ; and this
promise would not have been fulfilled, if the whole Church
were now in error concerning the Inspiration of these Epis
tles, or if, these Epistles being inspired, their Inspiration
had not been known to any portion of the Church in the
age in which they were written.
But we must pause here for the present, and reserve to
another occasion what remains to be said on the other
Catholic Epistles. James iv. 6. =1 Pet. v. 5, 6.
James iv. 7. =1 Pet. v. 9.
James iv. 10. = 1 Pet. v. 6.
James v. 20. = 1 Pet. iv. 8.

• LECTURE XI.

Jude 17.
" Beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before ofthe Apos
tles of our Lord Jesus Christ."
We pass now to the Second Epistle of St. Peter.
Its genuineness being admitted, of which proof has been
given on a former occasion,* and which was acknowledged
by ancient writers of credit, no one, I think, can doubtf its -
Inspiration. Its author is St. Peter; St. Peter about to die for Christ,
and delivering a farewell charge' to the Church. " I know
that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our
Lord Jesus Christ hath showed me; moreover, I will en
deavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these
things always in remembrance. "J He, therefore, anticipates
that this, his last letter, will be generally received, and read.
This expectation has been fulfilled. He also utters a pro
phecy. " There shall be false teachers among you," he
* Lect. VII. p. 158. Origen. Horn. vi. in Josuam says, " Petrus
duabus Epistolarum personat tubis;" and in Horn. iv. in Levit. he
quotes from the Second Epistle (2 Pet. i. 4) as Peter's.
t I have not, therefore, thought it worth while to dwell on its recep
tion by Justin Martyr, c. Trypho, p. 308. See Mede's Works, p. 611.
Irenaaus, v. 23; v. 28.
X 2 Pet. i. 14, 15.

THE SECOND EPISTLE OF ST. PETER. 223
says, " who shall privily bring in damnable heresies, even
denying the Lord that bought them." This, also, has been
fulfilled. And prophecy is a work, and a fulfilled prophecy
is a proof, of Inspiration.
Again, he couples the Second Epistle with the First, and
puts it on a par with it ; and the First Epistle has ever been
received as Inspired. This Second Epistle, (he says,) in the
first verse of the third chapter, I write to you, already,*
that is, sooner perhaps than you may have expected after
the first, in both which Epistles I now stir up your pure
minds by way of remembrance. The Author, therefore, pre
sents the Epistle as inspired. And, surely, if there ever
was a time in the life of the Blessed Apostle, to whom Jesus
Christ gave "many excellent gifts, and commanded him
earnestly to feed His flock;" if there ever was a period of
his ministry in which a double effusion of divine grace might
have been expected by him, both for his own sake and for
that of the Church of Christ, it was when he was uttering
his last words, and was girding up his loins to follow Christ,
by dying on the cross.
St. Jude's own Epistle, which appears to have been I
written after the death of all the Apostles except St. John, (
was received both in the Eastern and the Western Church in
the second and third centuries.f
Again. If the genuineness of this Epistle be established,
there cannot, I apprehend, be any doubt of its Inspiration.
And its genuineness may, I think, be proved as follows.
* '/J5>2 ypdtya; whence it appears that the First Epistle also was writ
ten only a short time before his death, which took place a. d. 68.
t Tertullian. de Cultu Foem. 1. 3. Canon Muratorianus ; Epistola
sane Judae ih Catholica habetur. Clemens Alex. Pasd. ii. p. 239. iii.
p. 431. Adumbratio in Ep. Jud. p. 1007. Origen (Huet. i. p. 223)
calls it " an Epistle of few lines, but full of powerful words of divine
grace." He cites it frequently as Jude the Apostle's.
I

224 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP OF [LECT.
The Author of the Epistle describes himself as " Jude, the
servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James." St. Jude,
we know, died before St. John, that is, before the beginning
of the second century. Now, we learn from early Church
History,* that St. James was succeeded in the Bishopric
of Jerusalem by Symeon his brother ; and also, that Sy-
meon sate in that see till the year of our Lord 107, when
he suffered martyrdom by crucifixion, in the 120th year of
his age.
We find that the Epistle of St. Jude was known in the
East and the West in the second century ; it therefore ap
pears to have been circulated in Symeon's lifetime ; indeed,
an Epistle, bearing the Apostle's name, &n& first appearing
after the beginning of the second century, would never have
received any currency, such as the Epistle of St. Jude has
received; and Symeon would never have permitted a letter
bearing the name of an Apostle, his own brother, Jude,
brother of his own Apostolical predecessor, St. James, to
have been circulated, if it had not been really written by St.
Jude. The Epistle, therefore, of St. Jude is genuine ; it is
the work of an Apostle. f
But this is not all. The Apostle St. Peter has authen
ticated St. Jude's Epistle by adopting much of it into his
own. St. Jude's Epistle consists of only twenty-five verses, and
it is very remarkable that in these there are twelve passages
which St. Peter has incorporated in his own Second Epistle. J
* Euseb. iii. 32.
t It is cited as such by S. Hippolytus in the third century, de Anti-
christo. B. P. M. iii. p. 254, E.
X Jude 2. = 2 Pet. i. 2.
Jude 4. = 2 Pet. ii. 1.
Jude 6. = 2 Pet. ii. 4.
Jude 7. = 2 Pet. ii. 6.
Jude 8. = 2 Pet. ii. 10.
Jude 9. = 2 Pet. ii. 11.

XI.] THE EPISTLES OF ST. JOHN AND ST. PETER. 225
St. Peter quotes St. Jude's Epistle as already known and
received, as an Apostolic Epistle, by those whom he, St.
Peter, addresses. Thus, he says, " Remember the command
ment of us the Apostles . . . Knowing this first, that there
shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own
lusts."* This is verbatim from St. Jude's Epistle. " Be
loved, remember the words spoken before by the Apostles of
our Lord Jesus Christ, how they told you that there should
he scoffers in the last time walking after their own ungodly
lusts." Thus St. Peter bears witness to the Inspiration of St.
Jude's Epistle, by appealing to it as having Apostolic au
thority and prophetical veracity,. and by adopting its words,
and by referring to it as received by the Churches to which
he, St. Peter, wrote. Thus St. Peter canonizes the Epistle
of St. Jude.
Of the two short Epistles ascribed to St. John, I would
observe, that, whatever is of a doctrinal character in them is
contained in his longer Epistle, which has ever been received
as inspired. If they were written before that Epistle, then
he has authorized them by adopting their teaching and lan
guage ; if after, then he has given a no less weighty sanc
tion by anticipating it. They certainly were not written by
any false teacher, for they contain only true doctrine, — the
doctrine of St. John ; and whoever committed them to
Jude 10. = 2 Pet. ii. 12.
Jude 11. = 2 Pet. ii. 15.
Jude 12. = 2 Pet. ii. 17.
Jude 16. = 2 Pet. ii. 18.
Jude 18. = 2 Pet. ii. 1.
Jude 18. = 2 Pet. iii. 3.
* 2 Pet. iii. 3. Concerning the pernicious doctrines and licentious
practices of these false Teachers and their followers, see particularly
Hammond's Dissertationes, Diss. i. capp. iii — viii. torn. iv. p. 725, ed.
1684.

226 on the inspiration and authorship of [lect.
paper, (and all testimony* is in favor of their genuineness,)
their essence is his ; and so in substance they are inspired.
Let me here desire your attention to a remarkable con
nection between the First Epistle of St. Peter and the Se
cond of St. John.
The First Epistle of St. Peter, as appears from its com
mencement, is addressed to the " Elect, scattered through
out Pontus,f Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia ;"
that is, to the Jews dispersed in Asia Minor ; and at its
close we read, " The Church that is at Babylon, elected to
gether with you, saluteth you, and so doth Marcus my son."
The Second Epistle of St. John begins thus : " The Elder
to the Elect Lady and her children whom I love in the
truth :" and it ends with the words, " The Children of thine
Elect Sister greet thee."
You are aware that it has been doubted what place the
Babylon was, from which St. Peter wrote ; and also whether
the Elect Lady, to whom St. John wrote, was a Person or a
Church. If I may venture to offer an opinion on these controverted
points, it seems to me that both these questions may be deter-
* See Origen's testimony and that of Dionysius, Bishop of Alexan
dria, in the third century, ap. Euseb. vii. 25. ovSi iv ty hivtipa ipspo-
fiivfi 'luawov xai tpity, xaltot /3pa;££t(U$ ovoatj E7tioto%at$ 6 luavvqs
dvofxaati Tipoxhitai aKhd avuvvfitoi 6 ftps ofivt epos yEypartTUfc. Irenaeus,
whose testimony — on account of his connection with St. Polycarp, the
disciple of St. John — is ofthe greatest weight, unhesitatingly ascribes
the Second Epistle to St. John (Adv. Haer. i. 16. \ 3 ; and again, iii.
16. \ 8) : and if the Second is his, so is the Third ; for the word
o rtptofivtcpos identifies tho author of the one with that of the other.
Tho Eoman Canon, also, of tho second century says, " Johannis dum
in Catholica habontur."
t Hence this Epistle of St. Peter is sometimes inscribed " Ad Pon-
ticos ;" soo Tertullian. cont. Gnost. c. 12.

XI.] THE EPISTLES OF ST. JOHN AND ST. PETER. 227
mined at once ; and that, by the solution of them, we gain
an important result with respect to the Canon of the New
Testament. In some ancient Latin manuscripts, St. John's first Epistle
is inscribed Ad Parthos,* — to the Parthians — and as is pro
bable from earlier authorities, as well as from internal evi
dence, this inscription belongs to St. John's Second Epistle,
as well as the First, f For the Latin Translator of a work
of Clement of AlexandriaJ (the Greek original of which is
not now extant) says, " Secunda Johannis Epistola, quae ad
Virgines inscripta est, simplicissima est." It has been well
conjectured that St. Clement wrote Jtp6$ ndpBovs, (ad Parthos)
which was .corrupted into 7tp6j napBivovs, whence the Latin
Translator wrote "ad Virgines;" and this is almost cer
tain, from the fact that none of St. John's Epistles is ad
dressed to Virgins ; and St. Clement himself says that this
Second Epistle was written to a certain Babylonian, and
that the word Electa, the Elect Lady, intimates the Election
of a Church. St. Jerome gives the same meaning of the
word Electa ;§ he applies it to a Church ; and this is still
further confirmed by the word Kvpla, or Lady, which is very
appropriate to a Church (Kvptaxii) as connected with KiSpms,
the Lord.
But what is to be said of the word Babylonia, to whom,
Clement affirms, St. John wrote an Epistle ? and how is it
to be connected with the inscription " Ad Parthos," — to the
Parthians ?
I would suggest the following reply :
St. Peter was the Apostle of the Jews, and he was the
beloved fellow Apostle of St. John ; he addresses his First
* See note below, p. 230 ; and Lardner, ii. 587. iii. 428.
t It is remarkable that S. Irenaeus, iii. 16. § 8 quotes from the Se
cond Epistle as one and the same with the First.
X Adumbrat. p. 1011. St. Clement flourished a. d. 192.
I See Hammond on 1 Pet. v. 13. 2 John ii. 1.

228 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP OF [LECT.
Epistle to the Jews of the Asiatic dispersion ;* that is, to
those of St. John's peculiar province; and he closes his
Epistle with the salutation, " Your co-elect Sister Church at
Babylon saluteth you, and so doth Marcus my son." And
St. John, the brother Apostle of St. Peter, elect together
with him, — St. John, specially beloved by Christ, as Christ
was specially beloved by St. Peter, — St. John, the Metro-
politanf of the Elect of Asia, whom St. Peter had addressed,
writes to the Elect Lady and her children, whom he loves in
truth; and he closes his Epistle with the salutation, "The
children of thine Elect Sister greet thee."
" The Elect Lady," I believe was the ChurchJ of Baby
lon, and her " Elect Sister," the Asiatic Church.
Hence, St. Clement says that St. John writes to a Baby
lonian Electa, signifying an Elect Church ; and also, accord
ing to the conjecture already mentioned, to the Parthians, of
whose empire, as it then existed, Babylon, it must be re
membered, was the most celebrated city, as far as the Jews
and their history are concerned. Hence, Milton§ thus
speaks, " There Babylon, the wonder of all tongues.
All these the Parthian holds."
Babylon was the city to which the Two tribes were car
ried away captive, and from which those of the Asiatic
dispersion, to whom St. Peter writes, were derived ; and we
know, from Philo and Josephus,|| that Babylon contained a
great many Jews in the Apostolic age.
* 1 Pet. i. 2. v
t See the authorities collected by Archbishop Ussher, " Original of
Metropolitans," pp. 95—95. Oxf. 1641.
X An aneient Scholium in one of Matthai's MSS. p. 152, says,
ix7.hxtrjv xvpiav fliyec trjv iv tivi tojify ExxhrjOtav.
I Par. Reg. Book iii. ver. 280.
|| Philo Legat. ad Caium, I 36. Josephus, Antiq. xv. 2, 4 ; xviii.
12 ; xxiii. 12. Major Rennell, Geogr. of Herod. Sect. xv. p. 533, " So

XI.] THE EPISTLES OF ST. JOHN AND ST. PETER. 229
In fact, the Second (and, perhaps, also the First) Epistle
of St. John, who is said to have preached the Gospel in
Parthia,* appears to have been written to the elect Church
of the Parthian Assyria, of which Babylon was the head ;
and to be of the nature of a reply to St. Peter's First Epis
tle "to the Elect of Asia," written from the same Babylon,
and bearing the salutation of the co-elect Church of that
city. But what, it may now be asked, had St. Peter to do with
the Assyrian Babylon ?f
In reply to this inquiry let me remind you, that it has
been well observed,! that there is something very significant
in the arrangement of the names of the countries specified
by the inspired Writer of the Acts of the Apostles, in his
enumeration of the Jews of the dispersion who had flocked
to Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost, and were witnesses
of the effects of the Descent of the Holy Ghost on the
Apostles, and listened to St. Peter's sermon on that day,
by which three thousand souls were added to the Church.
" How hear we every man in our own tongue wherein we
were born?"
Let us remark the Sacred Historian's order. First,
"Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in
Mesopotamia and Judaea." These were the Jews of the dis-
great a number of Jews was found in Babylonia as is astonishing.
They are spoken of by Josephus as possessing towns and districts in
that country about forty years after Christ. They were in great num
bers in Babylon itself." Cf. Vitringa Apoo. xviii. 2. Judasi maximi
ilium locum (Sc. Babylonem) turn temporis occupabant. See also Bis-
coe on the Acts of the Apostles, i. p. 88.
* See the authority in Cave, Life ofthe Apostles, p. 364.
t Prideaux supposed that St. Peter's Babylon is Seleucia on the
Tigris, i. e. New Babylon. Connection, pt. I. Bk. viii. Vol. II. p. 432.
This would not affect the argument.
X By Joseph Mede, Book i. Discourse xx.

