WP ares beeen 100% aes BS.475 hose eo Franke, Elmer Ellsworth, 1861- The facts about our Bible Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2022 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library https://archive.org/details/factsaboutourbibOOfran 1, ) OO OD OE wr, Se AIS ——~, el CYUOVWIOUIONOMION TOI YY OOO ON OW OVAL The Facts About /OUR BIBLE: Historicity, Inerrancy and Inspiration By PASTOR ELMER E. FRANKE Published by THE PEOPLE’S CHRISTIAN BULLETIN 573 West 18l1st Street New York City The Facts About OUR BIBLE ITS HISTORICITY, INERRANC% AND INSPIRATION a, MK 4 \ | “A JuVAL OF From a Fundamentalist Viewpoint’ —---— By ELMER E. FRANKE Pastor of The People’s Christian Church, New York City Editor of The People’s Christian Bulletin Author of “The Virgin Birth and Divinity of Christ” “Science and the Bible” “Rise and Fall of Nations” and other works. Published by THE PEOPLE’S CHRISTIAN BULLETIN 573 West 18l1st Street New York City Copyright | 1925 ae ese #: By Evmer E. FRaANKE er a4 . Ped . ; tae ; ; 3 ee at oo be ee _ Printed in the United States of America { \ wey Horewurd HERE did we get our Bible? Who wrote it? Is it the mere word of man, or the unchange- able, inerrant, inspired Word of God? These are questions that are pertinent at this time, for there never was so much Biblical criticism as there is today. Pulpit, press and college seem to have con- spired with the infidel, agnostic and doubter, to relegate the Bible to obscurity. We believe the Bible to be the unfailing, eternal Word of God, spoken and written by holy men in ages past, and that it is absolutely inerrant and in- spired. Believing this, we herein endeavor to give a brief, yet comprehensive resume of the history of the Bible. Of necessity, in a book of this size, brevity is essential; but facts have not been sacrificed for brevity. It has been no easy task to explore and probe among the writings of scholars, historians and others, for the facts herein set forth, and if at times we have failed unconsciously to give credit where credit belongs, (although we have tried to do so), we now and here say that there has been no attempt at literary piracy. Cur whole intent and purpose is to set forth the truth so that the reverence that is becoming to the Word of God shall be the more established in the hearts of His people, and that it may be the means also, in God’s hand, of establishing some in the faith who have heretofore listened to the blatant, inconsistent harangues, and super-critical and often. dishonest criticisms by “Modernists” and higher critics, who pose as the “know-alls” of this gener- ation. It is appalling when one considers that in many cases a college or theological course today leads to infidelity or a pseudo-religious position that denies God, Christ, the miracles, and the Bible itself. We would counteract this influence as far as in us lies, and let the world know that there are still some evangelical Bible Christians who are willing to stand for their faith, whether it be through the press, in the pulpit or on the polemical platform. This we have always been willing to do, and if the reader desires to know why we believe the Bible, why we believe every word of the Bible, these pages will serve to enlighten him on that subject, and we hope to add to his faith some things that will lead him into the Bible itself for light and life through Jesus Christ our Lord. We are sending this forth breathing a prayer for its success. THE AUTHOR ST “ ———s oe Co My Good Friend Henry WH. Dreyer 66 a “@rother-Beloured’” anda “Crur-Yoke- Hellom’, this little unlume is dedicated. Che Author THE BIBLE tant. No matter how little he may depart from its teaching, or accept as doctrine, that which is not found in its pages, he leaves the Protestant platform and becomes defenseless in the hands of its enemies. In this book we use the terms “Scripture”, “Holy Scripture”, “Oracles of God”, and “God’s Word” in- terchangeably with the term “The Bible.” In the New Testament, the sacred writings are called “Scrip- ture’—John 5 :39—2-Timothy 3:16 and 2-Peter 3:16. They are called “Holy Scriptures” by Paul, in 2- Timothy 3:15, the “Word of God”, in 1-Thess. 2:13, and the “Oracles of God,” in Acts 7:38 and Romans 3:2. They were first called “The Bible” in the fourth century, by Chrysostum. This term is from the Greek words Ta Biblia, meaning “the books ;” for as a matter of fact, the Bible is not only one book, but a whole library of books, sixty-six in all; written by about forty different men. CLASSIFICATION OF SECTS ap HERE are three classes which we must consider at the beginning of this treatise. Those who rest their faith on the all-sufficiency of the Bible, we call Protestants. Those who accept the Bible as of un- doubted authority, but who hold to other writings as equally, or more safe and sure, who must be classed with Roman Catholics, no matter what their protest may be. A third class, who deny the Bible as the Word of God and repudiate its teachings—doubters, skeptics, agnostics, haters of the Bible, so-called higher critics and ‘‘Modernists”’, all of whom constitute one class and must take their place together as doubters or unbelievers. The different parties outlined as above may reject my classification, but driven to a last an- alysis, they must abide their place. “All that glitters is not gold,” and pseudo Protes- 10 at 0 advan tees oO oe THE BIBLE tants, to be consistent, should drop the name “‘Protes- tant” and show their true colors. True Protestantism rests it’s faith on the Bible alone, believing it to be the only sure Word of God. Lutherans, Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists and others, are supposed to make the Bible their court of last appeal. PROTESTANTISM ARTIN LUTHER, the forerunner of Protes- tantism, demanded a “thus saith the Lord” for his every belief, and stood firmly on the Bible. He said, in reply to those who opposed him: “As to me, I do not cease my cry of The Gospel! the Gospel! Christ! Christ ! Christ! and my enemies are as ready with their answer,—Custom! custom!—Ordinance! ordinance!—Fathers! fathers ee Again speaking of the Bible, he says— “Tt is to this Book that I keep,—upon it I rest,—in it I make my boast,—in it I triumph and exult over Papist, Aquinases, Henrys, Sophists, and all the swine of hell, The King of Heaven is on my side.’— D’Aubigne, Page 289. The German princes, who gave the name to Prot- estants, based their famous protest on the eternal and unchangeable Word of God. I cannot do better here than to quote a part of that protest, which went forth from the German states, to give life to liberty and truth, and which was the first great step to give the Bible a free circulation to the world in the com- mon tongue. They said: “Moreover’—and this is the essential part of the pro- test—“the new edict declaring the ministers shall preach the Gospel, explaining it according to the writings ac- cepted by the holy Christian Church; we think that for this regulation to have any value, we should first agree on what is meant by this true and holy Church. Now, seeing that there is a great diversity of opinion in this respect; that there is no sure doctrine but such as is con- formable to the Word of God; that the Lord forbids the teaching of any other doctrine; that each text of the Holy 11 THE BIBLE Scripture ought to be explained by other and clearer texts; that this holy book is, in all things necessary for Christians, easy of understanding and calculated to scatter darkness; we are resolved, with the grace to God, to maintain the pure and exclusive teaching of His only Word, such as is contained in the biblical books of the Old and New Testa- ment, without adding anything thereto that may be contrary to it. This Word is the only truth; it is the sure rule of all doctrine and of all life, and can not fail or de- ceive us. He who builds on this foundation — shall ‘stand against all MARTIN LUTHER the powers of hell whilst all human vanities that are set up against it shall fall before the face of God.” —History of the Reformation—D’Aubigne, Pages 447-8. All true Protestants and reformers, from Luther down, held these views. John Wesley, one of the later reformers, said: “I make the Word of God the rule of my life, and no more follow any secret impulse instead thereof, than I follow Mohammed or Confucius. I rest not on ectasies at all, for I never feel them, I desire neither my dreams or my waking thoughts to be at all regarded, unless so far as they agree with the oracles of God.” 12 THE BIBLE Dr. Dowling has truly said: “The Bible, and the Bible only, is the religion of Protestants. Nor is it of any account in the estimation of the genuine Protestant how early a doctrine originated, if it is not found in the Bible. . . Hence if a doctrine be propounded for his acceptance, he asks, Is it found in the inspired word? Was it taught by the Lord Jesus Christ or His apostles? If they knew nothing of it, no matter to him whether it be discovered in the musty folio of some ancient visionary of the third or fourth century, or whether it springs from the fertile brain of some modern visionary of the nineteenth. If it is not found in the Sacred Scriptures, it presents no valid claim to be received as an article of his religious creed.” CATHOLICISM ‘| BE Catholic Church, while holding the Bible to be inspired, does not accept the Protestant view, but adds what it is pleased to term “divine tradition.” The following is the Catholic position, as stated in their own words: “Like two ‘sacred rivers flowing from Paradise, the Bible and divine tradition contain the word of God, the precious germs of revealed truth. Though these two divine streams are, in themselves, on account of their divine origin, of equal sacredness, and are both full of revealed truths, still, of the two TRADITION is to us more clear and safe.”—Catholic Belief, Page 45. PSEUDO-PROTESTANTISM O also Christian Scientists, Mormons, and cults headed by visionists, have retreated from the Prot- estant ground, viz—“The Bible and the Bible only,” and have to be placed squarely on the Catholic plat- form, admitting by both teaching and practice that the Bible is not their only rule of faith. With each of these, it is the Bible AND something else. They may prate about the Bible being God’s word and God’s I3 THE BIBLE only word, and about its all-sufficiency in points of doctrine, but by their practice they deny this. Christian Scientists extol the Bible to the skies, but with them it is the Bible AND Mrs. Eddy’s ex- planation and ‘Key to Scripture.” Mormons say—O, yes, we believe the Bible AND the Book of Mormon. Then there are other cults and denominations, who, notwithstanding Christ’s warning against false pro- phets (Matt. 24:24), have or had a visionist among them. These preach most eloquently to the world and to those whom they would gather into their fold, the Bible as the Inspired Word of God and in itself sufficient as a rule of faith; BUT once within their ranks, one is initiated into the secret that, with them, it is the Bible AND the writings of their visionist. These are all one class, Catholics, Christian Scien- tists, Mormons and others. They all stand on Catholic ground and by their teachings and practices deny the Word of God, which says that the Holy Scripture, alone, is all that is necessary to salvation. Says the Bible: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”— 2-Timothy 3:16-17. Again it says: “The Holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” 2-Timothy 3:15. . Not only Catholics, but as we have seen, these so-called Protestant sects, Christian Scientists, Mor- mons and others, by their faith and practice deny not only the one great test of Protestantism (the Bibly ONLY as a rule of faith), but the Scripture 14 : THE BIBLE as well, which claims to be the one thing that will make men “wise unto salvation, through faith, which is in Christ Jesus”: and “thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” Each of these sects has its “infallible head,” its inspired teacher, besides the Bible. The writer must repudiate all this class, who are occupying Catholic ground, and take his stand with true Protestantism. He accepts as his faith “The Bible and the Bible only,’ and needs no interpreter— “knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation.” —2-Peter 1:20. REAL PROTESTANTISM T is not our purpose to enter into a discussion of the practices of the churches and denominations, nor of preachers and people who teach and claim to practice veal Protestantism. All creeds and denom- inations hold, more or less, that which will not stand the test of their platform. But, standing on that plat- form, (the Bible alone), no matter what error of in- terpretation, or of ignorance of Bible doctrine they have, there is the promise of God, that the Holy Spirit will lead them “into all truth,’ and Jesus said, “Thy word is truth.”—John 17:17. If consistent, they have only to be shown their error from the Bible and they will immediately bring their lives into harmony with its teaching. Standing on that rock, let each individual seek the Spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit, and search the Bible diligently, until he is sure that he has purged out all of the old leaven borrowed from past practices and traditions, and he may rest assured that he will find liberty and peace in believing God’s Word, for, “all Scripture is given by inspiration of God.” 15 THE BIBLE INFIDELITY NG may deny the authenticity of the Bible; may by their faith and practice discount its teachings ; or, like the skeptic, higher critic, and “Modernist,” hold it up to ridicule; but God assures us in His Word,— MARTIN LUTHER TRANSLATING THE BIBLE With him are Melanchthon, Pomerames and Cruciger. “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His.” —2-Timothy 2:19, There is no literature in the world, which has survived a few centuries, standing on as firm a foot- ing as the Bible. It is the oldest book in the world. Ungodly and designing men have opposed it in every age. The kings of earth have sought to blot it out of existence. It has been ruthlessly handled by its arch-enemies, skeptics, infidels, atheists, higher crit- ics, rationalists, ““Modernists,” and others. It has 16 THE BIBLE been publicly burned in the streets and squares of cities. Its teachers and translators have been tor- tured and slaughtered. Men and demons have sought to destroy it from the face of the earth, and at last it was crucified, like our Saviour, its Author, in the house of its friends. Pulpit and press have been arrayed against it; infidel France endeavored to kill it, and was prepared for its burial, but after the lapse of centuries, it is the liveliest as well as the best sell- ing book the world has ever seen. The blaze of its glory has encircled the’earth, and today it is translated into almost every tongue under heaven, and more Bibles have been circulated than perhaps any other thousand books combined. In its own beautiful language, it taunts its cruel mockers, by saying—(If I may be, permitted to change the tense of Isaiah 54:17). “No weapon that has been forged against it has pros- pered and every tongue that has arisen against it in judgment has been condemned.” Not many years ago the Revised Version of the New Testament was finished; was ready for printing —hundreds of dollars were offered for advance cop- ies; and the late Mr. Hastings, of Boston, is authority for the statement that—‘“The morning it was pub- lished, the streets of New York were blockaded with express wagons backed up and waiting for copies of that book. Muillions of copies were sold as fast as they could be delivered. They telegraphed that book from, the first of Matthew to the end of Romans, from New York to Chicago, about 118,000 words, the long- est message ever wired—for the purpose of getting it there twenty-four hours sooner than steam could carry it, to print in the Sunday newspapers.” All of which proves that the Bible is believed and 17 THE BIBLE treasured as no word of man has ever been, and that, notwithstanding the infinitesimal pigmies who under the assumed names of ‘“Modernists” and “Higher Critics” declare that it is a mark of scholarship to deny the inerrancy and inspiration of God’s Word. We have moralists by the score; authors by the thousands; histories are plentiful; poets and apolo- gists without number—Why then this noise and shout- ing over the publication of a new revision of the New Testament Scriptures? Ah, friends, because it is God’s Book to mortal man. A Book of morals, poetry, history and science, that has back of it a “thus saith the Lord.” WHY CHRIST. DID: NOT WRITE. ‘[ HE late Col. Ingersoll said, in his lecture on, “What Must We Do To Be Saved?’: “Christ never wrote a word of the New Testament— not a solitary word, ... And it has always seemed to me that a being coming from another world with a message of infinite importance to mankind, should at least have verified that message by his own signature. Why was nothing written?” It is necessary first of all to answer this infidel cavil, “that Christ did not leave any written word,” but left the record of His life to “the memory of fal- lible men”; at the same time it is well to remember that Christ Himself answered this argument better than we possibly could. Autobiographies are the work of men who seek fame, glory, and honor, of men, and are not always trustworthy, owing to the fact that few, if any, will put any other than the best into their autobiographies, and will conceal the bad. Christ said: “He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory.” —John 7:18. 18 THE BIBLE If Jesus had written a history of his own life on earth, infidels and skeptics would have raved worse than they do today, and would have said truthfully— “self praise is poor recommendation,’ and consequent- ly would have rejected His every word, as on a par with poor weak human nature, which extols its vir- tues and conceals its weaknesses. The force of the doctrine of Christ, hinges on the ‘fact that He DID NOT write His life history Himself, but left it to others, whom God inspired by His Spirit. He said: If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself.”—John 7:17. While there is no record that Jesus ever wrote a line concerning Himself, or of His work, there is a record of His writing on the ground. The occasion was when the Scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman taken in adultery, saying: “Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?” Jesus knew that these scribes and Pharisees were doing this to tempt and entrap Him, so that they might accuse Him, and He knew too, that the poor, sinful woman was no worse than the proud boastful scribes and Pharisees who were accusing her; there- fore it is written: “But Jesus stooped down, and with His finger wrote on the ground.” “So when they continued asking Him, He lifted up Himself, and said unto them, ‘He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her’.” “And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.” _ What Jesus wrote on the ground brought convic- tion to the consciences of the woman’s accusers, and 19 wae THE BIBLE one by one they left. Now the question might arise— What did Jesus write on the ground? Every person who reads the record can plainly see that He wrote the sins of those proud scribes and Pharisees, and it was this that drove them from Him. The lesson is just this; that He writes our sins upon the sand, so that the tide of His love may wash them away into everlasting forgetfulness, while with His own precious finger He writes the law of His love upon the fleshly tables of our hearts. Precious Saviour. WITNESSING TO CHRIST’S WORK Christ said: “There is another that beareth witness of me and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. “Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness of the truth. “But I receive not testimony from man; but these things I say that ye might be saved. “He was a burning and a shining light; and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. “But I have greater witness than that of John, for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. “The Father Himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me.”—John 5 :32-37. It was the mission of John the Baptist to testify of Christ. He was “the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord.”: “John answered them saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not. “He it is who coming after me is preferred before me, setae shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.”—John “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him and saith, Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.”—John 1:29. “And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.”—John 1:34. 20 THE BIBLE Then at the baptism of Jesus, God Himself bare record, when the Spirit, like a dove, lighted on Him, and the voice from Heaven spake, saying—‘This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”—Matt. 3:17; and again, on the mount of transfiguration, that same voice said once more, “This is my beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him.’—Maitt. P75, Peter, in one of his epistles, refers to this scene thus: “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of His majesty. “For he received from God the Father honor and glory when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory—This is my beloved son in whom I am well-pleased. “And this voice which came from heaven we heard when we were with him in the holy mount.”—2-Peter 1:16-18. Thus, “He left not himself without witness.” No- thing, in Christ’s dwelling among men, was done in the dark, but in the presence of multitudes who fol- lowed Him and drank in His every word. Those who rejected Him and sought to destroy Him, were con- stantly watching His work and listening for some word, to accuse Him; but in their desperation they were at last led to exclaim: “What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. If we let Him thus alone, all men will believe on Him.”— John 11 :47-48. Previous to this, the chief priests and Pharisees had sent officers to take Him and these officers, after having seen and heard Jesus, returned empty-handed, saying: “Never man spake like this man.”—John 7:46. 21 THE BIBLE CHRIST CAME IN AN AGE OF LEARNING VERY remarkable fact is that Christ came to this world in a most enlightened age, when Judaism had reached its highest state of education and knowledge as far as the affairs of this world go. Greece and Rome were at the pinnacle of their glory in learning. Philosophers, students of ethical culture, logicians and religious critics were in evidence in Athens and Rome and their followers were scattered everywhere throughout the Roman Empire. Discus- sion was the order of the day. Paul expressed it thus: “For all the Athenians and strangers which were there, spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.”