the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared Such, then, is the one grand predicted re-awakening, The verse which next ensues seems capable of very singular application. Its import seems remarkable indeed. "And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out." They entertained the notion of there being in the possession of the wise, some treasury of supererogatory grace. They were Papists, on this point at least. Not so the wise ones. They said, "Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you." These were Protestants to a man, at least on this greatly controverted point. Whatever any of them, wise or foolish, had been called-whatever had had been the place of their communion, only the foolish held the false notion of supererogation grace; the wise unanimously denied it. Such, too, was the result of praying to the saints for grace. "Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves." They could THE CANON OF SCRIPTURE, AND THE VARIOUS DIVSIONS OF THE BOOKS. point their foolish companions to the true treasury of grace. So indeed can any saint minister grace to his Ir is very remarkable in how many different senses the fellow, even by the ministration of the truth-the word Canon is used; though all these senses are tracetruth which He who only can directly impart grace, able to one idea attached to it. Originally it is a Greek ever uses as the vehicle of his behests. But this was word signifying Reed, whence our own word Cane is not what was requested by the foolish. Strange, in-derived; then by an easy transition, it is applied to deed, that this notion of supererogation-of a church anything in shape resembling a Reed or Cane, especially treasury of superfluous grace-applicable to the case a Ruler for drawing straight lines. There is no doubt of those who need such help; strange, indeed, that this that the word Cannon, for great guns, comes from the notion should in fact be held, avowedly, by the im- same source; notwithstanding our spelling it with two mense majority of the so-called Christians of the age. n's. Then it is taken to signify a Rule for directing "While they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and theconduct-thus a clergyman connected with a cathethey that were ready went in with him unto thedral is called a Canon; because he is supposed to live marriage, and the door was shut.' Even the church according to a certain Rule. And we speak of the itself, so called, was not converted, as a whole, when Canon of Scripture, meaning thereby those books which the personal return of the bridegroom took place. How are to be taken as the Rule of faith. much less then, the world at large! This is the end of Christendom. It must be removed out of the way, before there will be a converted world. The completed church comprises only the wise virgins and the previously dead in Christ. The door is shut. The door not of conversion-but, into the marriage supper. Only those previously converted-those only who had taken oil in their vessels—were ready for admission through this door. The world's conversion is a subsequent event. This is the fate of Christendom. Hence by canonical Scripture is to be understood, those writings which are stamped with Divine and infallible authority; and are distinguished from all others which are submitted to our judgment, and upon which we are free to pronounce an opinion. A canonical book is given to us, as containing the Word of God; i. e., the message or command which God sends to us; and is therefore entirely beyond our doubts or our opinions. From this it follows that every canonical book must Whence then the notion of the gradual growth of be recommended by some one, who carried the Divine the church unto universality? Whence the notion that authority along with him,-some one to whom Jehovah the church ever will include the whole world's popu- had actually appeared, and given the commission to lation? Surely not hence-not from this wondrous execute his office. It is not, of course, needed that the scripture. No; there is no such teaching in any writer should himself have received his mission from scripture. The church will be but as a little flock when Jehovah; but some such an one must have seen and the chief shepherd re-appears. The wise virgins, with sanctioned the work. The books of the prophets in the the dead in Christ, complete it. The spirits of the just Old Testament are all published, as containing the words men made perfect, of the previous age, these friends of which Jehovah spoke to the Prophets. And the other the bridegroom, see John iii. 29, shall stand in the bride-books received the sanction of such prophets, before groom's presence, and hear him, and rejoice in seeing they were accepted as containing the rule of faith, or that he who only is worthy of the bride, now has as being canonical. her by his side. The saints of the past dispensation, then, will be, apparently, the bridegroom's friends. Those of the present dispensation will constitute his bride. Whilst those of the yet future and