An introduction to the study of the Bible: being the fourteenth edition of the first volume of the Elements of Christian theology

Introduction

TO THE

STUDY OF THE BIBLE,

BEING THE FOURTEENTH EDITION OF THE

FIRST VOLUME

Elements of Christian Theology.

\ J

A

Printed by Luke Hansard & Sons, near Lincoln's-Inn Fields, London.

INTRODUCTION

STUDY OF THE BIBLE:

BEING THE FOURTEENTH EDITION OF THE

FIRST VOLUME

ELEMENTS OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY:

CONTAINING

PROOFS OF THE AUTHENTICITY AND INSPIRATION OF TilE HOLY SCRIPTURES ;

A SUMMARY OF THE HISTORY OF THE JEWS;

AN ACCOUNT OF THE JEWISH SECTS;

AND A BRIEF STATEMENT OF THE CONTENTS OF

THE SEVERAL

BOOKS OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS.

BY

LORD BISHOP OF WINCHESTER.

LONDON: PRINTED FOR T. CADELL, IN THE STRAND

By Transfer

D. C. Public Library

PREFACE,

IT having been suggested to me, that a separate Edition of the First Volume of the Elements of Christian Theology might be useful to many persons who have no occasion for the Second, I have been induced to publish the First Volume of that Work in this cheap form. If it should be the means of diffusing more widely a knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, and a belief of their Divine Authority ; and especially, if it should lead those who are entrusted with the Education of Youth to make this most important of all Studies a regular branch of Instruction to their Pupils, my object will be fully answered.

This Volume consists of two parts : the first relates to the Old Testament ; the second to the

New.

In treating of the Old Testament, I have begun with proving the Authenticity and Inspiration of the Books of which it consists, and have entered into these subjects at considerable length, but I trust not more fully than their importance demands. They form a material branch in the evidences for a 3 the vi PREFACE.

the truth of the Christian Religion, as the Old Testament is in fact the foundation of the New. In the second chapter, I have given a very brief Account of the Contents of the several Books of the Old Testament, and have mentioned their respective authors, and the times when they lived. In the historical books, I have stated the period which they comprehend, and the principal facts which they relate .; and in the prophetical books, I have enumerated the prophecies they contain,, and the, few particulars which are known concerning the prophets themselves. The third chapter is an Abridgment of the History of the Old Testament; and as a connexion between the Old and New Testaments, and to make the historical part of the New Testament more intelligible, the history of the Jews is continued down to the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. The fourth and last chapter of this part contains an Account of the Jewish Sects, not only of such as are mentioned in the Old and New Testaments, but also of those which were known at any period among the Jews, although their names do not occur in Scripture. I doubted for some time whether this chapter ought to be placed in the first or second part ; but upon consideration it appeared better to include it in the first, because all the sects here noticed originated within the period contained in the preceding chapter, and the knowledge of the principles of some

of m

PREFACE. Vil

of them is necessary to the right understanding of the New Testament.

The first chapter of the second part is upon the Canon and Inspiration of the Books of the New Testament, and corresponds to the first chapter of the first part. The thirty following chapters contain a separate Account of the Books of the New Testament. I have there stated the grounds for believing that each book was written by the person to whom it is usually ascribed, and have given the History of its Author. I have mentioned the place where it was published, or from which it was written ; its date ; the cause or design of its being written; its contents, and such other particulars as belong to the respective books. The last chapter of this part is an abridgment of the New Testament History, in which I have related the leadingcircumstances of the life and ministry of our. Saviour, and the exertions and sufferings of the Apostles, after his ascension into Heaven.

Chapter The First; Authenticity And Inspiration

OF THE BOOKS OF

THE OLD TESTAMENT.

/Christian Theology, or Divinity, teaches ^ from Revelation the knowledge of God, his various dispensations to mankind, and the duties required of men by their Creator.