—Acis 17:21. The very age in which Christ came, seemed to be prepared for that event. From the death of Julius Caesar, B. C. 44, to the beginning of the second cen- tury, was the real hey-day of heathen learning, and men were in evidence everywhere who seemed to ex- cel in their particular branches. Cicero, the great orator and philosopher, died in the year B. C. 43. Sallus, the historian, lived to the year B. C. 34; Strabo, the Greek geographer, died in B. C. 21; Virgil, the most celebrated Latin poet, was still alive 16 years before Christ was born; Horace, the Latin poet and satirist, lived to within five years of Christ’s birth; Livy, the great essayist and philosopher, lived con- temporary with Christ for twenty years; Ovid the poet and scholar, who had known Horace, lived to the year A. D. 18; Philo, the scholarly Jew, who could stand before the Roman senate and plead the cause of his Alexandrian brethren, was born B. C. 25, and lived during the entire life of Christ on earth. Following these came Josephus, the greatest Jewish historian who ever lived, who was born only six years 22 EO VO CCU) THE BIBLE after the crucifixion; Plutarch, the great biographer, moralist and essayist, born fifteen years after the crucifixion and who lived to the year A. D. 120; and Tacitus, the Roman historian, who was born A. D. 54. Then there were Pliny the elder, historian and au- thor, born, A. D. ah cpp Roed RG es an a bo younger, the bril- liant lawyer and writer, who was born A. D. 61, and scores of others, regarded even to the present time as intellectual giants. Many of these, no doubt, knew about Christ’s work. Christ came in an age of learning; in a time that pro- duced great histori- ans, moralists, phil- osophers and poets, FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS some of whose works, even to this day are considered great classics, and are taught in our schools and colleges. That the doctrines taught by Christ should over- spread the whole Greek and Roman world in ‘the face of such scholarship, and amid the heathen prejudice, and persecution of the times, IS A MARVEL BOR- DERING ON THE MIRACULOUS. The Christian 23 THE BIBLE has absolutely nothing to fear. His stakes were well set by the Master and will remain while time lasts. THE DISCIPLES COMMISSIONED TO WRITE NTICIPATING the fact that the Gospel would be written by those who had been with Him and had observed His life, seen His miracles, heard His teaching, witnessed His agony in the garden, His arrest, trial persecution, and finally, His death and glorious resurrection to endless life; He said to the disciples, after promising them the Holy Spirit’s aid: “And ye also shall bear witness because ye have been with me from the beginning.”—John 15:27. The unity and harmony of the four Gospels, writ- ten by four of His disciples, bear eloquent testimony to the truth of that statement. QUALIFICATIONS OF GOSPEL WRITERS HE men who wrote the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, were individuals who knew Jesus ~ and His work; eyewitnesses of the scenes and events recorded by them. Luke, at the beginning of his Gospel, and as a reason for writing, makes the state- ment: “Us which from the beginning were eye-witnesses, and ministers of the word.”—Luke 1:2. John emphasized his qualifications for writing, in these words: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled.’—1-John Hig (> Thus, sight, hearing and touch are appealed to, and all three of these senses were exercised. They knew Him and saw His work. They heard His wonderful teaching, and His presence was with them continually during His earthly ministry. 24 OE —— ee”, LmLdmL lL ———_ THE BIBLE MATTHEW ET us carefully consider the four Gospel writers fora moment. Matthew, who was the same per- son called Levi, son of Alpheus, (compare Matthew 9:9 and Mark 2:14) was a tax gatherer and was called by Christ as he sat in the custom house. He was with Jesus to the end and wrote his Gospel, in Hebrew, about A. D. 41, eight years after the ascen- sion. It was translated into Greek about A. D. 61. This Gospel was especially written for the Jews. In it appears the genealogy of Christ, tracing His line of descent from Abraham; also the genealogy of Joseph the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus. MARK ARK, the writer of the second Gospel, was known as John Mark, son of a pious woman named Mary. The disciples frequently met at her house, and it was there Peter went after his miraculous deliver- ance from prison. He (Mark) was a nephew of Barnabas, and a fellow laborer with Paul-and Barna- bas. He traveled with them from Jerusalem to Anti- och (Acts 12:25); departed from them at Perga, in Pamphelia, and returned to Jerusalem (Acts 13:5-13) ; afterwards he wished to go again with Paul and Barnabas, but Paul declined to take him along, on account of his having previously left them. He then accompanied his uncle, Barnabas, to Cyprus (Acts 15 :36-41). Paul and Mark were later fully reconciled —(2-Timothy 4:11—Philemon 1:24). In Col. 4:10, Paul recommended him to the Church at Colosse. Mark’s Gospel was written in Greek, for- the Gentiles at Rome; therefore he omits the genealogy of Christ, as this was not useful to any but the Jews, to whom it was of utmost importance for comparison with their prophecies regarding the Messiah. 25 THE BIBLE LUKE UKE, who was either a Jew by birth, or a Gentile convert to Judaism before he heard of Christ, was by profession, a physician (Col. 4:14). He was prob- ably one of the disciples Jesus met on His way to Emmaus, after His resurrection. Luke names one of these and omits the other, from which fact this con- clusion is drawn (Luke 24:13-25). Luke wrote about fifteen years after the ascension of Christ. There are different opinions as to whether Luke wrote what he himself, saw and heard, some supposing that he derived his knowledge of the gospel from Paul; others that Luke was merely an amanu- ensis for that apostle. To these positions one may logically object (1st.) because Paul, in writing to Timothy (1-Tim. 5:18), quotes as “Scripture,” a pas- sage from Luke 10:7 which passage appears nowhere else between the covers of the Bible. (2nd.) Because Luke tells us that he had knowledge of these things “from the first” (Luke 1:3). He alone goes into de- tail, by saying that they gave Christ “broiled fish and honeycomb” after His resurrection, (this is not men- tioned by the others), which indicates he must have been there (Luke 24:42). From these facts, it appears certain that he was with Christ and wrote what he saw and heard. Luke also wrote the Acts of the Apostles. Compare Acts 1:1 with Luke 1:1-3. JOHN OHN was the son of the fisherman, Zebedee, and his wife, Salome. He was himself a fisherman, and with his brother James, was called from the nets to become a fisher of men. (See Matt. 4:21-22 and Mark 1:9,20 and Luke 5:1-10). He was about 25 years old when called, and was with Christ from the first (1-John 1:1). He was the disciple whom Christ 26 er ee, a Zz _x”hUC CUCU Oe re ee THE BIBLE loved for his constancy. John was with Christ at the transfiguration, the agony in the garden, and at the crucifixion (John 19:26 & 35). He was one of the first at the sepulchre, the morning after the resurrec- tion, and saw Jesus alive that same day, as also eight days after (John 20:19-29). John was also the author of the three epistles that bear his name, as well as the book of Revelation. He wrote his Gospel A. D. 68 or 70. In the year A. D. 95 he was banished from Ephesus; was later cast into a caldron of boiling oil, and after his miraculous de- liverance from death, was banished to the Isle of Patmos in the A‘gean sea, where he wrote the Apoc- alypse (Revelation) in A. D. 96. John lived to a good old age—the last one of those who knew the Lord Jesus. He was probably 100 years old when he died, and lived from 4 to 14 years in the second century. His Gospel was written in Greek. How eminently well qualified these companions of Jesus were to write what they did, we will leave to the judgment of our readers. AN INFIDEL QUESTION ANSWERED THE statement has frequently been made by infidels, — ~ that the titles of the Gospels indicate that they were written after these writers were dead; that they are not called the Gospel OF Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but the Gospel ACCORDING to Matthew, and Gospel ACCORDING to Mark, Luke and John. Ingersoll said: “This new Testament was not written for hundreds of years after the apostles were dust. The facts lived in the open mouth of credulity ... They depended upon the inaccuracy of legend.” These titles were, of course, the work of others besides the writers, and were given to distinguish the different books, but might have truthfully been writ- ten by the writers of the originals without doing vio- 24 , ene oe PL ae THE BIBLE lence to the fact that these Gospels are the work of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. They ARE truly, the Gospel ACCORDING to these writers. It was not their Gospel they were each writing of, or there would have been four gospels; but there is only ONE, and that is the Gospel of Christ Jesus, and it is Christ’s Gospel ACCORDING to these different writers. Paul uses the term “my gospel,” but that he refers to the Gospel of Christ is shown by his remark that he preached nothing but Christ, and received it “by the revelation of Jesus Christ, "See Gals til 2. Another fact that stands out plainly here, is that each of these books closes without any reference to the death of its author, and the matter of their deaths is left to subsequent writers; hence the conclusion, and the only logical conclusion, that they must have been written by the men whose names they bear; for if written after their decease, by subsequent writers, they most surely would have recorded the facts con- nected with the death of these men. The only death of an apostle mentioned in the New Testament is that of James, in Acts 12:2, written by Luke. The same applies to Paul’s writings. Luke, in the Book of Acts, leaves him a prisoner in his own hired house at Rome; and Paul, himself, writing from Rome says: “So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places.—Phil. 1:13. Writing still further of his intention to send Tim- othy to them, he adds: “Him therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me”’—Phil. 2:23. And finally, writing to Timothy himself, he has heard that his execution is near at hand, and leaves us with these pathetic words: “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.—2-Timothy 4:6. 28 THE BIBLE That is the last we hear of him, in his writings. No record of his death; not a word. Hence the conclusion—If Paul’s epistles had been written by later writers, or even by his closest friends, they would have recorded his death; but no, they were written by Paul, himself. Now, lest the skeptic interpose the objection that Moses is said to have written of his death and burial, I might say that the Jews wrote their books without chapters, in the form of rolls, the first word indicat- ing the beginning of a book, and some careless tran- scriber, copying the original, probably copied the be- ginning of Joshua into Deuteronomy, through mis- take. Nearly all Bible expositors believe this. Aside from any other speculation as to the record of the death of Moses in the book of Deuteronomy, it should always be remembered that Moses was a prophet, yea, more than a prophet, for with him God spake face to face; and it is quite possible that the man to whom God showed all the events recorded in the book of Genesis, from Creation down, and who uttered such wonderful prophecies of the coming Messiah, could also prophetically record his own death and the events that followed, in the book of Deuteronomy. Moses might have written prophetically of his own death, just as Joseph spoke of the carrying out of Egypt. of his remains, many years before the event. 4 \ PAUECANDSITISsE BI SiES HE fourteen epistles, Romans to Hebrews inclu- sive, were written by Paul. As to Paul, it is enough to say that he was preeminently a scholar and logician, and was equally at home among the dog- matic Jews, or at Athens, the seat of Greek philosophy, science, learning, art, and poetry. 29 THE BIBLE Saul (afterwards called Paul) was born in the city of Tarsus, in Cilicia. His parents were Jewish, although citizens of the Roman Empire. He received much of his education in Jerusalem, under Gamaliel, and became the proud Pharisee and enemy of the Christian cause; a persecutor, honest, though blinded by prejudice. The story of his conversion; of how he was arrested by the voice of Christ, stricken blind, and finally, after having his sight restored, became one of the most zealous for the cause of Christianity, may be read in the book of Acts. The Gospel preached by Paul, was not received by him from man, but by revelation of Jesus Christ (see Galatians 1st chap.). A chosen vessel of the Lord, to bear His name to the Gentiles, Paul could stand before the so-called philosophers of his day, in the then seats of learning, Athens, and Rome, in times still referred to by infidels and skeptics, as days of knowledge, philosophy and wisdom, and facing these philosophers and scholars, could quote their poets, defending his position, saying— “I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.” —Acts 17:22. Paul’s epistles speak for themselves. They an- swer the arguments of Jews and Gentiles, and clarify the relation of the Law and the Gospel; making liberty his platform, and justification by faith, his hope; fully confirming the words of Christ and the Gospel writers. THE EPISTLE TO, THE HEBREWS F HE book of Hebrews is sometimes ascribed to a later date than when Paul lived. Paul wrote in A. D. 60 to 65. Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus and the Roman army, A..D. 70, about four or five years after Paul’s death. The temple was completely de- stroyed. | 30 THE BIBLE Thus we KNOW that the Book of Hebrews must have been written before that event, for when Heb- rews was written the temple was still standing and its service still going on. Read Hebrews, from the seventh chapter on, and you will find reference to the priestly service, sacrificial offerings, and sundry other -matters pertaining to the temple, spoken of im the present tense. The Bible is its own best defender. PETER ETER was the son of Jonas; called from his fish- ing to follow Christ. He was one of the three closest to the Master at all times. - His impetuous nature often brought him grief and sorrow, but the Peter we behold after Pentecost was a different character; a man of faith and integrity. His name appears so often in the Gospels that it is needless to say much here. When Jesus was at Capernaum, He no doubt made Peter’s home His place of abode; (compare Luke 4:38 with Mark 1:29), and there it was the people resorted to Him. Peter’s epistles were early received by the Apos- tolic Churches as Holy Scripture and as part of the book we call the Bible. JAMES AND JUDE AMES and Jude were Apostles, brothers of Jesus, children of Joseph and Mary and born after Jesus. We have no sympathy with the view that they were sons of Joseph by a former marriage. Protestant Christians, do not exalt Mary above Christ and do not accept the Catholic doctrine concerning the Virgin Mary, as being “always a virgin.” The very phraseology of Matt. 1:24,25, shows that 31 THE BIBLE after the birth of Jesus, Joseph and Mary lived. the ordinary married life, for thus it is written: “Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the Angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: “And knew her not TILL she had brought forth her FIRSTBORN Son: and he called His name Jesus.” Thus about forty years after the birth of Jesus, Matthew called Him Mary’s “FIRSTBORN.” If Mary had no other children after this, He would not have been thus designated, and would not only have been her “firstborn” but her only child. Again he says “Joseph know her not TILL she had brought forth her firstborn.” The only correct assumption is that they lived in the true marriage state after the birth of Jesus, and it was after Jesus’ birth that the others were born. To assume otherwise would be to destroy the genius of our language and the original as well. We prefer to believe Matthew. These men (James and Jude) like all other Bible writers, were eminently well qualified for their work, and their writings were accepted without question. ( PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT apne events in the life of Christ, and His teachings, were not left to the fallible memory of man, and no matter how well qualified they were, Christ told them that they would receive the Holy Spirit, which was God’s means of guarding them against errors and mistakes, and would serve better than their memories. “But the comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you.”—John 14:26. Fortified thus, we have more than man’s word in their writings. We have the Word of the Living God, as says the Scripture: “Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”—2-Peter 1:21. 32 THE BIBLE AN INFIDEL MISFIT A* before stated, the Bible is with us, and with us to stay. Now how did it come to us? First let us quote what that skeptical deist, Thomas Paine, said: | “These books, beginning with Genesis and ending with Revelation ... are, we are told, the word of God. It is therefore proper for us to know who told us so, that we may know what credit to give the report. The answer to this question is that nobody can tell. The case, how- ever, historically appears to be as follows: When the church mythologists established their system, they col- lected all the writings they could find and managed them as they pleased. It is a matter altogether of uncertainty as to whether such of the writings as now appear under the name of the Old and New Testaments, are in the same state in which those collectors say they found them, or whether they added, altered, abridged, or dressed them up. Be this as it may, they decided by vote which of the books out of the collection they had made should be the word of God, and which should not. They rejected sev- eral; they voted others to be doubtful, such as the books called the Apocrypha; and those books which had a ma- jority of the votes were voted to be the word of God.’— Paine’s “Age of Reason” Pages 16-17. It is a very common thing to read in infidel litera- ture, the statement that the Council of Nice, 325 A. D., compiled the New Testament Scriptures from among a great mass of so-called Gospels and epistles, some genuine, some spurious, and from known and un- known sources. Not being able to determine which were spurious and which genuine, they laid them all at one side, and after prayer, voted on the different documents, until they had selected the books found in our New Testament. This story has gone the rounds, until we find it, not only in their literature, but hear it from every infidel platform, and from the infidel misfits and soap 33 THE BIBLE box critics in public squares. Some so-called Chris- tians, (including so-called “liberals” and “Modern- ists”) take up this infidel lie and actually believe it, and thus the story gains credence until we find men all at sea on the question. In all seriousness we might ask these doubters and infidels—Who told you so? and answer that question by saying they lack knowledge of history and fact. This idea of the forming of the canon of Scrip- ture, originated with John Pappus, a minister of Strasburg, and professor of Munster, who died a few years after the beginning of the seventeenth century. He claimed to take his discovery from an old Greek manuscript, written in the dark ages (about 900 A. D.), no doubt the work of some old, apologetic faker. As drowning men grasp at straws, it was taken up by eighteenth century infidels and skeptics, such as Voltaire and Paine; also by the biased mind of Gib- bon, the infidel writer of “Decline and Fall of the ‘Roman Empire,’ notorious for his flagrant and un- just distortions of the history of early Christianity, and by no means a reliable historian—a man who was elevated to parliament in England; was paid a salary of $3500 to $4000 in a board of trade, which public indignation abolished, and who in a brazen manner, speaks of his disgrace as the “impairing of my personal freedom,” another way (some say) of telling of his having taken a bribe for his vote. How can we trust such a man to give us accurate history? Milman, in his preface to Gibbon’s History, warns against his perfidy and prejudice, by saying: “We may deplore the bias of his mind; we may our- selves be on our guard against the danger of being mis- led, and be anxious to warn less wary readers against the same peril.”—Page 10 34 TB L-BiLE EVIDENCE OF TIME AND- ETERNAL FITNESS E can do no better under this heading than to _ quote the words of Dr. B. B. Loomis, written almost forty years ago. He said: “The Bible has stood the test of time. Time tests all things. Beneath its gnawing tooth rocks dissolve, works of art decay and human forms bow low in death. Under its imperious sway the con- formation of the solid globe is continually chang- ing, the nations of the earth are waxing and waning and all human institutions are kept in perpetual un- rest and agitation; and yet amidst all these com- motions of the ages God’s Word remains, like Him- self, unchanged, unchangeable. “Not to go back to the oldest portions of this volume, which are contemporaneous with the be- ginnings of human literature, since the sacred canon closed how many and how vast are the changes which have gone on among men. Hardly one of the ancient powers is today extant. Not one of the present great and influential nations of the earth had then a being or a name. “America was undiscovered; England was in- habited by a race of half-naked savages, practising the bloody rites of the Druidical religion; France was ancient Gaul, an outlying province of the great Roman empire, and Germany, scholarly Germany was the home of barbarous tribes, worshipping Odin and Thor in the deep recesses of their gloomy forests. 