millennial dispensation will constitute his subjects. "O the depth both of the wisdom and knowledge of God." "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into In the case of the books of the Old Testament our inquiry is really enclosed within narrower limits than might at first sight appear: for the very greatest authority we could possibly have is that of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was indeed Jehovah incarnate. He frequently refers to the Old Scriptures, as containing the word of life; and as being a certain collection of books, then accounted sacred by the Jews. If we can ascertain what the recognised Canon of Scripture among the Jews was, in his time, we know at once what we are to receive as canonical. Now there is no doubt whatever upon this point. We, and all reformed churches, are quite in agreement with the Jews here. It is a matter undisputed by any one, that those books of the Old Testament which we venerate as canonical, were the only Scriptures known to the Jews, when our Saviour preached in Judea. The Roman Catholic Church receives as canonical, certain books which are rejected by the Reformers, and called by them The Apocrypha. This word signifies what is concealed, and seems originally to have been applied to those books which were not published and universally known as canonical Scriptures; but were confined to some few heretical congregations, known only to them, and concealed except from the initiated. And then it came to mean, as with us, specially those books sometimes classed as belonging to the Old Testament, but never received by the Jews as such. These books were appended to the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament, called the Septuagint, and thence transferred to the Vulgate or Latin translation made from the Septuagint. Some of these books, as Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus, are in every way to be recommended, as containing wise and pious precepts, though not directly sanctioned by Divine authority. The books of Maccabees are good and reliable history. While others are mere extravagant romances, of no value whatever. some New Testament was settled: such as the Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, an Epistle ascribed to Barnabas, and certainly of very ancient date: Epistles of Ignatius and Polycarp, who were St. John's disciples, and a curious allegory, called the Shepherd of Hermas. These books are genuine and very valuable; but no one ever mistook them for Scripture. There are also extant, but very little known, certain manifest forgeries:-such as a pretended Epistle of Christ to King Abgarus, several pretended Gospels, and some spurious Epistles. We call these forgeries manifest, for they abound in the most palpable anachronisms and mistakes, and never seem to have deceived any one. Some of the stories about the early life of Jesus are in marked contrast with the simplicity and truthfulness of the real Gospels, and are filled with the wildest accounts of his miracles. Next, we may say a few words as to the various divisions and sub-divisions we find in our Bibles. The distinction into the Old and New Testaments is obvious enough; and signifies the separation between what preceded and what followed the coming of Christ in the flesh. From an early period the Jews made a threefold division of their Scriptures: into the law, the prophets, and the sacred writings; to which allusion is made by our Lord himself. A great deal has been said as to the origin of this division: and the following may be taken as the most probable. The law of Moses stood, of course, by itself, as it contained their national coveLet it be observed that the Roman Church does not nant, which subsequent scripture writers explained and deny the fact upon which the Reformers proceeded illustrated, but did not add to it. This law was read viz., that these Apocryphal books were never received through in the synagogues once in the course of the as canonical by the Jews. It will be seen, on reference year: a certain portion being read every sabbath to the preface of the Douay Bible-i. e., the English morning, and constituting what we should call a first version of the Bible sanctioned by the Roman Church-lesson. that the canonicity of the Apocrypha is made to rest solely on the dogmatic authority of the Church. In the case of the New Testament, the whole of Christendom is agreed. All the books making up its canon, were composed within the compass of a single generation; and therefore easily capable of being marked off from all other writings. Every single book of the New Testament was written either by an apostle; or in the case of two of the gospels, by immediate companions of apostles. And, as though to make assurance doubly sure, the life of St. John was extended over a long period, in order that no book might go out to the world, as canonical and inspired, but what he had sanctioned as such; and in this matter he exercised his Master's authority. There were indeed some congregations at an early time, which