_the book_, by way of eminence so called, as containing the
sacred Scriptures, that is, the inspired writings of the Old and New
Testament; or the whole collection of those which are received among
Christians as of divine authority. The word Bible comes from the Greek
Βίϐλος, or Βιϐλίον, and is used to denote any book; but is emphatically
applied to the book of inspired Scripture, which is “the book” as being
superior in excellence to all other books. Βιβλίον again comes from
Βίϐλος, the Egyptian reed, from which the ancient paper was procured.
The word Bible seems to be used in the particular sense just given by
Chrysostom: “I therefore exhort all of you to procure to yourselves
Bibles, Βιϐλια. If you have nothing else, take care to have the New
Testament, particularly the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospels, for
your constant instructers.” And Jerome says, “that the Scriptures being
all written by one Spirit, are _one book_.” Augustine also informs us,
“that some called all the canonical Scriptures _one book_, on account of
their wonderful harmony and unity of design throughout.” It is not
improbable that this mode of speaking gradually introduced the general
use of the word Bible for the whole collection of the Scriptures, or the
books of the Old and New Testament. By the Jews the Bible, that is, the
Old Testament, is called _Mikra_, that is, “lecture, or reading.” By
Christians the Bible, comprehending the Old and New Testament, is
usually denominated “Scripture;” sometimes also the “Sacred Canon,”
which signifies the rule of faith and practice. These, and similar
appellations, are derived from the divine original and authority of the
Bible. As it contains an authentic and connected history of the divine
dispensations with regard to mankind; as it was given by divine
inspiration; as its chief subject is religion; and as the doctrines it
teaches, and the duties it inculcates, pertain to the conduct of men, as
rational, moral, and accountable beings, and conduce by a divine
constitution and promise, to their present and future happiness; the
Bible deserves to be held in the highest estimation, and amply justifies
the sentiments of veneration with which it has been regarded, and the
peculiar and honourable appellations by which it has been denominated.
2. The list of the books contained in the Bible constitutes what is
called the canon of Scripture. Those books that are contained in the
catalogue to which the name of canon has been appropriated, are called
canonical, by way of contradistinction from others called
deutero-canonical, apocryphal, pseudo-apocryphal, &c, which either are
not acknowledged as divine books, or are rejected as heretical and
spurious. (See _Apocrypha_.) The first canon or catalogue of the sacred
books was made by the Jews; but the original author of it is not
satisfactorily ascertained. It is certain, however, that the five books
of Moses, called the Pentateuch, were collected into one body within a
short time after his death; since Deuteronomy, which is, as it were, the
abridgment and recapitulation of the other four, was laid in the
tabernacle near the ark, according to the order which he gave to the
Levites, Deut. xxxi, 24. Hence the first canon of the sacred writings
consisted of the five books of Moses: for a farther account of which see
_Pentateuch_. It does not appear that any other books were added to
these, till the division of the ten tribes, as the Samaritans
acknowledged no others. However, after the time of Moses, several
prophets, and other writers divinely inspired, composed either the
history of their own times, or prophetical books and divine writings, or
psalms appropriated to the praise of God. But these books do not seem to
have been collected into one body, or comprised under one and the same
canon, before the Babylonish captivity. This was not done till after
their return from the captivity, about which time the Jews had a certain
number of books digested into a canon, which comprehended none of those
books that were written since the time of Nehemiah. The book of
Ecclesiasticus affords sufficient evidence that the canon of the sacred
books was completed when that tract was composed; for that author, in
chapter xlix, having mentioned among the famous men and sacred writers,
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, adds the twelve minor prophets who follow
those three in the Jewish canon; and from this circumstance we may infer
that the prophecies of these twelve were already collected and digested
into one body. It is farther evident, that in the time of our Saviour
the canon of the Holy Scriptures was drawn up, since he cites the law of
Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms, which are the three kinds of books
of which that canon is composed, and which he often styles, “the
Scriptures,” or, “the Holy Scripture,” Matt. xxi, 42; xxii, 29; xxvi,
54; John v, 39; and by him therefore the Jewish canon, as it existed in
his day, was fully authenticated, by whomsoever or at what time it had
been formed.
3. The person who compiled this canon is generally allowed to be Ezra.
According to the invariable tradition of Jews and Christians, the honour
is ascribed to him of having collected together and perfected a complete
edition of the Holy Scriptures. The original of the Pentateuch had been
carefully preserved in the side of the ark, and had been probably
introduced with the ark into the temple at Jerusalem. After having been
concealed in the dangerous days of the idolatrous kings of Judah, and
particularly in the impious reigns of Manasseh and Amon, it was found in
the days of Josiah, the succeeding prince, by Hilkiah the priest, in the
temple. Prideaux thinks, that during the preceding reigns the book of
the law was so destroyed and lost, that, beside this copy of it, there
was then no other to be obtained. To this purpose he adds, that the
surprise manifested by Hilkiah, on the discovery of it, and the grief
expressed by Josiah when he heard it read, plainly show that neither of
them had seen it before. On the other hand, Dr. Kennicott, with better
reason, supposes, that long before this time there were several copies
of the law in Israel, during the separation of the ten tribes, and that
there were some copies of it also among the tribes of Judah and
Benjamin, particularly in the hands of the prophets, priests, and
Levites; and that by the instruction and authority of these MSS, the
various services in the temple were regulated, during the reigns of the
good kings of Judah. He adds, that the surprise expressed by Josiah and
the people, at his reading the copy found by Hilkiah, may be accounted
for by adverting to the history of the preceding reigns, and by
recollecting how idolatrous a king Manasseh had been for fifty-five
years, and that he wanted neither power nor inclination to destroy the
copies of the law, if they had not been secreted by the servants of God.
The law, after being so long concealed, would be unknown almost to all
the Jews; and thus the solemn reading of it by Josiah would awaken his
own and the people’s earnest attention; more especially, as the copy
produced was probably the original written by Moses. From this time
copies of the law were extensively multiplied among the people; and
though, within a few years, the autograph, or original copy of the law,
was burnt with the city and temple by the Babylonians, yet many copies
of the law and the prophets, and of all the other sacred writings, were
circulated in the hands of private persons, who carried them with them
into their captivity. It is certain that Daniel had a copy of the Holy
Scriptures with him at Babylon; for he quotes the law, and mentions the
prophecies of Jeremiah, Dan. ix, 2, 11, 13. It appears also, from the
sixth chap. of Ezra, and from the ninth chap. of Nehemiah, that copies
of the law were dispersed among the people. The whole which Ezra did may
be comprised in the following particulars: He collected as many copies
of the sacred writings as he could find, and compared them together,
and, out of them all, formed one complete copy, adjusted the various
readings, and corrected the errors of transcribers. He likewise made
additions in several parts of the different books, which appeared to be
necessary for the illustration, correction, and completion of them. To
this class of additions we may refer the last chapter of Deuteronomy,
which, as it gives an account of the death and burial of Moses, and of
the succession of Joshua after him, could not have been written by Moses
himself. Under the same head have also been included some other
interpolations in the Bible, which create difficulties that can only be
solved by allowing them; as in Gen. xii, 6; xxii, 14; xxxvi, 3; Exodus
xvi, 35; Deut. ii, 12; iii, 11, 14; Prov. xxv, 1. The interpolations in
these passages are ascribed by Prideaux to Ezra; and others which were
afterward added, he attributes to Simon the Just. Ezra also changed the
old names of several places that were become obsolete, putting instead
of them the new names by which they were at that time called; instances
of which occur in Genesis xiv, 4, where Dan is substituted for Laish,
and in several places in Genesis, and also in Numbers, where Hebron is
put for Kirjath Arba, &c. He likewise wrote out the whole in the Chaldee
character, changing for it the old Hebrew character, which has since
that time been retained only by the Samaritans, and among whom it is
preserved even to this day. The canon of the whole Hebrew Bible seems,
says Kennicott, to have been closed by Malachi, the latest of the Jewish
prophets, about fifty years after Ezra had collected together all the
sacred books which had been composed before and during his time.
Prideaux supposes the canon was completed by Simon the Just, about one
hundred and fifty years after Malachi: but, as his opinion is founded
merely on a few proper names at the end of the two genealogies, 1 Chron.
iii, 19; Nehem. xii, 22, which few names might very easily be added by a
transcriber afterward, it is more probable, as Kennicott thinks, that
the canon was finished by the last of the prophets, about four hundred
years before Christ.
4. It is an inquiry of considerable importance, in its relation to the
subject of this article, what books were contained in the canon of the
Jews. The Old Testament, according to our Bibles, comprises thirty-nine
books, viz. the Pentateuch or five books of Moses, called Genesis,
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, the books of Joshua,
Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra,
Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of
Solomon, the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah with his Lamentations,
Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum,
Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. But, among the
ancient Jews, they formed only twenty-two books, according to the
letters of their alphabet, which were twenty-two in number; reckoning
Judges and Ruth, Ezra and Nehemiah, Jeremiah and his Lamentations, and
the twelve minor prophets, (so called from the comparative brevity of
their compositions,) respectively as one book. Josephus says, “We have
not thousands of books, discordant, and contradicting each other: but we
have only _twenty-two_, which comprehend the history of all former ages,
and are justly regarded as divine. _Five_ of them proceed from Moses;
they include as well the _laws_, as an account of the creation of man,
extending to the time of his (Moses) death. This period comprehends
nearly three thousand years. From the death of Moses to that of
Artaxerxes, who was king of Persia after Xerxes, the _prophets_, who
succeeded Moses, committed to writing, in thirteen books, what was done
in their days. The remaining four books contain _hymns_ to God, (the
Psalms,) and instructions of life for man.” The threefold division of
the Old Testament into the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms, mentioned
by Josephus, was expressly recognised before his time by Jesus Christ,
as well as by the subsequent writers of the New Testament. We have
therefore sufficient evidence that the Old Testament existed at that
time; and if it be only allowed that Jesus Christ was a teacher of a
fearless and irreproachable character, it must be acknowledged that we
draw a fair conclusion, when we assert that the Scriptures were not
corrupted in his time: for, when he accused the Pharisees of making the
law of no effect by their traditions, and, when he enjoined his hearers
to search the Scriptures, he could not have failed to mention the
corruptions or forgeries of Scripture, if any had existed in that age.
About fifty years before the time of Christ were written the Targums of
Onkelos on the Pentateuch, and of Jonathan Ben-Uzziel on the Prophets;
(according to the Jewish classification of the books of the Old
Testament;) which are evidence of the genuineness of those books at that
time. We have, however, unquestionable testimony of the genuineness of
the Old Testament, in the _fact_ that its canon was fixed some centuries
before the birth of Jesus Christ. Jesus the son of Sirach, author of the
book of Ecclesiasticus, makes evident references to the prophecies of
Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, and mentions these prophets by name: he
speaks also of the twelve minor prophets. It likewise appears from the
prologue to that book, that the law and the prophets, and other ancient
books, were extant at the same period. The book of Ecclesiasticus,
according to the best chronologers, was written in the Syro-Chaldaic
dialect A. M. 3772, that is, two hundred and thirty-two years before the
Christian æra, and was translated by the grandson of Jesus into Greek,
for the use of the Alexandrian Jews. The prologue was added by the
translator; but this circumstance does not diminish the evidence for the
antiquity of the Old Testament: for he informs us, that the law and the
prophets, and the other books of their fathers, were studied by his
grandfather; a sufficient proof that they were extant in his time. Fifty
years, indeed, before the age of the author of Ecclesiasticus, or two
hundred and eighty-two years before the Christian æra, the Greek version
of the Old Testament, usually called the Septuagint, was executed at
Alexandria, the books of which are the same as in our Bibles; whence it
is evident that we still have those identical books, which the most
ancient Jews attested to be genuine. The Christian fathers too, Origen,
Athanasius, Hilary, Gregory, Nazianzen, Epiphanius, and Jerom, speaking
of the books that are allowed by the Jews as sacred and canonical, agree
in saying that they are the same in number with the letters in the
Hebrew alphabet, that is, twenty-two, and reckon particularly those
books which we have already mentioned. Nothing can be more satisfactory
and conclusive than all the parts of the evidence for the authenticity
and integrity of the canon of the Old Testament scriptures. The Jews, to
whom they were first committed, never varied respecting them; while they
were fully recognised by our Lord and his Apostles; and, consequently,
their authenticity is established by express revelation. And that we now
possess them as thus delivered and authenticated, we have the concurrent
testimony of the whole succession of the most distinguished early
Christian writers, as well as of the Jews to this day, who, in every
age, and in all countries, the most remote from one another, have
constantly been in the habit of reading them in their synagogues.
