es, thirteen. To the student of church history they
are not without value; for they illustrate the origin of many ancient
traditions and some ritual observances. But if we look to their
intrinsic character, they may be described as a mass of worthless
legends abounding in absurd and puerile stories. The contrast between
the miracles which they relate and the true miracles recorded in the
canonical gospels and Acts is immense, and such as makes the darkness of
these spurious writings more visible. The miracles of the canonical
books have always a worthy occasion, and are connected with the
Saviour's work of redemption. But the pretended miracles of the
apocryphal writings are, as a general rule, wrought on trivial
occasions, with either no end in view but the display of supernatural
power, or with a positively unlawful end, whence it not unfrequently
happens that their impiety rivals their absurdity. Many samples of both
these characters could be given, but the general reader may well remain
ignorant of them.

PRINCIPLES OF BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION.

* * * * *

CHAPTER XXXIII.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

1. The term _Hermeneutics_ (Greek, _hermeneuo_, _to interpret_) is
commonly employed to denote the _principles of scriptural
interpretation_. The Greek word _exegesis_--that is,
_exposition_--denotes the actual _work of interpretation_. Hermeneutics
is, therefore, the _science_ of interpretation; Exegesis, the
_application_ of this science to the word of God. The hermeneutical
writer lays down general principles of interpretation; the exegetical
writer uses these principles in the exposition of Scripture. The terms
_epexegesis_ and _epexegetical_ are used by expositors in a special
sense to denote something explanatory of the immediate context.

2. The expositor's _office_ is, to ascertain and unfold the true meaning
of the inspired writers, without adding to it, subtracting from it, or
changing it in any way. Here we may draw an instructive parallel between
his work and that of the textual critic. The textual critic aims to
give, not what some one might think the inspired penman should have
written, but what he actually did write. So the true expositor, taking
the very words of Scripture, seeks not to force upon them a meaning in
harmony with his preconceived opinions, but to take from them the very
ideas which the writer intended to express. It is pertinent, therefore,
to consi