1 “Now while these great nations have been com- ing to the front, how rapid and how great have been the strides of human progress. As the troubled sea casts up not only mire and dirt, but also its buried treasures, goodly pearls, and wondrous 35 THE BIBLE shells, and sparkling jewels, so have the agitations and commotions of the ages brought to light great discoveries, marvellous inventions, priceless helps to man in working out his highest destiny; and so rapid and so vast have been the steps of human progress along these ages, that again and again have scientific theories been remodelled, schemes of philosophy recast, human laws amended, re- pealed and re-enacted to meet the changed condi- tion and varying circumstances of mankind, and yet amidst all this, the science of salvation, as taught in the Holy Bible, has needed no remodel- ling; the philosophy of the plan of salvation is the same today as in the time of Paul—to the unitarian Jews a stumbling block, to the skeptical Greeks foolishness, but the power and the wisdom of God to every one that believeth; while the laws of the Bible are still that supreme “higher law” of which all just human laws are either exact copies or more or less perfect imitations. The Book stands the test of time; the race does not outgrow the religion of the Bible. “As a somewhat significant illustration of the widely differing effects of passing time upon God’s Book and man’s works let us compare these in the case of the Bible and the poems of Homer. This comparison is the more just for two or three rea- sons. First, the two works are in a certain sense contemporaneous, for the psalmist king wrote his immortal odes not far from the time when Homer sang his wondrous songs in the Greek cities. Sec- ondly critics have denied to the Bible any higher inspiration than that of human genius; and thirdly, Greek poetry held among that ancient people very much the same place as did the sacred Scriptures among the Jews; its maxims were accepted as the rule of life, and the examples of its heroes held up 36 THE BIBLE as worthy of imitation. Hence we find Paul on Mars Hill quoting not from the Hebrew prophet, but from an acknowledged authority with an Athe- nian audience, their ‘own poets, to prove that men are the offspring of God and that consequently the Godhead ought not to be likened to “gold or silver or stone graven by art or man’s device.” “Three thousand years ago the two works stood before the world on a comparative equality. But how stands the case today? Homer is read to be sure in every academic course, but why? As a model of epic verse, as a specimen of old Ionic Greek, as illustrative of manners and customs in that far-distant land and age—but as a rule of life? never; aS a standard of /human duty? never,.The race has altogether outgrown Homer as an ethical standard. “But the Bible! Never before was it so widely read, never so highly prized, never so generally obeyed. It stands the test of time. It proves itself a transcript of the eternal. “Secondly, this Book has stood the test of cri- ticism—a criticism by no means superficial, but the most searching and severe to which any work was ever subjected; a criticism not always friendly, but much of it bitterly hostile; a criticism not even impartial and candid, but often coming to its ex- amination, not to discover the truth, but to sustain foregone conclusions inimical to its authority. And vet, out from this severe, hostile and unfair ordeal the old Book has come as the pure gold comes from the assayer’s crucible, only shining the brighter for the fiery tests to which it has been subjected. The fiercest onsets of its foes have only enabled its friends the more triumphantly to vin- dicate its claims, and instances are not wanting where men who sat down to its examination avow- 37 THE BIBLE ed enemies, seeking only food for skepticism have found that which they did not seek, even the bread of eternal life; and those who purposed to write against the Book ridiculing its pretensions and denying its authority, have been compelled as hon- est men to admit their deep conviction that the Bible is God’s own Book. A little more than one hundred years since, two English gentlemen, both of skeptical tendencies, Lord George Lyttleton and Mr. Gilbert West, agreed together that they would each select one of the improbable stories of the Bible and show their untrustworthiness. “Lord Lyttleton chose as his topic the story of Paul’s conversion, but as he studied the facts pre- paratory to writing his treatise, the same Jesus met him “in the way,’ and a light such as he had never before seen shone into his heart, and he finally wrote his book for, not against Christianity, and his “Observations on the Conversion and Apostleship of St. Paul,’ it has been said by a high authority, “constitutes of itself a demon- stration sufficient to prove Christianity a divine revelation.” “Mr. West selected the record of Christ’s resur- rection, and his studies resulted in a similar out- come. The well attested facts carried conviction to his mind and he, too, became a believer in and defender of the faith of the Gospel. “Thus invulnerable 1s this Book to the onsets of destructive criticism, and it is a marvellous fact, showing not only its intrinsic truthfulness, but also God’s watchful care over it during all the ages, that the critical labors expended upon it by both friends and foes, correcting the various readings, rejecting interpolations, etc., down to the very last revision, have failed to change one single doctrine or fundamental truth, and the old Book teaches 38 THE BIBLE today just what it has always taught on all the great questions of human duty ‘and destiny of which it speaks. “The French infidel Voltaire boasted that though it took twelve men to set up the Christian religion, he single-handed and alone would pull it down; but the poor man could not prevent his room in Geneva from being used after his death as a Bible depository, for the distribution of the Book he hated. The apostate Roman .emperor Julian, after having tried in vain to crush Chris- tianity with his great power, died at last crying out, “O Galilean, Thou hast conquered’; so at the last shall all the enemies of the Bible be covered with shame and confusion of face, while this Book shall stand, the guide and comforter of sorrowing men through all time, and the saints’ eternal title- deed-to His glorious mansion on high.” NEW TESTAMENT EVIDENCE OW what are the facts? ‘The entire Bible, New Testament included, was accepted by Christians before the beginning of the second century, while some of the Apostles and their converts were still living. We have in the New Testament itself, all the evidence we require, but we shall give more. The Apostle Paul, in his letter to Timothy, quotes two passages, one from the Old Testament: “Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn.”—Deut. 25:4. and another from the New Testament — “The laborer is worthy of his hire.”-—-Luke 10:7. Now note that Paul takes these two texts, one found in the Old Testament and the other found only in St. Luke’s Gospel, and nowhere else, joins them, and places BOTH on the same basis, as Scrip- ture, as follows: “For the Scripture saith—Thou shalt not muzzle the 39 THE BIBLE EARLY CHRISTIANS WORSHIPPING IN THE CATACOMBS THE BIBLE ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The laborer is worthy of his reward.’—1-T7Tim. 5:18. Is it not clear from this, that when Paul wrote his epistle to Timothy, about A. D. 65, the book of Luke was already regarded as Scripture, and of equal standing with the Old Testament? Now with one more stroke let us show that all the epistles of Paul, from \/tomans to Hebrews inclu- sive, fourteen books out of twenty-seven of the whole New Testament, were received as SCRIPTURE, and equal to the Old Testament, long before the death of the Apostle Peter. “Even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of things which are hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the OTHER SCRIP- TURES—2-Peter, 3:15-16. Pius ele sin, wear Ar WOO) only. slew years after Christ’s ascension, places the seal of his apostle- ship on Paul’s entire contribution to the New Testa- ment; calls it all Scripture as he does the Old Testa- ment; and shows indeed, that 35 years after Christ left the earth, nearly, if not all of the New Testament, except Revelation, which was written about A. D. 96, was received on a par with that Scripture (The Old Testament) which Timothy learned in his childhood days. Paul, writing to him said. “That from a child thou hast known the Holy Scrip- tures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”—2-Tim. 3:15. The book of Revelation was accepted, as were the others, shortly after it was written. CLEMENT OF ROME New a little historical evidence may help us to appreciate the foregoing. Let us first notice the letters. of Clement of Rome, to the Church of Corinth. Clement lived contemporary with some of the Apostles. Al T:H-E Bb TELE ~~ SIMPLICITY OF MANNER OF WORSHIP BY EARLY CHRISTIANS Some forms and ceremonies with their accompanying pomp and display, seen in present day churches were entirely un- known in the worship of the early Christians; while yet other customs and practices observed now were known to the early churches as being wholly pagan in origin, and were not a part of their worship or their religious customs. They accepted the Bible and like many today repudiated all else as a guide and foundation. 42 | | THE BIBLE Paul names him as his fellow laborer, in Philippians 4:3. He (Clement) lived in Rome when the beloved John lived in Ephesus. The epistles of Clement to the Corinthians have been translated into English and lie before me as I write. Knowing Paul, he must also have known the writings which we now call the New Testament, if they existed when he wrote, about A. D. 75; and that he did is evidenced by the fact that he not only quotes copiously from the Old Testament, but also from the New. He names Peter, Luke, John and James; quotes from the Acts of the Apostles, from Jude, Titus, Timothy, Thessalonians, Romans, Corinthians, Hebrews, James and Peter. These letters of Clement, which have been pre- served to us, fully confirm the statement previously made, that BEFORE 100 A. D., the New and Old Testaments, with the possible exception of the Book of Revelation, were used in all the churches, just as we have them today, and no doubt the Book of Revelation was in circulation among the churches before 100 A. D. also. ee RN Ee OLYCARP, who was a friend of John, born A. D. 70, and who was martyred for his faith in Christ, about A. D. 156, by being burned to death, knew as did Clement, the writings composing the New Testament Scriptures. Polycarp wrote several letters to the churches, a translation of one of which lies before me. It is a beautiful document, well written, and full of truth. In it he speaks of the Gospels as “Oracles of God.” He quotes from Matthew, John, Paul and Peter. We find quotations also from Luke, Acts of the Apostles, Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, Timothy and Titus. Polycarp was thirty years old in A. D. 100, and was twenty- six years old when John wrote the book of Revelation, 43 THE BIBLE the last book of the Bible. His life extended over half of the second century, until 156 A. D., when, at the age of 86, he was brutally martyred by the en- emies of Christ and the Bible. The Bible as we have it today, was complete and used in all the churches before this man was thirty years old; that is before too A. D., over 225 years before the Council of Nice. Does the honest skeptic wish any better evidence than these two men, who lived before the end of the first century and were personally acquainted with some of the New Testament writers? PAPIAS OUND in the same volume with the Epistles of Clement and Polycarp, I have the translation of the fragments of the writings of Papias; who was born about A. D. 60. The “Introductory notes” to the fragments of Papias, say, and correctly so, that he was well acquainted with the Scriptures. Papias was bishop of the church in Hierapolis, which church Paul mentions in Colossians 4:13. He was a friend of Polycarp, and surely a hearer, if not a disciple of the apostle John. He also suffered mar- tyrdom. This man was born about 265 YEARS BE- FORE THE COUNCIL OF NICE, and he knew John and Andrew and the family of Philip, as well as the friends of the Apostles. This man quotes from the New Testament. He bears testimony to the inspiration of the Book of Revelation. He says Mark wrote a Gospel and “made no mistake.” He says Matthew also wrote “oracles” in Hebrew. The following paragraph is very illuminating. He says: “If, then, anyone who had attended on the Elders 44 THE BIBLE came, I asked minutely after their sayings,—what Andrew or Peter said, or what was said by Philip or Thomas, or by James, or by John, or by Matthew, or by any other of the Lord’s disciples: which things Aristan and the presbyter John, the disciples of the Lord say. For I imagined that what was to be got from BOOKS was not so profitable to me as what came from the living and abiding voice.” (Caps ours.) What an array of New Testament writers he mentions. And the “books” !—Can he refer to others than the books containing the words of those he men- tions? Of course, he means New Testament “books”. So we find Papias knew John and Andrew; also Philip’s daughters, personally, (Eusebius Eccl. Hist.). He refers to the “Oracles” of Mark and Matthew. He says Revelation is inspired. Moreover, he is said to have written of the “Mil- lennium,” mentioned ONLY in Revelation, the “re- surrection of the dead,” and Christ’s second coming. What amazing proofs that the New Testament was then in existence—before 100 A. D.—including even the Book of Revelation! Can any critic ask stronger proof? Three first century characters are here named who knew and used the New Testament, and quoted from it as the ios of God. O, the blindness, the dullness of un- elief! OTHER EARLY WRITERS ERTULLIAN, before A. D. 200, quotes more than 3,000 New Testament passages, and says: “If you are willing to exercise your curiosity profitably in the business of your salvation, visit the apostolic churches ... in them, their (the Apostles’) very authen- tic letters are recited, sounding forth the voice and rep- resenting the countenances of every one of them. Is Achaia near you? You have Corinth. If you are not far from Macedonia you have Philippi and Thessalonica; If you go to Asia you have Ephesus, but if you are near Italy, you have Rome.” Tertullian against Heretics, S. 36. Origen, over one hundred years before the Council of Nice, quoted more than 5,500 New Testament pas-' 45 THE BIBLE sages. He also wrote a Commentary on the book of Revelation. Indeed, all but a few passages of the entire New Testament are found in the letters of the early church writers, before the Council of Nice (325 A. D.), which have been handed down to us. Take the writings of the so-called early church Fathers; ignore if you wish their teachings; grant that their testi- mony in points of doctrine is worthless, because of the corrupt state of the church at the time, and that much that they wrote was false or interpolated, and still they are the undisputed works of the first two or three centuries and stand as history at least when they quote that which purports to have been written before their time, if such quotations are true to the then existing documents. Charles Leach, the author of the work entitled “Our Bible,” is authority for the fol- lowing: “Many years ago, says Thomas Cooper, a party of scholarly men met at a dinner party. During the conver- sation, some one put a question which no one present was able to answer: The question was this: ‘Suppose that the New Testament had been destroyed and every copy of it lost by the end of third century, could it have been collected together again from the writings of the second and third centuries?’ “The question startled the company, but. all were silent. Two months afterward one of the company called upon Sir David Dalrymple, who had been present at the din- Beh: Pointing to a table covered with books, Sir David Salad: ‘Look at those books. You remember the question about the New Testament and the fathers? That question roused my curiosity, and as I am possessed of all the existing works of the fathers of the second and third centuries, I COMMENCED TO SEARCH, AND UP TO THIS TIME, I HAVE FOUND THE ENTIRE NEW TESTAMENT, EXCEPT ELEVEN VERSES’,” The testimony thus far advanced weighs mightily in favor of the fact that the New Testament was known and used by the churches before the end of 46 THE BIBLE the first century, and long years before the council of Nice, where infidels, Catholics and others claim the New Testament canon was first established. More testimony might be added, but enough has been given to establish our point, that the New Testa- ment, as we have it today, was written by the men whose names the books bear; and enough also to shatter the infidel yarns about men voting at certain councils upon which books should be received as Holy Scripture. SPURIOUS DOCUMENTS AUL said a falling away would come among Christians, and added “The mystery of iniquity doth already work,” and soon after the death of the Apostles, this departing from the faith came. De- signing men claimed to be converted to Christianity, only for personal gain. Paul said: “For I know this, that after my departing shall griev- ous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock; “Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking per- verse things to draw away disciples after them.” —Acts 20:29-30. To study the history of the early church, after the death of the last New Testament writer, is nauseat- ing in the extreme, and shows plainly, that the Apos- tle, when he uttered these words, had more than human foresight; that he was inspired of God. After the second century, hundreds of spurious documents appeared, and many forgeries were palmed off as genuine, until there was a perfect babel of voices crying, oe-here’ and) “Lo -there:) Among. these spurious writings which have been translated into our tongue, (many of which lie before me as I write) are the insane ravings of Hermas; the forged epistle of Barnabas; the much mutilated and interpolated epistle of Ignatius; the so-called Infancy of Jesus, with its 47 THE BIBLE swaddling clothes relics; a bewitched man changed into a mule and the mule into a man again; ““Thomas’ Gospel,” with it’s ludicrous fables of Christ’s boy- hood; the Gospel of the birth of Mary; the so-called Apostles’ Creed, (which by the way, the Apostles never saw) and numerous others. Getting down to.cold facts—it is positively miracu- lous that the Bible came to us so pure, so uncon- taminated and perfect and free from these forged and lying epistles. The very fact that it is here today, after the lapse of centuries of darkness, error, : delusion and literary fraud, is in itself evidence of its divine authorship. “Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”—2-Peter 1:21. | God wrote it. God preserved it. All over the world, in museums, convents and monasteries, hidden for centuries, are the old versions and documents, shaking off the dust and mould of ages, arising to vindicate that Word. Wherever the spade of the ex- plorer in Bible lands pierces the soil of Bible days, new revelations are springing forth to say: “Let God be true and every man a liar.” Having firmly established the reliability and au- thenticity of the New Testament Scriptures up to the middle of the third century, we shall next consider the Old Testament; after which, we shall proceed to show the sterling stability and historicity of the entire Bible, passing through the ages, from the time of Christ and His Apostles down to our latest English versions. MOSES, JONAH, AND DANIEL [NF IDELITY and higher criticism have fired their biggest guns at Moses, Jonah and Daniel, the very books that are backed by the word of Jesus Christ, Himself. 48 al THE BIBLE It seems right, therefore, before giving historical evidence for the antiquity of the Old Testament, that these books should be briefly considered. MOSES The books of Moses, frequently called the Law or Pentateuch, are the five known as Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. These books have always been held in special reverence by the Israelites since their entrance into the Promised Land (Palestine), and were never questioned before the Babylonian captivity. After the captivity, the law of Moses was read to the people, by Ezra, as recorded in Nehemiah 8:1-9. This was about B. C. 447. These same books were incorporated into the Septuagint, at least 280 years before Christ. Christ refers to these books in these words: “Had ye believed Moses ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.”—John 5:46 As to what Moses wrote in Genesis, there can be no question. Taking the events therein set forth as history alone, or from the standpoint of family tra- dition, they stand far more firmly than the writings of © any one of the Greek or Roman philosophers or his- torians, which were written many centuries later. The life of one man, spans the gap from Adam to Noah. Methuselah lived for years contemporary with both Adam and Noah. Shem knew both Noah and Abraham; and Isaac, the son of Abraham, ‘knew Joseph. Here we have three men, Methuselah, Shem, and Isaac, connecting the first man with Joseph, the first of Israel’s sons to go mto Egypt. Aside from this, which of itself is enough to prove the correctness of the Mosaic record in Genesis, we have the fact that. Moses was a prophet—yes, more than a prophet—for we read: 49 THE BIBLE re WADE " ip mn A a THE SAMARITAN PENTATEUCH which the Samaritans claim was written by Aaron. It is of unquestioned antiquity. 50 THE BIBLE “And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. “My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. “With him I will speak mouth to mouth, even appar- ently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold; wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”—Nuimbers 12:6-8. The infidel argument, that the art of writing, was unknown in the time of Moses, is absurd. Just a few passing remarks will shatter such a foolish conten- tion. Archeologists have brought to light, thousands of written specimens, antedating Moses by hundreds of years. In Ninevah, Southern Chaldea and Egypt, the very stones are crying out against this infidel lie. In the ruins of the royal palace of Esarhaddon, in Ninevah, more than twenty thousand stone books were brought to light during the nineteenth century. Among these were some from Ur of the Chaldeans, written probably in the days of Abraham, the very names, Noah, Abraham and Job are found among them. M. de Sarzec, the French scholar, found no less than thirty thousand of these stone books in Southern Chaldea. Many of these were written before the days of Moses. This explodes the foolish infidel lie, that writing was unknown when Moses lived. In the year 1901, M. de Morgan, discovered at Susa, in Persia, (the famous “Shushan the Palace’ referred to by Nehemiah), a remarkable monument of early writing, dating at least 500 years before the time that Moses lived. It is a pillar or monument of black stone or diorite, eight feet high. It contains the laws of King Hammurabi, who lived perhaps con- temporary with Abraham. The writing is in wedge- 51 THE BIBLE shaped characters representing syllables. This won- derful monument is now at the Louvre in Paris. In the British Museum may be seen those much discussed Tell-el-Amarna tablets, covered with writing in cuneiform characters, dating back at least one hundred years before the time of Moses. It is enough to. know that Jesus taught that Moses wrote the things found in the first five books of the Bible, for He said: “He wrote of Me.” Jesus said this a number of times—See Mark 10:5, Mark 12:19, John 5:46 Moses was educated in Egypt, the then seat of learning, art and science. More need not be said on this point, except that Christ unequivocally endorses the writings of Moses, as do all of the New Testament writers. JONAH E shall briefly consider the Book of Jonah. The Book of Jonah is not a fable or mythological tale, because Christ Jesus tells us, first, that Jonah was a real person; second, that he was swallowed by a sea monster; and third, that he preached to the people of Ninevah. Christ said: “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. “The men of Ninevah shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it; because they repented at the preaching of Jonas and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.”—Matt. 12:40, 41. Here Jesus relates in brief, the facts before set forth, and gives His endorsement to the Book of Jonah. The infidel quibble is on what they are pleased to call the “whale story.” The ignorant statement, that a whale’s throat is so small that it could not swallow one of Jonah’s feet, 52 THE BIBLE is an index to the mental caliber of these Bible critics. There are many species of whales. The Greenland whale, alone, has a small throat. The great sperm whale, the whale found in the Mediterranean Sea, according to Curvier, in his “Regne Animal,” has a throat of such capacity that he could with the greatest ease, swallow several men. We do not say it was a whale that swallowed Jonah, neither does the Bible say so. The word trans- lated ‘‘whale” in Matt. 12:40, should be rendered “‘sea monster”; but granting, for argument sake, that it was a whale, there would be nothing unreasonable about that transaction. The New York World of April 12th, 1896, quoted from the French Journal des Debats the words of M. Henri de Parville, Scientific Editor, who was accustomed to weighing evidence with care, and reaching conclusions only when the facts had been thoroughly investigated and found true. M. Henri de Parville said: “TI have already remarked in these columns that gi- gantic stomachs over two meters in diameter have been found in whales. The whale belonging to the Prince of Monaco, which died the other day, had in its intestines many hundred kilograms of fishes. Even Goliath could not have weighed more than that, to say nothing of Jonah.” M. de Parville remarked that the accounts given “by the captain and crew of the English whaler (next page) are worthy of belief. There are many cases reported where whales in their dying agony have swallowed human beings, but this is the first modern case where the victim came forth safe... . After this illustration I end by believing that Jonah did come out from the whale alive.” The story which has received the support of one of the most careful scientists in Europe is as follows: 53 THE BIBLE “On the twenty-fifth of August, 1895, the lookout on the ‘Star of the East’ sighted two enormous whales. The steamer gave chase, and came within half a mile of one of them. Two boats were lowered and rowed toward the animal. Bartley’s boat was nearer and from it was fired a bomb lance which struck the whale in a vital part. The sailors backed water, but were not quick enough, for the monster seized the boat and smashed it. The sailors leaped into the water. Bartley, who had been steering, was thrown up with the stern. His comrades in the other boat saw him leap, but unfortunately, the whale threw himself forward, and the man struck within the jaws, which closed over him. “The men in the water were picked up by the other boat. The whale was killed and brought alongside the steamer, and work of removing the blubber was begun. A day and a night were consumed in the operation. Fi- nally they opened the stomach, and there they found Bartley. He was unconscious. “They laid him upon the deck and began to rub his limbs, which were purple and besmeared with blood. They gave him brandy, and he regained consciousness, but his reason was gone. For three weeks he remained in this condition, raving and calling upon heaven to save him from the furnace in which he imagined himself being consumed. After awhile all hallucinations wore away. When his comrades asked him what had been his impres- sions while in the stomach of the whale, he said: ‘I remember from the moment that I jumped and felt my feet strike some soft substance. I looked up and saw a canopy of pink and white descending, and the next moment felt myself drawn downward feet first, and real- ized that I was being swallowed by a whale. I was drawn lower and lower; a wall of flesh hemmed me in, yet the pressure was not painful, and the flesh gave way before my slightest movement. ‘Suddenly I found myself in a sack much larger than my body, completely dark. Soon I felt a great pain in my head, and my breathing became difficult. At the same time I felt a terrible heat; it seemed to consume me, and I believed I was going to be broiled alive. ‘The thought that I was to perish in the belly of a whale tormented me beyond endurance, while the awful 54 THE BIBLE silence weighed me down. I tried to rise, to cry out. All action was now impossible, but my brain seemed ab- normally clear, and with a full comprehension of my fate, I lost consciousness.’ “Bartley’s general health is good, but his skin still retains a peculair bluish tinge, which seems indelible, and which was undoubtably caused by the action of the gas- tric juice in the whale’s stomach. The truth of this extra- ordinary adventure is vouched for by the sailors and captain of the ‘Star of the East’.” The Bible Champion contains the following para- graph from Prof. L. T. Townsend, in proof that a man weighing one hundred and seventy pounds passed through the throat of a whale: “So far, therefore, as the Hebrew and Greek words are concerned, the highest criticism makes it perfectly clear that the fish that swallowed Jonah may have been a shark, a sea serpent, a sea lion, or any other large monster of the deep. And even if the skeptic insists that the word whale should be used, still one need not suffer embarrassment, for while it is true that the Wright whale has a throat of small size, the sperm whale has a throat sufficiently large to swallow a man without the least difficulty. There is not a shipmaster or a sailor who has been on a whaling voyage who will question the statement made by one of the crew of a New Bedford, Massachusetts, whale ship, that he, though a man of large build, weighing one hundred and seventy pounds, fre- quently had passed through the mouth and throat of a dead sperm whale. He says he did this after the head of the whale had been cut off from the body, and when the jaws jand smallest part of the throat had been taken on deck.” We have already proven that Jesus Christ believed the story of Jonah, and used it as an illustration of His death, burial and resurrection. He took a very active part in the experience through which Jonah passed, and His word based on personal knowledge, ends all controversy and doubt. Aside from this it must be noted that the Scrip- ms THE BIBLE tures say,—“The Lord prepared a great fish to swal- low Jonah,” and, as before stated, the word whale, in Matt. 12:40, in the original is “sea monster.” The objector, ought to know, that the whale is not a fish, but is essentially a mammal as a cow or a horse. Clearly then, as the Scriptures say Jonah was swal- lowed by a great fish, it could not have been a whale. There are, no doubt, great fish in the ocean which have never been seen by man, as is evidenced by many recent discoveries in the Atlantic and Pacific, as well as other waters. On the next page, we give a photographic reprint of a giant fish captured by Capt. C. H. Thompson, of the yacht “Samoa,” in 1916. It took two full days and one night to safely land this monster, which weighed 30,000 Ibs., and is the only one of its kind ever captured or known to the scientific world. “Its immense size can be seen when compared with the man who stands at its head in the picture, and yet this is apparently only a baby of the family, as it was ob- served that the backbone was of a cartilaginous nature, a condition found only in young creatures. In a full grown one this develops into true bone. Its small eyes, about the, size of a silver dollar, indicated that it was a deep sea fish. It is estimated that this fish lived at a great depth, perhaps fifteen hundred to two thousand feet below the surface.” It is believed that this fish was driven up by a volcanic eruption and that owing to the difference in water pressure, the swim-bladder burst making it im- possible to return to his level. It measured forty-five feet in length, and twenty- three feet nine mches in circumference. Its hide was three inches thick. The liver alone weighed seven- teen hundred pounds, and the entire fish weighed thirty thousand pounds. 56 i sit el et et te ee THE BIBLE Mammoth Sea Monster Captured (1916) by Captain C. H. Thompson. Weight 30,000 pounds. It was 45 feet long, and 238 feet, 9 inches in circumference. Only a baby of its family at that. xa 57 THE BIBLE This fish was prepared and mounted by J. S. Warmbeth. As to its swallowing capacity; the pic- ture itself illustrates that point. The foregoing is given simply to show how very little we all know about the great deep and how shal- low must be the minds of the doubters of Holy Writ. Notwithstanding all that has been said, and no matter what discoveries shall still be made, the mi- raculous element must not be eliminated. God, who created man, “prepared a great fish’ capable of swal- lowing Jonah. The fact that Jonah was swallowed by a great fish, is a miracle of such small consequence as compared with the fact that a whole city the size of ancient Ninevah repented in three days, that infidels ought to be ashamed to mention the fact. - That the Book of Jonah is not a fable, or a wild tale, relating something that is impossible or unbeliev- ~ able, but that it is altogether reasonable and probable, was the contention of Mr. E J. Sewell, a thinker, sci- entific investigator and scholar of London, who was awarded the 1923 Gunning Prize for his essay on the Book of Jonah, by the Victoria Institute. This prize is awarded “only to convincing discussions and orig- inal discoveries and ideas,’ by the Institute, which investigates impartially important questions of a phil- osophical nature. The New York World Magazine, June 22, 1924, contained a two-page article on the subject, with pho- tographs and sketches, among which was one of a man in a whale’s mouth, and from the appearance of the roomy opening, several more might have gotten inside. Mr. Brennecke, the author of the article, re- lating the awarding of the Gunning Prize, says of the gentleman whose defence of the Book of Jonah won him the prize: 58 THE BIBLE “Mr Sewell is not the first man to defend the Book of Jonah on a literal and commonsense basis. Earlier apolo- gists have pointed to narratives according to which THE GIGANTIC SHARK KNOWN AS CARCHARIAS HAS BEEN KNOWN TO SWALLOW A MAN OR EVEN A HORSE WHOLE—EVEN TO HAVE VOMITED UP A TUNNY FISH AND THE UNDECOMPOSED BODY OF A SAILOR. Dr. Eichorn, a well known Ger- man Biblical scholar relates that a whale, after taking a sailor in its jaws, immediately of its own accord threw him out again and he was picked up alive and only slightly injured.” He also relates the case of James Bartley. As it is said by those who know more about sea monsters than quibbling infidels and doubting critics do, that, the mouth of a huge whale sometimes measures “20 feet long, 10 feet high and 10 feet wide,” no sensible person will doubt that a whale could have swallowed Jonah. As the original word used, however, denotes “sea monster,” it may have been a great fish; one of_the shark family, or some other creature of the deep. It is possible, probable, reasonable. The Book of Jonah tells the truth. DANIEL OW concerning the Book of Daniel, we have a suspicion that the infidel and higher critic tries to dispose of this book as spurious, because Daniel, as no other prophet, gives facts and figures so true to subsequent history, that to grant that this book was written by Daniel, would destroy the whole fabric of infidelity and higher criticism. Daniel definitely locates the very year of the Mes- siah’s coming,—tells the history of the nations from Babylon to the present divided state of Europe, so accurately that his inspiration is forever settled, hence the infidel’s anxiety to get rid of the Book of Daniel. 59 THE BIBLE So true to facts are the prophecies of Daniel that, late writers have echoed the words of Porphyry, who lived in the third century after Christ, that the book of Daniel is history and not prophecy.* One argu- ment used against this book is, that it was written in two different languages—the Aramaic, (known too, as the Syriac or Chaldean), and in the Hebrew. Before the Babylonian captivity, the Jews understood Hebrew only. That this is true, may be proven by the speech of Rab-shakeh, in 2-Kings 18:26, when he was re- quested to speak in the Syriac, which the nobles un- derstood but not the people generally. After the captivity of the Jews, many of them had lost their distinctive Hebrew tongue and learned the language of the Babylonians, the Syriac or Aramaic. The evidence of this is found in the fact that at the reading of the law by Ezra, the Levites had to inter- pret it to the people, because many of them had lost the Hebrew language during the captivity. See Nehemiah 8:7,8 THIS FACT ALONE (THE USE OF THESE TWO LANGUAGES) PROVES THAT IT WAS WRITTEN IN BABYLON, DURING THE CAPTIVITY. There are no objections to the book of Daniel that have not been fully answered over and over again, and today these writings are established as authentic, and no person can read them without believing in their absolute infallibility. Daniel is the great infidel- killer of the Bible. More infidels have renounced their infidelity through reading Damel than from any other source. Christ endorses the book of Daniel in these words. “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of deso- *Read FACTS AND FIGURES, Price 10c.; and RISE AND FALL OF NATIONS, Price 25e. by the Author of this. 60 THE BIBLE lation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand)” —Matt. 24:15. The Christian is satisfied with this endorsement by Christ, and the infidel need only read the book of Daniel and compare it with history to lose his in- fidelity. { THE, SEPEUAGINE Q)N E point historically certain, is that the Old Tes- tament, as we have it today, was known and accepted as the Sacred Scriptures, by the Jews, at the least calculation, over 280 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. Ptolemy Philadelphus, whom Tertullian called “the most learned of his race, a man of vast acquaintance with all literature” (Tertullian’s works—V ol. 1-88-89), ordered the Hebrew Scriptures translated into Greek, not only for the purpose of acquainting the Egyptians with the Hebrew traditions, but to satisfy the many Jews in his realm, who had in early days become Greek in speech, practically forgetting their own na- tional tongue. This translation is called the Septu- agint, for as its name implies, it was translated by seventy learned men, sent by the Jews to Alexandria at the request of this ruler. Not one of our present Old Testament books is missing from this translation, and no books except those of our present Old Testament are included. All of our 39 books of the Old Testament were reckoned by the Jews as only 22. What appear as separate books in our Bibles, were in some instances combined as one book. For example, the books of the Jewish Scriptures were reckoned as follows: 61 THE BIBLE Pirst-— POE sCA Wowie a ea pee ee Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy setond— PAM sPRO PH Ets see ohne The Former Prophets Joshua Judges Samuel (Ist and 2nd books) Kings (lst and 2nd books) The Latter Prophets Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Minor Prophets Micah Counted as one Nahum Among the Jews Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi Third—THE HAGIOGRAPHA, OR LOLA VSWR ACN G Ste seas teste eee Psalms Proverbs Job Songs of Solomon Ruth Lamentations Ecclesiastes Esther Daniel Ezra- Nehemiah (counted as one) Chronicles (Ist and 2nd books) TOTAL 62 5 books 8 books 11 books 24 books THE BIBLE Twenty-four was the true number of the Jewish Scriptural Books, but the Jews counted them as only twenty-two to make them correspond with the num- ber of letters in the Hebrew Alphabet. It will be observed, however, that these twenty- four books, or as the Jews called them twenty-two, are exactly like, and contain all the matter found in our books which we number thirty-nine. THE APOCRYPHA HE question is often asked——‘“Why is not the Apocrypha included in the Protestant Bible as well as in the Catholic Bible?’ The word Apocrypha is a Greek word, and means “secret,” “hidden,” or “obscure.” This name was probably adopted because no one can trace all of these books to their source, for the authors of most of them are unknown; and that is true, too, of the times in which they were written. One thing is certain, and that is, that they were never received by the Jews as a part of their sacred Scriptures. The book of Mac- cabees is history, and very good history, but does not pretend to be written as Scripture, or Holy Scripture. Maccabees may be treated as we treat Herodotus, Tacitus, Gibbon, Bancroft, or any other history, but not as a part of Holy Writ. These Apocryphal books were not accepted by Christ or His apostles. There are in the New Testament, about 633 references to the Old Testa- ment, of which there are 263 actual quotations, BUT NOT ONE FROM THE APOCRYPHA. They (the Apocryphal writings) are found in the Vatican Manuscript, which was written in the fourth century, but there is no evidence that they were ever 63 THE BIBLE received by any of the early churches or by the Jews before the fourth century. By combining some of the Old Testament books, of which we have 39, the Jews counted only 22, as before stated, and these which included all of our Old Testament, the Jews received as inspired, just as we do.~ Josephus says on this point: “We have not an innumerable multitude of bodks among us, disagreeing from and contradicting one an- other (as the Greeks have), but only twenty-two books, which contain the record of all the past times; which are justly believed to be divine; and how firmly we have given credit to those books of our own nation is evident by what we do; for during so many ages as have already passed, no one has been so bold as either to add anything to them, to take anything from them, or to make any change in them.”—Against Apion, book 1, section 8. Therefore it must be accepted as a fact that when Josephus wrote, although the Apocryphal books might have been, and in all probability were, known, they were not received as on a par with the Holy Scriptures which we now call the Old Testament. Josephus was born A. D. 37, and wrote sometime after the destruc- tion of Jerusalem, which occurred in A. D. 70. It is generally supposed that the Apocryphal books were included in the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint) made about 280 years B. C., but this is also a mistake, for Cyril of Jeru- salem, who was born about the year 315 A. D., speak- ing of the books of the Septuagint says: “Read the divine Scriptures—namely, the twenty-two books of the Old Testament which the seventy-two inter- preters translated.” (That is the Greek rendering known as the Septuagint.) It is evident, therefore, that even as late as the days of Cyril, the Apocryphal books were not con- sidered as sacred literature or as part of Scriptures. No reasoning man, who reads these books we call the Apocrypha, would for one minute think of placing 64 THE BIBLE them on a par with the Old Testament. They were incorporated into the Catholic canon of Scripture at the Council of Trent, April 8th, 1546. This council was presided over by the Pope, and as Tradition stands on an equality with the Bible with that church, they, of course, received them as equal with the or- iginal and authentic Bible books The Apocrypha was repudiated by the Greek Church A. D. 363 (Council of Laodicea) and the use of these writings forbidden in the Churches. The names of these books are almost enough to condemn them. They are as follows: 1—Esdras 2—Esdras Tobit Judith * Esther, parts not Fouitd in the Hebrew or Chaldee original. Wisdom of Solomon Ecclesiasticus Baruch Song of the Three Holy Children History of Susanna Bel and the Dragon Prayer of Manasses 1—Maccabees 2—Maccabees Nearly every doctrine of Catholicism that is hate- ful to Protestants is taught in these books, and with- out them and other traditional works of doubtful au- thenticity, or with the Bible alone, Catholicism could not exist. We, of course, accept the two books of Macca- bees as history, but not in points of doctrine, for when they were written the Jews had departed from God and had imbibed much of heathenism in their religious belief. As history, they record facts and 65 THE BIBLE events as do other histories, and it is quite natural to expect references to the false ideas prevalent among the Jews at the time when they were written. We. accept the history, as such, while we ignore the doctrinal teaching. | Going over these books of the Apocrypha we find so much evidence of error, fraud and false doctrine, that they seem entirely out of place between the lids of that Sacred Book we call the Bible. In the book of Tobit, there is much unbelievable nonsense, as _al- so, in the other books of the Apocrypha. In chapter five of this book, an angel is made to lie to Tobit. In chapter six, is given a fish story that no man with reason could possibly believe, and the angel is quoted as saying to Tobit the following: “Take out the entrails of this fish, and lay up his heart, and his gall, and his liver for thee: for these are neces- sary for useful medicines.”—Verse 5. When Tobit asked the angel what these remedies were good for, the angel is quoted as saying: “If thou put a little piece of its heart upon coals, the smoke thereof driveth away all kinds of devils, either from man or from woman, so that they come no more to them. “And the gall is good for anointing the eyes, in which there is a white speck, and they shall be cured.” —Verses 8 and 9. The foregoing is only a sample of the ridiculous nonsense contained in this book. It was perhaps the work of some superstitious person who was anxious to display extreme piety, of which he knew very little. It is entirely contrary to the Gospel message of grace, for in chapter twelve, the writer teaches salvation by works as follows: “Prayer is good with fasting and alms, more than to lay up treasures of gold: “For alms delivereth from death, and the same is that which purgeth away sins, and maketh to find mercy and life everlasting.”—Verses 8 and 9. 66 THE BIBLE Then there is the book of Ecclesiasticus. This book must not be confused with the book of Ecclesi- astes written by Solomon. Ecclesiasticus is an Apoc- ryphal writing. The author is not known, although it is claimed that it was written by Jesus, the son of Sirach. In the prologue to the book is evidence that. condemns it from ever-taking a place among the sacred writings of Jews or Christians It does not even purport to be anything other than another person’s reflections on the Law and the Pro- phets of the Jewish Scriptures. It is supposed to have been found by its writer and translated by him. The book is worthless as literature and wholly unworthy of a place in the sacred canon, although it contains some excellent counsel. It cannot be accepted as Sacred Scripture in any sense of the word. All of the Apocryphal books are of the same fan- ciful order, and not one of them is worthy to be received as Holy Scripture. They do not compare with those thirty-nine books which make up our Old Testament. The book of Maccabees was written sometime after the death of Antiochus Epiphanes, who cruelly perse- cuted the Jews, captured Jerusalem, desecrated the Temple, set up a statue of Jupiter therein, and offered swine on the sacred altar. He also forbade the cir- cumcision of the Jewish children, crucified the mothers who had their children circumcised, and slew the chil- dren; besides this, he abolished the daily evening and morning sacrifice for 1100 days. Counting two sacri- fices (evening and morning) each day, he thus ful- filled the prophecy of Daniel which says: “Unto two thousand, three hundred, evenings, morn- ings, then shall the Sanctuary be cleansed.”—Daniel 8:14. “2200 Evening, mornings,” is the correct render- ing. The word “days” is not found in the original, 67 THE BIBLE and by supplying the word sacrifices, all is made clear. After the 2200 evening and morning sacrifices had been discontinued, Judas Maccabees returned and cleansed the sanctuary; and the Jews to this day observe the Feast of Lights in remembrance of the cleansing of the sanctuary. The books of Maccabees are good history, but that is the best that can be said of them. The Jews, at that time, had greatly departed from the faith of their fathers and were already practising much error, as prayers for the dead and the like (2-Maccabees 12:43,44). To place these books in the canon of Holy Scripture, would be to sanction-these errors, and con- tradict the authentic Scriptures. More need not be said on this point. The Apocry- phal books must be rejected as Scripture today, as they were up until a fallen church, seeking for some support for its errors, incorporated them into the canon of Holy Writ. THE S@-CALLED: LOST-BOOKS Bee: the Apocrypha, there were other books | known to the Jews that were never incorporated into the canon of Scriptures. Some of these were | written by men of God, prophets, and others, but it is quite evident from their omission from the earlier , history of the Jews, even from the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, that they were simply accepted on the same basis and to the same degree as were a vast host of books that were written in every age, and never in- tended as of equal value with God’s Scriptures of Truth. The following writings are referred to in the Bible, but have long since been lost: “The Book of the Wars of the Jews’—Numbers 21:14 “The Book of Jasher’—Josh. 10:13, 2-Sam’]. 1:18. — 68 THE BIBLE “The Book of the Acts of Solomon.”’—1-Kings 11:14 “The Book of Nathan the Prophet.”—1-Chron. 3 29:29; “The Book of. Gad the Seer.”-—1-Chron. 29:29. “The Prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite.”—2- Chron. 9:29. “The Visions of Iddo the Seer.” —2-Chron. 9:29. And perhaps a Book of Enoch, although this 1s doubtful. Jude refers to a prophecy of Enoch (Jude 14), but it is impossible for any Bible scholar to class the extant work going by that name as the prophecy referred to by Jude. The prophecy of Enoch, refer- red to by Jude, may have been in a book, or may have been quoted from another source, as far as we can determine at this late date. It may have been a verbal prophecy, never set down in writing. The question may be asked—‘‘why were these lost books not made a part of the Holy Scriptures?” The answer is that thousands of other writings might claim that high honor, but the fact that they were never so regarded by any past writer, even to the * remotest antiquity as a part of God’s Book is enough to satisfy any person that God never intended that they should be. If He had, they would have been found somewhere, at some time, and set aside with the other writings which we call Holy Scripture; and the very fact that they were never regarded as Holy Scripture, even as far back as the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, is proof positive that God never intended that they should be. PUNCTUATION T should be understood that in all of the original manuscripts and all copies of the same up to the end of the sixth century, at least, no attempt was made 69 THE BIBLE to separate words or to use any system of punctuation. The development of an organized system of punc- tuation was a gradual work and began to take form at Alexandria, in Egypt, where they first used certain marks merely to show the beginning of paragraphs. This was indicated by a space in the line and later by a large initial letter, while below the line where the space was left, was drawn a short horizontal line or an arrow-pointed line, called by the Greeks para- graphos. In the Hebrew, the vowels were also omit- ted, and of necessity this made the reading very slow and translating very difficult. As an example to the point, let the reader try the following: RMMBRTHSBBTHDYTKPTHLY which is Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Only consonants were used, and the vowels were omitted entirely. The name of Jehovah was written —JHVH. It was also extremely difficult to distinguish be- tween some of the Hebrew letters. In a valuable work which lies before me, I find the following, which shows the close similarity of some of the Hebrew characters. 