5. The five books of the law are divided into fifty-four sections, which
division is attributed to Ezra, and was intended for the use of their
synagogues, and for the better instruction of the people in the law of
God. For, one of these sections was read every Sabbath in their
synagogues. They ended the last section with the last words of
Deuteronomy on the Sabbath of the feast of the tabernacles, and then
began anew with the first section from the beginning of Genesis the next
Sabbath after, and so went round in this circle every year. The number
of these sections was fifty-four, because in their intercalated years (a
month being then added) there were fifty-four Sabbaths. On other years
they reduced them to the number of the Sabbaths which were in those
years, by joining two short ones several times into one. For they held
themselves obliged to have the whole law thus read over in their
synagogues every year. Till the time of the persecution of Antiochus
Epiphanes, they read only the law; but being then prohibited from
reading it any more, they substituted in the room of the fifty-four
sections of the law, fifty-four sections out of the prophets, the
reading of which they ever after continued. Thus, when the reading of
the law was restored by the Maccabees, the section which was read every
Sabbath out of the law served for their first lesson, and the section
out of the prophets for their second lesson; and this practice was
continued to the times of the Apostles, Acts xiii, 15, 27. These
sections were divided into verses, called by the Jews _pesukim_, and
they are marked out in the Hebrew Bible by two great points at the end
of them, called from hence, _soph-pasuk_, that is, the end of the verse.
This division, if not made by Ezra, is very ancient; for when the
Chaldee came into use in the room of the Hebrew language, after the
return of the Jews from their captivity in Babylon, the law was read to
the people first in the Hebrew language, and then rendered by an
interpreter into the Chaldee language; and this was done period by
period. The division of the Holy Scriptures into chapters is of a much
later date. The Psalms, indeed, appear to have been always divided as
they are at present, Acts xiii, 33; but as to the rest of the Bible, the
present division into chapters was unknown to the ancients.
6. From the time when the Old Testament was completed by Malachi, the
last of the prophets, till the publication of the New Testament, about
four hundred and sixty years elapsed. During the life of Jesus Christ,
and for some time after his ascension, nothing on the subject of his
mission was committed to writing. The period of his remaining upon earth
may be regarded as an intermediate state between the old and new
dispensations. His personal ministry was confined to the land of Judea;
and, by means of his miracles and discourses, together with those of his
disciples, the attention of men, in that country, was sufficiently
directed to his doctrine. They were also in possession of the Old
Testament scriptures; which, at that season, it was of the greatest
importance they should consult, in order to compare the ancient
predictions with what was then taking place. Immediately after the
resurrection of Jesus Christ, his disciples, in the most public manner,
and in the place where he had been crucified, proclaimed that event, and
the whole of the doctrine which he had commanded them to preach. In this
service they continued personally to labour for a considerable time,
first among their countrymen the Jews, and then among the other nations.
During the period between the resurrection and the publication of the
New Testament, the churches possessed miraculous gifts, and the prophets
were enabled to explain the predictions of the Old Testament, and to
show their fulfilment. After their doctrine had every where attracted
attention, and, in spite of the most violent opposition, had forced its
way through the civilized world; and when churches or societies of
Christians were collected, not only in Judea, but in the most celebrated
cities of Italy, Greece, and Asia Minor, the scriptures of the New
Testament were written by the Apostles, and other inspired men, and
intrusted to the keeping of these churches.
The whole of the New Testament was not written at once, but in different
parts, and on various occasions. Six of the Apostles, and two inspired
disciples who accompanied them in their journeys, were employed in this
work. The histories which it contains of the life of Christ, known by
the name of the Gospels, were composed by four of his contemporaries,
two of whom had been constant attendants on his public ministry. The
first of these was published within a few years after his death, in that
very country where he had lived, and among the people who had seen him
and observed his conduct. The history called the Acts of the Apostles,
which contains an account of their proceedings, and of the progress of
the Gospel, from Jerusalem, among the Gentile nations, was published
about the year 64, being thirty years after our Lord’s crucifixion, by
one who, though not an Apostle, declares that he had “perfect
understanding of all things, from the very first,” and who had written
one of the Gospels. This book, commencing with a detail of proceedings,
from the resurrection of Jesus Christ, carries down the evangelical
history till the arrival of Paul as a prisoner at Rome. The Epistles,
addressed to churches in particular places, to believers scattered up
and down in different countries, or to individuals, in all twenty-one in
number, were separately written, by five of the Apostles, from
seventeen, to twenty, thirty, and thirty-five years after the death of
Christ. Four of these writers had accompanied the Lord Jesus during his
life, and had been “eye witnesses of his majesty.” The fifth was the
Apostle Paul, who, as he expresses it, was “one born out of due time,”
but who had likewise seen Jesus Christ, and had been empowered by him to
work miracles, which were “the signs of an Apostle.” One of these five
also wrote the book of Revelation, about the year A. D. 96, addressed to
seven churches in Asia, containing Epistles to these churches from Jesus
Christ himself, with various instructions for the immediate use of all
Christians, together with a prophetical view of the kingdom of God till
the end of time. These several pieces, which compose the scriptures of
the New Testament, were received by the churches with the highest
veneration; and, as the instructions they contain, though partially
addressed, were equally intended for all, they were immediately copied,
and handed about from one church to another, till each was in possession
of the whole. The volume of the New Testament was thus completed before
the death of the last of the Apostles, most of whom had sealed their
testimony with their blood. From the manner in which these scriptures
were at first circulated, some of their parts were necessarily longer in
reaching certain places than others. These, of course, could not be so
soon received into the canon as the rest. Owing to this circumstance,
and to that of a few of the books being addressed to individual
believers, or to their not having the names of their writers affixed, or
the designation of Apostle added, a doubt for a time existed among some
respecting the genuineness of the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Epistle of
James, the second Epistle of Peter, the second and third Epistles of
John, the Epistle of Jude, and the book of Revelation. These, however,
though not universally, were generally acknowledged; while all the other
books of the New Testament were without dispute received from the
beginning. This discrimination proves the scrupulous care of the first
churches on this highly important subject.
At length these books, which had not at first been admitted, were, like
the rest, universally received, not by the votes of a council, as is
sometimes asserted, but after deliberate and free inquiry by many
separate churches, under the superintending providence of God, in
different parts of the world. It is at the same time a certain fact,
that no other books beside those which at present compose the volume of
the New Testament, were admitted by the churches. Several apocryphal
writings were published under the name of Jesus Christ and his Apostles,
which are mentioned by the writers of the first four centuries, most of
which have perished, though some are still extant. Few or none of them
were composed before the second century, and several of them were forged
as late as the third century. But they were not acknowledged as
authentic by the first Christians; and were rejected by those who have
noticed them, as spurious and heretical. Histories, too, as might have
been expected, were written of the life of Christ; and one forgery was
attempted, of a letter said to have been written by Jesus himself to
Abgarus, king of Edessa; but of the first, none were received as of any
authority, and the last was universally rejected. “Beside our Gospels,
and the Acts of the Apostles,” says Paley, “no Christian history
claiming to be written by an Apostle, or Apostolical man, is quoted
within three hundred years after the birth of Christ, by any writer now
extant or known, or, if quoted, is quoted with marks of censure and
rejection.” This agreement of Christians respecting the Scriptures, when
we consider their many differences in other respects, is the more
remarkable, since it took place without any public authority being
interposed. “We have no knowledge” says the above author, “of any
interference of authority in the question before the council of
Laodicea, in the year 363. Probably the decree of this council rather
declared than regulated the public judgment, or, more properly speaking,
the judgment of some neighbouring churches, the council itself
consisting of no more than thirty or forty bishops of Lydia and the
adjoining countries. Nor does its authority seem to have extended
farther.” But the fact, that no public authority was interposed, does
not require to be supported by the above reasoning. The churches at the
beginning, being widely separated from each other, necessarily judged
for themselves in this matter, and the decree of the council was founded
on the coincidence of their judgment. In delivering this part of his
written revelation, God proceeded as he had done in the publication of
the Old Testament scriptures. For a considerable time, his will was
declared to mankind through the medium of oral tradition. At length he
saw meet, in his wisdom, to give it a more permanent form. But this did
not take place till a nation, separated from all others, was provided
for its reception. In the same manner, when Jesus Christ set up his
kingdom in the world, of which the nation of Israel was a type, he first
made known his will by means of verbal communication, through his
servants whom he commissioned and sent out for that purpose; and when,
through their means, he had prepared his subjects and collected them
into churches, to be the depositaries of his word, he caused it to be
delivered to them in writing. His kingdom was not to consist of any
particular nation, like that of Israel, but of all those individuals, in
every part of the world, who should believe in his name. It was to be
ruled, not by means of human authority, or compulsion of any kind, but
solely by his authority. These sacred writings were thus intrusted to a
people prepared for their reception,--a nation among the nations, but
singularly distinct from all the rest, who guarded and preserved them
with the same inviolable attachment as the Old Testament scriptures had
experienced from the Jews.
7. Respecting the lateness of the time when the scriptures of the New
Testament were written, no objection can be offered, since they were
published before that generation passed away which had witnessed the
transactions they record. The dates of these writings fall within the
period of the lives of many who were in full manhood when the Lord Jesus
was upon earth; and the facts detailed in the histories, and referred to
in the Epistles, being of the most public nature, were still open to
full investigation. It must also be recollected, that the Apostles and
disciples, during the whole intermediate period, were publicly
proclaiming to the world the same things which were afterward recorded
in their writings. Thus were the Scriptures, as we now possess them,
delivered to the first churches. By the concurrent testimony of all
antiquity, both of friends and foes, they were received by Christians of
different sects, and were constantly appealed to on all hands, in the
controversies that arose among them. Commentaries upon them were written
at a very early period, and translations made into different languages.
Formal catalogues of them were published, and they were attacked by the
adversaries of Christianity, who not only did not question, but
expressly admitted, the facts they contained, and that they were the
genuine productions of the persons whose names they bore. In this manner
the Scriptures were also secured from the danger of being in any respect
altered or vitiated. “The books of Scripture,” says Augustine, “could
not have been corrupted. If such an attempt had been made by any one,
his design would have been prevented and defeated. His alterations would
have been immediately detected by many and more ancient copies.” The
difficulty of succeeding in such an attempt is apparent hence, that the
Scriptures were early translated into divers languages, and copies of
them were numerous. The alterations which any one attempted to make
would have been soon perceived; just even as now, in fact, lesser faults
in some copies are amended by comparing ancient copies or those of the
original. “If any one,” continues Augustine, “should charge you with
having interpolated some texts alleged by you as favourable to your
cause, what would you say? Would you not immediately answer that it is
impossible for you to do such a thing in books read by all Christians;
and that if any such attempt had been made--by you, it would have been
presently discerned and defeated by comparing the ancient copies? Well,
then, for the same reason that the Scriptures cannot be corrupted by
you, neither could they be corrupted by any other people.” Accordingly,
the uniformity of the manuscripts of the Holy Scriptures that are
extant, which are incomparably more numerous than those of any ancient
author, and which are dispersed through so many countries, and in so
great a variety of languages, is truly astonishing. It demonstrates both
the veneration in which the Scriptures have been always held, and the
singular care that has been taken in transcribing them. The number of
various readings, that by the most minute and laborious investigation
and collations of manuscripts have been discovered in them, are said to
amount to one hundred and fifty thousand; though at first sight they may
seem calculated to diminish confidence in the sacred text, yet in no
degree whatever do they affect its credit and integrity. They consist
almost wholly in palpable errors in transcription, grammatical and
verbal differences, such as the insertion or omission of a letter or
article, the substitution of a word for its equivalent, or the
transposition of a word or two in a sentence. Taken altogether, they
neither change nor affect a single doctrine or duty announced or
enjoined in the word of God. When, therefore, we consider the great
antiquity of the sacred books, the almost infinite number of copies, of
versions, and of editions, which have been made of them in all
languages, in languages which have not any analogy one with another,
among nations differing so much in their customs and their religious
opinions,--when we consider these things, it is truly astonishing, and
can only be ascribed to the watchful providence of God over his own
word, that, among the various readings, nothing truly essential can be
discerned, which relates to either precept or doctrine, or which breaks
that connection, that unity which subsists in all the various parts of
divine revelation, and which demonstrates the whole to be the work of
one and the same Spirit.
