, 1880-10-24

oruerlng from bookseller, and costs only aoot
S1ou. He can then see what these rejected book
were Akc, and he will see that between the Go:
pei OF bntthew, with its Sermon on the Noun
ana ths Gnspel OF the Infancy of Jesus Chris
With its iinpurity and absurdltics. there was n
sn 1f,n, TOR discussion as TO which wns G the hetts
and other lnN,ks were such trash tflat nll''o:
any unc could use tho judgment necessary I
aakI h1 the ses9ns .na Th,c @ were ,ern a , An
E.rod. The Gospel to the Hebrews. tho Pastu
of Hermas, one Of the Epistles of Clement to tn
mtrat,lt. iu their moral teachings and 1naxtms
| and 50 these books hung for centuries On th
border line between being in and being out Q
the canon, and finally they were crowded out
The Fathers, then, made the eanolts. And b
the cauon they dill NOT mean that the books Il
it wert. alt the books worth having. nor ever
| Keep it in mind, the idea that the hooks OF TIL
Ecw Testament vert. DIVINE, or inspired, or til.
| Wur1 Of G.ai did not exist then. ny canonlcs.
books .he Fathers meant simply the list OF III,
approved books appointed to be read in public
| assemblies 0: Christians" .tApPicsons' Cyclo'
ptdsn, '.Cuuon;", Tha. al. Il was much the
legcs- Chicago University uses one. series ol
mathematics, Michigan University uses another
Harvard University Uses another. but no one ol
these universities claims TO have all the 1ilstc
NAUTICAL works worth anything. and thar tho
Others are not equally true. For thei,
they have. So with the Fathers. ' il
their churches and for their particular use and
doctrines, they preferred certain bucks. Que
Fu1i,er would reject bs,ks which another would
accept, and accept bouks which another would
reject AMI Ia call man herctic for rejecting
any book was never dreamed uf in those days.
A man could reject any book. nnd his standing
in tie Church WAS never questioned. Or course,
each Father wunte1 the hooks scccpteu which
upheld his views. and there were almost us many
canonlca lists as there were Fathers; the Fnthers
disputed for centuries and. when it bre,lmc u1,-
parent that they never would ngrec gu what
should be canoniell and what Should not, coun-
another. for centuries. and they couid not
ngrce, and tinnily, TO nut a stop to the
disagreement, the Church assumed a tone of
authority. and snd natly that certain books must
he accepted and others rejected. and that is
where the authoritative attitude OF Christianity
on this subject began.
canon. The very first collection Of tho New
Testament books OF which We have any account
was by Narcion- Bishop Fallows, in j. recent
sermon. said tho Christian Church had the New
TESTAMENT substantially It now IS, In the year
10t L. D. He is very much in error. The first
;3 collection Of 1f tie books ef which we know any
and he had only one Gospel and ten OF Paul's
Ep;sttes- This Gospel was exactly, word for
wor,i. like about three-fourths of our present
have castfgated Marcfou severely for whit they
tern, bis sin in mutiattng Lukes Gospel to suit
his doctrinal needs Others say a good word for
that yas L,Ees Gospel W.T. Which hntS Sc aSsde SsS:
Il a this 5hsy are elty Of Of piece q
fore the horse In their determination 10 huve
the Gospeis written shortly after Jesus death,
and long before they really were, the theologiuns
assume that Maruiun had Luse's Gospel and
~ It The faet Is, Lukes Gospel sas not
%f 4oet aafsyns Gosps ss prtse
words and verses here and there, padied it out.
PUT Luke's name On it, and that is the Gt,spel Of
Lake Wh}rh hare ha nh
added is the one containing the geuenloyy Of
Jesus, which Is 20 eeneaiogs. at ail, since 1t
his father, But the render sees how much that
geneatoEyis worth. written LII years after Jesus
MAS dead. by an unknown person nnd being from
Again. Marcion has been criticised for using
but ten Of Paui's Episties. when there are al
legged to be fourteen. Prof. Samuel Davidson,
teuuadon OF this, that 1t was because faith in
Lhe Diviue authority Or Inspiration of current
BOOKS had not yet arisen. afarcion did
authority" Intro. Study New Test, it,, 5l5-5l7.)
