this arrangement rested on no authority of manuscripts. It was
only an expression of his private judgment respecting their
canonical authority, which he placed below that of the other
books of the New Testament.

4. We have seen (Chap. 13, No. 4) that in the arrangement of the books
of the Old Testament, the order of time is followed only very partially.
The same is true respecting the order of books in the New Testament, a
fact which the biblical student ought always to bear in mind. If we look
to the several divisions and subdivisions of the New Testament writings,
it is obvious that the arrangement is not chronological. It is generally
admitted that the Gospel according to John was written after the death
of Peter and Paul; consequently, after the Acts of the Apostles (which
were written during the life of Paul, Chap. 5, No. 5), after all the
Pauline epistles, and probably after all the Catholic epistles except
those which are ascribed to John himself. The Acts of the Apostles,
again, are of later date than several of Paul's epistles. Finally,
neither the Pauline nor the catholic epistles are arranged in
chronological order. See below, Chap. 30, No. 6. The intelligent student
of the New Testament will avail himself of all the means at his command
to ascertain the date, proximately at least, of each particular book;
that he may thus connect it with the development of Christianity in the
threefold line of doctrine, practice, and polity.

5. The present distinction of large letters (capitals) and small did not
come into use before the ninth century. In conformity with ancient
usage, the manuscripts executed before this period are written in large
disconnected letters (the so-called _uncial_), without any marks of
interpunction, or even division of words. This is called the _continuous
writing_ (_scriptio continua_), in which it is left to the reader's
discretion to make the necessary division of words and sentences; as if
the beginning of the Gospel according to John were written thus in Latin
and English:

_Latin_. _English_.

INPRINCIPIOERATVERBUMET INTHEBEGINNINGWASTHEWORDAND
VERBUMERATAPUDDEUMETDEUSE THEWORDWASWITHGODANDGODW
RATVERBUMHOCERATINPRINCIPI ASTHEWORDTHESAMEWASINTHEBEGIN
OAPUDDEUMOMNIAPERIPSUMFA NINGWITHGODALLTHINGSBYHIMWEREMA

Writers before our Saviour's time do indeed speak of signs of
interpunc