8. Having considered the appellations by which the Bible is
distinguished, the books of which it consists, the time and manner in
which they were collected, it may not be improper to subjoin a few
observations on the genuineness and authenticity of the Scriptures, on
their high original and divine authority, and on their great importance
and utility.
It should here be considered, that the genuineness of the Scriptures
proves the truth of the principal facts contained in them; to which
purpose we may observe that it is very rare to meet with any genuine
writings of the historical kind, in which the principal facts are not
true, unless it be in instances where both the motives which engaged the
author to falsify, and the circumstances which gave some plausibility to
the fiction, are apparent; neither of which can be alleged in the
present case with any colour of reason. As this is rare in general, it
is more rare when the writer treats of things that happened in his own
time, and under his own cognizance and direction, and communicates his
history to persons under the same circumstances; all which may be said
of the writers of the Scripture history. Beside, the great importance of
the facts mentioned in the Scriptures makes it more improbable, that the
several authors should either have attempted to falsify, or have
succeeded in such an attempt. The same observation may be applied to the
great number of particular circumstances of time, place, persons, &c,
mentioned in the Scriptures, and to the harmony of the books with
themselves, and with each other. These are arguments both for the
genuineness of the books, and truth of the facts distinctly considered,
and also arguments for deducing the truth from the genuineness.
Moreover, if the books of the Old and New Testaments were written by the
persons to whom they have been ascribed, that is, if they be genuine,
the moral characters of these writers afford the strongest assurance,
that the facts asserted by them are true. The sufferings which several
of the writers underwent both in life and in death, in attestation of
the facts delivered by them, furnish a particular argument in favour of
these facts. Again, the arguments here alleged for proving the truth of
the Scripture history from the genuineness of the books, are as
conclusive in respect of the miraculous facts, as of the common ones. It
may also be observed, that if we allow the genuineness of the books to
be a sufficient evidence of the common facts which they record, the
miraculous facts must also be allowed from their close connection with
the others. It is necessary to admit both or neither. We cannot conceive
that Moses should have delivered the Israelites from their slavery in
Egypt, or conducted them through the wilderness for forty years, at all
in such manner as the common history represents, unless we suppose the
miraculous facts intermixed with it to be true also. In like manner, the
fame of Christ’s miracles, the multitudes which followed him, the
adherence of his disciples, the jealousy and hatred of the chief
priests, scribes, and Pharisees, with many other facts of a common
nature, are impossible to be accounted for, unless we allow that he did
really work miracles. And the same observations hold, in general, of the
other parts of the Scripture history. We might urge that a particular
argument in favour of the miraculous part of the Scripture history, may
be deduced from the reluctance of mankind to receive miraculous facts;
which would put the writers and readers very much upon their guard, and
would operate as a strong check upon the publication of a miraculous
history at or near the time when the miracles were said to be performed;
and thus it would serve as a strong confirmation of such a history, if
its genuineness be previously granted.
9. In connection with the preceding proposition we may observe, that the
genuineness of the Scriptures proves their divine authority. Porphyry in
effect acknowledges the truth of this proposition, in its reference to
the book of Daniel, by being unable to devise a method of invalidating
its divine authority implied in the accomplishment of the prophecies
which it contains, without asserting that they were written after the
event, or that they were forgeries. Many of the other books of the Old
and New Testaments have unquestionable evidences of the divine
foreknowledge, if they be allowed genuine; such are those supplied by
Moses’s prophecy concerning the captivity of the Israelites, or of a
state not yet erected; Isaiah’s concerning Cyrus; Jeremiah’s concerning
the duration of the Babylonish captivity; Christ’s concerning the
destruction of Jerusalem, and the captivity that was to follow; St.
John’s concerning the great corruption of the Christian church; and
Daniel’s concerning the fourth empire in its declension; which last was
extant in the time of Porphyry, at least; that is, before the events
which it represents. The truth of the proposition might also be argued
from the sublimity and excellence of the doctrines contained in the
Scriptures; in no respect suiting the supposed authors, or the ages in
which they lived, their education or occupation; so that, if they were
the real authors, we are under the necessity of admitting the divine
assistance. The converse of this proposition, namely, that the divine
authority of the Scriptures infers their genuineness, will be readily
and universally acknowledged. Moreover, the truth of the principal facts
contained in the Scriptures proves their divine authority. Such is the
frame of the human mind, that the Scripture history, allowed to be true,
must convince us that Christ, the Prophets, and the Apostles, were
endued with a power greater than human, and acted by the authority of a
Being of the highest wisdom and goodness. By such mode of reasoning it
is shown that the genuineness of the Scriptures, the truth of the
principal facts contained in them, and their divine authority, appear to
be so connected with each other, that, any one being established upon
independent principles, the other two may be inferred from it. On the
subject of the inspiration of the Scriptures, see INSPIRATION.
10. Another argument in favour of the genuineness of the books of the
Old and New Testaments, and of the truth of the principal facts
contained in them, may be deduced from the manner in which they have
been transmitted down from one age to another; resembling that in which
all other genuine books and true histories have been conveyed down to
posterity. As the works of the Greek and Roman writers were considered
by these nations as having been transmitted to them by their ancestors
in a continued succession from the times when the respective authors
lived, so have the books of the Old Testament been accounted by the
Jews, and those of the New by the Christians; and it is an additional
evidence in the last case, that the primitive Christians were not a
distinct nation, but a great multitude of people dispersed through all
the nations of the Roman empire, and even extending itself beyond the
bounds of that empire. As the Greeks and Romans always believed the
principal facts of their historical books, so the Jews and Christians
did more, and never seem to have doubted of the truth of any part of
theirs. In short--whatever can be said of the traditional authority due
to the Greek and Roman writers--something analogous to this, and for the
most part of greater weight, may be urged for the Jewish and Christian.
Now, as all sober minded persons admit the books usually ascribed to the
Greek and Roman historians, philosophers, &c, to be genuine, and the
principal facts related or alluded to in them to be true, and that one
chief evidence for this is the general traditionary one here recited,
they ought, therefore, to pay the same regard to the books of the Old
and New Testaments, since there are the same, or even greater, reasons
for it. Beside, these traditionary evidences are sufficient; and we thus
obtain a real argument, as well as one _ad hominem_, for receiving books
thus handed down to us. For it is not conceivable, that whole nations
should either be imposed upon themselves, or concur to deceive others by
forgeries of books or of facts. These books and facts must therefore, in
general, be genuine and true; and it is a strong additional evidence of
this, that all nations must be jealous of forgeries for the same reasons
as we are.
11. We may proceed to state farther, that the great importance of the
histories, precepts, promises, threatenings, and prophecies contained in
the Scriptures, is in evidence both of their genuineness, and of the
truth of the principal facts mentioned in them. The history of the
creation, fall, deluge, longevity of the patriarchs, dispersion of
mankind, calling of Abraham, descent of Jacob with his family into
Egypt, and the precepts of abstaining from blood, and of circumcision,
were of such concern, either to mankind in general, or to the Israelites
in particular, and some of them of so extraordinary a nature, as that it
could not be a matter of indifference to the people among whom the
account given of them in Genesis was first published, whether they
received them or not. On the supposition that this account was first
published among the Israelites by Moses, and then confirmed by clear,
universal, uninterrupted tradition, it will be easy to conceive how it
should be handed down from age to age among the Jews, and received by
them as indubitable. But, supposing the account to be false, or that
there were no such vestiges and evidences of these histories and
precepts, it will be difficult to conceive how this could have happened,
let the time of publication be what it may. If early, the people would
reject at once the account, for want of a clear tradition; if late, it
would be natural to inquire how the author was informed of things never
known before to others. As to other cosmogonies and theogonies current
among Pagans, which are evident fictions, they furnish no just objection
against the Mosaic history, because they were generally regarded merely
as amusing fictions; and yet they concealed in figures, or expressed in
plain words, some truths which agree with the book of Genesis, and
afford a strong presumptive evidence in favour of this book. With
respect to the law of Moses, this was extremely burdensome, expensive,
and severe, particularly in its reference to the crime of idolatry, to
which mankind were then extravagantly prone; and it was absurd,
according to human judgment, in the instances of prohibiting their
furnishing themselves with horses for war, and of commanding all the
males of the whole nation to appear at Jerusalem three times a year.
Nevertheless, it claims a divine authority, and appeals to facts of the
most notorious kind, and to customs and ceremonies of the most peculiar
nature, as the memorials of these facts. Can we then conceive that any
nation, with such motives to reject, and such opportunities of
detecting, the forgery of the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and
Deuteronomy, should yet receive them, and submit to this heavy yoke?
That the Jews did submit to the law of Moses in these circumstances, is
evident from the books of the Old and New Testaments, if we allow them
the least truth and genuineness, or even from profane writers, and from
the present observance of it by the Jews scattered through all the
kingdoms of the world. Should it be said that other nations have
ascribed divine authority to their lawgivers, and submitted to very
severe laws, it may be alleged in reply to this, that the pretences of
lawgivers among the Pagans to inspiration, and the submission of the
people, may be accounted for from their peculiar circumstances at the
time, without recurring to real inspiration; and more especially if we
admit the patriarchal revelations related by Moses, and his own divine
legation, as Heathen lawgivers copied after these, and hence we derive a
strong argument in their favour. Beside, no instance occurs among the
Pagans of a body of laws framed at once and remaining invariable;
whereas the body politic of the Israelites assumed a complete form at
once, and has preserved it, with little variation, to the present time,
and under many external disadvantages; thus supplying us with an
instance altogether without parallel, and showing the high opinion which
they entertained of the great importance of their law. In short, of all
the fictions or forgeries that can happen among any people, the most
improbable is that of the Jewish body of civil laws, and seems to be
utterly impossible.
12. If we farther examine the history contained in the books of Joshua,
Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah, and
extending from the death of Moses to the reëstablishment of the Jews
after the Babylonish captivity by Ezra and Nehemiah, we shall find a
variety of important facts, most of which must be supposed to leave such
vestiges of themselves, either external and visible, or internal in the
minds and memories of the people, as would verify them if true, or cause
them to be rejected if false. The conquest of the land of Canaan, the
division of it, and the appointment of cities for the priests and
Levites by Joshua; the frequent slaveries of the Israelites to the
neighbouring kings, and their deliverance by the judges; the creation of
a kingdom by Samuel; the translation of this kingdom from Saul’s family
to David, with his conquests; the glory of Solomon’s kingdom; the
building of the temple; the division of the kingdom; the idolatrous
worship set up at Dan and Bethel; the captivity of the Israelites by the
kings of Assyria; the captivity of the Jews by Nebuchadnezzar; the
destruction of their temple; their return under Cyrus, rebuilding the
temple under Darius Hystaspes, and reëstablishment under Artaxerxes
Longimanus, by Ezra and Nehemiah:--these events are some of them the
most glorious, and some of them the most reproachful, that can happen to
any people. How can we reconcile forgeries of such opposite kinds, and
especially as they are interwoven together by various complicated and
necessary connections, which do not admit of separation? The facts,
indeed, are of such importance, notoriety, and permanency in their
effects, that no particular persons among the Israelites could first
project the design of feigning them, that their own people would not
concur with such a design, and that neighbouring nations would not
permit the fiction to pass. Nothing but the invincible evidence of the
facts here alleged, could induce a jealous multitude among the
Israelites or neighbouring nations to acquiesce. This must be
acknowledged upon the supposition that the several books were published
in or near the times when the facts that are recorded in them happened.