The Scriptures, or Bible, are the only authentic source from which instruction upon these important points can be derived. The word Scriptures literally signifies Writings, and the word Bible, Book ; but these words are now, by way of eminence and distinction, exclusively applied to those sacred compositions, which contain the Revealed Will of God. The words, Scriptures and Scripture, occur in this sense in the Gospels, Acts, and Epistles (a) ; whence it is evident, that, in the time of our Saviour, they denoted the books received by the Jews, as the rule of their faith. To these books have been added the writings of the Apostles

and

B

2 Authenticity and Inspiration [part u

and Evangelists, which complete the collection of books acknowledged by Christians to be divinely inspired. The Bible ( b), or the Book, the Book of Books, was used in its present sense by the early Christians, as we learn from Chrysostom (c).

The Bible is divided into two parts, called the Old and New Testament (d). The Old Testament, of which alone it is intended to treat in this chapter, contains those sacred books which were composed, previous to the birth of our Saviour, by the successive prophets and inspired writers, whom it pleased God to raise up from time to time, through a period of more than 1000 years. These books are written in Hebrew, and they are the only writings now extant in that language. The Old Testament, according to our Bibles, consists of thirty-nine books ; but among the Jews they formed only twenty-two, which was also the number of

letters

(b) Bi^Xiov signifies simply a book.

(c) Horn. 9. in Col.

(d) St. Paul, in the same chapter, 2 Cor. c. 3. v, 6. and 14. calls the dispensation of Moses the Old Testament, and the dispensation of Christ the New Testament ; and these distinguishing appellations were applied by the early ecclesiastical authors to the writings which contained those dispensations. The Greek word AiaQwn occurs in Scripture both in the sense of a testament or will, and of a covenant, Heb. c. 9. v. 16, and Gal. c. 3. v. 15. It seems improperly applied to the antient Scriptures in the former sense, since the death of Moses had no concern whatever in the establishment or effi-> cacy of the Jewish religion; but in the latter sense it very properly signifies the covenant between God and his chosen people. The word Ajaflwn, when applied in the sense of testament to the books which contain the Christian dispensation,' may refer to the death of Christ, which forms an essential part of his religion ; but even in this case it would, perhaps, have been better translated by the word covenant, as referring to the conditions upon which God is pleased to offer salvation to his sinful creatures, through the mediation of his only son Jesus Christ. The Hebrew word Berith, which is translated by a«0w>i in the Septuagint version, always signifies a covenant.

letters in their alphabet. They divided these twenty-two books into three classes; the first class consisted of five books, namely, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, which they called The Law : the second class consisted of thirteen books, namely, Joshua, Judges and Ruth in one book ; the two books of Samuel, of Kings, and of Chronicles respectively, in single books; Ezra and Nehemiah, in one book; Esther, Job, Isaiah, the two books of Jeremiah in one ; Ezekiel, Daniel, and the twelve minor prophets in one book ; these thirteen books they called The Prophets : the third class consisted of the four remaining books, namely, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon, which four books the Jews called Chetubim, and the Greeks Hagiographa ( e) ; this class was also called The Psalms, from the name of the first book in it. This threefold division was naturally suggested by the books themselves ; it was used merely for convenience, and did not proceed from any opinion of difference in the authority of the books of the several classes. In like manner the minor prophets were so called from the brevity of their works, and not from any supposed inferiority to the other prophets. The books are not in all instances arranged in our Bibles (f) according to the order of time in which they were written ; but the book of Genesis was the earliest composition contained in the sacred volume, except, as some think, the book of Job; and the book of Malachi was certainly the latest.

Though Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, stood as separate books in the private copies used by the Jews in the time of

Josephus,

(e) From ayuq holy, and y^n writing.

(f) There is some little difference in the arrangement of the books in the Bibles of different countries and languages. Dupin. Diss. Pred. book I. c. l. sect 7.

