The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-06-11


fact. IN tn" Crock text. these terms arc invarl-
ably printed IN an impartial form Of letters.
not only In the Gospel narratives. but through.
ont the other portions ~ the New Testament
In the Greek texts. also. such terms as Lord"
Messiah. 90" King" Nc which. when applied
10 Jesus. now ordinarily begin with capital
letter were printed with an impartial form Of
! letters whether the terms were applied to
| Jesus or IN any other human being.
W" viii now proceed to- Indicate the prin-
ciples uron which the author OF "Ancient Sacred
Scriptures has made his selections from the
, Gospel narratives. His devout object was. he
I tells us. 10 assist in tho discornment OF III"
! spirit. rs separated from the letter To that
| end II has seemed to him needful to remove
from the Gospels all evident accretions Of myth,
/ fable or extravaganza. and. n the same time.
| 10 omit those details Of explanation and history
which have no direct bearing upon practical
religious instruction. inspiration AMI life.
| Gcnoalogy. Old Testament quotations. nc
! counts ~ physical headings or wonder work
| ings. tn" explanations Of those who claimed to
/ be cvcwituesses. and the doct rinal opinions of
| those who professrd to De- the coinpiler1 OF the
| narratives now found in the New Testament:
| all these things. II IL submitted. have only. at
| most. an intellectual value. and. whether true
or false should find no place in II religious
| book designed for the practical instruction
| school aud the home. Inasmuch therefore. as
! the present selections from the Gospel are de
signed for Immediate and practical uses. in
| pulpit and pew in the closet and at the family
| altar. all details have been studously excluded
/ that fall directly under any Of the five follow
Ing heads First. the genealogy and mWdcu-
Tons birth OF Jesus. together with his bodily
resurrection and bodiiy ascension into hea-
ven. concerning all OF which but little
/ l.. Al.
little seems to be contradictory. untrustworthy
and practically unimportant: secondly. the
wonders and so-called miracles which He Is
reported to have wrought. which reports.
whether true or false. have no essential bear
ings upon Jesus as an example whom we ought
to follow and teacher whose work
ought to love and obey: thirdly. those citations
from the Old Testament which commonly
looked upon as "fulnlment OF prophecy" but
which. whether received as natural or super
natural, imaginary real Condolences
neither add to nor dctract from the
beautiful character and sublime teachings
Of Jesus; fourthly. the personal opinions.
differences and explanations OF the cOmpilers
OF the Gospels themselves. none of whom pro-
fesses to have been an eyewitness OF the deeds
or hcarer OF the words OF Jesus. but sim ply one
OF those to whom the traditions " we're deliv-
ered:' lastly such unimportant Celebrations
a. tho details concerning sick persons healed.
insane persons restored. the hungry provided
with food. &c. from which. except hy strained
and unnatural interpretations. no practical
lessons Of morality and religion can be drawn.
In the preface to selections from the Acts OF
the Apostles. and from the Apostolic Let
ters. further light is thrown upon the
methods Of exposition followed by tho
writer of the book before us and other
representatives of the higher criticism. 1t Ia
pointed out with regard to the Acts that the
authorship Of this book. like that Of the Four
Gospels. Is uncertain. 1t is commonly sup
posed to have been written by the person who.
under the name OF Luke" wrote the Third
Gospel Like the four evangelical narratives.
1t is made up Of historic fragments interviewer
with traditional Celebrations and details Es-
pecially is this the case with the first few chap
ters. in which are recorded events which trans
PRED at least II whole generation before the
book was composed. During all this time. and
possibly for three or four generations. tho re-
menhrances Of these events were floating
from mouth to mouth and from place to place
in an unwrltten form: hence it is rro-
nounced impossible that they should have
been preserved from sundry accretioDs Of
myth and fable especially "a those who
heard and repeated them were unlenrned pco-
re to whom fanciful ideas and exaggerations
OF facts were as natural as the air they breathed.
Exactly when the Book Of Acts was composed
is not known The first mention OF IT, or quota
tons from II. OF which we have record occurred
in the latter part Of the second century. Dur
ing the third and fourth centuries it was re-
J"cted by many students as spurious and
untrustworthy. Similar opinions OF it have
been held hy some modern theologians. The
author NJ Ancient Sacred Scriptures" how
ever. holds that there Ia unquestonably a
vein OF trustworthy and valuable historical
facts running through the stratum which is
known as the Acts OF the Apostles. To find
and to follow this vein and TO make from 1t
such selections as promise to have a vital bear
ing upon religious thoughts and lives has been,
we are told. the object OF the compiler
The Apostolic Letters arc acknowledged by
the author Of the book before ua as by almost
all other students. to he the oldest OF all Chris
tinn writings. They are undoubtedly letters
which were originally written by absent pas
tors 10 their various churches. and were de-
signed TO be read in public TO the mem hers Of
those churches for their instruction and edit
cation. OF such letters a great many were
written: only the more important OF them
wer" preserved by those to whom they we're
addressed Most even OF those preserved ns
important contained so lttlo OF general in.
strnctlOn or interest that when the collection
which now constitutes the Epistles OF the New
worthy OF preservation. SO it has come to pass
that the twenty-one letters now found in the
New Testament. together with tho Four Cos
pels. the Acts Of the Apostles and the Revcla-
ton have come down to us sim ply as the sur
vivals OF the fittest out Of that mass OF early
Christian writings to which the writer OF the
Fourth Gospel might have applied his remark:
:" suppose that even the world itself could not
have contained the books" OF the twenty one
letters now embraced In tho New Testament
four. namely. that to the Hebrews. tho second
Of Peter, the second and third OF John were
long repudiated by many as spurious and I'M
worthy OF preservation; they are still held by
many competent and iair-minled investiga-
tors to be. in common with some Of the shorter
ettcrS attributed to st. Paul. the productions
not Of those whose names are appended to
them. but OF some unknown persons writing
under assumed names. a practice which at the
time was allownhl" and common. The author
/ ~ Ancient Sacred Scriptures" however. il
( convinced that al % tho New Testament let