had not known some of the books:-such as the Epistle to the Hebrews, the 2nd Epistle of St. Peter, the two shorter Epistles of St. John, and the Apocalypse: but, upon investigation, it is clearly seen that they never rejected these writings, but only that the writings had not at that moment reached them. And never at any time were inferior or spurious writings allowed to usurp the place of Scripture. There are several ancient books in existence, certainly written very soon after, and some even before, the Canon of the And each of these divisions was subdivided into seven portions, one of which was allotted to each of the seven readers who read the lesson. There arose also the custom of reading, as a second lesson, some portion of the rest of the Scriptures, which might illustrate the first lesson out of the law. The books, therefore, out of which these selections were taken constitute a class apart, under the general name of The Prophets; although the greater part of the historical books were included among them. And the remaining books constituted the third class, under the name of the Sacred Writings. The sequence of the books in the Hebrew Bibles is clearly that due to synagogue requirements; whereas that observed in our English and in all modern Bibles, is the more natural arrangement, and is derived from the Latin Vulgate, which again received it from the Septuagint or early Greek version of the Old Testament. Our division is-1st, the law; 2nd, the historical books in their chronological order; 3rd, the devotional books in their presumed order; and 4th, the prophetical in order, partly of time and partly of importance. In the New Testament, till comparatively a recent epoch, the books had no settled divisions; only running titles at the top or in the margin of the MSS, to denote what the text was treating of. The arrangement of the books has always been as we now have them. Our present division into chapters and verses is really very modern. In the middle of the thirteenth century, i. e., during the reign of our Henry III., about the time when our first parliament sat, a certain Dominican, Cardinal Hugo De Sancto Caro, while preparing a concordance for the Vulgate (the first of that nature extant) divided the entire Bible into chapters, which were copied from him into all the susequent editions and translations, and have remained unchanged to the present day. He did not subdivide into verses; but placed down the margin at equal distances the letters A. B. C. D. for convenience of reference. The introduction of verses is still more modern, being unknown for 200 years after the division into chapters; and our own earlier English Bibles, such as Wycliffe's at the end of the fourteenth century, and Tyndal's and Coverdale's in the first half of the sixteenth century, have the chapters, but not the verses. The history of the verses is this. About the year 1450, near the time of the introduction of printing, when the Hebrew Bibles began to be much sought after, a certain Rabbi Mordecai Nathan, a learned Jew of Venice, published a concordance of the Hebrew Bible, and adopted Cardinal Hugo's chapters, which were found convenient. And he added the subdivision into verses, which, as far as the Old Testament is concerned, remained as at present. But for a century afterwards, that is till about 1550, this division into verses seems to have been unknown in the Christian Bibles. It is said to have been introduced by the celebrated French printer, Robert Stephens, who, adopting the Jewish verses for the Old Testament, added the verses now in use for the New. And this arrangement was speedily transferred to all Bibles and Testaments. The first English Bible in which verses appear, is that published by Archbishop Parker in 1568, commonly called the Bishop's Bible, and which immediately preceded our present, or King James' Bible. We THE RE-TRANSLATION OR REVISION OF THE BIBLE.*-No. III. THE question of the Revision of the Bible has attracted very considerable public notice since our former articles appeared. The question being thus freely ventilated by the newspaper press, and the pros and cons put before us in a variety of shapes, it seems advisable for all parties to come to some reasonable conclusion on the matter. While, therefore, with Dr. Cumming and others, we join in admiration and even reverence for our present authorized translation, we have shewn in our last article that considerable improvements might be made in the rendering of particular passages. cannot, however, go so far as Mr. Harness, when he says of the Annotated Paragraph Bible, that there is placed before the public eye, "the wrong version in the text, and the right version in the note." That some revision is necessary, is evident from the numerous editions of the Bible with explanatory notes, which have been published for some years past; and we believe, with the Rev. W. G. Cookesley, a correspondent of The Times, that "At no time were the clergy in general more remarkable for critical ability and sound philological