230 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP OF [LECT.
persion* of the Two tribes and of the Ten tribes, and these
Jews of the dispersion of the two tribes and of the ten tribes
were now subject to the Parthians, whence the Parthians
are named first; and of these the metropolis was Babylon.
Next come those of the Asiatic dispersion, who were de
rived from Babylon, and are called in the Acts, " the dwell
ers in Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pam-
phylia." Hence we see why St. Peter, the Apostle of the Circum
cision, went to Babylon — the Parthian Babylon. It was
the head-quarters of those whom he himself had addressed
with such wonderful success at Jerusalem on the day of Pen
tecost, and who are named first by the inspired Historian of
the Acts.
Hence, also, we see, why, being at Babylon, St. Peter
addressed an Epistle to the " strangers scattered throughout
Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia." They
were derived from Babylon; they were " co-elect" with the
Church there. He had preached to them also at Jerusalem ;
and they are placed second by the inspired Writer of the
Acts. Hence, also, the Apostle St. John, who was stationed in
Asia, among these strangers of the dispersion there, and
who had been St. Peter's inseparable companion at Jeru
salem^ and is particularly noticed as such in the Acts of
the Apostles, takes up St. Peter's language, and responds
from Asia to Parthia, from Ephesus to Babylon, from the
elect Sister of the one J to the elect Lady of the other. §
* Concerning these several dispersions, see Mede, 1. c. and particu
larly Bp. Pearson, Opera Posthuma, ii. p. 31, and Lightfoot, vol. ii. p.
1144, ed. Lond. 1684, and Gieseler, Eccl. Hist. \ 17.
t See above, Lect. VII. p. 152. Acts iii. 1 ; iv. 19 ; viii. 14.
X 2 John 13.
I 2 John 1. After tho above had been written, I read with pleasure
the following words of Estius (in Ep. I. Joh. Praef. p. 1201. ed. Rotho-
mag. 1709) : " Veteruni traditio est ad Parthos scriptam esse Joannis

XI.] THE EPISTLES OF ST. JOHN AND ST. PETER. 231
Hence, also, we shall see the appropriateness of the men
tion of St. Mark in St. Peter's salutation, " Thy co-elect
sister greeteth thee ; and so doth Marcus my son."
For, if we turn back to the enumeration in the Acts, we
find, first, as I have said, the Parthian or Assyrian disper
sion ; secondly, the Asiatic, derived from the Parthian ;
thirdly and lastly, the ^Egyptian, who were carried from
Judaea into iEgypt by Ptolemy Lagus, or, as they are called
by the sacred Historian of the Acts, " those of JEgypt, and
in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, Jews and Proselytes,
Cretes and Arabians ; we do hear them speak in our own
tongues the wonderful works of God."
These three Dispersions were, if we may so speak, St.
Peter's audience at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost; and
they were the spiritual Province of that Apostle, — the
Apostle of the Circumcision.
Now observe, how did St. Peter provide for all these three
Dispersions which made up his Province ?
He provided for the first, that of Babylon* by visiting
them in person.
He provided for the second, the Asiatic, by writing to it
from Babylon.
He provided for the third, the ^Egyptian, by sending to
Epistolam : Hunc titulum ei tribuunt Hyginus Papa, Epist. i. Possidius
in Indie. Op. Augustini, et ipse Augustinus, Qusest. Evang. ii. c. 39.
Denique et Joannes Secundus Papain Epist. adValerium Episcopum:
Scripsit autem ad Parthos, quae gens sita erat juxta Medos, quod in ea
regione plurimi essent Judsei ex antiqua dispersione decern tribuum ;
unde et Act. cap. 2, primo loco referuntur Parthi. Igitur quemadmo-
dum Petrus Epistolam dedit ad Judseos dispersionis Ponti, &c, quos
Lucas enumeravit posteriori loco, sic et Joannes scripsit ad Judseos in
Oriente, id est, in Parthia cum locis adjacentibus, non ita tamen quin
uterque Apostolus suam Epistolam communicatam voluerit etiam gen-
tilibus earundem regionum qui in Christo crediderant utpote membris
ejusdem Ecelesiae."
* If any one is disposed to doubt whether the Babylon of St. Peter
is the Babylon of Assyria, let me refer him to Lightfoot's Sermon on 1
Pet. v. 13, vol. ii. p. 1144.

232 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
them Marcus his son, who was the first Bishop of Alexan
dria.* Thus, St. Peter, writing from Babylon to Asia, and send
ing the salutation of Mark, connects all the three dispersions
together. Thus he took care of them all.
Time and the occasion do not allow that I should say any
thing here on the reply, derived from these results, to the
Romish identification of the Babylon of St. Peter's Epistle
with Rome ; and on the claim to universal spiritual supre
macy set up for St. Peter, and through him for the Bishop
of Rome : neither of which allegations is compatible with
what has been now submitted to your consideration.
It has been already remarked that St. Peter, in his first
Epistle, adopts parts of the Epistle of St. James. St. Jude,
also, as we have seen, refers to St. James, and adopts the
language of the Second of St. Peter, who recognizes as
Scripture all the Epistles of St. Paul,f and incorporates a
great part of the Epistle of St. Jude. St. John, in his
Epistle, responds to the First of St. Peter, and interweaves
the same thoughts and words in all his three Epistles.
This mutual intertexture, if I may so call it, is a remark
able characteristic of the Books of Scripture. J
The second and third Evangelists, St. Mark and St. Luke,
pursued a wise and sure method of warranting the truth and
genuineness of each former Gospel with all the authority of
the latter. This they did by quoting its words. In the
mouth of two- or three witnesses every word is established.
Thus these Evangelists became joint vouchers for the truth
of the genuine Gospels, and, at the same time, joint oppo-
sers§ of the spurious ones, which were obtruded on the
* See S. Jerome's Cat. Script. Eccl. viii.
t 2 Pet. iii. 15, 16. See above, Lect. VII. VIII. IX.
X See above, p. 131.
? Compare Townson's Works, p. 229 ; and Dr. Owen's Observations
on the Four Gospels, p. 109.

XI.] OF THE CATHOLIC EPISTLES. 233
world. The fourth Evangelist, St. John, pursued a differ
ent course for doing the same thing ; he declared his appro
val of the foregoing Gospels, not by adopting, but, for the
most part, by omitting, what they had related, and by sup
plying what they had omitted. ->
The same is true of the Apostolic Epistles ; they also,
as we have seen, are, as it were, entwined one with another
in a loving embrace of words and sentiments. And the In
spiration of one aids in proving the Inspiration of all.
Thus, all the Epistles of the New Testament, as well as
all the Gospels, cohere together, and confirm each other.
Further ; as the beloved disciple, the blessed Evangelist
and Apostle, St. John, whose life was prolopged far beyond
that of any other writer of the New Testament, authenticates
the Gospels, so he canonizes the Epistles likewise by his
silence. If what had been taught in them had been erroneous, he
would have raised -his voice against it. But, by abstaining
from entering on those great and sublime doctrines handled
by St. Paul and St. Peter, by St. James and St. Jude, in
their Epistles, and by confining himself to the Doctrine of
Christian Love, St. John showed his approval of what they
had taught, and that it was all-sufficient, without any Addi
tions or Developments, provided it was crowned with Charity.
Thus, we see, the Unity of plan on which the Gospels and
Epistles are written bears witness to their derivation from
One and the Same Spirit. And the testimony to their In
spiration from the same beloved Disciple, St. John, is a
guarantee to us of the Divine sanction of Him, on whose
breast that Disciple leaned, and drank in Wisdom from His
mouth. We return, for a short time, to the five above-mentioned
Catholic Epistles.
We find that these Epistles, bearing the names of Apostles
16

234 THE catholic epistles. [lect.
of Christ, were received as Scripture in primitive times, by
persons who were admirably qualified to judge of their au
thority. It is true, they were not received at once by all. Scrip
ture, like all instruments in which God is pleased to use
man's agency, is subject to the laws of Time and Space.
The Books of Scripture could not be known at once to all;
and it was very necessary, as we have observed, that they,
to whom these writings were brought, should carefully ex
amine their claims before they received them as divine. This
examination required time. Some Churches had better op
portunities of ascertaining their Inspiration than others, and
received them at once; while others, whose means of de
ciding were less, suspended their judgment. If we may so
speak, there was no conspiracy in their favour. One Church
after another tried them; one Church after another approved
them ; till at length they were received by all ; and this final
Universal reception is an irrefragable proof that those
Churches were right, which received them at the first.
Let us also remark that the doubts which were entertained
concerning these Epistles in some parts of the Church, in
early times, are strong confirmations of the Inspiration of
those other main portions of Scripture, — I mean the Gospels,
the Acts of the Apostles, and St. Paul's Epistles, and the
first Epistle of St. Peter and St. John, — concerning which
no doubt was ever entertained in any part of the Church.
The doubts concerning the one show that the authority of
the other was indubitable. Thus, these doubts serve a double
purpose : by their existence, as to these five Epistles, they
prove that there was no room for doubting with respect to
the other Books of Scripture ; and by being overcome, in the
case of these Epistles, they show that these Epistles are of
equal authority with those concerning which no doubt was
ever entertained at all.

xi. j on the rule of faith. 235
Now, therefore, we turn to the allegations mentioned at
the beginning of our Discourse.
Is it true that the Canon of the New Testament was not
settled till the fourth century?
Certainly not. The Canon of Scripture was settled as
soon as it was written ; and it was not in the power of the
whole world to unsettle it. The Books of Scripture did not
become inspired by time. Eternity cannot raise the word of
man into the word of God, nor reduce the word of God into
the word of man. They were inspired from the beginning ;
and by those who had the best means of judging, they were
received as inspired from the first. Others doubted, and
were convinced. But it is no less preposterous to allege
that the Canon of Scripture was not settled till the fourth
century, than it would be to say that the Resurrection of
our Lord was not believed by the Apostles, till St. Thomas
exclaimed, My Lord and My God.
Next, it has been asked by Divines of Rome, Since the
Rule of Faith must be known, and since some portions of
Scripture were not universally received till the fourth cen
tury, can Scripture be the Rule of Faith?
To this, we answer, Scripture, — that is, the Word of God
written, — is not the Rule of Faith to those to whom it is
not given or to those who cannot know it to be the Word of
God. But it is the Rule of Faith to all to whom it is given.
This then is the question, Is the Scripture given to us ? Has
it been avouched to us by God, as His Word ? This, I say,
is the question, the only question, for us. And if this ques
tion is answered in the affirmative, then, Scripture is the
Rule of Faith to us. And let us not be deceived by the
sophistry which would endeavour to persuade us, that, be
cause all parts of Scripture were not equally known as
Scripture to all Christians in the world for some centuries,
and, we might add, are not known even now, — especially
where the reading of Scripture is prohibited, — therefore

236 on the rule of faith. [lect.
Scripture is not the Rule of Faith to those who have had
the Scripture in their possession for nearly two thousand
years. Rather let us fear lest we incur the doom pronounced
upon those who " err, not knowing the Scripture?, nor the
power of God."
Next, we must be carefully on our guard against that
other dangerous error of the Church of Rome, in placing
these five Catholic Epistles in the same category with the
Apocrypha of the Old Testament.
Of the Authors of the Apocrypha let us ever speak with
respect. But it is no mark of veneration to them, to raise
them to a level with those who were inspired by the Holy
Ghost, any more than it is real reverence for the Saints of
God, to worship them in the place of God. If the Authors
of the Apocrypha were now alive, they would be the first to
exclaim, See thou do it not.* They themselves, doubtless,
would be the first to declare the immense difference between
their own writings and the Catholic Epistles, and to protest
with sorrow and indignation against that sin which has put
them in the same class, and called them by the same name.
We, (these holy men would say,) wrote when the Pro
phetical Spirit had ceased in Israel. Christ's hands were
never laid on our heads. "j" We never felt His divine breath.
But it was vouchsafed to the Apostles, the Authors of these
Catholic Epistles, to be blessed by the Son of God. They
were baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire. They
wrote, not as we, when the Spirit was withdrawn, but when
it was given. We confess our own failings; they claim to be
inspired. We will not dare to break within the veil into the
Holy of Holies, where the Ark is enshrined, and the Books
of the Law are deposited by God's own command ; we will
not with sacrilegious hands, place our own writings there ;
we will not be guilty of profanely obtruding our Books into
* Rev. xix. 10; xxii. 9. t Luke xxiv. 50.

xi.] on the rule of faith. 237
the hands of Christ Himself, and of telling Him, who know
eth all things, that they are no less divine than those Scrip
tures which were given by God to His people, and which
He, the Son of God, received, and commanded all others to
receive as the Oracles of God. No, we will not do this.
Nor will we thrust our own writings into the hands of the
Church, and bid her accept them as of the same authority
with those which Christ has delivered to her as the Word of
God. Oh ! that the voice of the Apostle and Evangelist St. John
could reach the Roman Diotrephes, who bringeth in and
casteth out of the Church according to his will ; who mutilates
the New Testament that he may add to the Old, and dis
turbs the foundation of Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ
Himself being the head corner-stone, that he may erect a
throne for himself upon the ruins !
Lastly. The Seven Catholic Epistles are the Voice
of Christ to the World, and they ought to be heard and
read with special reference to two great events; the one
past, the destruction of Jerusalem, — the other future, — of
which that one was the type, — the Last Judgment. In the
Epistle of St. James, and the First Epistle of St. Peter, we
hear, as it were, the dirge of Jerusalem; in the others, the
funeral knell of the World.
In the former, the Judge standeth at the door, to execute
vengeance on the guilty city. " Weep and howl, ye rich
men, for your miseries that shall come upon you; ye have
lived in pleasure, and been wanton ; ye have nourished your
hearts as in a day of slaughter. All flesh is as grass, and
all the glory of man as the flower of the field; the grass
withereth and the flower thereof fadeth away, but the Word
of the Lord endureth for ever. The time is come that judg
ment must begin at the house of God. The end of all things
is at hand; a fiery trial is1 to try you."
Thus a warning was given of those miseries which were
endured by the City which rejected and condemned the Just

