-
BOOK III
- Liberty Fund
- Chapter
- Additional Information
139 u B O OK I I I u Sect. I. Of the Authority of the Books of the New Testament. He who is perswaded of the Truth and Excellency of that Religion which Christians profess, having been convinced either by the Arguments before offered, or by any other besides them; in order to understand all the several Parts of it, he must go to the most antient Books, which contain this Religion; and they are what we call the Books of the New Testament , or rather Covenant: For it is unreasonable for any one to deny that That Religion is contained in those Books, as all Christians affirm; since it is fit that every Sect, good or bad, should be believed in this Assertion, that their Opinions are contained in this or that Book; as we believe the Mahometans, that the Religion of Mahomet is contained in the Alcoran: Wherefore, since the Truth of the Christian Religion has been proved before, and at the same Time it was evident that it was contained in these Books; the Authority of these Books is sufficiently established by this single Thing: However, if any one desire to have it more particularly made appear to him, he will first lay down that common Rule amongst all fair Judges, (a) That He who would disprove any Writing which has been received for many Ages, is obliged to bring Argu-ments that may diminish the Credibility of such a Writing; which, if he cannot, the Book is to be defended, as in Possession of its own Authority. a. That he who would, &c.] See Baldus in his Rubrick concerning the Credibility of Writings, and Gailus, Book II. Obs. CXLIX. Numb. 6 and 7, and those he there cites. 140 the truth of the chr isti an r eligion Sect. II. The Books that have any Names affixed to them, were writ by those Persons whose Names they bear. We say then, that the Writings, about which there is no Dispute amongst Christians, and which have any particular Person’s Name affixed to them, are that Author’s whose Title they are mark’d with; because the first Writers , such as Justin, Irenaeus, (a) Clemens, and others after them, quote these Books under those Names: And besides, (b) Tertullian says that in his Time some of the Original Copies of those Books were extant. And because all the Churches received them as such, before there were any publick Councils held: Neither did any Heathens or Jews raise any Controversy, as if they were not the Works of those whose they were said to be. And (c) Julian openly confesses, that those were Peter’s, Paul’s, Matthew’s, Mark’s and Luke’s, which were read by the Christians under those Names. No Body in his Senses makes any Doubt of Homer’s or Virgil’s Works being theirs, by reason of the constant Testimony of the Greeks concerning the one, and of the Latins concerning the other; how much more then ought we to stand by the Testimony of almost all the Nations in the World, for the Authors of these Books? a. Clemens, &c.] There is only Clemens’s Epistle to the Corinthians extant, in which he quotes Places of the New Testament, but does not name the Writers; wherefore Clemens’s Name might have been omitted; and so might Justin’s, who is not used to add the Names. Le Clerc. b. Tertullian says, &c.] In his Prescription against the Hereticks, Let any one who would exercise his Curiosity rather in the Affair of his Salvation, let him run over the Apostolical Churches, over which the Seats of the Apostles have now the Rule in their respective Places, in which the Authentick Letters themselves are recited. And why might not the Hand of the Apostles be then extant, when Quintilian says that in his Time Cicero’s Hand was extant; and Gellius says the same of Virgil’s in his? c. Julian openly confesses, &c.] The Place is to be seen in Cyril’s Xth Book. (See also our Annotations, in the Dissertation on the IV Evangelists, added to the Harmony of the Gospels, Le Clerc.) [34.229.17.20] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 16:05 GMT) book iii, section iii 141 Sect. III. The Doubt of those Books that were formerly doubtful, taken away. There are indeed in the Volume we now use, some Books which were not equally received from the Beginning; (a) as the...