^Toronto (Einibcrsttj)
I'RKSKNTKD BY
The University of Cambridge
through the Committee formed hi the Old Country
to aid in replacing the loss caused by the Disastrous Fin of Fehntary the Utth,
LECTURES IN DIVINITY
DELIVERED
IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE,
BY
JOHN HEY, D.D.,
AS NORRISIAN PROFESSOR,
FROM 1780 TO 1795.
THE THIRD EDITION REVISED, IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOLUME I.
CAMBRIDGE:
PRINTED AT THE PITT PRESS,
BY JOHN W. PARKER, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY.
lf.DCCO.XLI.
'
ADVERTISEMENT TO THE THIRD EDITION OF THE LECTURES IN DIVINITY.
THE second edition of the Lectures was printed on account of the University ; and had the advantage of numerous small corrections, left by the Author, in a particular copy.
In this third impression of the Lectures, the second edition has been followed.
« The second edition of the work was printed page for
page, and almost line for line, with the first. In the inner margin of the present edition, the corresponding pages of those editions are regularly given : — for example, the con tents of the 259th page of the fourth volume of either of the former editions will be found in the 497th page of the second volume of the present edition.
It may not be improper to add that the brief memoir of Dr. John Hey, prefixed to the last as well as to the pre sent edition of the Lectures, was drawn up by his brother, Dr. Richard Hey.
T. T.
CAMBRIDGE, October 1841.
ADVERTISEMENT, BY THE AUTHOR, TO THE FIRST EDITION.
SOME parts of the work now presented to the public may seem to require an apology, as not being composed with that formality, which may be thought requisite. The fact is, these Lectures were not written in order to be read ; the writing was merely a preparation for speaking. To revise them now, and give them an appearance fit to meet the eye of a critical reader, would be a work of much time, and perhaps of little utility. Writings have often been rendered obscure by too laboured a correction, and by endeavours to reduce matter into the least possible compass. This apology, it is hoped, may suffice, if some expressions are found of rather a familiar sort, and if some remain in the form of queries.
With respect to subject matter, every reader of Lectures should be aware, that they do not pretend to be wholly original. If the Lecturer compiles with judgment what will be most useful to his particular hearers, and sometimes advances a step or two beyond his predecessors, he does all that ought to be expected from him. In examining what has been already said, he will naturally think for himself, from whence something original will result ; and, if one man im proves one subject a little, and another another, there is an advancement of knowledge upon the whole.
Where subjects have occasioned much dispute, and no decision has been made upon them, in which the generality have acquiesced, such as those relating to languages and customs of remote antiquity, it may often be better to content one's self with giving clear accounts of old opinions, than to aim at establishing some new one.
VHl MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR.
founder: and he was, each time, re-elected. In 1795, he ceased to be Professor : being too old, by the Will, to be re-elected, and having declined to vacate the professorship, in 1794, in order to be re-elected within the prescribed age.
When Tutor, in Sidney College, he gave Lectures in Mo rality : which were attended by several persons voluntarily (amongst whom were the late Mr. Pitt and other persons of rank), besides those pupils whose attendance was required. These Lectures have not been printed. His Lectures in Divi nity are before the public ; having been printed at the Univer sity Press, 1796 — 1798, and published in four volumes octavo. He also published seven Sermons, at different times ; and a Poem on the Redemption, which gained Seaton's Prize in the University in 1763; and Discourses on the Malevolent Sen timents, in one volume, in 1801. And in 1811 he printed, without publishing, General Observations on the Writings of St. Paul.
In 1814 he divested himself of the whole of his ecclesiastical preferment ; which was merely the two livings mentioned above. And he removed to London in October : having resigned Calverton at Lady-day, and Passenham on the 10th of October. From that time he continued in London to his death : growing feeble in body, till, without painful disease, he sunk under that feebleness ; retaining to the last a soundness of mind, and giving, to every business that came before him, a remarkable degree of that persevering attention which had evidently been, with him, a matter of strict duty through a long course of years. Had a mitre been placed on his head (which was at least once, from good authority, understood to be highly probable), he appears likely to have discharged the duties imposed by it with the same steady and principled perseverance.
He is buried in the burying-ground of St. John's Chapel, St. John's Wood, in the parish of Marylebonc : in which parish he died.
BOOK I.
OF DIVINITY, AS COMMON TO ALL SECTS OF CHRISTIANS.
CHAPTER I.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION.
1. IN undertaking a large work, it must be useful to have right views of the nature of it; — without these, the work can neither be so improving, nor so pleasing and interesting, as it might be. He, who has too high notions of the task before him, will be deterred from attempting it ; he, who has too low notions of it, will begin it too lightly, and will be disgusted when reality does not answer to his sanguine and visionary expectations l.
2. If right views are so useful, in what do they consist? — In seeing the extent of the whole work ; the degree of perfec tion which it admits of; the connexion, which the several parts have with each other, so as to judge whether a part can be studied separately ; the necessary difficulty of studying any part ; and the degree of present pleasure, which may be ex pected to arise from the study rightly pursued.
3. The extent of our undertaking will appear by and by. Let us, then, take notice of the degree of perfection, which seems to be attainable in pursuing it. The chief thing here to be observed is, that arguments and doctrines, tenets, opi nions, are formed by the human mind gradually. At first, a man has a glimpse of something : he examines it, sees what is for and what against it ; collects matter, which at first is a sort of chaos ; arranges ; sees new supports, new objections ; works his thought into some form ; surmounts difficulties ; re views his train of ideas, ere long, with ease and satisfaction ; confirms his notion by experience, establishes it finally2. The whole course of his operation resembles that of an artist, who gradually brings a rude block of marble into a pleasing form. We must not think, when a philosopher or a divine is so en raptured with a new discovery as to sacrifice to the muses, or
1 Luke xiv. 25—33. - Acts xvii. 27.
VOL. I. 1
2 GENERAL INTRODUCTION. [I. i. 4, 5.
leap out of a bath and run about the streets crying eupnKa, I. that his idea has acquired all that regularity and neatness, with which it afterwards appears in well- written books ; in such elements as those of Euclid. It often happens, that an opinion does not come to maturity in a single age. Therefore it is always right to ask, in what state of philosophy or the ology (for the case is the same with both) we are at present : this must promote modesty in the teacher, and patience in the learner. And, if a teacher offers any notion of his own, as newly conceived, allowances should be made accordingly : if an opinion is old, it may be expected to be the more definite.
4. Learning too has its variations. It is in some respects progressive, but in others it is retrograde. A man may pass a long time in the invention of that, which he can explain to others in a very short time : this causes an increase of know ledge ; but the subjects of inquiry multiply, and this may 3 cause a decrease of knowledge in particular subjects. When there are few things to know, a man may know every thing, as far as others know : but, when there are a great number of things to study, a man must either be wholly ignorant of some things, or know but little of any. Sometimes, new sources of knowledge are opened ; as when Herculaneum was disco vered : — sometimes, old sources are stopped up ; as by the irruptions of Barbarians1 into an improved country. — Some times, learning lies unnoticed in libraries ; those, who read and think, fancy they are discovering something new, and then find, that their discoveries have been made long ago.
All this is as applicable to theological learning as to any other kind. We should therefore ask in what state of its progress or regress our learning or knowledge is, in any point, and let that regulate our feelings and expectations. There have been times, when the Hebrew language was more culti vated than it is at present : the solidity of interpretations must always be expected to be proportioned to the prevailing know ledge of original languages.
5. It may be proper, before we proceed, to deduce some particular consequences from what has been already remarked. And first, increase of true judgment and rational knowledge is always productive of an increase of candor and modesty ; as increase of false judgment and ill directed knowledge is of
1 Hume's Posthumous Dialogues, p. andria, A. u. (>4fi; and the sacking of Con- «'»1> — The burning of the library at Alex- stantiuople, A. D, 1204. Harris, vol. iv.
I. i. G.] GENERAL INTRODUCTION. 3
I. pedantry and mystery. When we undertake any thing in an improved age, we may have confidence consistently with mo desty ; because our confidence is not in ourselves, but in the
4> candor and indulgence of others. This decrease of pedantry is remarkable in lawyers and physicians, at present.
6. Again, it follows, from the gradual improvement of judgment and knowledge, that we need not be ashamed at any time to declare, that our judgment is in suspense; or to retract an opinion which we have once professed. From the progressive nature of mental acquirements, nothing is more probable, than that we should see arguments on different sides of a question, whose comparative weights we cannot immedi ately determine; or that, on farther examination, we should discern truth where we had not discerned it before. Improve ment cannot be made but by bringing to light error and im perfection ; it is very idle therefore to praise improvement, and at the same time to annex any disgrace to acknowledging error. Men do so without reflecting. They naturally dislike error, and in a degree despise those who err, which indeed often deters men from owning their mistakes. The unthink ing flatter themselves with the expectation of an infallible guide ; in law and physic they are impatient if they have not one ; and they cannot easily respect a guide in religious mat ters, who disclaims infallibility. Besides, they say, he has the sure word of God : — no doubt the scripture is true, but it may be falsely interpreted ; and all that any man should really be understood to mean, when he speaks of " the word of God," is human interpretation of it. — Natural religion they will allow to be in some sense uncertain : yet sometimes it is by notions of natural religion, by our conceptions of the wisdom and good ness of God, that we explore the sense of his written word. We have several instances of the ingenuousness here spoken
5 of, in men remarkable for their abilities and knowledge2. These consequences being noted, we will proceed.
2 The modesty and diffidenceof the great Origcn are much celebrated. See Lard. Works, vol. IT. under Origen, Sect. 2. and Cavfs Hist. Lit. vol. i. p. 11,5. col. 1.
Cranrner's retracting, is worthy of mention, as given by Gilpin. See his Life of Cranmer, p. 222.
The learned William Wotton retracts, vol. i. Misna; p. 314. Augustin has pub lished two books of retractations. Arch
bishop Usher retracts an opinion ; see de Symb. p. 17. Michaelis Introd. Lec tures, Sect. 68, quarto, does the same, about the Codex Argenteus. Mr Hume's note at the beginning of his Essay on the Populousness of Ancient Nations might be mentioned, as also Locke's confessing he did not understand 1 Cor. xi. 10. And Cicero's passage, which is the motto to Locke's Essay on the Understanding.
1 — 2
4 GENERAL INTRODUCTION. [I. 1. 7—9-
7- After seeing what kind and degree of perfection we I. may hope to attain, let us observe how the several parts of our undertaking are connected together; there is, doubtless, some connexion between them all ; but it must not be thought like that which we find, in mathematics. Our work might be divided into several parts, each of which might be studied pro fitably ; — when subjects occur in different parts, it is natural to say, that they have been before explained ; but yet the want of the explanation of what is past will seldom make the present unintelligible. As a man may read the odes of Horace sepa rately from the epistles, or vice versa, though it is better he should read both, so may he take separately almost any parts of a system of divinity.
8. The difficulty of our study is such as rather to require patience and simplicity, than depth or acuteness of judgment: the languages which divines want, may be learnt gradually, without any great exertions in any one part ; the chief diffi culties, as to expressions in divinity, arise from not considering them as popular. And though something must be said con cerning our motives, and our voluntary actions, as well as 6 concerning the nature of God, and the part which he acts in the salvation of mankind, and the divine decrees, yet it seems as if nothing more were wanting, I do not say to make them perfectly clear > but to prevent all dissension about them, than simplicity1: — men may be said to understand any subject, when they agree, that they see all that can be seen of it at present by man.
9. Lastly, men are apt to have wrong views of the kind of task on which we now enter, in respect of the present pleasure which it may afford. There is nothing more interesting and affecting to man, than religion, when he is free from prejudices against it, and is rightly disposed2. Men who affect to be philosophers, hear the vulgar speak of things as known, which are not thoroughly understood ; and, in order to avoid this, they run into notions ten times more unphilosophical, than any popular superstition3. In order to be philosophers, they
1 Dr Balguy, p. 103. Hut his whole ilih Discourse is on Difficulties in Religion.
- Sec- Dr Powell's lid Discour.se; p. II. and 4.1. u whither the pursuit itself tend- ed, to virtue and to happiness*'1
:; For instance, they hear men talk weak ly about particular instances of ,N/,/Yi7.v,- and
thence very imphilosophically conclude, that there are no intelligences between man and God, or none which influence the happiness of their fellow-creatures. A notion more unworthy of a true philoso pher, than the most childish or the most anile superstition that ever was professed.
I. ii, iii. ].] REASONING A rmoni. 5
I. cease to be men : they lose the pleasure of the devout affec tions, and stop their ears to the voice of both reason and experience : ecclesiastical history does, to be sure, tell us of some who have made religion an instrument of ambition ; but it seems to me to give us events and characters more interest ing than profane, when seen with proper allowances ; nav it sometimes describes actions so great, noble, and affecting, that it might supply the place even of romance and fiction itself.
7 It is true indeed, that every pursuit, though undertaken merely for pleasure, will bring on disgust sometimes ; and if we are so capricious as to desist, the moment we cease to be entertained and attracted, we can succeed in nothing ; not even in painting, music, or games of skill. Principles of duty, and regard to plan and uniformity, must do their part now and then, even in attaining a pleasurable accomplishment : but, when we have acted a while from duty, pleasure will return.
With these views of the work before us, we may venture to undertake it.
CHAPTER II.
OF THE EXTENT OF THE STUDY OF RELIGIOUS TRUTH; AND FIRST, OF ITS TWO PRINCIPAL SOURCES.
THE first source of religious truth is reasoning on the na ture of God; the second is, studying the scriptures. How far the streams derived from these sources extend, it must be our next business to examine.
CHAPTER III.
OF THE MANNER OF ACQUIRING RIGHT NOTIONS OF THE NATURE OF GOD; AND FIRST, OF REASONING A PRIORI.
1. IF any one required a brief account of what is meant by natural theology, and of the manner in which we actually acquire our ideas of the Supreme Being, some such answer as the following might be given.
We are so accustomed to cause and effect, that when we see an event, we cannot rest without ascribing it to some cause;
6 REASONING A PRIORI. [I. ill. 2, ^>.
and the more important the event, the more anxious are we to I. account for it.
As the most important events are usually produced by intelligent beings within our knowledge, we are inclined to ascribe all important events to such beings, when their causes are unknown : and if the events are too difficult for man, we rise higher in the scale of intelligent causes. We feel our own impotence at every moment : we can provide nothing, we can hinder nothing : the united powers of man cannot stop a shower of rain, or raise a blade of grass. When we come to compare events, and to take them all into our minds at once, when we observe that there is an unity of design in them all, considered collectively, we ascribe them all ultimately to one great intel ligence, and consider him as a person. We next set about conceiving the particular qualities of this person ; and, when we have combined them into one character, we trace out the 9 marks of them ; of wisdom, benevolence, power : thus familiar ized, as it were, to this august person, we consider in what he is to be distinguished from man. We find ourselves under a necessity of giving his qualities human names : as these quali ties are causes of similar effects with those of human qualities, and as man knows no others, all we can do is, to acknowledge that his qualities may in reality be very different in kind from those which are called by the same names in man. Sometimes, we think how things could possibly be, without supposing a God always existing ; and we find ourselves wholly at a loss to conceive a time when no Deity existed. This seems to con tain every part of natural theology.
2. When we reason from cause to effect, we are said to reason a priori ; when from effect to cause, a posteriori : it seems probable, that men have begun with the latter ; never theless we will follow the customary order, which indeed is the most natural after the first analytical train of arguing has been pursued.
3. We are said to prove the existence of God a priori, when we shut our eyes to all the effects of his power, and consider only whether it is possible, in the nature of things, that there should not have existed from all eternity an independent being.
We reason in like manner concerning any particular attri bute; as, whether from eternal existence and power, benevo lence can be inferred, without our knowing any instances of benevolence ?
I. iv. 1, 2.] JIEASONING A POSTERIORI. 7
I. It may, perhaps, be doubted, whether this argument is strictly of the sort to which it pretends. We seem obliged to lay the foundation of it in our own existence ; which seems to be an effect; and we seem obliged to mount upwards to sec 10 how our own existence is reconcileable with the idea of there having been at any time no God. This remark, though ad mitted, can only affect the form, and not the validity of the argument.
Dr. Samuel Clarke is the principal supporter of the argu ment a priori; how extensive the study of it may be made, will appear best from a perusal of his work and the contro versies arising out of it. It seems as if Dr. Clarke might as well not have called his argument a demonstration ; it has been observed1 that a matter of fact cannot be demonstrated, be cause it does not imply a contradiction to suppose a fact to have happened otherwise : also, that an infinite series of causes can have no prior cause. But supposing both these remarks to have weight, yet Dr. Clarke's argument may prevail, as to the conclusion aimed at ; because the difficulties are less on his side than the opposite.
Dr. Kippis, in his life of Lardner, mentions a work of Lowman, " drawn up in the mathematical form, to prove the being and perfections of God a priori;" — which he does not allow to be convincing, though he thinks it as near demonstra tion as any thing of the kind.
11 CHAPTER IV.
OF REASONING A POSTERIORI.
1. WE reason a posteriori on the being of God, when we consider the things of heaven and earth ; their qualities and uses; and ask whether they could have been formed by chance, by a variety of beings, by an unwise or malevolent being.
2. It is easy to see how copious this source of religious knowledge is : before it can be exhausted, we must be ac quainted with all the phenomena of nature ; inanimate, in stinctive, rational, moral: — the scheme and system of them, the laws to which they are subject ; the relation of each to
1 Hume's Dial, on Nat. Relig. Part 9.
8 REASONING A POSTERIORI. [I. iv. 3, 4.
every other, and to the whole : — we may safely pronounce I. this source inexhaustible. If any one felt a desire to extend his views, by examining a number of examples of what is here said, he needs only have recourse to the works of Derham, his Physico-theology, and Astro-theology : or to any later and more improved accounts of the works of the creation.
3. Mr. Hume is the author of some dialogues on natural religion, published since his death, which may serve to shew the copiousness of both our methods of reasoning. He intro duces characters, who urge many sceptical arguments against our argument a posteriori, which indeed may prevent its being misapplied ; but the result is, according to him, that there is no way but this of accounting for the phenomena of nature, that is intelligible, and determinate. — It seems as if much better answers might be given to his sceptical arguments, than
he himself gives ; to attempt giving them here would detain us 12 too long on a single point ; such an attempt should make a separate work : we will content ourselves with a single instance. Near the end of Part in. we find, "none of the materials of thought are in any respect similar in the human and in the divine intelligence ;" hence we are to infer, that we have no right to say God is wise from his works, merely because it would require human wisdom to construct such works : — but suppose we take the reasoning of the Psalmist J ; " he that planted the ear, shall he not hear?" must we say, that this is not good reasoning, because God cannot be said in an hu man sense to hear, he having no bodily ears ? — whether we call his knowledge of our sounds hearing, or not, is insig nificant ; it is incredible that he should be ignorant of the effects of those organs which he has constructed. In like man ner, we speak truly when we say, God is wise ; and man can have no other way of expressing this truth ; though it is right for him to be aware, that divine wisdom may differ as much from human, as divine hearing from human hearing. I say may differ, rather than does differ ; the latter expression im plies too little diffidence.
4. I fear the argument, in the essay of the same author on Providence and a future State, has done harm ; it is such an attack on the truths which we are now considering, that I beg leave to take sonic notice of it. We cannot, says Mr. Hume, infer a perfect God from an imperfect world ; we can
1. IV. 5.] REASONING A POSTERIORI. 9
I. infer nothing in the cause which we do not see in the effect. We cannot therefore reason from God's perfect goodness, wis dom. &c. as if they had been fully established. — I would wish only to observe, that it is good probable reasoning, and such
13 as we should use in any important worldly affair, to find out God, in our way, and in our present state, a posteriori, and then to argue from his character, supposed perfect, to what
may be expected from a perfect being The Alexandrian
manuscript is a good one ; how do we know that ? from find ing in it many good readings : a conjecture occurs about the manner of reading a certain clause; he who finds this MS. favor his conjecture, will think he proves it to be a right one; why ? because it is a good manuscript.
If a man behaves well in several instances, I conclude that he is a man of good principles; then, if I want to judge how he would act in a doubtful case, I say, he is a man of good principles, and therefore he will behave well. This is a kind of reasoning, on which a prudent man would stake his most important interests; and therefore one, which may always be admitted as a ground of action.
I conclude by induction in settling the goodness of the man's principles ; perhaps some actions of his appear, which I do not fully understand; but I must judge of these by such as I do understand ; I shall do this with the greater readiness, if it is unlikely that I should understand them : in that case, it is highly probable, if I did understand them, that they would help towards the same conclusion Now it is in finitely unlikely, that we should understand all the acts of the divine government; but the instances of his benevolence mul tiply upon us as we improve in our knowledge of things, and therefore we ought to conclude, that he is benevolent in the instances which as yet we do not comprehend. — Let Mr. Hume deny this to be demonstration ; to act against mere probable reasoning is madness : I cannot demonstrate, that there will be another harvest, but I must act as if I could.
