Julian Pe- St. Luke about the time of the Neronian-and if the Gospel of Asia Minor. riod, 4799. St. John was written, and the canon of Scripture completed, in Vulgar Era, anticipation of the Trajanian persecution, the blood of the 96. martyrs in a new and more impressive sense, may be justly Eusebius is generally considered as affording decisive evidence This testimony of Eusebius does not appear, to Mosheim, to be sufficient to convince us that St. John completed the canon of the New Testament. He certainly says nothing of the Acts or the Epistles; as these, however, were undoubtedly and unanimously received as inspired books by the great majority of Christians, and as the Acts were written by St. Luke, and formed as it were the second part of the Gospel; and the Epistles of St. Paul were so interwoven with the history of his travels, by St. Luke, that they could not be separated, it is difficult to believe that the apostle should have sanctioned the Gospels alone, and not have confirmed also the authority of their inseparable and inspired appendages. It is true, that Eusebius confines his testimony to the Gospels; but he does not do this in such a manner that we are necessarily led to suppose that he omitted to approve of the remainder of the sacred writings. The general and ancient tradition may supply the place of more demonstrative evidence with those, who are contented with the authority of antiquity, without decided evidence of another kind; provided there be nothing which is absurd in itself, inconsistent with Scripture, nor opposite to authentic evidence. It is not, however, improbable that those Epistles, which were not received by all Christians into the canon, immediately on their first publication, had been neglected by the Gentile Christians, because they were principally addressed to the converts from among the Jews, or to the Hebrews generally. Should this conjecture be well founded, they might not have been known to the Church at Ephesus at this time, and possibly, therefore, were not included in the collection of inspired writings which were submitted at Ephesus to St. John, and received the sanction of that apostle. It has been supposed, by many, that the New Testament contains internal evidence that the canon of Scripture was now fixed by St. John; or that the Gospels, the Acts, the Apocalypse, and the universally received Epistles, were sanctioned by his authority. The passage, Apoc. xxii. 18, 19. in which a blessing is pronounced upon all who hear the words of this book, &c. &c. &c. is said to refer not merely to the Apocalypse, but to the whole word of God; this opinion, however, does not seem to be supported by the context. Augustine, (ap Lampe,) asserts that the canon of Scripture was confirmed from the times of the apostles, by the episcopal successions and early Julian Pe- Churches. Lampe quotes also Jerome and Tertullian, who do Asia Miner. riod, 4799. not, however, speak with decision. The prolonged life of the Vulgar Era, apostle, after whom no inspired book could be expected by the 96. Churches-his certain knowledge of the books which had al The last writer who has studied the subject, was the late la "When was the canon of Scripture determined? It was determined immediately after the death of St. John, the last sur. vivor of the apostolic order. The canon of the Gospels was determined indeed before his death, for we read in Eusebius that he gave his sanction to the three other Gospels, and completed this part of the New Testament with his own. By the death of St. John the catalogue of Scripture was completed and closed. We have seen from the testimony both of themselves, and of their immediate successors, that the inspiration of writ ing was strictly confined to the apostles, and accordingly we find that no pretensions were ever made by any true Christian to a similar authority. 66 By whom was the canon of Scripture determined? It was determined, not by the decision of any individual, nor by the decree of any council, but by the general consent of the whole and every part of the Christian Church. It is indeed a very remarkable circumstance, that among the various disputes which so early agitated the Church, the canon of Scripture was never the subject of controversy. If any question might be said to have arisen, it had reference to one or two of those books which are included in the present canon; but with respect to those which are out of the canon, no difference of opinion ever existed. "The reason of this agreement is a very satisfactory one. Every one who is at all versed in ecclesiastical history is aware of the continual intercourse which took place in the apostolic age between the various branches of the Church Universal. This communication, as Mr. Nolan has well observed, arose out of the Jewish polity, under which the various synagogues of the Jews, which were dispersed throughout the Gentile world, were all subjected to the Sanhedrim at Jerusalem, and maintained a constant correspondence with it. Whenever