70 THE BIBLE The Jews, as well as the Greeks and Latins, used the characters of their alphabet as numerals, therefore it can readily be understood from the foregoing com- parison of characters in the Hebrew which look so much alike, why there are a few apparent errors in numbers in parts of our English rendering of the— Scriptures. These are all traceable to mis-translations, and when carefully compared, these discrepancies melt away, as hoar frost before the rays of the sun. About the ninth century, more system was prac- tised in the separation of words; and in punctuation, the comma was used, to indicate a slight pause, while the interrogation point was made like our semi-colon. It was not until the days of Aldus Manutius (1450- 1515), that the present system of punctuation was adopted; but of course, since his time there has been much improvement along that line. It should be most distinctly understood, however, that punctuation is purely a human invention and work, inserted more than 1300 years after the last book in the Bible was written, and is merely arbitrary. Consequentlly, many mistakes are found in the point- ing off or punctuation of Bible texts, which punctu- ation may be set aside at will to give the proper sense. fo pepe DIV LDR DSN ©. CHARTERS HE first to divide the Bible into chapters was Cardinal Hugo, in the year 1250. It was the Latin Bible, and he did it to assist him in preparing a Latin concordance. Every Bible since that time has followed this division, which in some few instances is very crude. The careful reader should give little if any heed to these divisions. They are merely made for convenience in locating texts more easily. As 71 THE BIBLE originally written, the Scriptures had no such di- visions. THE BIBLE DIVIDED INTO VERSES IR ROBERT STEVENS, was the first to divide the New Testament into verses. This he did in the year 1551. The Old Testament had been divided into verses, by the Jews very early, but in many re- spects quite differently from the verse divisions in our present Bibles. What we have said regarding the di- vision into chapters, applies with equal force to the division into verses. They are thus divided for our convenience only. HISTORICAL EVIDENCE REEK, Egyptian and Roman historians before and after Christ, add their testimony to the mass of evidence we possess, as to the antiquity of the Hebrew Scriptures, known to us as the Old Testament. Manetho’s History of Egypt, written B. C. 268, is quoted by Josephus, as saying that the Israelites were led out of Egypt by Moses, who gave them their laws, etce.—(see Josephus against Apion—Book 1-c-26-27). Philo, an educated and scholarly Jew, living about the time of Christ( not a convert to Christianity), quotes, as inspired by God, from nearly all of our present books of the Old Testament. The Greek geographer, Strabo, B. C. 65; the -in- fidel, Celsus, A. D. 165; Pliny, the elder, who died during the eruption of Vesuvius, A. D. 79; and the Roman Historian, Tacitus, all, refer to parts of the Old Testament, not always as such, but with such ac- curacy at least, that we can only conclude its recog- nition by them. Josephus, the greatest Jewish historian that ever — 72 THE BIBLE lived, universally accepted by Jews and Gentiles as authority on Jewish history and antiquities, who wrote about A. D. 90, gives the number of Old Testament books as we have them today, and claims for them ancient recognition and divine inspiration. (See Josephus vs. Apion—Book 1, chap. 8.) In his History of the Jews, he quotes liberally from all the Old Testament books as established authority. Josephus was born A. D. 37 and lived contemporary with Paul, Peter and John. At the destruction of Jerusalem, A.D. 70, foretold by Christ in Matthew, 24th chapter, Josephus pled with the Jews to surrender to the Romans to avoid bloodshed. ARCHAZOLOGICAL EVIDENCE OT only history, but archeology, bears silent wit- ness to the antiquity as well as to the truthfulness of God’s Word. The spade of the explorer in Bible lands, Palestine, Babylonia, Assyria, and in Egypt, has brought to light many most startling evidences that the Bible is true and was written in the days in which it claims to have been. One of our United States consular agents in the Holy land said: “It is now possible to travel from one end of Pales- tine to the other, and with the Bible as a guide book locate nearly every place of religious interest. The old Eastern world is springing into life, and skepticism and doubt are retreating before the spade of the explorer; cities and nations, whose very existence was denied by infidelity of the past, are now awakening from their dusty beds to testify to the truthfulness of the inspired pages, and now, after the lapse of nearly two thousand years, almost every place mentioned in the Bible where any important event transpired, may still be identified by its old Hebrew name in the Arabic form.” On the rocks and amid the ruins of buried cities, is found written proof of the Bible’s inspiration. Hours might be spent in reciting the wonderful dis- 73 THE BHRELE ROSETTA STONE It contains an in- scription in three different languages. An invaluable aid in the deciphering of other inscriptions. PART OF A BAKED CLAY CYLINDER, inscribed in the Baby- lonian characters with an account of the capture of Babylon by Cyrus, the son of Cambyses, the grandson ot Cyrus, B. C. 539. (British Museum.) See page 83. The inscription states that Cyrus was called to the rule of Babylonia by the god (Marduk) whose services and honor had been diminished by Nabonidus, the native king. The god aided Cyrus mightily, and marched by his side like a friend and ally. The outlying cities of Babylonia fell before the king one after another, and finally he and his troops, which are said to have been like the water of the river for multitude, marched into Babylon without striking a blow. 74, THE BIBLE coveries that have been made, during the past cen- tury, along this line. Many of the hieroglyphic char- acters, for a time puzzled the scholars, and seemed to defy all attempts to decipher them, but “God left not himself without witness.” In the year 1799, a French officer dug up a slab of black marble, at Rosetta, on the Nile, which contained an inscription in characters of three different languages, one of which was the an- cient Greek. As this language was understood and could be translated, it was not difficult to decipher the other two inscriptions on the stone. An alphabet was obtained by which all other similar inscriptions could be deciphered and translated. This stone is in the British Museum, and is known as the Rosetta stone. Strange as it may seem, almost all the stone writings thus far recovered, bear strong testimony to the truthfulness of the Bible. The walls of the famous Temple of Karnack, on the Nile, are covered with inscriptions and from these walls there still look down, the profiles of Jewish captives, who were taken from Palestine by Shishak in the days of Rehoboam, and there may be read also, the names of the cities he conquered. It seems like reading 2nd Chronicles, 12th chapter, and especially the 9th verse: So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house; he carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made.” The record in Exodus 5th chapter, is completely verified by the discovery of the ancient treasure city of Pithon, built for Rameses II, by the Hebrews, near Tel-el-Kebir. It was found that the walls of some of the houses were built of sun-dried bricks, some with straw and some without straw, just as recorded in Exodus 5:7: _“Ye shall no more give the people straw to make bricks, as heretofore.” 75 THE BIBLE The immense quantities of gold necessary for the building of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness has led many to doubt the truthfulness of the record. When one considers that all the instruments and utensils were of solid gold, and that the boards were overlaid with pure gold, it is hardly to be wondered at that some should question the record, if they do not be- lieve that God indited it. The golden candlesticks or lamps alone must have been valued at the very least, at the present value of gold, at about $25,000. Then consider all of the utensils, and the building itself, and one is staggered at the value represented in pure gold. It may be asked—‘‘Where did the Children of Israel get that gold?” The Word of God supplies the facts. Moses tells us this: “Every woman shall ASK of her neighbors.” —Ex. 3:22. “Let them ASK every man of his neighbor.”—Ex. 11:2 The above quotations are from the Revised Version and are true to the original. The King James renders this “borrow,” but the word “borrow” is a mistake and is not to be found in the original. It is certain, from the reading of Exodus 9:20, _ that some of the Egyptians “feared the word of the Lord” and gave of their supply of gold to the Israel- ites. Says the Bible: “And Jehovah gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked.” —Exodus 12:36. But it may be asked—“Where did these Egyptians get so much gold?” That question has been answered by T. M. Davis, in his discovery of the immense wealth of the ancient Egyptians, in gold. In 1905, he discovered a royal tomb of the 18th Dynasty (the time of the Exode of Israel). It was examined in the presence of the Duke of Connought and Prof. Maspero. They found a most lavish display of gold. “A chariot, 76 THE BIBLE Reverse. , Obverse. CLAY TABLET FROM TELL EL-AMARNA, IN UPPER EGYPT, inscribed with a letter in cunes form characters from Abi-milki (Abimelech), governor of Tyre, to the king of Hgypt. About B.C. 1450 — (British Museum, No. 88-10-13, 51) 77 THE BIBLE large enough to hold two persons . . . encrusted with gold,” “gold masks,” “a box stool, resplendent with gold and blue enamel,” “plaster heads coated with gold, “gold handled mirrors,” and many other ar- ticles of gold. They also found an inscription, saying that the gold had been brought “from the lands of the south.” The London Times, commenting on this dis- covery said: “It has revealed one striking fact—the ostentatious, not to say vulgar, display of wealth which distinguished Egyptian society in the latter days of the 18th Dynasty. We had learned from the Tell-el-Amarna tablets that Egypt was at that time the California of the civilized world—a land where, as the correspondents of Pharaoh reiterate ‘gold is as plentiful as dust,’ and in the pro- fusion with which the precious metal has been lavished on the contents of the newly discovered tomb their words receive a striking illustration. There was nothing, how- ever mean or insignificant, which was not literally plated with the gold of the desert mines.” Thus the whole matter is cleared up, and we have the fact, as plain as day, that God sent the Israelites out of Egypt, rich in gold, to enable them to build the Tabernacle, its furniture and utensils, besides that wonderful ark, overlaid with gold, with gold cherubims covering a golden mercy-seat. All must agree, in view of these wonderful discov- eries, that Moses wrote the truth, and that he wrote at the very time these books claim to have been written. The bodies of the first-born of Egypt, slain by the destroying angel, on that memorable night when, the Israelites slew their first paschal lamb, have been found among the rubbish in the old burying grounds of Memphis, thus fulfilling the statement of Hosea Ne For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: the 78 THE BIBLE pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns shall be in their tabernacles.” The route of the Israelites has been traced and their camping places in the desert located, and only a few years ago, the mummy of Rameses 2nd, the oppressor of the Children of Israel, was found and placed in Boolak Museum in North- ern Egypt. The empire of the Hittites, whose existence was denied by infidels, has now been discovered and is bearing another testimony to the truth of the blessed old Bible. Another wonderful discovery was the location of ancient Nin- evah. It was the boast of infidelity MS of the eighteenth century that the RAMESES II book of Jonah was a fable, and that Ninevah was only a fabled city; that there never was such a city, when, Lo, God caused, as it were, the very ground to open and re- veal the secrets that were buried there for ages. Early in the last century, an English gentleman, Mr, Rich, by name, was traveling in the East. While visiting Mosul, on the Tigris, he discovered what the natives called the Tomb of Jonah. He commenced to excavate and the result was the discovery of Ninevah. They have found the ruins of the palace of Esarhad- don, the son of Sennacherib. Many other discoveries were made here. In one sculpture is pictured the invasion of Palestine; the name of Hezekiah, King of Judah, is given, and the number of prisoners taken is mentioned. In still another may be seen the siege 79 THE BIBLE of Jerusalem, so remarkably like the language of Eze- kiel, that it leaves no doubt in the mind of the honest investigator as to the truthfulness of Ezekiel’s pro- phecy, in Ezekiel, 4th chapter. Many cylinders and tablets have been found, some of them containing the names of such Bible charac- > MOABITE STONE ters as Abraham, Noah, Enoch and others. In the year 1868, the Moabite stone was — discovered. It is the oldest alphabetic in- scription known, and gives us, as it were, a - lost chapter in the historical portion of Biblical literature. It could- well be added — to the second book of Kings, as it proves the truthfulness of that part of God’s word. | Recent discoveries have proven beyond doubt, that the Jews of the Royal period | were an_ intelligent nd cultured people, acquainted with the arts and sciences. The finding of the inscription in the pool of Siloam has made it clear that they were an educated people. This inscription gives us the characters used at the time the Book of Jsaiah was written, and should for- THE BIBLE ever destroy the opposition of skeptics and higher crit- ics to that inspired book. These things also give the lie to the statements of Colonel Ingersoll, that the Israel- ites were “poor, wretched; without education, art or power.” Thomas Paine said of Moses: “He had been educated among the Egyptians, who were a people as well skilled in science, and particularly astronomy, as any people of their day.”’ —Age of Reason, Page 17. Dr. Edgar J. Banks, Field Director of the Babylon- ian Expedition of the University of Chicago, has writ- ten concerning that most wonderful find in the Pool of Siloam of the tablet showing the work of King Hezekiah in bringing water into the city of Jerusalem: SILOAM INSCRIPTION “In the year 1880 a truant school boy was bathing in the Pool of Siloam, and when near the mouth of the aqueduct he slipped and fell into deep water. As he came to the surface, he noticed on a stone in the wall some marks resembling writing. The story goes that when the boy returned to school and was about to be whipped for running away, he told the teacher of the inscription, 81 THE BIBLE thus hoping to escape punishment: His teacher, Dr. Schick, heard the boy’s story, hastened to the pool, and there he found the oldest known Hebrew inscription. Though trained explorers had frequently visited the spot, it was a native school boy who first saw the writing. “To copy the inscription was difficult, for at times the water half covered it, and Dr. Schick had to sit in the mud, holding a candle in one hand that he might see to work with the other. A deposit of lime, half concealing the characters, had to be removed with acid before they were recognizable. Of such great value was the inscrip- tion that several impressions of it were taken, and then the stone was left unguarded just as it had been for three thousand years. Suddenly it disappeared. “Some time later, as Dr. Wheeler of Jerusalem was attending his patients, he overheard a native woman telling of a stone her husband had found, and of which he was making a copy to sell to Europeans. His sus- picion that the woman was speaking of the stone from the Pool of Siloam was aroused; search in the native’s hut revealed the valuable inscription, though it was broken into several pieces as it was cut from the wall. With it was the copy which was being made. Both the stone and its copy were seized and sent to the Constan- pnuple Museum, where they may now be seen side by side. “The Siloam inscription is one of the most valuable treasures the ruins of Palestine have yet yielded, for it is the oldest known writing in the pure Hebrew of the Bible, coming from the time the historical books were written. It contains but six lines and they are partly broken away, yet their complete translation is possible. It reads: ‘Behold the excavation. While the excavators were still lifting up the pick, each toward his neigh- ‘bor, and while there were yet three cubits to ex- cavate, there was heard the voice of one man calling to his neighbor, for there was an excess of rock on the right hand and on the left. And after that, on the day of the excavating, when the excavators had struck pick against pick, one against another, the waters flowed from the spring to the pool for a distance of twelve hundred cubits. And a hundred 82 THE BIBLE cubits was the height of the rock over the head of the excavators.’ “The inscription bears neither name nor date, yet its well-formed, rounded characters indicate that it is nearly as ancient as the Moabite stone. Scholars are now agreed that this was the pool and the conduit which King Heze- kiah built to bring the water into the city.” —Jhe Buble and The Spade, Pages 133-5. . Daniel’s mention of “Belshazzar, the King of the Chaldeans,” was ridiculed because no such name ap- peared in any ancient history nor in any literature of the past, although the names of all the Chaldean kings were known, as well as the time of their reigns, leaving no place for Belshazzar to fill in. In these lists, the name Nabonidus appeared to occupy the very place and time where Belshazzar’s name should have ap- peared if the Bible record were true. This led to the belief among “higher critics” and other doubters, that Daniel’s writings were merely fables, until in 1854, Sir Henry Rawlinson unearthed, in “Ur of the Chal- dees,” some terra-cotta cylinders, on which were found inscriptions by Nabonidus, in which he refers to “Bel- shazzar, my eldest son.” In 18/76, Sir Henry Rawlin- son made a still more wonderful discovery, at ancient Babylon. His workmen brought to light a number of jars, in which were found over two thousand cuneiform tablets covered with wedge-shaped characters. On one of these was found an inscription written by Cyrus, King of Persia, the conqueror of Babylon, mentioned by Daniel, in which he (Cyrus) tells the story of the taking of Babylon, and after saying that Nabonidus fled and was afterwards taken prisoner, he adds that on a certain night “the King died.” Nabonidus lived long after the taking of Babylon, therefore he could not have been the king who died that night. It was his eldest son who shared the throne or reigned jointly with him, and that was Belshazzar. In another docu- 83 THE BIBLE ment, an interesting legal paper was found. It was an inscription dated, “in the third year of Belshazzar,” with the name spelled slightly different. . The elevation of Daniel to third ruler in Babylon, in itself, shows that he was promoted as high as it was in the power of Belshazzar to exalt him, because he, himself, was Only the second ruler, under his father Nabonidus, with whom he reigned jointly as regent or king; and when Nabonidus fled during the siege, Belshazzar was alone on the throne of Babylon. This verifies Daniel’s word: “In that night was Belshazzar the King of the Chal- deans slain.”’ —Dan. 5:30. All over the East, the spade of the explorer and the archeologist is bringing to light facts that con- firm the truth of Holy Writ, proving positively that it is the Word of God, and was written at the very time it purports to have been. The historicity of the Bible is firmly fixed and can never be moved while time lasts. There is not another work in the world that is so firmly established. Not one of the classical writ- ings has back of it the evidence of historical cer- tainty that the Bible has, and the Christian can rest easy on this fact. ‘ THE TESTIMONY OF CHRIST S TRONG as the foregoing historical references are in affirming the acceptance of the Old Testament, long before the advent of Christ, the seal that our Saviour placed upon its inspiration and truthfulness, should put a quietus on every critic, doubter and dis- puter. Before we can throw away the Old Testament, we must repudiate Jesus Christ, we must blot out the record of His life from the pages of history, and deny the New Testament, which we have-already so firmly 84 THE BIBLE established historically; for Christ quoted the Old Testament as the inspired Word of God, and as pro- phecy; showing that all portions of that book, includ- ing the Law, the Psalms, Prophets, and historical por- tion, had in them prophetic utterances, pointing to Him as Messiah. He said: “Had ye believed Moses ye would have believed me, for he wrote of me.” —John 5:46. And after His resurrection, when He appeared to the eleven as they sat at meat, the record is: “And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me. “Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures.”—Luke 24:44, 45. And of Christ’s conversation with the two dis- ciples, on their way to Emmaus; just before His ‘meeting with the eleven, before noted, it is written— “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he ex- pounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things con- cerning himself.””—Luke 24:27. So happy were these disciples during this Scrip- ture lesson that Jesus gave them, and with the light He shed upon the Sacred Word, that they said— “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the Scrip- tures?”—Luke 24:3 Christ and 4 followers constantly quoted the Old Testament Scriptures. TESTIMONY OF THE DISCIPLES HERE are in the New Testament, many refer- ences to the books of Moses; to the Psalms, to the books of Job, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Jonah, Zechariah, Zephaniah and Malacm, in fact, more than 630 references to the Old Testa- 85 THE BIBLE ment are scattered throughout the whole New Testa- ment. It is quoted from Genesis to Malachi, just as we use it today. Paul, writing to Timothy, said— © “From a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” —2-T7imothy 3:15. The Jews were firm believers in the Old Testa- ment in the days of Christ and His Apostles. Jesus said to them-— _ “Ye search the Scriptures.” —John 5:39 Revised: Edi- tion, Paul, in his discourse at Antioch, addressing him- self to the Jews, refers to the people and rulers at Jerusalem and their opposition to the Gospel, and says— | “For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath day.”—4cts 13:27. James says— ‘ “For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Seb St day.”