238 ON THE LATTER DAYS. [LECT.
One. Before that generation had passed away, in which
that dreadful deed was done, it became the prey of Famine,
Pestilence, and War, by which more than a million of per
sons were destroyed, and woes were endured, such as the
world had never seen; and at last, Jerusalem was burnt,
and trodden under foot by the Gentiles.
The last days of Jerusalem are prophetic of the last age
of the World. And the warnings addressed to ,the Jews
intimately concern us who live in the last times. In the
Epistles, therefore, which relate to Jerusalem, we see much
to excite serious reflection and sober awe in ourselves. And
the other Catholic Epistles, which prophesy of the Great
Day, speak still more forcibly to us.
It may be, my beloved brethren, that the Great Day is
still distant. But death cannot be far off from any of us;
and such as we are at our death, such shall we be at the
Tribunal of Christ.
Besides, though men are naturally most strongly impressed
with what happens before their own eyes, yet, all allowance
being made for this fact, it cannot, I think, be denied that
our own condition, in this age and country, is one which
ought to awaken the most earnest thoughts.
It was the folly and sin of the Jews to see nothing alarm
ing in their own state. Ye hypocrites, (says our Lord,) how
is it that ye cannot discern the signs of the times? Their
blindness, we know, led to their ruin. And assuredly there
is much, very much, in the world about us, to remind us of'
the latter days of Jerusalem, and of the Final Consummation
of all things.
Physical and civil calamities, Plagues, Pestilence, and
Famine, Discord political and religious, the heaving and
rocking of the foundations of society, as if they were moved
from beneath us by some dark and unquiet spirit, the open
renunciation of Christianity by some of the most powerful

XI.] ON THE RULE OF FAITH ANB PRACTICE. 239
Nations of the world (God grant that we ourselves be not of
that number !) ; the impious avowal on their part that the
Gospel shall no more be their Charter, and Christ no longer
their King; the public encouragement of Error as if it were
Truth, and the open persecution of Truth as if it were Error ;
the profanation of spiritual things by secular force, and the
patronage of unchristian principles and practices by Powers
professing to be spiritual ; their attempts to dignify Lawless
ness by the title of Liberty, and to sanctify Rebellion by
the name of Religion; the letting loose of wild licentious
ness; in a word, the preference of Barabbas to Christ;
these and other circumstances which are doubtless present
to your minds, and on which I will not now dilate, will be
enough to direct your thoughts to that awful Hour "in
which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and
the elements shall melt with fervent heat;" and the Lord
" shall come with ten thousands of His saints to execute
judgment." These things, my beloved brethren, will inspire you with
godly fear, lest you yourselves be overtaken by a doom like
that of Jerusalem. They will teach you " to possess your
souls in patience;" to make the Law of God the Rule of all
your actions; to meditate, watch, and pray. They will excite
you to stand firm, to "quit you like men, and be strong;"
for "he that endureth to the end, shall be saved," and
" nothing can harm you if ye be followers of that which is
good;" they will constrain you to perform all the duties of
your respective callings with faithfulness and love. As
Rulers and Subjects, as Parents and Children, as Masters
and Servants, you will do all with a full sense of the solemn
importance of the words of the Apostle, " Seeing then that
all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons
ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, look
ing for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God ?"

LECTURE XII.

Rev. i. 9—11.

" I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and
in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the Me that is
called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus
Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind
me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega,
the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and
send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia."
Some critics in our own day, especially on the continent
of Europe,* have affirmed, in confident terms, that the
Apocalypse, or Book of Revelation, ought not to be re
ceived as the work of the Evangelist St. John.
A belief in the Genuineness and Inspiration of the Books
which we receive as Scripture is the groundwork of our faith
and hope ; and whatever weakens this foundation, under
mines the fabric of Christianity. Therefore, on general
grounds, this question demands our serious attention.
Besides, the Apocalypse itself has a peculiar character :
it foretells the future. If it is indeed the Word of God,
* Particularly Liicke, Bretschneider, Ewald, De Wette, Schott,
Crodner, &c. " If" (says Liicke, Commentar. iiber die Schriften d.
Ev. Joannes, iv. p. 388,) " St. John wrote the Gospel which bears his
name, he cannot be the Author of tho pVpocalypse." De Wette Einleit.
\ 189, and Ewald Comment, p. 70, say the same thing, in similar
language.

THE INSPIRATION OF THE APOCALYPSE. 241
then no one can question the reality of a Future Judgment,
and of Heaven and Hell. All these are here portrayed in
the most vivid colours ; and proportioned to their import
ance is that of the present question concerning the Authority
of the Apocalypse.
We receive the Apocalypse as the Word of God. We
build upon it as such. We shall hereafter* have occasion to
show how safe and impregnable a fortress it affords us
against the fierce assaults of sceptical Philosophy, ungodly
Polity, and corrupt Religion, by which we are assailed. It
therefore concerns us all to know that our house is founded
on a Rock ; that the Apocalypse is true ; that it is based on
the everlasting foundation of Him who was, and is, and will
never cease to be.
In pursuance of this design let me call your attention, in
the first place, to a strong presumptive proof of the divine
authority of the Apocalypse.
1. The Apocalypse completes the Canon of Scripture ; and,
with reverence be it said, the Sacred Canon would be imper
fect without it. This arises from the peculiar character of
this Book.
Almighty God has been pleased to say, that " He will
do nothing, but He revealeth His secrets to His servants the
Prophets, "f Therefore it was reasonably to be expected
that some prophetical Book, revealing the future history of
the Church under the New Dispensation, would be given by
God to her, in the same manner as prophetical books for a
like purpose were vouchsafed under the Old Dispensation.
But no Book of the New Testament, except the Apoca
lypse, possesses a prophetic character ; no such prophetical
Book has ever been received by the Christian Church, ex
cept the Apocalypse ; and therefore we conclude, that the
* Lectures on the Apocalypse or Book of Revelation.
t Amos, iii. 7.

242 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
Apocalypse is a Canonical Book, and was necessary for the
completion of the Canon.
2. Let us now open the Apocalypse.
It presents itself to us as the Revelation of Jesus
Christ. Such are its first words.
Is it a genuine Revelation, or no ?
At the commencement of the Christian era, as we learn
from ancient accredited* witnesses, there were many suppo
sititious and heretical books in circulation, with such titles as
the following, —
The Revelation of Peter.
The Revelation of Paul.
The Revelation of Thomas.
These were spurious Revelations, purporting to come from
Apostles of Christ. But they have their value, as proving
to us the existence of some genuine Apostolic Revelation at
that time. No one forges counterfeits of imaginary coins :
the false medal indicates that there is a genuine one, of a
similar form, in circulation. The glass reflects the jewel;
the shadow follows the substance. Now, there is not, and
never has been, any Book of Revelation in existence which
the Christian Church has recognized as a genuine Apostolic
work, except the Apocalypse. Therefore the Apocalypse is
the true Revelation. It is the sterling coin, of which those
other Revelations were counterfeits. And thus the frauds.
of heretical utterers of base money serve to prove the truth
of the divine archetype.
3. Let us advance a step further.
Every one who opens the Apocalypse must be struck with
its commanding tone and majestic dignity. It proclaims
itself as the Revelation of Jesus Christ. " Hear what the
* See the account of the twelve different Apocryphal Books of Apo
calypse or Revelation in Fabricius, Codex Apoc. N. T. Pt. ii. p. 935,
and the authorities cited by Jones on the Canon, i. p. 20 — 33, and by
Liicke, Commentar. p. 45 — 50.

XII.] OF THE APOCALYPSE. 243
Spirit saith unto the Churches;" such is the conclusion of
each of its Seven Epistles to the Seven Churches. " Blessed
is he who readeth and keepeth the words of this prophecy.
I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the pro
phecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things,
God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this
book ; and if any man shall take away from the words of the
book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of
the book of Life."
Such is the solemn language of the Apocalypse concerning
itself. Are not these words from Heaven ?
Again. Not only does the Author thus lay claim to in
spiration, but he professes to exercise a gift peculiar to
Almighty God. He predicts the future. He lays open a
long avenue of events, rising up one after another in clear
perspective through the interval of time, extending from that
Lord's day in which he was in the Spirit upon the shores of
the isle of Patmos even to the Day of Doom. He opens the
gates of Heaven ; he displays the Throne of the Most High ;
he places us amid the angelic hierarchy, and bids us listen
to seraphic melodies; he sounds the trumpets of God's
judgments, and pours out the vials of His wrath on a guilty
world ; he calls us to witness the destruction of the seven-
hilled Babylon ; he unseals the bottomless pit ; he discloses
the dark abyss ; he shows us the awful scenes of the general
Resurrection and of the Day of Judgment : in a word, he
reveals the future, till Time is lost in Eternity.
What, therefore, must we now say ? One of two alterna
tives : either the author of the Apocalypse is divinely in
spired, or else, with reverence be it said, he is guilty of pro
fanely usurping the name and attributes of God.
4. Still further ;
If we survey the opening chapters of the Apocalypse, we
find that they consist of epistolary addresses, directed to the

244 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
seven Angels of seven Churches in seven celebrated cities in
that region of the world, which, in the language of the New
Testament, is called Asia. This Asia, you will bear in mind,
is not the vast tract of Asia according to the modern accepta
tion of the word, but it is, in Roman language, Proconsular
Asia, or Lydia.* It was a Province of not more than one hun
dred miles square, watered on the north by the river Caycus,
on the south by the Mseander, and bounded on the east by
the Phrygian hills, and on the west by the Mediterranean
sea. We take for granted, — what no one, I suppose, here
present will call in question, — that the Angels of these
seven Asiatic Churches are their several Chief Pastors, the
messengers of the Lord of Hosts ;f that is, as Christian an
tiquity witnesseth, their respective Bishops. J
The language addressed by the author of the Apocalypse
to these Angels or Bishops is very remarkable. He speaks
to them with the voice of authority ; he treats them as his
own inferiors; and he regards them as responsible to him
self. He rebukes them sharply, for the failings of their
Churches in doctrine or in discipline.
Be it further observed, that these letters were addressed to
the Angels of the Churches in order that they might be
, read openly in those Churches. §
* See Archbishop Ussher's Treatise "On the Original of Bishops
and Metropolitans," Oxford, 1641, p. 53 — 96. The whole of that essay
is very pertinent to the Apocalypse.
t Mai. ii. 7. Hag. i. 13.
X Bede, Explan. Apocalyps. in cap. i.
iSeplem stellce angeli sunt septem ecclesiarum.] Id est, rectores eccle-
siaruin. Sacerdos enim, ut Malachias ait, angel us Domini exercituum
est. — So Aquinas, cap. i. Sejitem stellas, septem ^p/scqpoj Eccl esiarum,
per quos intelliguntur universi prfelati qui sunt electi. Cap. i. p. 35,
Angelos dicit Ejdscopos propter eminentiam vitaa quam debet habere
prffilatus. — See also Abp. Usshcr, 1. c.
j! See Lightfoot on Rev. iii. The phrase " Angel of the Church" is
equivalent, he observes, to "fins rpitt) "the Minister ofthe Syna-

XII.] OF THE APOCALYPSE. 245
Thus these rebukes were public.
It is also worthy of remark, that, in' his original Greek,
the epithets, (such as dead, hot, cold, poor, rich, blind,
naked,* and the like,) which the writer uses to characterize
the qualities and condition of these several Churches, agree
in gender not with the feminine word Church, as might have
been expected, but with the masculine word Angel. They
are all masculine ; not one feminine. So that the address to
the Churches is personal to their several Angels. The author
lays on each Angel the failings of his particular Church,
and thereby (we may remark in passing) he gives a most
solemn view of Episcopal Responsibility.
Observe now more closely how he speaks of the seven
Churches thus personified by their Chief Pastors. He re
monstrates with Ephesus for having left its first love. The
Angel of Pergamos is reproved for conniving at the doctrine
of .Balaam. Thyatira is censured for suffering a Jezebel to
teach. Sardis has a name to live, but is dead. Laodicea is
neither hot nor cold. For all these faults and corruptions
the Angels of the respective Churches are held accountable,
and are reproved publicly by the Writer of the Apocalypse.
Again ; he gives them advice, as a Father would to his
Children. He exhorts them to strengthen the things that
remain : he promises them rewards for fidelity and perse
verance. If they fall away, their candlestick shall be re
moved; but he that over cometh shall eat of the fruit of the
tree of life, and shall receive a crown of never-fading glory.
Who now, it may be asked, is he, that comes forth from
the shores of Patmos to address this language of reproof to
the venerable Bishops of Asia ? Who shall thus summon
gogue," who took care for the public reading of the Law and the Pro
phets ; and these Epistles are sent accordingly to the ministers in the
several Churches, to be read openly in the congregation.
* In Chapters ii. and iii.

246 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
them before him, as to a judicial tribunal ? Who pronounce
such verdicts upon them ? Can it be any ordinary man who
thus speaks and acts ? Can a Layman, can a Presbyter,
can even a brother Bishop address such language as this to
the Chief Pastors of the Asiatic Churches ? to men who have
received their commission from the first followers of Christ,
and have had the hands of Apostles laid on their heads ? In
those early days at least, when respect for constituted au
thority was regarded as a part of religion ; and when they
were severely censured, who intruded into the province of
others,* and uttered rash judgments concerning their
spiritual Guides ; such language from an inferior, or even
from an equal, to^Christian Bishops, would have been im
possible. We are brought, therefore, to this conclusion : either the
Author of the Apocalypse was some person who stood in a
peculiar, and, we add, in the unique relation of an Ecclesi
astical Superior to these Asiatic Angels ; or else we must
confess that, in employing such language as that in which he
addressed them, he usurped the prerogative of an office
which no faithful Christian wouN have dared to invade.
It may indeed be said, that a person, inferior in dignity
to the Seven Angels of Asia, might still have been employed
by Almighty God to exhort and reprove them, as Samuel
was employed to rebuke Eli. This is indeed possible; and
this supposition, let me observe, concedes the divine mission
of the Writer ; that is, it grants the point at issue — his In
spiration. At the same time, though it be allowed to be possible,
that an inferior should be authorized and commissioned by
God to administer a rebuke to a superior and that publicly
(which Samuel was not commissioned to do to Eli) ; yet it is
much more probable that He, who is the Lover of Order,
* aKKotpiotrtloxortot, 1 Pet. iv. 15.

