Copyright, 1897,
by

Longmans, Green, And Co.
All Rights Reserved

First Ed1t1on, April, 1897.
Repr1nted, May, 1897.

GENERAL MOTTOES

'Will ye speak unrighteously for God, and talk deceitfully for Him?'—Job xiii. 7.

'Not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully ; but by the manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.'—2 Cor. iv. 2.

'Melius est ut scandalum oriatur quam ut Veritas supprimatur.'

S. Greg. Eomil. 7 in Esek.

'0 superbi Cristian, miseri, lassi,

Che, della vista della mente infermi,
Fidanza avete ne' ritrosi passi,

Non v' accorgete voi, che noi siam vermi
Nati a formar l'angelica farfalla,
Che vola alla giustizia senza schermi T

Di che l' animo vostro in alto galla!
Voi siete quasi cut ornata in difetto,
Si come verme, in cui formazion falla.'

Dante, Purgat. x. 121-129.

'Idola fori omnium molestissima sunt; qua ex fcedere verborum et nominum se insinuarunt in intellectum.

'Idola theatri innata non sunt sed ex f almi is theoriarum et perversis legibus demonstrationum piane indita et recepta.'

Bacon, Nov. Org. i. lix. lx.

'Being persuaded of nothing more than this, that, whether it be in matter of speculation or of practising, no untruth can possibly avail the patron and defender long, and that things most truly are likewise most behovefully spoken.'—Hooker.

vi

GENERAL MOTTOES

'His words, I did use to gather for my food and for antidotes against my faintings.'—Bunyan.

'The older error is, it is the worse,
Continuation may provoke a curse:
If the Dark Age obscured our fathers' sight,
Must their sons shut their eyes against the Light!'

Bishop Ken, Edmund.

Meydkt] ij &krfieia naX vnepioxvet.—1 Esdras iv. 41.

'Omni studio legendse nobis Scriptural sunt . . . ut probati trapezitrc sciamus quis nummus probus sit, quis adulter.'

Jer. Comm. in Ephes. L iii. 5 (Vail. vii. 637).

'If Truth do anywhere manifest itself, seek not to smother it with glosing delusions, acknowledge the greatness thereof, and think it your best victory when the same doth prevail over you.'

Hooker, Eecl. Pol. Pref. ix. 2.

'If it is certain that the writings of the Old Testament offer to us many grave difficulties which we are, at present, unable to overcome; it is no less certain that they offer a revelation of a purpose and a presence of God which bears in itself the stamp of truth. The difficulties lie in points of criticism; the revelation is given in the facts of a people's life.'

Bishop Westcott, In Revelation of the Father, p. 159.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

PAGE

Thoughts of men in the present day necessitate a plain and truth-
ful as well as reverent expression of opinion. Duty of ex-
ercising the reason. Views of Butler; Locke; Whichcote;
the 'Westminster Confession.' Attacks which are beside
the mark. Importance of removing stumbling-blocks from
the path of religion. The greater part of this book consists
of proofs of the grandeur and supremacy of the Bible. The
benefits which resulted from the plain speaking of 'Eternal
Hope.' Assailants of the Bible often misstate the doctrine
of Christians on the subject of Inspiration. Difficulties of
'working men.' Opinions are not doctrines. Current and
all but universal religious opinions may form no part of the
Christian Creed. Illustrations: (i) from views of the Atone-
ment; (ii) from views of 'the Double Procession' of the
Holy Spirit; (iii) from the supposed duty of intolerance and
persecution. Simplicity of the essential elements of the
Christian Faith. The urgent necessity for insisting on 'the
simplicity which is in Christ Jesus.' Progress in the appre-
hension of truth. The things which cannot be shaken and
remain. My object is to strengthen the cause of Christianity
by separating it from untenable propositions. Truth may
be assailed, but will ultimately triumph. 1. The views here
stated are those of the Church of England. 2. I am estab-
lishing, not attacking, the true authority of Holy Scripture.
Peril of mistaken estimates, as stated by Hooker and Chil-

lingworth. True and false claims 1

CHAPTER I

WHAT THE BIBLE IS, AND IS NOT

PAGI

The Bible not one homogeneous book, but a collection of writ-

ings gradually admitted into a varying canon. All Christians

alike believe in the supremacy of Scripture; but every word

of it is not supernaturally dictated—Nor infallible. That

view has been prolific of disaster. The Bible is a library.

Why called 'sacred' and 'holy.' Gradual growth of the

conception of 'the Bible' as one book. The word 'Bible.'

Gradual formation of the Canon. Philo; Josephus; New

Testament writers; the Talmud, Old Testament, Apocrypha.

Uncanonical books once accepted as sacred in the Christian

Church. The Homologoumena and Antilegomena. The

final test of canonicity was the reason and conscience of

Christians. Boldness and independence of Luther. The

Old Testament Canon. Ezra. The Scribes; the Rabbis;

Rabbi Aqiba. Difficulties about Ecclesiastes, Ezekiel, the

Song of Songs. The Law, the Prophets, and the Kethubhn.

In the New Testament Canon hesitations about the Apoca-

lypse ; the Epistles of Jude; James; 2 Peter; 2, 3 John; the

Epistle to the Hebrews. What is meant by 'the authority

of the Church.' The Scotch Confession of 1560 ... 24

CHAPTER I I

THE BIBLE REPRESENTS THE REMAINS OF A WIDER LITERATURE

The Bible all that is extant of a much wider literature. The
Old Testament represents the selected and fragmentary re-
mains of Hebrew literature. The New Testament represents
a selected portion of the earliest Christian literature. Some
books tentatively received, finally rejected. The hesitating
acceptance of some books as canonical. Interpolations.
The New Testament not originally placed on a level with
the Old. Papias. Interpolations rejected by critical an-
alysis. Duty of progressive thought. Dr. Arnold. John