—A cts 15:21. But why quote more? It is enough to say we Hae proven that the Old Testament was known at least 300 years before Christ; that is was evidently taught to our Saviour by His mother, when He was a child, and preached by Him and His Apostles, who estab- lished their every claim by its authority, exactly as we have it today. NECESSITY FOR EARLY TRANSLATIONS ITHIN a comparatively short time after the outpouring of the pentecostal blessing on the church, the disciples had preached the Gospel in many cities in Syria, Asia Minor, Europe and Northern Africa. Even the Apostles of our Lord, lived to see it take root in Colosse, Thessalonica, Corinth, Philippi and Jerusalem, as well as Antioch, Cesarea and 86 THE BIBLE Rome. Indeed, before the death of John, there were churches in many cities and towns. The Gospel had gone into Egypt, to the city of Alexandria, and thousands had received the message of truth. All of the’ churches were desirous of having the Scriptures in their own language and this necessitated translating them, as they were written in the Greek ~ and Hebrew tongues only. The value of these different versions and translations cannot be overestimated, not only for comparison, for by them it has been estab- lished that the different churches had the whole Bible as we have it today, long before the close of the sec- ond century. In fact there is very strong evidence in support of the conclusion that the Apostolic Churches had the whole Bible about the end of the first century. We shall now notice two versions that are of exceedingly great value in proving the antiquity of the Scriptures of Truth—they are the Peshito and Old Latin versions. THE PESHITO VERSION HE Peshito, meaning “simple” or “faithful,” 1s a literal translation, and not a paraphrase. This version was no doubt the product of the middle of the second century; was completed before A. D., 150, and its beginning no doubt extends into the Apostolic- times. It is just possible that parts of this version were made under the guidance of John, or some of his followers. It included all of our Bible except the second and third Epistles of John, the second Epistle of Peter, the Epistle of Jude, and the Book of Reve- lation. IT DID NOT INCLUDE ANY WRITINGS 87 THE BIBLE THAT ARE NOT FOUND IN OUR PRESENT SCRIPTURES. We know, that in the time of Eph- riam Syrus (378 A. : D.), it was still in use > eR MAIAAD in the Syrian church- We oon ° m= es. It was written in 23 GAY AS . Q) the Syro-Chaldaic ‘or 72 WSIS3 oN Svis 25 that (British Museum) many otherwise obscure or ambiguous passages are much clarified in this version. 88 THE BIBLE THE.OLD LATIN VERSION HEN there was the old Latin version, from which Jerome made the Latin Vulgate, which is still the authorized Catholic version. The old Latin version £TCON GELCONABIT CACY gu rau Envy AF! NIBUS TERRAECAUDTREeG~ SAPIENTIAMSALO oe MONS . Le Cuwau TEMINMUN OUSSPSEXICRIT ABHOMING AMBULAT PERLOCAARIDA QUACRENSREGUIEMET NONINUENIT TUNCODICIT REUERTARINDOMuUuGM “meamM UN OeeX) U)} CTUCNIENSINUCNITERD UACAN TEM SCOPISMUNDATAQIET ORNATAGYD | TUN CUADITE Fagsumil Sepremaliossps secumMpe {2 pOResse CTINTRANTESDABITANDs: ETRIUNTNOUISSIAIA hoannissl bias LATIN GOSPEL—SIXTH CENTURY (Matt. 12:42-45) (British Museum) “lL coc at was known and used by Tertullian, who was born A.D. 160, and died about A.D. 240. It was probably trans- lated from the Greek, about A.D. 150 to A.D. 160 It omitted Hebrews, James, and 2nd Peter, thus leav- ing out only three of our present New Testament Ronks. 89 THE BIBLE Combining these two versions, the Peshito and the Old Latin, we have our Bible as it is today, with the exception of the 2nd Epistle of Peter. It must be stated, too, that they were made up of our present Bible books and no others. What, then, becomes of the infidel lie, about the Council of Nice selecting the books by vote and mak- ing up our canon of Scripture, A. D., 325? These two versions, then, are of monumental im- portance, since all the Christian churches received them as God’s Inspired Word as early as A. D. 150 to A. D. 175. They came through the fire clean as a whip, without any other literary claimant to this high authority. — He VUE GAME, T was from the Old Latin that Jerome made his Latin Vulgate. About A. D. 383, he finished his revision of the New Testament, and at the age of sixty, translated the Old Testament from the Hebrew into Latin, at Bethlehem. This Latin Vulgate of Jerome, was started at the request of Demascus, then Bishop of Rome, who died the same year this revision of the New Testament was completed and therefore did not live to see the completion of Jerome’s work. This revision and translation is still the authorized Roman Catholic Bible, and it was from this that the Douay Bible, with the Rhemish New Testament, was translated. It might be added that, every English Bible for over a thousand years was translated from the Vulgate. In making the Vulgate, Jerome also con- sulted the Greek, and speaks of his work as his “Restoration of the New Testament to harmonize with the Greek.” 90 THE BIBLE CODEX VATICANUS HE oldest Bibles we have today are the Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Alexandrianus, and Codex Ephraemi, which we will consider in the order named. The Codex Vaticanus is beautiful uncial manuscript of the Greek Bible, and is kept very Y ag NSE ROMER a ale ACIAEYON TOCKT PY “ne pCwNETOYCN w Foyercoyny. EAETAN HMATOCKYENCTOMS TisepemloyHres Ere Ke TOM NEY MAK oy Bac EUTONEPCMN KS: exp y TEN 6AM THB A AEIRAY A Oy arheaa ara cr AN TONAE TUN TK ACAETEIGRACIAEYS Ne CUNKYPOCEMEKNE AE Dae ate Raed paeg da | mMCNHCORYPIOC TE AHAKE DY Pie TSCA CHMHNEN MOIOIKO AOMHNCAIAY TWOIKON ene OY CAAHM THEN THILO; AAIK EITC Eerie” OY NY MINE KTS yEon-y0 KY TOY ECT WO KCAYTY META VOY KEIRA A Lac Riag RM AeEOy CEM TRNEN TH OF AAT AGI Ky KOMEN EW TON O1KONTS KY/TO IC PAH AOYsFec OK KA ACK HNCDCAS Ente OY CAAN MOCO! OyN RATATAY CTONY: SIKOY CINE OHET Twos RY TMDOLEN Tw TONw MY TOY EN Xp yciwras Ena PY Pia KAICN dS CECI MESIN MONK KTHNGNCYNTOICSA ROSS OVERAT SYRAS oc TERE MENOICES roic ONTOY RYTON! , POY CAAN MIRAI RATAN CAN TECOIA Kiep yao! Bee hr Bi NT c10yYa, CODEX VATICANUS Fourth Century (Vatican Library, Rome) 91 guardedly in the Vatican Library, at Rome. It is very ancient, dating prob- ably from the beginning of the fourth century. It is beautifully written, on the finest vellum, and oc- cupiess./9. pages: sr. Tischendorf assigns it to A. D. 330 or before, and expresses the belief that it is one of the fifty cop- ies of the Bible which Eusebius had prepared for the churches of Con- stantinople, by order of Constantine. Although this manuscript 1s among the oldest it is not consid- ered as reliable as many of the others which are later in date but copies from still older versions. The Vatican manuscript was unfortunately made during the most corrupt age of the church when the copyists were puppets of Eusebius and Constan- tine. THE BIBLE CODEX SINAITICUS ‘THE Codex Sinaiticus, another version as old if not older than the Vatican Manuscript, was brought to light in the year 1859. Fifteen years before this date, KAILAOOFH TWCMIF MAKALHAOIPHE STEMEATARAITS YANO FLAN APECH TCDRAS! AEIKACIAEYCELAN TIACTINIKALHEIPECE TTORACIAEITOMIPA TMAKAIETIOIHCE OyTWwOC KALANOPUTTOCHN KYYAAIOCENCOY COLCTHITTOAEERAI ON OMAAY FOOMAP BhOXKAIOCOTOYIN! TOY TOU YCEMEEIOY: OYKEICAIOYER _ PYAHCRENIAMEL CHNAILXKMAAU TOCESIIHAMHN HXMAAWTEYCEN NAROYXOAONO COPRACIAEYCRA RYAWWNOCKAIHA TOY IWtAICEpe CITH EY! ATRLPAM! NABARAACADUY PEATPOUCAYTOTISAI TOONOMAAYTHE €ECOH SP ENACT METAAAAZAIAT THCTOYCONCGIC _ ENEACYCEN AY THe? ERY TWEICKYNAI”™ KAKALHN TOKOPA CION KAAFITWE tAsikem KAIOTEH KOYCEH cay TOTOYKACIAECIIC rypOC TAM ACYNH KOHCANTHNNO NERDY MOKEIPATAI CODEX SINAITICUS Fourth Century Dr. Tischendorf had spent some time in the monastery of Mt. Sinai. He noticed one of the monks about to kindle a fire with old manu- scripts, thought by the monks to be worthless. His anxiety to get some of these manuscripts, aroused their suspicion; however, on his departure he was permitted to take with him about forty-three sheets of the oldest Greek manu- script of the Old Testa- ment he had ever seen. The doctor deposited these in the Royal Library at Leip- zig and gave it the name of “Codex Frederick Au- gustus.” Although he came recom- mended by the Emperor of Russia, he could not gain access to more of them again until 1859. Through his friendship with an old monk he was handed a (Royal Library, Leipzig) bundle of parchment, wrap- ped in red cloth, for examination. The Doctor’s de- light knew no bounds when he discovered this bundle 92 THE BIBLE to contain the oldest Greek manuscript of the Bible in existence. It consists of 346 leaves, of very fine vellum, 199 of which contain 22 books of the Old Testament, beginning at Chronicles; and in the re- maining leaves he found the New Testament entire. This manuscript is in the Library at Petrograd, and is priceless in value. Perhaps this Codex should be classed with the Codex Vaticanus as to reliability for the same reasons given concerning that particular Codex. More is said of the Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus, under other headings giving the writer’s frank opinion of their value in textual criticism. CODEX ALEXANDRIANUS S ECOND only in importance to the Codex Vatican- us and Codex Sinaiticus, is the famous Codex Alexandrianus, now in the British Museum. It is a Greek version, written in the uncial form of letters. This manuscript was written in the middle of the fifth century and is on vellum, very fine and thin. It con- tains both Old and New Testaments, not entirely com- plete, as about ten pages of the Old Testament and _ part of Matthew are missing. It reposed for cen- turies in Alexandria, in Egypt; hence its name. Cyril Lucar, Patriarch of Alexandria, presented it with other MSS. to King Charles the First, in 1628, just 17 years after the King James or Authorized Version was issued, and it is most highly prized by the English people. It is indeed priceless. 93 THE BIBLE EA C ACH ENACICAITOICOXAVIC ON” = LAr MEPENIMAIAN SUEAROYS MTPQOAYVYCOMCLINEWOe WCALre TALOTIOMBPOCE PVE TANISCAIFE! NME-TAIOYUCOC MALO ARINOTU TIT CONTAACHE?NUCOTMNCAY CW "ECUALIKAITEING IAL VIrors prias — "TOON POCUSYITON rt Cry tC se TeV Orn OYORMAATEAOIS IMAZCIN "TOPRtr€e KALPONTOYUUnrrrU) OW AOC EMAZE VE TWtaAaES ICAL ADS AVILON OV IS PINGTETQNIICID ms Chocrapytrare CMerxnyvOoOyann $ A>AIEOVCOYVOETIAPXONTNG Nr OANLIADOCE PLAC TANATUDARAKOA ATIAY TOY MHTTOVEKMATACY pi CEMPOCITON Suess NIC AOU PE WwrIicCCcrrap CEM eAp isp! WAIOMPAnX tT fCc€ An GICOY-A KHNACPUCOLOYMIHCZFEAOHC CI«CMeCIOENECWMCTVOY KArrONCce _ + KATONACTTVONMTQAQIO vite | rs Olen are athe ae Ae & Ee “ECAD ACNE PCLIXTEALTE RAONTECAYTY TICPVFUDNrAAIAAILCUNODN TO - ATMATECIARPOCEMIZECNMCTA “TUDMOYVC ICUNAYTEDN : IcAs aU RK PIOeCICOICE TrITENAYTOIC » AOKEITAIOT IOITAAIA RI OIOYIO! " AMAPTODAOHTIAPATTARSE A CIOVe PA SARITOYCCOTGNONTO Orme: AY PATE CHEIONOACTIN OYyxeAcnis YAAIPIAKANRE AMI MIPIMOCTAN DO ters TC TVAPLCOCCOWC dy TCC AT MmAc C68 TRE KE INOIOLAL ICNECANCDEC Ba): Eedhorcenccenoreyprocen TRO CAC AM AKALATITOR TCinen CODEX ALEXANDRIANUS (Luke 12:54—13:4) Fifth Century (British Museum, Royal Ms. I-D. V-VIII) 94 THE BIBLE CODEX EPHRAEMIT PROP cate very valuable manuscript is that known as the Codex Ephraemi. It is an ancient Pa- limpses and is kept in the library of Paris. Critics place this manuscript next to the Vatican and Sinaitic WED eepwonr We I: te poYe, CODEX EPHRAEMI (Portion of 1-Timothy 3:16) in age. This ancient writing is read with great dith- culty, for as its name implies, it was overwritten, about the twelfth century, with some of the Greek works of the Syrian Father, Ephraem, after the orig- inal had been sufficiently erased. In 1842 a chemical preparation (tincture Giobertini) was applied to the leaves to vivify the underwriting. Much that was il- legible was restored, but the manuscript was very nearly ruined and was stained. Dr. Tischendorf oc- cupied himself, from December, 1840, to September 1841, in examining it, and gave to the world a com- plete copy, publishing first the New Testament in 1843 and the Old Testament in 1845. ANTIQUITY PROVEN A REMARKABLE testimony to the antiquity of these four old versions, is the fact that they were written in the wcial characters, closely resembling those in the manuscripts recovered from Herculaneum. There is no doubt of the antiquity of these pre- served; as it is well known that Herculaneum and Pompeii were destroyed by an eruption of Vesuvius, A. D. 79. There can, therefore, be no daubt of the 25 THE BIBLE CONSTANTINE —A STATUE 96 THE BIBLE antiquity of the four manuscripts of the Bible before mentioned. They were written not later than the be- ginning of the fourth century, while this form and style of writing was still in use. Hence these MSS. were written not more than 215 years after the death of John. Original versions of Wycliffe and Tyndale are still preserved, and although the Wycliffe Bible is over 500 years old and Tyndale’s version over 400 years old, no sensible person would dispute these works; nor the works from which they were trans- lated, as these also are still preserved. Yet, in our old Bibles before mentioned, we have books that were written less than 300 years after the events occurred, and not more than 235 years after the Gospels and Epistles were written. It is abso- lutely certain that the originals of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul and the other New Testament writ- ers, were in existence, and probably used or consulted in making these versions. CONSTANTINE AND THE BIBLE BOUT 331 A. D., Constantine, although he was only a pretender, as far as real Christianity is concerned, and who was, at best, half heathen, by royal decree ordered fifty copies of the Bible to be made and given to the churches, especially at Con- stantinople. The following is a copy of his letter to Eusebius: “VICTOR CONSTANTINE MAXIMUS AUGUSTUS, TO EUSEBIUS: “Tt happens, through the favoring of God our Saviour, that great numbers have united themselves to the most holy church in the city which is called by my name. It seems, therefore highly requisite, since that city is rapidly advancing in prosperity and in all other respects, that the number of churches should be increased. Do you there- 97 THE BIBLE fore, receive with all readiness my determination on this behalf. I have thought it expedient to instruct your Prudence to order FIFTY COPIES OF THE SACRED SCRIPTURES, the provision and use of which you know to be most needful for the instruction of the church, to be written on parchment, in a legible manner, and in a commodious and portable form, by transcribers thorough- ly practiced in their art. The procurator of the diocese has also received instructions by letter from our Clemency to be careful to furnish all things necessary for the prep- aration of such copies; and it will be for you to take special care that they will be completed with as little de- lay as possible. You have authority, also, in virtue of this letter, to use TWO OF THE PUBLIC CARRIAGES FOR THEIR CONVEYANCE, by which arrangement the copies, when fairly written, will most easily be for- warded for MY PERSONAL INSPECTION; and one of the deacons of your church may be entrusted with this service, who, on his arrival here, shall experience my lib- erality. God preserve you, beloved brother.” —Eusebius, Life of Constantine, Book IV. Chapters 34-37. These versions were made according to direction; thoroughly inspected by the Emperor, and it is alto- gether likely that at least two of the most ancient manuscripts so highly prized at present, the Vaticanus and Ephremi, and perhaps the Sinaiticus were among them. OTHER OLD MANUSCRIPTS R EFERENCE to these four ancient manuscripts, known as Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Alexandrianus and Codex Ephraemi, is suffi- cient for our purpose; however, besides these which are the most ancient manuscripts of the whole Bible, we have hundreds of others in both the uncial and cursive style of writing. Some of these are known as Palimpses, meaning twice written. When parchment was very expensive, the under writing was rubbed un- til the parchment was fit for other writing. By chemi- cal means, many of these old writings have been re- 98 THE BIBLE OTHER VALUABLE MANUSCRIPTS o5 TI HY SS & BAKVTR “OM O wy “~ SRS ASH Oe Ae as of DARA: i RAVTS S aeons Bese: oS Mo S ee A 4 Kens Posen 3 esis. IW mony oO IROL BIN, is ron. he BW OD: ngs sore Se Bee, reyes “3 BMWA wR, 5 =: gay wrtorn 0A ps she ROM ROK OND TY measasee hidsdata a ee AO pO GOR OTL, Me NM woes gn Mp = NF a ‘SRQON of O° Gs Queens: poss tatny Doane ox gems si aye aly og DOB oR RM BREN ON NOOO TE panne S25 a7 VOM OS DANG” MN BAO OR OSAMU ep MOLL Nero: whe NAL Naa 1Qgu. fd owe oxnn 5 wacngs PORWAN DANA LY oR “WROTE AY os yousde oA oe ‘0 r Sapcsny’ egy 3 ma suangh ws Qaven sad “HO wen gy AGA -ax Bh 9 CIT AG Raeey © 3 ITQO oe 30 “sf IR “9 WIRD NW ‘ay at SAMARITAN MANUSCRIPT (Deuteronomy 1:44—11:7) AL eels 61219 (Cambridge Univ. Library) 99 cea | mt NUDNHYE 6 WE: SG PPRU NIAC Coe (PD BRITCX AGN &¢ (satCae. Anup LICE NEC YUH er HpCuin C08 MEAT CHORE CD IX ALG PNA Xa MINE F tPA: RCE pOvripagnre a" Cece dawe €: Cap woe RECO ERO PERCHES ee oe Oe eS ee UE AS ERS a Aa AEPEPOCCIE GIES NOD preeiee ee Epc "wh VORG RCE Noe EG ROLGN "CCOOOP ECD Whettags A LE MS EAS OE Cae TINOLCHIV SDE TP CEvrer’ ~wounRG: LNG PCC PUL Me. ‘ od NAVE sere. Eprecrewsecgxa bso} MECCA CII G FOAMMOMEL Pee COW PCA -COPINOKEXY OCU BUCELROW ele s° Pate LOCH SGanes COIN NOOO E o-ceae ae CK COoOrY POININ ER PERU I COPTIC MANUSCRIPT (Luke 5:5-9) Highth Century THE BIBLE stored, and thus our books of Scriptures contained in these manuscripts confirm our more ancient writings and manuscripts. Up to 1890, there were 1500 ancient documents preserved to us in this way and by other means, of which there were 125 in Uncial, the oldest form of Greek, and over 1400 in Cursive writing. The Unical letters are rounded capitals. The word Uncial means ounce or inch, and refers to the most ancient form of writing, peculiar on account of the large size of the letters used. This form of writing was not used later than the beginning of the ninth century. The Cursive style of writing, is what the name im- plies, that is—running—where the letters are joined without raising the pen, as in our script. This style, although used quite early, was not universally adopted until the ninth century. Besides the foregoing manuscripts, which so fully establish the authenticity of the Old Book, there are many others that might be mentioned. The last twen- ty-five years, before the beginning of the war, were perhaps the most fruitful years in the discovery of ancient manuscripts. In Egypt and in Arabia, almost one hundred fragments of the Bible, and especially of the New Testament, have been discovered, along with hundreds of papyri on other subjects, such as court records, private letters and other documents: thus en- abling our scholars to become familiar with the Greek and Syriac actually spoken by our Lord and His dis- _ ciples, as well as throwing new light on many Bible expressions; so that we may know that in our latest versions we have the New Testament, about as clearly expressed as though we had the autograph copies of the Gospels and Epistles before us. 100 THE BIBLE One remarkable find, was a leaf out of a pocket Bible carried by an Egyptian Christian in the third century. It was written on poor papyrus, in an or- dinary, fair hand, and is a good illustration of the New Testaments carried by poor Christians in the days of the Christian Martyrs. From Cobern’s New Archaeological Discoveries LEAF FROM MATTHEW'S GOSPEL Third Century No ancient book known today stands on as firm foundation as the Bible. Dr. Milligan says: “We may take it that in all substantial particulars the words of the autographs have been recovered.” 101 THE BIBLE Not one of the classical writings, prized so highly today, can compare with the Bible historically. Take for example the writings of Sophocles. There is but one manuscript that scholars have access to, and that was written 1400 years after his death; and in the case of Virgil, there is only one complete manuscript, dat- ing from the fourth century; and although there are fragments of manuscripts of Virgil of later dates, perhaps several hundred, yet, of the New Testament alone, and of the entire Bible, they are numbered by the thousands. In 1902, Von Soden catalogued 2328 New Testa- ment manuscripts. Of these, about forty contain the whole or a part of the books of the New Testament; 1716 MSS. contain portions of the Gospels besides 581 of Acts, 628 of the Epistles of Paul and 219 of the book of Revelation. What more does the Christian want? ENGLISH VERSIONS OMING now to our English versions of the Bible; work on them was begun very early, although we did not have a full and complete translation into English until the days of John Wycliffe. The venerable Bede translated John’s Gospel into the Anglo-Saxon, finishing his work on his death bed. His last words, as he finished his dictation to his pupil who assisted him, were—‘True, it is finished.” Then, being raised on the couch, he chanted softly,— “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost.” His eyes then closed in the sleep of death to await the coming of the Son of God. This work was finished A. D. 735. Almost 150 years after the death of Bede, another translation was started by Alfred the Great, who ‘worked on the Psalms. 102 THE BIBLE Following this, came the translation of the first | seven books of the Bible, by the Archbishop of Can- terbury, Aelfric. Several other short translations of the Psalms were made later, but as before noted, no complete translation was gvien in the English language until the latter part of the fourteenth century. ninegign pahypeppon qhipa burn bypis qhuarpoon pum ne dal a Fraps es rep obser, ri 3 ¢ bea) Pp Poy pypum-mannum foonne paht sepancn ponneaxa pali hpihipoldon gyloan poms yprley qpelazel pee popfirton peprmnum, hlagonbe. rpyde dye peele gedyoon- hee oe yrainym seb sg) a OTA AE AGA IF OAS air n 2D is : -perrroh fndon hpi tyhd one hlapop ak paler. par pro Lica ras onupwm fiaccunr. pe rope ofchanaan Lanse. pen pererton prey Petel el ee OPS Ste prea “puhe- sm yepepuhe mw pyre Dacpap he ryhic ppage cpedon: mypahpam yppasche mb » beohe min peop. Jbeonpa oppe- clare neers pion paceapmbep “the pohee paam pam yibeyan oppose synpran. ophegumore pone lay-eLon ANGLO-SAXON—GENESIS 44:3-12 Rarly Eleventh Century Translation of Aelfric, who died 1006. (British Museum) (WY GT RE DPE PRONN SE AEGON [N a treatise of this character, where brevity is sought for the obvious reason that it 1s intended for general circulation among those who would not care to read a large technical work, much must be omitted, and only a brief reference can be made to the more important translations ; hence we refer briefly to that grand Man of God, John Wycliffe, who amid the persecutions of his day, when every effort to give the Bible in the common tongue was met with cruel persecution, banishment, or death, broke away from the decrees of Roman pontiffs, and in the year 1382 A. D., gave us the first translation of the entire Bible, into English. 103 THE BIBLE. This was before the art of printing was known, but notwithstanding this tremendous handicap, it had a wide circulation. He was brought to trial by his oppressors and condemned, but not executed. He died a natural death, but about thirty years after his death, his bones were dug up, burned, and his ashes scattered into the sea by the enemies of God’s Word. It is a disputed question whether this translation was really the work of Wycliffe, or of several of his disciples and supporters. Wycliffe is credited with this work, because it was through his efforts that it was made possible and at last brought out. I am in- clined to the opinion that it was the work of a number of individuals associated with Wycliffe, all working together. In the translator’s account of this work, we find these words: “with divers felawis and helpars’ and “manie gode felawis and kunnynge at the correccion of lus translacion.’ These statements appear in the copy which is preserved at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, England, and seem to indicate that while to Wycliffe belongs the honor of bringing it out, yet, other scholars gave much assistance in the real work of translating it. Wycliffe’s translation was made from the Latin Vulgate, and probably, instead of call- ing it the Wycliffe Bible, it might with more propriety be termed the Wycliffite version. All credit possible should be given to Wycliffe for what he did in giving the Bible to the common people in their own tongue. John Richard Green, in his Short History of the English people, has this to say on the effect of John Wycliffe’s writings, and of the Wycliffe Bible: “Wycliffe no longer looked for support to the learned or wealthier classes on whom he had hitherto relied. He 104 THE BIBLE appealed, and the appeal is memorable as the first of such a kind in our history, to England at large. With an amazing industry he issued tract after tract in the tongue of the people itself. The dry, syllogistic Latin, the ab- struse and involved argument which the great doctor had addressed to his academic hearers, were suddenly flung aside, and by a transition which marks the wonderful genius of the man, the schoolman was transformed into the pamphleteer. If Chaucer is the father of English poetry, Wycliffe is the father of our later English prose. The rough, clear, homely English of his tracts, the speech of the plowman and the trader of the day, though colored with the picturesque phraseology of the Bible, is in its literary use as distinctly a creation of his own as the style in which he embodied it, the terse vehement sentences, the stinging sarcasms, the hard antithesis which roused the dullest mind like a whip. “For the time his opponents seemed satisfied with his expulsion from the university, but in his retirement at Lutterworth he was forging during these troubled years the great weapon which, wielded by other hands than his own, was to produce so terrible an effect on the tri- umphant hierarchy. An earlier translation of the Scrip- tures, in part of which he was aided by his scholar Her- ford, was being revised and brought to the second form which is better known as ‘Wyclif’s Bible’.” TYNDALE’S TRANSLATION NEAT, came William Tyndale’s translation, of the New ‘Testament, about 1525. At this time the language of the Wycliffite version was fast becoming obsolete. Tyndale was determined that there should be an English Bible which could be read, not only by scholars and merchants, but by ploughboys as well, and procurable at so small a cost, that it could have a wider circulation. His association with the learned Erasmus, a profound Greek scholar, who made a Greek translation from the Latin, enabled him to give us the English New Testament. Tyndale’s translation was made with the Greek, the Vulgate, the Latin by 105 THE BIBLE GUTENBERG’S PRINTING PRESS Invented in 1440 UTENBERG was the inventor of printing from type. In his press, shown above, the type was laid in its ease, face up on the board, the paper was placed on the type and pressed down upon it by means of the large screw and turning bar. Very little improvement was made on this press until the days of Benjamin Franklin, whose press is quite similar to the old Gutenberg press. Back in the days of Gutenberg, five years were con- sumed in the printing of the Holy Bible. Movable block types were used. Now 10,000 copies of books of the Bible are shot from great rotary presses per hour. ee Se | 106 THE BIBLE Erasmus, and Luther’s German versions before him. After being driven from his own beloved England, he took refuge in Hamburg, Germany, from thence he fled to Cologne, and then to Worms, where the book was printed ; and in spite of God’s enemies (the priests of Rome), the books were sent to England. The en- raged priests burned them in public squares, but only to see them increase until England was enlightened with the Word of God. Printing had been invented; and was accomplished first with blocks or wood cuts, and later with movable metallic type. Gutenberg was the inventor of printing, although Caxton is called the father of the printing press in England. Without doubt, however, Guten- berg has priority of claim as the inventor of printing. It is a noteworthy fact that the first book printed was the blessed old Bible. It must be remembered that while England was receiving her first Bible, other nations were equally as busy along the same line. Germany received Lu- ther’s Bible before Tyndale made his English trans- lation, and the Protestant princes gave the nation lib- erty to read it. Tyndale was arrested near Antwerp, for heresy through the agency of an emissary of King Henry VIII, acting with the clergy. After eighteen months imprisonment, in 1536, he was strangled and burned at the stake. His last words were a prayer— “Lord, open thou the King of England’s eyes.” It was the price he paid for giving England the Bible. THE CHAINED BIBLE THREE years after Tyndale’s death, King Henry VIII, who received from the pope thé title, “De- fender of the Faith,” and who condemned Luther as an “arch-heretic,”’ gave orders, notwithstanding the 107 THE BIBLE vicious opposition of the Romish priests, that the Bible. should be placed in every parish and village church in his dominion. Tyndale’s prayer was being an- swered. It was attached to the wall or pillar with a chain, and to this day is referred to as the “Chained Bible.” This was Coversdale’s revision. The Covers- dale Bible was not translated from the Hebrew, Greek, or Latin, but was probably a revision of Tyndale’s work, without the critical notes of Tyndale, so vio- lently opposed at that time; however, in the revision’s preface, he speaks of using others in“his work, in these words; “out of the Douche (Luther’s German) and the Latine.”’ It may be that he consulted these for comparison. Coversdale also assisted in the Gen- eva edition, a later revision. This Bible was also known as the “Treacle Bible,” because Jeremiah 8:22 was rendered, “Is there no tre- acle in Gilead.” There was a still more peculiar rendering in this Bible. Psalm 91:5 was translated: “Thou shalt not nede to be afrayed for eny bugges by night.” Even to the present time this Bible (issued 1549) is called by some “The Bug Bible’ on account of this strange rendering. OTHER OLD ENGEISH?BIBEES HEN came the Matthews Bible; dedicated to the king. This first appeared in 1537, was signed by Thomas Matthew, probably a pseudonym to conceal the real writer, as it was rather dangerous in those days of persecution, to edit, revise or translate this much hated Book. In 1539, still another version ap- peared, by Richard Taverner, a layman, though a scholar. This revision was in reality nothing more 108 THE BIBLE than clearing up of the language of the Matthews version. At the same time there was brought out a more elaborate folio edition, signed by the initials T.C. This was sanctioned by the archbishop and is called Crammer’s Bible. It was used as authority in the English church until 1568. THE GENEVA OR BREECHES BIBLE [TURING the reign of Mary I, who succeeded Ed- ward VI to the throne of England, a campaign of persecution was waged against Protestants. She had been educated in Spanish fashion—a devout Ro- man Catholic; her zeal for Catholicism and against reformers and the Bible, stained the pages of English History with persecution and butchery. The exiles fled to Geneva, which had become a republic, as early as 1536, under the leadership of John Calvin and other Protestant reformers. It opened its gates to the religious refugees of Italy, Spain, France and Eng- land. Here the work of translating and revising the Bible was carried on with great liberty, considering the times. Whittingham translated the New Testament, which translation was printed in 1557; and the whole Bible, in the year 1560. This is called the Geneva Bible, though sometimes referred to as the “Breeches Bible,” because of its rendering of the Hebrews word chagora —“breeches’—instead of “aprons,” as in the King James version, of Gen. 3:7. This was the most ele- gant and most popular of all Bibles, until superseded by our King James version. It was brought to Ameri- ca by the Pilgrim fathers and was used for many years, by the Puritans in England. Even the Author- ized Version had a hard struggle to supersede it. 109 THE BIBLE The Geneva Bible was the first to use italics to indicate supplied words, that is, words that are not found in the original, but which are supplied to give the sense intended. It was also the first whole Bible to have the chapters divided into verses. Another meritorious feature of the Geneva Bible was that it omitted the Apocrypha, which was made a part of the Septuagint in the fourth century through Catholic influences. TEE BISHOPS t BiB isp, AFTER the Geneva Bible was in use for some time the Bishop’s Bible was brought out by license of Queen Elizabeth, so that England could have a distinc- tive National Bible. Eight bishops, with a number of deans and professors, completed this work, which was brought out in beautiful folio edition in 1568 and 1572. Its cost was too high for the common people and it was not satisfactory to scholars so had but little influence. ROMAN CATHOLIC BIBLE M EANWHILE Roman Catholics, themselves, saw tl 1e necessity of an English translation with ex- planatory notes, as the reading of the Bible, itself, - without notes, was driving men to Protestantism. The Bible in England had outgrown Romish antagonism to the extent that it was making fearful inroads on the superstition of ages of Popish errors. Romanists were alarmed and determined to explain the meaning of the different texts of Scripture in harmony with their Catholic traditional errors; hence the Catholic refugees at Rheims translated the New Testament from the Vulgate, which they published in 1582. The Old Testament was completed and published at, Douay, in 1609, thus giving the world a complete Catholic 110 THE BIBLE ‘FIRS Ons called G CHAP, t. Thecreauon of Hgauenand Earth, ¢ of che light, 6 ofthe firmament, 9 ot the earth fe. parated fromthe waters, 42 and nade frust- lull, 14 ofthe Sunne, Moone, and Starres, :0 of hfyandfowle, 24 of beafts and cat. tell, 86 Of Manin the Image of God. 39 Ab fo the appomiment of food. "Pht: 1.6 race § He rhedeqanng wad 6.y Xz OD ceeateh the ae ay Deauen, and (He haben g ty ‘ @ we f gee And the re 7 out > and C = t bord, and barke- a A A ES TT ST a the face of the Deepe : and the tg of God mooucd Dpon ee face of the watcrs. "Coe 3 And Sod Lud,” Let ehjere de tight: t+ — Janbeeretbashght. 4 AndGodlar che tight, that «was 1 Mabe bn good: and Gob adsd ‘the baht from I erte 0 ¢ barkeneffe. ighedin| "5 End God called the haht, Day, dotwfe, (AND the Barariciie cauled Sight: ' and incl “od lene curring and te momma were the eo ad hy [AUR DAP. mowyee! € And Godtnd “Feet theredea Fea ag | Grameen the nude of the tnaters: 36 | anid tet wt Dude the waters from He $ Mt. tons ved 11-15- TOACETB. tHe Ee |e inn God made tie firmanint; and Danhed rhe waters , whch vere DI ver the fremanint, from the yharers, Iherh were abone che Hemaniemt: and a wasts. FIRST PAGE EN OF TEXT OF OKE O Sane S. ESIS. $ And Gobcalicd the Armament, | terse ts Beauen : and the cucmung and thc mo2- ning Were che (econd Bay. 9 CAndGopla, Let the waters | P4117 pnbder she heaucn be ed togerber| ets, onto one place, andies the Dyp land ap- peare: and was fo. 10 Anb God called the opie Land, Garth , and rhe garherg togester of the waters cailed hee, Meas: and God (ath that « was good. it And Godlard, Let the Sarchdung footh 'grafle, the herbe peel {Heb seede and fruit cree, pecan alter INS | red mnbe, whofe feed is in a [etfe, bpon the earth: andi aslo. iz Aud the earch brought foorth grate, and herbe peeloing feed after his : mthe Grmament of che heaucn, pales? ent be fos Ugdts in Hel mse. heanen, to gue ight eqreatee ught ' to rule tHe Day, ANB) pe ctiee ugh to rule che might: heinade i pei she farres allo. 17 And God fet them in the Fired: ment of the heaucnt, co gue bate ypon en nd to rule oucr the day 889 °8e.38 Bs > ed be THE ORIGINAL KING JAMES VERSION Ca Rey THE BIBLE Bible, known today as the Douay Bible, and Rheimish New Testament, with copious dogmatic notes, author- ized by the Catholic church as the only Bible for its people. THE KING JAMES VERSION EXT in order, we have the King James, or author- . ized version, so-called because the translation was authorized by that ruler. Fifty-four men of learning were selected from both High Churchmen and Puri- tans, as well as from among unconnected scholars. The King also sought the aid of others of the best scholars in England to assist in the work, which was finished 1611 A.D., and is very true to the original text. These scholars had the Hebrew, Greek and Latin before them, as well as a number of very ancient manuscripts to refer to. In this Bible the marginal references were inserted in a greatly enlarged form, and although these references cannot always be relied upon, as directing the student in topical study, they are quite useful in very many cases and very helpful where a Hebrew or Greek word which is somewhat ambiguous or having more than one meaning in the original, is given a second and sometimes a better » rendering. On the whole, it was a wonderful work, and as literature alone, stands preeminently above every other translation, not excepting the Revised or other later versions. The Revised Version was given to the world in 1881, but has not yet and perhaps never will take the place of the King James Version which is altogether the most trustworthy and reliable. LATEST VERSIONS HE Revised Version, started in 1870 and finished in 1881, and the American Revised edition, com- pleted in 1885, were made simply to bring the Bible 112 THE BIBLE APOLLO The Sun God of Constantine and the Romans. This Em- peror, who some refer (OisdS ie ae eC hiistiany: was pagan at heart and a vile murderer. Some think kindly of him because of his Sunday Law, which commanded “rest on the venerable day of the sun.” His best act was the ordering of 50 copies of the Bible to be made; but his char- acter was anything but Christian. k { A COIN OF CONSTANTINE On one side is shown the head of Constantine with abbreviated inscription “Imperator Constantinus Pius Felix Augustus.” On the reverse side is shown a standing figure of Apollo the sun god of Constantine with rays from the head, holding a globe in the left hand, pointing to the meridian with the right, with us inscription: “Soii Invicto Comiti’—The sun, my invincible ally. The original coin isinot much larger than our nick ro i Photographed from the original by BH. Meee aes 113 THE BIBLE more in harmony with modern verbiage. Some of the old English words altered their meaning since the King James Version was issued, while others had be- come obsolete, but aside from this, no change was made worthy of notice. Yet it is far from being as trustworthy as the King James Version and can never take its place. This is the opinion of our best scholars. The Revised Versions, both the 1881 edition and the American Revised Bible, while they show consider- able scholarship, will never replace, and should never replace the Authorized Version, commonly known as the King James. The reasons for this need not to be enlarged upon, because by universal consent of the people the Revised Versions are gradually but surely losing favor and the Authorized Version is more than holding its own. The reason for this is that the Re- vised Version was translated almost entirely from the so-called two oldest manuscripts, the Codex Vaticanus and the Codex Sinaiticus. As before remarked, un- der that particular head, these two manuscripts were no doubt written by order of Constantine the Great for the churches at Constantinople. The work was committed to Eusebius, who was a puppet of Con- stantine and a confirmed hypocrite, caring only for the favor of the Emperor in that age of the most corrupt state of the Roman church. The Revised Version contains almost thirty-six thousand word or textual differences, and while they do not materially change the sense, yet some times they shock our sensibility as to why these changes were made. Philip Mauro comments on this as follows: “As we have already stated, a superstitious deference was paid to the Sinai and Vatican MSS. because of their (supposed) greater antiquity, the assumption being that 114 / THE BIBLE the older the MS. the more likely is it to be correct. But that assumption is wholly unwarrantable. In the concrete case before us, we have, in support of the Text of the A. V., the concurrent testimony of many manu- sctipts, from many different parts of the world; and though these were copies of older copies no longer in existence, yet, upon the soundest principles of the law of evidence, their concurrent testimony serves to establish conclusively the various disputed passages, where the two ancient Codices present variances. * * * * “Bearing in mind that, as Dr. Kenyon of the British Museum says, ‘the manuscripts of the New Testament are counted by hundreds and even thousands,’ it is a cause for astonishment that credence should have been given in any instance to the Vatican or Sinai MSS. (or both together in cases where they agree) against the agreeing testimony of the multitude of opposing witnesses. But such was the rule consistently followed in compiling the Text for the R. V. Canon Cook in his book on the ‘Revised Version of the First Three Gospels,’ says: ‘By far the greatest number of innovations, in- cluding those which give the severest shocks to our minds, are adopted on the testimony of two manu- scripts, or even of one manuscript, against the distinct testimony of all other manuscripts, uncial and cursive. The Vatican Codex, sometimes alone, but generally in accord with the Sinaitic, is respon- sible for nine-tenths of the most striking innova- tions in the R. V.’ “We have deemed it worth while to examine with some care the principle whereby modern editors of the Greek Text of the New Testament profess to have been guided, and this for the reasons, first, that the question here dis- cussed, and the facts whereby it must be determined, lie beyond the reach of most of those for whose benefit we are writing; and second, that if we are right in our view that the principle we are discussing is utterly unsound, is contrary to the rules of evidence, and is certain to lead astray those who submit to its guidance, we have taken the foundation completely from under the Revised Version, of 1881 and of every other Version that rests upon the same corrupt Greek Text, or one constructed upon the same principles.”—Which Version? Pages 61, 66, 67. 115 s1squveIys AQ po UTR LAdSId DIGAWIVI V Q 4 ee “4 ea ca ae sa EEE THE BIBLE There are at present many translations of the New Testament into our present idiomatic English, some of which are paraphrases, but most of them are not. However, they are the work of men who, al- though honest enough in their intent and purpose, are nevertheless biased on different points of doctrine; and while they may be useful to the student in giving a clearer conception of the meanings of some obsolete words and a better understanding of some of the orig- inal Greek words, yet none of these is recommended to take the place of the King James or Authorized Bible. If judiciously handled and carefully compared with the original, they may serve to give the result of the most recent lexical research. The utmost care is necessary, and it should always be remembered, as before stated, that they are the works of single in- dividuals and in some cases not so true to the original as the Authorized Version. Besides the foregoing, there are several literal, word for word, (interlinear) renderings of both the Old and New Testaments, as well as a number of more recent translations which are of great value for comparison. Among the best and most up-to-date translations in English for the Bible student who cannot read the Hebrew or Greek, is Leeser’s Jewish Bible, a trans- lation of the Old Testament, by Isaac Leeser, a pro- found Hebrew scholar and critic. This translation was given to the world in 1853. Another, is the “The Holy Scriptures,” translated by a number of Hebrew scholars, and published by the Jewish Publication So- ciety in 1916. We class them among the most re- liable, but great care must be taken not to follow them when the belief in the Messiah is at stake. Let it be remembered, however, that one and all 117 THE BIBLE are alike in thought and purpose. No changes what- ever, worthy of serious moment, appear from the or- iginal text. The Authorized or King James Bible as it is some- times called is the one that stands ahead of all the other English Bibles and should be used in the family and pulpit while the scholar may derive much profit by using the late versions and the Hebrew and Greek text for critical study. Thus the Bible is with us today, firmly fixed and established as the everlasting hills. It has come to us through persecution, blood and moral darkness, and is saying majestically, as it goes forth to all nations, tongues and people— “Let there be light.” “It is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.” Having thus fully established the authenticity of the Bible, and having firmly set the stakes of its his- toricity, from the time it was written to our present versions, showing the utter foolishness of doubting its genuineness, we next proceed to establish its claim upon us and the manner of its inspiration. GOD'S SEANDARDIOMETHIGS “The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.”—Psalm 12:6. ‘THE Bible is the word of God and it is so pure that it has stood the test of ages, of all kinds of criticism, and comes to us cleaner and more free from imperfections than any silver ever taken from the smelter’s furnace. Besides its freedom from the taint of man, it con- tains the only perfect system of moral philosophy and ethics. It was written in times when no human writ- ings could possibly escape the corrupting influences of 118 THE BIBLE paganism in its most superstitious form. It was pre- served in times when men were degraded by the most beastly and debasing practices. Paul, speaking of those heathen days, said: “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, “And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. “Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves. “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are convenient: “Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wicknedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whispers, “Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents. “Without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful.”—Romans 1 :22- 24 and 28-31. In the hey-day of Greek and Roman learning, cer- tain philosophers, seeking to turn the tide of wicked- ness and debauchery, brought out systems of moral philosophy; but these were nearly all identified with customs of certain communities, and the court’s de- cisions, in some cases, became standards of morality and ethics. This was merely a legal morality and depended on the caprice of the judges. They also had certain maxims, such as “Know thyself,” “Do nothing in excess,” and many others. Protagoras, the sophist, about B. C. 410, taught morality and ethical culture, but was banished for his frivolity and for denying the existence of the gods. Socrates, in his moral teaching, urged “the spirit of the community,” and that could not have been worse. In one instance, at least, he moralized on the way e 119 THE BIBLE women of the street should conduct their business. He had no real insight into true morality, and al- though he is supposed to have been advanced beyond the age in which he lived, yet in this age he would be regarded as not only a dangerous man, but perhaps even as a degenerate or an insane man. He did not claim to know the supreme controlling good. Plato, who followed Socrates, and tells us all we know about the latter, (for Socrates never left us a written line), admitted that his teachings were mere outlines. Aristotle, the instructor of Alexander the Great, contended that ethics must relate to good as realized by man; so that custom made right, and that happiness was the chief or highest good. Standing out prominently among the modern phil- osophers are such men as Kant, Spinoza and Spencer, whose complicated systems of ethics lead nowhere and only serve to confuse the mind. The English infidel writer, G. W. Foote, in a little brochure, speaks of Spinoza and other ethical philoso- phers so often quoted by infidels, as probably insane or affected with neurosis. One has only to read the philosophical twistings and turnings of these so-called great moralists and his mind will turn at once to the words of Dryden who said: “Great wits to madness sure are near allied, And thin partitions do their bounds divide.” O, how different when we take up the Bible, the Word of our God! Beginning with the moral law, (Ten Commandments) covering every known and un- known defect in man’s fallen nature, and in his re- lation to God and to his fellow creature, it is as fit for this age as when it first came from the hands of God amid the thunders of Sinai. 