o the canon of the New
Testament, of which a very brief outline has been given, has all the
marks of naturalness and truthfulness. The Biblical student should
carefully remember the two following important considerations:

(1.) The books of the New Testament were not received as a whole, but
_separately_ upon the evidence that each gave of its apostolic origin.
Doubts in respect to certain books throw no shadow of suspicion upon the
rest, the genuineness and authenticity of which were acknowledged by all
from the beginning. The question, therefore, is not concerning the truth
of revelation, but simply concerning the claims of certain books to be a
part of the record of revelation. However it may be decided in
particular cases, the apostolic authority of the universally
acknowledged books, which constitute the main body of the New Testament,
remains perfectly sure.

(2.) The early diversities of judgment in respect to certain books
furnish satisfactory evidence of the freedom of thought and discussion
among the primitive Christians, and of the sincerity and earnestness of
their investigations. It was precisely because they would not accept any
book without full evidence of its apostolic authority, that these
diversities of judgment prevailed.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

ANCIENT VERSIONS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.

In the present chapter those versions of the Old Testament also that
were made in connection with versions of the New, and in the interest of
Christianity, will be briefly considered.

I. LATIN VERSIONS.

1. A peculiar interest attaches to the early Latin versions. The "_Old
Latin_" translation of the New Testament, in connection with which one
of the Old Testament was executed from the Septuagint, is perhaps the
earliest that exists in any language. The Old Syriac alone can rival it
in antiquity, and if either may claim the precedence, it is probably the
Latin. This version, and afterwards the revision of it by Jerome, was
the grand medium through which the Holy Scriptures were known to the
Western or Latin churches for more than twelve centuries. It has
exercised no small influence on the popular modern versions of
Christendom, and it is the great storehouse of theological terms for
both Catholic and Protestant Christianity.

The English version of Wiclif (1324-1384) is a literal
translation of the current text of the Latin Vulgate. The
Psalter of the English Prayer Book is taken from Cranmer