with the law itself. Joshua, Ji(lgcs, Samuel, and
Kings were plainly written with a didactic pur-
pose to show the dangers of disobedience to the
law. Hence they were regarded as 'prophetic'
books. The publication of Daniel, in B.C. 165, re-
vived the interest in prophecy, and inspired not
only imitators, but also editors, to whom we owe
the" books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and The
Twelve, in their present form. Apocalyptic
versions furnished enthusiasm for the ^Messi-
anic movements. Disenchanted, Judaism, to save
its life, fell back upon the Law and the earlier
Prophets.
The Psalter was in the main a product of the Hasmoniean Age, whatever earlier elements may have found their way into its different collec- tions. As it was ascribed to David and numerous hymns were supposed to refer to his greater Son, its influence in an era of Messianic hopes was by no means limited to the temple-service. As- sociated with it as early as in the middle of the First Century B.C. were the writings ascribed to Solomon. The attacks upon Canticles and Ec- clesiastes, with a view to having tliem relegated to the limbo of the geiiuzim, as unfit for public use, were frustrated. We owe the preservation of the precious love-lyrics to an utterly impossible allegorical interpretation; and judicious inter- polations saved from destruction the remnants of a remarkable philosophy of disenchantment. The survival of Esther is probably due partly to the tenacity of the old ancestral cult, partly to the vindictive spirit prevalent in the people at the time when its canonicity was discussed.
There is no record of any book having ever been added by a Jewish assembly to a previously existing canon. The history of the canon is a his- tory of the criticism of the canon. Certain books of "a religious nature were held in high honor. Tlieir contents suggested a divine origin. An- cient Hebrew critics inquired whether the char- acter of some of the.se books justified the tradi- tional estimate, and in many instances were forced by their doctrine of inspiration to answer in the negative. Some of tliem were successfully impugned as works not possessing a sanctity rendering a ceremonial washing necessary after contact with them. Otliers were not eliminated, though strong efforts were made to withdraw them from public use. Among those that had been regarded as sacred, but had been rejected, some continued in certain circles to be quoted as Scripture, as Ben Sira in llaba Kama 'J2etaI..or read in certain synagogues, as Baruch in the lime of Origen (Euseb. Hist. vi. 2.5), or copied in the Bible, as Enoch by the Jews of Ethiopia. Among the llellenistic Jews, a large number of these works were preserved and quoted as Scripture.
(B) Canon OF THE Xew Testament. The his- tory of the New Testament canon is the history of the New Testament writings viewed as an au- thoritative and closed collection. It inquires as to the estimation in which these writings were held by the Early Church; how and wlicn they came to be collected, and the principles upon which and the date when the collection was closed.
( 1 ) The A'cM' Teslamciit Writhigs irt the Apos- tolic Age. — During this jjcriod the New-Testa- ment books came into existence. They were, in the majority of eases, produced independently, with no special reference to each other, by vari- ous authors at dificrent times, for the use of dilTerent communities of individuals. Each book began its career alone. The answer to the ques- tion how they came to be collected, united, and constituted the canon or rule for universal Christian faith and practice, is to be sought first in certain characteristics of the Apostolic Age. ( hristianity was not, at first, a book-religion. The teachings of .Jesus were committed to His Apostles, to be reproduced and proclaimed and taught by them, orally, as the (Jospel. The Gos- pel was authoritative, for it was the Gospel of God. Therefore, the words of the Apostles, as the accredited teachers and expounders of the Gospel, were accorded the greatest weight. What was true of their spoken words was also true of what they wrote. Hence, when the Gospel took on a written form, whether in an epistle or in a nar- rative of .Jesus's worils and deeds written by an Apostle or an intimate companion and fellow- worker with the Apostles, such writing was sure to be carefully preserved, often read, widely cir- culated, and highly honored. It was a natural result, untrammeled by any theories whatsoever. The evidence for this is abundant throughout the New Testatment. Upon those two principles the supreme authority of the Gospel itself, and the preeminent right of the Apostles and their inti- mate associates to teach it, the subsequent ca- reer of the New-Testament books depended.
(2) The Suh- Apostolic Age (to about a.d. 140) was an intensely practical period. It was a mis- sionary age. The Christian documents that re- main from it only incidentally reveal the state of opinion as to the New-Testament books. They do, however, aft'ord lis a glimpse into the condi- tion of the Church in nearly all parts of the Ro- man world then covered by Christian activity. Everywhere there was the same high opinion of the (now dead) Apostles, as the authorized exponents of the faith. There was general uniformity as to the recognition of the supreme authority of our Lord's teachings. These were naturally placed alongside of the Old TesUiment, which, nevertheless, continued to be the only generally recognized 'Scripture.' From the canonization of our Lord's words contained in the (tOSpel narratives, it was but a step to the canoniza- tion of the Gospels themselves. But this step was not yet formally taken. Collections, more or less complete, of the Pauline Epistles were in the hands of the leading men in the Churches of Antioch, .sia Minor; Greece, Kome, and other places. (Juotations from the NewTcst.ament writings are numerous, but of a free, informal character, in but one instance introduced by the regular formula, "it is written." The .pocry- plial Gospels from this period show large depend- ence on our canonical tiospels.
(3) From a.d. 1'i0-22.> the Church was engaged in a deadly struggle with foes within and with- out. Gnosticism threatened to annihilate the primitive Christian faith, while the Hoiiian Gov- crninent put Christianity itself under the ban. The Church was called upon to defend its faith and its posit imi. Hence, the more im|>(>rtaiit Chrislian literature of this jieriod is controver- eial. From i.ie writings of Justin Martyr, in Rome, about A.i). l.'iO, we learn that the mem- oirs of the Apostles, also called 'Gospels,' were in comnum use in the public Sunday services of the Christians, and that these writings, as having been written by the .Apostles and their com-