14? 5. Before we close our short discussions on natural re ligion, it seems proper to observe, that natural religion is presupposed in revealed. This observation is made, because some friends of revelation seem to undervalue natural reli gion. — It may also be of use, as a standing apology, whenever we introduce topics and arguments of natural religion into our disquisitions on scripture. " He that cometh to God, must
10
REASONING A POKTERlORf.
[I. V. 1.
believe that he is;" and must not only believe the existence of I. a Deity, but " that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Heb. xi. 6 — See also Rom i. 19. &c — Acts xiv. 17. — Acts xvii. 24. — Rom. iii. 29.
It seems to be taken for granted in scripture, that all good Christians have availed themselves as much as possible of all kinds of notices from heaven ; not only with regard to religion, but also with regard to virtue. See the character of Cor nelius; Acts x. 22 Rom. ii. 14, 15 Ephes. vi. 1.
Nay, it seems as if the Christian religion was of too im proved a nature for those to be admitted into it, whose morals were very rude and uncultivated. — But of this more hereafter, when we treat of the propagation of the gospel, and the need men have of revelation.
Except we settle previously our idea of God, we cannot prove the divinity of the Son or Holy Ghost : that is shewn by proving that each of those persons is spoken of as eternal, omniscient, omnipresent, and, in short, is possessed of all di vine attributes1.
CHAPTER V.
OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES: AND FIRST, OF THE HEBREW LANGUAGE.
1. WE now pass on to the second source of religious truth;
the sacred writings Common people are apt to speak of the
bible as of one book, almost as if it had been published at one time, and written by one author. But the least attention shews the great length of time between the first and the last publication: — the Pentateuch is said2 to have been written 1452 years before Christ, the year before the death of Moses: and the Revelation of St. John about3 .97 years after Christ (after his birth) : in which time manners, government, lan guages, and knowledge had undergone great changes, and the divine dispensations had grown from almost a state of infancy, in some particulars, to a state of maturity.
15
1 See also in Ludlam's Essay on Satis faction, p. 100, how natural religion is used, even by Hervey, in the doctrine
of Imputation.
- lil air's Chronol. Tables.
3 Lardner's Works, vol. vi, p.
I. V. 2, .'>.] HEBREW LANGUAGE. 11
I. 2. But it will be best to divide these books into classes. There may be six of the Old Testament, and three of the New. The first class is, the book of Genesis : this should make a class by itself, because it contains history of times before the dispensation of Moses, and describes manners so simple and unimproved, as to require separate and peculiar remarks. The second class consists of the books containing the Law of Moses,
16 viz. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. The third class consists of the historical books, giving an account of the various fortunes which befel the chosen people of God, from their oppression under the kings of /Egypt, to the re-establish ment of the Jewish polity and re-building of the temple after the Babylonish captivity, from the year 1706 to the year 515
before Christ There are some abridgements, as it were, of
these in the Acts of the Apostles. Chap. vii. and xiii. — The fourth class consists of the prophetical books. The fifth of the moral. The sixth of the poetical.
The first class of the books of the New Testament consists of the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles, which record the conduct and discourses of our Saviour, and of those who were first commissioned by him : the second class is made up of letters written to the newly-established churches, and a few distinguished individuals: and the prophetic book called the Revelation, constitutes the third class.
It must be owned, that these classes are not wholly distinct from one another : several of them contain prophecies, and the prophetical books contain history, and so on ; but this imper fection is to be found in all classes that I recollect ; and will occasion no confusion in the present instance, if we only apply observations on the prophetical books to such prophecies as are found in the Psalms, or in the book of Numbers : — and so of the other classes.
3. In a large sense we may say, the Old Testament is written in Hebrew ; as that word may comprehend the Phoe nician or Samaritan, (as far as concerns the Samaritan Pen tateuch,) and the Chaldee. Of this language Dr. Powell says4 (from Bishop Chandler and others) that it "is neither clear
17 nor copious," that "it consists of a few words, used in a great variety of senses ; and these senses often not connected, but by some minute and scarce discernible resemblance." But, though he speaks of the prophecies, which have many difficulties be-
4 Opening of Dis. 9.
12
HEBREW LANGUAGE.
[I. V. S.
sides that of the language, he adds, tc the obscurity we com- I. plain of is such as should excite our industry, not lead us to despair of success.1'1 — It does seem as if Christians did not study the Hebrew language sufficiently : though the Christian dispensation is intended to supersede the Jewish, yet they are only different parts of the same plan ; every word that is said in the New Testament, is said to those that had Jewish ideas, and the allusions which we may call Hebrew allusions, are in numerable ] : and it is not only the sense of the New Testa ment, but the authenticity of it, which suffers by an ignorance of Hebrew. We cannot judge so well, whether prophecies have really been fulfilled, if we have not some understanding of the meaning of the prophecies, as we can with such assist ance And the Old and New Testaments are knit together by
an endless number of ties, the nature of which will not be thoroughly seen by one, who is rudis atque hospes in the original languages. Neither must we confine our views to the past ; there is an unbounded field open before us for future improvements : — but, if we do not search for oriental know ledge, we shall fall far short of what might possibly be effected.
Dr. Jubb has used several good arguments in favour of the study of Hebrew, in a Latin speech, which he has printed, made at Oxford in 1780.
Dr. William Wotton has shewn, that the Talmud, or, more properly, the Misna2, is useful to Christians, as containing a very old traditional law of the Jews reduced to writing; as 18 mentioning many things, which our Saviour, and those to whom he addressed himself, would have in their minds. He introduces a letter from Simon Ockley3, Professor of Arabic in Cambridge in 1718, in which it is said, " If I had ever had an opportunity, I would most certainly have gone through the New Testament under a Jew, — they understand it infinitely better than we do,"" &c. Lightfoot, in his Horse Hebraic;c and Talmudica1, lias been of much use in the way we are speaking of; and he has been improved upon, I conceive, by Schoeitgenius. — It is indeed surprising to think how ignorant of Hebrew some of the Greek Fathers were4; the authority of
1 See Prologue to Kcclesiasticus. - \\'otton, Discourse i. chap. vii. vol. i. p. HO— 101. 3 Wotton's Preface to Misna. — end.
4 Some instances, relating to Justin Martyr, &c. may be found in Pearson on the Creed, Article 2d, not far from the beginning, about Joshua, Abraham, and Sarah.
I. v. 4.J
HEBREW LANGUAGE.
13
I. the Septuagint must have occasioned it. Had the earliest Fa thers studied Hebrew, as Jerome did afterwards, we might have known much more of the application of that language to the New Testament, than we do at present 5.
4. The Samaritan Pentateuch is to be considered as an original6 ; differing from the Hebrew only in characters ; or in readings, as far as one MS. may differ from another. Samaria was a city, (though a region round it has the same name) once only the capital of the tribe of Ephraim, but afterwards made the capital of the ten tribes which separated from Judah and Benjamin : all twelve were carried captive into the East, into 19 Assyria and the neighbourhood of Babylon; the ten above 100 years7 before the two; the ten having jointly taken the name of Israel, as the main body of the twelve tribes; the two, of Judah. — During the captivity, a colony was sent to inhabit the depopulated provinces near Samaria; this colony were Cut/leans, and they were idolaters; a long time after wards, an Israelitish priest was sent with the Samaritan Pen tateuch (not other parts of Scripture) to re-establish the Mosaic religion : this made a mixture of Judaism and idol atry 8 ; especially as this colony adopted the religion of Moses, in some degree, as the religion of the place: then, an Israel itish priest married a daughter of a Pagan governor of Samaria (Sandballat); this governor built a temple on mount Gerizim*, to rival the temple of Jerusalem, about 204 years after the re turn of the Jews ; this rivalship produced a national hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans.
Phoenicia was one name of Canaan proper ; the Phoenician language was therefore properly the language of the Hebrews before the captivity : and it is the same, which was afterwards called the Samaritan. Our present Hebrew is written in the Chaldee character, which the Hebrews got accustomed to, during a seventy years captivity in the country near Babylon, called sometimes Chaldea10.
5 See Masclef, vol. u. Defence, p. v. where it is said, that even PhUo and Jo- sephus, were infantes in Hebrew; from Capellus.
c See Kennicott's State of the Hebrew Text, vol. i. 8vo. p. 33J. ; and Du Pin's ('anon of the Old Testament 5. 1. quoted by Kennicott, p. 33f}.
7 ('ollyev's Sacred Interpreter. T. 2(iH.
8 Well might Christ say (John iv. 22.) " Ye worship ye know not what."
A good account of this matter seems to be in Beenuo&re't Introduction to the
New Testament.
!) For Gerizim, see Deut. xi. 29. and xxvii. 12. — See also Collyer, vol. I. p. 342, from Usher.
10 Lard. Works, vol. in. p. 41,"», quotes Cellar. Orb. Ant. t. n. p. 7">'"»-
HEBREW LANGUAGE.
[I. v. 5.
To any one, who wishes to get a good idea of the Sama- I. ritans, I would recommend a Dissertation of Dr. Kennicott : the word Gerixim is in the Samaritan Pentateuch, Deut. xxvii. 4. where the Hebrew has Ebal ; Gerizim is by many supposed 20 to be inserted by a pious fraud ; but Dr. Kennicott has written to prove Gerizim the right reading *. Some have thought the Samaritan Pentateuch now subsisting, to be only a tran script from our Hebrew ; but I should think they differ too much for that ; how much they differ may be seen in Dr. Ken- nicott's Bible : he puts the Samaritan Pentateuch in Hebrew characters, where it differs from the Hebrew, so that the Sa maritan copy may easily be compared with the Hebrew : he says, the Samaritan Pentateuch should be " held very pre cious.'1 — " Some places in the Hebrew Pentateuch will never be intelligible, nor others defensible, till corrected agreeably to the Samaritan2." — See also Kennicott's State of the Hebrew Text, 2 vols. Svo. — Index: particularly vol. i. p. 336, &c. where he quotes a good passage from Du Pin's Canon of the Old Testament 1. 5. 1. — I conclude this account with mentioning, that the Samaritan Pentateuch was quoted by the Fathers, (in the 4th and 5th centuries, I think,) but then disappeared ; and no MSS. of it were found till the l?th, when they seem to have been purchased in the East. See Kennicott's State, &c. vol. I. p. 339. 347 vol. IT. p. 302, &c.
5. Chaldee may be considered as a dialect of the Hebrew ; in the3 same characters with what we now call Hebrew, or very4 nearly the same. — It is reckoned the original of the books of Daniel and Ezra ; and of part of Jeremiah ; though Dr. Kennicott5 speaks of a MS. of Daniel and Ezra discovered at Rome in 1?6'4 in Hebrew, which seemed pure, and was pro- 21 bably ancient. — Chaldee is of great use for enabling us to read the Chaldee Paraphrases, which shew the sense put by the Jews on the words of scripture ; and shew particularly on what passages they grounded their expectation of the Messiah.
Besides this Chaldee, there was the Syriac, or vulgar tongue of the Jews, which possibly might be 6 a kind of coun-
1 State of the Hebrew Text, vol. u. p. 20—1(1-2.
- I)r Kennicott's Ten Annual Accounts, p. U.i.
:1 Masclef, vol. n. p. 1st after Preface.
4 Walton's Prolegomena. — But see I'arkhurst's Greek Lexicon, '
5 Ten Annual Accounts, p. 7-4. See also Masclef 's Grammar, vol. 11. Argu- menta, p. iii.
c Brerewood, chap. 9. might be read. See also Parkhurst's Greek Lexicon, un der '
I. V. 6\] HEBREW LANGUAGE. 15
I. try dialect. — In the capital, Jerusalem, it seems as if one might say, that Chaldee was spoken, when Syriac was spoken in Ga lilee; I suppose, in a large town the vulgar tongue might approach nearer to the written tongue, or proper language, than in the country ; some have called the language spoken at Jerusalem in our Saviour's time, Syro-Chaldaic' '. The shades of dialects are endless: and, in some places, many speak more languages than one ; as the Welsh and Irish, the Scotch and Flemish. The Syriac is recommended, because our Saviour spoke it; and his Evangelists wrote down what he spoke; they might write in Greek, but their8 ideas were Syriac ; and therefore they of course used many Syriac idioms, and some words °. The Syriac characters in time became dif ferent from the Chaldee, or what we now call Hebrew; but how and when, does not appear 10. The chief thing is to con ceive the Chaldee, brought from the East, as a language of the better sort, and therefore usually written ; the Syriac, belonging to the province which the Jews left, and to which they returned, as a language of the more ordinary people, and therefore usually spoken ; and the Greek, spreading as an uni-
22 versal language, and the language of the LXX : and these as ingredients mixed in different proporti07is in different places, and with different persons, in ways not now to be specified exactly. 6. After mentioning the language of the Old Testament, we should mention the manner of learning it. Michaelis af firms11, that there is not one tolerable lexicon in the Hebrew language; and perhaps there may not be one equal to the Greek Thesaurus of Henry Stephens, or the French dictionary of the Academy ; but the reason may be, because it is impos sible to make such an one. Were there as many Hebrew as Greek books, (and the same of words) and were it equally practicable to ascertain or decipher Hebrew and Greek ex pressions, I doubt not but there would be as good an Hebrew lexicon as the Greek one now mentioned : but this is not the case. If we go to the bottom of the matter, each language is to be learnt by examining all the passages in which any word occurs 12. But any one, who does this, will see what has been
7 Masclef, vol. n. Arg. p. iii. Mack- night's Index.
u Masclef 's Grammar, vol. n. p. 114.
9 Wotton's Misna, Preface, p. xviii-
10 Masclef, Ibid. p. 121.
11 Introd. Lect. Pref. p. xii. &c. quarto.
12 A Chaldee Grammar is a set of ge neral observations formed by reading the parts of Scripture, which are in Chaldee, (as also the Chaldee Paraphrases, &c.)
and
16 HEBREW LANGUAGE. [I. V. C.
clone in the same way by those who have gone before him. I. Lexicons and grammars consist of general observations de duced from a number of particular instances : the chief thing is, to hit off well the connexion of different senses of the same word, and their dependence on each other. The Hebrew words, which we have, are within any one's reach, and the chief dif ference between lexicographers seems to consist in arranging them. Mr. Parkhurst endeavours always, in his lexicon of Hebrew and English, to get a sense to the root, which has something in common with all the senses ; so that the meaning 23 shall rise, like the sap in vegetables, immediately into the prin cipal branches, and from them into the smaller ones. Buxtorf has published a small lexicon, which is well adapted to com mon use; and has the points: Cardinal Passionei has published a large one with points, in two vols. folio, which saves the in vestigation of the root : and John Taylor's Hebrew concord ance should be mentioned ; but there is such a connexion between the different Oriental tongues, that I should recom mend some of those lexicons that contain more than mere Hebrew ; as Schindler's Pentaglotton, or Castellus's (Castle's) Heptaglotton. How melancholy ! that so worthy and learned a man as Castle should injure his sight, and ruin his fortune, by such a work !
There is a lexicon made by John Buxtorf, jun. for the purpose of explaining the Chaldee Paraphrases and the Syriac Version of the New Testament ; Basil, lo'22 ; a well-printed book ; but it has often failed me, when I thought I had reason to expect information from it.
As to grammars, I know none more to be recommended than Masclef 's ', as it gives rules for the Chaldee, Syriac, and Samaritan, as well as for what is commonly called Hebrew. He is entirely for banishing points, which suits my judgment, as far as I can form one ; for they seem to embarrass more than they elucidate ; and they seem to want authority. Park- hurst's grammar is without points, and very commodious : as is also Wilson* 8, which I think I should recommend upon the whole to the English reader, for mere Hebrew; especially as Masclef 'a is scarce.
What has been already said may give us some idea of the 2 1
and seeing what expressions and modes | ' Masclef was a native of Amiens, and of orthography, &c. occur repeatedly. — j canon of the cathedral there; died 17-«tj This easily applies to a Lexicon. ; ;et. Mi.
I. V. 7, 8.] HEBREW LANGUAGE. 17
history of the Hebrew, which is more properly the history of the oriental tongues. The Samaritan, or Phoenician, is said to be the same with the old Punic, of which we have some speci mens2 in Plautus, and some of the Christian Fathers : the Phoe nicians were famous for trading voyages, and might make some community of language with the Carthaginians, who, in their turn, visited Tyre. Farther to the east was the Chaldee ; the Jews adopted that, and mixed it with what they had before ; possibly such mixture might degenerate into the Syriac. To the south of Palestine are the Arabic, the JSthiopic, and the Coptic, or language of the ancient ^Egyptians, called the Cophti. The inscriptions at Palmyra are not yet, I believe, understood. John David Michaelis in 1750 began3 an history of these languages, and an attempt to trace out their connexion and their variations ; such a work might throw light on the Old Testament, and be the ground of a better lexicon than has yet been published.
The history of the English language would include ac counts of the British, Saxon, Norman, &c.
7* Rabbinical Hebrew is much nearer to Chaldee than to pure Hebrew, but somewhat different from Chaldee : besides that it has words borrowed from the nations where Jews have resided ; new customs and ideas require new words ; and it is more obvious to make some use of the words one hears, than to invent perfectly new ones4. Schindler gives Rabbinical words, and so does Buxtorf; — and Buxtorf has written a Rabbinical dictionary in folio, and a grammar which shews the Rabbinical character, a sort of written hand, differing in different parts of Europe, and a Bibliotheca (in his abbrevi ations) ; RelamTs Analecta5 contains an Isagoge; Bartolocci6 has published a large Bibliotheca; and Pococke is celebrated in this, as well as other parts of oriental learning.
8. The fewness of Hebrew books is to be lamented ; for there is no making good dictionaries and grammars without a great number of instances. Fewer books have been written and more destroyed in Hebrew, than in any other language.
2 Plautus, Famulus, Act v. Scene 1. berias ; andTalmudismentionedB.lv.
" Hanno loquitur Punice."
3 See Pref. to his Lectures on the New Testament, near the end. Quarto.
4 The Talmud belongs to this; and the Massora. for Talmud, see Wotton's JMisna; for Massora, see Buxtorf 's Ti-
VOL. I.
Art. 0. of these Lectures.
s Relarid, a Dutchman, professor at Utrecht, died IJIH aet. 43.
0 Bartolocci died 1687, a monk ; pro fessed Hebrew at Home.
18
HEBREW LANGUAGE.
[I. V. 8.
Masclef affirms, that no Hebrew book appears to have been I. written for 600 years together ; from the first book of Macca bees to the Misna ; the reading of which in the synagogues is forbidden by Justinian in 548 ; and that prohibition is the first authentic record of its existence. He also affirms, as was lately mentioned, that Philo and Josephus could not write Hebrew tolerably l. I suppose, he reckons the Chaldee Pa raphrases not Hebrew2: after the Misna was published, it is agreed, that many commentators upon it started up : and, since that time, many rabbis have written, as appears by the Bi- bliothecse: but there has been an unfortunate rivalship between Jews and Christians ; which caused Gregory 3 the 9th to burn twenty cart-loads of Hebrew books; Innocent the 4th is said to 26 have joined in the destruction of this kind of learning: it seems as if they did harm to Christianity, though not so much as if the books had been written sooner. We have more reason to lament the books, which4 probably were written soon after the return from the Babylonish captivity, and were destroyed by Antiochus Epiphanes 5, or in the time of Titus, or in the per secution of Adrian.
What has been said, in this chapter, must not be thought to pretend to remove all doubts and disputes : it is only meant to put the student on a footing with the generality of divines, and to point out subjects of farther inquiry, with regard to the original language of the Old Testament. We might, at every point of our journey, turn to the right hand or to the left, if we pleased, and expatiate as far as we pleased ; but we must remember the length of the journey which we have to per form.
1 See Masclef 's Nova Grammaticae Argumenta. Vol. u. p. v. &c.
3 Masclef, ib. " Hebraice ; quod de Syro-chalda'ico idiomate non potest in- telligi." — "Hebrea potuit a Chaldaicis aut Syriacis distinguere," viz. Hierony- mus. p. iii. iv. — See note at the end of this chapter.
3 Chambers's Diet. Gregory the 9th died in 1241. Innocent the 4th died in 1254.
4 Prologues to Ecclesiasticus.
5 Bishop Chandler's Introd. p. xiv. Antiochus Epiphanes, Collyer, vol. I. p. 97. He died Ki4 years before Christ.
In determining the sense of the word Hebrew, it may always be well to ob serve to what it is opposed : expressly or tacitly : when opposed to Greek, Latin, &c. it is a generic term, including Chal dee, &c.; — when opposed to Chaldee, &c. it has a more confined meaning. So the word Man sometimes means all hu man kind; and yet is sometimes the term to distinguish one part of human kind from another. At one time it in cludes what at another it excludes.
Lewis's Hebrew Antiquities might be mentioned to the Student either here, or in chapter x.
I. vi. 1.] GREEK LANGUAGE. 19
I- CHAPTER VI.
27
OF THE GREEK LANGUAGE.