But suppose all these historical books forged by Ezra; the hypothesis is
evidently impossible. Things so important and notorious, so honourable
and so reproachful to the people for whose sake they were forged, would
have been rejected with the utmost indignation, unless there were the
strongest and most genuine traces of these things already among the
people. They must therefore, in part at least, be true. If it be said
that additions were made by Ezra, these additions must have been either
of important or trivial matters. On the first supposition, the
difficulty already stated recurs; and if the important facts are true,
what possible motive could have induced Ezra to make additions of no
importance? Beside, if any ancient writings were extant, Ezra must
either copy after them, which destroys the present supposition, or
differ from and oppose them, which would betray him. If there were no
such ancient writings, the people would be led to inquire with regard to
matters of importance, for what reason Ezra was so particular in things
of which there was neither any memory, nor account in writing. Should it
be said that the people did not regard what Ezra had thus forged, this
reduces the subject in question to matters of small or of no importance.
Beside, why should Ezra write if no one would read or regard? Farther:
Ezra must have had, like other men, friends, enemies, and rivals; and
some, or all of these, would have been a check upon him, and a security
against him, in matters of importance. If we suppose these books,
instead of having been forged at once, to have been forged successively,
at the interval of one, two, or three centuries after the facts related,
we shall involve ourselves in the same or similar difficulties. Upon the
whole, then, we may conclude, that the forgery of the annals of the
Israelites appears to be impossible, as well as that of the body of
their civil laws. It is needless to examine the books of Esther, Job,
the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Canticles; and we might proceed
to the Prophecies; but this will be resumed under the article
_Prophecy_. For the subjects comprehended in the books of the New
Testament. See GOSPEL:GOSPEL, and #CHRISTIANITY.
13. We shall here subjoin some general evidences in attestation of the
truth of the books of Scripture. That Jews and Christians have thought
their sacred books very highly important, most genuine, and true,
appears from the persecutions and sufferings which they have undergone
on account of their attachment to them, and because they would not be
prevailed upon to surrender them. The preservation of the law of Moses,
probably the first book written in any language, whilst many others of a
later date have been lost, shows the great regard that has been paid to
it; and from this circumstance we may infer that this and the other
books of the Old Testament have been preserved on account of their
importance, or from some other cause, equally evincing their genuineness
and truth. The great value set upon these books appears also from the
many early translations and paraphrases of them; and these translations
and paraphrases serve to correct errors that are unavoidable in the
lapse of time, and to secure their integrity and purity. The hesitation
and difficulty with which some few books of the New Testament were
received into the canon, show the great care and concern of the
primitive Christians about the canon, and the high importance of the
books admitted into it; and afford a strong evidence of their
genuineness and truth. The same observation is in a degree applicable to
the Jewish canon. Moreover, the religious hatred and animosity which
subsisted between the Jews and Samaritans, and between several of the
ancient sects among the Christians, convince us of what importance they
all thought their sacred books, and disposed them to watch over one
another with a jealous eye. Farther: the genuineness of the books of the
Old and New Testaments may be evinced from the language, style, and
manner of writing used in them. The Hebrew language, in which the Old
Testament was written, being the language of an ancient people, who had
little intercourse with their neighbours, would not change so fast as
modern languages have done, since different nations have been variously
blended with one another by the extension of trade, arts, and sciences;
and yet some changes must have occurred in the interval that elapsed
between the time of Moses and that of Malachi. The biblical Hebrew
corresponds so exactly to this criterion, as to afford a considerable
argument in favour of the genuineness of the books of the Old Testament.
Beside, these books have too great a diversity of style to be the work
of either one Jew, or of any set of contemporary Jews. If they be
forgeries, there must have been a succession of impostors in different
ages, who concurred in the same iniquitous design. Again: the Hebrew
language ceased to be spoken, as a living language, soon after the time
of the Babylonish captivity; and it would be difficult or impossible to
forge any thing in it after it became a dead language. Hence it appears,
that all the books of the Old Testament must at least be nearly as
ancient as the Babylonish captivity; and as they could not all be
written in the same age, some must be much more ancient, and this would
reduce us to the necessity of supposing a succession of conspiring
impostors. Moreover, there is, as we have already observed, a simplicity
of style, and an unaffected manner of writing, in all the books of the
Old Testament, which is a strong evidence of their genuineness. The
style of the New Testament, in particular, is not only simple and
unaffected, but is Greek influenced by the Hebrew idiom, and exactly
answers to the circumstances of time, places, and persons. To which we
may add, that the narrations and precepts of both the Old and New
Testament are delivered without hesitation; the writers teaching as
having authority: and this circumstance is peculiar to those who unite,
with a clear knowledge of what they deliver, a perfect integrity of
heart. But a farther argument for the genuineness and truth of the
Scriptures is supplied by the very great number of particular
circumstances of time, place, persons, &c, mentioned in them. It is
needless to recount these; but they are incompatible with forged and
false accounts, that do not abound in such particularities, and the want
of which furnishes a suspicion to their discredit. Compare, in this
respect, Manetho’s account of the dynasties of Egypt, Ctesias’s of the
Assyrian kings, and those which the technical chronologers have given of
the ancient kingdoms of Greece, which are defective in such particulars,
with the history by Thucydides of the Peloponnesian war, and with
Cæsar’s of the war in Gaul, and the difference will be sufficiently
apparent. Dr. Paley’s admirable treatise, entitled, “_Horæ Paulinæ_,”
affords very valuable illustrations of this argument as it respects the
genuineness of the books of the New Testament. The agreement of the
Scriptures with history, natural and civil, is a farther proof of their
genuineness and truth. The history of the fall agrees in an eminent
manner both with the obvious facts of labour, sorrow, pain, and death,
with what we see and feel every day, and with all our philosophical
inquiries into the frame of the human mind, the nature of social life,
and the origin of evil. Natural history bears a strong testimony to
Moses’s account of the deluge. Civil history affords many evidences
which corroborate the same account. (See _Deluge_.) The Mosaic account
of the confusion of languages, of the dispersion of Noah’s sons, and of
the state of religion in the ancient postdiluvian world, is not only
rendered probable, but is in a very high degree established, by many
collateral arguments. See CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES, and DIVISION OF THE
EARTH.
14. The agreement of the books of the Old and New Testaments with
themselves and with each other, affords another argument both of their
genuineness and truth. The laws of the Israelites are contained in the
Pentateuch, and referred to, in a great variety of ways, direct and
indirect, in the historical books, in the Psalms, and in the Prophecies.
The historical facts also in the preceding books are often referred to
in those that succeed, and in the Psalms and Prophecies. In like manner,
the Gospels have the greatest harmony with each other, and the Epistles
of St. Paul with the Acts of the Apostles; and, indeed, there is
scarcely any book of either the Old or New Testament, which may not be
shown to refer to many of the rest, in one way or other. For the
illustration of this argument, let us suppose that no more remained of
the Roman writers than Livy, Tully, and Horace; would they not, by their
references to the same facts and customs, by the sameness of style in
the same writer, and difference in the different ones, and numberless
other such like circumstances of critical consideration, prove
themselves, and one another to be genuine, and the principal facts
related, or alluded to, to be true? Whoever will apply this reasoning to
the present case will perceive, that the numberless minute, direct, and
indirect agreements and coincidences, that present themselves to all
diligent readers of the Scriptures, prove their truth and genuineness
beyond all contradiction.
The harmony and agreement of the several writers of the Old and New
Testament appear the more remarkable, when it is considered that their
various parts were penned by several hands in very different conditions
of life, from the throne and sceptre down to the lowest degree, and in
very distant ages, through a long interval of time; which would
naturally have led a spirit of imposture to have varied its schemes, and
to have adapted them to different stations in the world, and to the
different vicissitudes of every age. David wrote about four hundred
years after Moses, and Isaiah about two hundred and fifty after David,
and Matthew more than seven hundred years after Isaiah; and yet these
authors, with all the other Prophets and Apostles, write in perfect
harmony, confirming the authority of their predecessors, labouring to
reduce the people to the observance of their instructions, and loudly
exclaiming against the neglect and contempt of them, and denouncing the
severest judgments against such as continued disobedient. Consequently,
as the writers of the Holy Scriptures, though they all claim a divine
authority, yet write in perfect connection and harmony, mutually
confirming the doctrine and testimony of each other, and concurring to
establish the very same religious truths and principles, it is a strong
proof that they all derived their instructions from the same fountain,
the wisdom of God, and were indeed under the direction and illumination
of the same Spirit. This leads us to add, that the unity of design,
which appears in the dispensations recorded in the Scriptures, is an
argument not only of their truth and genuineness, but also of their
divine authority. In order to perceive the force of this argument, it is
only necessary to inquire what this design is, and how it is pursued by
the series of events and divine interpositions recorded in the
Scriptures. (See _Dispensation_.) It should also be considered, that the
historical evidences in favour of the genuineness, truth, and divine
authority of the Scriptures, do not become less from age to age; but, on
the contrary, it may rather be presumed that they increase. Since the
three great concurring events of printing, the reformation of religion
in these western parts, and the restoration of letters, so many more
evidences and coincidences have been discovered in favour of the Jewish
and Christian histories, as may serve, in some measure, to supply the
want of those that have been lost in the preceding times; and as this
accumulation of evidences is likely to continue, there is great reason
to hope that it will at length become irresistible to all and silence
even every gainsayer.
15. The moral characters of the Prophets, and the Apostles, prove the
truth and divine authority of the Scriptures. The characters of the
persons who are said in the Scriptures to have had divine
communications, and a divine mission, are so much superior to the
characters that occur in common life, that we can scarcely account for
the more eminent individuals, and much less so for so large a succession
of them, continued through so many ages, without allowing the divine
communications and assistance which they allege. Notwithstanding
considerable imperfections that pertained to many of these eminent
persons, and the occasional offences chargeable upon one or two of them,
yet the impartial reader should consider whether the Prophets, Apostles,
&c, were not so much superior, not only to mankind at an average, but
even to the best men among the Greeks and Romans, as is not fairly to be
accounted for by the mere powers of human nature. If this statement
should not be conceded, their characters, however, are too good to allow
the supposition of an impious fraud and imposture, which must have been
the case if they had not divine authority. Beside, it should be
recollected, that the undisguised and impartial manner in which the
imperfections and faults of the eminent persons mentioned in Scripture
are related, furnishes a remarkable additional evidence for the truth of
those parts of the Scripture history in which such relations occur,
beside such evidences as extend to the whole.
16. The excellence of the doctrine contained in the Scriptures is an
additional evidence of their authority. This argument has great force
independently of all other considerations. Suppose, for instance, that
the author of the Gospel, which goes under the name of St. Matthew, was
not known, and that it was unsupported by the writers of the primitive
times; yet such are the unaffected simplicity of the narrations, the
purity of the doctrine, and the sincere piety and goodness of the
sentiments, that it carries its own authority with it. The same
observation is applicable in general to all the books of the Old and New
Testaments; so that if there was no other book in the world beside the
Bible, a man could not reasonably doubt of the truth of revealed
religion. If all other arguments were set aside, we may conclude from
this single consideration, that the authors of the books of the Old and
New Testaments, whoever they were, cannot have made a false claim to
divine authority. The Scriptures contain doctrines concerning God,
providence, a future state, the duty of man, &c, far more pure and
sublime than can in any way be accounted for from the natural powers of
men, so circumstanced as the sacred writers were. Let the reader
consider whether it can be reasonably supposed, that Jewish shepherds,
fishermen, &c, should, both before and after the rise of the Heathen
philosophy, so far exceed men of the greatest abilities and
accomplishments in other nations, by any other means than divine
communications. Indeed, no writers, from the invention of letters to the
present times, are equal to the penmen of the books of the Old and New
Testaments in true excellence, utility and dignity; and this is surely
such an internal criterion of their divine authority, as ought not to be
resisted.
17. The many and great advantages which have accrued to the world from
the patriarchal, Judaical, and Christian revelations, confirm the whole.
