and title made a pretenfion to be accounted among facred books. IV. The most common and general divifion of the canonical books is that of ancient and new, or the Old and New Teftament. The Hebrew word berith, from which it is tranflated, properly fignifies covenant. St. Paul 2 Cor. iii. 6-18. fhowing the fuperior excellence of the golpel covenant, or the difpenfation by Christ, above the legal covenant, or the difpenfation by Mofes, useth the word teftament, not only for the covenant itself, but likewife for the books in which it is contained. At least he does fo in speaking of the legal covenant. For, reprefenting the cafe of the unbelieving part of the Jewish people, he fays, ver. 14. Until this day remaineth the fame vail untaken away in reading the Old Teftament. It is no wonder therefore that this way of speaking has much prevailed among Chriftians. Melito, bishop of Sardis, about the year 177, went into the east, to get an exact account of the books of the law and the prophets. In his letter to his friend Onefimus, giving an account of his journey, and reckoning up the books in their order, he calls them the ancient books, and the books of the Old Teftament. Eufebius calls it a catalogue of the acknowledged scriptures of the Old Teftament. Our ecclefiaftical hiftorian elsewhere fpeaks of the fcriptures of the New Teftament. I fhall remind my readers of but one instance more. Cyril of Jerufalem, introducing his catalogue of fcriptures received by the chriftian church, fays: These things we are taught by the divinely inspired fcriptures ' of the Old and New Teftament.' Many other like examples occur in the preceding volumes of this work. V. Instead of teftament, Latin writers fometimes use the word inftrument, denoting writing, charter, record. We find it feveral times in Tertullian, reckoned the most ancient Latin writer of the church now remaining. Notandum, quod Berith, verbam Hebraicum, Aquila συνθήκην, id eft, pactum, interpretatur: LXX femper diana, id eft, teftamentum : et in plerifque fcripturarum locis teftamentum non voluntatem defun&torum fonare, fed pactum viventium. Hieron. in Malach. cap.ii. T. III. p. 1816. η Ετι δε και μαθειν την των παλαιων βιβλιων εβεληθης ακριβείαν. κ. λ. Αρ. Ap. Eufeb. 1. 4. c. 27. p. 148. D. .... Και ακριβως μαθων τα της παλαιας διαθήκης βιβλια. Ib. P. 149. A. PIbid. p. 148. D. 4 See vol. IV. p: 271. paffage paffage already cited he calls the gofpels, or the New Teftament in general, the evangelic inftrument. And says: How large chafms Marcion has made in the epiftle to the Romans, by leaving out what he pleases, may appear from our entire inftrument:' or our unaltered copies of the New Teftament, particularly of that epiftle. Speaking of the fhepherd of Hermas, he fays, it was not reckoned a part of the divine inftrument: thereby meaning, as it feems, the New Teftament: which paffage was quoted by us formerly. He calls the law and the prophets the Jewish inftruments: that is, writings or fcriptures. He fpeaks of the antiquity of the Jewish inftruments or fcriptures. He feems in one place to use the word inftrument, as equivalent to fcriptures, containing the doctrine of revelation, or the revealed will of God. b VI. Digeft is another word used by Tertullian in speaking of the fcriptures. Luke's digeft, he fays, is often afcribed to Paul.' He calls the gofpels, or the whole New Testament, our digeft,' in allufion, as it feems, to fome collection of the Roman laws digefted into order. Thofe two paffages were cited in the chapter of Tertullian. I now tranfcribe the latter below more at large, it having alfo the word inftrument, as equivalent to the New Testa See vol. II. p. 256. Quantas autem foveas in ifta vel maxime epiftola [ad Romanos] Marcion fecerit, auferendo quæ voluit, de noftri Inftrumenti integritate patebit. Adv. Marcion. 1. 5. cap. 13. p. 601. ú Sed cederem tibi, fi feriptura Paltoris-divino inftrumento meruiffet incidi.... De Pudicit. cap. 10. P. 727. A. See vol. II. p. 284. y Aut nunquid non jufti Judæi, & quibus pœnitentia non opus effet, habentes gubernacula difciplinæ & timoris inflrumenta, legem & prophetas. De Pudicitia. cap. 7. p. 722. B. z Primam inftrumentis iftis auctoritatem fumma antiquitas vindicat. Apol. cap. 19. p. 19. B. P. 504. B. Sed quoniam edidimus, anti ment ment. He likewife calls the Jewish fcriptures Sacred elsewhere, as I fhall not take notice of any other general denominations of the facred fcriptures. VII. My chief concern is with the New Teftament, which, as is well known, confifts of gofpels, the Acts, and epiftles. The only word that needs explanation is the first. Gospel is a tranflation of the Greek word Evayyor, the Latin word, evangelium, which fignifies any good meffage or tidings. In the New Teftament the word denotes the doctrine of falvation, taught by Jefus Chrift, and his apoftles which indeed is gofpel by way of eminence, as it is the best tidings that ever were published in this world. Says Theodoret upon Rom. i. 1. He calls it gospel, as it contains affurance