Bible Studies, IV

BIBLE STUDIES.

BY NEPHI L. MORRIS.

IV.

THE NEW TESTAMENT.

We shall undertake to prove the genuineness and authenticity of the New Testament by treating it under two general headings. But first we shall show that from the very nature of the thing a forgery of the sacred writings was impossible. Then we shall consider the Historical or External Evidences, and lastly Internal Evidences.

That an extraordinary person called Jesus Christ lived in Judah in the Augustan age is a fact better supported and authenticated, than that there lived such men as Cyrus, Alexander and Julius Caesar, for although their histories are recorded by various ancient writers, yet the memorials of their conquests and empires have for the most part perished. Babylon and Persepolis are no more; the cite of ancient Nineveh, that "exceeding great and mighty city," has been for centuries a point of dispute. Few indeed are the vestiges of Alexander's victories in India and Asia Minor, and equally few are the standing memorials in France and Britain to prove that there was such a person as Julius Caesar who subdued the one and invaded the other. Not so defective are the evidences concerning the existence of Jesus Christ. He stands in the "meridian of time" as the climax in history. At his feet gather, like a coil, the history of all before him, and for the source of all that is best and most enduring in the nations of today we must trace the streams of history back to him.

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That he lived in the reign of Tiberius and that he suffered death under Pontius Pilate, are facts not only acknowledged by Jews belonging to every age from then till now, and by the testimonies of heathen writers, but also by Christians of every age and country, who have commemorated, and still commemorate the birth, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. They have with little variation observed certain principles of religion, and have universally professed him by observing the Lord's day, and likewise two ordinances, namely: baptism and the Lord's supper. These religious doctrines and ordinances they profess to have received from a collection of writings, composed after the ascension of Jesus Christ, and written by the first preachers of Christianity.

It has been the invariable practice of founders of religious sects to have behind them some written records of their institutions and it is only reasonable to suppose that the founders of the Christian religion did the same. While at first they were content with the mere oral publication of the teachings of their Master, it must have occurred to them that mere tradition was too weak and frail a bark in which to trust for safe keeping the "unspeakable riches" of his word. And hence to preserve in accuracy, and to prevent corruption by false teachers and for unlimited dissemination, it was committed to writing. And, since these teachings and doctrines were to go "into all the world, to every creature," the necessity of something in writing is apparent; and if the apostles did learn any writings they must be the same which are preserved to our time: for it is incredible that all their writings should have been lost, and succeeded by spurious ones; and that the whole of the Christian world should place such faith in forgeries; forgeries, too, of which they alone have been the custodians. And, further, that the Christians did have some written as well as oral instruction, is a fact supported by the unanimous testimony of all the Christian churches, in every age since their establishment; they have professed to read and venerate certain books as the production of the apostles; and these books have ever been appealed to by them as authority on doctrine, and as a guide to faith.

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And our present knowledge of Christian discipline, obtained from whatever source we please, corresponds exactly with the doctrine of those books which we call the New Testament, and which most certainly contain the primitive instruction given by the founders of that religion.

The writings thus collectively called the New Testament consist of twenty-seven books, composed on various occasions and at different times and places, by eight different writers, all of whom were contemporary with Jesus Christ. These writings contain the history of the Savior, the first spread of his religion, together with the principles of his religion and various rules and precepts of life. The Gospels were written at different periods and published to different classes of believers; while the Epistles were written to various churches and individuals as circumstances required.

Now, we receive the books of the New Testament as the genuine works of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, James, Peter and Jude for exactly the same reason that we receive the writings of Caesar, Tacitus and Josephus; namely, because we have the uninterrupted testimony of ages to their genuineness, and we have no reason to suspect imposition. And we might observe here that, it is not that there are good grounds for suspicion that men doubt the genuineness of and attempt to prove the spuriousness of the New Testament books, but it is because in their hearts they cannot accept the message these books bear; for other works, such as those above mentioned, are accepted, and for that acceptance there are not half the assurances of concurring testimony that we have for the books of the New Testament. This argument will be strengthened by the observation that, while the works of profane writers were addressed very often to private individuals or to no persons at all in some instances, the New Testament books were addressed to large societies, in widely distant parts of the world, before which they were publicly and frequently read, and in that way were acknowledged to be the writings of the apostles. The Christian writings were read throughout the entire world, were as widespread as the Christian faith, while the profane writings for the most part were limited to one nation or country. And of these matchless books it can be