4 Authenticity and Inspiration [part r,

Josephus (g), they were written by their author Moses in one continued work, and still remain in that form, in the public copies read in the Jewish synagogues. These five books are now generally known by the name of the Pentateuch ( h) ; and they are frequently cited both in the Old and New Testament under the name of The Law. It appears from Deuteronomy, that the book of the Law, that is, the whole Pentateuch, written by the hand of Moses, was, by his command, deposited in the tabernacle, not long before his death ( i). It was kept there not only while the Israelites remained in the wilderness, but afterwards, when they were settled in the land of Canaan. To the same sanctuary were consigned, as they were successively produced, the other sacred books, which were written before the building of the temple at Jerusalem. And when Solomon had finished the temple, he directed that these books should be removed into it; and also, that the future compositions of inspired men should be secured in the same holy place (k). We may therefore conclude, that the respective works of Jonah, Amos, Hosea, Joel, Micah, Nahum, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Habbakuk, and Obadiah, all of whom flourished before the Babylonian captivity, were regularly deposited in the temple Whether these manuscripts perished in the flames, when the temple was burnt by Nebuchadnezzar, we are not informed, But

as

(g) It is not known when this division took place, but probably it was first adopted in the Septuagint version, as the titles prefixed are of Greek derivation. The beginnings of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, are very abrupt, and plainly shew that these books were formerly joined to Genesis.

(h) From ttevte five, and tei^o? volume. It is called by the Jews, Chomez, a word synonymous with Pentateuch.

(k) Epiphanius de Pond, et Mens. cap. 4. Gray's Introd, Jenkin, part 2. ch. 9.

chap. I.] of the Old Testament. 5

as the burning of the Scriptures is not lamented by any of the contemporary or succeeding prophets, and as the other treasures of the temple were preserved and set apart as sacred by Nebuchadnezzar, it is probable that these autographs also were saved ; and more especially, as it does not appear that Nebuchadnezzar had any particular enmity against the religion of the Jews. If however the original books were destroyed with the temple, it is certain that there were at that time numerous copies of them; and we cannot doubt but some of them were carried by the Jews to Babylon, and that others were left in Judea. The holy Scriptures were too much reverenced, and too much dispersed, to make it credible that all the copies were lost or destroyed ; and indeed we find Daniel, when in captivity (I), referring to the book of the Law as then existing ; and soon after the captivity, Ezra not only read and explained the Law to the people (m), but he restored the public worship and the sacrifices according to the Mosaic ritual ; and therefore there must have been, at that time, at least a correct copy of the Law ; for it is impossible to believe that he would have attempted the re-establishment of a church, in which the most minute observance of the rites and ceremonies prescribed by Moses was not only absolutely necessary for the acceptable performance of divine worship, but the slightest deviation from which was considered as sacrilege or abomination, unless he had been in actual possession either of the original manuscript of the Law (n) 9 or

of

(n) " The very old Egyptians used to write on linen, things which they designed should last long ; and those characters continue to this day, as we are assured by those who have examined the mummies with attention. So Maillet tells us, that the filletting, or rather the bandage (for it was b 3 of

6 Authenticity and Inspiration [part 1.

of a copy so well authenticated as to leave no doubt of its accuracy in the minds of the people.

There is an uncontradicted tradition in the Jewish church, that about fifty years after the temple was rebuilt, Ezra, in conjunction with the Great Synagogue, made a collection of the sacred writings (o), which had been increased since the

Jews

of considerable length) of a mummy, which was presented to him, and which he had opened in the house of the Capuchin Monks of Cairo, was not only charged from one end to the other with hieroglyphical figures, but they also found certain unknown characters written from the right hand towards the left, and forming a kind of verses. These, he supposed, contained the eulogium of the person whose this body was, written in the language which was used in Egypt in the time in which she lived : that some part of this writing ■was afterwards copied by an engraver in France, and these papers sent to the virtuosi through Europe, that if possible they might decypher them ; but in vain. Might not a copy of the law of Moses, written after this manner, have lasted eight hundred and thirty years ? Is it unnatural to imagine that Moses, who was learned in all the arts of Egypt, wrote after this manner on linen ? And doth not this supposition perfectly well agree with the accounts we have of the form of their books, their being rolls, and of their heing easily cut in pieces with a knife, and liable to be burned? It should seem, the linen was first primed or painted all over before they began to write, and consequently would have been liable to crack if folded. We are told, the use of the papyrus was not known till after Alexandria was built. Skins might do for records, but not for books, unless prepared like parchment, of which we are assured Eumenes was the inventor, in the second century before Christ. Ink or paint must have been used to write on linen, and pens must have been reeds or canes, like those now used in Persia, which agrees better with the Hebrew word we render pen." Harmer's Observ. vol. ii. — Nearchus, who accompanied Alexander in his expedition into India, says, that the Indians " write on linen or cotton cloth, and that their character is beautiful." Arrian, 717.