Mark that The point Il, which want to draw
The readers attention. even Ut the risk of rope
Bible were inspired did not come when the
books did; it was an nfterthought Paul died |
many, many wears before the time now under /
hat even then the belief in inspiration and the |
Divine authority ut the Biblical books had not /
hen arisen. Nearly gil good orthodox writer's !
laiyete. walk over it SO that IT It were snake it
would bite them. and never seem to compre- |
tenu or to suspect for one instant that 1t COM
'letely overthrows the doctrine Of Divine in
piration and the Divine authority Of the Bible /
III VT A. .. Fertull'au prepared Il list which |
peluded the Four Gospels: Acts. thirteen Pauline
spistfes Revelation, and I. John, III al uppc,,-
lix be placed as not authoritative Hebrews, Jude,
l. john and l. Peter, alluf which are now in tile
eas ana and 9Sof be eir ths 5ao2
'etcr> and LII. John. which are now in tho Bible.
Enciy. Brit "catnon.") The fact that he
lnonE his non-authoritntive books shows that
q bis time It was considered by some rs anthor- |
tativc, but by him as not This point will have
tn be observed. t
About the rear+.sk Clement prepared a list, t
nd ;l ne included among his uncanonicai works
hebrews, II. John, jude, the Revelation Of Pc
ne now in the Bible. but altogether different
oois>. the Pastor Of Hermas, the two EpIstles of
ement. and the Epistle Of Darnabas. tEncly
erye, ran!s Epistie 10 the Hebrews, II. John.
nd Jude. all of which are now in the Bible, on
level with the Revelation Ut Peter, the Pastor
Nermas, and the Epist!e of nar1aabas And, |
m:1n in this day we're giving list Of The
ooks In the Bible, he would not thiuk it neees- |
lry TO TO out Of his way TO say that the Pastor
Tier apoerrpaal bt,oks were not Il part of the
ibc. The fact thar Clement did SO shows th;t
his time there were Fathers who said that |
lIen.cus tae a. D., considered as canonical the
our Gospels Acts. Thirteen PauIiuu Episties,
John md Revelation. and be placed in an !
ppcnui1, US Of nut equal authority. II. John, [.
eter, and the Pastor Of Hernnas and be suid ! ,
nthing whatever Of Paurs Epistle to the
ebtcws. Ill. John, IL Peter, James, and Jude ,
ncy. Brit Canon.'')
The first notable canon OF the entire Bible was {
AIMED by Ogigcn during the first half Of tho ;
Eird century. The Old Testament list will he
und in Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History frI., !
J. 1t includes the books OF M.,ccabees now :
usiaered apocryphal. and the Eplstlc of Jerc- ! i
tah. OF which the reader no doubt never heari ! I
1e presence Of this cpistlc In his list has ! I
ouhled the theolooiaus not a little, Tut the | :
ost remarkable fnct Is that he excludes from |
8 Old Testament list tho twelve minor =
joel, Amos, Obadiah, | =
nah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephn- | +
ah. Hagyaf- Zecheriah, aid sfnlachi,-atf | +
which are ia the Bible to-day. Now, these | {
oks are inspired Or they are not The Chris |
n Church say they are: Origen says they nre | +
t. And II one Ut tho Fathers could by tho ! E
Okc Of his pen put into the Bible two books :!
Itch are not now there, md strike out twelve Il
lich are now there, it shows that in their dar i;
. question rs to whit constituted the cauou | r
IS not one c:'er which they concerned them ! q
res very much. They cyidentr did not think | :.
very Important Orfgcn's New Testament list ! =
= he found In Smiths Dictionary Of the Bible, r
der the word " "canOn." It. for the first tj,ne | -
tho history Of the Christian Church. places :
uls Eplstle to the Hebrews among the CANON ~
! books. but it exclutls James, Il, Peter. y
John. LII. 1ohn> and Jude. ~
he Pehito, the ancient Syriac translation be- =,
lKlng probably to the early part Of the third n,