1. GREEK is always popularly called the original language of the New Testament; (and therefore we mention the New Testament before the Septuagint, which is only a translation ;) but this has been thought, especially by many ancient Chris tians, not to be strictly and universally true. We must think, therefore, why we esteem it such. It is something, that we have the Greek as the original ; to us at least it is so, and must be treated accordingly ; we can approach no nearer. But moreover, we find the books of the New Testament quoted in Greek, and very early ; and, if we consider circumstances, it is likely, that the evangelists and apostles should choose Greek in preference to Hebrew; or at least to write Greek originals, whether they wrote Hebrew ones or not. Greek was understood by most people, even in Judea, and the Gos pel was to be preached6 to " all nations;" Greek was the most general language ; the epistle to the Romans is not written in the Roman language, though written within their empire, and to inhabitants of their capital. If Philo and Josephus7 had reasons for choosing to write in Greek, if Hebrew was trans lated into Greek for the use of Jews, why might not the first publishers of the Gospel use the Greek language ? there is no general presumption against it.
But it has been always allowed, that all the New Testa ment was originally in Greek, except St. Matthew's Gospel, and the Epistle to the Hebrews; therefore arguments may be
used peculiar to them And, if so many books were in Greek,
why not all ? — perhaps it may be said, because some should be in Hebrew for the use of the lower people : yet the evangelists were of the common people, and they understood Greek (three at least) well enough to write it : below their rank, perhaps, pure Hebrew would not have been much better understood in our Saviour's time by any, who could be deemed readers of the
" The extent of the Greek language is shewn in Brerewood, chap. 1.
7 Josephus first wrote his Jewish War in the language of his own country, and
afterwards published it in Greek ; — Lard. Works, vol. vii. p. 35, from Josephus's Prol. sect. 2.
2 — 2
20
GREEK LANGUAGE.
[I. vi. 2,
books in question. — Syriac would have1 been necessary; and I.
a Syriac version there was very early If there ever was an
Hebrew original, it was probably rather for those who were attached to Hebrew (against innovations and foreign fashions) than for the lowest ranks of people ; and how came it so much neglected ? who translated it into Greek ? i. e. made what the church has generally taken as an original ? Both St. Matthew's Gospel and the Epistle to the Hebrews have much the appear ance and ease, and the harmony, numbers, and rhetorical figures of originals2. It seems to have been prejudice, which made men first fancy it was likely these two books should be first written in Hebrew ; and thence conclude, that they were so. Whoever wishes to see these and other arguments well stated, may consult the Supplement to Lardner's Credibility of the Gospel History.
The utmost, which it seems possible to allow to the fa vourers of the opinion, that St. Matthew's Gospel was first written in Hebrew, is, that there might possibly be two ori ginals, one in Greek, another in some kind of Hebrew : as we 29 have two originals of our3 Thirty-nine Articles, and of Sir Isaac Newton's Optics. Indeed, this supposition accounts for some expressions of the ancients very well. What right the favourers of such opinion have to our attention, will appear from what follows.
2. In early times of Christianity, there was such a book as the Gospel of the Nazarenes, sometimes called The Gospel according to the Hebrews ; sometimes, The Gospel according to the twelve1: — indeed, there were a great number of gospels of different sorts, but this is particularly mentioned here, be cause it was afterwards imagined by some, to have been the original Gospel of St. Matthew. — What it really was, cannot perhaps be ascertained beyond all power of doubting : there fore we must not dwell on the subject : what seems most pro bable is this; it was an history of the acts and sayings of Christ, in some kind of Hebrew, taken chiefly from St. Mat-
1 With regard to this, consider, as be- fore, what Parkhurst says under 'E/9/oofs : and the remarks ottered in the preceding chapter.
2 See Beausobre's Pref. to Hebr. quot ed by Lardner, Works, vol. iv. p. 'J»i!'. : where are other good authorities. iSee also Limborch on Acts vi. 1.
:I The Countess of Rosenberg has writ ten in French and English, and says, that they are equally original. Josephus was mentioned in this section.
•' Lard. Credib. Index, Gospel. Frag ments are preserved by Grabe. See also Jeremiah Jones.
I. vi. 3.] GREEK LANGUAGE. 21
I. thew, but with things added from some of the other Evan gelists, and with still more particulars than they mention, known by tradition probably, for the use of the lowest orders of the people 5.
3. The Septuagint* is a copious subject. We must en deavour to select what will give us the best idea of it, without entering into minutiae.
Alexander the Great died 324 years before Christ : four of his generals shared his dominions7; Ptolemy, surnamed Soter (Saviour) had JEgypt : ere long, he tried to extend his domi- 30 nions ; he attacked him who had got Syria, but found oppo sition from the fidelity and loyalty of the Jews; one sabbath- day, he contrived to get the better of them, and transported several colonies of them into ^Egypt, into the neighbourhood of Alexandria chiefly, to the amount, it is said, of an hundred thousand men. His son, Ptolemy, surnamed Philadelphus, succeeded him, 283 years before Christ; he was a lover of literature, and formed, and dedicated with great magnificence, under Demetrius Phalereus, as his librarian, the famous library of Alexandria, consisting of two hundred thousand volumes. About this time, (about 280 years before Christ), or perhaps8 rather later, the Hebrew Bible was, in fact, translated into Greek. The translation has the name of the Septuagint, or the version of the Seventy, from a notion, that Ptolemy pro cured six of each Jewish tribe to make it ; twelve times six amounts to seventy-two, and sometimes this is called the ver sion of the Seventy-two, but more commonly the number two is neglected : some wonderful stories are told of these trans lators being shut up in separate cells, and bringing out the very same translation to an iota, in two days ; or in seventy- two ; but no learned man supports these stories now, I think, if we may except Isaac Vossius9. Mill thinks, that the ap probation of a council of Jews, consisting of about seventy, gave the Septuagint its name. (beg. of pref.) Prideaux10 thinks the translation was made at the request of the Alexandrian Jews; possibly their request, and Ptolemy's turn for litera ture, and desire to suit the Jews, might jointly occasion it11. 5 This is Lardner's opinion; Works, I 9 See Pref. to Mill's LXX, 12ni°, 3d
vol. vi. p. 64.
6 Encyclopedic, Septanle.
7 Collyer's Sacred Interpreter, Index, Septuagint.
8 Ladvocat under Ptol. Philad. says 271 .
page.
10 Connexion 2. 1. quoted p. 347. Col ly er, vol. T.
11 For the contents of Aristaeus's ac count of this translation of the Bible, as
well
22 CREEK LANGUAGE. [I. vi. 3.
On the authority of this translation, men have been di- I. vided ; the Jews of late have reckoned it despicable; though 31 Josephus seems to venerate it : Isaac Vossins 1 has reckoned it divine ; these are the extremes : some middle opinion would come nearest the truth. Dr. Kennicott, in his State of the Hebrew text, has several good remarks upon it scattered about, and he has quoted several good opinions of others : — he mentions one instance, where this version is right, and both the Hebrew and Samaritan2 wrong; it differ,s from our He brew in a very great number 3 of passages ; and probably was translated from copies, which differed much from ours : it has now itself many various4 readings, in the different copies of it; but, supposing the right readings of it ascertained, I should think that it ought to be allowed to correct our He brew, as well as our Hebrew to correct5 it: the genuine reading ought to be investigated by comparing them. Jerom6 seems perplexed with it, but it stood in his way, when he wanted to make a translation from certain Hebrew MSS. into Latin. There seems not to have been any unity, either of person or plan, in making this version, if we may judge from 32 different ways of spelling the same name7, and from different ways of rendering the very same phrase, in passages very near to each other.
The importance of this version is reckoned great by most moderate men; it was made before the Jews were prejudiced8 against Jesus as the Messiah ; it was the means of preparing 9 the world at large for his appearance. There is a preface signed I. P. (the initials of Bishop Pearson's 10 name) to a
well as of the account of Justin Martyr, &c. see the Preliminaria to Montfaucon's edit, of Origen's Hexapla, Cap. 3. Aris- tanis (Montfaucon calls him Aristeas, Josephus 'ApuTTalos,) was the name of an officer in the court of Ptolerny Phila- delphus ; so some one probably forged an history under his name. Saying this, is not affirming, that there are no true facts in the history under the name of Aris- t<eus. — See Pref. to 31 ill's Septuagint. Josephus (Ant. 12. 2.) has a long chapter on this subject, telling many particulars ; but they have not a credible appearance : some speak of Aristaeus's work as genuine. It is inserted in the Bibliotheca? Patrum.
3 i. p. 549. 3 p. 284.
4 P. 211. 1788, Mr. Holmes is now about collating the MSS.
5 See Sir I. Newton's Chronology, p. 343; quoted Kennicott's State, &c. vol. ii. p. 337.
10
Wotton's Misna, Pref. p. ix. &c.
<; Kennicott's State, vol. i. p. 211.
7 Ken. 197, vol. i. 8 Ken. 2/6. vol. i.
" Col Iyer i. 347.
Bishop Pearson was the person meant. See Biographia Britannica, under Pear son. On the Creed, p. 491. 1st edit, (on Descent into Hell) Bishop Pearson says, "many additional patches have been in that translation," meaning the LXX. This sentence is not in some later edi- dons of Pearson.
I. vi. 4.]
GREEK LANGUAGE.
I. Cambridge edition of the Septuagint, printed in 1665, which gives an account of many other advantages, (I will read you the last paragraph) ; and Dr. Hody's judgment seems can did n Michaelis reckons the best edition of the LXX. to be
Breitinger's : references are made, by Dr. Kennicott, to the Complutensian, and that of Aldus ; and to the Vatican and Alexandrian manuscripts. The Cambridge edition of 1665 is printed after the Vatican MS.
4. It may seem extraordinary, that our Saviour and the sacred writers of the New Testament should quote the trans lation of the LXX. rather than the Hebrew ; for so they are said to have done. " Almost all the passages of the Old Test ament," introduced into the Epistle to the Hebrews, and they are very numerous, are " quoted according to the Seventy 12, 33 not according to the Hebrew" — It is however said, that rather the sense of the Septuagint is followed than the words 13, though our Testament is in the same language. Supposing the truth of this, two ideas may be here mentioned : 1. The Hebrew copies in use, at the first publication of Christianity, might be more like those, from which the LXX. had trans lated, than our present copies are. And this idea will appear less strange, if we attend to " almost all," in the passage now quoted ; and to the words of a Greek translation not being followed in a Greek book. 2. The Greek language might be so much the general language, and the version of the LXX. might be so much known, that it might be more likely to an swer the purpose of quotation to quote from the LXX, than to quote from the Hebrew : the arguments, built upon quota tions, would not be weakened by such choice. The knowledge of Greek did descend to low ranks; to men of ordinary me chanic trades; such were the apostles; — how far quotations from pure Hebrew, differing much from the Greek, would have been entered into, I do not clearly see ; but they would not have been so extensively useful as those from the Greek.
But it may be proper to mention, that Dr. Randolph and Mr. Street14 think it cannot be generally affirmed, that Christ and his Apostles did quote from the LXX.
My own idea is, that we do not enter quite enough into the circumstances of this case. Christ and his Apostles would
11 Quoted in Kennicott, vol. i. p. f)4-~>.
12 Beausobre's Pref. to Hebr. transl. by Lardner, Works, vol. iv. p. 269.
1S Colly er, i. p. 347- 14 See Preface to Mr Street's Transla- tion of the Psalms, p. xv— xviii.
24) GREEK LAXGUAGE. [I. vi. 5, 6.
have no nicety in quoting the Old Testament ; all they would I. want, would be to refer their hearers to it, for some particular purpose: they could not falsify; the books were at hand. I should think, therefore, reference would be made easily and 34 freely, according to the notions or reading of the persons ad dressed at any particular time. To a Jew who was accustomed to the LXX., the LXX. would be quoted ; to one who had traditional modes of interpreting, those modes would be a- dopted. (See Allix, Unitarians, chap, ii, iii, iv ; and Bp. Chandler's Defence, chap, iv, and v, and vi.) Hence, little can be built, in the way of general observation, on the quota tions which occur; they leave us still to get the best sense we can from all copies and versions taken together.
5. The peculiarities of the Septuagint are such as might be expected from a Jew's writing of Jewish matters, belonging to common life, in the Greek language. That is, Greek words, combined into Jewish idioms ; and sometimes transferred or
borrowed, to express things unknown amongst the Grecians
If I wanted to give, in Sweden for instance, a notion of Addi- son's delicate humour, I could not do it in English, because I should not be understood ; nor in Swedish, because I know not the language myself; but French is a general language; I could translate Addison into French, but it would have An glicisms in it, on two accounts ; because I was an Englishman, and because the ideas of Addison were English ; and of that ordinary familiar sort, in which all nations differ from each other. The peculiarities then of the Septuagint are, in short, Oriental idioms and ideas. One thing, which makes this more attended to, is, that the Greek of the LXX. naturally became the Greek for expressing the things of religion, and so the Greek of the New Testament1.
6. The expression Hellenistic Greek seems strange, be cause all Greek must be Hellenistic in some sense. But all .';,•> dispersed Jews, including those of Alexandria though settled there, who forgot their own ~ language, and got to talk Greek familiarly and habitually, would be Hellenists, and every thing they did would be called Hellenistic ; if Jews affected Grecian manners, they might be called3 Hellenists, as might
1 Syriac words, idioms and ideas in New Testament, see in Wotton's Misna. Pref. p. xviii.
2 See Limborch on Acts vi. 1.
3 Look at Diet. Acad. Franyoise : that Diet, gives ITellenists four senses: 1. Alexandrian Jews. 2. The Jews, who spoke the language of the LXX. 3. The
I. vi. 7.]
GREEK LANGUAGE.
25
I. Greeks who turned Jews: — there would, in this way, be Hel lenistic customs, dress, amusements, &c. — and, if Hellenists spoke a peculiar kind of Greek, it would be called Hellenistic
Greek This Hellenistic Greek I conceive to be the language
of Philo, if not of Joseph us ; and his writing Hellenistic Greek is one principal reason, I fancy, why his language is of im portance to Christians. — Parkhurst mentions KTI^W in the sense, to create, as being Hellenistic. The authors of the apocryphal books, Ecclesiasticus, Maccabees4, are called " Hellenizing Jews."1 — Pearson on the Creed: p. 127. fol. (note on, Oeos is not OeXrj/jia Oeov.)
We see now what it is to understand Greek with a view to the sacred books; — it is to understand the Greek tongue in its purity, to understand the oriental idioms mixed with it ; and the manner in which they are mixed ; the proportion of the several ingredients.
7. It may be as well here, as any where else, to make some mention of those Translators of the Old Testament, who
lived after our Saviour 1 shall make use of Montfaucorfs
Preliminaria to Origen's Hexapla ; attempting only to mention what seems most probable, without making any decision of my
36 own, in matters of so much uncertainty Symmachus comes
first in the syllabus ; perhaps because he has been most ap plauded by the Fathers, as an interpreter ; but I will now follow the usual order.
Aquila is said to have been a Jew, of Pontus : an enemy to Christianity : scrupulously adhering to the Hebrew copies ; even so as to make his own expressions sometimes more ob scure than the Hebrew itself. The Jews, on this account perhaps, reckon him the most accurate of all the interpreters. Christians say, that he has distorted some passages, particularly some prophecies relating to the Messiah.
Some have thought Aquila the same with Onkelos, (Brere- wood, chap. 9.) but the paraphrase of Onkelos differs much from the version of Aquila ; though the same person might be called by those two names.
Symmachus is said to have been a Samaritan, and to have lived under Severus. He was probably an Ebionite, that is, a sort of Christian. He was a man of abilities, and of taste,
Jews, who accommodated themselves to Grecian manners. 4. The Greeks, who embraced Judaism.
4 Taylor says, this book is in Hellen istic Greek :— on Romans, Key, p. 121, bottom.
26 SCRIPTURES HOW FIRST PUBLISHED. [I. Vli. 1.
much praised by the ancients. He wrote such Greek as not I. to seem harsh to a Grecian. His translation is free, in com parison of Aquila^s: and gives generally a rational sense. Indeed, if he had a fault, it was giving a rational sense, when he did not thoroughly understand his original : this was, not submitting to own that a passage was unintelligible to him.
Theodotion seems to have been an unbelieving Jew, of Ephesus, under Commodus, and therefore to have lived before Symmachus. He is remarkable for having followed the LXX. very strictly : so that when the LXX. fails, his version is look ed upon as supplying the defect. Yet he sometimes seems to follow Aquila.
In Origen's Hexapla, we have, in some places, a fifth, sixth, and seventh interpreter ; but so little is known about these, that I will content myself with barely mentioning them.
CHAPTER VII. 37
OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE SACRED WRITINGS WERE PUBLISHED, BEFORE THE ART OF PRINTING WAS KNOWN.
1. THE Art of printing was not invented till the 15th century; till about 1140 or 1450. The sacred books there fore must, before the discovery of this art, appear in manu script : — written by persons, who made writing books their sole occupation. The written copies of the whole or part of the Scriptures are mostly handsome, on vellum, or cotton paper, some finely illuminated, but frequently worn, and diffi cult to be read, though, in many, the difficulty goes off much sooner than is at first expected. — They are dispersed unequally through the world ; ecclesiastical history teaches us where to expect the most : many are of little value ; some are very pre cious ; the latter are known like famous men, and have charac ters peculiar to themselves respectively, which characters it is a part of learning to know.
It is natural to ask after the originals of the books of Scripture, written by the inspired penmen themselves : most men are agreed, that these autographs do not exist : a gospel of St. Mark is shewn as his autograph at Venice, where he is
I. vii. 2, 3.] SCRIPTURES HOW FIRST PUBLISHED.
I. the patron saint ; but unfortunately it is not settled, whether the characters are Greek or Latin l.
2. Let no one be discouraged at this ; the Author of JVa-
38 ture may be nevertheless the Author of the Gospel ; as we arc left to take the bad consequences of the carelessness of man kind in the things of nature, so are we in the dispensations of grace. No objection can arise from hence to the divine au thority of the sacred books.
Those who are discouraged by human accidents happening to the sacred writings, seem to mistake the nature of what is called a particular Providence. Providence may guide each particular event, and yet Man have only a general belief that it does so. It is one thing (and a very reasonable thing) to have such a belief: it is another, and a very different one, to think that we can point out, how such particular Providence is to employ itself on any occasion.
3. For the age of MSS, we may look at Dr. Kennicott's State of the Hebrew Text, vol. I. p. 307, or ten Annual Ac counts, p. 144 2. — The old ones are a continued series of let ters, sometimes of the same size and at the same distance, without any divisions, so much as into words, without any points, or with very few ; and therefore they afford room for perpetual study and improvement. Ends of lines there must be. Lines sometimes contained a certain number of letters, and were called crri^oi3: sometimes a set of words expressing a meaning in some degree separate, and such lines are called 4 ptjimara. — The ancients have left us Stichometries, by which
39 name they call catalogues of the canonical books, with the number of verses contained in each5. The Masora of the Jews answered this same purpose. — In the year 396, St. Paul's Epistles were divided into lessons or chapters. In 490 6, an edition was first published with lessons, chapters and verses. Our kind of verses were invented by Robert Stephens in 1551 7.
1 Michaelis, Sect. 12. 4to.
2 I wish it had been the custom to say when a MS. was probably written, in stead of saying it is so many years old. Lard. Works, v. 252, does talk of the Alexandrian being written in the 4th or 5th Century; and so does Dr. Woide. Dr. Powell expresses it, p. 65, "some of them, as is probable, have been preserved more than a thousand years."
OS seems to mean a row of any thing; men, trees, words.
4 Michaelis, quarto, sects. 36 and 45. See Simon's Crit. Hist, last chap. (p. 180.)
5 Lard. Works, vol. v. p. 258.
6 Michaelis, sect. 45. quarto.
7 In the last chapter of Simon's Critical History, are several things to our present purpose : at one time, St. Matthew was said to contain 68 titles and 355 chapters : and so of the rest. Names are arbitrary.
28
SCRIPTURES HOW FIRST PUBLISHED. [I. vii. 4, 5.
They are useful for finding passages; but Mr. Locke advises us I. to neglect them all, when we want to find the real scope of any part of Scripture.
4. Mr. Casley's Preface to his catalogue of MSS. in the King of England's Library, may be read with profit by any one who wishes to pursue this part of literature. And Wet- stein's Introduction to his New Testament l.