XII. ] OF THE APOCALYPSE. 247
especially in His Church, should have employed the Ministry
of a Superior, appointed by Himself, to rebuke and correct
an inferior.
Either, therefore, the Writer of the Apocalypse was in
spired by God, and (as we apprehend, and shall hereafter
show) superior to the Seven Angels ; or else he assumed a
function which did not belong to him, and he acted in a
manner irreconcileable with Christian duty ; and the Apoca
lypse would have been rejected by those to whom it was sent.
We shall inquire presently, how it was treated by those
to whom it was sent. In the mean' time we observe, that
this authoritative and increpatory tone, to which I have ad
verted, may be regarded as presumptive evidence of the
superior dignity of the Writer. By using it, he proves that
he is persuaded of the validity of his own claim to Inspira
tion. He will not prophesy smooth things to the Churches :
he will not bribe the Angels by flattery. No. He will tell
them the truth, even at the risk of offending some, or of
creating opposition from all. Observe, too, how he does,
what no forger would ever have done, he challenges examin
ation of his own claims. He praises one of the Churches,
that of Ephesus, for having tried and convicted a false pro
phet, and thus invites them to examine Ms own prophecy.
" I know thy works, that thou canst not bear them that are
evil : thou hast tried them which say they are Apostles, and
are not, and hast found them liars."* He thus courts a
scrutinizing examination of his own credentials. He will
take good care, that no one shall be able to say, that the
reception of the Apocalypse was due to any persuasive arts
of the writer, and not to its being from God.
5. We are now arrived at a very important point in our
inquiry. * Rev. ii. 2.

248 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
How was the Apocalypse received by the Seven Angels
and Seven Churches of Asia ?
Happily we have abundant materials for a reply to this
question. The first witness is Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis, a city at
a very few miles distance from Laodicea, one of the Seven
Churches. He was, also, a disciple of St. John, and a con
temporary with, and in a certain sense a colleague of, the
Seven Angels, whom the Author of the Apocalypse ad
dressed.* He was very diligent in collecting memorable
facts concerning the Apostles, and their works : and he re
ceived the Apocalypse as the work of the Evangelist St.
John.")" His testimony is of greater value, on account of his near
ness to Laodicea; for the Church of Laodicea could not
have been ignorant of the authorship of a book addressed to
itself; and if the Apocalypse had not been the work of St.
John, we cannot imagine that the Laodiceans would have
allowed such an unfavourable! character of their Church, as
is given in the Apocalypse, to be circulated throughout
Christendom, § in the name and with the authority of St.
* Iren. V. 33. IlartMis 'ladvvov axovatrji, TSo^vxdpnov Si Itftupoj. —
Euseb. iii. 39. S. Hieron. Catal. Script, xviii. Tom. iv. p. 109, and
Epist. ad Theodoram, iv. p. 581.
t As the fact of this testimony of Papias has been recently ques
tioned by some, it may be necessary to state that Andreas and Arethas
(Prolog, in Apocalyp.) refer to Papias, as vouching for the inspiration
of the Apocalypse ; and that Irenseus, who unhesitatingly affirms it to
be St. John's, refers to Papias as among his authorities (Hasr. v. 33):
and Eusebius speaks of the doctrine of Papias proceeding from ai
drtoatoiixai 8njy»ja£tf, Euseb. iii. 39 ; and Papias appears to have com
mented on the Apocalypse. See the important Scholium in Cramer's
Catena, Rev. xii. 7 — 9.
X Rev. iii. 14—18.
JS It may be questioned whether a feeling of shame did not in fact
operate on the Council of Laodicea, and lead to the omission of the
Apocalypse from its list of books to be read publicly.

XII.] OF THE APOCALYPSE. 249
John. If the Apocalypse had been a forgery, they must
have known it to be so ; and knowing it so to be, they must
have exposed it to the world.
This observation, you will observe, applies to others of
the Seven Churches, who are addressed in similar terms of
rebuke: and it adds much weight to the important facts,
first, that there is a great amount of primitive testimony
from the Seven Churches, assigning the Apocalypse to St.
John ; and that there is none from that quarter which
ascribes it to any one else.
The next testimony to which we would refer is that of
Justin Martyr. He was born at Sichem in Samaria at the
beginning of the second century, and was eminent for his
erudition, which was improved by intercourse with Christian
and Heathen Philosophers in Egypt, Italy, and other coun
tries which he visited. About'the middle of the second cen
tury he came to the city of Ephesus, where he held a two
days' conference with Trypho, one of the most learned Jews
of his day. In the narrative which he published of this
dialogue, Justin Martyr quotes the Apocalypse, and affirms
that it is written by one of the Apostles of Christ, whose
name is John.*
This assertion, be it observed, was made only about half
a century after the death of St. John, and it was made at
Ephesus the mother city of Asia, the principal of the Seven
Churches, the city in which St. John passed a great part of
his life, in which he died, and in which he was buried.f
This testimony, therefore, of Justin Martyr, is of great
value; and it confirms the proof, that St. John was the
Author of the Apocalypse.
* Euseb. iv. 18, StaXoyoj/ iiti tiji 'Efytolav rtoteas rtpbf Tpvfyava tuv
tots "E3pauo» iTitBrijtitatov Tititoirflat fiijivritat tijs 'ladvvov 'Artoxa-
Xvtya; tfaipws tov 'Artosto'Kov avtrjv fivat %iyav.
t S. Justin Dialog, c. Tryphone, c. 80, 81. See also S. Hieron.
Catal. c. ix. 17

250 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
We pass next to the evidence of Melito. He was Bishop
of one of the Seven Churches, Sardis, in the second century ;
a successor, therefore, of one of the Seven Angels addressed
in the Apocalypse. The witness of Sardis and its Bishop
cannot be suspected of partiality ; for Sardis, again, is one
of the Churches which is rebuked with great severity in the
Apocalypse. " Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art
dead."* And the character of Melito stands pre-eminently
high both for piety and learning. He is, therefore, a very
credible witness. It is a very pleasing reflection, that the
reproofs of the Apocalypse were not without their fruits :
and probably the pious vigilance of Melito, the Bishop of
Sardis, was quickened by them. He laboured diligently for
the souls committed to his care; especially in establishing
their faith in the Word of God. He showed a most laudable
zeal with regard to the Canon of the Old Testament. In
order to assure himself and his Church of Sardis concerning
the Books of the Ancient Scriptures, as received by the
Churches of Palestine, he visited that country in person, and
he has given the result of his critical inquiries in a very inte
resting and valuable Epistle, f And it cannot be supposed
that he who, we see, was so diligent and circumspect in his in
quiries concerning the Old Testament, would have been less
careful respecting the New, and especially concerning that
particular Book of the New Testament, the Apocalypse,
which contains an address to his own predecessor, and to his
own Church ; and to which, on other grounds, his best con
sideration must have been given, for he wrote a Commen
tary;!; upon the Apocalypse.
The evidence, therefore, of Melito is very important. He
also received the Apocalypse as the work of St. John.
The latest witness to whom we shall here appeal is St.
* Rev. iii. 1.
t Euseb. iv. 26. S. Hieron. Catal. c. xxiv. See above, Lect. III.
X Euseb. v. 26. S. Hieron. Catal. xxiv.

XII.J OF THE APOCALYPSE. 251
Irenseus. He was probably a native of Asia Minor, whence
he migrated to France, where he became Bishop of Lyons
towards the close of the second century. In his youth he
had been acquainted with St. Polycarp, who was placed in
the see of Smyrna by the Apostles, and, as some affirm, by
St. John himself;* and who is supposed by learned men —
for instance, by Archbishop Ussher — to be no other than
the Angel of the Church of Smyrna, who is addressed in the
Apocalypse. In his great work against heresies, published only about
ten years after St. Polycar^'s martyrdom, Irenseus refers to
the Apocalypse, f He mentions ancient Manuscripts of it,
which he himself had examined ; and he speaks of a particu
lar readingX of a particular passage§ in the Apocalypse,
(that concerning the number of the Beast,) as being con
firmed by the authority of those " who had seen St. John
face to face." In this single work he quotes the Apocalypse
no less than twenty times ; he makes long extracts from it ;
and speaks of it in the most unhesitating manner, as in
spired Scripture, and as the work of St. John.
The testimony of St. Irenseus is of more value, because it
was probably derived from Asiatic Bishops; for example,
from Papias, whom he mentions as an authority, and espe
cially from St. Polycarp, 1| whose life, like that of his Master,
St. John, seems to have been providentially prolonged to
almost a patriarchal duration, in order that he might be a
witness of the living Voice of Apostolic Teaching, till the
Written Word was generally diffused.
* Tertullian. de Praescr. c. 32. S. Iren. iii. 3, 4. ap. Euseb. v. 2ft.
cp. Euseb. iv. 14. S. Hieron. Catal. S. C. xvii.
t Clinton, Fasti Romani, a. d. 166. Cave, i. pp. 66, 67. de Ironaso.
X Iren. v. 30. cf. Euseb. v. 8. Irenaeus also quotes the Apocalypse;
as St. John's in Fragm. Pfaff. p. 25.
§ Rev. xiii. 18.
I| Euseb. iv. 14. v. 20.

252 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
Such, then, is the testimony from the country* to which
the Apocalypse was originally sent; such, we say, is the
contemporary witness of the Asiatic Churches to which it
was addressed. Next : be it carefully remembered, that not
a tittle of evidence of a contrary kind can be adduced from
those Churches, and from that age.
No doubt whatever was entertained by the Apocalyptic
Churches concerning the inspiration and genuineness of the
Apocalypse. On the contrary, those were condemned as
holding heretical opinions, the Alogi, for instance, of the
second century, who denied the Apocalypse to be St. John's, f
Very striking are the words of Tertullian, at the close of the
second century: — "We can appeal to the Churches which
are the foster-children of St. John ; for though Marcion, the
heretic, rejects his Apocalypse, yet the series of the Asiatic
Bishops derives its origin from St. John. "J All the Apoca
lyptic Churches ascribed the Apocalypse to St. John.
6. Let us now pause here for a moment, and consider the
facts before us.
A Writing, claiming to be from Heaven, dictated in lan
guage of the most solemn and sublime kind, predicting
future events, presenting a series of prophetical pictures of
the World's History to the end of Time, is sent to Seven
Apostolic Churches of the most distinguished cities in the
light and splendor of Asia : to Ephesus, the rich emporium
of the East ; to Smyrna, the nurse of Poets ; and to Sardis,
* Mr. I. C. Knight, in pp. 12 — 15 of an ingenious Essay on the
Apocalypse, (Lond. 1842,) has shown reason for believing, that St.
Ignatius, in Epist. ad Philad. 6, imitated the words in Rev. iii. 12,
which, he observes, were addressed to the same Church, that of Phila
delphia ; and therefore St. Ignatius, the friend of Polycarp, and scho
lar of St. John, may be added to the witnesses in favour of the inspira
tion of the Apocalypse.
t Epiphan. Hseroa. li. 3, 4, 32, 33. Philastr. Haeres. Ix. al. 13.
X Tertullian, c. Marcion. iv. 5. See ibid. iii. 14.

XII.] OF THE APOCALYPSE. 253
the ancient residence of Kings. It purports to come from
an exile on the barren rock of Patmos, an isle almost within
sight of Ephesus, and therefore very accessible to those to
whom the book is sent ; it speaks in the voice of authority
to those Churches, and to their spiritual Rulers; it pro
nounces judicial sentence upon them ; it rebukes their fail
ings, and commends their virtues ; it promises blessings to
those who receive the words of its own prophecy, and de
nounces eternal woe on all who add to, or take away from,
it. In a word, it speaks to men as being itself from God.
And what is the result ?
This Book — with these claims, reproofs, promises, and
threats — is received by all these Churches as the Word of
God ; and is ascribed by them to the beloved Disciple, the
blessed Apostle and Evangelist, St. John.
Such is their testimony ; and they could not have been
deceived in this matter. St. John was no stranger to them.
He lived and he died among them. If then the Apocalypse
is not from God, and if it is not the work of St. John, it can
not be imagined that the Apostolic Churches of Asia would
have conspired to receive it. Their duty, both to God and
to the Apostle, required them not to do so. So far from re
ceiving it, the Angels of these Churches, with one voice,
would have protested against it. Not only they would not
have recognized it as divine, not only they would not have
received it as the work of St. John, but they would have
condemned it as falsely ascribed to the Apostle, and impi
ously laying claim to the incommunicable attributes of God.
It would have taken a place among those spurious Revela
tions (to which we have referred) which were ascribed by
heretics to Peter, Paul, and Thomas; and the world would
have heard no more of the Apocalypse of St. John.
7. We are now arrived at a point of our argument, in
which we are led to observe, that we have other evidence —

254 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
I mean silent evidence — in behalf of the inspiration and
genuineness of the Apocalypse : and this evidence is of the
most cogent kind ; for it is the evidence of St. John himself.
The Apocalypse was published at the close of the reign of
the Roman Emperor Domitian ;* that is, about the year of
our Lord 95. Some have assigned an earlier,\ but no one
a later, date than this. Now it is certain that St. John sur
vived till the reign of the Emperor Trajan ;J that is, till, or
beyond the year of our Lord 100. Some authorities place
his death so low as the year 120. § Certain, also, it is, that
in, or soon after, the year 100, when he had returned from
Patmos, the Bishops of Asia, that is, the Angels of the Seven
Churches, whom the Author of the Apocalypse had. ad
dressed, came to St. John at Ephesus, to which city he
returned after his banishment in Patmos, and where he then
resided, and that they brought to him copies of the three
Gospels of St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. Luke, and de
sired of him a public declaration of his Apostolical judg-
* " Sistoria nota est," says Bede, Explan. Apocalyps. in cap. i.
" Joannem a Domitiano Caesare propter evangelium in hanc insulam
relegatum ; cui tunc congrue secreta datum est cceli penetrare, cum
certa terrarum spatia negabatur excedere." — Lampe, Prolegom. ad
Joann. 61, 62, says : " Tota antiquitas in eo abunde consentit quod Do-
mitianus exilii Joannis author fuit." Cp. Vitringa, Anacr. ad Rev. iv.
1, and vi. 1.
t The use of the Pauline Benediction, Rev. i. 4, xxii. 21, is a con
clusive proof that it could not have been written under Nero. See
above, pp. 191, 192.
X Hieron. Script. Eccl. v. Joannes.
\ S. Chrysostom (?) in S. Joann. Homil. torn. viii. p. 130, Appen
dix, ed. Paris, 1728. l%6pistoi o 'ladwr/; vrtb Aofihftavov iii trjv I'ijoov
trjv xa\ov^.sv7jv Hatpov yiyvttai, Sta tov Xoyor tov ®£Ov, xai ixx%7]Oiav
Gvyypdtyhi tjv iSn^iv avt<j> & ©£05 xai ' \7toxd'hv$<A> pvatypiav, hjtsita xai
fas dyias tphlf irt(iato7.d( . . . lita irtavABCiv trji Ijoptaj xat a'Kajijidvii tr/v
''Etytoov, xdxhios Biatpi^utv ovvtdttsi tb EiayyiXiov dv \tdv hxatov,
Siapxiaas iaa b'Kuv ixatbv ilxooiv. See other authorities in Lampe's
Prolegomena.