These advantages relate partly to the knowledge, and partly to the
practice, of religion. The internal worth and excellence of the
Scriptures, as containing the best principles of knowledge, holiness,
consolation, and hope, and their consequent utility and importance in a
moral and practical view, fully and directly demonstrate their divine
original. For an enlarged view of this branch of evidence see
CHRISTIANITY.
sacred Scriptures, that is, the inspired writings of the Old and New
Testament; or the whole collection of those which are received among
Christians as of divine authority. The word Bible comes from the Greek
Βίϐλος, or Βιϐλίον, and is used to denote any book; but is emphatically
applied to the book of inspired Scripture, which is “the book” as being
superior in excellence to all other books. Βιβλίον again comes from
Βίϐλος, the Egyptian reed, from which the ancient paper was procured.
The word Bible seems to be used in the particular sense just given by
Chrysostom: “I therefore exhort all of you to procure to yourselves
Bibles, Βιϐλια. If you have nothing else, take care to have the New
Testament, particularly the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospels, for
your constant instructers.” And Jerome says, “that the Scriptures being
all written by one Spirit, are _one book_.” Augustine also informs us,
“that some called all the canonical Scriptures _one book_, on account of
their wonderful harmony and unity of design throughout.” It is not
improbable that this mode of speaking gradually introduced the general
use of the word Bible for the whole collection of the Scriptures, or the
books of the Old and New Testament. By the Jews the Bible, that is, the
Old Testament, is called _Mikra_, that is, “lecture, or reading.” By
Christians the Bible, comprehending the Old and New Testament, is
usually denominated “Scripture;” sometimes also the “Sacred Canon,”
which signifies the rule of faith and practice. These, and similar
appellations, are derived from the divine original and authority of the
Bible. As it contains an authentic and connected history of the divine
dispensations with regard to mankind; as it was given by divine
inspiration; as its chief subject is religion; and as the doctrines it
teaches, and the duties it inculcates, pertain to the conduct of men, as
rational, moral, and accountable beings, and conduce by a divine
constitution and promise, to their present and future happiness; the
Bible deserves to be held in the highest estimation, and amply justifies
the sentiments of veneration with which it has been regarded, and the
peculiar and honourable appellations by which it has been denominated.
2. The list of the books contained in the Bible constitutes what is
called the canon of Scripture. Those books that are contained in the
catalogue to which the name of canon has been appropriated, are called
canonical, by way of contradistinction from others called
deutero-canonical, apocryphal, pseudo-apocryphal, &c, which either are
not acknowledged as divine books, or are rejected as heretical and
spurious. (See _Apocrypha_.) The first canon or catalogue of the sacred
books was made by the Jews; but the original author of it is not
satisfactorily ascertained. It is certain, however, that the five books
of Moses, called the Pentateuch, were collected into one body within a
short time after his death; since Deuteronomy, which is, as it were, the
abridgment and recapitulation of the other four, was laid in the
tabernacle near the ark, according to the order which he gave to the
Levites, Deut. xxxi, 24. Hence the first canon of the sacred writings
consisted of the five books of Moses: for a farther account of which see
_Pentateuch_. It does not appear that any other books were added to
these, till the division of the ten tribes, as the Samaritans
acknowledged no others. However, after the time of Moses, several
prophets, and other writers divinely inspired, composed either the
history of their own times, or prophetical books and divine writings, or
psalms appropriated to the praise of God. But these books do not seem to
have been collected into one body, or comprised under one and the same
canon, before the Babylonish captivity. This was not done till after
their return from the captivity, about which time the Jews had a certain
number of books digested into a canon, which comprehended none of those
books that were written since the time of Nehemiah. The book of
Ecclesiasticus affords sufficient evidence that the canon of the sacred
books was completed when that tract was composed; for that author, in
chapter xlix, having mentioned among the famous men and sacred writers,
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, adds the twelve minor prophets who follow
those three in the Jewish canon; and from this circumstance we may infer
that the prophecies of these twelve were already collected and digested
into one body. It is farther evident, that in the time of our Saviour
the canon of the Holy Scriptures was drawn up, since he cites the law of
Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms, which are the three kinds of books
of which that canon is composed, and which he often styles, “the
Scriptures,” or, “the Holy Scripture,” Matt. xxi, 42; xxii, 29; xxvi,
54; John v, 39; and by him therefore the Jewish canon, as it existed in
his day, was fully authenticated, by whomsoever or at what time it had
been formed.
3. The person who compiled this canon is generally allowed to be Ezra.
According to the invariable tradition of Jews and Christians, the honour
is ascribed to him of having collected together and perfected a complete
edition of the Holy Scriptures. The original of the Pentateuch had been
carefully preserved in the side of the ark, and had been probably
introduced with the ark into the temple at Jerusalem. After having been
concealed in the dangerous days of the idolatrous kings of Judah, and
particularly in the impious reigns of Manasseh and Amon, it was found in
the days of Josiah, the succeeding prince, by Hilkiah the priest, in the
temple. Prideaux thinks, that during the preceding reigns the book of
the law was so destroyed and lost, that, beside this copy of it, there
was then no other to be obtained. To this purpose he adds, that the
surprise manifested by Hilkiah, on the discovery of it, and the grief
expressed by Josiah when he heard it read, plainly show that neither of
them had seen it before. On the other hand, Dr. Kennicott, with better
reason, supposes, that long before this time there were several copies
of the law in Israel, during the separation of the ten tribes, and that
there were some copies of it also among the tribes of Judah and
Benjamin, particularly in the hands of the prophets, priests, and
Levites; and that by the instruction and authority of these MSS, the
various services in the temple were regulated, during the reigns of the
good kings of Judah. He adds, that the surprise expressed by Josiah and
the people, at his reading the copy found by Hilkiah, may be accounted
for by adverting to the history of the preceding reigns, and by
recollecting how idolatrous a king Manasseh had been for fifty-five
years, and that he wanted neither power nor inclination to destroy the
copies of the law, if they had not been secreted by the servants of God.
The law, after being so long concealed, would be unknown almost to all
the Jews; and thus the solemn reading of it by Josiah would awaken his
own and the people’s earnest attention; more especially, as the copy
produced was probably the original written by Moses. From this time
copies of the law were extensively multiplied among the people; and
though, within a few years, the autograph, or original copy of the law,
was burnt with the city and temple by the Babylonians, yet many copies
of the law and the prophets, and of all the other sacred writings, were
circulated in the hands of private persons, who carried them with them
into their captivity. It is certain that Daniel had a copy of the Holy
Scriptures with him at Babylon; for he quotes the law, and mentions the
prophecies of Jeremiah, Dan. ix, 2, 11, 13. It appears also, from the
sixth chap. of Ezra, and from the ninth chap. of Nehemiah, that copies
of the law were dispersed among the people. The whole which Ezra did may
be comprised in the following particulars: He collected as many copies
of the sacred writings as he could find, and compared them together,
and, out of them all, formed one complete copy, adjusted the various
readings, and corrected the errors of transcribers. He likewise made
additions in several parts of the different books, which appeared to be
necessary for the illustration, correction, and completion of them. To
this class of additions we may refer the last chapter of Deuteronomy,
which, as it gives an account of the death and burial of Moses, and of
the succession of Joshua after him, could not have been written by Moses
himself. Under the same head have also been included some other
interpolations in the Bible, which create difficulties that can only be
solved by allowing them; as in Gen. xii, 6; xxii, 14; xxxvi, 3; Exodus
xvi, 35; Deut. ii, 12; iii, 11, 14; Prov. xxv, 1. The interpolations in
these passages are ascribed by Prideaux to Ezra; and others which were
afterward added, he attributes to Simon the Just. Ezra also changed the
old names of several places that were become obsolete, putting instead
of them the new names by which they were at that time called; instances
of which occur in Genesis xiv, 4, where Dan is substituted for Laish,
and in several places in Genesis, and also in Numbers, where Hebron is
put for Kirjath Arba, &c. He likewise wrote out the whole in the Chaldee
character, changing for it the old Hebrew character, which has since
that time been retained only by the Samaritans, and among whom it is
preserved even to this day. The canon of the whole Hebrew Bible seems,
says Kennicott, to have been closed by Malachi, the latest of the Jewish
prophets, about fifty years after Ezra had collected together all the
sacred books which had been composed before and during his time.
Prideaux supposes the canon was completed by Simon the Just, about one
hundred and fifty years after Malachi: but, as his opinion is founded
merely on a few proper names at the end of the two genealogies, 1 Chron.
iii, 19; Nehem. xii, 22, which few names might very easily be added by a
transcriber afterward, it is more probable, as Kennicott thinks, that
the canon was finished by the last of the prophets, about four hundred
years before Christ.
4. It is an inquiry of considerable importance, in its relation to the
subject of this article, what books were contained in the canon of the
Jews. The Old Testament, according to our Bibles, comprises thirty-nine
books, viz. the Pentateuch or five books of Moses, called Genesis,
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, the books of Joshua,
Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra,
Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of
Solomon, the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah with his Lamentations,
Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum,
Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. But, among the
ancient Jews, they formed only twenty-two books, according to the
letters of their alphabet, which were twenty-two in number; reckoning
Judges and Ruth, Ezra and Nehemiah, Jeremiah and his Lamentations, and
the twelve minor prophets, (so called from the comparative brevity of
their compositions,) respectively as one book. Josephus says, “We have
not thousands of books, discordant, and contradicting each other: but we
have only _twenty-two_, which comprehend the history of all former ages,
and are justly regarded as divine. _Five_ of them proceed from Moses;
they include as well the _laws_, as an account of the creation of man,
extending to the time of his (Moses) death. This period comprehends
nearly three thousand years. From the death of Moses to that of
Artaxerxes, who was king of Persia after Xerxes, the _prophets_, who
succeeded Moses, committed to writing, in thirteen books, what was done
in their days. The remaining four books contain _hymns_ to God, (the
Psalms,) and instructions of life for man.” The threefold division of
the Old Testament into the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms, mentioned
by Josephus, was expressly recognised before his time by Jesus Christ,
as well as by the subsequent writers of the New Testament. We have
therefore sufficient evidence that the Old Testament existed at that
time; and if it be only allowed that Jesus Christ was a teacher of a
fearless and irreproachable character, it must be acknowledged that we
draw a fair conclusion, when we assert that the Scriptures were not
corrupted in his time: for, when he accused the Pharisees of making the
law of no effect by their traditions, and, when he enjoined his hearers
to search the Scriptures, he could not have failed to mention the
corruptions or forgeries of Scripture, if any had existed in that age.
About fifty years before the time of Christ were written the Targums of
Onkelos on the Pentateuch, and of Jonathan Ben-Uzziel on the Prophets;
(according to the Jewish classification of the books of the Old
Testament;) which are evidence of the genuineness of those books at that
time. We have, however, unquestionable testimony of the genuineness of
the Old Testament, in the _fact_ that its canon was fixed some centuries
before the birth of Jesus Christ. Jesus the son of Sirach, author of the
book of Ecclesiasticus, makes evident references to the prophecies of
Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, and mentions these prophets by name: he
speaks also of the twelve minor prophets. It likewise appears from the
prologue to that book, that the law and the prophets, and other ancient
books, were extant at the same period. The book of Ecclesiasticus,
according to the best chronologers, was written in the Syro-Chaldaic
dialect A. M. 3772, that is, two hundred and thirty-two years before the
Christian æra, and was translated by the grandson of Jesus into Greek,
for the use of the Alexandrian Jews. The prologue was added by the
translator; but this circumstance does not diminish the evidence for the
antiquity of the Old Testament: for he informs us, that the law and the
prophets, and the other books of their fathers, were studied by his
grandfather; a sufficient proof that they were extant in his time. Fifty
years, indeed, before the age of the author of Ecclesiasticus, or two
hundred and eighty-two years before the Christian æra, the Greek version
of the Old Testament, usually called the Septuagint, was executed at
Alexandria, the books of which are the same as in our Bibles; whence it
is evident that we still have those identical books, which the most
ancient Jews attested to be genuine. The Christian fathers too, Origen,
Athanasius, Hilary, Gregory, Nazianzen, Epiphanius, and Jerom, speaking
of the books that are allowed by the Jews as sacred and canonical, agree
in saying that they are the same in number with the letters in the
Hebrew alphabet, that is, twenty-two, and reckon particularly those
books which we have already mentioned. Nothing can be more satisfactory
and conclusive than all the parts of the evidence for the authenticity
and integrity of the canon of the Old Testament scriptures. The Jews, to
whom they were first committed, never varied respecting them; while they
were fully recognised by our Lord and his Apostles; and, consequently,
their authenticity is established by express revelation. And that we now
possess them as thus delivered and authenticated, we have the concurrent
testimony of the whole succession of the most distinguished early
Christian writers, as well as of the Jews to this day, who, in every
age, and in all countries, the most remote from one another, have
constantly been in the habit of reading them in their synagogues.