(0) " What the Jews call the great synagogue were a number of elders, amounting to 120, who, succeeding some after others, in a continued series, from the return of the Jews again into Judea, after the Babylonish captivity to the

time

€BAP* i.] of the Old Testament. 7

Jews were carried into captivity, by the Lamentations of Jeremiah, and the prophecies of Ezekiel, of Daniel, Haggai, and Zechariah ; and as Ezra was himself inspired, we may rest assured, that whatever received his sanction was authentic. To this genuine collection, which, according to former custom, was placed in the temple, were afterwards annexed the sacred compositions of Ezra himself, as well as those of Nehemiah and Malachi, which were written after the death of Ezra. This

addition,

time of Simon the Just, laboured in the restoring of the Jewish church and state in that country ; in order whereto, the holy Scriptures being the rule they were to go by, their chief care and study was to make a true collection of those Scriptures, and publish them accurately to the people. Ezra, and the men of the great synagogue that lived in his time, completed this work as far as I have said ; and as to what remained farther to be done in it, where can we better place the performing of it, and the ending and finishing of the whole thereby, than in that time when those men of the great synagogue ended, that were employed therein, that is, in the time of Simon the Just, who was the last of them V } Prideaux, part l. book 8. It is also generally admitted, that Ezra transcribed the Scriptures in the Chaldaic or square letters, which we now call Hebrew, and which, from the long residence of the Jews in Babylon, were then better understood than the antient Hebrew or Phoenician characters. When the Jewish church was re-established after the captivity, a rule was made to erect a synagogue in every place where there were ten persons of full age and free condition always ready to attend the service of it, ten being thought necessary to make a congregation; and it is said that Ezra himself distributed 300 copies of the law for the use of these synagogues. The service performed in the synagogues was, prayer (for which they had a liturgy) reading and expounding the Scriptures, and preaching. The Pentateuch was divided into sections, that the whole might be read in the course of a year. When the reading of the Law was prohibited by Antiochus Epiphanes, they read the prophets instead of the Law, to evade the penalty of death ; but as soon as they were freed from his tyranny, they read both the Law and the prophets every sabbath, and have continued to do so ever since : but the prayers now in use are different from the antient liturgies. Vide Prideaux. B 4

8 Authenticity and Inspiration [pAltt t,

addition, which was probably made by Simon the Just, the last of the great synagogue, completed the Canon of the Old Testament; for after Malachi no prophet arose till the time of John the Baptist, who, as it were, connected the two covenants, and of whom Malachi foretold, that he should precede " the great day of the Lord (p)," that is, the coming of the Messiah. It cannot now be ascertained, whether Ezra's copy of the Scriptures was destroyed by Antiochus Epiphanes, when he pillaged the temple ; nor is it material, since we know that Judas Maccabaeus repaired the temple, and replaced every thing requisite for the performance of divine worship, which included a correct, if not Ezra's own, copy of the Scriptures. This copy, whether Ezra's or not, remained in the temple till Jerusalem was taken by Titus, and it was then carried in triumph to Rome, and laid up with the purple veil in the royal palace of Vespasian (q).

Thus, while the Jewish polity continued, and nearly, 500 years after the time of Ezra, a complete and faultless copy of the Hebrew canon was kept in the temple (r) at Jerusalem, with which all others might be compared. And it ought to be observed, that although Christ frequently reproved the rulers and teachers of the Jews for their erroneous and false doctrines, yet he never accused them of any corruption in their written Law, or other sacred books : and St. Paul reckons . among the privileges of the Jews, " that unto them were committed the oracles of God (s)" without insinuating that they had been unfaithful to their trust. After the final destruction of Jerusalem

(q) Joseph, de Bell. Jud. lib. 7. cap. 5.