XII.] OF THE APOCALYPSE. 255
ment concerning these Gospels ; and that St. John openly
pronounced these Three Gospels to be Authentic, Genuine,
and Inspired ; and that, at the earnest request of the same
Asiatic Bishops, St. John composed his own Gospel, as the
full and final consummation of the Evangelical Volume.*
This well-attested fact proves that the Apostle St. John,
aged as he then was, was not only blessed with full intellec
tual vigour during his exile in Patmos, but that his faculties
were preserved unimpaired after his return to Ephesus, and
that he was in habits of intercourse with the Angels of the
Seven Churches of Asia for some years after the Apocalypse
was written.
Now, it will be remembered that St. John was the last
surviving Apostle of Christ, and that he was also Metropo
litan of Asia; and Ephesus, the civil capital of Asia, was
his abode or Metropolitan See, from which he administered
the ecclesiastical affairs of the Province of Proconsular Asia,
or Lydia, in which all the Seven Churches were situated.
It will he recollected, also, that St. John not only took an
active part, as from his Apostolic character and office might
be expected, in authenticating genuine Scriptures, as we
have just seen; but that, as might also be expected, he ex
erted no less vigilance and authority in condemning suppo
sititious books, pretending to be Scripture.
In one of his Epistles he says, "Beloved, believe not
every spirit, but try the Spirits whether they are of God :
for many deceivers are gone forth into the world."f And
it is expressly recorded of him, that when a writing, profess
ing to be a canonical history of the Acts of St. Paul, had
been composed by a presbyter of the city of Ephesus, St.
John convicted the Author, and condemned the book.;}.
* See above, Lect. VI. and Photii Bibl. Cod. 254.
t 1 John iv. 1.
% See above, Lect. V.

256 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
Suppose now, for argument's sake, the Apocalypse not to
be inspired, and not to be written by St. John.
Here is a book, speaking from Heaven ; speaking in the
name of Jesus Christ and of the Holy Spirit ; speaking to
the Bishops and Churches of Asia ; that is, to those of St.
John's own province; and exercising the very functions
which belonged to St. John himself, and to him alone ;
assuming the office of administering rebuke and correction
to the Bishops of St. John's own jurisdiction.
Even if any one can bring himself to imagine that the
seven Asiatic Angels — devout and holy men, like Polycarp
— would have tolerated such presumptuous usurpation,
(which is, indeed, incredible,) no one, I apprehend, will sup
pose that the one Asiatic Arch-angel — I mean St. John —
would have borne it. No ; he would have treated the author
of the Apocalypse as he treated Cerinthus. He would have
condemned him as he condemned the Asiatic presbyter ; and
we should have known the author of the Apocalypse only as
a second Diotrephes.
We conclude, then, from the voice of the Angels, and from
the silence of the Archangel, that the Apocalypse is inspired,
and that its Author is St. John.
8. Before we confirm this conclusion by a brief appeal to
internal evidence, let us observe, that thi3 primitive testi
mony could not be invalidated by more recent allegations of
a contrary kind, even if -those allegations did not admit of
being easily refuted on other ground in addition to those of
lateness in time.
Concerning this matter of fact, I mean the genuineness of
the Apocalypse, the testimony of the Asiatic Churches of
St. John's own age is worth more than all the opinions of all
subsequent time. The truth also is, that all sceptical sur
mises on this matter, which are but slight and partial, may

XII.] OF THE APOCALYPSE. 257
be easily accounted for. First, (as will be shown elsewhere)*
from the erroneous imputation of Millenarian doctrines to
the Apocalypse, which cast a temporary cloud over it ; and,
next, from the reserve practised by some Churches, f (as, in
deed, by our own,) not publicly reading the Apocalypse in
their religious assemblies ;J whence it came to pass that the
Apocalypse was not inserted in some lists of Books to be
read in the Church, and thence by some it was erroneously
imagined not to be Canonical.
But these allegations, and all others of a like tendency,
soon lost all credit ; and the primitive belief concerning the
inspiration and genuineness of the Apocalypse became uni
versal. In the prophetic words of Eusebius,§ — "Though
men dispute on this side and that concerning the Apocalypse,
yet assuredly in due time its claims will be acknowledged,
on the ground|| of primitive testimony."
9. If now we open the Book itself, every thing there har
monizes with this belief.^
The Author calls himself John. " I John, who am also
your brother, and companion in tribulation.** John to the
Seven Churches which are in Asia. ft I John saw these
things and heard them."JJ Whom would this name, placed
* Lectures on the Apocalypse.
t Cone. Laod. can. Ix. Other Churches pursued a different course.
By a decree ofthe Fourth Council of Toledo, (a. d. 633, can. xvii.) a
Presbyter was liable to excommunication if he did not read the Apo
calypse in the Church at a certain period of the year.
X See Hooker, V. xx. 4, with Mr. Keble's note.
§ Euseb. iii. 24.
|| See also St. Jerome, ad Dardan. Ep. 129.
f I have not here entered into the question of alleged discrepancy
of style between the Apocalypse and St. John's Gospel. (Euseb. vii.
25.) This has been already noticed, Lecture IX. and has "been well
discussed by Guerike, Einleitung in das N. T. I 60, p. 555. And,
after all, the subject of the Apocalypse is so different from that of the
Gospel, that arguments from style are scarcely admissible here.
** Rev. i. 9. tt Rev. i- 4. XX Rev. xxii. 8.

258 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
thus by itself without any epithet or accompaniment, sug
gest ? Whom but the Apostle and Evangelist St. John ?
He, and he alone, was John ; their brother and their pastor,
and their guide : and no one else in his age, writing to St.
John's own Churches, would have ventured to assume that
name, in this bold and unqualified simplicity.
Again : the Author writes from the isle of Patmos, where
he was for the testimony of the Lord Jesus; and we know
that St. John was banished to that island by the Emperor
Domitian, when he persecuted the Church.*
It may be asked, perhaps, Why then does he not call him
self an Apostle ? We ask, in reply, Why does not St.
James ?f Why does not St. Jude ? Why does not St. John
himself, in his Epistles ? The name John would suffice to
identify him ; and, by not assuming the title of Apostle, and
calling himself only a servant of God, and their brother in
tribulations, he would show, that though he had the gift of
prophecy, and was permitted to understand all mysteries, and
to speak ivith the tongue of Angels, yet he was not elated
above measure by the abundance of his Revelations ; and the
more he was exalted by God, the more he would humble
himself with men. The secret of the Lord is among them
that fear Him; and mysteries are revealed to the meek.
Further : the Author of the Apocalypse, modest as he is
in the description of himself, speaks, as we have seen, to the
Angels of Asia with all authority : he distributes praise and
blame like a Ruler and a Judge. Now, there was only one
person then alive in the whole world who was entitled to use
this language ; and that one person was not only entitled to
use it, by his double character as the last surviving Apostle,
and as Metropolitan of Asia, but he was solemnly bound to
use it. By reason of his office, he was obliged, in duty to
Christ, who called him to it, " to speak, and exhort, and
* See above pp. 254, 255. t See above, pp. 215, 216.

Xm] OF THE APOCALYPSE. 259
rebuke with all authority." He was pledged "to be no re
specter of persons ; to be instant in season, out of season ;
to reprove, rebuke, exhort." This one person was St. John.
Again : we find that the Author of the Apocalypse, who
writes to the Seven Angels, or Bishops, gives them an Apos
tolic Benediction, — " The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be
with you."
And ivithout all contradiction (says the Apostle) the less
is blessed of the better, or greater. Therefore, again, we
infer that the writer of the Apocalypse is some one greater
than the Bishops of Asia. He is some one entitled to bless
them. Now, there was one person in the world, and one
alone, who, in a spiritual sense, was greater than the Bishops
of Asia, and so was entitled to bless them, and might justly
be expected to do so ; and that person was St. John.
I leave it, my brethren, to you to consider the remark
able propriety which characterizes the divine selection of
St. John, and particularly of St. John such as he was at
Patmos, for the treatment of such sublime subjects as those
which are described in the Apocalypse.
His Gospel proclaims what a Divine spirit was in him.
Who so fit as he to speak of the mysteries revealed in the
Apocalypse ?
He was the beloved Disciple. He had been admitted to
our Lord's most private retirements ; to the most solemn
scenes of His sufferings and sorrow. He had been with Him
on the Mountain of Transfiguration, in the Garden of Geth-
semane, in the High Priest's hall, and at the Cross.
All his brother Apostles had now been taken away by
death. He was left the last. He was now a prisoner and
an exile in a lonely island. As the winds blew, and as the
waves dashed on the rocky shores of Patmos, so the storms
of the world were now beating against the rock of the
Church. But the aged and lonely Apostle was blessed and

260 ON THE INSPIRATION AND AUTHORSHIP [LECT.
cheered with glorious visions. He was visited by Jesus
Christ. The exile from the world became a citizen of
Heaven ; and the barren cliffs of Patmos were made more
beautiful than Paradise. The Man of Sorrows, whom St.
John had beheld in His agony at Gethsemane, He whom he
had seen standing bound before Caiaphas, crowned with
thorns, mocked by Herod, condemned by Pilate, pierced by
the soldier, and dying on the Cross, was now revealed to
him enthroned in Heaven, and adored by myriads of Cheru
bim and Seraphim kneeling before Him. " I am Alpha
and Omega, the First and the Last. I am He that liveth,
and was dead ; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen ;
and have the keys of hell and of death." He is seen chain
ing Satan, and casting him into the gulf of fire. He is seen
coming in the clouds of Heaven to judge the world. " He
hath on His vesture His Name written, King of Kings, and
Lord of Lords." His Kingdom is established for ever.
The Voices of Heaven cry, " Halleluia, for the Lord God
Omnipotent reigneth." They who have been slain for Him,
they who have kept His commandments, are seen glorified
for ever. They are received into the heavenly palace, to
the marriage feast of the Son of God. The former things
are passed away. There is " no more death nor sorrow ;
and God wipes all tears from their eyes."
Consider how appropriate, how beautiful, how consistent
it is with the affectionate tenderness of Christ for His dear
and faithful servants, that He should cheer His beloved Dis
ciple, St. John, now aged, alone, and an exile, with these
glorious Visions ; that He should show Himself in Heaven
to him who had seen Him on the cross ; that He should re
veal Himself to him, as He will one day appear in His awful
majesty, to judge the Quick and Dead. How significant
also is it of Christ's love to His Church, sorrowing, afflicted,
widowed in this world, that He should not call away His last
surviving Apostle before He had revealed to him the future

XII.] OF THE APOCALYPSE. 261
glorious condition of the beloved Bride, when re-united to
Her Lord in Heaven.

What, therefore, my Christian friends and brethren, can
be more full of comfort to us than the view which this sub
ject presents ? Heaven is our home : here on earth we are
exiles; we are in Patmos. Especially,. in these our days,
the heavens are dark ; the sea is high ; the waves dash upon
the rock: "the floods are risen, 0 Lord; the floods have
lift up their voice." Ours is an age of storms. The beach
below us is strewn with wrecks — the wrecks of Empires.
Tet in this dark gloom of the world, in this our solitude and
exile, we may have inward peace, and light and hope and
joy. If we love Christ with St. John, if we suffer for Christ
with him, we too, like him, shall be visited by Christ. His
Visions will be ours. His Revelation will be ours. Our
Patmos, also, will be Paradise. And we shall pass from the
storms of earth to the eternal sunshine of Heaven ; and from
the dreary solitude of our worldly exile to the blissful man
sions of our Father's House. Amen.

APPENDIX.

APPENDIX A.
ROMISH VINDICATION OF THE TRENT CANON OF
SCRIPTURE.

