, 1880-02-29

THE NEW TESTAMENT
t0oy IT CANE DOWN TO Us-A VALUABLE
HISTORICAL STATEMENT.
The following is brief synopsis OF lect-
ure. Of which the first part was delivered last
Sunday morning at the Mayhower Congre-
ratioual Church, Indianapolis, by Mr. A. w.
Taylor, the Public Librarian. The lecture has
been previously well received In Baltimore,
New York, and New England.
The aim Of the speaker was to show how
yasty superior is the evidence for the au-
theuticity and genuineness Of the New Testa-
ment books to any which can be produced to
support those Of auy other ancient books
whatsoever. To accomplish this the lecturer
traces the New Testament, as we have it to-
day, back step By step to the very days Of the
Apostles. Mr.. Tyler said that the New Tes-
taments with which we are all familiar are
reprints, with the exception Of slight and
unauthorized changes in the spelling, Of
those printed at Oxford and Cambridge for
the British and Foreign Bible Society. The
King James, or authorized" version, Of
1Gl1, from which these were printed, was It
self "based upon the Bishops Bible of ISIS,
and that upon Cranmer's Of 1889, which was
new edition Of Matthew's Bible of 1887,
partly from Coverdale's Of 1885. but chiefly
from Tyndale; in other words, our present
authorized version is mainly that OF Tyn-
dale, made from the original Hebrew and
Greek.
The "original Greek" referred to on'the
title pages Of our Testaments was probably
mostly that Of the editions of Theodore
Baza; and those were but slightly changed
from the first edition Of Erasmus, which was
Issued in 1916, and was the first printed Greek
Testament ever given to the world. This
work vas indeed based upon manuscripts
which scholars would consider inferior, but
the speaker said that for the purpose OF
tracing the history of the New Testament it
was sufficiently accurate to say that the latest
and poorest manuscripts coincided through
out with the oldest and best which have come
down to u.s.
For establishing the text Of classical au-
Mof, editors are glad to get from three 70
81 manuscripts: and scarcely, any creek
ninth century. But for the Greek Testament
We nave manuscripts in large numbers, coV-
eenng every century from the fifteenth to the
lolfth. Of the gospels over ESQ, Of the Acts
aaa catholics epistles over 200, OF the Paul-
me epistles nearly 800, and ct the Revelation
1 e4E Hau Ivy. LII ldct, IL We EouHt G!4o
G!eek " manuscripts Of all descriptions, the
New Testament has between 1,700 and I,sU
manuscript vouchers for the integrity OF its
lext Ut the manuscripts written in the un-
c,al Of semi capital letters, there are ten or
~. ssiesen which belong seyerally. to the slxtn'
nlla, and fourth centuries, while the two old
est The Sinaitic and Vatican, were probably
Written not long after the establishment Of the
eastern Empire under Constantine: and the
Slhaltlc may possibly be one Of the fifty
s'eS 3leeS Bibles prepared under direction OF
ua1 ! Emperor, in the year 331 A. D., by Fuse
p'qs. rs. the great Church historian: -.
,;.,l Inc lecturer then proceeded BY citing me
feolus Sea (aGt, ,$3S A. d., Qrigen 1St2a a. p,
Eagnent on the Canon' (Which cannot
mare been written later than ITO A. D., and
@ay oe as old as $50 A. d., the works Or
MIalclon and Tatian, the Apologies Of Jusun
ee;arry Tie Gospels and Epistles back to the
ame Of Clement of Rome and others who
sse were contemporary with the Apostles them
selves He gave new and important evidence
,;t' when settles the question that the " Memo
na1c las OF the Apostles, which are called G9s,
ye.s. wIs mentioned BY Justin Martyr. are tne
naads to-day. This evidence is the recently
maae known Commentary upon the liar
t4ony OF Tatian, written in the fourth cen,
ttuly BY Ephraem the Syrian, and preserved
70 US u. an Armenian translation, which Was
eualhISlated into Latin by Auche, and recently
EEsf gEnilsfled at Venice. In this WORK Ephraem
IIlsunctly shows that Tatian's Dlatessaron
osgan e; with the Gospel Of John.
4nat the books Of the New TeStament were
~ y general and not in local use, MI. Iyler
saowed sed by references to Clement OF Ale1, a,
saafla. who fourished between the years w
aan an N5 A. D., Tertu11ian OF Carthage, VINO
~ furnished between 190 and 20G A D., lrenEnS
= Lyons, who flourlshed between 167 and 21G
a. = land d,who was pupil Of Polycarp, tne
+ha rtyr. who - had familiar intercourse Win
.,os ms apostle john, and Justin 11artyT, whose
xEtsonal observations covered the whole te1-
4ii9fy from Palestine to Rome.
a. ,slewed from purely literary StanQpolns,
sa mere cannot possibly Be better evidence to
s; establish the antiquity, integrity, and gen
rn;nVehess Of an ancient work than tna1 1uI-
Issued tthSAed by ancient translations, orveIslons, as
~ ~. are technically called. In his dlStoIy
II me Transmission Of Ancient Books l9
sa!sa a!oaern Times" the late Isaac Taylor wei
ea: salo: When accordant translatlons OF tne
eame writings, in several unconnected ian,
81 fsnaaages, and in languages which have ceaseu
Sn Vernacular, arein existence, every olnel os,
1asa Mna OF evidence may be regarded as smf ~
tgSslnuous.n II As between the writings OF
Ss classic authors and those OF lne
SNeW Testament, comparison. can M
fR., Ge barely instituted; for OF the
!os[mer scarcely an ancient translation eX1sts,
~ m1ale the latter have come down to US tIon 1,
<he$ r 4rf