5. It may be proper to take an instance or two of MSS; — first, let us take the Alexandrian. It is in four volumes, of such a size as to be called sometimes folio, sometimes2 quarto; the three first contain the Old Testament, in the version of the LXX. ; the 4th, the books of the New Testament, but not quite complete. The age of it is not entirely agreed upon ; it might be written in or near the 5th century : it was probably written in ^Egypt ; possibly at Alexandria, where they used to write remarkably well. According to tradition, it was written by a noble ./Egyptian lady, named Thecla, soon after the Council of Nice. So says an inscription of Cyrillus Lucaris, 40 to whom this nation was indebted for it. He, removing from the patriarchate of Alexandria to that of Constantinople, took
it with him : he had been in several parts of Europe :i, and favoured the Reformed Religion. Pope Urban VIII, at that time making a strong effort to reunite the Roman and Greek churches, Cyril opposed the union, and wished to make one between the Greek church and the Reformed ; he was after wards put to death, through the intrigues of the see of Rome, by the Emperor of the Turks, for treason. He seems to have been a man of an enlarged mind 4. His good- will to the Reformed appears by letters now published ; he was strongly supported by the English ambassador, and he might probably think, that the Scriptures had best be lodged where all men were Christians, and where Christianity was reformed. How ever that was, he gave, when patriarch of Constantinople, the Alexandrian MS. to King Charles the First, of England, about the year 1628, through his friend Sir Thomas Roe, the English ambassador. It was in the royal library (and is mentioned
1 Consult also Kennicott. Dr. Woidc. Lai-drier's Indexes. Simon's Critical History of the New Testament.
2 Dr. Woide says it was originally folio ; and Sir Thomas Roe calls it k(a large Book ;" but the margin has been cut, so
as, I think, to take off the contents of chapters, &c.
3 Mosheim. Index.
4 His history, by Thomas Smith in his Miscellanies, probably might be worth reading: Sir Thomas Roe's Negotiations, I think, are : Smith calls him a martyr.
I. Vlii. 1.] VARIOUS READINGS. 29
I. as there by Mr. Casley), till the king gave it to the British Museum, where it is now lodged. Mill, Grabe, Walton, Wet- stein, in their several Prolegomena, have spoken of this MS, but the description of it is now become less necessary by Dr. Woide's having published a facsimile of the 4th volume, or New Testament, which I am able to shew you. — Dr. Woide's preface shews how much this one MS. may be made a man's study 5.
41 If any one has curiosity about the famous Cambridge MS, given to the University by Theodore Beza, he will, ere long, be able to see G a facsimile of that ; and mean time may read a short account of it in Michaelis's Introd. Lect., sect. 25, and a longer one in Du Pin and Simon's Critical History, and in the prolegomena of Mill and Wetstein. " It contains the Gos pels and the Acts, together with an ancient Latin Version." — Lardner speaks 7 unfavourably of it.
CHAPTER VIII.
OF VARIOUS READINGS.
WE have lost the originals of the sacred books ; and not only so, but those MSS. which we have, differ from each other in many particulars : and there is no authority to decide which is right.
1. Some persons seem to have denied the fact ; formerly as to the whole Scripture, (Kennicott's Gen. Diss. end of Hebr. Bible) but of late only as to the Old Testament. They assert what they call the integrity of the Hebrew Text; — but it seems rather difficult to understand, how copies can differ from each other, and none of them be corrupt : it seems as if all but one must be so, nay possibly that one also. — And it seems equally difficult to understand, how any learned man can get
5 The order of the parts of the N. T. 3d Epistles of John are joined to the
in the Alexandrian copy seems best con ceived this way ; — Gospels, Acts, Gene ral Epistles (of James, Peter, John) — Epistles to particular Churches, ending with Hebrews; — Epistles to individuals, Timothy, Titus, Philemon ; — Apoca lypse — Though, to be sure, the 2d and | 7 Lard. Works, vol. in. p. 157.
first; and the Hebrews were not a par ticular church.
c This facsimile has been now (1J9C) published some time, and has been in creasing in value ever since its publica
tion.
30 VARIOUS READINGS. [I. viil. 1.
any copy, which he can reckon the only right one : — a com- I. mon person reads his Bible, and has no idea of any other copy besides that which he reads ; but a learned man must know *, that copies of the best character differ considerably from each other.
It seems, however, right to mention this notion of the in tegrity of the Hebrew text; and that it was maintained in 1753; yet not all who favour the notion, hold that the Jews2 never transcribed wrong: some only say never considerably wrong: Dr. Kennicott set out with this opinion3, or prejudice: 43 Wolfius, Buxtorf, Pococke, are perhaps the most respectable of those individuals, who have given into this way of thinking ; and it seems as if in Switzerland the candidates for orders
were obliged to subscribe to this integrity But we have
names of equal weight on our side; Mede, Lowth, Capell, &c. — A good account of them is to be found in Dr. Kennicott's General Dissertation, at the end of his Bible. — This error seems to turn, as that about decay of manuscripts lately men tioned, on a presumption, that a particular Providence must guard things really sacred.
Nevertheless, if we think of the matter, we must say, that naturally, the oftener any work is transcribed, the more mis takes there will be in it : therefore naturally many more mis takes must be in the copies of the Old Testament than in those of the New. Shall we then presume to estimate supernatural protection ? as far as we are able to do so, we must say, that the New Testament is as likely to have a perpetual miracle wrought in its favour, as the Old. Jews indeed might not allow this; but some Jews4 confess, that there are errors in Hebrew copies of the Bible ; and, when they correct any copies, they tacitly own the same thing. The Keri seem5 nothing but various readings; and the Masorites6 themselves do not deny it.
It would carry us too far to dwell on particular instances of faults in MSS. of the Old Testament; Dr. Kennicott has mentioned several, in his State of the Hebrew Text : the student may examine that in Psalm xvi. 10. — That relating
Our present Hebrew Bibles, Kennicott
says, are from the latest and worst ^ and from the edit, of Ben Chaim in 1525. Ann. Accounts, p. 25. \4',">.
2 Kennicott's State, vol. I. p. 9. 237. 264. 230.
:i Annual Accounts, p. 7«
4 Ken. p. 246.
5 See Kennicott's State, &c. vol. n. p. 4152. from Jablonski.
" Kennicott's State, &c. Index, Inte grity.
I. viii. 2.]
VARIOUS READINGS.
31
I. to the time of the Hebrews dwelling in ^Egypt : — Exod. xii.
44 40. — and the account of 600 various readings in the thanks giving Ode of David, recorded 2 Sam. 7 xxii. and Psalm xviii : which last will give an idea of the manner of getting at the
true text, by a comparison of several faulty copies For what
is done in one ode or song, may be done in the whole Old Testament.
Bp. Warburton, in his "Doctrine of Grace," treats this notion of the integrity, Sec. as superstitious, (p. 42.) The Orobio there mentioned was a Spanish Jew, who pretended to be a Christian, of the Romish church ; he was cotemporary with Limborch, and had a friendly controversial conference with him ; which is much commended by Bp. Warburton, in his directions for studying Divinity.
2. Having spoken of the fact, that there are various read ings, not only in the New Testament but in the Old, we will take an instance of one person who has collected various read ings in the former, and of one who has collected them in the latter ; Dr. Mill, and Dr. Kennicott ; — premising only this definition ; (Ken. I. 272.) varia est lectio, ubicunque varie legitur ; in word or letter ; or in the relative placing of the same word or letter.
Dr. Mill8 collected no less than 30,000 different readings in the New Testament : as appears from his Prolegomena to his edition of the Greek Testament, published in folio at Oxford 1707. The work took him 30 years9: And to these, additions have been made by Kuster, Bengelius, &c. Mill collated about 112 MSS10.
45 Dr. Kennicott began to collate Hebrew MSS. of the Old Testament under the protection of the publick in 1760; but, more strictly, he began his work in 1751, as he tells us at the opening of his general dissertation, at the end of his Bible ; and he collated till 1770: he passed other ten years or more, in preparing and publishing his Hebrew Bible in two vols. folio; which came out in 1780. He had above £9000 n sub scribed, which he may be said to have expended on his work : a work greatly respected in Europe, and carried on not only in
7 Kenn. State, &c. vol. i. p. 218. 397. and vol. 11. p. 5(55, &c. and compare Kenn. Annual Accounts, p. 18.
8 Of Queen's Coll. Oxf. died in 170/.
9 Kenn. Annual — p. 157.
10 Dr Kennicott's Annual Account for 1/G9. Ten Ann. Accts. p. lfir>.
11 See Ten Annual Accounts, p. 171, &c.
VARIOUS READINGS.
fl. viii. 3.
Europe but in Asia and Africa l ; his Ten Annual Accounts I. of the progress of his work after it was publicly supported,
make now an interesting little volume As to the number of
MSS. and editions compared, I think he says, in his Disserta tion at the end of his Bible, that they amount " ad numerum fere septingentesimum ;" — in 1769 he had 265 collations to digest ; which, if we reflect that the collations were made by comparing letter with letter, is prodigious ! — Some of the more distant foreign collations had not then arrived in Eng land. 358 MSS. had been used at the end of the Pentateuch : see the Bible, vol. i. end of Deut.
Of the number of variations in these 265 collations we may form some idea, if we observe, that there were 1200 in one single collation ; in comparing two very accurate printed edi tions ; that of 1488 printed at Soncino (the first printed edi tion, I think, of the whole Hebrew Bible) with Van. Hooght's Amst. 1705.
We have already said, that there were 600 various readings in collating 2 Sam. xxii. with the 18th Psalm.
I feel myself interested about the Pentateuch partly ex- 46 pected from Naplose (Sichem, at the foot of Gerizim and Ebal) — and I feel a wish, that Dr. Kennicott had consulted his health more, though he had left part of his work to others.
3. The variations here spoken of are not such as to affect our faith or practice in any thing material : they are mostly of
a minute, sometimes of a trifling nature Dr. Powell says,
" 2 The worst manuscript extant would not pervert one article of our faith, or destroy one moral precept.1' — We may look at an instance or two of the most important sort. — That men tioned in Bp. Pearson on the Creed, p. 610. 1st edit. p. 303. folio3. — And that considered by Lardner, in his Credibility, &c., Act. xv. 20, 29. — Even 1 John v. 7. is not the only text, nor perhaps one of the principal, on which our faith in the Trinity is founded.
1 One MS. from a Jew in America is mentioned, Ann. Accts. p. 101.
- P. G5. 3 1 Cor. xv. 51.
Omnes dormiemus, non autem omnes
immutabimur. (Alex.) Omnes resurgemus, non autem omnes
immutabimur. (Vulgate. ) Non omnes dormiemus, omnes autem immutabimur. (ours.) Here is seemingly a great difference;
but we all believe every one of these three affirmations.
We shall all die, one way or other, but not all in that way which is called
There shall be a general resurrection, but not 'a general c/i(t>i</in(/.
Not all men shall go to </wrtv, (some shall be taken up into the air, &c. ); but we shall all have spiritual bodies.
I. viii. 4, 5.] VARIOUS READINGS. 33
I, In the Old Testament it is observed, that a great number of the variations are in names and numbers 4.
4. Nevertheless, the variations which we find are not to be neglected as of no consequence : had we no instances to prove this, we could see, that it must be presumptuous and disre spectful to neglect bringing as near perfection as possible the
47 sacred oracles Who could have thought that so much would
have been said, as has been by the Socinians, on the difference between Oeos and o Ocos ?...Chrysostom's comparison of the Scripture to gold, as to weighing every grain of it, is just and reasonable.
5. Our business then, as scholars and Christians, seems to require, that we should reflect a little on the causes of those varieties, which have been described ; it may be some satisfac tion to see how they may be owing to men, and need not be charged upon Moses and the prophets5. —
Those, who write, may be either disinterested or inte rested ,- though disinterested, they will run into mistakes, with out great and constant care ; even supposing them to understand what they write ; in that case, they will often affect great sa gacity, and get wrong, through a desire of doing something
uncommonly ingenious If they do not understand what they
write, they are every moment in danger of error ; particularly, when they copy books, (we may say from experience) of taking marginal notes into the text.
But some scribes have been interested, either as getting their livelihood by writing, or as wanting to have expressions favour some particular opinions ; — in the first case, they would take a sentence by the lump, be unwilling to blot, and make themselves easy if what they wrote came much to the same, as what they ought to have written6. — In the latter case, if they wanted to favour certain opinions, they would be guilty of pious or malicious frauds.
So far we have supposed scribes to write singly ; but
48 several might be obliged to copy from one original; in that case, sometimes the eye, sometimes the ear (when one dictated to several,) would mislead them : and wrong words would often be substituted for right ones, when there was a likeness of shape, or a likeness of sound.
4 Kennicott's State, &c. vol. i. p. 11, 12. | niunt, sed quod intelligunt, et dum alie- •"' Ibid. p. 271. j nos errores emendate nituntur, ostendunt
u Scribunt (Librarii) non quod inve- i suos.
VOL. I. 3
34 VARIOUS READINGS. [I. viii. 6 — 8.
If we wish confirmation of this, we may read Lardner's I. account of Origen.
Dr. Kennicott observes1, that all variations must be made by omission, addition, transposition, or change. — And, in his directions3 to collators, he tells them to observe all differences of words and letters, of each MS. from some printed copy, whether they be 1. additions; 2. omissions; 3. transpositions;
4. variations; 5. corrections; 6. rasures But these are rather
modes of varying, than causes: they are sources of various readings.
6. It may be proper, after considering the causes of various readings, to take a specimen of the ways of reasoning in order to ascertain the right reading.
1. The earlier manuscript, ceteris paribus, is more likely to be right than the later, because every copying is liable to new errors.
2. The greater number of MSS. confirm any reading, the more probable that reading is; care being taken, that any manuscript, with all that have been copied from it, shall be reckoned only as one.
3. If a reading seems likely to have been an error of a writer, it may be rejected ; as when marks without meaning resemble others that have meaning; and these are only found in few MSS.
4. If a reading A may have arisen out of another read ing B, but B cannot have arisen out of A, then is B the more probable reading3.
5. That reading, which makes a passage more connected 49 is preferable ; all due allowance being made for abruptness in the particular case. St. Paul is apt to digress abruptly.
6\ Yet it is to be remembered, that an obscure reading is less likely to be a conjectural emendation than a perspicu ous one.
7- Nay, some errors are recommendations; because vo luntary corruptions are more to be feared than involuntary ; and errors sometimes prove, that the transcribers do not intend to falsify.
8. Allied to this, is one of the most unexpected criteria: viz. that in a quotation, in two copies compared, if one is in-
1 State, &c. vol. i. p. 'I~f2. ! 3 I take the substance at least of these
.. rp A criteria to be in Michaelis's Introd. Leet.
- Ten Annual Accounts, p. 3l>.
; to Gr. Test, 4to.
I. viii. .9.]
VARIOUS READINGS.
I. accurate, the inaccurate quotation is the right reading, and therefore will recommend the copy. If the writer of that which is accurate could consult the book from which the quo tation is made, there is a suspicion, that he might correct by it, instead of transcribing faithfully ; in which case, we should have a juster quotation, but a false reading. Now what we want is the genuine reading. Supposing St. Mark quoted Isaiah inaccurately, or according to a Hebrew copy different from the copyists; the copyist, instead of transcrib ing simply, might turn to Isaiah, and make St. Mark quote (as he thinks) accurately ; — whereas, no scribe would ever be tempted to make St. Mark quote inaccurately ; therefore he, who gives the inaccurate quotation, is the more faithful scribe, and his reading the genuine reading. — Such fidelity may be the means of making us correct our present copies.
9- I conclude these criteria with observing, that perusing those authors, who quote the Scriptures, may be a great help towards investigating the true text. — Many quotations of the 50 Old Testament are made in the Talmuds4, and principal Jewish comments, composed five or six hundred years ago. — And many, from both old and new, occur in the Christian Fathers. Had not Origen's works been in part lost, it is thought we should have known how every5 part of Scripture was read early in the third century.
This last6 criterion is like that of Versions; which will occur in the next chapter.
In short, avoiding various readings has been rather a mat ter of prejudice, religious apprehension, not distinguishing- religious books from religion, than of judgment; and I should think, the integrity of the Hebrew text will henceforth be very little more defended than that of the Greek. Though collecting variations in different copies of Scripture does imply some imperfection, yet every rational collation will bring us nearer to the possession of the genuine word of God : men dread entering upon painful, uncomfortable, disgraceful reme dies, or series of expedients, however necessary for their health or fortune ; but, after they are fairly entered, they feel them selves in the right way. I must confess, with regard to the
4 Kenn. Annual Accounts, p. 114.
5 Lardner, Credib. in Origen. See also in Cyprian, and Pearson on the Creed, about 1 Cor. xv. 51.
6 If any one wishes to carry this matter farther, he may have recourse to Wetstein's 43 Canons, and the confirmation of them : his Gr. Test, in 12mo contains them.
36 VERSIONS OF THE SACRED WRITINGS. [I. ix. 1.
imperfections and corruptions of the text of Scripture, I have I. a satisfaction in feeling myself a man ; on the same footing in that, as in other important concerns. I feel, in being so situated, a security from enthusiasm and superstition; I feel a call to exert myself in recovering the purity of Revelation, on principles of reason and experience, by a method which must naturally bring on an attention to the sacred writings. 51 I feel a liberal freedom in being exempted from all induce ments to use or adopt pious frauds ; than which, especially in falsifying the word of God, nothing can be more abhorrent from piety, nothing more presumptuous1. — Nay more: though it is certainly a fault to alter the sacred writings, by design or negligence; and an evil to have them altered; yet the inci dental good arising out of evil shews, in this case as in many others, the astonishing wisdom and goodness of the Divine go vernment : we are now precisely so situated, that our faith and morals are not hurt by the variations of copies of the Scripture, and yet so that we are forcibly impelled to examine them minutely; the result must be, that the faults of our pre decessors can scarcely escape us, and that we shall make per petual improvements.
CHAPTER IX. 52
OF VERSIONS OF THE SACRED WRITINGS.
1. IF we look back to the time when the Pentateuch was first published, and view the state of the Israelites from that time to the separation of the twelve tribes into ten and two, we have only the idea of one single community ; and though from Dan to Beersheba might be a considerable dis tance, yet the people were so united, by the nature of their worship, that they would not want the Scriptures in more than one language. Nor would any translations be required
1 It is to be feared, that some eminent I (Kenn. State, n.31 .) And MrTravis gives
men, who have a great part of their lives employed h'ne talents in the service of religion, have given into deceits. — Even iip. Walton is said to have been too peremptory in speaking from his own
a very indifferent account of Erasmus. Such men must have deceived themselves by some prejudices ; and, in som eway, must have confounded religion with some human means of promoting what they
knowledge about the Samaritan Version. took for granted was the real will of God.
I. ix. 2.] VERSIONS OF THE SACKED WRITINGS.
I. for foreigners, because they were idolaters, and the religion of Israel was intended to separate its professors from neigh bouring nations. — And, when the twelve tribes became two separate communities, they continued in the same country, and though some provincial dialects might gradually arise, yet the Scriptures in the original language would continue in telligible, and capable of being read to the common people. — But when the main body of both communities were carried captive to Babylonia, a greater dispersion took place, a greater mixture with strangers, and of course a greater variety of dialects; the Hebrew got mixed with the Chaldee at Babylon, and with the Syriac in Palestine ; and therefore would become a kind of Syro+Chaldaic* language, in whatever character it was written.
53 2. Hence it may not be difficult to conceive the nature
and end of the Samaritan version; it is supposed to have been made about the time3 of Ezra, a little above 400 years before Christ : at that time, there would be people in Samaria, who would want copies of the Pentateuch ; and, in making them, it would be natural to modernize them so that they would be read with the greatest ease and readiness. If one looks at a Samaritan Grammar, which I take to be a set of rules for reading this Samaritan version, one may conceive, that the Samaritans, 400 years before Christ, might understand what we call the Samaritan Pentateuch, or Samaritan text, full as well as common Englishmen could now read Wickliffe's English Bible; but they might want something nearer present spelling and phraseology, as much as we do4. Whether we should call Wickliffe's English Bible in modern letters, spelling and idioms, a version of Wickliffe's Bible, is not material ; we rather should not ; and therefore I am inclined to say, there was no translation, strictly speaking, before that of the LXX. • — As to the difference between the Samaritan text1' and version, it is very small; Kennicott says, that the version in general " expresses exactly the fl words of the text;*' I sup pose, it differs no more than might very easily be accounted for by supposing it to have been taken from a copy a little
2 Kenn. State, u. 310.
3 Kennicott's State, vol. n. p. 30. 316. Walton's Prolegomena : but Walton speaks of more than one version of the Samaritan Pentateuch ; of one into Greek, another into Arabic.
4 This idea is only my own imagina tion.
5 Masclef, Pref. to Samaritan Gram mar. u Pluribus in locis discrepare."
6 State, i. 430.
38 VERSIONS OF THE SACRED WRITINGS. [I. IX. 3 5.
different from that which we have ; nay, the mere transcrib- I. ing might perhaps account for such variations as are found. Walton has noted them at the bottom of the column, that 54 contains the Latin translation of the Samaritan1 text.
When, through Alexander's conquests, and other causes, Greek became a general language ; and when, by Ptolemy^s carrying the Jews into ./Egypt, they became much dispersed ; a Greek version was found needful. But of this we spoke particularly, in the last chapter2.
