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them ever werc esteemed to be of authority, or decisive in things of religion. A. D. 540.

Ch. CXLVI. Andrew bishop of Cæsarea, in Cappadocia, wrote a Commentary upon the Revelation. He plainly received all the books of the New Testament which are now received by us. A. D. 500.

Ch. CXLVII. In this chapter is an account of the Alexandrian manuscript, and divers stichometries.

The Alexandrian manuscript, written as is supposed before the end of the fifth century, consists of four volumes in folio, or large quarto: three of which contain the scriptures of the Old Testament in the Greek version of the Seventy, and the fourth, the scriptures of the New Testament, but not quite complete. For more particulars I must refer to the chapter itself.

Afterwards follows the Stichometry of Nicephorus, patriarch of Constantinople. A. D. 806. A stichometry is a catalogue of books of scripture, to which is added the number of verses in each book. In the stichometry of Nicephorus is a catalogue of the books of the Old Testament, very agreeable to the Jewish canon; and then a catalogue of the books of the New Testament, exactly the same with our present canon, except that the Revelation is wanting, at least in some copies. Afterwards follow catalogues of contradicted and apocryphal books: which afford evidence, that there never were any christian writings, which were esteemed to be of authority, beside those which are now reckoned by us sacred and canonical. The same observation is confirmed by the stichometries from Cotelerius, which are subjoined in the same chapter.

Ch. CXLVIII. Cosmas of Alexandria, called Indicopleustes on account of a voyage which he made to the Indies, was at first a merchant, afterwards monk, and author. Matthew, he says, is the first evangelist; and he supposeth him to have written his gospel in Judea soon after the martyrdom of St. Stephen: Mark, the second evangelist, wrote his gospel at Rome, by the direction of Peter: Luke is the third evangelist, who likewise wrote the Acts: John, the fourth and chief of the evangelists, as he is here called, wrote his gospel at Ephesus after that the faithful writings of the other evangelists had been brought to him. The books of the New Testament received by Cosmas, are the four gospels, the Acts, St. Paul's fourteen epistles, and three of the catholic epistles, as it seems, that of James, the first of Peter, and the first of John, agreeably to the sentiment of the Syrian christians. And he says, that no perfect or well

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⚫ instructed christian should endeavour to prove any thing but by the canonical books of scripture acknowledged by all: which books have sufficiently declared what is needful to be known concerning the doctrines of religion.' A. D. 535.

Ch. CXLIX. Facundus, a learned African bishop, appears to have received all the books of the New Testament which we receive, and no other. His general division of the scriptures of the New Testament is that of gospels and apostles :' for which he has the greatest regard. A. D. 540.

Ch. CL. Arethas, generally supposed to have been bishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia, wrote a Commentary upon the book of the Revelation, extracted out of the Commentary of his predecessor Andrew, and the works of Irenæus, Hippolytus, Gregory Nazianzen, Cyril of Alexandria, and others. It appears by his_quotations, that he received the same books of the New Testament that we do. A. D. 550.

Ch. CLI. Arator, sub-deacon in the church of Rome, published a work, entitled the Apostolical History, in verse, in two books, composed out of the Acts of the Apostles, which he ascribes to St. Luke. A. D. 544.

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Ch. CLII. Junilius was an African bishop, but of what place is uncertain. He is very particular in his manner of dividing the books of scripture, Some,' he says, are of 'perfect, others of middle authority, others of none at all; ' and some are historical, some prophetical, some proverbial, ' and some teach simply. The historical books of the New • Testament, of perfect and canonical authority, are the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the Acts of the Apostles: the books that teach simply, or plainly, are the epistles of the apostle Paul to the Romans, the Corinthians, the Galatians, the Ephesians, the Philippians, the Colossians, the Thessalonians, to Timothy, Titus, Philemon, the Hebrews, one of the blessed Peter to the Gentiles, and the first epistle of the blessed John. To ⚫ these many add five more, one epistle of James, a 'second of Peter, one of Jude, and two of John.' He likewise says, that the Revelation of John was doubted of generally by the christians in the east, which may imply, that it was generally received in Africa, as indeed it was. The books last mentioned, which were not received by all, seemed to be reckoned by him of middle authority' only; the rest were of perfect and canonical authority. And it is observable, that he says St. Peter's first epistle was written to Gentiles; it will follow that the second also was written

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to Gentiles; for very probably they were both written to the same people. A. D. 550.

Ch. CLIII. M. A. Cassiodorius in his Institutions has three catalogues of the Old and New Testament; one called by him Jeroin's, the second Augustine's, the third that of the ancient translation: and it is very observable, that in none of these catalogues mention is made of any books of the New Testament as canonical which are not received as such by us. There are not inserted in any of these catalogues Barnabas, or Clement, or Ignatius, or any other christian writers whatever; which affords a cogent argument, that there never were any other christian writings, which were placed by the churches upon a level with those now received by us as canonical. A. D. 556.

Cassiodorius published likewise a work called Complexions, or Short Commentaries upon the epistles, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Revelation; they are upon St. Paul's fourteen epistles, the seven catholic epistles, the Acts, and the Revelation: by which it is manifest, that he received all the books of the New Testament which are now received by us, and no other.

