THE

CANON

OF THE

OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS

ASCERTAINED,

OR

THE BIBLE COMPLETE

WITHOUT THE

APOCRYPHA AND UNWRITTEN TRADITIONS.

A NEW EDITION,

Rebised for the Presbyterian Board of Publication.

BY ARCHIBALD ALEXANDER, D. D.
Professor in the Theological Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey.

PHILADELPHIA:

PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION,
No. 265 CHESTNUT STREET.

Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1851,

BY A. W. MITCHELL, M. D.

In the office of the Clerk of the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Stereotyped by SLOTE & MOONEY, Philadelphia.

Printed by WM. S. MARTIEN.

Al 2 c.
1851

CONTENTS.

PART. I.

PAGE

INTRODUCTION-The importance of ascertaining the true

Canon of the Holy Scriptures,

SECTION I.

Early use and import of the word Canon,

SECTION II.

-

Constitution of the Canon of the Old Testament by Ezra-

The Canon of the Old Testament as it now exists, sanc-

tioned by Christ and his Apostles-Catalogues of the books

by some of the early Fathers-Agreement of Jews and

Christians on this subject,

SECTION III.

Apocryphal books-Their origin-Importance of distinguish-

ing between canonical and apocryphal books-Six books of

the latter class pronounced canonical by the Council of

Trent-Not in the Hebrew, nor received by the Jews,

ancient or modern,

SECTION IV.

Testimonies of the Christian Fathers, and of other learned

men, down to the time of the Council of Trent, respecting

the Apocrypha,

SECTION V.

Internal evidence that these books are not canonical-The

writers not prophets, and do not claim to be inspired,

SECTION VI.

No canonical book of the Old Testament has been lost,

SECTION VII.

The Oral Law of the Jews without foundation,

17

21

36

46

66

- 84

94

PART II.

SECTION I.

Method of settling the Canon of the New Testament,

SECTION II.

Catalogues of the books of the New Testament-Canonical

books only cited as authority by the Fathers, and read in

the churches as Scripture,

611758

(3)

113

124

SECTION III.

Order of the books of the New Testament-Time of the gos-

pels being written-Notice of the Evangelists,

SECTION IV.

-

Testimonies to Matthew's gospel-Time of publication-Lan-

guage in which it was originally composed,

SECTION V.

PAGE

144

-

- 154

Gospel of Mark-On what occasion published-Ascribed to

the dictation of Peter by all the Fathers,

SECTION VI.

. 165

Gospel of Luke-Testimonies of the Fathers respecting it, - 173

SECTION VII.

The objections of J. D. Michaelis to the canonical authority

of the gospels of Mark and Luke, considered and answered, 179

SECTION VIII.

The gospel of John-Life of this Evangelist-Occasion and

time of his writing-Canonical authority indisputable, · 192

SECTION IX.

The Acts of the Apostles-Luke the author-Canonical au-

thority undisputed by the Fathers- Rejected only by

heretics,

SECTION X.

-

T'estimonies to the canonical authority of the fourteen epis-

tles of Paul,

SECTION XI.

Canonical authority of the seven Catholic Epistles, .

SECTION XII.

Canonical authority of the book of Revelation,

SECTION XIII.

The titles given to the sacred Scriptures by the Fathers -

These books not concealed, but partially known and refer-

red to by enemies as well as friends-Citations-Ancient

manuscripts-Remarks of Rennell,

200

. 205

228

236

. 245

No canonical book of the New Testament has been lost, - - 258

SECTION XV.

Rules for determining what books are Apocryphal-Some

account of the Apocryphal books which have been lost-All

of them condemned by the foregoing rules--Reason of the

abounding of such books,

SECTION XVI.

- 270

Apocryphal books which are still extant-Letter of Abgarus,

King of Edessa, to Jesus, and his answer-

r-Epistle to the

Laodiceans-Letters of Paul to Seneca-Protevangelion of

James-The gospel of our Saviour's infancy-The Acts of

Pilate-The Acts of Paul and Thecla,

SECTION XVII.

No part of the Christian Revelation handed down by un-

written tradition,

APPENDIX-NOTES,