3. The Chaldee paraphrases of 30nkelos on the Law, and Jonathan on the Prophets, are of great antiquity, and throw light upon the sacred text ; but they cannot be called versions4 ; and if they could, it is not easy to ascertain their age. I should think, the Jews made some sort of Chaldee paraphrases, soon after the Babylonish captivity, or during it ; but we do not know of what sort they were ; they might not be written. No one places Onkelos and Jonathan (I think) higher than our Saviour's time ; and from their not being mentioned by the early Christian writers (as Origen, Jerom, Epiphanius, &c.) great doubts have arisen when they lived, or 5who they were6.
4. Christians differed much from Jews, as to their mo tives for spreading translations. The Jewish religion was to 55 constitute a separate people ; the Christian was to be preached
to " all nations." And the Christian dispensation consists, in part, of the Old Testament The LXX. incidentally pub lished the Revelation of the Old Testament to the world, though they aimed only to accommodate Jews ; Christians de sired to propagate their sacred writings all over the world : it was a part of their religion to do so.
5. Accordingly, amongst the more ancient Christians we find versions, in all the known and civilized parts of the world ; — in Europe, Asia, and Africa. — In Europe, the Latin ; — in
1 See Masclef, Pref. to Samar. Gram.
2 " The Greek version being confess edly most ancient," &c. see Kennicott's State, ii. 325.
3 " R. Aquila, whom they call Onke- los." Brerewood, Chap. ix. p. 36, men tioned before, Chap. vi. Sect. 7-
4 Masclef, vol. n. beginning of Pre face to Chaldee Grammar. Yet Walton
quoted in Kennicott's State, &c. vol. 11. p. 168.
6 Something should be said of the Jerusalem Targum, and the other Jona than, on the Law. Walton's Prolego mena — Preface to the Chaldee, &c. Lex icon of Buxtorf, jun.
It should also be remarked, that Law, Prophets, and Hagiographa, compre-
calls them versions. hend the whole Bible ; though this will
5 Simon de Var. edit. Bibl. Cap. 13. — I occur Book iv. on Art. 6. sect. 9.
I. ix. 6, 7-] VERSIONS OF THE SACRED WRITINGS.
39
I. Asia (not to mention the Greek any more) the Syriac, Arme nian, Arabic, Persic ; — in Africa, the JEthiopic and the Cop tic This is only an enumeration ; but we may observe, that
what is now called Abyssinia was the 7 Christian ^Ethiopia, and jEgypt aia KoTTToV) so that the Coptic means the ^Egyptian. They speak Arabic in Egypt now, but the vulgar tongue of the ancient ^Egyptians, before the incursions of the Saracens, was called Coptic ; and the Christians in ^Egypt are still called Kophts8, Copti; and are able to keep a settlement at or near Coptus, or Coptos, in ^Egypt.
6. Amongst the more modern Christians also, there have been many versions of the Scriptures. Russian, French, Ger man, Dutch, Sclavonian, (a general language) &c. which we may see mentioned in Calmet*s Dictionary, under Version— 56 but, of all modern versions, we are most concerned with our own. — The first English version was Wickliffe's published (in
manuscript) in 1383, scarcely legible now There is also the
English Bible of Coverdale, printed in 15359 There was one
in Queen Elizabeth's time ; (London, 1568,) and, not to be too 10 particular, that English version, which we now use, was made in the time of King James I. by Andrews, Bishop of Winchester, and forty-six others, each of whom11 undertook his share, and laboured with great assiduity and attention.
7- The utility of some ancient versions has been already hinted at: ancient versions are instead of originals; — when original MSS. are lost, versions enable us to know what they contained. Kennicott says, ancient versions " afford much more plentiful 12 assistance" than MSS. ; — I suppose, because they are more ancient than any MSS. we possess ; and they help us, both as to the meaning of very old lost MSS., and as to expressions : — in his researches and collations, the worth of versions increased upon him greatly. " In those MSS.,"
7 See Cellarius, ^Ethiopia: did Can- dace forward Christianity in ^Ethiopia ? or her minister ?
8 Pococke's Travels, vol. i. Contents, &c. The Gospel was preached early in TEgypt : tradition, says, by St. Mark ; and the Patriarch of Alexandria is held successor to St. Mark there, as the Pope is to St. Peter at Rome.— The Christian Liturgy is in Coptic now, but the priests understand little of it ; get prayers by heart, and pray without understanding.
9 Kenn. State, i. 39.
10 There is a list of English editions of the Bible in Le Long's Bibliotheca, 8vo. vol. ii. p. 584. And, I think, in Calmet under Bible. — Moreover, Johnson's His torical Account of Engl. Translations, Ainsworth's Pentateuch, &c. the Geneva Bible, and Rhemish Testament, seem worth mentioning.
11 Neal's History of the Puritans, In dex, Bible.
13 State, i. 271.
40
VERSIONS OF THE SACEED WRITINGS. [I. ix. 8.
says he, "which I at first discovered, I soon met with several I. readings, entirely different from the printed Hebrew copies ; and exactly agreeing with the Greek, Syriac, and other ancient versions." Instances are to be found by his indexes, in his State of the Hebrew Text, of readings confirmed by ancient versions.
As to ^particular versions, there is difficulty, and there 5'
may be dispute The Syriac has been of great use, and
every one wishes to have it on his side; yet it has its im perfections. The eastern Christians value it highly2, and say, it was made in the first century ; its advocates, however, dis tinguish between a very old literal Syriac version, and one done more lately3 in the sixth century, not yet printed; they also, in commending the old one, except some parts done later than the rest, and done by some inferior linguist ; but Archdeacon Travis, in his 5th letter to Mr. Gibbon, mentions some material omissions in the whole taken together, and re fers to Beza for more.
The JEthiopic, Coptic, Armenian, require too much ori ental learning, and indeed are too little understood, for us to consider them at present. Of the Arabic version we may say, that, as Arabic is the language which is generally used in the dominions of the Grand Signor, and which has superseded the Coptic, it is useful to his Christian subjects, but it should be conceived as additional, and as made since the time4 of Ma homet : it is used witfi other eastern versions. — Whoever wishes, at any time, to enter farther into this part of litera ture, may consult Simons History of the Versions, which is far from being written in a dull manner; and he will find Bengelius solid, clear, and intelligent.
8. The Latin versions have been most used in Europe, and have been called authentic by the church5 of Rome ; they are in some sense set above the Greek by 6 Hardouin, and have had many copies, in other languages, corrected in order to suit them. — But a distinction should be made, we are told, between the old Latin, before Jerom, and that made by him7.
1 Versions may shew what books were anciently thought Canonical. Jer. Jones uses this argument.
2 Wotton's Misna, Pref. p. xix. See Jeremiah Jones. Richardson's Canon.
3 J. D. Michaelis, 4to. Sect. 52.
4 Ibid. 54.
6 See Council of Trent, Session 4. Decretum de editione et usu Sacrorum Librorum.
" J. D. Michaelis. Sect. (54. quarto.
7 " The common opinion is that there were several Latin versions before Jerom, but one more eminent than the rest, call-
.08
I. ix. 8.] VERSIONS OF THE SACRED WRITINGS.
About the time of Christ, the Latin language was sup planting the Greek as a general language, and it soon might be called the general language of the tvestern church. Indeed it was natural, that the knowledge of the Roman language should spread in the lloman provinces, especially as law-pro cesses were carried on in Latin. But independently of this, Latin Scriptures must have been wanted ; certainly, as was before observed, Hellenistic Greek was understood by most Jews, and we know the more polite Romans studied pure Greek ; but yet many Christian converts must want Latin Scriptures, and those chiefly, who knew Latin not as a learned, but as a vernacular language ; that is, who had learnt it not by writing, but speaking; not by rules of grammar, but by the ear. Now conceive a Latin version to be made for such persons, and perhaps by such, and those Jews, — with great care, nicety, and judgment, and you will have probably a tolerably just idea of the original vulgate or Old Italic ver sion It might be the produce of the first century It
would, of course, contain expressions lower and more familiar, than were to be found in classic authors, but such as were used in conversation, at least of the ordinary people, Syria- isms; and would not always be strict in point of 8 grammar. — . It would, moreover, be very literal. — We are told, that there is no MS. of the old Italic extant ; that some parts of this version are printed by Martianay ; (St. Matthew and St. James) ; and that Nobilius has collected some parts of it out of the ancient Fathers; (Chambers — Bible, or Vulgate); and that some of the old Roman liturgies contain expressions from it, (Chambers) ; — also that some Greek MSS. have this ver sion annexed ; the Cambridge for one, but yet I do not expect to see it exactly answer the above description, in all parti culars : like the antiquarian's shield, I fear we shall find it scoured, till the principal good of it, as a piece of antiquity, is lost ; till it is incapable of confirming or disproving any readings of the MSS. we now wish to study. We know of no version, which has been so often altered, reformed, cor rupted, (what you please) as the Latin : but, if we get an idea of two sorts, we can speak and read of the mixtures of them, tolerably.
ed Italic." — Waterland on the Athan. Creed, p. 113, 2d edit — where, or p. 112, four sorts of Latin Psalters are mentioned,
Italic, Roman, Galilean, and Hebraic. 8 For instances, see Michaelis, quarto, Sect. 01, 62, from Martianay.
VERSIONS OF THE SACRED WRITINGS. [I. ix. 9, 10.
I take the difference between the old Italic and Jeroins I. Latin version, to resemble the difference between vulgar tongue, spoken, and general classical language, written : — however, Jerom's main design, as he tells us in his works, was to correct the version of the LXX., and reduce the Latin of the New Testament to the standard of the original
Greek This being the case, Jerorns Latin version shews
us what were (in his judgment) the best readings in his time. Dr. Bentley did not think our present Greek Testament so pure as it might be made, by the help of MSS. and Jerom's version : and he published proposals for a new edition ; but he was opposed, particularly by Dr. Middleton, and never executed his design : the proposals are in the Biographia Bri- go tannica — under Bentley : and may hereafter be useful.
9- Versions are very commonly made from other ver sions ; and sometimes it may be doubtful from what a version is made. Versions have been made from the LXX.1, the
Syriac2, and the Latin3 Sometimes, a version seems odd in
some places, when the strangeness will go off by comparing
it with both Greek and Latin4 A second version may prove
the right reading of a passage in the first, in the same way
as the first proves with regard to the original In reckoning
the authorities, which favour a reading in the original, a ver sion and all versions taken from it, must be reckoned but as one.
10. A Polyglott gives us the principal versions at one view, in the different columns of one page. Polvglotts are magnificent works. I shall only mention two : that finished at Complutum (Alcala) in Spain in 1514, which is said to have cost that great statesman, Cardinal Ximenes5, 50,000 du cats; — and that made by Brian Walton, Bishop of Chester, who died in l66l, sometimes called the London Polyglott, or the English, in contradistinction to the Paris Polyglott6.
The Complutensian Polyglott is sometimes called the Complutensian Edition, or the Edition of Alcala: it is in six volumes folio : it contains the Old Testament in Hebrew, Chaldee, Greek, and Latin: the New, in Greek and Latin; the Greek type was made on purpose: the book is printed from the best MSS., which the vast influence of Ximenes
1 Pearson's Pref. to LXX. p. (J.
2 Travis's Letters, 4to. p. 8!J.
Michael is.
Michaelis.
5 Gibbon's History, vol. in. p. 545.
6 Le Long gives an account of these ; and Calmet at the end of his Dictionary,
I. ix. ll.J VERSIONS OF THE SACRED WRITINGS.
43
I. could procure; the chief of them were sent from the Vatican.
61 Forty-two men were employed fifteen years in completing it ; and, though he was a general, as well as statesman, and car dinal, he did a great deal himself.
Walton's Polyglott is also in six volumes folio: contain ing the Old Testament in Hebrew, Samaritan (as far as it goes), Syriac, Chaldee, in the Greek of the LXX., in the Vulgate Latin, and Arabic; with Latin translations, I think, to all except the vulgate; the Latin of the Hebrew is put over it, word over word ; — The New Testament is in Greek,
Latin, Syriac, ^Ethiopic, Arabic, and Persic The French
reckon Walton's only an improvement, or good edition, of Le Jay's. — The Prolegomena to Walton's make a good small volume of themselves ; I wish they were published in 8vo. in England, as they have been abroad7.
What has been said will be sufficient to shew the man ner in which versions are made evidence for determining the genuineness of any part of the sacred text.
11. It has now been asked, for some time, whether we ought not to have a new version of the Scriptures into our own language. Dr. Kennicott thinks8 the proper time not far off; and, as I remember, Dr. Rutherforth, who opposed him in some things, agreed with him in this ; and gave this Uni versity his concurring opinion, in his Latin sermons : but we seem to me scarcely to be sufficiently prepared for such a
62 work at present. Dr. Kennicott grounds his opinion on the Collations published by him ; but, I should think, no one man can collate with sufficient exactness to be depended upon ; besides that, he did not make nearly all the collations him self, which he published: the same work should be gone through again, with Dr. Kennicott's collations : — whoever went through it would make many new remarks; and, where they only confirmed what he had done, they would be of great use. Who durst adopt implicitly all the remarks he makes ? even though no particular objection appeared ? If persons of learn ing were appointed to take each a small part of the Scrip tures, to examine all the readings, propose new senses for the
7 I have a small volume 12mo. printed in London 1G55 — (2d edit.) called an Introduction to the Oriental Languages, nine in number, with a Preface by Wal ton, filling half the volume. This Pre
face is dated London, Oct. 1, 1(»54 : it seems to have been preparatory to the publication of his Polyglott.
8 State, i. p. 565, and conclusion of his Annual Accounts.
44
INTERPRETING OF SCRIPTURE.
[I. X. 1.
world to judge of, a new translation might go on gradually I. and safely ; the legislature might employ proper persons ; and at last collect the parts, and set the seal of public authority.
I fear also, there is scarcely a sufficient fund of sacred literature amongst us, just at present ; we are apt to view things superficially ; — nor perhaps is there a zeal for religion sufficiently strong and steady. The 17th century was more learned than the present.
It is not enough, that new translators are likely to render some parts better than they were before ; the question is, whether upon the whole they are like to produce a better translation. — Yet all parts must be submitted to their discre tion. From the attempts, which I have1 seen, at new English translations, though perhaps each may hit off some improve ments, I profess myself desirous at present to continue the use of our present Bibles ; especially as they are the established language of Christian piety ; and associated with religious sentiments. How many people have Psalms and chapters by heart ! the periods are become congenial to them ; — the 63 sound of them is the sound of religion itself2.
CHAPTER X.
OF INTERPRETING EXPRESSIONS OF SCRIPTURE BY ENTERING
INTO THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THOSE, TO WHOM
THEY WERE IMMEDIATELY ADDRESSED.
1. LET us now suppose all the words of Scripture fixed and agreed upon: still, something more than lexicons and grammars is necessary to our attaining the true and full sense of them. And that is, putting ourselves in the place of those who spoke, or heard; or, what amounts to the same, inter-
1 Dr Campbell's, Mr Wakefield's, &c.
2 1790. If any one thinks, that the Aca demical scholar would have borne more learning, relative to the language of Scripture, than is given him in the five preceding chapters, such an one should observe, in the Advertisement prefixed to the Heads of Lectures, how much of Bp. Pearson's work on the Creed was read in
every course ; and then it would occur, that many discussions on languages, &c. must be wanted in order to make the notes in telligible, and to give them their due weight.— Any student may now gain bet ter instruction than I could have given him, from 31r. Marsh's translation of the 4th edition of Michaelis's Lectures, with learned notes.
I. X. 1.] INTERPRETING OF SCRIPTURE. 45
I. preting words of Scripture as we should interpret like ivords in coirtmon life. Some parts of Scripture are indeed lofty and sublime, and remote from common life; but I do not imagine, that these have occasioned either so much controversy, or so much anxiety of mind, as the more familiar parts ; plain nar rations, dialogues, letters ; all expressions in which we must endeavour to understand, as we should understand similar
expressions in similar compositions I doubt not but this may
seem an easy matter to some, on the first mention ; but it is attended with considerable difficulties. At this day, it requires great knowledge, and great steadiness of attention. Some persons would be apt to say, 'If I may but interpret Scripture as I do ordinary expressions, that is all I wish for ; it is no pain or trouble to me to understand what common people say to me ; I do it without trying to do it.' This is true ; popular language seems to express what it means, to those
5 who are rightly circumstanced : but why does this happen ? because each man in such case knows familiarly and habitu ally, not only what the words express, but what they imply : for sometimes, they imply more than they express ; sometimes, express more than they imply ; but habit makes all this easy to those who are exactly in the right circumstances. Take a man, who is ever so little out of the right circumstances, let him come from a different county, let him be of a different occupation, and he immediately wants some explana tory information ; sometimes, he will see too little in the words used to him; and sometimes too much. Not that he, who is in the right circumstances, understands rightly, without numberless acts of the mind; only he is not conscious of them ; any more than he is of the actions of the muscles of his eyes, when he looks at objects at different distances.- — Hence, if one/a?- removed from the right circumstances, wants to form a judgment how he should understand expressions if he could put himself in those right circumstances, he must have to estimate, first, what knowledge the person rightly situated has, which he has not ; — secondly, what are those acts of the mind, which such person performs habitually when he takes the words he hears rightly ; so that they really are intended to imply neither more nor less than he conceives them to imply. — This is what we should do, if possible, with the words of Scripture ; as we are far removed from the circumstances of those for whom they were calculated, we
46 INTERPRETING OF SCRIPTURE. [I. X. 2 4.
should see what knowledge the persons, rightly circumstanced I. for understanding them, had, which we have not ; and we should analyse those acts of the mind, by which they were able, habitually, without being conscious of it, to give them precisely that degree of meaning which they were intended to convey. I do not conceive that we can do this perfectly, 66 but we may approach towards it ; it is the end at which we ought to aim.
The way to approach as near as possible seems to be this : to observe first how, in our own common life, words imply more or less than they express ; and then apply our observa tions to Scripture ; — using them first to illustrate some plainer cases, in order to get them, at length, applied to all cases whatever. — This is a general view of the subject before us.
2. If we attend to the force of expressions used in com mon life, we see that expressions imply customs ; and that common popular language alludes to these customs perpetu ally : under customs may be included customary notions : here words mean more than they express.
3. Any one, who was not convinced of this, might try to explain a familiar letter or conversation in his own language to a foreigner. He would find, that he had many long and difficult explanations to make ; and, when they were made, the foreigner would not still be exactly in the place of a native, in understanding the letter or conversation. Every one may conceive this in some degree; perhaps no one, perfectly, who has not tried the experiment : perhaps no one who has.
4. Many of us may have tried to read of the things of common life in dead languages ; and, when we have attempted to put ourselves in the place of those for whom they were immediately intended, in what researches have we been en gaged ! Graevius in twelve folio volumes, and Gronovius in thirteen, have told us many things Roman and Grecian ; and given us many descriptions, and many opinions on this side and that ; but still we fall far short of the knowledge which 67 a plain citizen 1 of Rome or Athens would have, without ever suspecting that he had any knowledge at all : we fall far short
1 Suppose the following familiar letter | Cambridge, April 5,1780.
to be explained to a Chine.se ; or to any Sir,
people 1800 years hence; our language being supposed to be then a dead lan guage :_
On Thursday, I was at the As sizes for this County ,• as only one felon was to be tried, and he likely to be only
I. X. 5, 6.] INTERPRETING OF SCRIPTURE. 47
I. of understanding those allusions, which such an one would make in every thing he said ; without any consciousness that he was alluding to any thing ; and would understand, without being aware, that the words meant more than they expressed.
5. In such expressions as have been hitherto considered, words imply more than they express ; but some words imply
6S less : — as is the case when we make declarations, (including agreements, promises, threats, and narrations) ; or give direc tions to those who are to act in our stead. We say, "I will undoubtedly be with you at the time appointed ;" — yet no one understands that to mean, I will be with you, though I break a limb, though my nearest relation dies, in the mean time : no ; any thing is allowed as an excuse, which we should have specified, had it occurred to us as likely to happen.
6. Words also imply less than they express, when we give directions to others. Any one, who reflects, will per ceive how difficult it is to give directions to servants, whicli shall be in all cases executed literally. A servant sees this, and ventures to depart from the literal sense of his master's commands ; he is seldom commended if he does right ; ' how could you have done otherwise?' is his only compliment; and he is unreasonably blamed, if he happened to judge wrong: 'what business had you to think ?' it is said; — whereas it ought to be said, in such case, ( why did you not think more ? you would then have seen, that I could not intend, by what I said, to give you such an advantage ; or, I could not mean to throw upon you such a piece of drudgery.' —
transported, I sate in the Nisi-prius end of the Shire-Hall. The Jury were ig norant, but followed the direction of the Chief Baron, who sate as Judge; I dined at two o'clock with the Sheriff, as his Chaplain, at Trinity Lodge; the Judge dined in his coat and waistcoat, without his gown, or full-bottom'd wig. A small party adjourned to the Rose ; we had a round of toasts, and drank all the leading members of both Houses; Whigs and Tories. The Punch and Tobacco being too much for me, I went into the Bar, but some people being there engaged with Whist and Backgammon, I went into the Balcony, and got a little Porter : and below in the Market-place I saw a Mob, in which a Brazier's Ap
prentice got so hurt, that some shillings were gathered for him, and he was sent to the Hospital: what enraged them was, fancying they had found part of a Press- gang ; so they pulled oft' their hats, huz za? 'd, and cried out " Wilkes and Li berty!1'' a Quaker passed by, but he would as soon have put on a Sivord, as have taken off' his Hat; tho' he was offered plenty of Roast , Beef and PI urn -
pudding But the Post is just going
out, so I must, in haste,
subscribe myself your
obedient Servant,
J. H.
Fifty-four Dissertations might be made on this letter; — such as those of Gra?- vius or Gronovius.
