The Dalles times-mountaineer. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1882-1904, 1895-11-02
AN pvpp,r,e opIN,oN.

AN EXPERTS OPINION.
What Rev. NJ. Cebern, of Ann Arbor, Has
to say About These Newly Discovered
Gospels.
The Rev. Camden M. Coburn, of Ann
Arbor, Mich, profound Biblical
scholar, after a long and careful ex-
animation of these newly discovered
gospels, says:
"It ought long ago have been
thought of that the Convent of St.
Catherine of Mount Sinai was one OF
the most likely places in the world for
finding such treasures. The convent
is old. It was built by the Emperor
Justinian nearly 400 years ago,so near
the origin OF Christianity that choice
manuscripts might easily have been
written by those who have seen the
autographs of the Apostles.
Turning attention to the manu-
script itself the question arizes: When
was it written? no one Can tell ex-
actly; it is variously dated from $50 to
500 A D. The handwriting resembles.
that used in another manuscript in the
British Museum, written in All A. D:
All agree that it was written not later
than the fifth century.
"But the age of manuscript" Prof.
| Coburn goes on to say. "does not set
tie the age of the text. No one doubts
that we have essentially the. correct
and original text of the Greek and
Roman classical writer's, although
there are but few manuscripts that
come nearer than thousand years to
the time of the original writing. The
Oldest complete manuscript Of Eurip-
ides is only 700 years old, the Oldest
Homer is only 900 years old, the oldest
of the Rig vedas less than-4OO years
old; while this manuscript is at least
l 400 years old.
"But more may be said, for Syriac
version of the gospels did not exist
later than the middle of the second
century, and probably much earlier,
and the very greatest Greek and
Syrian scholars are agreed that our
MSS. is either that primitave Syriac
gospel with some slight notifications
or else it is child, a legitimate sue
cessor of that earliest and most inn
portant version which even if it could
not be traced back any further than
$50 A. D. would yet date within fifty
years of the death of John, /. e.. a.
near to the cruciffxion as we are to
George Washington and the revolu-
tionary war.
"Further than this, long before the
gospels were written, the gospel was
spoken; that was the method of teach
ing in those days, and there cannot be
shadow of doubt that the burden of
the first teachers Of Christianity-the
gospel which they preached before the
gospel was written-was the account OF
the acts and v ords of Jesus.
"It has been advanced that If the
Vedas were never committed to writ
ing until 1900 A. D., and they could be
carried for 1900 years in the memory,
as Max Muller affirms, and if, as it is a
we'll known fact, the youths Of India
can now repeat them word for word,
giving the accents and critical points,
then it ought not to be thought to the
discredit of the gospel records, even if
they were carried in the momory alone
for twenty or thirty years, or even to
the time when the Syriac gospels were
published fifty years after the death of
John.
"But no one claims that. All schol-
ars agree that there were written re-
cords at that time, records that had be-
come 80 settled and authoritative that
they were accepted both by the ortho-
dox and the heterodox; as it is proved
by the fact that Tatian gave these
four gospels Gust these four that we
have, with the omissions of the geneal-
.ogies for the doctrinal reasons) as the
accepted standards ofthe church in his
day, 100 A. D.
Nor were these gospels previous to
Tatian merely talked. they were writ
ten, as is proved by Justin, who says |
they were read in the churches on the |
Lord's s day, together with the word of
the ancient prophets. Nor were they
in Tatian's day read only in Greek, for
few people would deny that 3 SyriAc
version of the gospel did at that time
exist, and the only question is whether
the learned editor of the Diatessaron
is right when he even dates it back in
to the Apostolic age, saying: at seems
incredible that the gospels were not
translated into the Syriac in the first
century
''Now, if our Mount Sina manuscript
is not the earliest version of the New
1t is at least descendant
of it, and is especially valuable because
it is writtn in the very land and in
the very language in which our Lord
and the Apostles talked"
II