(r) Josephus mentions the Scriptures deposited in the temple. Ant. Jud. lib. 3. cap. 1. and lib. 5. cap.' 1.

€haf. t,] vf the Old Testament. g

lem by the Romans, there was no established standard of the Hebrew Scriptures; but from that time the dispersion of the Jews into all countries, and the numerous converts to Christianity, became a double security for the preservation of a volume held equally sacred by Jews and Christians, and to which both constantly referred as to the written word of God. They differed in the interpretation of these books, but never dis- I puted the validity of the text in any material point.

But though designed corruption was utterly impracticable, and was indeed never suspected, yet the carelessness and inadvertence of transcribers, in a long series of years, would unavoidably introduce some errors and mistakes. Great pains have been taken by learned men, and especially by the diligent and judicious Dr. Kennicott, to collate the remaining manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible ; and the result has been satisfactory in the highest degree. Many various readings of a trivial kind have been discovered, but scarcely any of real consequence. These differences are indeed of so little moment, that it is sometimes absurdly objected to the laborious work of Dr. Kennicott, which contains the collations of nearly 700 Hebrew manuscripts, that it does not enable us to correct a single important passage in the Old Testament; whereas that very circumstance implies, that we have in fact derived from that excellent undertaking the greatest advantage which could have been wished for by any real friend of revealed religion; namely, the certain knowledge of the agreement of the copies of the antient Scriptures^ now extant in their original language, with each other, and with our Bibles. This point, thus clearly established, is still farther confirmed by the general coincidence of the present Hebrew copies with all the early translab 5 tions io Authenticity and Inspiration [part i.

tions of the Bible, and particularly with the Septuagint (t) Version, the earliest of them all, and which was made 270 years before Christ. There is also a perfect agreement between the Samaritan (u) and Hebrew Pentateuchs, except in one or two manifest interpolations, which were noticed

immediately

(t) This is a Translation of the Old Testament into Greek, made at Alexandria, when Ptolemy Philadelphus was king of Egypt. Aristseus relates, that Ptolemy applied to Eleazer, the high priest at Jerusalem, for proper persons to translate the Hebrew Scriptures into the Greek language, and that the high priest sent six elders from each of the twelve tribes. These seventy-two persons soon completed the work, and from their number it was called the Septuagint Version, seventy being a round number. This account of Aristaeus is but little credited. Some learned men have supposed that this was called the Septuagint Translation, because it was approved by the Sanhedrim, whose number was seventy. But whatever was the origin of its name, it is certain that this version was made in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, and that it was in great esteem among the Jews in the time of our Saviour. Most of the quotations in the New Testament are made from it, except in St. Matthew's Gospel.

fu) The Samaritans, who were the descendants of the ten tribes that seceded in the reign of Jtehoboam, and of the Cutheans, a colony brought from the East, and established in Samaria by Esarhaddon, professed the Hebrew religion ; but the Pentateuch was the only part of the Jewish Scriptures which they acknowledged. The Samaritan Pentateuch is a copy of the original Hebrew, written in the old Hebrew or Phoenician characters. There are still some Samaritans, who have their high priest, and offer sacrifices upon Mount Gerizim. Archbishop Usher procured two or three copies of the Samaritan Pentateuch, which were the first that had been in Europe since the revival of learning. It is well known that the language now spoken by the Jews is different from that of the Hebrew Scriptures, which has indeed been a dead language since the return from captivity ; and in like manner the language spoken by the modern Samaritans is different from that of their antient Pentateuch. There is a translation of the Pentateuch in the modern Samaritan language, which is published in the Paris and London Polyglots; it is so literal, that Morinus and Walton have given but one version for both, only marking the variations. Vide Gray and Prideaux, part 1. ch. 5 and 6.

immediately by the Jewish writers ( x) ; and this is no small proof of the genuineness of both, as we may rest assured, that the Jews and Samaritans, on account of their rooted enmity to each other, would never have concurred in any alteration. Nor ought it to be omitted, that the Chaldee paraphrases (y), which are very antient, and so concise, that they may be called translations, entirely accord with our Hebrew Bibles.