48 INTERPRETING OF SCRIPTURE. [I. X. 7, 8
7- By pursuing this train, and keeping the subject in our I. thoughts amidst the common occurrences of life, we may come to attain a pretty good idea, how, in our own common dis course, words sometimes imply more than they express, and sometimes less : let us now apply our observations to some plainer cases in Scripture.
8. First, as to the allusions contained in scriptural language : — every allusion is a taking for granted, that the reader, or person addressed, knows something so well that it need not be specified ; now it is impossible we should under stand what any one says or writes, unless we know those 69 things which he takes it for granted we know. Hence, to understand the language of Scripture, as far as concerns the allusions it contains, is to understand whatever was familiar to those to whom the several parts of Scripture were originally addressed : — now this, after such an interval, is to understand antiquities : which word may, in a large sense include history, and its common appendages.
Antiquities are either natural or artificial; which latter may be public or private: — As to natural antiquities, we ought to have some knowledge of the animals mentioned in Scripture, and of the vegetables ; our Saviour alludes to the lilies, and to vineyards ; and makes use of the things com monly known with regard to figs. — He also alludes to local rules about the weather.
Artificial antiquities of a public nature, which may be wanted, are those concerning the divisions of time, for under standing the passovers, and the hours of the day. Those concerning coins, laws, tribunals1, punishments; rules of adoption and redemption. — And we might mention with pro- priety, the religious ceremonies of the Jews, as far as they are not found in Scripture ; as well as the Pagan and Samaritan rites.
Antiquities of a private nature may relate to the forms of buildings, to apparel2, to funerals, modes of travelling, Sic. ; the allusions made by St. Paul in particular, are well described by Dr. Powell, in his 13th discourse.
The manner of acquiring such knowledge of antiquities may be, by reading travels, in which there is this advantage, that, in the east, there is less difference between ancient and
modern customs, than in the west Views of ruins, such as
1 See Taylor on the Romans; Key, Art. .'{20. - Wedding garment.
I. X. 8.] INTERPRETING OF SCRIPTURE. 49
I. those of Palmyra, may afford help. The antiquities published 70 at Venice in 3this century under Ugolino are so voluminous, that one would be unwilling to mention them, were it not that any parts of the work may be perused independently of the rest. — Bochart should be consulted. Macknighfs prelimi nary observations are easily 4read.
Some knowledge of history is necessary for us, in order to have the right ideas about the Herods, the authority of Pilate, and the rulers mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, and the paying of tribute. The use of prophecies is not to be under stood, except we can compare a prediction with the events which fulfil it. We should be able to compare sacred history with profane; and trace out the history between the latest events of the Old Testament, and the earliest of the New. Many books may be consulted on this matter : Dean Prideaux is famous for connecting the histories of the Old and New Testaments : — perhaps no one book is preferable to Collier's Sacred Interpreter : he refers to others5.
History cannot be studied without Geography and Chro nology ; but moreover, Geography is wanted for descriptions of travels and voyages, things relating to the lakes and rivers, peculiarities of climate ; and it may be studied in Bochart, Sanson, Cellarius, Wells, &c. — Chronology teaches us the order of events in one place, and their coincidence in different places : we want it, to shew us the state of the world at the coming of Christ ; to shew the fulness of time ; and to con nect the dispensations of grace with the government of the 71 world. Blair's Tables are useful, and Du Fresnoy : Mack- night's Chronological Dissertations, prefixed to his Harmony, may inform us in some points ; and our veneration for Sir Isaac Newton may induce us to see how he applies his wonder ful abilities to this part of science.
A very great number of allusions are made in the sacred writings to controverted opinions ; Pagan, Jewish, and Chris tian ; to Rabbinical traditions, Jewish sects, Pharisees, Saddu- cees, Essenes : — to the high Jewish notions of election ; to heathen sects of philosophers, Stoics, Epicureans ; to oriental
1 34 Vols the first published in 1744 :
the last in 1769.
4 Calmet, at the end of his Dictionary, has a Bibliotheca ; in which he gives an account of all sorts of books which tend
VOL. I.
to illustrate the Scriptures. Le Long does the same in his Bibliotheca.
5 The first part of Lardner's Credi bility should by all means be mention ed.
50
INTERPRETING OF SCRIPTURE. [I. X. 9, 10.
philosophy ; to mixture of Jewish and heathen notions held I. by the Samaritans; to the earliest Christian heresies1.
Such are the allusions of Scripture, and such is the know ledge required to understand and taste the writings, which contain them : — so far the words of Scripture imply more than they express2.
9. In the declarations of Scripture, the words imply less than they express : they are to be limited and restrained. Declarations include agreements, promises, threats, narrations, accounting for events, &c. — Things are said to be impossible, which are only so improbable that the mind feels no expectation of their happening: in common life we speak from our feelings: " it must needs be," means, that the mind, estimating probabili ties, feels no doubt of such an event. "God is no respecter of persons," &c. Acts x. 32. has been generally thought an uni versal proposition ; but Bishop Sherlock shews that it is not, 72
in his 12th discourse of vol. 1st Indeed, St. Paul mentions
principles on which we may build our limitations : " I speak after the manner of men." (Rom. vi. 19.) — " It is manifest that he is excepted." (l Cor. xv. 27.) — Dr. Powell'3 closes his 7th discourse with a good sentence to our purpose ; and I am inclined to add, that the difficulty of the texts about God's hardening the heart of Pharaoh, arises from their not being sufficiently and naturally limited: God is to be praised for all good, even for that which arises out of evil ; and all such good, as well as the evil, is to be, in some indistinct way, considered as under his government. Now the Jews received good from Pharaoh's evil conduct; they must thank God for that good; they must declare him to be the cause of it, in some way unknown to them : limit the sayings to their partial views, to that good which occasioned the sayings, and their difficulty will not be great ; especially if we acquaint ourselves with the habit, which the Jews naturally had, under a theo cracy, of referring every thing to God, without exception.
10. Lastly, we are to apply what has been said about limitations of directions given for the conduct of others, to some of the plainer cases of scriptural precepts. We are di-
1 Lightfoot's Hora?, &c. were mention, ed before.
2 It is not to be conceived, that any thing like a complete account should be here attempted of sacred antiquities, geo
graphy, &c. however useful ; — they make a separate study ; we would not here pro duce the rules of Hebrew or Greek grammar, though wanted for understand ing Scripture. 8 Dr. Powell, p. 117.
I. X. 11.] INTERPRETING OF SCRIPTURE. 51
I. rected, 1 Pet. iv. 9, to use hospitality ; but, can we suppose, that we are not to shut our doors against a notorious robber ? . — we are directed, Rom. xii. 15, to "rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep;" — but, are we to rejoice when fraud triumphs over virtuous simplicity ? Alex ander wept, because he had no more worlds to conquer ; are we to shed sympathetic tears on such an occasion ? — Except we " become as little children" we " shall not enter into the
73 kingdom of heaven," Matt, xviii. 3 ; may we not then be per mitted to speak distinctly, to walk steadily4? may we not read, write, think? (compare 1 Cor. xiii. 11.) "Look not thou upon the wine, when it is red," says Solomon : (Prov. xxiii. 31.) " Howl, all ye drinkers of wine," says the pro phet Joel, (i. 5.) : — it is not clear, that these sayings might not have made a sect of Christian Rechabites, had not St. Paul advised 5 Timothy to drink no longer water, but a little wine for his bodily infirmities ; yet the same limitation of drinking moderately, and with a view to health, might have been implied, if it had not been expressed6.
Precepts may be given by means of praise or blame : but here we must limit the praise and blame by the occasion, and scope of the passage. Our Saviour commended the un just steward, did he thereby favour injustice? God forbid! he favoured prudence, and uniformity of conduct : the commen dation was bestowed on the steward, because he had done wisely ; and spiritual prudence ought to keep pace with tem poral. David was called the man after God^s own heart ; does scripture authorize adultery and murder ? by no means : — for those crimes David was punished ; he was dear to Jehovah, because he forwarded the interests of the pure religion, in spite of all temptations to idolatry and superstition ; this was
74 what God had chiefly at heart, for the principle of conduct, in the governors of his chosen people7.
11. Perhaps some of the instances here mentioned may be thought needless, because no one is likely to be misled
4 Pour etre semblables a des enfans, on les voyoit s'abaisser a des petits jeux,
et aftecter une simplicite puerile. — Hist.
Aaa A , o-,. rn, . . , . contradiction: there are many such in
des Anabap. p. 2oJ. This is quoted in
" The Principles and Practices of Me thodists farther considered." Cambr. 1761, p. 69, where are several other in stances from the same history, much to the present purpose.
1 Tim. v. 23.
Joel i. 5, and 1 Tim. v. 23, form a
Scripture ; all arising from the same cause, taking the letter, without such limitations as are implied.
7 See Bishop Porteus's sermon on this subject.
4—2
52 APPLYING SCRIPTURE SAYINGS [I. xi. 1, 2.
in such cases; — it is true, that there is the most danger of I. error where what is implied is the least evident : but these instances seem more likely, than any abstract reasoning, to lead us to a custom of interpreting all sayings of Scripture
by the circumstances in which they are used 1 am much
mistaken, if such a custom would not be the means of remov ing (not all difficulties, but) all disputes and dissensions about some of those doctrines which are reckoned the most abstruse and intricate.
CHAPTER XL
OF APPLYING SAYINGS AND ACTIONS, RECORDED IN THE SCRIPTURES, TO OURSELVES.
1. THIS chapter is allied to the preceding, inasmuch as they both turn upon estimating circumstances and situations, taking the accuracy of expressions for granted : we interpret, by considering the circumstances of others ; we apply, by considering our own : or, more strictly speaking, by making a comparison between the circumstances of those to whom Scripture was immediately addressed, and our own. If we neglect their circumstances, we shall do things enjoined only by the letter of Scripture ; if we neglect our own, we shall do things which are not enjoined at all, but barely mentioned.
2. But, though there is a connexion between the subjects of this chapter and the preceding, they are quite distinct.
This chapter should go upon the supposition that the end of the former is accomplished ; the several expressions of Scripture should be now supposed to be rightly understood ; but what is rightly understood may not be rightly applied. Though we do not mistake the sacred writers, we may mis take ourselves, and our own real situations. Or we may, by association of ideas, or prejudice, venerate things mentioned in Scripture, as if they were essential parts of religion, though they are wholly insignificant in themselves, and are not in tended to be accounted otherwise. A child, brought up to venerate the church, may venerate the joint-stool that he has always seen there, though in reality it makes no part of the sacred building.
I. xi. 3.]
AND ACTIONS TO OURSELVES.
53
I. In some instances, the application of Scripture to our selves may be so evident as, at this time, to require no caution or advice ; or it may be evident, that some parts of Scripture are now inapplicable:- — as in those cases where all males are ordered to worship at Jerusalem three times a year1 ; and the people of God are commanded to exterminate some societies of men, or put to death a large number of those who mi nistered in a false religion. And yet the times are not long past in which things have been done on the same principles with these. King2 Charles I. was justified by his divines, by precedents borrowed from the kings of Israel: — "The Mo- saical law was intended to be established, as the sole system of English jurisprudence3." — The enthusiasts called millenna- rians, or fifth-monarchy '-men , claimed to be the saints of God, and to have the dominion4 of saints. Nay, they went so far as to give up their own Christian names, and assume others from Scripture5; like the Manicheans6 of old. — And both parties, in the times we speak of, seem to have claimed a right of applying, in some degree, the injunctions given in 77 barbarous times, against the worshippers of Baal, to those who differed from them in modes of Christian worship7.
Men, less heated by enthusiasm and party-spirit than these, seem, at different times, to have erred in applying Scrip ture to their own cases : — but, before we mention their no tions, let us see in general what we aim to establish.
3. Instead of adopting the sayings and actions recorded in Scripture, implicitly and absolutely, we ought to rea son in some such manner as this:... If such a person, so situated, best answered the ends of such an institution by acting in such a manner, how shall we, in our situation, best answer the ends of the same ? — Sometimes, merely proposing this form of inquiry will carry us right ; but, in more dif ficult cases, we shall have the general principles, the nature and end of the duty in question, to investigate, and from
1 Deut. xvi. 16. Deut. xx. 16, 17. 1 Kings xviii. 40. 2 Kings x. 25. 3 Dr Powell, Disc. iii. p. 54.
3 Hume's Engl. Hist. A.D. 1653.
4 Dan.vii. 27.
5 See the Sussex Jury, in Hume's Hist. A.D. 1053.
6 Lardner, Works, vol. in. p. 407.
7 How misapplying Scripture brought on the miseries of our Civil wars, is ex plained by Dr Powell, Disc. iii. — But he joins (of course) misinterpretations and misapplications together. See after wards about heresy being punished with death in England ; seemingly from adopt ing Jewish ideas of punishing blasphemy, &c. B. in. Chap. xiv. Sect. 15.
APPLYING SCRIPTURE SAYINGS [I. xi. 4-.
these to determine the particular cases ; that is, how, in such I.
cases, the ends of the duty can be best attained However,
in most questions, a good heart will be more requisite than a good head.
It may be thought, that investigating the theory of any duty, is superseding Scripture; but it seems to be the only method of preventing misapplication of Scripture : it seems to be what Scripture takes for granted we shall do to the utmost of our power1 — In the first age of Christianity2, wisdom and knowledge (human wisdom and knowledge) were given super- 78 naturally to apostles and prophets ; in later ages, they are to be acquired naturally, by study and observation. Wis dom, as mentioned by St. Paul, is understood to be the kind of thing which we are now recommending : if we endeavour to attain it, we must study all the phenomena, natural and moral, which fall within our reach ; and gather from them whatever reason and experience can teach, with regard to the greatest happiness of mankind : if we aim at knowledge, we must study whatever Revelation teaches concerning the dispen sations of God. Both are wanting in the subject before us.
4. Having thus proposed the general form of our inquiry, we may mention a particular instance in which Scripture seems sometimes to have been misapplied. — Several things are said in Scripture about ministers of the church, which must, of course, point out some form of church-government. Now, supposing all men agreed in understanding the terms made use of in the scriptural distribution of ecclesiastical authority ; would it follow, that exactly the same kind of church-mi nisters should be appointed in all religious communities ? some have wished to make this their standard ; but I should rather say, the right method was, to study, in human nature with wisdom, and in Scripture with knowledge, the theory of re ligious society ; its nature and ends, with the best methods of attaining those ends; under different climates, under dif ferent habitual notions, and different arbitrary customs : then, to consider the case of the earliest Christian churches in these respects ; then, our own case ; and, on the comparison, apply the general form of reasoning ; being cautious, neither lightly
1 Before, 1. iv. 5.
2 1 Cor. xii. 8, 28. See Dr. Horsley's Ordination Sermon, on 1 Cor. ii. 2, p. 10. Also see Warburton on the Spirit, p. 24,
&c — Mr. Locke, on 1 Cor. ii. 2, sets out with rather a different idea, but con cludes with diffidence, and in a manner reconcilable to Bp. Warburton,
I. Xi. 5, 6.] AKD ACTIONS TO OURSELVES.
55
I. to adopt, nor needlessly to set aside the precedents of the 79 apostolic ages: if churches so situated were so governed, in what manner were it best that ours should be governed ? — The determination of this question is not our3 present busi ness : only the manner in which it should be considered. We hope, however, that our church has determined in a manner which these principles would justify.
5. Under the old law, every seventh day of the week is appointed to be a day of rest, or sabbath ; and, under the new law, there is no direct command to change that day of rest from the seventh day of the week to the first. And some Christians have thought the Jewish sabbath ought to be observed perpetually ; nay, some used to keep both sabbaths. Yet the earliest Christians seem to have observed the first day, instead of the last ; and so do most later Christians. — There has been also a difference in the degree of rest, under the two different dispensations, and amongst different parties under each dispensation. How are we to settle our duty in this matter ? — the method seems to be the same as before : to endeavour to learn the true nature and end of a sabbath, from the nature of man, to think how far his body requires repose, and his mind to be turned from lower pursuits to moral and religious ones : how far outward decency and clean liness promote inward purity and humanity. (" The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.") Next, to collect all the texts of Scripture enjoining it ; to learn the circumstances of those who observed it first under the Mosaic, then under the Christian dispensation ; afterwards, to com pare our own circumstances with theirs ; and, finally, to say,
80 if persons so circumstanced4 rested from their labours on such a day of the week, and in such a manner, how could we, in our circumstances, best promote the ends of such an observance as a sabbath ?
6. Our Lord washed the feet of his disciples; some have thought that we ought literally " to wash one another's5
8 The subject belongs to Art. 30 of the Church of England.
4 See Walton's Misna, vol. i. Pref. and Diss. on Sabbatical Texts. Ileylin has also an elaborate discourse on the sabbath : — he makes the Lord's day dis tinct from the sabbath : and says it is no sabbath. Bp. Porteus is against Sunday
being made gloomy, but for its being religious. See his Letter on Sunday Schools, p. 23.
5 Cave, Hist. Lit. Tom. 11. Diss. ii. p. 33. Ni7TTj?'/o. Barclay, as Quaker, says we should do this to be consistent, if we retain our ordinance, the Lord's Supper. Apol. p. 409. Edit. Birm. 1765.
56 APPLYING SCRIPTURE SAYINGS [I. XI. 7-
feet:" (John xiii. 14.) — whether we ought or not, will de- I. pend upon reasoning of the same kind : we must consider the nature of man, the rectitude of acts of condescension1 ; how far they should be external and visible ; how far this was a necessary office and a customary servile one, according to the eastern mode of travelling. — We should also observe, how actions were used in the east, instead of words ; and were ex pressive, not only of the present, but of the future : we should inquire, from circumstances, whether the act of wash ing feet could be symbolical; or whether it appears to have been such from hints thrown out: how the first Christians acted upon our Saviour's injunction. On these grounds, when we have recollected our own circumstances, our own modes of travelling, our own customs, as to making actions symbolical, must our determinations, with regard to our duty at this time, be formed.
7- Much controversy has arisen about the manner of celebrating the Lord's supper. — Jesus took bread and wine 81 after a real meal, or a convivial religious feast : some think we ought therefore to make a meal of the Lord's Supper, or, if we only have the resemblance of a meal, we ought to sit at it; others think that the thing enjoined is only a commemoration, and as the bread and wine were only taken after a meal, and we make an acknowledgement of a stupendous benefit conferred by a divine person, we ought to use the humblest posture of religious adoration. — The early Christians went on in a plain simple way, with feasts of caritas, aya-rrr]^ till inconveniencies arose, and then they changed some things, retaining every thing they thought essential. Wisdom here must have less influence than knowledge: ao(pia must be less useful than yvwais. But how are we to act? — We are to endeavour, even here, to get at general, fundamental principles ; but they will chiefly be found in the manner of instituting the rite: — we have an act, which we dare venture to call a comme moration ; — there seems little reason to doubt its being of a symbolic or emblematical nature, intended to express our ac ceptance of the benefits of the death of Christ, and the consequent remission of our sins ; intended to proclaim all this to all men, whatever language they speak ; intended to pro mote mutual benevolence amongst Christians. And we can see, from our knowledge of human nature, that acts of gratitude
1 The Saturnalia had acts of condescension.
I. xi. 8.]
AND ACTIONS TO OURSELVES.
I. promote sentiments of gratitude ; that periodical commemora tions prevent benefits long past from dying away and sinking into oblivion ; — that a religion, intended to unite all nations and languages, must have some visible signs intelligible to all ; — that finding we have a common interest in any thing great and important, makes us more interested in one another ; and therefore more benevolent and affectionate : perhaps study and
82 attention may teach us more principles : our business is, to settle them as far as possible; to consider the circumstances of the first Christians, and our own ; and say, if the ends of such an institution were best answered by people so situated, acting in such a manner, how will they best be answered by us ? — It may seem odd, that, amongst the different observers of this rite, there has never been a sect of accumbers ; our Saviour neither kneeled2, nor sate, when he instituted the sa crament of the Lord's supper ; but was in that posture, which we have no word to express, and which the Romans expressed by using the word accumbere.