Vicenzi, Sessio Quarta Concilii Tridentini Vindicata Romse, 1842. —
p. 1. Quid sibi velint in Scripturis vocabula Proto-Canonicum et
Deutero-Canonicum. (a) Libris turn veteris turn novi testamenti nomen Scripturse
Proto Canonicse vel Deutero-Canonicae inditum fuit. Differentia
autem istarum ex hoc orta est. Proto- Canonici libri ita appellati
fuere, siquidem Ecclesia ipsos doctrina coalesti praeditos divinos
Bemper cognovit, neque super his dubium aliquod vel ex Hebrae-
oram, seu Christianorum parte exortum est. Alteri vero Deutero-
Canonici nuncupati fuere in simplicem priorem distinctionem
tantum, quatenus a Judaeis rejecti, et Christiani nonnulli de iis
siluerunt, vel de eorum divina auctoritate primis Ecclesiae tem-
poribus (si ita dicere fas est) dubitarunt; et, ut ait Bellarminus,
"Quorum non semper seque certa atque explorata auctoritas fuit,"
usque dum Patres Concilii Tridentini legitime congregati sessione
quarta istos libros divinos habendos decreverunt, eademque ac
primos auctoritate praeditos esse, adeo ut numeratis singillatim
omnibus libris, quos nunc editio Vulgata exhibet, sic concludit :
Ecclesia Catholica legi consueverunt, et in veteri Vulgata editione
habentur, pro sacris et canonicis non suscepesit .... anathema sit."
" Si quis libros ipsos integros cum omnibus suis partibus, prout in
II. Quamvis aliquando de horum Bibliorum divinitate dubita-
tum fuit, vel potius, si qui numero paucissimi, praeter alios pluri-
mos, qui contra hos stetere, Scripturas Deutero-Canonicas in
dubium voearunt; et si Ecclesia Christi de hac re siluit, nihil
officit. Ecclesia enim primis temporibus hujus negotii solutionem
transegit, et opportunamnon existimavit; nisi dicere velimus, tunc
temporis neque haereticorum partes, nee singulare studium ad
istarum Scripturarum auctoritatem labefactandam inter Christianos
18

266 APPENDIX A.
extitisse ; exquibus neque Ecclesiae judicium de hac re exspectan-
dum erat, etiamsi de hoc eidem persuasum esset, et firmam Deutero-
Canonicarum veritatem teneret, ac divinitatem. Potissimum autem
hoc summae ejusdem Ecclesiae prudentiae est concedendum, cui
contra Hebraeos hasce Scripturas reprobantes agendum erat ; ut
hoc infra maxime patebit. Quando autem opportunitatem ani-
madvertit de istarum divina inspiratione firmanda, et contra
Lutherum et Calvinum eorumque commilitones, qui aperte divinum
in ipsis afflatum negabant, et his diebus omni conatu adversantur,
eadem Ecclesia contra eosdem judicium tulit, ac publico et generali
decreto, perpetuas constantique traditioni innixa, Deuterarum Scrip-
turarum auctoritatem, earumque auctores, Spiritu Sancto afflante,
scripsisse declaravit.
(b) Idem Vincenzi, p. 46. — Tandem in quasstionem revocantes,
quae divus interpres Hieronymus, in libros Salomonis dixit :
" Legat, nempe, ad cedificationem plebis, non ad auctoritatem dog-
matum ecclesiasticorum confirmandam." Et afiud in Tobiam :
" Cujus auctoritas ad roboranda illa,c[uce in contentionem veniunt,
minus idonea judicatur." Praeter illud, quod saspissime in suis
scriptis Deutero-Canonicas Scripturas arcessierit, utpote divina auc
toritate prseditas, hoc argumentum sub dilemmatis specie in medio
ponamus. Vel* Hieronymus, praedictis similibus verbis, divinitus
inspiratas has Posteriores Scripturas credidit, seu* aliter sensit. Si
divina inspiratione scripta fuisse haec Biblia credebat Sanctus,
necesse est sustollere discrepantiam, quam ille superius commentus
est, et alias causas, scilicet viros, loca, seu tempora repetere, inter
quas maxime esset notuwld. prudentia haud illorum auctoritate
coram Judceis utendi, sicuti dictum est; nam dum divinarum
Scripturarum titulo insignita sunt ab eodem, nulla differentia inter
Priores et Posteriores Scripturas est admittenda, quoniam unus
idemque Spiritus, essentia immutabilis, sapiens, suisque in verbis
infallibilis auctor primarius esset, ac simplex instrumentum scriptor
moneret. Contra vero, si divus pater Biblia eadem nonnisi ingenii
humani foetum ac praeter inspirationem noverat, eidem nulla
* Such grammatical errors as these, with which this work, written
by a Roman Professor, and printed at the Roman Propaganda,
abounds, indicates much degeneracy in Italian Latinity.

APPENDIX A. 267
ratione ex iis, utpote divini libri, et Sci'ipturarum partes, plurima
testimonia sumenda forent, neque nomine, neque honoribus paria
existimanda illis Proto-Canonicis quasi libri divini, scripta sacra,
vel prophetiea, ut an tea egisse ostendi; ad summum, doctor assti-
matione, et auctoritate eos exornasset, quam scriptis Ecclesia? doc-
torum, qui eum praecesserunt, impertivit, quod nullibi fecit, nee
excogitavit. Certo, nobis Hieronymi zelum, et animum illius effervescentem,
atque cetatem condonantibus, doctor cunctis praesto erit turn epis-
copis complacendo, consuetudinem seu Ecclesiae traditionem reco-
lendo, turn doctrinam Catholicam et Apostolicam complectendo, ac
tandem Ecclesiae Romanse exhibendo se socium.

18

APPENDIX B.
ON THE TRUE CHARACTER AND POSITION OF THE
APOCRYPHA.

Hooker, Ecclesiastical Polity, v. 20.
Of Preaching by the public Reading of other profitable instructions;
and concerning Books Apocryphal.
Other public Headings there are of books and writings not
canonical, whereby the Church doth also preach, or openly make
known the doctrine of virtuous conversation; whereupon, besides
those things in regard whereof we are thought to read the Scrip
tures of God amiss, it is thought amiss, that we read in our
Churches any thing at all besides the Scriptures.
To exclude the reading of any such profitable instruction as
the Church hath devised for the better understanding of Scripture,
or for the easier training up of the people in holiness and righte
ousness of life, they plead,* that God in the Law would have no
thing brought into the Temple, neither besoms, nor flesh-hooks,
nor trumpets, but those only which were sanctified ; that, " for the
expounding of darker places," we ought to follow the Jews'
Polity,t who under Antiochus, where they had not the commodity
* T. C. [i. e. Thomas Cartwright, the celebrated Puritan Divine]
lib. i. p. 196. " Neither the Homilies, nor the Apocrypha, are at all
to be read in the Church. Wherein, first, It is good to consider the
order which the Lord kept with his people in times past, when He
commanded, Exod. xxx. 29, that no vessel nor no instrument, either
besom, or flesh-hook, or pan, &c. should come into the Temple, but
those only which were sanctified and set apart for that use. And in
the Book of Numbers He will have no other trumpets blown to call
the people together, but those only which were set apart for that pur
pose. Numb. x. 2."
t T. C. lib. i. p. 197. " Besides this, the Polity of the Church of
God in times past is to be followed," &c.

APPENDIX B. 269
of Sermons, appointed always at their meetings somewhat out of
the Prophets to be read together with the Law, and so by the one
made the other plainer to be understood; that before and after
our Saviour's coming, they neither read Onkelos' nor Jonathan's
Paraphrase, though having both, but contented themselves with
the reading only of Scriptures;* that if in the Primitive Church
there had been any thing read besides the monuments of the Pro
phets and Apostles, Justin Martyr and Origen,f who mention
these, would have spoken of the other likewise; that, the most
ancient and best Councils forbid any thing to be read in Churches,
saving Canonical Scripture only; J that, when other things were
afterwards permitted,§ fault was found with it, it succeeded but ill,
the Bible itself was thereby in time quite and clean thrust out.||
Which arguments, if they be only brought in token of the au
thors' good-will and meaning towards the cause which they would
set forward, must accordingly be accepted of by them who already
are persuaded the same way. But if their drift and purpose be to
persuade others, it would be demanded, by what rule the legal
hallowing of besoms and flesh-hooks must needs exclude all other
readings in the Church save Scripture.
Things sanctified were thereby in such sort appropriated unto
God, as that they might never afterwards again be made common.
For which cause, the Lord, to sign and mark them as his own, ap
pointed oil of holy ointment, the like whereunto it was not lawful
to make for ordinary and daily uses.^f Thus the anointing of
Aaron and his sons tied them to the office of the priesthood for
ever;** the anointing, not of those silver trumpetsff (which Moses
as well for secular as sacred uses was commanded to make, not to
sanctify), but the unction of the tabernacle, the table, the laver,
the altar of God, with all the instruments appertaining thereunto,
this made them for ever holy unto Him, in whose service they
were employed.JJ
* Acts xiii. 15 ; xv. 21.
t Justin. Apol. 2. Origen; Horn. 1. super Exod. [11. 129.] et in
Judic. [458.]
X Concil. Laod. can. 59. \ Concil. Vasens. 2.
H Concil. Colon, par. 2. [c. 6. a. d. 1536.] \ Exod. xxx. 25, 32.
** Exod. xl. 15. ttNum. x. 2. J J Exod, xxvii. 3 ; xxx. 26— 28.

270 APPENDIX B.
But what of this? Doth it hereupon follow, that all things
now in the Church, from the greatest to the least, are unholy,
which the Lord hath not himself precisely instituted? for so those
rudiments, they say, do import.* Then is there nothing holy,
which the Church by her authority hath appointed; and conse
quently all positive Ordinances that ever were made by Ecclesias
tical power touching spiritual affairs, are profane, they are unholy.
I would not wish them to undertake a work so desperate as to
prove, that for the people's instruction no kind of reading is good,
but only that which the Jews devised under Antiochus, although
even that be also mistaken. For, according to Eliasf the Levite
(out of whom it doth seem borrowed), the thing which Antiochus
forbad was the public reading of the Law, and not Sermons upon
the Law. Neither did the Jews read a portion of the Prophets
together with the Law to serve for an interpretation thereof, be
cause Sermons were not permitted them; but, instead of the Law,
which they might not read openly, they read of the Prophets that
which in likeness of matter came nearest to each section of their
Law. Whereupon, when afterwards the liberty of reading the
Law was restored, the self-same custom as touching the Prophets
did continue still. If neither the Jews have used publicly to read
their Paraphrasts, nor the Primitive Church for a long time any
other writings than Scripture,! except the cause of their not doing
* T. C. lib. i. p. 197. " The Lord would by these rudiments and
paedagogie teach, that He would have nothing brought into the Church
but that which He had appointed."
t Elias Thesb. in verbo Patar.
X T. C. lib. i. p. 197. " This practice continued still in the Churches
of God after the Apostles' times, as may appear by the second Apology
of Justin Martyr." Idem, p. 198. " It was decreed in the Council of
Laodicea, that nothing should be read in the Church but the Canon
ical Books of the Old and New Testament  Afterward, as cor
ruptions grew in the Church, the reading of Homilies and of Martyrs'
Lives was permitted  But, besides the evil success thereof, that
use and custom was controlled, as may appear by the Council of Colen,
albeit otherwise Popish  The bringing in of Homilies and Mar
tyrs' Lives hath thrust the Bible clean out of the Church, or into a
corner."

APPENDIX B. 271
it were some Law of God, or Reason forbidding them to do that
which we do, why should the latter ages of the Church be deprived
of the liberty the former had? Are we bound, while the world
standeth, to put nothing in practice but only that which was at
the very first?
Concerning the Council of Laodicea, as it forbiddeth the reading
of those things which are not Canonical, so it maketh some things
not Canonical which are.* Their judgment in this we may not,
and in that we need not, follow. We have by thus many years'
experience found, that exceeding great good, not incumbered with
any notable inconvenience, hath grown by the custom which we
now observe. As for the harm whereof judicious men have com
plained in former times; it came not of this, that other things
were read besides the Scripture, but that so evil choice was made.
With us there is never any time bestowed in Divine Service
without the reading of a great part of the Holy Scripture, which
we account a thing most necessary. We dare not admit any such
Form of Liturgy, as either appointeth no Scripture at all, or very
little, to be read in the Church. And therefore the thrusting of
the Bible out of the House of God, is rather there to be feared
where men esteem it a matter so indifferent, j" whether the same be
by solemn appointment read publicly or not read, the bare text
excepted which the Preacher haply chooseth out to expound. But
let us here consider, what the practice of our Fathers before us
hath been, and how far forth the same may be followed. We find
that in ancient times there was publicly read first the Scripture,;);
as namely something out of the Books of the Prophets of God
* The Apocalypse, [can. 60.]
t T. C. lib. ii. p. 381. " It is untrue, that simple Reading is neces
sary in the Church  A number of churches which have no such
Order of simple Reading, cannot be in this point charged with the
breach of God's commandment, which they might be, if simple Read
ing were necessary." By " simple Reading" he meaneth the custom
of bare reading more than the Preacher at the same time expoundeth
unto the people.
X " Coimus ad divinarum literarum commemorationem." Tertull.
Apol. p. 692. [c. 39.]

272 APPENDIX B.
which were of old;* something out of the Apostles' writings;")7 and
lastly, out of the holy Evangelists some things which touched the
person of our Lord Jesus Christ himself. J
The cause of their reading first the Old Testament, then the
New, and always somewhat out of both, is most likely to have
been that which Justin Martyr and St. Augustine observe in com
paring the two Testaments. " The Apostles (saith the one) have
taught us as themselves did learn, first the precepts of the Law,
and then the Gospels. For what else is the Law but the Gospel
foreshowed? What other the Gospel, than the Law fulfilled?! In
like sort the other, " What the Old Testament hath, the very same
the New containeth; but that which lieth there as under a shadow,
is here brought forth into the open sun. Things there prefigured,
are here performed." || Again, "In the Old Testament there is a
close comprehension of the New; in the New, an open discovery
of the Old." To be short, the method of their public readings
either purposely did tend, or at the leastwise doth fitly serve,
" That from smaller things the mind of the hearers may go for
ward to the knowledge of greater, and by degrees climb up from
the lowest to the highest things.''^)
Now besides the Scripture, the Books which they called Ecclesi
astical were thought not unworthy sometime to be brought into
public audience, and with that name they entituled the Books
which we term Apocryphal. Under the self-same name they also
comprised certain, no otherwise annexed unto the New than the
* " Judaicarum Historiarum libri traditi sunt ab Apostolis legendi
in Ecclesiis." Origen, in Jos. Horn. 15.
t Ildvtuiv xati, rtoAt t; r) oypoiij jxtvbvtav irti tb aitb aweXtvais yivttai,
xai td arto/mjuovtviiata tuv ' ATtoatoXuv 97 ta avyypdfi/iata tuv Tipo^rjtuv
dvaywutaxttat, Justin. Apol. 2. p. 162. " Factum est ut ista die Do
minica, Prophetica lectione jam lecta, ante altare adstante qui lec-
tionem S. Pauli proferret beatissimus Antistes Ambrosius, &c." Sulpit.
Sever, lib. iii. de Vita S. Mart. [Greg. Turon. de Mir. S. Mart. i. c. 5.]
X Vide Concil. Vas. 2. habitum An. Dom. 444. torn. Concil. 2. p. 19.
Item Synod. Laod. can. 16. Cypr. lib. ii. ep. 5. et lib. iv. ep. 5. Am-
bros. lib. i. OfEc. cap. 8. et ep. 75. et lib. de Helia atque jejunio. cap. 20.
§ Just. resp. 101. || August, quaest. 33. in Num.
Tf Walaf. Strab. de rebus Eeclesiast. cap. 22.