The books of the Old Testament have been always allowed, in every age and by every sect of the Hebrew Church, to be the genuine works of those persons to whom they are usually ascribed ; and they have also been, universally and exclusively, without any addition or exception, considered by the Jews as written Under the immediate influence of the Divine Spirit. Those who were contemporaries with the respective writers of these books, had the clearest evidence, that they acted and spoke by the authority of God himself; and this testimony, transmitted to all succeeding ages, was in many cases strengthened and confirmed by the gradual fulfilment of predictions contained in their writings. " We have not," says Josephus, " myriads of books which

differ

(x) Vide Prideaux, part 1 . b. 6.

(y) The Chaldee paraphrases, called Targums, or Versions, are translations of the Old Testament from the Hebrew into Chaldee, made for the benefit of those who had forgotten, or were ignorant of the Hebrew, after the captivity. They were read publicly with the original Hebrew, sentence for sentence alternately. Vide Nehem. c. 8. v. 8. The two most antient and authentic are tha't of Onkelos, on the law, and that of Jonathan, on the prophets • which, from the purity of the language and other circumstances, are considered as having been made soon after the captivity, or at least before the time of Christ. There are other Targums, which are of a much later date. The Targums are printed in the second edition of the Hebrew Bible, published at Basil, by Buxtorf the father, in l6l(X Vide Gray and Prideaux, part 2. book 8.

B 6

12 Authenticity and Inspiration fpAitT i,

differ from each other, but only twenty-two books, which comprehend the history of all past time, and are justly believed to be divine. And of these, five are the works of Moses, which contain the laws, and an account of things from the creation of man to the death of Moses : this pe- . riod falls but a little short of 3000 years. And from the death of Moses to the reign of Artaxerxes, who succeeded Xerxes as king of Persia, the prophets after Moses wrote the transactions of their own times in thirteen books ; and the four remaining books contain hymns to God and precepts for the conduct of human life. And from Artaxerxes to the present time there is a continuation of writings, but they are not thought deserving of the same credit, because there was not a clear succession of prophets. But what confidence we have in our own writings is manifest from hence ; that after so long a lapse of time no one has dared to add'to them, or to diminish from them, or to alter any thing in them; for it is implanted in the nature of all Jews, immediately from their birth, to consider these books as the oracles of God, to adhere to them, and if occasion should require, cheerfully to die for their sake (z)." The Jews of the present day dispersed all over the world, demonstrate the sincerity of their belief in the Authenticity of the Scriptures, by their inflexible adherence to the Law, and by the anxious expectation with which they wait for the accomplishment of the prophecies. " Blindness has happened to them" only " in part (a) ;" and the constancy, with which they have endured persecution, and suffered hardships, rather than renounce the commands of their lawgiver, fully proves their firm conviction that these books were

divinely

(z) Jos. cont. Ap. lib. 1. sect. 8. edit. Huds. p. 1333. (a) Rom. c. 11. v. 25.

divinely inspired, and that they remain uninjured by time and transcription. Handed down, untainted by suspicion, from Moses to the present generation, they are naturally objects of their unshaken confidence and attachment — but suppose the case reversed — destroy the grounds of their faith, by admitting the possibility of the corruption of their Scriptures, and their whole history becomes utterly inexplicable. "A book of this nature," says Dr. Jenkin, speaking of the Bible, ** which is so much the antientest in the world, being constantly received as a divine revelation, carries great evidence with it that it is authentic : for the first revelation is to be the criterion of all that follow; and God would not suffer the antientest book of Religion in the world to pass all along under the notion and title of a revelation, without causing some discovery to be made of the imposture, if there were any in it ; much less would he preserve it by a particular and signal providence for so many ages. It is a great argument for the truth of the Scriptures, that they have stood the test, and received the approbation, of so many ages, and still retain their authority, though so many ill men in all ages have made it their endeavour to disprove them ; but it is a still farther evidence in behalf of them, that God has been pleased to shew so remarkable a providence in their preservation^ )."