ll corruptions of the text, additions from parallel passages, or to
meet its supposed wants, are the most common.

13. "That reading is preferable which explains the origin of the
others."

CHAPTER XXVII.

FORMATION AND HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CANON.

1. Respecting the canon of the New Testament there are two distinct but
related fields of inquiry. The first has reference to the _origin and
gradual accumulation, of the materials_ which enter into the canon; the
second, to the _collection of these materials_ into a volume or series
of volumes possessing cooerdinate authority with the books of the Old
Testament, and constituting with them the sum of written revelation. The
first of these questions has been already discussed in great measure. In
Chs. 2-4, the genuineness, uncorrupt preservation, authenticity, and
credibility of the four gospels were shown at some length; in Ch. 5 the
same was done in respect to the Acts of the Apostles and the
acknowledged epistles; in Ch. 6 was considered the position of the
disputed books in respect to the canon; and in Ch. 7 the inspiration of
the canon was demonstrated. Connected with these inquiries were some
general notices respecting the date of the several books of the New
Testament; but the fuller consideration of this latter question is
reserved for the second division of the present Part--that of Particular
Introduction. It will be sufficient to state here in a general way that,
if we leave out of account the writings of the Apostle John, the
remaining books of the New Testament were written somewhere between A.D.
45-70 (according to the commonly received opinion, between A.D. 50-70);
while the most probable date of John's writings is A.D. 70-100. The
composition of the books of the New Testament, then, spreads itself over
a period of about half a century.

2. Turning our attention, now, to the second question, that of the
collection and arrangement of these writings in a volume or series of
volumes cooerdinate in authority with the books of the Old Testament, we
have a succession of periods, not sharply separated from each other, but
each of them possessing, nevertheless, its prominent characteristics in
relation to the canonical writings.

3. First in order is the _apostolic age_, extending to about A.D. 100,
especially the first half of it when many of the apostles still
survived. This is the period of the _composition_ of the books of the
New Testament, b