more

last discourse, that he had "many things to say to them which they were not able to bear," and hence it is inferred, that his gospels contain only a partial and imperfect view of his religion. But Jesus said to his disciples in the very discourse which contains this passage, "I have called you friends, for all things, which I have heard of my father, I have made known unto you." These passages may easily be reconcil

Jesus in the course of his ministry had preached all the great and leading principles of his gospel. But so blinded

all their doctrines are to be re-
ceived as from God. But their
manner of communicating divine
truth appears to have been very
much their own. Paul received
indeed the gospel from Christ,
but he retained his original con-
stitution of mind, his former mode
of viewing subjects, his old hab-
its of reasoning and of expres-
sion. No writings are
strongly marked than his with the
peculiarities of the individual;
and on this account, it is believed.
ed, his epistles convey fainter
and obscurer ideas of divine truth,
than those discourses which flow-
ed immediately from the lips of
our Saviour. In clearness, im-
pressiveness and dignity, in un-
labored sublimity, and in tender
adaptation to the understandings
of men, who of the apostles can
be compared with their Lord?
It deserves remark, that in the
parables of the prodigal son, of
the good Samaritan, of the pub-
lican and pharisee, our Saviour
has proposed the very objects to
which many parts of Paul's epis-
tles are directed. He has intend-
ed to rebuke the proud spirit of
the Jews, to exhibit God as ex-
tending his mercy and favor to
individuals and nations, whom
the Jews despised, to condemn a
proud dependence on our works
and privileges, and to enjoin that
humility, which renounces all
claim, and casts itself on mercy.
Need I ask any reader, whether
these truths have not been brought
home to his heart with greater
power by these few simple para-
bles than by the writings of Paul
and the other apostles?

*

It is sometimes urged, that Je sus said to his disciples in his

were the minds of the disciples,
that they had been unable to re-
ceive or bear some of his plain-
est instructions. For example,
they had always resisted the
doctrine, that his kingdom was
not of this world. It was high-
ly important that these preju-
dices should be overcome; but
Jesus foreseeing that they would
soon be shaken by his death and
resurrection, forbore to oppose
them, and spent his last hours
in comforting his disciples, in-
stead of urging doctrines which
they could not bear. According
to this view, the gospels con-
tain all the great, leading prin-
ciples of Christianity; and what
is of especial importance, they
were written equally for all ages
and all nations.
From every

view of the gospels then, we
learn that they are the standard
by which we should try our in-
terpretations of the epistles.
The epistles are very much em-
ployed in applying to the cir-
cumstances of the primitive
church, those great truths which
in the gospels are delivered by

MORAL QUESTIONS.

THE BIBLE.

To the Editor of the Christian Disciple.

I duly considered the wish expressed by some of the hearers of my Discourse before the BIBLE SOCIETY OF MASSACHUSETTS, and your subsequent request, that the sketch of the English Translations of the Bible, given in that Discourse, might be inserted in the Christian Disciple. Finding it, however, on a revision, too concise for a distinct narrative of so interesting a portion of history, I have taken the liberty to enlarge it, in the hope of rendering it more satisfactory to the inquisitive, and more useful to the serious reader. In its present form, it is respectfully submitted to your disposal.

INTRODUCTION.

gathered at the same time."* How difficult, even then, must it have been for private Christians to obtain a copy of the Bible! This sacred book was, indeed, publicly read in the Christian churches, from a very early period; but, beside the expense of a copy, written entirely, as every copy then was, and the poverty of the primitive Christians, the persecutions, to which they were subjected during the three first centuries, must effectually have prevented any public associations for the diffusion of the Holy Scriptures.

Among the human means, how ever, which during the second and third centuries contributed to the success and propagation of the Christian doctrine, ecclesiastical historians distinctly mention the pious diligence and zeal with which many learned and worthy men recommended the sacred writings, and spread them abroad in translations.† However diverse the interpretations of different sects, yet all were unanimous in regarding with veneration the Holy Scriptûres, as the great rule of faith

and manners.‡ In the third century, the number of Christians was multiplied, and the limits of the church extended, by the translations of the sacred writings into various languages, and the zeal and labour of Őrigen in spreading abroad copies of them every where.§

Theodoret, who lived in the beginning of the fifth century, says, "We Christians are enabled to show the power of apostolic and prophetic doctrines, which have filled all countries under heaven. For that which was formerly uttered in Hebrew is not only translated into the language of the Grecians, but also of the Romans, the Indians, Persians, Armenians, Scythians, Sarmatians, Egyptians, and, in a word, into all languages that are used by any nation."||