We might reason in the same manner, concerning the community of goods seemingly instituted amongst the very first Christians3; — and concerning the application of recom mendations, and instances of hospitality, now that we have inns, and no persecuted brethren, no common cause of divine authority in seeming danger: but we will not stop here, as probably no community of goods, strictly speaking, ever did take place amongst Christians; — and hospitality, though a perpetual duty, has not been remarkably mistaken ; has not produced any dissensions. * 8. Such is the manner in which we should apply the
directions and narrations of Scripture to our own conduct
It may be apprehended that there is some danger in allowing such application upon such calculations : it may be said, " all duties may be evaded thus : a man has only to allege that his circumstances are very different from those of the persons
83 to whom the duty was enjoined, and he may be exempted from the performance of it." — There is so much meaning in this difficulty as to require a caution, lest men should suffer themselves to be led into evasion and self-deceit, by the kind
2 Wheatley says, accumbing " was the table-gesture among those nations." p. 318.
3 Some ancient Christians would not
be baptized till they were thirty years old, because Christ was not. — Wall on Inf. Bapt. i. ii. 7.
58 GENUINENESS AND AUTHENTICITY [I. xii. Int.
of reasoning here recommended. There is no liberty which men in a state of trial may not abuse : but they must not, on that account, be deprived of liberty. Men's obligations must depend on their situations in life, and on the several relations in which they stand : if they will mistake, or pretend to mis take, their situations, they must : but those who mean toler ably well may be cautioned, that they be thoroughly sincere in determining what is their duty, and resolute in performing what proves to be so. And this caution must not be confined to the whole of any duty, taken as one individual thing; but extended to the several parts of it ; nay, to the modes of per forming it ; for, if a man will avoid this mode of performing a duty, and that mode, and so on, saying, that modes are not essential' to the duty, he may, in turns, avoid all possible modes, and therefore the duty itself; for it must be performed after some mode, if it is performed at all. But, if men must not be told the truth, because there is a danger of their abus ing it, the Scripture must be left incapable of defence, and liable to do harm, instead of good.
Here it may not be improper to observe, that we have an instance of what was mentioned, I. i. 7, about the division of our system into several distinct parts: we may now be said to have gone through a set of lectures on the manner of attaining the true sense of Scripture.
The chapters, which follow, may be conceived as furnish ing matter for a set of lectures " de veritate religionis Chris tiana? :" to the end of this first book.
CHAPTER XII.
OF EXAMINING THE GENUINENESS AND AUTHENTICITY OF BOOKS ACCOUNTED SACRED.
INTRODUCTION.
WE have considered the manner of interpreting 'the Scrip tures, taking for granted their divine authority: but, to
see the reasons for concluding them to be divine, is one great end of researches such as ours.
We might begin with the Old Testament; but perhaps a less difficult and equally sure way would be to begin with
I. xii. Int.] OF BOOKS ACCOUNTED SACRED. 59
I. the New. As the New refers to the Old, and joins the Chris tian dispensation to the Mosaic, (which it would not do, if it did not acknowledge the authority of the Mosaic), we may be assured, that, when we prove the New to be divine, we in effect prove the Old to be so likewise1.
It is remarkable, as to the incidental good it produces, that the Jews maintain the authority of the Old Testament, and deny that of the New : — and the Jews and Christians are so divided, that their joint testimony in favour of the Old Testament, is very strong. Without such joint testimony of enemies, infidels would say, the Old and New Testament were made to suit each other.
Before we enter into particulars, let us fix upon some plan which may unite our observations, and shew their con nexion.
We affirm, that there has been a divine Revelation : "how do you know that?" say our adversaries ; — we answer, 85 i. It is scarcely possible to read the Scriptures, without
being convinced of it.
ii. The success, which their doctrine met with, confirms our ideas of their original.
iii. And so also does the need there was of them for the instruction and reformation of mankind.
i. " The Scriptures /" say they ; " we have seen a book, giving an account of some strange things, but who would pay it any serious attention ? what know we of it, or of its authors ?" In answer, we undertake to prove, that the several books of Scripture are genuine ; that is, written by the per sons to whom they are respectively ascribed.
" But these are obscure authors ; at what time did they live ? They foretel some things ; but how know we that they did not foretel events after those events came to pass ?" — In answer, we say, that we can have the same proof of the time, when the authors lived, as of their having written the books.
"But the incidents which they relate, what assurance have we that they were not mere invention ?" — we will give reasons why this supposition is inadmissible.
" Well, suppose these men wrote what they believed, yet they might be mistaken as to the things they record." We answer, the history they give contains in itself, and implies, ample testimony of the principal facts recorded.
1 See John v. 39. Heb. x. 1; ix. 23. Col. ii. 1J,
60 GENUINENESS AND AUTHENTICITY [I. xii. Int.
" This might be admitted," say they, " if the writers I. in question only recorded things in the common course of na ture ; but they dwell on supernatural events." We answer, those supernatural events are themselves proofs of the truth of their relations. — "Miracles and prodigies," say the in fidels, " are suspicious things :" and one ingenious philosopher has thought, that a miracle, as an argument to the human understanding, is an impossibility. " But, supposing miracles could be performed, and even proved in theory ', yet in fact, 86 such proof is not to be expected; no real situation can be assigned, in which it is to be found; — nay, supposing a miracle made credible, what follows ? because a man can do what I cannot, or even something beyond the powers of na ture, am I therefore to obey every thing he orders, as if it were divine?" — To all this, we can only reply at present thus: we hope to shew, that the truest philosophy justifies the use of miracles on great occasions, in order to convince the mind of man : that, though strong proof is required to make a miracle credible, yet the Scripture does furnish such as is sufficient, and such as will be owned sufficient by all who calmly estimate the ability, the honesty, and the number of those who form the testimony : — that the miracles of the New Testament had something in them so convincing, and so pe culiarly seasonable, as to shew the superintendence of God himself.
But moreover, the Scriptures give accounts of prophecies ; of things predicted and completed: — "what superstition," say the infidels, " ever wanted predictions and prognostica tions ? — but he, who examines yours, will find them ambiguous, obscure, poetical ; in a dead language, imperfectly understood, scanty in words, (so that one word means several different things) abounding in tropes and figures, and not discriminat ing past and future ,- — in writings partly historical, partly poetical : — can sentences so circumstanced convince a reason able mind ? or, if we call them predictions, can any history prove them to have been fulfilled by design ?" — We can only reply, that we despair not even here to satisfy the unpreju diced, when we come to lay open the nature of prophecy.
ii. In the next place we say, that the religion which the Scriptures propose is divine, because no religion merely 87 human could have spread as it did : supposing the gospel true, its propagation was perfectly natural; supposing it false,
I. xii. 1,2.] OF BOOKS ACCOUNTED SACRED. 61
I. perfectly unaccountable: — and taking the miracles for granted, they shew, that it was God's intention to have the Gospel so propagated ; the mere consequences of an act of God (if we can ascertain one properly so called) shew the divine 1 inten tion. It may indeed be objected, that, in listening to accounts of the first propagation of Christianity, we give too much credit to the partial accounts of our friends, and too little to the impartial ones of our enemies: but we hope to give satisfaction on these heads, as well as others.
iii. Thirdly and lastly, lest our adversaries should urge, that all the profusion of miracles, and of sufferings, recorded in Scripture, was needless, as men would have improved in moral virtue and natural religion without them; — we will shew, that it is more just and reasonable to say, that men had real need of Revelation, for the purposes of instruction and reformation.
1. We may now begin our xnth chapter with remark ing, that all historical evidence can only be probable evidence : demonstration , properly speaking, is not applicable to the credibility of facts. — I would not object to Hueffs Demon- stratio Evangelica having definitions, axioms, postulates, pro positions ; — only let not the argument be mistaken for one strictly demonstrative. As a principle of action, probability is sufficient ; in a state of trial, it is more to be expected than certainty ; as Bishop Butler says, " probability is the very guide of life2;" — and all we want is to give men a sufficient guide for their conduct.
88 If any one thinks that we ought to have more than
probability to go upon in things of such importance, he should remember, that it is only probable that we shall die ; it is only probable that the sun will ever rise again. Yet we go upon these things as certainties.
It has been matter of dispute, whether morality is capable of demonstration ; I suppose all that is meant, in such dis pute, by demonstration, is shewing, that good consequences follow from virtue ; but as consequences are only matter of experience and analogy, that is only probable proof.
2. In order that we may reason the more intelligibly, let us, first, take notice of some of the terms, which will most frequently occur; such as genuine, authentic, apocryphal, canonical.
1 Powell, p. 112. 2 Introd. to Analogy, Parag. 3.
62 GENUINENESS AND AUTHENTICITY [I. xii. 2.
A work is genuine, when it is written by the person whose I. name it bears : some think Rowley's Poems genuine, others not : — from hence it should follow, that no anonymous work could have genuineness either affirmed or denied of it ; never theless, if a work is what it pretends to be, I think it is called genuine in an enlarged sense. The opposite to genuine spurious, supposititious, (suppositus, suppose, put clandes tinely in the place of another, forged,) or in the Greek, pseudep igr aphus .
Authentic means, having authority ; a writing may be genuine, and yet not authentic ; or authentic, though the word genuine cannot be applied to it. The Poems called Rowley^s may be genuine, but nothing can be properly said about their being or not being authentic, except perhaps as proofs of antiquities, &c. ; — whatever is used as authority in proving, may be called authentic in some sense. The first epistle of Clemens and the epistle of Barnabas are genuine, but have no authority on which we can build doctrines. On 89 the other hand, writings may be of good authority, grounded upon testimonies, experience, arguments, and yet their au thors may be wholly unknown. It has been thought1, that the books of the New Testament might be proved authentic, though we did not know the writers of them.
Apocryphal seems usually to be opposed to authentic; at least so as to express doubt concerning authenticity : an apo cryphal writing is one whose origin and authority is doubted, or disallowed, which in this case is nearly the same with denied. — But about this word more will occur under the 6th Article of the Church of England. In some titles of ancient books there is an ambiguity, which may confound genuine, authentic, and apocryphal. The preachings of Peter'-2 and Paul may mean, that Peter and Paul are the authors ; or that they are only the preachers, their preachings being sup posed to be recorded by others And on other occasions,
spurious and apocryphal seem to be sometimes confounded ; or apocryphal defined spurious3. But it may often happen, that a writing which is apocryphal, or of doubtful authority, may be spurious also.
Canonical is used in divinity to mean part of the canon, or collection of writings of divine authority: but the connexion
1 Dr. Powell, Disc. iv. p. 6J. | 3 Lard. Works, vol. n. p. 362.
2 Lard. Credib. Works, vol. v. p. 417.
I. Xii. 3.] OF BOOKS ACCOUNTED SACRED.
63
I. of canonical with the Greek word KCLVWV does not seem to be agreed upon. Kavcov is a rule, but some think that rule to be the rule of our faith and practice4 ; so that canonical writings are those which are to regulate our faith and manners ;
0,0 others call it a balance to try5 things by; others think that the rule is the decree of the church, made at some council. This difference is not very material ; the rules here understood are consistent with each other, and with the opinion that the canonical books are either written or authorized by the Apostles. (Richardson, p. 7, note.) — The word seems to have been used, because it occurs in Gal. vi. 10, and Phil. iii. 16. This term will also recur under Art. 6, of our church.
3. The canonical books are frequently called inspired books : it is therefore right to endeavour to ascertain wherein inspiration consists. Yet here, with a view to our own par ticular method, it may possibly be observed, that this is not the place for entering into controversies about inspiration, because all our first book professes to be about theology as common to all sects of Christians : but there is scarce any point about which there is not some difference amongst Chris tians ; and this matter of inspiration does not seem to divide Christians into sects: we will therefore content ourselves with mentioning a few notions, as we would to heathens : giving the preference indeed to one, but leaving all Christians to pro fess their own peculiar notions and systems.
Some men have been of opinion, that every word of Scrip ture was inspired, and therefore that the sacred writers were mere instruments ; this, Bishop Warburton calls G organic inspiration ; and I suppose Dr. Priestley means the same by " plenary inspiration ;" this seems the highest degree of sup posed inspiration : the Socinians seem to take the lowest. Dr.
91 Priestley says, that St. Paul knew nothing of the fall of man but from the writings of Moses7; and that his writings " abound with analogies and antitheses, on which no very serious stress is to be laid." — But such as seem to me the most judicious and learned men, suppose, that the sacred writers were informed supernaturallv as to the substance of the Christian scheme, and were left to their own habits of
4 Richardson, p. 6.
5 Jer. Jones, vol. i. p. 22. On this word, see Lardner's Works, vol. vi. p. 5.
ti Warb. on Grace, p. 43.
7 Letter to Dr. Price, p. 159. Birm. 1J87. But see the motto to Mr. Ormerod's book against Dr. Priestley : from Dis quisitions on Matter and Spirit.
64 GENUINENESS AND AUTHENTICITY [I. xii. 3.
speaking as far as related to the mode of expression ; only I. care was taken by providence, that they did not necessarily lead men into any material error ; the rule they published being to stand as an Infallible rule ; as a criterion, by which all notions and opinions, as well as practices, were to be tried.
After the pretensions which St. Paul makes, in the open ing of his Epistle to the Galatians, there seems no medium : he must either be an impostor, or furnished with supernatural knowledge. He cannot speak as a mere man, of things above man's comprehension. In 1 Cor. vii. he distinguishes be tween what he says of himself and what he says from his Lord: Paul had never any intercourse with Christ but what was supernatural. And this may seemingly be applied to the other sacred writers : had they set themselves on recording the acts and sayings of Christ during his lifetime, they might have been on the same footing with other historians ; but they received their commission a after the death of Christ ; they profess to have received it supernaturally ; either they did so, or they are impostors. There is no writer, that I know of, who says what is so much to the purpose on this subject, in so small a compass, as Dr. Powell, in the opening 92 of his 4th and 15th discourses.
With regard to the continuance of inspiration, it seems as if we might form some analogy, from the account which we find of spiritual gifts in 1 Cor. chap. xiv. — There, it ap pears, that men had a power of speaking languages superna turally ; and the most judicious (in my estimation) think, that a man who spoke a foreign language so, was upon the same footing with those who had learnt that language naturally : like as a man who was once miraculously healed of lameness, continued to walk as if he had been healed in an ordinary3 way. Dr. Middleton held, that inspiration was temporary and occasional; but this notion appears improbable, because those who had the power of speaking a foreign language for the sake of being understood, abused that power, and spake that language, through ostentation, to those who did not un derstand it : now, it is not to be conceived, that the words would be suggested miraculously, by a particular inspiration, when they were abused ; though such abuse might be per mitted, when a man knew the language as a language is
1 Warburton, p. 45, 46. Richardson, I » Powell, p. 248. p. 8. I 3 Warburton on the Spirit, p. 21.
I. Xii. 4.] OF BOOKS ACCOUNTED SACRED. 65
I. commonly known And, if the knowledge of a language was
communicated all together, as one thing, is it not likely, that the knowledge of the Christian scheme would be communicated entire, in like manner ? such a simple communication is rather to be allowed, than a complex and reiterated communication — than a series of miracles. Dr. Middletori's opinion therefore, that inspiration was temporary and occasional, seems not probable.
It may perhaps be said, that referring the sacred writings to the divine influence is only a pious mode of expression,
93 and implies no distinct fact. This may be sometimes the case: Richardson4 mentions some instances, which agree with what will be laid down under Art. 10th of the Church5 of England. But the way, in which the Apostles became in spired, implies an higher degree of inspiration: however, it does not seem our business to ascertain exactly in what degree the Apostles were inspired. We probably are incapable of finding that out, or even of understanding it with precision : in Scrip ture, we see the effects ; we must conceive the inspiration to have been something capable of producing those effects, and perhaps we can get no nearer. And I know not whether all parties do not, at the bottom, though they may not always be conscious of it, follow this plan, of reasoning from effect to cause : each seems to settle the nature and degree of inspi ration, so that it shall be sufficient to account for what he deems the true sense of Scripture. This imperfection of our knowledge may afford a farther excuse for treating the subject of inspiration out of its proper place.
4. Before we come to a direct proof that the books of the Scripture are genuine, we must remove a difficulty out of the way ; and that is, what arises from the multitude of books which, we are told, in early times of Christianity were a kind of competitors with the books now reckoned canonical. — Let us state the fact, before we reason upon it. — In our own times we have the books of Scripture in one volume, and no skill is required to distinguish them from others ; but in the earliest times of Christianity the few sacred writings subsist ing were dispersed ; read in one church, and not known in
91- another; and for one that was really sacred, there were per haps ten or more that either pretended to be so, or were quoted with respect by the Fathers, or read in Christian assem-
4 Canon of the New Testament vin- , 5 Book IV. Art. (or ('hap. ) x. Sect, dicated, p. 29. | 39.
VOL. I. 5
66
GENUINENESS AND AUTHENTICITY [I. xii. 4.
blies : (and, moreover, in some persecutions, it was forbidden I. to have the Scriptures in possession :) how can we be sure, that we have not admitted some of these inferior writings into our canon, or rejected some which ought to have been admitted? —-In answer to this question, we must describe the books here spoken of more particularly.
i. First, the Antilegomena or seven controverted parts of the New Testament1 may be mentioned, which were not generally received till after the rest, and are not yet, I think, except Hebrews and James, received by the Christians in Syria8, ii. Then, there were some books called Ecclesiastical3 , such as were not reckoned of divine authority, but were read in churches, as pious and edifying. The Epistle of Barnabas, the Shepherd of Hernias, the First Epistle of Clement, were of this number : and the word scripture was applied to them4; they were spoken of as ypcxprj, or eminent, distinguished writings. iii. It seems also far from improbable, that many sayings of Christ and his Apostles were got by hearing5 them repeated frequently by one to another, and so at last written down in some composition of some Christian writer, iv. Moreover, it is natural to think that, during our Saviour's lifetime, some sincere well-meaning Christians might immediately make6 memorandums of what they themselves had heard our Saviour 95 say, and seen him do : to such records as these St. Luke seems to refer, in the opening of his gospel : these were written, before the famous day of Pentecost, and without any divine com mission, v. And some might contain accounts of the Apostles, and not of Christ. The apostolic" constitutions and canons are now in being ; in part at least they are plainly spurious ; but there are some men of judgment who have thought that the ground-work of them might be genuine*. — So far the writings mentioned might now be worthy of attention ; might be accounted genuine, though not authentic : but, vi. There were others, composed by men weak and foolish ; in order to recommend Christianity to the Gentiles, by an additional number of miracles, by enlarging narrations, and adding circumstances. And, vii. Some by Christian heretics ; in order
1 The Epistle to the Hebrews, that of James, the Second Epistle of Peter, the Second and Third of John, the Epistle of Jude, and the Book of Revelation.
2 Richardson, p. 1JJ.
3 Ibid. p. 19.
4 Homily, 8vo. p. 76. 136. 303. Or Richardson, p. 27, and Lardner.
5 Richardson, p. 91. See Acts xx. 35. 8 Richardson, p. 92.
7 Ibid. p. 93.
8 Ibid.
I. xii. 4.] OF BOOKS ACCOUNTED SACRED. 67
I. to justify their several tenets: the Manicheans adopted and rejected what parts of the New Testament they pleased9; and there were gospels of the Valentinians, the gospel of Basilides, &c. I think, in all, there have been reckoned up forty go spels, and thirty-six writings of the nature of the Acts of the Apostles. If we want a general motive for men's composing false gospels and acts, we may assign as such the desire of making the sacred naratives more particular, and the revealed notion of virtue more sublime, pure, Sec. — Lardner speaks nearly thus vol v. p. 412, &c. — Some heretics wanted to defend their peculiar doctrines, but many, only " to elevate and surprise." viii. We may, besides, mention compositions such
96 as that of Sa Ivian 10, which he published as Timothy's, through a kind of modesty11, meaning no harm; well written, and of intrinsic value : and some may add to this class the pretended works of Dionysius the Areopagite. — ix. There are several anonymous writings published later in the Church, written in some sort of imitation of something already much esteemed ; such as the Epistle to Diognetus, ascribed to Justin Martyr, which is called elegant; and the Acts of Perpetua and Felicitas, who suffered in the persecution under Severus, which is said to be affecting; and there have been many spurious works ascribed to Cyprian, and other Fathers ; but, as these did not interfere with the settling of the canon of the New Testament, we need descend no lower. This last sort of writings, and the next before it, might make one class ; only that the motive of writing such works as Salvian' s wants distinguishing. More over, it has no imitation, as the last sort has.
We see then what it is which authors undertake, who profess to treat of the canon of the New Testament ; and that their undertaking requires reading and critical skill. Fabricius,
9 Lard. Works, vol. in. p. 518.
10 Lard. Credib. u. 811. Works, vol. ii. p. 361.
11 This does not seem quite a clear statement. Salvian published a Dis course on Avarice, under the name of Ti- tnotheus ; — Christians immediately said, is this written by Timotheus, to whom St. Paul addressed two Epistles ? there is not sufficient proof of that ; therefore, if this discourse pretends to be by that Timotheus, it must be classed with apo cryphal books : Bishop Salonius writes to Salvian (his quondam preceptor) to
ask him about this matter; Salvian, in answer, explains, 1. Why he wrote to the Church at all. 2. Why he did not put his own name to his discourse, through modesty, &c. 3. Why he put the name of Timotheus ; — he meant it only as a name expressing honour of God, as Thco- philus was a name expressing love of God.— He much dreaded all falsehood; every one must knoiv that his discourse was not written by St. Paul's Timotheus : — it was a book merely for instruction ; then what signified the name ? &c — See Salvian to Salonius.