APPENDIX B. 273
former to the Old Testament, as a Book of Hennas, Epistles of
Clement, and the like. According therefore to the phrase of an
tiquity, these we may term the New, and the other the Old Ecclesi
astical Books or Writings. For we, being directed by a sentence
(I suppose) of St. Jerome, who saith, that " all Writings not Ca
nonical are Apocryphal,"* use not now the title Apocryphal as the
rest of ihe Fathers ordinarily have done, whose custom is so to
name for the most part only such as might not publicly be read or
divulged. Rufiinus therefore having rehearsed the self-same Books
of Canonical Scripture, which with us are held to be alone Canon
ical, addeth immediately, by way of caution, " We must know that
other Books there are also, which our forefathers have used to name
not Canonical but Ecclesiastical Boohs, as the Book of- Wisdom,
Ecclesiasticus, Toby, Judith, the Maccabees, in the Old Testament;
in the New, the Book of Hennas, and such others : all which Books
and Writings they willed to be read in Churches, but not to be
alleged as if their authority did bind us to build upon them our
faith. Other Writings they named Apocryphal, which they would
not have read in Churches. These things delivered unto us from
the Fathers we have in this place thought good to set down."f
So far Rufiinus.
He which considereth notwithstanding what store of false and
forged Writings, J dangerous unto Christian belief, and yet bear
ing glorious inscriptions, began soon upon the Apostles' times to
be admitted into the Church, and to be honoured as if they had
been indeed Apostolic, shall easily perceive what cause the Pro
vincial Synod of Laodicea§ might have as then to prevent espe
cially the danger of Books made newly Ecclesiastical, and for fear
of the fraud of Heretics, to provide that such public Readings
might be altogether taken out of Canonical Scripture. Which
Ordinance respecting but that abuse that grew tflrough the inter
mingling of Lessons human with sacred, at such time as the one
both affected the credit and usurped the name of the other (as by
* Hieron. in prol. Galeat.
t Rufiinus in Symbol. Apost. apud Cypr. [| 38.]
X Vide Gelas. Decret. torn. Concil. 2. p. 462.
I Circa An. Dom. 366.

274 APPENDIX B.
the Canon of a later Council,* providing remedy for the self-same
evil, and yet allowing the old Ecclesiastical Books to be read, it
doth more plainly and clearly appear), neither can be construed,
nor should be urged utterly to prejudice our use of those old
Ecclesiastical Writings; much less of Homilies, which were a
third kind of Readings usual in former times, a most commend
able institution, as well then to supply the casualf as now the ne
cessary defect of Sermons. In the heat of general persecution,
whereunto Christian belief was subject upon the first promulgation
thereof throughout the world, it much confirmed the courage and
constancy of weaker minds, when public relation was made' unto
them after what manner God had been glorified through the suf
ferings of Martyrs, famous amongst them for holiness during life,
and at the time of their death, admirable in all men's eyes through
miraculous evidence of grace divine assisting them from above.
For which cause the virtues of some being thought expedient to
be annually had in remembrance above the rest, this brought in a
fourth kind of public Reading, whereby the lives of such Saints
and Martyrs had at the time of their yearly memorials solemn
recognition in the Church of God. J The fond imitation of which
laudable custom being in later ages resumed, when there was nei
ther the like cause to do as the Fathers before had done, nor any
care, conscience, or wit, in such as undertook to perform that
work, some brainless men have by great labour and travail
brought to pass, that the Church is now ashamed of nothing more
than of Saints.
If, therefore, Pope Gelasius§ did so long sithence see those de
fects of judgment, even then, for which the reading of the Acts of
* Concil. Carthag. 3. c. 47. " Praster Scripturas Canonicas nihil in
Ecclesiis legatur sub nomine divinarum Scripturarum." Circa An.
Dom. 401.
t Concil. Vasen. 2. habitum An. Dom. 444. torn. Concil. 2. p. 19
" Si Presbyter, aliqua infirmitate prohibente, per seipsum non potuerit
prsedicare, Sanctorum Patrum Homiliaa a Diaconibus recitentur."
X Concil. Carthag. 3. can. 13. et Greg. Turon. de gloria mart. ca. 86.
et Hadrian, epist. ad Carol. Magn.
g Gelas. circa. An. Dom. 492, torn. Concil. 2 p. 461.

APPENDIX B. 275
Martyrs should be, and was at that time, forborne in the Church
of Rome ; we are not to marvel, that afterwards Legends being
grown in a manner to be nothing else but heaps of frivolous and
scandalous vanities, they have been even with disdain thrown out,
the very nests which bred them abhorring them.*
We are not therefore to exoept only Scripture, and to make con
fusedly all the residue of one suit, as if they who abolish Legends
could not without incongruity retain in the Church either Homi
lies or those old Ecclesiastical Books. Which Books in case myself
did think, as some others do, safer and better to be left publicly
unre*ad ; nevertheless, as in other things of like nature, even so in
this,f my private judgment I should be loth to oppose against the
force of their reverend authority, who rather considering the divine
excellency of some things in all, and of all things in certain of
those Apocrypha which we publicly read, have thought it better to
let them stand as a list or marginal border unto the Old Testament,
and though with divine, yet as human compositions, to grant at
the least unto certain of them public audience in the House of
God. For inasmuch as the due estimation of heavenly truth de-
pendeth wholly upon the known and approved authority of those
famous Oracles of God, it greatly behoveth the Church to have
always most especial care, lest through confused mixture at any
time, human usurp the room and title of divine Writings. Where
fore, albeit for the people's more plain instruction (as the ancient
use hath been)"); we read in our Churches certain Books besides the
Scripture, yet as the Scripture we read them not. All men know
our professed opinion touching the difference whereby we sever
them from the Scripture. And if any where it be suspected, that
some one or other will haply mistake a thing so manifest in every
man's eye, there is no let, but that as often as those books are
read, and need so requireth, the style of their difference may ex
pressly be mentioned, to bar even all possibility of error.
* Concil. Colon, celebrat. An. Dom. 1536, par. ii. cap. 6. Melch.
Can. locor. theol. lib. xi. Viv. de trad. disc. lib. v.
t " In errorum barathrum facilitur ruunt, qui conceptus proprios
patrum definitionibus anteponunt." cap. un. de Relig. do. in extra.
X Hieron. praef. ad libros Salom. Aug. de praed. Sanct. lib. i. c. 14.
Praef. gloss, ord. et lyr. ad pr .. ii*.^ m j.oi/.

276 APPENDIX B.
It being then known, that we hold not the Apocrypha for sacred
(as we do the Holy Scripture), but for human compositions, the sub
ject whereof are sundry divine matters ; let there be reason showed,
why to read any part of them publicly it should be unlawful or
hurtful unto the Church of God. I hear it said, that " many things"
in them are very " frivolous" and unworthy of public audience ;
yea, many contrary, " plainly contrary to the Holy Scripture."*
Which hitherto is neither sufficiently proved by him who saith
it ; and if the proofs thereof were strong, yet the very allegation
itself is weak. Let us therefore suppose (for I will not demand
to what purpose it is, that against our custom of reading Books
not Canonical, they bring exceptions of matter in those Books
which we never use to read), suppose, I say, that what faults soever
they have observed throughout the passages of all those Books, the
same in every respect were such as neither could be construed, nor
ought to be censured otherwise than even as themselves pretend :
yet as men through too much haste oftentimes forget the errand
whereabout they should go; so here it appeareth, that an eager
desire to rake together whatsoever might prejudice, or any way
hinder the credit of Apocryphal Books, hath caused the collector's
pen so to run as it were on wheels, that the mind which should
guide it had no leisure to think, whether that which might haply
serve to withhold from giving them the authority which belongeth
unto sacred Scripture, and to cut them off horn, the Canon ; would
as effectually serve to shut them altogether out of the Church,
and to withdraw, from granting unto them that public use wherein
they are only held as profitable for instruction. Is it not ac
knowledged that those Books are " holy," that they are "Eccle
siastical" and " sacred," that to term them " divine," as being
for their excellency next unto them which are properly so termed,
is no way to honor them above desert ; yea, even that the whole
Church of Christ, as well "at the first" as "sithence," hath
most worthily approved their fitness for the public information of
life and manners ?f
*T. C. lib. ii. p. 400, 401.
t Conf. Helv. in Harm. Conf. sect. 1. Belg. Con. art. 6. Lubertde
Princip. Christ. Dogm. lib. i. c. 4.

APPENDIX B. 277
Is not thus much, I say, acknowledged, and that by them, who
notwithstanding receive not the same for " any part of Canonical
Scripture ;" by them who deny not but that they are " faulty ;"
by them who are ready enough to give instances wherein they
seem to contain matter " scarce agreeable with Holy Scripture 1"
So little doth such their supposed faultiness in moderate men's
judgment enforce the removal of them out of the House of God,
that still they are judged to retain worthily those very titles of
commendation, than which there cannot greater be given to
Writings, the authors whereof are men. As in truth, if the
Scripture itself, ascribing to the persons of men righteousness in
regard to their manifold virtues, may not rightly be construed as
though it did thereby clear them and make them quite free from
all faults, no reason we should judge it absurd to commend their
Writings as reverend, holy and sound, wherein there are so many
singular perfections, only for that the exquisite wits of some few
peradventure are able dispersedly here and there to find now a
word and then a sentence, which may be more probably suspected
than easily cleared of error by us, which have but conjectural
knowledge of their meaning.
Against immodest invectives, therefore, whereby they are
charged as being fraught with " outrageous lies,"* we doubt not
but their more allowable censure will prevail, who,, without so
passionate terms of disgrace do note a difference great enough
between Apocryphal and other Writings, , a difference such as
Josephusf and Epiphanius observe: the one declaring that
amongst the Jews, Books written after the days of Artaxerxes
were not of equal credit with them which had gone before, inas
much as the Jews sithence that time had not the like exact suc
cession of Prophets; the other acknowledging that they are
"profitable/'f although denying them to be "divine" in such
construction and sense as the Scripture itself is so termed. With
what intent they were first published, those words of the Nephew
* The Libel of Metaphys. Schoolp. art 34.
t Joseph, cont. Ap. lib. i. \l 8.]
X Epiphan. [de Ponder. § 4.] Xpijfftpot ftev dot xai u$L%iia.qi d%x' tij
dpiBiibv pqtOjv ovx avatpipovtai.

278 APPENDIX B.
of Jesus do plainly enough signify, " After that my Grandfather
Jesus had given himself to the reading of the Law and the
Prophets, and other Books of our Fathers, and had gotten therein
sufficient judgment, he purposed also to write something pertain
ing to learning and wisdom, to the intent that they which were
desirous to learn, and would give themselves to these things,
might profit much more in living according to the Law."* Their
end in writing, and ours in reading them, is the same. The
Books of Judith, Toby, Baruch, Wisdom, and Ecclesiasticus, we
read, as serving most unto that end. The rest we leave unto men
in private.
Neither can it be reasonably thought, because upon certain
solemn occasions, some lessons are chosen out of those Books,
and of Scripture itself some Chapters not appointed to be read at
all, that we thereby do offer disgrace to the Word of God, or lift
up the writings of men above it. For in such choice we do not
think, but that fitness of speech may be more respected than
worthiness. If in that which we use to read, there happen by the
way any clause, sentence, or speech, that soundeth towards error,
should the mixture of a little dross constrain the Church to de
prive herself of so much gold, rather than learn how by art and
judgment to make separation of the one from the other ? To this
effect very fitly, from the counsel that St. Jerome giveth Laeta,f
of taking heed how she read the Apocrypha, as also by the help of
other learned men's judgments delivered in like case, we may take
direction. But surely the arguments that should bind us not to
read them, or any part of them publicly at all, must be stronger
than as yet we have heard any.
* Praefat. ad lib. Eccles.
t Ep. lvii. torn. iv. p. 596.

APPENDIX C.
ST. AUGUSTINE'S LANGUAGE CONCERNING THE APO
CRYPHA ; AND CONCERNING THE JEWISH CHURCH AS
THE GUARDIAN OF THE CANON OF THE OLD TESTA
MENT.