Ch. CLIV. The author of the imperfect work upon St. Matthew was a bishop and an Arian, who wrote in Latin in the sixth century. From his quotations it appears, that he received all the books of the New Testament that we do. He has likewise quoted divers apocryphal books; but, as it seems, not as books of authority. He has some remarkable passages concerning the time and occasion of writing the gospels of St. Matthew and St. John.

Ch. CLV. Victor Tununensis an African bishop, who wrote a Chronicle ending at the year 566, says,' that when Messala was consul, that is, in the year of Christ 506, at Constantinople, by order of the emperor Anastasius, the holy gospels, being written by illiterate evangelists, were 'censured and corrected.'

Some have hence argued, that the copies of the New Testament, of the gospels at least, have not come down to us pure and uncorrupted, as they were originally written, but were altered at the time above mentioned.

In answer to which it has been observed by us, agreeably to what had been already said by divers learned men, first, that it was impossible in. the sixth century to effect an alteration in the sense or words of the gospels, or any other books of the New Testament; forasmuch as there were at that time in every part of the known world, in Europe, Asia,

and Africa, numerous copies of the books of the New Testament, in the original Greek, and in the Syriac, Latin, and other languages, into which they had been translated. Secondly, that no alteration was made in the gospels or other sacred books is hence apparent; that our present copies agree with the quotations of ancient Greek and Latin authors, and with the translations made before the time of Anastasius. Thirdly, the story of Victor deserves no regard, because he is singular. No other writer has mentioned it beside Isidore of Seville, who transcribed him; whereas, if such an attempt had been made by Anastasius, and any books had been published with alterations, it would have made a great noise in the world, and would have occasioned a general outcry. The emperor Anastasius was far from being popular in his government. There are extant writings of contemporaries, as well as of others, in which he is freely and grievously reproached; nevertheless there is no notice taken of this affair, which would have given greater and more general offence to christians than any other.

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Ch. CLVI. Gregory the first, bishop of Rome, received all the books of the New Testament, as of authority, which we do, and no other. Some in his time doubted of the genuineness of the second epistle of St. Peter; but he shows their doubts to be unreasonable. His general titles and divisions of the sacred scriptures are these: The Old and New Testament, consisting of the law and the prophets, the gospels and Acts, and words of apostles; the law 'and the prophets, gospel and apostles.' He says, 'Whoever was writer of the scriptures, the Holy Ghost was the author.' And, the doctrine of the scripture surpasseth be'yond comparison all other learning and instruction whatIn the scriptures,' he says, there are obscure and 'difficult things to exercise the more knowing, plain things 'to nourish weak minds;' and he assures his hearers, that 'the more the scriptures are read and meditated upon, the more easy and delightful they will be.' A. D. 590.

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Ch. CLVII. Isidore, bishop of Seville in Spain, has several catalogues of the books of the Old and New Testament. He says, that Matthew wrote his gospel the first, in Judea; then Mark in Italy; Luke the third evangelist, in Achaia; and John the last, in Ephesus. The first and last relate what they had heard Christ speak, or seen him perform; the other two, placed between them, relate what they had heard from apostles: the Acts of the Apostles contain the

history of the infancy of the church; the writer is the evangelist Luke; which, he says, is well known. Divers other things deserving notice may be seen in his chapter. A. D. 596.

Ch. CLVIII. Leontius, who for some time was an advocate at Constantinople, afterwards retired and lived a monk in Palestine. He has a catalogue of the scriptures, wherein the books of the Old and New Testament are recited distinctly and agreeably. His catalogue of the books of the Old Testament is much the same with that of the Jews: his catalogue of the books of the New Testament contains all which are now received by us, and no other. Here is no notice taken of the Constitutions, or Recognitions, or Clementines, or any other christian writings as of authority. The scriptures of the New Testament are divided by him into six books: the first book contains Matthew and Mark; the second Luke and John; the third is the Acts of the Apostles; the fourth the catholic epistles, being seven in number; the fifth book is the fourteen epistles of the apostle Paul; the sixth is the Revelation of John. These,' says he, are the ancient and the new books, which are received in the church as canonical.' And soon after he says, 'the period next after Christ's ascension, is treated of in the Acts of the Apostles. The following period reaches from the death of the apostles to the reign of Constantine; the 'affairs of which have been related by several ecclesiastical 'historians, as Eusebius and Theodoret, whom we are not obliged to receive: for beside the Acts of the Apostles, no such writings are appointed to be received by us.'

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A. D. 610.

Ch. CLIX. Venerable Bede, beside many other works, wrote Commentaries upon all the books of the New Testament now received. His prologue to the seven catholic epistles may be seen at large in his chapter. A. D. 701.

Ch. CLX. John Damascenus, monk and presbyter, though a native of Damascus, wrote in Greek, and is supposed to represent the sentiment of the Greek christians of his time. He has catalogues of the Old and New Testament, which are recited by us in his chapter, with remarks. His general titles and divisions of the books of scripture, and his respect for them, appear in such expressions as these: All things which are delivered to us by the law and the prophets, the apostles and evangelists, we receive, acknow⚫ledge, and venerate, seeking not any thing beyond what has been taught by them.' Again: We cannot think, or

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