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said that from their production to the present, an uninterrupted succession of writers, many of whom were men of distinguished learning and acuteness, either quote the sacred writings or make allusion to them; and this has been done not by friends alone but by enemies to the Faith. And to these writings nations have subscribed with implicit faith, and have re-modeled themselves to accord with their superior teachings. It cannot be said that the world has paid any such compliment to any of the profane or classic authors. And as translations of the New Testament were made in the second century, and were subsequently multiplied, it became absolutely impossible to forge new writings, unless it be absurdly supposed, that men of different nations, sentiments and languages, and often hostile to each other, should, without consultation all agree in one forgery. This argument is so strong that, if we deny the authenticity of the New Testament, we may with a thousand times more propriety reject all the other writings in the world — we may even throw aside all human testimony. But as this subject is of great importance, (for the arguments that prove the authenticity of the New Testament also prove the truth of the Christian religion: disprove the one, and the other falls with it), we shall consider it more at length, and make satisfactory answer, to the cardinal points urged by infidels, and in doing so we hope to prove that forgeries were quite an impossibility.

If the infidel of today shall say he has suspicions that these writings are not genuine and authentic we shall answer: It is rather late in the day to raise such doubts when it cannot be shown that such doubts existed in the age in which these books first appeared, and especially since they had from their very beginning, enemies quite as subtle and virulent as they have had since; and no ancient accounts are now on record from which we may conclude that these books are spurious. If the infidel shall say that a long period of time elapsed after the death of the Savior before his histories appeared, or before such books were known, we shall at once enter our most emphatic denial with ample historical proof at hand, and add, that the contemporaries of Jesus Christ wrote these books and made mention of contemporary writings; and copies of

them in the second century were still more numerous. And as to style of writing, no argument can be brought in disfavor of the New Testament on that point, for its style is exactly such as might be expected from the apostles, not classic and refined, but plain Jewish-Greek. Again: If those writings mentioned facts which happened after the death of their authors, splendid grounds for suspicions would exist, but no such thing occurs in them. Suspicions might be aroused if these books were contradictory in principle and precept, fact and opinion, but instead of a weakness being found here, there arises a mountain of strength in the spirit of oneness that pervades them. This exceptional harmony of purpose and principle has so impressed itself upon the world that the books of twenty-seven different authors are bound in one volume and are quite generally regarded as one book. To the honor and integrity of the New Testament, be it spoken, it has had and still has wholesome difference with many of its pretended adherents. It remains the same through all time, and as ages roll around, men in multitudes come to it in contrition. Silently it goes right on in its victorious cause. All-conquering time will only bring to it a complete and absolute vindication.

From the preceding consideration it is evident that there is no well-founded reason to doubt that these books are as certainly genuine as the most indisputable works of the Greeks and Romans. But that the settlement of this question may not rest on negative proof alone, we shall produce argument the most direct and positive that can be desired.

It is impossible to establish forged writings as authentic in any place where there are persons strongly inclined and well qualified to detect the fraud.

Now the Jews were the most violent enemies of Christianity; they put its founder to death, they persecuted his disciples with barbarous fury, and made every exertion to stifle the new religion in its very cradle. Surely such vigilant and virulent opponents would have detected the forgeries had the New Testament writings been such. Is there a single instance on record where a few individuals, unlearned and unpopular, as these authors doubtlessly were, have imposed a

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history upon the world against the testimony of a whole nation? And we might add: that history a rebuke and reproach to the nation by branding it with impurity and furious bigotry? Would the inhabitants of Palestine have received the Gospels if they had not had sufficient evidence that Jesus really appeared among them, and performed the miracles ascribed to him? Or would the churches of Rome, Ephesus, or Cornith have received the Epistles of Paul as genuine if he had never preached to them? Indeed, from the marks of integrity, simplicity and fidelity, which everywhere pervade the writings of the apostles we may be certain that they would not have attempted a forgery; and if they had made the attempt in the apostolic age, when the writings are said to have appeared, every person must have been aware of the forgery. If the apostles were all honest men, they were incapable of forgery; and if they were fraudulent knaves they were most unlikely to labor [and suffer death) to promote virtue among men. And as the New Testament is not calculated to advance the private interests of priest or potentate, it could not be forged by the clergy or princes; and as its teachers suffered in propagating it, and as it was not the established religion of any nation for three hundred years after its birth, it is perfectly absurd to suppose it the outgrowth of priestcraft, or a mere political contrivance. For three hundred years after Christ, no man had anything to fear for exposing a forgery of the books of the New Testament; because during that time the Christians had not the power to punish its assailants. In fact, it was popular to oppose and thought proper to persecute the followers of the Nazarene — it was thought to be "God's service." It was therefore morally impossible, from the very nature of the thing, that these books could be forged.