knowledge; and therefore there never was a time when a revision of the authorized translation of the Bible could have been undertaken with so much safety and advantage as the present; and such a revision is undoubtedly demanded by the advanced intelligence and learning of the laity." The great champion of the authorized version of the Bible is Dr. Cumming. He fights the battle, however, with very awkward weapons, and manfully puts forth his arguments in the non-sequitur style. He finds great fault with the Romish versions, gives glaring instances of their errors and contradictions of the truth, and theu concludes that because these errors exist in these versions, therefore our authorized version should not be amended. He next quotes the Improved Version of the Unitarians, and the new version of the Rationalists There are many inconveniences attending our chap-in America, shews up their errors in a very proper ters and verses, as they appear to have been made manner no doubt, and then draws, as he says, "the irquite arbitrarily, and often interrupt the sense. It resistible conclusion" that "the time is not come when" should never be forgotten that they were originally our own noble version "may be prudently, or with any intended solely for concordances, and for facility of practical advantage, altered, or, as they phrase it, imreference. And every Bible student should accustom proved." The fallacy of such reasoning is so obvious himself to get rid of the notion that they have any to the meanest capacity, that it would be a mere waste other use. of time to say another word on this subject. It may be mentioned, in conclusion, that the word A correspondent of The Times, under the signature of Bible is really a plural noun, meaning the Books merely, "an Incumbent of the Province of Canterbury," very i. e., of course the sacred books. And this plural properly rebuts the charge of error brought against the character should never be lost sight of; for we may fall translators, for not adopting Dr. Cumming's principle of into serious mistakes if we forget the different times,"translating the same word uniformly in every place," and in part the different objects, of the several books making up the Bible. It so happens that the same word in Greek, expresses Covenant and Testament. The Old Scriptures are called by St. Paul, 2 Cor. iii. 14, The Old Testament, because they contain the old covenant made with Israel. And this name becoming fixed to the first volume; it soon became customary to call, by way of contrast, the second volume, the New Testament. W. H. J. *1. The State of the English Bible. Reprinted from the Edinburgh Review, October, 1855. By the Rev. Willian Harness, A.M., Perpetual Curate of All Saints, Knightsbridge. London: Longman and Co., 1856. 2. The Annotated Paragraph Bible. Religious Tract Society, London, 1853. 3. The Translators Reviewed; a Biographical Memoir of the Authors of the English Version of the Holy Bible. By A. W. M'Clure. New York: Charles Schribner. 4. Romish Versions of the Bible. Facts and Arguments for the Con sideration of Pible Societies. By the Rev. J. D. Hales, M.A., Incumbent of St. John's Church, Richmond, &c. London: Wertheim and Macintosh, 1856. 5. The Versions of Holy Scripture for Roman Catholic Countries. An Appeal to the British and Foreign Bible Society. By S. P. Tregelles, LLD. London: Wertheim and Macintosh, 1856. and what is not. Thus the Church of Rome becomes and shews that John iii. 8, translated on this principle, or rule by which to determine what is the real truth would become absolute nonsense. The notice taken by this writer of the controversy which has arisen about the discrepancy between Gen. xlvii. 31 and Heb. xi. 21-where, in the former, the Hebrew word means a bed; and in the latter, the Greek word means a staff, both passages referring to exactly the same thing-is very ap-amiable spirit, nor in the most orthodox point of view, propriate in the present argument. Instances like this form a strong argument in favour of a careful revision. The remarks of the Rev. W. G. Cookesley in The Times, to which we have already referred, on the propriety of a revision of the authorized version, are liberal and just. In answer to the objection that "the Baptist, the Socinian, and the Roman Catholic would gain by such a revision, and that it is better to leave well alone," he says, "If the Baptist or any one else will gain an advantage by the publication of the truth, he is entitled to it, and ought to have it. Promotion of the truth can and must be the only object contemplated by a revision of the translation of the Bible." This is fair argument, and we take the opportunity of adding to it, that all the classes of religionists above mentioned are so likely to gain by it, that each of them will be compelled to abandon its peculiar errors, and be induced more readily to hearken to the simple truth of the Word of God. We rejoice in the remark made by this writer, "but to say that the Church of England is unwilling to revise her version of the Bible because she