120 THE BIBLE The whole Bible is a book of ethics; and all is developed in the life of Jesus the Christ. The Sermon on the Mount is the supreme ethical standard for hu- manity, and although hundreds of books have been written on moral philosophy by men who could never attain to what their own minds taught was right and good, the simple words of the Sermon on the Mount are of such transcendental sublimity that they drive into utter oblivion every so-called ethical system. The reason is plain. It is because Christ’s teaching represents a hfe, the life of God in Christ, and that glorious and spotless life is plowed as a deep furrow through every line of Holy Writ; and best of all it promises and gives us the power of that endless life, to carry out these principles in our lives— “Christ in you the hope of glory.” “T am the light of the world,” said Christ, and the life that He lived among men has given us more than a mere standard of ethics. It has been implanted in the heart of every real Christian; the power of an endless life, and all that goes with it. Men have taught ethics and morality. Christ Jesus LIVED them. His life is a divine x-ray, penetrating the heart of man, revealing every imperfection, pene- trating even to the dark and hidden corners of the soul, making manifest the slightest wounds caused by sin. It is the soothing ultra-violet ray of health and happi- ness to the penitent, filling him with peace and joy and with the knowledge of complete regeneration. It is the divine radium of life, radiating even to the ullti- mate atom of sin, dissipating and shattering it into countless electrons, leaving only righteousness and power in its stead. The Sermon on the Mount is the radiation of the life of the eternal righteousness of the Son of God, 121 THE BIBLE Wluminating and clarifying the principles of the char- acter of the Most High God as revealed in the -first Sermon on the Mount (Sinai), when amid clouds and darkness and the voice of words, the principles of the’ supreme or chief good (God) were first made known to man. We may call this ethics, call it what we will, but when we know Christ, whom to know aright is life eternal; when we know the power of His say- ing grace; the wisdom of men will be foolishness to us and with open face we will behold the glory of God and be changed into His own image, from glory to glory even by the Spirit of God. Men teach ethics, and practice they know not what. Christ lived the righteousness of God and taught the ethics of His life. O, how great the differ- ence—‘Christ the way, the truth and the life, the all and in all.” INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE Berio the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”—2-Peter 1:21. : es Scripture is given by inspiration of God.” —2-Tim. To inspire is to breathe in. Spiration, is breath. “Inspiration of God,” 1s God-breathed; hence, we might honestly paraphrase the last text quoted thus, “All Scripture is (God-breathed) given by inspiration of God.” Jesus, when he sent forth his disciples, said— “As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you and when he had said this he breathed on them and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” —John 20:21-22. The Holy Ghost was given to them by Christ breathing on them, or by the breath of God; hence the conclusion, from the two texts quoted before—All Scripture is God breathed; and Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. . 122 THE BIBLE I quote again, “By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made: and all the hosts of them by the BREATH of his mouth.” —Psalms 33:6. “By His SPIRIT he hath garnished the heavens.” —Job 26:13. In these texts the words—“WORD”, “BREATH”, and “SPIRIT” are used interchangeably; hence the language of Jesus— “The words I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life.’”—John 6:63. Not only is the Word of God filled with the in- breathed Spirit of God, but Christ says, “it is life,” and Peter adds this testimony: “Being born again not of corruptible seed but of in- corruptible, by the Word of God which LIVETH and abideth forever.” —1-Peter 1:23. LIFE AND.-POWER Of sTHE WORD [tT is also a word of power (creative power). “Upholding all things by the word of His power.”’— Hebrews 1:3. “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the WORD OF GOD.”—Hebrews 11:3. Everything connected with God, is filled with life and power. God is life. The Psalmist says: “With thee is the fountain of life.”—Psalms 36:9. Christ says, “For as the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself.”—John 5:26. Ezekiel, in a vision of the Lord, describes the throne of God as a living throne, and John speaks of the river of life and the tree of life in the paradise of God. We delve into nature and there find life and power from God everywhere. Men speak of elec- tricity, of gravitation, of force; but oh, how frail their conception of things as viewed in the light of God’s 123 THE BIBLE Word: that word which is called the “word of life,” (Philippians 2:16), “the word of His power.”—Heb- rews 1:3. What holds the worlds in space? The scientists answer, “gravitation.” The Bible says: “Upholding all things by the word of His power.” All power and life is from God.* All things opposed to God are powerless, while He is powerful. The Bible is the “Word of His power” and “There is no power but of God.”—Romans 13:1. CHRIST THE LIVING, INCARNATE WORD ( HRIST JESUS is the living word— ‘In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.”—John 1:1. He is the way, the truth and the life. We partake of Him through His word and in His word. When Jesus said— “Except ye eat the flesh of the son of man, and drink his blood ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth of my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life.” ~John 6:53-54. Even his disciples were astonished, and said— “This is a hard saying; who can hear it?” Jesus enlightens them on this point, in the 63rd verse, thus: a “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh verily profit- eth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.” Some of the disciples left him, because of these sayings, and addressing the twelve, Jesus said unto them— | “Will ye also go away?’—Verse 66-7. “Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.”—Verse 68. THEREFORE “He that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son hath not life.”1-John 5:12. 124 THE BIBLE Speaking to unbelievers, Christ said: “Ye have not His word abiding in you.”—John 5:38. Hence the conclusion: When we have the word of God abiding in us, we have the Son of God, and when we have the Son of God, we have eternal life in Him; and as all the power of the Godhead bodily dwells in Christ— a “His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and Godliness.”—2-Peier 1:3. AND “Ye are complete in Him.”’—Colossians 2:10. PREACH THE WORD HE Apostle Paul preached the Word of God, in its completeness and fullness, and he was able truth- fully to say: “My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom but in demonstration of the spirit and power. That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” —1-Corinthians 2:4-5. Paul says of the Gospel: “It is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.”—Romans 1:16. The only way we can truly preach the Gospel, is to preach the Word of God, for Peter tells us that— “The word of the Lord endureth forever and this is - the word by which the Gospel is preached unto you.”— 1-Peter 1:25. How sad, the thought that men disregard this wonderful Word of God. Many ministers use it only as the convenient starting point for a sensational ser- mon, or the basis of a brilliant essay. Very many of them have their firstly, secondly and_ thirdly. Firstly, they take a text. Secondly, they leave it. Thirdly, they never get back to it. That kind of preaching is misusing the Scriptures and dishonoring to God. With a well of eternal life 125 THE BIBLE nme before us, shall we go to the broken cistern that can hold no water? “Preach the word,” says Paul—“It shall not return unto me void,” saith the Lord. Let the Lord speak for Himself, by his word: su “The vision is yet for an appointed time but at the end it shall speak.”—Habakkuk 2:3 No word of man can possibly take the place of the living, active, speaking Word of God. It pene- trates where the word of man can only fail: “For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharp- er than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the divid- ing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and mar- row, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”—Hebrews 4:12. CREATIVE POWER IN CONVERSION GAIN I say, that the power of the Word of God is creative power, for: “He spake and it was—He commanded and it stood fast.”—Psalm 33:9. In the beginning, before the sun was made to rule the day and the moon to rule the night, God said, “Light,” and light was, and again, “God commanded the light to shine out of darkness.” —2-Corinthians 4:6. God spoke, and creative power was in his word: “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”—Heb- rew 11:3. Jesus said, “Ye must be born again.” Conversion, or the new birth, is creation over again. Creation _ and redemption are infinite acts, accomplished by the same word of God. God finds man fallen, debased, with nothing good in him; and by His word He creates something out of this nothing. He causes righteousness to spring forth; 126 THE BIBLE He imputes righteousness and we are changed; hence conversion is called a new creation: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any- thing nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.”—Gal. 6:15. More literally, the foregoing might be rendered, “a new creation.” Touching the same thought, we read: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”—Ephesians 2:10. The Psalmist says: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”—Psalims 51:10. THE WORD OF GOD IS HIS MESSENGER N this new creation, or new birth, God sends His Word to do the work, as a master would send his servant on an errand. The Psalmist says: “He sent His word and healed them.” Psalm 107:20; and Paul, addressing the Jews, says: - “Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent.” —Acts 13:26. What a wonderful faith in this power of the Word we have in the case of the Centurian, who besought the help of Jesus for his servant, who was sick with palsy and grievously tormented: “Jesus said unto him, I will come and heal him. The Centurian answered and said Lord I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof: But speak the word only and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me; and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh, and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.” —Matthew 8:7-9. This Centurian understood more fully the power of Christ’s word, than many of His disciples. He understood that Christ had but to will it, and send 127 THE BIBLE His word to do it, as the Centurian would send a servant to do his will. Christ commended his faith, saying: | “Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel.”—Verse 10. To still further sustain this position, I will quote from the Old Testament: “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither but watereth the earth and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater—So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I SENT IT.” —Isaiah 55:11-12. Another passing thought regarding the Word of God in the new birth; Peter said: “Being born again not of corruptible seed but of in- corruptible by the Word of God which liveth and abideth forever.”—1-Peter 1:23. “Is not my word like as fire? Saith the Lord; and eee hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces.” —Jer. How beautiful, this illustration, given in the Old Testament. Like the fire, the Word of God has a melting, refining influence, and like the hammer that breaks the rock, it changes the stony heart of man. THE MIND OF CHRIST HE Bible is the Word of God—His words to us. Words are the expression of thoughts’; hence in the Word of God, we have the expression of His thoughts, and we can no more fully understand His word in our unregenerate state, than we can read His thoughts. God says: “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord and 128 THE BIBLE He will have mercy upon him; and to our God and he will abundantly pardon. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”—Isaiah 55:7-9. Let us then drink in the Word of God by faith; accept His precious promises, forsake our own ways, believe every word of God, and He will receive and change us, and bring our minds into subjection to His blessed will. We will have His thoughts, His mind; as Paul so beautifully said in addressing the church at Corinth: “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. “Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teach- eth: comparing spiritual things with spiritual. “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them for they are spiritually discerned. “But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he, himself is judged of no man. “For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct Him? BUT WE HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST.”—1-Cor. 2:12-16. Shall we not, then, gladly accept the precious Word of God, which is “able to make us wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus”? And, when amid the darkness and strife of earth, all else shall fail, we shall be found standing on the Word of God, which can neither be moved nor shaken, but shall endure unto everlasting life: “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in wis- dom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.’—Col. 3:16. 129 THE BIBLE INTERPRETATION ‘CL7NOWING THIS FIRST, THAT NO PRO- PHECY OF SCRIPTURE IS OF ANY PRIVATE INTERPRETATION.”—2-Peter 1:20. If we would know the Bible, we must first be- come acquainted with God, its Author. No manner of human thought or reason can enlighten us on these things. We may study all the books that were ever written by the greatest men of earth; we may delve into science, philosophy and logic, and may know all the wisdom there is to know; but still the treasures of the knowledge of God, in His word, remain sealed; His vault of wisdom unopened. Go to Athens and Rome, the seats of ancient learn- ing. See their gods of wood and stone, their altars and their priests; and answer the question: Did these scholars and philosophers give to the world any rev- elation beneficial to the human race? Did they give the world a moral uplift? Their hearts and minds were darkened; and Paul the Apostle, beholding their blind reverence for blocks of wood and stone, said; “I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.” —Acts 17:22. It is indeed true, that—‘‘the world by wisdom knew not God.” Paul, in his epistle to the Corinthi- ans, written about five years after his return from Athens, where he saw the cruel mockery. of the wordly-wise, said— “Where are the wise? Where is the Scribe? Where is the dispyter of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world. “For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching, to save them that believe.”—1-Cor. 1 :20-21. Hence, if you would know God and His Word, you must come to Him in simple, childlike faith: 130 THE BIBLE “For he that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” —Hebrews 11:6. “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.” —1-Cor. 2:14. “The things of God knoweth no man but the spirit of God.”—1-Cor, 2:11. THE eHOLY, SPIRIT PROMISED Y accepting God’s Word as it is indeed, with true repentance, the Spirit is ours for the asking: “If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? If he ask a fish will he give him a serpent? Or if he ask an egg will he give him a scor- plan? “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?’— Luke 11 :11-13. What would you do, dear reader, if your son, your own flesh and blood were hungry and should ask you for bread ? Would you refuse? O,no. Christ, Him- self, shows what you would do in the parable of the prodigal son. Viewing this proposition from my weak human standpoint as a father who has raised children, I can only say that, if my son should go off and be- come the worst of sons, a disgrace to himself and me; if he should bring distress and sorrow upon my soul, if he should go so far as to almost break my heart with sadness: if after he had almost driven me to the grave; 1f when my body was racked with pain causer1 by distress of mind and heart in consequence of his shame, if then, he should approach me and say— “Father, I know I have done wrong, I know I have disgraced you, but I’m hungry,”’—would I cast him off? O, no. Cast off my son?’ Never! But with 131 THE BIBLE gladness of heart at his return, I would say “My son, my son, take what I have and eat, eat and be satis- fied.” My trembling hand would bring him the best I had, and even though my poverty made the provisions scarce, rather than see him, my son, suffer, I would give him all, and cover him with a father’s love. You would do the same, and yet think, think dear reader —your Father is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to you, than you are to feed your own flesh and blood. Greater love hath no man than this. Bless His Holy Name! There may be stony-hearted fathers and mothers in the world, who might cast off their own children. God recognizing this fact, said— “Can a woman forget her’ sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, she may forget, yet will I not forget thee. “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my panes thy walls are continually before me.”—/saiah 49:15, Those hands that were pierced for you, are a con- tinual reminder that you are still His son—‘‘Yet will I not forget thee.” No, God never forgets. His word is sure, and those nail-prints will not be removed while there is a son or daughter of Adam that needs salvation; and when at last the opening heavens pre- sent the Son of God, coming to save His own, the first glimpse of His glory will reveal the prints of the nails in His hands. Says the prophet Habakkuk— “And His brightness was as the light. He had rays oie forth from His hands.”—Habakkuk 3:4. Revised “CY SION, The marginal reading in the King James Version, Says—‘“‘bright beams.” In the blazing glory of the Son of God, the first tokens of His saving grace, will be seen in the “rays” 132 THE BIBGE or “bright bedms” coming from those hands that were pierced for us. Come, boldly, then, to the throne of grace: “Ask and ye shall receive,” is the promise of Christ “If any man lack wisdom let him ask of God who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not.” - God, who by His Spirit wrote the Word, will by the same Spirit make it known, for it is true indeed— “God is His own interpreter and He will make it plain.” a) Fel Con Pat gs ACH O better method of understanding the Bible can be suggested, than that embodied in the famous pro- test of the princes of the Reformation—“‘that each text of Holy Scripture ought to be explained by other and clearer texts,” or, as Paul said, “comparing spirit- ual things with spiritual things.” Daniel, the prophet, took this method, and wherein he failed to understand his own vision, he sought for light by studying the writings of Jeremiah—see Dan. “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon pre- cept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little and there a little.’—IJsatah 28:10. It is a good thing to begin with Genesis and care- fully read every word of the Bible to the end of Rev- elation, to get it fixed in our minds: its narrative, its history, its poetry and prophecy. This should be done, not carelessly or indifferently as we read a novel or a newspaper, but studying every passage and incident as we read. Then, knowing that all Bible writers deal with one great and all-absorbing subject, man’s salvation; and that all were inspired by tne one Spirit, by God Himself, we can safely com- pare Scripture with Scripture. 133 Eerie, vB a ee With a concordance in one hand and the Bible in the other, we shall soon come to know its teachings. After a thorough reading of the whole Bible, we should take it up topically, getting all the light we can from each and every writer, on every question intro- duced, remembering always that God does not explain all the whys and wherefores of His infinite acts, but that— “The secret things belong unto the Lord our God but those things which are revealed, belong unto us and to our children forever.” —Deut. 29:29. “Whoso readeth, let him understand.” GIVE ME THE BIBLE Give me the Bible, star of gladness gleaming, . To cheer the wand’rer lone and tempest tossed; No storm can hide that peaceful radiance beaming, Since Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Give me the Bible when my heart is broken, When sin and grief have filled my soul with fear; Give me the precious words by Jesus spoken, Hold up faith’s lamp to show my Saviour near. Give me the Bible, all my steps enlighten, Teach me the danger of these realms below; That lamp of safety, o’er the gloom shall brighten, That light alone the path of peace can show. Give me the Bible, lamp of life immortal, Hold up that splendor by the open grave; Show me the light from heaven’s shining portal, Show me the glory gilding Jordan’s wave. Give me the Bible; Holy message shining, Thy light shall guide me in the narrow way. Precept and promise, law and love combining, Till night shall vanish in eternal day. 134 Do Pye SLB sik GOD’S BOOK - . ~The Holy Bible ~ ce | THE OLB TESTAMENT, Y sh a : teat us THE NEW: itakd ed x HE ORIGINAL TON MITES United States Supreme Court Bible (Oxford Revision) on which Presidents have been sworn in since 1801. . 135 INDEX Page SOR RUNMUIE LN bivehn ee grat 2 ter cs I Tk 28 ee Ge ae Pood «8, MiASSIRICATIONISOF. (SECTS >. as a Dees MIL fleet Sh NS 10 PecrestTANTISM “(Cl he Bible (only) eee oe 2 11 CATHOLIC View (Bibles AND) TradttiOn,) cccnn dob cate eneetiees 13 Psrupo ProtestaNTIsM (Bible anp Something else) uu 13 PAT eR ROTESTA NTIS M tet em Or Ae eo eb eT ie el gee 15 INFIDELITY (Bible has outlived its enemies) eccmmeecnnn SMI UVa EIST: DIDGNGTO WRITES a See oe eae 18 WITNESSING TO CHRIST’S WORK. TRUSTWORTHY EE Sel NEG Vip ete oct ye ae aaah oe glen ne 20 PaRtSthCAME IN AN PAGE OF CEARNING otc. eee 22 LISGIPLES ACCOM MISSIONED DIBLE* bse wa ee ee 69 4 JITVIDED? ENTONCHAPTERS (i ete. es So ee oe ee vi VERSE DIVISION crecscsssee- each caan, ost ect sda eee 72 ANTIQUITY AND AUTHENTICITY OF SCRIPTURES © -cccccossscessessucenseen 72 ARCHAEOLOGICAL” EVIDENCE sss ct le ae 73 to 8&3 ities PESTIMONY:--OF }CHBIST 4h eae ee 84 TESTIMONY ORT TH Back) ISGIRLE Swi occa ee ee 85 NECESSITY FOR cBARLY|cTRANSLATIONS, noc....0cceue eee ae 86 PESHTTO:. VERSION: | opines we a es ee Grow Ta TING - VERSTON, (ct be Ry eS eS pet 89 ACHBt V ULGATER ete ne nee Re, er 90 ACATICAN | AVIAN USCRIPT! 408 cuca te sueee one ee 91 | CODER OTN AITICUS a20-o cock os ob ten ees ee eee ee 5 OA | CODEXSALEXANDRIANUS * eee ee ce a 93 ' (CODEK= T PHRAE MLE G2 es oie Se ee 5 a ASSCELOUTITY = PROVEN Fat atin ne, lee gay St ple ‘ GONSTANTINE /AND THE BIBLE{ co 3p eee eee . OTHER “OLD MANUSCRIPTS)? i200 Si ee ee 98 EVGuISH-+. VERSIONS 2). 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