When the Roman empire became Christianized under Constantine, the external peace and liberty of the church seem not to have been propitious to its internal prosperity, to that apostolic zeal especially, which is requisite to the propagation of the gospel. Religion lost in spirit

* Mosheim's Eccles. Hist. i. 108, 109. Paley's Evidences, P. I. ch. ix. sec. 3. + Mosheim's Eccles. Hist. i. 151, Cent ii. The Syriac Version of the New Testament appears to have been made within a few years of the apostles' time. Jerome, who plainly speaks of himself as being a disciple of the apostles, tells us that the writings of the apostles and prophets were read every Lord's day in the religious assemblies. See Lardner's Credibility of the Gospel History; and Jones's new and full method of settling the Canonical authority of the New Testament. Mr. Jones (Vol. i. P. i.) concludes that the Syriac version was the one used in the churches mentioned by Jerome; for he was a native of Syria, and no other language was then understood.

§ Ib. 245, Cent. iii.

+ Mosheim Eccl. Hist. i. 186, Cent. ii. "An Historical Account of the several English Translations of the Bible, and the opposition they met with from the church of Rome. By Anthony Johnson, A. M.” Lond. 1730. In Watson's Theological Tracts, Vol, iii p. 61.

bishop of Sherborn,† is said to have translated the Psalter into the Saxon tongue. He wrote a letter to EGBERT, bishop of Lindisfarne, in which he exhorts him, that, for the common benefit and use of all people, the Scriptures might be put into the vulgar language; which he is said to have done.S

After the Saxon inhabitants of Great Britain became converted to Christianity, "we are sure they had the whole Bible in their own country characters and language, and that the four Gospels in the same language were read in their religious assemblies."||

BEDE, who flourished at the

A language, compounded of the English and Saxon, spoken by the inhab itants of England after the Saxon conquest. It has often been called English. †The Diocese of Winchester at first contained all the kingdoms of the West Saxons, until it was divided by king Ina between Winchester and Sherborn, A. D. 705. Bingham's Antiquities of the Christian Church, Book ix. ch. 6.

I follow the orthography of the old writers, in preference to that of the later. "In the kingdom of Northumberland there were at first but two bishops, whose sees were York and Lindisfarne. But not long after, An. 678, Egfrid, king of Northumberland, having expelled Wilfrid, bishop of York, from his see, four or five bishops were ordained in his room." Bingham's Antiquities, B. ix. ch. 6. "Insula Lindisfarnea;" Bedæ Opera Hist. p. 241.

§ Johnson, in W. T. p. 61, who there says, the letter of Aldhelm to Egbert is extant in Wharton's Auctarium Hist. Dogmat. Usserii; and archbishop Ushor tells us, that the Saxon translation of the Evangelists, done by Egbert, without distinction of chapters, was in the possession of Mr. Robert Bowyer. Bede, who was contemporary with Aldhelm, describes him as a very learned man, a neat writer, and admirably versed in the scriptures. Bedæ Opera Hist. 203.

Lewis Hist. Eng. Transl. p. 3. Fox (ib. p. 6) says, "that K. Alfred translat ed both the Old and the New Testament into his own native language;" but, not finding this mentioned either in Asserius or in Bede, I have not confidently affirmed it. A Saxon version of the Four Gospels, said to be made by one Aldred, a priest, is, we are told, "in the very celebrated Code of Eadfride, bishop of Lindisfarne, about the year 680," as Mr. Selden conjectured. A Saxon copy of the four Gospels, by the aid and encouragement of archbishop Parker, was printed by the learned martyrologist John Fox, from a MS. now in the Bodleian Library, with this title: "The Gospels of the fower Evangelists translated in the olde Saxons tyme out of Latin into the vulgare toung of the Saxons, and now published for testimonie of the same. At London by John Daye dwell, ing over Aldersgate 1571. Cum privilegio Regiæ Majestatis per decennium." In the dedication of it to the queen, it is observed, that "this booke with others moe had been collected and searched out of the Saxon monuments." The archbishop himself said of it, that he edited the four Gospels in the Saxon tongue, that it might appear that the scriptures had been before known to the English people in the vulgar language..... “Scripturas antea fuisse vulgari scrmone Anglicano populo notas." Lewis, 4. Parker, De Antiquit. Brit. Eccles