5. The five books of the law are divided into fifty-four sections, which
division is attributed to Ezra, and was intended for the use of their
synagogues, and for the better instruction of the people in the law of
God. For, one of these sections was read every Sabbath in their
synagogues. They ended the last section with the last words of
Deuteronomy on the Sabbath of the feast of the tabernacles, and then
began anew with the first section from the beginning of Genesis the next
Sabbath after, and so went round in this circle every year. The number
of these sections was fifty-four, because in their intercalated years (a
month being then added) there were fifty-four Sabbaths. On other years
they reduced them to the number of the Sabbaths which were in those
years, by joining two short ones several times into one. For they held
themselves obliged to have the whole law thus read over in their
synagogues every year. Till the time of the persecution of Antiochus
Epiphanes, they read only the law; but being then prohibited from
reading it any more, they substituted in the room of the fifty-four
sections of the law, fifty-four sections out of the prophets, the
reading of which they ever after continued. Thus, when the reading of
the law was restored by the Maccabees, the section which was read every
Sabbath out of the law served for their first lesson, and the section
out of the prophets for their second lesson; and this practice was
continued to the times of the Apostles, Acts xiii, 15, 27. These
sections were divided into verses, called by the Jews _pesukim_, and
they are marked out in the Hebrew Bible by two great points at the end
of them, called from hence, _soph-pasuk_, that is, the end of the verse.
This division, if not made by Ezra, is very ancient; for when the
Chaldee came into use in the room of the Hebrew language, after the
return of the Jews from their captivity in Babylon, the law was read to
the people first in the Hebrew language, and then rendered by an
interpreter into the Chaldee language; and this was done period by
period. The division of the Holy Scriptures into chapters is of a much
later date. The Psalms, indeed, appear to have been always divided as
they are at present, Acts xiii, 33; but as to the rest of the Bible, the
present division into chapters was unknown to the ancients.
6. From the time when the Old Testament was completed by Malachi, the
last of the prophets, till the publication of the New Testament, about
four hundred and sixty years elapsed. During the life of Jesus Christ,
and for some time after his ascension, nothing on the subject of his
mission was committed to writing. The period of his remaining upon earth
may be regarded as an intermediate state between the old and new
dispensations. His personal ministry was confined to the land of Judea;
and, by means of his miracles and discourses, together with those of his
disciples, the attention of men, in that country, was sufficiently
directed to his doctrine. They were also in possession of the Old
Testament scriptures; which, at that season, it was of the greatest
importance they should consult, in order to compare the ancient
predictions with what was then taking place. Immediately after the
resurrection of Jesus Christ, his disciples, in the most public manner,
and in the place where he had been crucified, proclaimed that event, and
the whole of the doctrine which he had commanded them to preach. In this
service they continued personally to labour for a considerable time,
first among their countrymen the Jews, and then among the other nations.
During the period between the resurrection and the publication of the
New Testament, the churches possessed miraculous gifts, and the prophets
were enabled to explain the predictions of the Old Testament, and to
show their fulfilment. After their doctrine had every where attracted
attention, and, in spite of the most violent opposition, had forced its
way through the civilized world; and when churches or societies of
Christians were collected, not only in Judea, but in the most celebrated
cities of Italy, Greece, and Asia Minor, the scriptures of the New
Testament were written by the Apostles, and other inspired men, and
intrusted to the keeping of these churches.
The whole of the New Testament was not written at once, but in different
parts, and on various occasions. Six of the Apostles, and two inspired
disciples who accompanied them in their journeys, were employed in this
work. The histories which it contains of the life of Christ, known by
the name of the Gospels, were composed by four of his contemporaries,
two of whom had been constant attendants on his public ministry. The
first of these was published within a few years after his death, in that
very country where he had lived, and among the people who had seen him
and observed his conduct. The history called the Acts of the Apostles,
which contains an account of their proceedings, and of the progress of
the Gospel, from Jerusalem, among the Gentile nations, was published
about the year 64, being thirty years after our Lord’s crucifixion, by
one who, though not an Apostle, declares that he had “perfect
understanding of all things, from the very first,” and who had written
one of the Gospels. This book, commencing with a detail of proceedings,
from the resurrection of Jesus Christ, carries down the evangelical
history till the arrival of Paul as a prisoner at Rome. The Epistles,
addressed to churches in particular places, to believers scattered up
and down in different countries, or to individuals, in all twenty-one in
number, were separately written, by five of the Apostles, from
seventeen, to twenty, thirty, and thirty-five years after the death of
Christ. Four of these writers had accompanied the Lord Jesus during his
life, and had been “eye witnesses of his majesty.” The fifth was the
Apostle Paul, who, as he expresses it, was “one born out of due time,”
but who had likewise seen Jesus Christ, and had been empowered by him to
work miracles, which were “the signs of an Apostle.” One of these five
also wrote the book of Revelation, about the year A. D. 96, addressed to
seven churches in Asia, containing Epistles to these churches from Jesus
Christ himself, with various instructions for the immediate use of all
Christians, together with a prophetical view of the kingdom of God till
the end of time. These several pieces, which compose the scriptures of
the New Testament, were received by the churches with the highest
veneration; and, as the instructions they contain, though partially
addressed, were equally intended for all, they were immediately copied,
and handed about from one church to another, till each was in possession
of the whole. The volume of the New Testament was thus completed before
the death of the last of the Apostles, most of whom had sealed their
testimony with their blood. From the manner in which these scriptures
were at first circulated, some of their parts were necessarily longer in
reaching certain places than others. These, of course, could not be so
soon received into the canon as the rest. Owing to this circumstance,
and to that of a few of the books being addressed to individual
believers, or to their not having the names of their writers affixed, or
the designation of Apostle added, a doubt for a time existed among some
respecting the genuineness of the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Epistle of
James, the second Epistle of Peter, the second and third Epistles of
John, the Epistle of Jude, and the book of Revelation. These, however,
though not universally, were generally acknowledged; while all the other
books of the New Testament were without dispute received from the
beginning. This discrimination proves the scrupulous care of the first
churches on this highly important subject.
At length these books, which had not at first been admitted, were, like
the rest, universally received, not by the votes of a council, as is
sometimes asserted, but after deliberate and free inquiry by many
separate churches, under the superintending providence of God, in
different parts of the world. It is at the same time a certain fact,
that no other books beside those which at present compose the volume of
the New Testament, were admitted by the churches. Several apocryphal
writings were published under the name of Jesus Christ and his Apostles,
which are mentioned by the writers of the first four centuries, most of
which have perished, though some are still extant. Few or none of them
were composed before the second century, and several of them were forged
as late as the third century. But they were not acknowledged as
authentic by the first Christians; and were rejected by those who have
noticed them, as spurious and heretical. Histories, too, as might have
been expected, were written of the life of Christ; and one forgery was
attempted, of a letter said to have been written by Jesus himself to
Abgarus, king of Edessa; but of the first, none were received as of any
authority, and the last was universally rejected. “Beside our Gospels,
and the Acts of the Apostles,” says Paley, “no Christian history
claiming to be written by an Apostle, or Apostolical man, is quoted
within three hundred years after the birth of Christ, by any writer now
extant or known, or, if quoted, is quoted with marks of censure and
rejection.” This agreement of Christians respecting the Scriptures, when
we consider their many differences in other respects, is the more
remarkable, since it took place without any public authority being
interposed. “We have no knowledge” says the above author, “of any
interference of authority in the question before the council of
Laodicea, in the year 363. Probably the decree of this council rather
declared than regulated the public judgment, or, more properly speaking,
the judgment of some neighbouring churches, the council itself
consisting of no more than thirty or forty bishops of Lydia and the
adjoining countries. Nor does its authority seem to have extended
farther.” But the fact, that no public authority was interposed, does
not require to be supported by the above reasoning. The churches at the
beginning, being widely separated from each other, necessarily judged
for themselves in this matter, and the decree of the council was founded
on the coincidence of their judgment. In delivering this part of his
written revelation, God proceeded as he had done in the publication of
the Old Testament scriptures. For a considerable time, his will was
declared to mankind through the medium of oral tradition. At length he
saw meet, in his wisdom, to give it a more permanent form. But this did
not take place till a nation, separated from all others, was provided
for its reception. In the same manner, when Jesus Christ set up his
kingdom in the world, of which the nation of Israel was a type, he first
made known his will by means of verbal communication, through his
servants whom he commissioned and sent out for that purpose; and when,
through their means, he had prepared his subjects and collected them
into churches, to be the depositaries of his word, he caused it to be
delivered to them in writing. His kingdom was not to consist of any
particular nation, like that of Israel, but of all those individuals, in
every part of the world, who should believe in his name. It was to be
ruled, not by means of human authority, or compulsion of any kind, but
solely by his authority. These sacred writings were thus intrusted to a
people prepared for their reception,--a nation among the nations, but
singularly distinct from all the rest, who guarded and preserved them
with the same inviolable attachment as the Old Testament scriptures had
experienced from the Jews.
7. Respecting the lateness of the time when the scriptures of the New
Testament were written, no objection can be offered, since they were
published before that generation passed away which had witnessed the
transactions they record. The dates of these writings fall within the
period of the lives of many who were in full manhood when the Lord Jesus
was upon earth; and the facts detailed in the histories, and referred to
in the Epistles, being of the most public nature, were still open to
full investigation. It must also be recollected, that the Apostles and
disciples, during the whole intermediate period, were publicly
proclaiming to the world the same things which were afterward recorded
in their writings. Thus were the Scriptures, as we now possess them,
delivered to the first churches. By the concurrent testimony of all
antiquity, both of friends and foes, they were received by Christians of
different sects, and were constantly appealed to on all hands, in the
controversies that arose among them. Commentaries upon them were written
at a very early period, and translations made into different languages.
Formal catalogues of them were published, and they were attacked by the
adversaries of Christianity, who not only did not question, but
expressly admitted, the facts they contained, and that they were the
genuine productions of the persons whose names they bore. In this manner
the Scriptures were also secured from the danger of being in any respect
altered or vitiated. “The books of Scripture,” says Augustine, “could
not have been corrupted. If such an attempt had been made by any one,
his design would have been prevented and defeated. His alterations would
have been immediately detected by many and more ancient copies.” The
difficulty of succeeding in such an attempt is apparent hence, that the
Scriptures were early translated into divers languages, and copies of
them were numerous. The alterations which any one attempted to make
would have been soon perceived; just even as now, in fact, lesser faults
in some copies are amended by comparing ancient copies or those of the
original. “If any one,” continues Augustine, “should charge you with
having interpolated some texts alleged by you as favourable to your
cause, what would you say? Would you not immediately answer that it is
impossible for you to do such a thing in books read by all Christians;
and that if any such attempt had been made--by you, it would have been
presently discerned and defeated by comparing the ancient copies? Well,
then, for the same reason that the Scriptures cannot be corrupted by
you, neither could they be corrupted by any other people.” Accordingly,
the uniformity of the manuscripts of the Holy Scriptures that are
extant, which are incomparably more numerous than those of any ancient
author, and which are dispersed through so many countries, and in so
great a variety of languages, is truly astonishing. It demonstrates both
the veneration in which the Scriptures have been always held, and the
singular care that has been taken in transcribing them. The number of
various readings, that by the most minute and laborious investigation
and collations of manuscripts have been discovered in them, are said to
amount to one hundred and fifty thousand; though at first sight they may
seem calculated to diminish confidence in the sacred text, yet in no
degree whatever do they affect its credit and integrity. They consist
almost wholly in palpable errors in transcription, grammatical and
verbal differences, such as the insertion or omission of a letter or
article, the substitution of a word for its equivalent, or the
transposition of a word or two in a sentence. Taken altogether, they
neither change nor affect a single doctrine or duty announced or
enjoined in the word of God. When, therefore, we consider the great
antiquity of the sacred books, the almost infinite number of copies, of
versions, and of editions, which have been made of them in all
languages, in languages which have not any analogy one with another,
among nations differing so much in their customs and their religious
opinions,--when we consider these things, it is truly astonishing, and
can only be ascribed to the watchful providence of God over his own
word, that, among the various readings, nothing truly essential can be
discerned, which relates to either precept or doctrine, or which breaks
that connection, that unity which subsists in all the various parts of
divine revelation, and which demonstrates the whole to be the work of
one and the same Spirit.