5 2
68 GENUINENESS AND AUTHENTICITY [I. Xli. 5.
a professor at Hamburgh, who died in 1736, the learned I. author of the Bibliotheca Graeca, and Latina, has composed a 97 Codex PseudepigraphuS) containing books which interfere with the canon of the Old Testament ; and a Codex Apocry- phus, containing books which interfere with the canon of the New Testament. Mr. Jeremiah Jones has made a complete collection1 of spurious gospels, &c. with English translations; and has prefixed to them sensible and acute remarks. Lardner has taken notice of the subject in the fifth volume of his works, and of the canon of the New Testament in the sixth volume. In 1699 Mr. Toland published a book called Amyntor, in which he makes all possible use of the writings here spoken of, to overthrow the authority of the New Testament ; — the answer by John Richardson (once Fellow of Emmanuel College) lets us easily into this part of theological learning, and, I should think, must satisfy every candid judgment.
5. If it be asked, in a summary way, how we are to clear the canon of the New Testament from these inferior compositions, and set it above them, as of divine authority ; we answer, by distinguishing between what was written or authorized by Apostles, and all other writings ; between what was reckoned authentic, and what was thought only edifying ; between what was quoted as proof, and what was quoted on account of fine sentiment or beautiful expression, as we quote from Shakespear, &c. ; between what is absurd or contra dictory, and what is rational and consistent ; between what is supported by fanciful heretics, affecting singularity and novelty, and what is supported by the most numerous, sober- minded, and learned part of the Church. Other criteria may occur in reading Richardson's book, or that of Jones2.
Hence it follows, that the writings here spoken of do not 98 really justify the infidel in rejecting the Scriptures. In the first place, it is probable that infidels generally neglect most of the distinctions just now proposed as criteria; which clearly cannot be justified : but it may suffice to refer to Lardner, who has treated this subject in the place above3 cited. With regard to those compositions, which would be most disgraceful to Christianity, if admitted as authentic, he observes, that these "books were not much used by the primitive Christians;" — that they confirm, in reality, " the evangelical history," as they
1 Leland, speaking of Toland, calls - Jones, vol. i. p. 87.
the collection complete. 3 Lard. Works, vol. v. p. -Jl'2.
I. Xil. 6", 7-] OF BOOKS ACCOUNTED SACRED. 69
I. are forgeries, affectations, imitations ; and, of course, the thing imitated must be something valuable and honourable ; they also specify the names of Peter, Paul, &c. ; nay, they profess re spect for them. " Few or none of these books were composed before the beginning of the second century."" — " The case of the Apostles of Christ is not singular :" " divers orations were falsely ascribed to Demosthenes and Lysias;" — Dinarchus, Plautus, have had the same compliment paid to them : a part of criticism, Greek and Roman, is employed in separating genuine writings from spurious; but no one has writings falsely ascribed to him, who is not very much celebrated4.
A few instances are wanted here : perhaps the Letter to Jesus Christ from Abgarus king of Edessa, might be one, as it has been thought genuine. Abgarus was a name (like Ptolemy, Pharaoh, &c.) by which several kings of Edessa were called. This letter and the answer of Christ are treated by Lardner5 99 in his Testimonies, and by J. Jones; — other instances might be, the Gospel of the Nazarenes, as that has been spoken of, Chap. vi. from Jones7 ; the Gospel of our Saviours Infancy*,
and the Gospel of Mary, or Protevangelion of James 9
What Dr. Powell10 says of the seven controverted pieces may be extended to the best of these : " the chief arguments for the truth of our religion are not connected with the determina tions of these nicer questions ; the history of Christ and his Apostles, and the proofs of their divine authority, being con tained in books which were never controverted."
6. Having then, as we should hope, removed the spurious and apocryphal writings out of the way, or pointed out the method by which the studious may remove them, let us go on to consider the genuineness of those writings which we judge to have apostolical authority.
7- Our business here is properly with unbelievers ; but it may be right to mention, that some sects of Christians have declared the Scriptures of the New Testament to be in many places corrupted. The Manicheans did this in the greatest degree ; but the truth of the matter seems to be, that they allowed every thing in the New Testament, which did not
4 See, besides what was quoted before, Lard. Works, vol. in. p. 536, and con tents of Chapter, p. 493.
* Lard. Works, vn. 223. Jer. Jones, Ibi(L voL "' P' 1<JL
vol. ii. beginning.
6 See Mosheim's Tables at the end of his Eccles. History.
7 Jones, vol. i. p. 374.
9 Ibid. p. 270-
10
Powell's Discourses, p. 72.
GENUINENESS AND AUTHENTICITY [I. xii. ?•
interfere with their own peculiar opinions. They allowed our I. Saviour's parables, discourses, &c. but not his being born of a material substance, nor his being circumcised, nor his sacrificing like an heathen, nor his being really crucified. They also rejected all the quotations of the Old Testament found in the New ; because they rejected the Old Testament : all these they rejected, as giving an account of nature and of Christ, inconsistent with their notions of the evil principle 100 in matter. And other very ancient sects of Christians acted in the same manner, on similar principles1.
I believe, it is not needful for us to say more, in answer to any charge of ancient sects against the genuineness of the New Testament. They could not say that Christ or his apos tles taught any thing wrong, or any thing which was not of divine authority ; for even the Manicheans were real Chris tians ; so that they had nothing for it but saying, that any thing which they could not admit was interpolated ; but there is something so arbitrary and foolish in thus condemn ing every thing which did not suit their preconceived notions, and erasing it at once out of the sacred code, that their conduct will scarce be followed as an example2; nevertheless, if any one should suspect they might have more to say for themselves than we now allow, he may consult Augustin's works ; he may see what Faustus their bishop had to urge ; and he may be led to see, what is of more consequence, Augustus fine writing against them. Mr. Richardson has translated, and Dr. Lardner has quoted, some passages worthy to be read and admired on this subject ; which indeed go farther than to answer Faustus, and may now be useful, in proving the genuineness of the books of the New Testament against in fidels. An additional reason why we do not enter farther into controversy with the Manicheans, and other sects, though they seem to come directly in our way, is, that they could not be said to deny the authority of the Scriptures as such ; what ever they acknowledged to be Scripture, they acknowledged 101 to be divine : and the parts they rejected, must have amounted to much less than those they received. Let us then return to our reasoning with unbelievers.
1 See Lardner's Heresies, B. i. Sect. 10, or Works, vol. ix. p. 250, and else where.
a Martin Luther wished to dispute the
authority of the General Epistle of James, because it pressed hard upon his notion of Justification by Faith.
I. Xii. 8.J OF BOOKS ACCOUNTED SACRED. *]\
I. 8. In reasoning about the genuineness of any writing, as Rowley's Poems, the 'EiKwv IWiXf/o;, or any other, we usually dwell much on internal marks, as style, expression, &c. ; but our first business in the present case is, to consider the external evidence of the genuineness of the books of the New Testament — and that might carry us into discussions of great length. In order to keep ourselves as unembarrassed as may be, let us first consider the form and nature of the argument, before we enter upon such particulars as may come within the limits of our present undertaking.
The arguments by which the genuineness of the books of the New Testament is proved, are very well proposed and expressed in Dr. Powell's 4th Discourse : I do not take the thoughts quite in the same order, but dispose them with a view to what follows in these lectures. If credit is to be given to any writings that are ancient, as being written by the persons whose names they bear, because they come down to us ascribed to those persons, credit is certainly to be given to the books of the New Testament, as the works of St. Matthew and the other sacred writers ; nay, we may expect them to be owned as genuine more readily than the writings of the heathens, because more persons have concurred in ascribing them to their reputed authors, than in ascribing works to heathens: and those more dispersed through the world, and more tempted to deny their genuineness. As to the identity of the books in question, as to their being the same now with those of which the ancients spake, we cannot doubt it, if we 102 think on the number of manuscripts, versions, quotations, and comments, which the researches of learning bring to our view ; and these independent of each other; incapable of being conceived the effects of any design to impose upon the world. Neither is there any chasm, or interval, during which the tes timonies of which we speak are not exhibited ; they begin from the personal friends and acquaintance of the writers, from those who in person were instructed by them, and are con tinued down to us in an uninterrupted succession. Neither were these testimonies given only to those of the same party with the witnesses themselves: some of them were given in the most public manner possible, to men of different descrip tions ; they were received with approbation by an innumerable company of friends ; they were uncontradicted even by ene mies. Nay, the genuineness of the books of the New Testa-
72 GENUINENESS AND AUTHENTICITY [I. xii. 9.
ment was expressly acknowledged by enemies possessed of all I. human sources of information, particularly able and uncom monly desirous to disprove and deny it.
9. Such is the form and nature of the argument : but a student will wish for more exact and particular information : he must, therefore, be put into a way to acquire it. Our testimonies come from friends, or enemies ; — the friends are the Christians, the enemies are the heathens : though there are some heathens, whose testimonies can scarce be called that of either friends or professed enemies ; who only mention cir cumstances and events, as they happened to come in the way.
With regard to the testimonies of friends, we can scarce take a better method than explaining the nature and use of Lardners Credibility of the Gospel History : adding a short account of his ancient Testimonies.
He begins with examining the facts that are occasionally 103 mentioned in the New Testament, such as the acts of the governors of Judea, the tenets of the Jewish sects, the Roman customs, &c.; and he shews, that such facts are agreeable to what is recorded by the best ancient historians nearest the time spoken of, and who give the accounts most to be depended on : he observes, that the books which contain these facts were believed ; that men changed their religion, in consequence
of what is contained in them His conclusion is, that the
sacred writers must have written what they knew ; and that, at the time pretended, viz. before the destruction of Jerusalem, which happened in the year 70 : because it would have been impossible for any one writer to have copied the manners of eight; and it must be incredible, that eight so different, so separated, could have combined together to deceive the world ; nay, if they had, that they could have, at any distance of time, composed an account of things of a public nature, said to have happened so long ago, which would appear so like reality, as to induce people to make any important changes in their way of life. Then, if they did write the gospels at the time pretended, the facts must have been TRUE : nobody in such a case could have admitted false facts; at least not such facts, and attended with such consequences. And, if the facts related in the gospels are true, the Christian Revelation must be divine. — So much is dispatched in one volume : — the con tents of it rather encroach upon some subjects to be treated hereafter, but our account of the work before us ought to be
I. xii. 9.] OF BOOKS ACCOUNTED SACRED. *J3
I. complete This one volume makes ihejirst part. The second
part consists of several volumes : it is intended to prove the credibility of the principal facts of the New Testament by
104 the testimony of the Christian Fathers : of all, or nearly all the Fathers of the first four centuries, and of the chief ones down to the beginning of the 12th century. By the principal facts of the New Testament, he means those relating to St. John
Baptist, Jesus Christ, his Apostles, &c His method is to
give first a short history of each Father, referring to others, who give one more full : then to discuss any thing singular in the character, writings, opinions of that Father, and clear up any doubts about them ; then lastly, having thus thrown all light upon the testimony, and set it in a right point of view, to produce the testimony itself; — that is, to shew what Scriptures that Father owned, ^quoted, alluded to : this he does with very commodious recapitulations, and other helps of divisions, indexes, &c.
To this is added a copious and elaborate Supplement, in which he treats of the Canon of the New Testament, and of every thing relating to the publication of it ; and gives very good accounts of the lives of the eight writers : which lives are excellent helps towards understanding their works.
There is besides, his ancient testimonies of Jews and heathens ; in which he quotes every thing in Jewish and heathen antiquity that has any relation to Christianity ; after setting it in a right light, by letting his reader into all circum stances of time, place, and the characters of the authors. Pliny writes about Christians ; who was Pliny ? what kind of man ? in what station ? when ? where ? do his writings go for or against Christianity ? &c. — What knowledge of Christianity do they shew ? Such are the questions which he answers.
The manner of this writer gives me pleasure, as well as satisfaction ; he is clear, easy, accurate, and candid : he has
105 been1 called "the laborious Lardner," and laborious he must have been ; but yet he never seems to me to labour ; he is always smooth and unembarrassed ; you go through a volume without feeling any fatigue ; reading half a pamphlet of some men's writing would require a much greater effort. I would observe of him, more particularly, that when he quotes a passage out of an ancient Father, you are at first shocked and
1 By Bp. Hallifax. Lardner himself I AVarburton and others. See Lardner's uses "laborious" as a compliment to | Works, vol. vnr. p. 383.
74 GENUINENESS AND AUTHENTICITY [I. xii. 10, 1 1.
disgusted with something superstitious or weak in it ; but, I. when he comes to take it to pieces, and shew the circumstances in which it was written, you recover your feelings, and gene rally your esteem for the Father ; for, if you still think the passage faulty in itself in some respects, you have learnt how to make proper allowances. This remark may properly enough introduce the subject which is next to be treated ; namely, the views with which we are to peruse those ancient Christian writers, who are usually called the Fathers.
10. The imperfections of the Fathers, we affirm, have occasioned their hieing read with too little attention. This has not always been the case ; in some ages, too much attention has been paid them : but in all ages, I think, some knowledge of them has been accounted a qualification of the divine : and in all controversies, I believe, each party has wished to have the Fathers1 on his side. It seems an unaccountable thing beforehand, that men of literature should have engaged them selves totally in the cause of Christianity, should have written copiously and fervently in defence of its doctrines, so as to excite the admiration of their own times, and yet that their works should not now be worth looking into : — on the other hand, that mere men should be followed implicitly, in spite of the improvements of later ages in knowledge, human and divine, is a thing not rashly to be admitted. If then we are 10(5 neither to neglect the Fathers, nor let their judgment supersede our own, what notion are we to entertain of their merits at this time? In order to get some satisfaction on this question, let
us consider the Fathers in four different lights : As records of Christian antiquity. As preachers of Christian virtue. As expositors of holy writ. As defenders of the true Christian doctrine.
11. As repositories of antiquity r, they are certainly well worth reading ; there is no practice of the ancient Christian churches which may not be made useful in modern times, if rightly applied, allowing for difference of circumstances ; and even spurious and anonymous works may answer our purpose here, nearly as well as those that are genuine, so long as we are not deceived as to the time when any sentence or passage was really written. Christians are to improve by experience, as well as other men ; and experience can only
1 Monthly Review for June 1783. Art. 7, beginning.
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I. be had from past events. Amongst things particularly to be noticed, we may mention, 1. Ancient customs, as, suppose, ceremonies of ordination, baptism, Lord's Supper, ranks of
officers, discipline, &c. &c 2. Ancient doctrines or opinions,
such as those concerning the nature and dignity of Christ ; and of the Holy Spirit, with his assistance, ordinary and extraordinary ; concerning the divine government and decrees ; the efficacy of the sacraments, &c. What those opinions were, is entirely a separate inquiry from what they ought to have been. — 3. We should notice ancient scriptures^ or what books were referred to by each Father ; what as authentic, what as only useful, pious, or virtuous: in this part of our study of the Fathers, the principal caution regards the doc- 107 trines. When men speak on any subject, without foreseeing disputes, they use words with less care than they would do if actually engaged in disputes: and, when words so used are afterwards quoted, those who used them seem to have meant more than they really did : they are brought as favouring one side or the other, when they really favoured neither ; nor had any idea, properly speaking, of the question in debate... Trinitas did not at first imply what we now mean by Trinity.
The agreement2 of all the Fathers, extremely dissentient in lesser matters, on the great points of redemption, sanctification, immortality, must be a very strong argument in favour of Christianity and its fundamental doctrines.
12. As preachers of Christian virtue, we may now read the Fathers, in many parts, with great profit, if we enter upon the work with a right idea of them. — The Christian religion was to them every thing : they devoted themselves to it with heart and soul: their devout affections were excited and inflamed to a degree not now often observable in ordinary life : this being their character, when we read their pious meditations, their praises of virtue, and their exhortations to sanctity, we may catch a spirit of piety and virtue, which we in vain should attempt to attain amidst the embarrassments of business, or the dissipations of pleasure.
But, if we confide in the Fathers as understanding virtue very systematically, we may be deceived. God leaves virtue to improve gradually, as well as other things. The Fathers are to be conceived as having explained the practical virtue and
2 Que parmi tant de diversitez ils ado- j une mesme sanctification, esperent tous rent tous un mesme Christ, pressent tous I une mesme immortality. Daille, p. 518.
76 GENUINENESS AND AUTHENTICITY [I. Xli. 13.
piety of the Gospel, or as having applied general precepts to I. particular cases, according to the state of morality established 108 in their own times respectively ; but we have not ground for saying, that they gave themselves to estimating the conse quences of actions by observation or experiment, and thereby improving the received morality, and forming new rules of virtue; or to refining and directing the moral sense. Hence some things which they approved might now be disapproved ; and every thing ought to be examined. Our business then is to catch the ivarmth of their virtue and piety ; and, allowing for the imperfections incident to the times in which they lived, to make that warmth operate to the greatest possible advantage in our own times. — If we could make the people feel at this time, what Ambrose made the people feel at Milan, or Gregory at Nazianzum, or Leo the Great at Rome, or John Chrysostom at Constantinople, and then direct them with our most im proved morality, we might do great service to the cause of virtue, that is, to the happiness of mankind. To quote par ticulars, would carry us into too great length ; but, I think, there are religious and moral passages in some of the Fathers, which are truly beautiful and greatly affecting. I shall rather produce and recommend them occasionally, than systematically.
13. As expositors of Scripture we may profit by the Fathers, if we are aware of their imperfections, and do not expect that from them which they could not have. What was said before is now again applicable : the Fathers applied themselves to the reading of the Scriptures, with undivided attention, with intense thought and holy admiration, as to what was alone worthy to be studied. No part of Scripture was neglected by them ; they were so earnestly intent upon it, that not a jot or tittle escaped them. This, with the advantages they had in point of languages1 and antiquities, could not fail 109 to produce remarks, which it must be very imprudent in any age to neglect. Criticism improves indeed, in the same natural progression with other things ; there is no kind of mental improvement which does not improve criticism : polite arts refine our feelings and taste, science our judgment; and reflex observations on these improvements, and other pheno mena of human nature, improve both taste and understanding.
It may be thought, that this is representing taste and criticism as in a more advanced state now, than in the Augus-
1 It is not meant here, that the Latin Fathers understood Greek well.
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I tan age: I believe, they are; but it is not necessary to settle that matter. We have no scriptural comments of the Augustan age: if we could have had, they would probably have been valuable; but, before the principal of our comments were written, taste had degenerated ; and the Scriptures had seem ingly been read with too little critical skill and attention. More of that skill might have prevented that excess of allegorical interpretation into which some ancients ran : they were probably led into it by studying with a warm imagina tion, prophecies, and types, and parables, and allusions ; by our Saviour's not opening the whole of his plan during his lifetime ; — but it is our business to determine, as nearly as we are able, when the interpretation of Scripture should be plain, and when it should be understood as implying something beyond the letter.
The result is, we must expect to find modern criticism fall in more with our modern notions than ancient; and in many cases, we have really improved upon the ancient, though sometimes by its assistance. But still we must be aware, that there may be fashionable errors at any time; and that the 110 ideas which are familiar to us, when we hear certain expres sions, were not always what those expressions would have suggested in our Saviour's time. Be it that Mr. Locke has best explained St. Paul's epistles2: his explanation may not supersede all attention to remarks of the ancients on particular passages. Were anyone about to see whether Mr. Locke could not be improved upon, I apprehend he should consult the ancients occasionally ; though possibly they may afford greater help on other parts of Scripture than on those which Mr. Locke has explained.
14. As defenders of the pure Christian faith, or, in other words, as polemic divines, the Fathers may still be read with improvement : for some old heresies seem to be extinct, when the seeds of them remain, ready to spring forth at any time. The causes of heresies seem permanent : such as abhorrence of particular tenets; perplexity about some mysterious doc trine ; tenderness for sinners ; zeal for scripture, for reason, for the honour of the Deity ; desire of novelty ; pride of taking the lead. Most heresies have arisen from one or other of these causes ; and these causes may, at any future time, produce the same effects with some trifling variations. But
- Dr. Balmily, Charge 1st. (p. 17 ">•'*•
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even those ancient heretical notions, which have so decayed I. that they occasion no wars or violent contentions at present, are opposed in creeds and other confessions of faith : these ought to be understood; and we find very nearly the same notions every now and then breaking out into controversy. In such a case, it is very useful to be able to trace the deviations of the human mind through a succession of ages: an error thus traced has a very different appearance from the same error seen only at one single time. I should think it would 111 be acknowledged, from the passages