, 1875-05-24

In tho u .he-aut
temarks Matthew Anold In 'Lito1atnso and
what data We have, to telieve that tho Gospel ia
~. Johns. ia extremely dtN1cnlt."
The yar,ouB GoHpots aud Epi.tfrs forming tho
cauon of tIs Non TentAment, with many oIhers
read for counsel and guidance by Tho carly
churches. 1]eforo Tho close OF tho aecond ccn-
tury mich controversy hsd asi4cn With regard 70
ehe genuinenesn and comparative morris OF thebo
dlffc1 ont documents. In thn fourth ccutury
tho liapu.e, vhIcl, hsl cu1ninased 10 pe,rce,i-
lions and tloodshei. ran arbitrarily settled by
connc,fA Of the 1teck and Latin Churches. W
the decision OF ttie1e todies. tho writnka nnv
Included in Tho Now Te.tanent wcra dsclhyed to
be of ayino origin. and tIo remainder wcE0 70.
jcctcd Al arocryphal. . ....
An early ~ tho latter rart OF Tire third century
tho Scriptures Of tho Chs'ssiau religion bad haen
Gothic Of Northern Europe, and INTO the Ian
HllaIes OF Upper and Lower Egypt. In tho
seventh Century they wero sranslstcd into tho
PERISH, And IN tho eighth century into she
Artnihfan, dialects, and parts Of them into the
Aun!o-Saxon. The original manuscript. were
problbly writtrn Tn rapyrns, cheap but per-
ishable material that could not survive tl.o cun.
tsnuoun handling 10 Which tlo documents wore
subiectol. SOrton htntes that A. an carly period
io,0up copIas were In e1issence. 1t WAS nu.
Ayolab!e that variations In tho text o! these
copies should occnr. owing tn carecssnnsr, .Hl-
perfect vision o. hearing, miannuct .tanIsng.
GtEt DH kuG pHIk VI ku1 kLAAEllA1clDs 4H9 lHhck
eniighso ed thooiorians that tl.s idea Of tho
hal inspiration Of the Scriptures WAS not held by
tho primitive Christians, hence they ieit
indifferent to tho literal accuracy Of
tsst'aos ssos as long ssi t e.
UpwAtd4 81 1.4oo Eer Testament Mss,
| moro OF less cu1nptctc, sra known to nlodcrn
sca olass aud In thch. more than lUo, 900 te1tuai
J variations nccur. Yet, with all these differences
In thu teadlugs, no essential discrepancies III the
| doctrines they proclaim hase been detected.
| DE. Conant Inc eminent Hebrew Hci,oAs, gives
list oi tho classified manuscsipts ot the Greek
pears that Italy hsh $40, England $50. Fsauce
2a8, Turkey 10l. Germany %. H,ltnIn "a, bpall
10, Sutherland a. Scotland 7, Holland 6. 1rc~
land g. Denmatk 3, and sseasn1.
two classes, called .'she earlief" and s'the
later" Tbs frss wcso wriston in Erspt fos tho
use OF tho African churches, and were III unciof
ctarac.ern, aud WITHOUT division into phrases 1T
| ycrnes. Tho oldest of tlneo do not date q *
further than tho fourth century. "Tho iater'
or modern nauuBcrll'ts arc written in cursire
cllatActert. Aad aso considered 'eHs authonta-
! tivc than tho older and tnres copios, Tho most
celebrated Of the hucens Crock n1anuscripta ato
the Coaez Alexandrinns, tho c. raticanus. tho
| G. Eohraini, and tie 6iAaittc manuscript dis
COVERED by rtnchendoff in ls44.
Tho 'Atcxandrlsn manuscript was written In
Egypt. by ons " "ThccL!on," about the beg,t.-
Mug Of tic !lsth ccnturs, and w.s p1c1crsed IN
tue library ogthc monastery Vt Ale1andsia Until
tho later prt Of tho 1flccnth century, when |.
was takeu to Constautinoplo. In 1919 II wns
sent to London. where II IL now tIeaaurcd IN
the British Museum. This manuscript 10 de-
cient in tho greater part Of Matthew. and in
rome chal tcss in John and II. Corinthtana. 1t
a1so contains two EpIstlcs by Cleucn., M Erss-
to gf "a aud pr9aasson BY
bronpht from ConstantinoIls to Home In l45V,
aud IL now IN tue Vatican library. II In hup-
p!aed to. 30 as least t!tty yrsrs older than tie
red 10 il In settling dificult readings. It WIS
originally complete IN the books Of tle OLD and
| Sas Testameuts but is Low wauanK III many
pl4ceB In tie books Of both the uonrew aud
urcek Scriptures. 1t lacks the whole ot heseis-
tions rho EIisl.cs to rhilEnnn and to Titus. the
two to Timothy. and The latter ralt OF tie Epis-
tle to tho Hebrews.
The 'Coic1 E.hrain" owes Its discovery to
slngnlas uccident. In ths fifth ceaturg. d
munk named Enhra,n. belonging to QUE OF iho
monastet1cs uf Eerrt. wrosa upon parchment 4
| hook Ut discousaes on tho Chtintiku doctrines.
HIS vo'ume or roll wns taken from Egypt to a
monastery near ,founs Herm.n. iu Palestine. in
The nlnth century. Here it remained Until 14st,
when it waa taken 10 Paris and deposited Ia tho
ltovaf Library. In 171C wl.t'o librarian vas
examining the old msnuscript. be d,rcovercd
| thAt Il waR q palimphcBt,-thht il, TINT an earor
writing OIL tic parchment bad been e1ssed TO
mako room for tho present one. This mctAu1 Of
using parchment several times over Whe 10 fro
qucnt practice in ancient t1mee, owing to tho
costl!Eou5 Of Hssna. Uy Oxillxilg hu0w tho lux
employed in the original writing, 1t was found to
10 the text OF tho New Testament IN unc4ls.
The sc,irt was arranged iu the form OF columns,
tive Of which occu led rage. Tho lux usoi in
the writing Wah r pslo red. wheteas the sermons
bv Ephraitn were transcribed 10 curstsa charac-
tors aud III very black ink, md the lines TAU the
Whale width Of the PAGE.
The Linvitio manuscript WA accidentally 10.
covered By hscleudorf from = mars of rubbish IN
the Convent Of it. Catherine, 1t Mount stnsi.
On his first visit 10 the Convent Ae could not
persuade tho monks to let him copy OF carry
away tho ptize, but tn 1859 le was allowed to
bear the manuscript with him TO Russia ~ n
present to the Cxat. 1t contains tue New Testa-
nnent entire, aud is considered the .oldo+t and
most correct copy extant. lis date IL referred
to tho first halt Ut the fourth century. 1t was
carofutv photographed III 1sG1, AND copies wc'c
sent to tho leading biblital scholars ot Europe.
Two came to this country, one Of which Is NOW
III tho library Of tho Chicago University.
tho Now Testameht vas !irst divided into
ycraes by EuthhlLus, Deacon Of Alexandria, in
AGA. Subsequently, the marks OF punctuation
vera EtRtntily introduced. in tho thirteenth
century tho lisision into chapters took place,
un III the sixteenth the vels,cular arrangement
was perfected by 1sohert Stcnneus. Tue hoad.
lngs were p!aced osor the chapters at moleru
date.