8. Having considered the appellations by which the Bible is
distinguished, the books of which it consists, the time and manner in
which they were collected, it may not be improper to subjoin a few
observations on the genuineness and authenticity of the Scriptures, on
their high original and divine authority, and on their great importance
and utility.
It should here be considered, that the genuineness of the Scriptures
proves the truth of the principal facts contained in them; to which
purpose we may observe that it is very rare to meet with any genuine
writings of the historical kind, in which the principal facts are not
true, unless it be in instances where both the motives which engaged the
author to falsify, and the circumstances which gave some plausibility to
the fiction, are apparent; neither of which can be alleged in the
present case with any colour of reason. As this is rare in general, it
is more rare when the writer treats of things that happened in his own
time, and under his own cognizance and direction, and communicates his
history to persons under the same circumstances; all which may be said
of the writers of the Scripture history. Beside, the great importance of
the facts mentioned in the Scriptures makes it more improbable, that the
several authors should either have attempted to falsify, or have
succeeded in such an attempt. The same observation may be applied to the
great number of particular circumstances of time, place, persons, &c,
mentioned in the Scriptures, and to the harmony of the books with
themselves, and with each other. These are arguments both for the
genuineness of the books, and truth of the facts distinctly considered,
and also arguments for deducing the truth from the genuineness.
Moreover, if the books of the Old and New Testaments were written by the
persons to whom they have been ascribed, that is, if they be genuine,
the moral characters of these writers afford the strongest assurance,
that the facts asserted by them are true. The sufferings which several
of the writers underwent both in life and in death, in attestation of
the facts delivered by them, furnish a particular argument in favour of
these facts. Again, the arguments here alleged for proving the truth of
the Scripture history from the genuineness of the books, are as
conclusive in respect of the miraculous facts, as of the common ones. It
may also be observed, that if we allow the genuineness of the books to
be a sufficient evidence of the common facts which they record, the
miraculous facts must also be allowed from their close connection with
the others. It is necessary to admit both or neither. We cannot conceive
that Moses should have delivered the Israelites from their slavery in
Egypt, or conducted them through the wilderness for forty years, at all
in such manner as the common history represents, unless we suppose the
miraculous facts intermixed with it to be true also. In like manner, the
fame of Christ’s miracles, the multitudes which followed him, the
adherence of his disciples, the jealousy and hatred of the chief
priests, scribes, and Pharisees, with many other facts of a common
nature, are impossible to be accounted for, unless we allow that he did
really work miracles. And the same observations hold, in general, of the
other parts of the Scripture history. We might urge that a particular
argument in favour of the miraculous part of the Scripture history, may
be deduced from the reluctance of mankind to receive miraculous facts;
which would put the writers and readers very much upon their guard, and
would operate as a strong check upon the publication of a miraculous
history at or near the time when the miracles were said to be performed;
and thus it would serve as a strong confirmation of such a history, if
its genuineness be previously granted.
9. In connection with the preceding proposition we may observe, that the
genuineness of the Scriptures proves their divine authority. Porphyry in
effect acknowledges the truth of this proposition, in its reference to
the book of Daniel, by being unable to devise a method of invalidating
its divine authority implied in the accomplishment of the prophecies
which it contains, without asserting that they were written after the
event, or that they were forgeries. Many of the other books of the Old
and New Testaments have unquestionable evidences of the divine
foreknowledge, if they be allowed genuine; such are those supplied by
Moses’s prophecy concerning the captivity of the Israelites, or of a
state not yet erected; Isaiah’s concerning Cyrus; Jeremiah’s concerning
the duration of the Babylonish captivity; Christ’s concerning the
destruction of Jerusalem, and the captivity that was to follow; St.
John’s concerning the great corruption of the Christian church; and
Daniel’s concerning the fourth empire in its declension; which last was
extant in the time of Porphyry, at least; that is, before the events
which it represents. The truth of the proposition might also be argued
from the sublimity and excellence of the doctrines contained in the
Scriptures; in no respect suiting the supposed authors, or the ages in
which they lived, their education or occupation; so that, if they were
the real authors, we are under the necessity of admitting the divine
assistance. The converse of this proposition, namely, that the divine
authority of the Scriptures infers their genuineness, will be readily
and universally acknowledged. Moreover, the truth of the principal facts
contained in the Scriptures proves their divine authority. Such is the
frame of the human mind, that the Scripture history, allowed to be true,
must convince us that Christ, the Prophets, and the Apostles, were
endued with a power greater than human, and acted by the authority of a
Being of the highest wisdom and goodness. By such mode of reasoning it
is shown that the genuineness of the Scriptures, the truth of the
principal facts contained in them, and their divine authority, appear to
be so connected with each other, that, any one being established upon
independent principles, the other two may be inferred from it. On the
subject of the inspiration of the Scriptures, see INSPIRATION.
10. Another argument in favour of the genuineness of the books of the
Old and New Testaments, and of the truth of the principal facts
contained in them, may be deduced from the manner in which they have
been transmitted down from one age to another; resembling that in which
all other genuine books and true histories have been conveyed down to
posterity. As the works of the Greek and Roman writers were considered
by these nations as having been transmitted to them by their ancestors
in a continued succession from the times when the respective authors
lived, so have the books of the Old Testament been accounted by the
Jews, and those of the New by the Christians; and it is an additional
evidence in the last case, that the primitive Christians were not a
distinct nation, but a great multitude of people dispersed through all
the nations of the Roman empire, and even extending itself beyond the
bounds of that empire. As the Greeks and Romans always believed the
principal facts of their historical books, so the Jews and Christians
did more, and never seem to have doubted of the truth of any part of
theirs. In short--whatever can be said of the traditional authority due
to the Greek and Roman writers--something analogous to this, and for the
most part of greater weight, may be urged for the Jewish and Christian.
Now, as all sober minded persons admit the books usually ascribed to the
Greek and Roman historians, philosophers, &c, to be genuine, and the
principal facts related or alluded to in them to be true, and that one
chief evidence for this is the general traditionary one here recited,
they ought, therefore, to pay the same regard to the books of the Old
and New Testaments, since there are the same, or even greater, reasons
for it. Beside, these traditionary evidences are sufficient; and we thus
obtain a real argument, as well as one _ad hominem_, for receiving books
thus handed down to us. For it is not conceivable, that whole nations
should either be imposed upon themselves, or concur to deceive others by
forgeries of books or of facts. These books and facts must therefore, in
general, be genuine and true; and it is a strong additional evidence of
this, that all nations must be jealous of forgeries for the same reasons
as we are.
11. We may proceed to state farther, that the great importance of the
histories, precepts, promises, threatenings, and prophecies contained in
the Scriptures, is in evidence both of their genuineness, and of the
truth of the principal facts mentioned in them. The history of the
creation, fall, deluge, longevity of the patriarchs, dispersion of
mankind, calling of Abraham, descent of Jacob with his family into
Egypt, and the precepts of abstaining from blood, and of circumcision,
were of such concern, either to mankind in general, or to the Israelites
in particular, and some of them of so extraordinary a nature, as that it
could not be a matter of indifference to the people among whom the
account given of them in Genesis was first published, whether they
received them or not. On the supposition that this account was first
published among the Israelites by Moses, and then confirmed by clear,
universal, uninterrupted tradition, it will be easy to conceive how it
should be handed down from age to age among the Jews, and received by
them as indubitable. But, supposing the account to be false, or that
there were no such vestiges and evidences of these histories and
precepts, it will be difficult to conceive how this could have happened,
let the time of publication be what it may. If early, the people would
reject at once the account, for want of a clear tradition; if late, it
would be natural to inquire how the author was informed of things never
known before to others. As to other cosmogonies and theogonies current
among Pagans, which are evident fictions, they furnish no just objection
against the Mosaic history, because they were generally regarded merely
as amusing fictions; and yet they concealed in figures, or expressed in
plain words, some truths which agree with the book of Genesis, and
afford a strong presumptive evidence in favour of this book. With
respect to the law of Moses, this was extremely burdensome, expensive,
and severe, particularly in its reference to the crime of idolatry, to
which mankind were then extravagantly prone; and it was absurd,
according to human judgment, in the instances of prohibiting their
furnishing themselves with horses for war, and of commanding all the
males of the whole nation to appear at Jerusalem three times a year.
Nevertheless, it claims a divine authority, and appeals to facts of the
most notorious kind, and to customs and ceremonies of the most peculiar
nature, as the memorials of these facts. Can we then conceive that any
nation, with such motives to reject, and such opportunities of
detecting, the forgery of the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and
Deuteronomy, should yet receive them, and submit to this heavy yoke?
That the Jews did submit to the law of Moses in these circumstances, is
evident from the books of the Old and New Testaments, if we allow them
the least truth and genuineness, or even from profane writers, and from
the present observance of it by the Jews scattered through all the
kingdoms of the world. Should it be said that other nations have
ascribed divine authority to their lawgivers, and submitted to very
severe laws, it may be alleged in reply to this, that the pretences of
lawgivers among the Pagans to inspiration, and the submission of the
people, may be accounted for from their peculiar circumstances at the
time, without recurring to real inspiration; and more especially if we
admit the patriarchal revelations related by Moses, and his own divine
legation, as Heathen lawgivers copied after these, and hence we derive a
strong argument in their favour. Beside, no instance occurs among the
Pagans of a body of laws framed at once and remaining invariable;
whereas the body politic of the Israelites assumed a complete form at
once, and has preserved it, with little variation, to the present time,
and under many external disadvantages; thus supplying us with an
instance altogether without parallel, and showing the high opinion which
they entertained of the great importance of their law. In short, of all
the fictions or forgeries that can happen among any people, the most
improbable is that of the Jewish body of civil laws, and seems to be
utterly impossible.
12. If we farther examine the history contained in the books of Joshua,
Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah, and
extending from the death of Moses to the reëstablishment of the Jews
after the Babylonish captivity by Ezra and Nehemiah, we shall find a
variety of important facts, most of which must be supposed to leave such
vestiges of themselves, either external and visible, or internal in the
minds and memories of the people, as would verify them if true, or cause
them to be rejected if false. The conquest of the land of Canaan, the
division of it, and the appointment of cities for the priests and
Levites by Joshua; the frequent slaveries of the Israelites to the
neighbouring kings, and their deliverance by the judges; the creation of
a kingdom by Samuel; the translation of this kingdom from Saul’s family
to David, with his conquests; the glory of Solomon’s kingdom; the
building of the temple; the division of the kingdom; the idolatrous
worship set up at Dan and Bethel; the captivity of the Israelites by the
kings of Assyria; the captivity of the Jews by Nebuchadnezzar; the
destruction of their temple; their return under Cyrus, rebuilding the
temple under Darius Hystaspes, and reëstablishment under Artaxerxes
Longimanus, by Ezra and Nehemiah:--these events are some of them the
most glorious, and some of them the most reproachful, that can happen to
any people. How can we reconcile forgeries of such opposite kinds, and
especially as they are interwoven together by various complicated and
necessary connections, which do not admit of separation? The facts,
indeed, are of such importance, notoriety, and permanency in their
effects, that no particular persons among the Israelites could first
project the design of feigning them, that their own people would not
concur with such a design, and that neighbouring nations would not
permit the fiction to pass. Nothing but the invincible evidence of the
facts here alleged, could induce a jealous multitude among the
Israelites or neighbouring nations to acquiesce. This must be
acknowledged upon the supposition that the several books were published
in or near the times when the facts that are recorded in them happened.
