er of the Synod of Antioch referring to the
Metropolitan Paul (Euseb., H. E. VII. 30. 6 ... [Greek: apostas tou
kanonos epi kibdela kai notha didagmata meteleluthen]), and the homilies
of Aphraates. The closer examination of the last phase in the
development of the confession of faith during this epoch, when the
apostolic confessions received an interpretation in accordance with the
theology of Origen, will be more conveniently left over till the close
of our description (see chap. 7 fin).]

[Footnote 67: See the histories of the canon by Credner, Reuss,
Westcott, Hilgenfeld, Schmiedel, Holtzmann, and Weiss; the latter two,
which to some extent supplement each other, are specially instructive.
To Weiss belongs the merit of having kept Gospels and Apostles clearly
apart in the preliminary history of the canon (see Th. L. Z. 1886. Nr.
24); Zahn, Gesch. des N. Tlichen Kanons, 2 vols, 1888 ff.; Harnack, Das
Neue Test. um d. J. 200, 1889; Voigt, Eine verschollene Urkunde des
antimontan. Kampfes, 1891, p. 236 ff.; Weizsaecker, Rede bei der akad.
Preisvertheilung, 1892. Nov.; Koeppel, Stud. u. Krit. 1891, p. 102 ff;
Barth, Neue Jahrbb. f. deutsche Theologie, 1893, p. 56 ff. The following
account gives only a few aspects of the case, not a history of the
genesis of the canon.]

[Footnote 68: "Holy" is not always equivalent to "possessing absolute
authority." There are also various stages and degrees of "holy."]

[Footnote 69: I beg here to lay down the following principles as to
criticism of the New Testament. (1) It is not individual writings, but
the whole book that has been immediately handed down to us. Hence, in
the case of difficulties arising, we must first of all enquire, not
whether the title and historical setting of a book are genuine or not,
but if they are original, or were only given to the work when it became
a component part of the collection. This also gives us the right to
assume interpolations in the text belonging to the time when it was
included in the canon, though this right must be used with caution. (2)
Baur's "tendency-criticism" has fallen into disrepute; hence we must
also free ourselves from the pedantry and hair-splitting which were its
after effects. In consequence of the (erroneous) assumptions of the
Tuebingen school of critics a suspicious examination of the texts was
justifiable and obligatory on their part. (3) Individual difficulties
about the date of a document ought not to have the resul