fears the consequences is libellously to accuse her of fearing the truth." While rejoicing in this remark, however, there are other observations to which we can by no means give our assent, and which we greatly regret he was led to make, as they injure his otherwise clear and judicious statements. We agree, so far, with Mr. Cookesley, when he says that "several texts in the Epistles of St. Paul speak of the Divinity of our Saviour in the most positive terms, yet the force and meaning of them is entirely lost in our mis-translation;" but only so far; for we cannot say that the meaning is entirely lost, or that our version should be called a mis-translation. His remarks upon the word translated damnation in 1 Cor. xi. 29, are just and appropriate, as well as upon the saddening effect which it has had upon many pious minds. The existence of so many critical and useful recensions of the Textus Preceptus constitute another and a strong argument in favour of revision; and it is quite true that the practice among clergymen of pointing out corrections to be made in the received version, tends powerfully to unsettle the mind of the hearer as to the accuracy of the whole, and to give the practical infidel an advantage over his pious admonisher which is not easily rebutted or removed. The Roman Catholics also gain an unfair advantage over the Protestants by this rigid adherence to the defects of our authorized version, and may say as Mr. Cookesley suggests,-"You Protestants take the Bible for your rule of faith; but how can that be a correct rule, or how can you be guided by a rule which, according to your own admission, contains numerous and important errors?" The inability to answer such a question in a satisfactory manner, is sure to throw the Romanist back upon the infalibility of his church, and upon the necessity of having some standard | The concluding remarks of "Publicola" shew to what school he belongs, and must not be allowed to pass without observation. His reference to Mr. Heywood's movement in the matter, leads him to shew what manner of spirit he is of. He says, addressing himself to Dr. Cumming, "There is a great possible good in perspective, which it would ill become your christian character to thwart or to throw to a remoter distance. I mean the possibility, if the most learned and pious men of different bodies and of varying creeds, were elected as a Royal Commission, according to Mr. Heywood's scheme, that a translation might be produced mainly identical with the existing version, but correcting its divers mistakes, which would satisfy all parties, even the Roman Catholics included." This idea, we fear, is never likely to be realized; at least, so long as reading the Bible by the laity is prohibited by the Church of Rome; and as that Church is infallible, and never alters what she has once laid down as a rule, it is plain, indeed, that the idea is equally chimerical and impracticable. To suppose that a Trinitarian and a Unitarian could both sit down and read the same version of the Holy Scriptures, newly translated or revised from the original tongues, and feel perfect satisfaction in its perusal, is to suppose an impossibility, an absurdity. The very fact of the violent movement now being made by the Unitarian body to stir up the public mind to demand a new translation or revision, is a proof that its members could not comfortably read the old translation, which no doubt they consider a Trinitarian version; and to every unbiassed reader of the original, it is perfectly manifest that a new translation would be more of a Trinitarian version than ever. People and Land of Israel. EXCAVATIONS UNDER JERUSALEM. A CORRESPONDENT (J. N. L.) writes, "Perhaps the following facts, brought to my mind on reading the highly interesting article in your first number, on the Silent Building of Solomon's Temple,' may prove acceptable to your readers. They are taken from The Holy Places,' a work just published. The author, Mr. H. L. Dupins, for some time attaché to the mission under Dr. Gobat, the protestant bishop of Jerusalem, says, Heathens were wiser in their generation than the children of light. The ancient Romans, in order to establish a legal equality between the contending bodies of Patricians and Plebeians, agreed to appoint ten men to procure information from all quarters of the known world, and to form a general code of laws for the benefit of all parties in the state. For this purpose "deputies were sent to the Greek cities in Italy and to "The existence of a cave a short distance from the Damas. Athens to collect their wisest laws, and bring them cus Gate, was discovered by a resident during my stay. The home for the use of the legislators." The Decemviri subject of this discovery is not devoid of interest, as confir "collected all the former traditionary laws, selected matory of the belief already expressed in regard to the underthose that were salutary, and formed a general code, mined state of Jerusalem. I have used the word cave, although instead of the former partial and