But suppose all these historical books forged by Ezra; the hypothesis is
evidently impossible. Things so important and notorious, so honourable
and so reproachful to the people for whose sake they were forged, would
have been rejected with the utmost indignation, unless there were the
strongest and most genuine traces of these things already among the
people. They must therefore, in part at least, be true. If it be said
that additions were made by Ezra, these additions must have been either
of important or trivial matters. On the first supposition, the
difficulty already stated recurs; and if the important facts are true,
what possible motive could have induced Ezra to make additions of no
importance? Beside, if any ancient writings were extant, Ezra must
either copy after them, which destroys the present supposition, or
differ from and oppose them, which would betray him. If there were no
such ancient writings, the people would be led to inquire with regard to
matters of importance, for what reason Ezra was so particular in things
of which there was neither any memory, nor account in writing. Should it
be said that the people did not regard what Ezra had thus forged, this
reduces the subject in question to matters of small or of no importance.
Beside, why should Ezra write if no one would read or regard? Farther:
Ezra must have had, like other men, friends, enemies, and rivals; and
some, or all of these, would have been a check upon him, and a security
against him, in matters of importance. If we suppose these books,
instead of having been forged at once, to have been forged successively,
at the interval of one, two, or three centuries after the facts related,
we shall involve ourselves in the same or similar difficulties. Upon the
whole, then, we may conclude, that the forgery of the annals of the
Israelites appears to be impossible, as well as that of the body of
their civil laws. It is needless to examine the books of Esther, Job,
the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Canticles; and we might proceed
to the Prophecies; but this will be resumed under the article
_Prophecy_. For the subjects comprehended in the books of the New
Testament. See GOSPEL:GOSPEL, and #CHRISTIANITY.
13. We shall here subjoin some general evidences in attestation of the
truth of the books of Scripture. That Jews and Christians have thought
their sacred books very highly important, most genuine, and true,
appears from the persecutions and sufferings which they have undergone
on account of their attachment to them, and because they would not be
prevailed upon to surrender them. The preservation of the law of Moses,
probably the first book written in any language, whilst many others of a
later date have been lost, shows the great regard that has been paid to
it; and from this circumstance we may infer that this and the other
books of the Old Testament have been preserved on account of their
importance, or from some other cause, equally evincing their genuineness
and truth. The great value set upon these books appears also from the
many early translations and paraphrases of them; and these translations
and paraphrases serve to correct errors that are unavoidable in the
lapse of time, and to secure their integrity and purity. The hesitation
and difficulty with which some few books of the New Testament were
received into the canon, show the great care and concern of the
primitive Christians about the canon, and the high importance of the
books admitted into it; and afford a strong evidence of their
genuineness and truth. The same observation is in a degree applicable to
the Jewish canon. Moreover, the religious hatred and animosity which
subsisted between the Jews and Samaritans, and between several of the
ancient sects among the Christians, convince us of what importance they
all thought their sacred books, and disposed them to watch over one
another with a jealous eye. Farther: the genuineness of the books of the
Old and New Testaments may be evinced from the language, style, and
manner of writing used in them. The Hebrew language, in which the Old
Testament was written, being the language of an ancient people, who had
little intercourse with their neighbours, would not change so fast as
modern languages have done, since different nations have been variously
blended with one another by the extension of trade, arts, and sciences;
and yet some changes must have occurred in the interval that elapsed
between the time of Moses and that of Malachi. The biblical Hebrew
corresponds so exactly to this criterion, as to afford a considerable
argument in favour of the genuineness of the books of the Old Testament.
Beside, these books have too great a diversity of style to be the work
of either one Jew, or of any set of contemporary Jews. If they be
forgeries, there must have been a succession of impostors in different
ages, who concurred in the same iniquitous design. Again: the Hebrew
language ceased to be spoken, as a living language, soon after the time
of the Babylonish captivity; and it would be difficult or impossible to
forge any thing in it after it became a dead language. Hence it appears,
that all the books of the Old Testament must at least be nearly as
ancient as the Babylonish captivity; and as they could not all be
written in the same age, some must be much more ancient, and this would
reduce us to the necessity of supposing a succession of conspiring
impostors. Moreover, there is, as we have already observed, a simplicity
of style, and an unaffected manner of writing, in all the books of the
Old Testament, which is a strong evidence of their genuineness. The
style of the New Testament, in particular, is not only simple and
unaffected, but is Greek influenced by the Hebrew idiom, and exactly
answers to the circumstances of time, places, and persons. To which we
may add, that the narrations and precepts of both the Old and New
Testament are delivered without hesitation; the writers teaching as
having authority: and this circumstance is peculiar to those who unite,
with a clear knowledge of what they deliver, a perfect integrity of
heart. But a farther argument for the genuineness and truth of the
Scriptures is supplied by the very great number of particular
circumstances of time, place, persons, &c, mentioned in them. It is
needless to recount these; but they are incompatible with forged and
false accounts, that do not abound in such particularities, and the want
of which furnishes a suspicion to their discredit. Compare, in this
respect, Manetho’s account of the dynasties of Egypt, Ctesias’s of the
Assyrian kings, and those which the technical chronologers have given of
the ancient kingdoms of Greece, which are defective in such particulars,
with the history by Thucydides of the Peloponnesian war, and with
Cæsar’s of the war in Gaul, and the difference will be sufficiently
apparent. Dr. Paley’s admirable treatise, entitled, “_Horæ Paulinæ_,”
affords very valuable illustrations of this argument as it respects the
genuineness of the books of the New Testament. The agreement of the
Scriptures with history, natural and civil, is a farther proof of their
genuineness and truth. The history of the fall agrees in an eminent
manner both with the obvious facts of labour, sorrow, pain, and death,
with what we see and feel every day, and with all our philosophical
inquiries into the frame of the human mind, the nature of social life,
and the origin of evil. Natural history bears a strong testimony to
Moses’s account of the deluge. Civil history affords many evidences
which corroborate the same account. (See _Deluge_.) The Mosaic account
of the confusion of languages, of the dispersion of Noah’s sons, and of
the state of religion in the ancient postdiluvian world, is not only
rendered probable, but is in a very high degree established, by many
collateral arguments. See CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES, and DIVISION OF THE
EARTH.
14. The agreement of the books of the Old and New Testaments with
themselves and with each other, affords another argument both of their
genuineness and truth. The laws of the Israelites are contained in the
Pentateuch, and referred to, in a great variety of ways, direct and
indirect, in the historical books, in the Psalms, and in the Prophecies.
The historical facts also in the preceding books are often referred to
in those that succeed, and in the Psalms and Prophecies. In like manner,
the Gospels have the greatest harmony with each other, and the Epistles
of St. Paul with the Acts of the Apostles; and, indeed, there is
scarcely any book of either the Old or New Testament, which may not be
shown to refer to many of the rest, in one way or other. For the
illustration of this argument, let us suppose that no more remained of
the Roman writers than Livy, Tully, and Horace; would they not, by their
references to the same facts and customs, by the sameness of style in
the same writer, and difference in the different ones, and numberless
other such like circumstances of critical consideration, prove
themselves, and one another to be genuine, and the principal facts
related, or alluded to, to be true? Whoever will apply this reasoning to
the present case will perceive, that the numberless minute, direct, and
indirect agreements and coincidences, that present themselves to all
diligent readers of the Scriptures, prove their truth and genuineness
beyond all contradiction.
The harmony and agreement of the several writers of the Old and New
Testament appear the more remarkable, when it is considered that their
various parts were penned by several hands in very different conditions
of life, from the throne and sceptre down to the lowest degree, and in
very distant ages, through a long interval of time; which would
naturally have led a spirit of imposture to have varied its schemes, and
to have adapted them to different stations in the world, and to the
different vicissitudes of every age. David wrote about four hundred
years after Moses, and Isaiah about two hundred and fifty after David,
and Matthew more than seven hundred years after Isaiah; and yet these
authors, with all the other Prophets and Apostles, write in perfect
harmony, confirming the authority of their predecessors, labouring to
reduce the people to the observance of their instructions, and loudly
exclaiming against the neglect and contempt of them, and denouncing the
severest judgments against such as continued disobedient. Consequently,
as the writers of the Holy Scriptures, though they all claim a divine
authority, yet write in perfect connection and harmony, mutually
confirming the doctrine and testimony of each other, and concurring to
establish the very same religious truths and principles, it is a strong
proof that they all derived their instructions from the same fountain,
the wisdom of God, and were indeed under the direction and illumination
of the same Spirit. This leads us to add, that the unity of design,
which appears in the dispensations recorded in the Scriptures, is an
argument not only of their truth and genuineness, but also of their
divine authority. In order to perceive the force of this argument, it is
only necessary to inquire what this design is, and how it is pursued by
the series of events and divine interpositions recorded in the
Scriptures. (See _Dispensation_.) It should also be considered, that the
historical evidences in favour of the genuineness, truth, and divine
authority of the Scriptures, do not become less from age to age; but, on
the contrary, it may rather be presumed that they increase. Since the
three great concurring events of printing, the reformation of religion
in these western parts, and the restoration of letters, so many more
evidences and coincidences have been discovered in favour of the Jewish
and Christian histories, as may serve, in some measure, to supply the
want of those that have been lost in the preceding times; and as this
accumulation of evidences is likely to continue, there is great reason
to hope that it will at length become irresistible to all and silence
even every gainsayer.
15. The moral characters of the Prophets, and the Apostles, prove the
truth and divine authority of the Scriptures. The characters of the
persons who are said in the Scriptures to have had divine
communications, and a divine mission, are so much superior to the
characters that occur in common life, that we can scarcely account for
the more eminent individuals, and much less so for so large a succession
of them, continued through so many ages, without allowing the divine
communications and assistance which they allege. Notwithstanding
considerable imperfections that pertained to many of these eminent
persons, and the occasional offences chargeable upon one or two of them,
yet the impartial reader should consider whether the Prophets, Apostles,
&c, were not so much superior, not only to mankind at an average, but
even to the best men among the Greeks and Romans, as is not fairly to be
accounted for by the mere powers of human nature. If this statement
should not be conceded, their characters, however, are too good to allow
the supposition of an impious fraud and imposture, which must have been
the case if they had not divine authority. Beside, it should be
recollected, that the undisguised and impartial manner in which the
imperfections and faults of the eminent persons mentioned in Scripture
are related, furnishes a remarkable additional evidence for the truth of
those parts of the Scripture history in which such relations occur,
beside such evidences as extend to the whole.
16. The excellence of the doctrine contained in the Scriptures is an
additional evidence of their authority. This argument has great force
independently of all other considerations. Suppose, for instance, that
the author of the Gospel, which goes under the name of St. Matthew, was
not known, and that it was unsupported by the writers of the primitive
times; yet such are the unaffected simplicity of the narrations, the
purity of the doctrine, and the sincere piety and goodness of the
sentiments, that it carries its own authority with it. The same
observation is applicable in general to all the books of the Old and New
Testaments; so that if there was no other book in the world beside the
Bible, a man could not reasonably doubt of the truth of revealed
religion. If all other arguments were set aside, we may conclude from
this single consideration, that the authors of the books of the Old and
New Testaments, whoever they were, cannot have made a false claim to
divine authority. The Scriptures contain doctrines concerning God,
providence, a future state, the duty of man, &c, far more pure and
sublime than can in any way be accounted for from the natural powers of
men, so circumstanced as the sacred writers were. Let the reader
consider whether it can be reasonably supposed, that Jewish shepherds,
fishermen, &c, should, both before and after the rise of the Heathen
philosophy, so far exceed men of the greatest abilities and
accomplishments in other nations, by any other means than divine
communications. Indeed, no writers, from the invention of letters to the
present times, are equal to the penmen of the books of the Old and New
Testaments in true excellence, utility and dignity; and this is surely
such an internal criterion of their divine authority, as ought not to be
resisted.
17. The many and great advantages which have accrued to the world from
the patriarchal, Judaical, and Christian revelations, confirm the whole.
These advantages relate partly to the knowledge, and partly to the
practice, of religion. The internal worth and excellence of the
Scriptures, as containing the best principles of knowledge, holiness,
consolation, and hope, and their consequent utility and importance in a
moral and practical view, fully and directly demonstrate their divine
original. For an enlarged view of this branch of evidence see
CHRISTIANITY.