of many good things. For it 'proclaims peace with God, the overthrow of Satan, the ' remiffion of fins, the abolishing of death, the refurrection ' of the dead, eternal life, and the kingdom of heaven.' Says St. Matthew iv. 23. And Jefus went about all Galilee, teaching in their fynagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom. Και κηρύσσων το ευαγγέλιον της βασιλειας Mark xiii. 1o. And the gospel [TO EVAYYENIOV] must first be preached to all nations. Ch. xvi. 15. Goye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Κηρύξατε το ευαγγελιον. It is called the word of truth, the gospel of your falvation, Eph. i. 13. And in like manner in other places. But by gofpel, when ufed by us concerning the writings of the evangelifts, we mean the hiftory of Chrift's preaching and miracles. The word feems alfo to be fo ufed by St. Mark i. 1. The beginning of the gospel of Jefus Christ. Which Sed homines gloriæ, ut diximus, et eloquentiæ folius libidinofi, f quid in fanatis offenderunt digeftis, exinde regeftum pro inftituto curiofitatis ad propria verterunt. Apol. cap. 47. p. 41. B. ex 8 Ευαγγελιον δε το κήρυγμα προσηγο λυσιν, των αμαρτημάτων την άφεσιν, το Elegi ad compendium Varronis opera, qui rerum divinarum omnibus retro digettis commenLatus, idoneum fe nobis fcopum T. III. p. 10. B. expofuit. Ad Nation. 1. 2. cap. i. P. 64. C. i may may be understood, and paraphrafed thus: Here a begins the hiftory of the life and doctrine of Jefus Chrift the Son ' of God, and Saviour of mankind.' St. Luke, referring to the book of his gofpel, fays, Acts i. 1, 2. The former treatife have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jefus began to do and teach, until the day in the which he was taken up, after that be through the Holy Ghoft had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chofen. But St. Luke, as it feems, there puts the principal part for the whole. For he has therein written alfo the hiftory of our Lord's miraculous birth, and divers extraordinary events attending it and likewife the hiftory of the birth of John the Baptift, and divers circumstances of it, and his preaching and death. In this fenfe the word gofpel is frequently understood by us. A gospel is the hiftory of Jesus Christ, his doctrine, miracles, refurrection, and afcenfion: not excluding the hiftory of his fore-runner, who alfo is faid to have preached the gospel, that is, the doctrine of the gospel, or the kingdom of God. The gospel according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, is the history of Jefus Chrift, as written by those several evangelists. That is Dr. Clarke's paraphrafe. But I am fenfible, it will not be allowed by all. Ecumenius fays, that by gofpel Mark does not intend his own writing, but Chrift's preaching. Mapu&, agxn, pnoi, 78 ευαγγελια ιησε χρις, αλλά ε την εαυτό συγγραφήν καλει ευαγγελιον, αλλά το τ8 χρισε κηρυγμα. cum. in A&. Ap. He proceeds to fay, that the faithful afterwards called the writings of the evangelifts gofpels, as truly containing the gofpel, that is, the doctrine of Chrift. See vol. V. P. 324. b Matt. iii. 1, 2. In those days came John the Baptift, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and faying: repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Compare Mark i. 4. Luke iii. 1, 2. And fays St. Luke iii. 18. And many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people. Πολλα μεν εν και ετερα παρακαλων, ευηγγελίζετο τον λαον. Which may be literally rendered thus: And exhorting many other like things, be evangelized [or preached the gospel to] the people. CHAP. С НА Р. II. General Obfervations upon the Canon of the New Teftament. I. THE Canonical books of the New Teftament, received by Christians in this part of the world, are the four gofpels, the Acts of the apoftles, fourteen epiftles of St. Paul, feven catholic epiftles, and the Revelation. II. There may be different canons of the New Testament among Chriftians. Indeed, there have been in former times, and ftill are different fentiments among Chriftians, concerning the number of books to be received as canonical. The a canon of the Syrian churches is not the fame as ours. Jerom tells us, that in his time fome of the Latins rejected the epiftle to the Hebrews, and fome of the Greeks the book of the Revelation. From Chryfoftom's works we perceive, that he did not receive the fecond epistle of St. Peter, nor the fecond and third of St. John, nor the epiftle of St. Jude, nor the Revelation. And there is reafon to think, that Theodoret's canon likewife was much the fame with Chryfoftom's, and that of the churches in Syria. Nevertheless, we have obferved in the courfe of this work, that about the fame time the Egyptians, and the Christians in divers other parts of the world, had the fame number of canonical books that we have. But to come nearer our own time. Calvin, Grotius, f Le Clerc, Philip Limborch, and fome other learned moderns, have not admitted the epiftle to the Hebrews to have been written by St. Paul: though they were willing |