local" enactments; whence the materials were extracted for the building of the not improbably, as appearances denote, it was once a quarry, and, "having with honour to themselves and advan-city, especially that quarter known by the name of Bezetha. tage to the state, performed the duties imposed upon The aperture which forms the mouth of this cave, and which is them, and drawn up a code in ten tables, laid down immediately beneath the walls, is so contracted that some their office." Could not this example be followed in little force is needful to squeeze the body through. The space the revision of the Bible-a far more important under-projections, which contribute to the darkness of the place, and inside is very considerable, but encumbered with numerous taking, both in a temporal and eternal point of view? preclude the possibility of estimating its full extent. The laws of God are more important than the laws of men, and as such require more care and circumspection at the hands of the administrators. The only administrator of the former, is the church; not the Church of England, or of Scotland, or of Ireland, or of Rome, or of Dissenters, but the whole church of God. Let the churches who hold the Bible as the standard of their faith and practice-the Bible and the Bible only-let them, we say, appoint their ten men or any other convenient number, and their deputies; and let them inquire into the originals of the laws of God, and into all the versions of the same; and let them endeavour, under the guidance of the spirit of God, to produce an accurately revised version of the English Bible, for the use of the churches of God, not only in the British Empire, but throughout all our colonies, and the vast empire of the American republic, our neighbour and our brother. But let there be no compulsion, no ecclesiastical authority, imposed; let every country, every church, and every man judge for himself. If the revised translation be good and true, it will be received as a boon and a blessing from God; if it bebad and untrue, it will be condemned and fall to the ground. An acknowledged and talented member of every church and sect, of every large body of Christians, should be elected as a member of this not Royal, but Biblical Commission, and the members of this commission choosing their deputies, should set about in right earnest, to collect the best information from every quarter regarding the sacred text, and to solicit aid for the great undertaking, both from the world and the church. Pecuniary aid is necessary, let them receive it from every quarter; but let them beware of becoming bound by such aid to submit to dictation, or to any rules or regulations which would establish a quid pro quo understanding in the management of the business of the commission. Let it be wholly independent in its movements, and amenable only to the church of God, and to the consciences of its individual members. "The only use which has been made of this discovery has been to turn the cave into a receptacle for rubbish; it absorbs the drainage also from part of the city. It is not improbable recesses mentioned by Josephus, in which the inhabitants, that this cavern may have formed one of the subterranean after the capture of the city by Titus, hid themselves and their treasures. "The only relic discovered there was a human skeleton in the most perfect state of preservation, but on coming into contact with the air, or on being touched, it speedily crumbled into dust, thereby proving its great antiquity. "There is also another underground vault or passage, leading beneath the city, evidently artificial in its construction. It stands near the eastern walls, without St. Stephen's Gate,-the which I found to lead in a direct line towards the city walls, Valley of Jehosaphat. I followed the windings of this passage, passing below their foundation, and then inclining towards the temple of Omar. Evidently this path had led me no inconsiderable way under the city. I could distinctly hear the trampling of horses' hoofs, and occasionally the barking of dogs obstructions became frequent, the roof having given way. overhead. But the search for another outlet was vain, and "I have been thus circumstantial, in order to point out the great probability that the infatuation and obstinacy which marked the defence of the Second Temple by the Jews, even after the Romans had fired it, proceeded from a knowledge that a retreat was yet available into the Valley of Jehosaphat, along this or other covered ways. There might have been indeed several passages of the kind leading from the Temple to the valley. Josephus clearly speaks of their existence; for he relates that Simon endeavoured to astonish and elude the Romans by appearing suddenly, and, as it were, miraculously from out of the ground near the Temple. He further describes how the apparition not only failed in its object of striking awe into the Roman breast, but admits that it led to a strict search for all such subterranean places, and the discovery of those who had secreted themselves.'" |