efore to be
indicated. Thus came the canon of the prophets.

The freedom with which the author of the Chronicles used the material of
the older historians which had been taken up into the sacred writings,
shows that the sacredness attached to them had not isolated them into
extra-human writings even a century and a half after Ezra.

The process of exaltation was at work, however, and continued thenceforth
through the national history, increasing as the life of the nation ebbed.
It was the period immediately following the destruction of Jerusalem by
the Romans, which busied itself in closing the canon of Jewish Scriptures
Death bound up that Bible. No new chapters could be added, because there
was no more life left to write them. In its dotage this noble nation
became known, by its superstitious reverence for the law, as "the people
of the book." Learned doctors gravely taught their pupils that "God
himself studies the law for the first three hours of every day."

The superstitious exaltation of the sacred writings, coincident with the
lapsing life of the nation, was partially responsible for it, as it
discouraged the fresh inspirations of the soul, and suppressed all free
spiritual thought.

The genesis of the similar theory concerning the Christian Scriptures
repeats the story told above.

The formation of the Christian Church was a period of astonishing literary
productivity, commensurate in extent and worth with the importance of
Christianity. It was a creative epoch in history. The life and teachings
of Jesus stirred the minds and thrilled the souls of men. The higher
spheres brooded low upon our world. Spiritual influences of unparalleled
magnitude were working in society. The "Spirit of God moved upon the face
of the waters."

Writings of all sorts abounded. They carried such weight as their author's
name or their intrinsic worth imparted to them. Even the most valuable
were not so prized or guarded as to prevent some of them from being lost.
Paul's own letters suffered from this neglect. Had a few copies of these
inestimable letters been made by the churches to whom they were sent such
a fate could not have befallen any of them. These writings were quoted
freely by the early fathers, who rarely cared to give the exact language
even of the great apostle.

As the churches multiplied and organized, the need of selection from the
multitudinous literature of Christianity was felt. Genuine letters had to
be dis