(a) S. August. De Civitate Dei, lib. xi. cap. ii. ed. Paris,
1838, vol. vii. p. 439. — Ipsa Veritas Deus Dei Filius homiue
assumpto, non Deo consumpto, eamdem constituit atque fundavit
fidem, ut ad homines Deum iter esset homini per hominem Deum.
Hie est enim mediator Dei et hominum homo Christus Jesus. —
Ibid. cap. iii. Hie prius per prophetas, deinde per se ipsum, postea
per Apostolos, quantum satis esse judicavit, locutus, etiam Scrip-
turam condidit quae Canonica nominatur, eminentissimae auctori-
tatis, cui fidem habemus de his rebus quas ignorare non expedit,
nee per nosmetipsos nosse idonei sumus.
(b) Ibid. lib. xvii. cap. xx. vol. vii pp. 765, 766. — Prophe-
tasse etiam ipse Salomon reperitur in suis libris, qui tres recepti
sunt in auctoritatem canonicam, Proverbia, Ecclesiastes, et Can-
ticum canticorum. Alii vero duo, quorum unus Sapientia, alter
Ecclesiasticus dicitur, propter eloquii nonnullam similitudinem ut
Salomonis dicantur, obtinuit consuetudo : non autem esse ipsus
non dubitant doctiores; eos tamen in auctoritatem, maxime occi-
dentalis, ahtiquitus recepit Ecclesia. ***** ge(j a(j.
versus contradictores non tanta firmitate proferuntur, quae scripta
non sunt Canone Judaeorum.
2. In tribus vero illis, quae Salomonis esse constat, et Judcei
canonicos habent, ut ostendatur ad Christum et Ecclesiam pertinere
quod in eis ejusmodi reperitur, operosa disputatio necessaria est,
quae nos ultra quam oportet, si nunc adhibetur, extendit.
(c) S. August. De Civitate Dei, lib. xvii. cap. xxiv. vol. vii.
p. 771. — Toto autem illo tempore ex quo redierunt de Babylonia,

280 APPENDIX C.
post Malachiam, Aggceum et Zachariam, qui tunc prophetavc-
runt, et Esdram, non habuerunt Prophetas usque ad Salvatoris
adventum, nisi alium Zachariam, patrem Joannis, et Elizabeth
ejus uxorem, Christi nativitate jam proxima; et eo jam nato,
Simeonem senem,et Annam viduam jamque grandaevam, et ipsum
Joannem novissimum : qui juvenis, jam juvenem Christum, non
quidem futurum praedixit, sed tamen incognitum prophetica cog-
nitione monstravit : propter quod ipse Dominus ait, Lex et Pro-
phetce usque ad Joannem. Sed istorum quinque prophetatio ex
Evangelio nobis nota est : ubi et ipsa Virgo mater Domini ante
Joannem prophetasse invenitur. Sed hanc istorum prophetiam
Judaei reprobi non accipiunt : acceperunt autem, qui ex eis innu-
merabiles Evangelio crediderunt. Tunc enim vere Israel divisus
est in duo, divisione ilia, quae per Samuelem prophetam Sauli regi
est immutabilis prsenuntiata. Malachiam vero, Aggaaum, Zacha
riam, et Esdram, etiam Judaei reprobi in auctoritatem canonicam
receptos novissimos habent. Sunt enim et scripta eorum, sicut
aliorum, qui in magna multitudine Prophetarum perpauci ea scrip-
serunt, quae auctoritatem canonis obtinerent.
(d) S. August. Contra Gaudentium, lib. i. 38, ed. Paris,
1837, vol. ix. p. 1006. — Et hanc quidem Scripturam quae appellatur
Machabceorum non habent Judaei sicut Legem, et Prophetas et
Psalmos, quibus Dominus testimonium perhibet tanquam testibus
suis, dicens, Oportebat impleri omnia quae scripta sunt in Lege, et
Prophetis, et in Psalmis de Me : sed recepta est ab Ecclesia non
inutiliter, si sobrie legatur vel audiatur, maxime propter illos
Machabaeos qui pro Dei lege sicut veri martyres a persecutoribus
tarn indigna atque horrenda perpessi sunt ; ut etiam hine populus
Christianus adverteret, quoniam non sunt condignae passiones
hujus temporis ad futuram gloriam quae revelabitur in nobis, pro
quibus passus est Christus ; si tanta patientissime pertulerunt pro
lege quam dedit Deus per famulum hominibus illis, quo quibus
nondum tradiderat Filium.
(e) S. August. De Civitate Dei, lib. xviii. cap. xxvi. vol. vii.
p. 815. — Incursantibus autem hostibus, nequaquam progredi aedi-
ficando valuerunt, dilatumque opus est usque ad Darium. Per
idem tempus etiam ilia sunt gesta, quae conscripta sunt in libro ;

APPENDIX C. 281
Judith; quem sane in Canone Scripturarum Juda-inon recepissc
dicunter. Sub Dario urgo rege Persarum impletis septuaginta
annis, quos, Jeremias propheta prasdixerat, reddita est Judasis
soluta captivitate libertas, regnante Romanorum septimo rege Tar-
quinio. Quo expulso etiam ipsi a regum suorum dominatione liberi
esse coeperunt. Usque ad hoc tempus Prophetas habuit populus
Israel : qui cum multi fuerint, paucorum et apud Judasos et apud
nos canonica scripta retinentur.
(/) Ibid. lib. xviii. cap. xxxviii. p. 836. — Nee mhum debet'
videri, quod suspecta habentur, quae sub tantae antiquitatis nomine
proferuntur ; quandoquidem in ipsa historia regum Juda et regum
Israel, quas res gestas continet, de quibus eidem Scripturas cano-
nicas credimus, commemorantur plurima, quas ibi non explicantur,
et in libris aliis inveniri dicuntur, quos Prophetas scripserunt, et
alicubi eorum quoque Prophetarum nomina non tacentur; nee
tamen inveniuntur in canone, quem recepit populus Dei. Cujus
rei, fateor, causa me latet ; nisi quod existimo, etiam ipsos, quibus
ea quae in auctoritate religionis esse deberent, sanctus utique Spi-
ritus revelabat, alia sicut homines historica diligentia, alia sicut
Prophetas inspiratione divina scribere potuisse; atque hasc ita
fuisse distincta, ut ilia tanquam ipsis, ista vero tanquam Deo per
ipsos loquenti, judicarentur esse tribuenda; ac sic ilia pertinerent
ad ubertatem cognitionis, hasc ad religionis auctoritatem : in qua
auctoritate custo ditur canon, praster quem si qua jam etiam sub
nomine veterum Prophetarum scripta proferuntur, nee ad ipsam
copiam scientias valent, quoniam utrum eorum sint, quorum esse
dicuntur, incertum est ; et ob hoc eis non habetur fides, maxime
his in quibus etiam contra fidem librorum canonicorum quasdam
leguntur, propter quod ea prorsus non esse apparet illorum.
(g) Ibid. cap. xii. p. 842. — At vero gens ilia, ille populus,
ilia civitas, ilia respublica, illi Israelite, " quibus credita sunt
eloquia Dei," nullo modo pseudoprophetas cum veris Prophetis pari
licentia confuderunt : sed Concordes inter se atque in nullo digsen-
tientes, sacrarum Litterarum veraces ab eis agnoscebaatur et tene-
bantur auctores.
(K) S. AUGUST, in Psal. 40. — Si aliquis perstrepit inimicus, et
dicit, vos vobis Prophetias finxistis ; proferantur Codices JudtB-
19

282 APPENDIX C.
orum. Judeei tanquam capsarii nostri sunt : studentibus nobis
codices portant. Apud illos sunt Prophetas et Lex ; in qua Lege,
et in quibus Prophetis Christus prasdicatus est.
(i) Idem in Psal. 5& — Propterea adhuc Judeei sunt, ut Libros
nostros portent ad confusionem suam. Quando enim volumus
ostendere Paganis prophetatum Christum, proferimus Paganis
Istas Literas. Quia omnes ipsas Literas, quibus Christus prophe-
tatus est, apud Judaos sunt, Omnes Ipsas Literas habent Judeei.
Proferimus Codices ab Inimicis, ut confundamus alios Inimicos.
Codicem portat Judceus, unde credat C'hristianus. Librarii nostri
facti sunt.
(&) Idem, lib. xii. contra Faust, cap. 13. — Et quid est aliud
hodieque gens ipsa Judceorum, nisi qusedam Scriniaria Christia-
norum, bajulans Legen et Prophetas ad testimonium assertionis
Ecclesiae ?
(I) S. August, de Unit. Eccl. cap. 16. — Demonstrent ecclesiam
suam in prasscripto Legis, in Prophetarum prasdictis, in Psalmo-
rum cantibus, hoc est, in Omnibus Canonicis Sanctorum Librorum
Auctoritatibus.

APPENDIX D.
ON THE CONSEQUENCES WHICH WOULD FOLLOW FROM
THE TOTAL REJECTION OF THE APOCRYPHA.

I would gladly have been spared all reference to this topic ; but
a treatise on the Canon of Scripture would be very imperfect
without some examination of it. I should also have felt myself
chargeable with ingratitude to that merciful Providence, which has
watched over the Church of England, if I had omitted this occa
sion of inviting the reader to consider the great evils which would
have arisen from the rejection of the Apocrypha from our Churches
and our Bibles.
Perhaps these results cannot be more clearly displayed than by
the following statement, derived from a recent work by the learned
Piomanist Professor, Dr. Malou, now Bishop of Bruges, on the
" Reading of the Holy Bible in the Vulgar Tongue." Louvain,
2 vols. 1846. The whole of the art. 2, of the Ninth Chapter (p.
173 — 201) of his book, bears on this point, and deserves a careful
perusal. The author observes, (vol. ii. p. 173,) that the earliest Keformers,
following the practice of the ancient Church, retained the Apocry
pha. This he shows to be true of Luther (p. 174), Calvin (p. 175),
and the Synod of Dort (Session x. 23 Nov. 1618); of Archbishop
Cranmer* and the Church of England, in her Prayer Book, Bible,
* Compare Strype's Life of Archbishop Whitgift, book iii. near the
end, p. 590, ed. Oxford, 1822.— Martin Marprelate "reckoned it up
among the Archbishop's high crimes, that he commanded the Apocry
pha to be bound up with the Bibles. The Archbishop said, that he
did indeed give such commandment, and further, that he meant to
see it observed; asking, Who ever separated the Apocrypha from the
Bible, from the beginning of Christianity to that day V

284 APPENDIX D.
and Articles (p. 178, 179), and in her Universities (p. 184, 185).
He also proves the same of other foreign Reformed Churches in
Switzerland (p. 177), Prussia, France, Sweden, Denmark, and
Russia (p.174, 189).
He then charges those Protestants who reject the Apocrypha
with separating themselves from the whole Church, and from their
own predecessors; and with venturing on a step never taken by
the Fathers, or Councils of the Church, or by the Reformers them
selves; and with doing that very thing of which they accuse the
Council of Trent, and the Church of Rome, that is, of imposing
a New Bible on the consciences of all who would communicate with
them (p. 199, 200.)
It next appears from this author, how this act is used by the
Church of Rome to justify herself in proscribing Protestant
Bibles, and how in this way it is an insurmountable impediment
to the circulation of the Scriptures in Roman Catholic countries,
and thus frustrates the good intentions of those who desire to dis
seminate them.
" L'Eglise (says he, p. 200,) se renferme dans les homes d'une
legitime defense, lorsqu'elle proscrit l'usage des Bibles protestantes
(he means those which exclude the Apocrypha), qui ont ete mud-
lees en depit de ses lois et en haine de ses croyanees. Les Bibles
tronquees sont autant de manifestations de la pensee hostile . . .
des armes deguisees par l'heresie pour combattre I'Eglise et alterer
notre foi. Toutes meritent l'aversion des catholiques et la re
probation des pasteurs. On ne peut done ni accepter ni lire- un
de ces volumes, sans commettre aux yeux de I'Eglise un acte
formel de desobeissance."
We can never be too thankful that these observations are not
applicable to the Church of England. »
God grant that they never may be !

APPENDIX E.
ON ST. PAUL'S EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS.

Primasius Afer, Justiniano politanus seu Adrumetinus Episcopus,
circa a. d. 550. ed. Lugduni, 1537. p. 473.
Ad Hebrctos divi Paul I Epistola : Prcefatio. — In primordiis
hujus epistolas dicendum est, quas causa extiterit, cur Apostolus
Paulus morem suum in hac epistola non servaverit: videlicet ut
vel vocabulum nominis sui, vel ordinis describeret dignitatem.
Haec igitur causa extitit, quod earn nomine suo non titulavit,
quia Judeeis scribebat suis fratribus, quibus odiosus erat, eo quod
circumcisionem, et Sabbatum et sacrificia castera, quae lex pras-
eepit observanda, ipse doceret non debere carnaliter observari post
Dominicam passionem.
Nam illi, qui crediderant, Judasi, contendebant utrumque tenere,
baptizari scilicet secundum gratiam evangelii; et circumcidi, Sab
batum quoque observare, secundum legis praeceptum. Quapropter
si posuisset nomen suum Apostolus in exordio hujus epistolas,
poterat evenire, ut ejus asmuli nomen illius in prima fronte legen-
tes dedignarentur earn recipere : sicque utilitas lectionis diflerretur.
Nomen autem apostolatus idcirco non posuit, quoniam ipse
Apostolus gentium constitutus, si nomine Apostolatus sui pras-
titularet epistolam ad eos directam, voeans se Apostolum, videretur
illis fortasse, quod se vellet prasferre Apostolo Petro, qui princeps
illorum erat a Domino ordinatus, sicut idem egregius praedicator
alio in loco dieit: Qui operatus est (inquiens) Petro in Apostola-
tum circumcisionis, operatus est et mihi inter gentes.
Fortassis etiam dicerent: Quid est quod Paulus doctor gentium
prasfert se Apostolis nostris Petro et Jacobo? scribat iis, quibus
ordinatus est Apostolus : nam scripta nostrorum Apostolorum nos
abunde possunt docere. Quo facto ostendit se non ignorare illorum
superbiam, pariterque suam exhibuit humilitatem.

286 APPENDIX E.
Simili modo etiam et Joannes Apostolus causa humilitatis,
ej usque rationis nomen suum in epistola sua prastermisit.
Vel certe dicunt quidam, quod propterea, quia Christum erat
in epistola nominaturus Apostolum, dicendo, Pabemus Pontificem
ct Apostolum confessicmis nostree, Jesum justum, noluerit nomen
Apostolatus sui in primordio hujus epistolas ponere. Non enim
congruum duxit, ut ubi Christum dicturus erat Apostolum, inibi
etiam se Apostolum nominaret, maximeque in titulo : ne, videretur
cuilibet praeferre se Christo.
Hanc autem quidam dicunt esse Barnabas, quidam Lucas, qui
dam Clementis, dicentes, quoniam si Pauli esset, ipse utique more
solito, sicut in aliis, ita etiam in ista nomen suum praeponeret.
Sed si Pauli non erit, quia ejus nomine non est titulata ergo nee
Barnabas, nee Lucas, neque Clementis, aut alicujus erit eo quod
null ins nomine titulatur. Cui ergo horum adscribenda est ? Utique
egregio prasdicatori,* quippe quas ex lueido sensu, ex genere locu-
tionis, comprobatur illius esse: quanquam subtiliori atque aper-
tiori stylo comprehensa sit omnibus epistolis : nam fertur Apostolus
hanc Hebrasis missam, Hebraso sermone eum conscripsisse ; in qua
ipse peritissimus extitit, cum reliquas Grasco sermone scripserit.
Post discessum vero Apostoli Lucas evangelista Grasco sermone
earn comprehendit; ex quo postmodum translata est in Latinam
linguam, sicut et reliqua.
* i. e. Paulo, vide sup. p. 426, lin. 26, 27.

THE END.

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