then an epistle arrived at any particular Church, it was first authenticated; it was then read to all the holy brethren, and was subsequently transmitted to some other neighbouring Church. Thus we find that the authentication of the Epistles of St. Paul was the salutation with his own hand,' 2 Thess. iii. 17. by which the Church, to which the letter was first addressed, might be assured that it was not a forgery. We find also a solemn adjuration of the same apostle, that his epistle should be read to all the holy brethren,' Ì Thess. v. 27. ; and again, that his epistles should be transmitted to other Christian communities. "When this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the Church of the Laodiceans, and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea,' Col. iv. 16. From this latter pas Julian Pe- sage we infer, that the system of transmission was a very Asia Minor. riod, 4799. general one; as the epistle, which St. Paul directs the ColosVulgar Era, sians to receive from the Laodiceans, was not originally ad 96. dressed to the latter, but was sent to them from some other "The number of the apostles, including Paul and Barnabas, "This will appear the more satisfactory to our minds, if we take an example from the age in which we live. The letters of Junius for instance, were published at intervals within a certain period, Since the publication of the last authentic letter, many under that signature bave appeared, purporting to have been written by the same author. But this circumstance throws no obscurity over the matter, nor is the canon of Junius, if I may transfer the term from sacred to secular writing, involved 720 THE APOSTOLIC WRITINGS EARLY AND UNIVERSALLY RECEIVED. Julian Pe- thereby in any difficulty or doubt. If it should be hereafter Asia Mint. riod, 4799. enquired, at what time, or by what authority the authentic letVulgar Æra, ters were separated from the spurious, the answer will be, that 96. such a separation never took place; but that the canon of Ju- "Yet how much stronger is the case of the scriptural canon. "If, then, notwithstanding these and other difficulties, which The time of St. John's death is very uncertain. Jerome, in 96. Julian Pe- reign of Trajan. Usher and Beveridge, de Martyr. Ignat. Asia Minor riod, 4799. p. 177. in Canon Apost. 1455, refer his death to the second year Vulgar Era, of Trajan. Eusebius, with a great number of the fathers, Jerome, Tertullian, Origen, and others, place it in the third. The Paschal Chronicle assigns it to the seventh year of that emperor. He died at Ephesus, in expectation, says the Arabian author, of his blessedness: by which expression we may infer, that he met the last enemy of man with that serene and peaceful, and well founded hope, which is the best assurance of the happy immortality of every privileged Christian. It is needless to repeat the culogies with which affection and admiration have united to commemorate the death of this amiable apostle. The Protestant theologian will require more authentic evidence than the reporters of the wonderful tales, to which I allude, can produce, before he can credit-that St. John never died-that he only lay sleeping in his grave, as appeared from the boiling or bubbling up of the dust, which was moved by his breath; and many other gravely related histories, which excite but our smiles. His body is buried in peace, but his name liveth for evermore. So long as the present dispensation shall continue, and the Christian Church be commanded to pursue its painful way through the wilderness of this world, to that land of peace and rest, where the spirits of the prophets and apostles await their companions and followers from among mankind-so long as a blasphemer against the divinity of the Son of God shall laugh to scorn our prayers to a crucified Redeemer, so long shall the inspired pages of this beloved disciple erect in our hearts the best monument to his memory. (a) Sic Amesius Theol. lib. i. c. 34. § 35. Canonem V. T. constituerunt Prophetæ, et Christus ipse testimonio suo approbavit. Canonem N. T. una cum veteri comprobavit, et obsignavit Apostolus Joannes auctoritate divina instructus, Apoc. xxii. 18, 19. Idem videtur Pareo, Pigneto, et aliis ad h. 1. Heideggerus Corp. Theol. loc. ii. p. 61. addit, Joannem canonem N. T. claussisse, dum solenni voto; etiam veni, Domine Jesu! Scripturem N. T. cum ultimo Christi adventu ita conjuxit, uti olim Malachias Scripturam N. T. cum Ministerio Joannis Baptista connexuit. Sed et vetustiores Apocalypsin pro sigillo universæ Scripturæ habuerunt. Anonymus quidam græcus apud Allatium diss. I. de libris Eccles. Græcorum, p. 48. Θεολογικὴ δ' ἀποκαλυψις πάλιν Σφραγὶς πέφυκε τῆς δὲ τῆς βίβλω πάσης. Theologica Apocalypsis sigillum universi libri, et totius Sacræ Scripturæ The theological student, who is desirous of pursuing this subject, is SECTION XXI. Brief View of the Condition of the Jews, the Stations of the World. So closed the most eventful century in the annals of the human race. VOL. II. 3 A |