THE following excellent proofs of the truth of the New Testament, have been selected from Dr. W. W. Sleigh's Defensive Dictionary, and are well worthy of a careful reading:—
The New Testament does not abrogate the Old, but it is a fulfillment of it. The council of Laodicea, A. D. 364, did not pretend then first to settle what the canon of the New Testament was, but simply to give their sanction, as a public body, to those books which had from the first century been recognized by separate churches as constituting the sacred canon; and thus to guard the world against imposition and counterfeit books. The books of the New Testament were referred to, both by friends and foes, from the very beginning. Moreover none of the spurious or apocryphal gospels were quoted or referred to (except to censure them) for three hundred years after the birth of Christ.
In corroboration of the antiquity of the New Testament, we may observe,
1. We have a number of manuscripts found in different countries, all anterior to the art of printing.
2. We have some versions of these, written in languages which have not been for many ages spoken in any part of the world.
3. The very style and language in which the Gospels were originally written, prove incontrovertibly that they were written by men who lived in those very times; for it is not the style either of the classic authors, or of the ancient Christian Fathers; but Greek coming from men of Hebrew origin! Who could have forged them? Christian Fathers were for the most part ignorant of Hebrew: they, therefore, could not! And it is equally certain the Greek classical authors could not, for they were heathen.
4. The Gospels were written in Greek, (a peculiar kind of Greek, it is admitted, that is, abounding with Hebrew and Syriac idioms,) because Greek was then the most generally spoken language in the East: it was like the French language in modern times in Europe, almost generally understood. And the power with which the apostles were endowed, of speaking in all languages, peculiarly facilitated the spread of the gospel, and the translation thereof into other languages.
5. That the New Testament was written by men who actually lived at the very time we say they did, that is, before the destruction of Jerusalem, that is, within forty years after the resurrection of Christ, is incontrovertibly proved, not only by the preceding internal evidence, but by numerous external circumstances, consisting of no less than forty-one distinct historical events, related by the sacred writers, and corroborated by the works of enemies; collected together by Dr. Lardner, epitomized by Paley.
Paley, after adducing by name the testimony in relation to this subject, states the following allegations as incontrovertibly established by proof:
1. That the historical books of the New Testament, meaning thereby the four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, are quoted or alluded to by a series of Christian writers, beginning with the apostles, or who immediately followed them, and proceeding in close and regular succession from their time to the present.
2. That when they are quoted or alluded to, they are quoted or alluded to with peculiar respect, as books sui generis; as possessing an authority which belonged to no other books; and as conclusive in all questions and controversies among Christians.
3. That they were, in very early times, collected into a distinct volume.
4. That they were distinguished by appropriate names and titles of respect.
5. That they were publicly read and expounded in the religious assemblies of the early Christians.
6. That commentaries were written upon them, harmonies formed out of them; different copies carefully collated, and versions of them made into different languages.
7. That they were received by Christians of different sects; by many Heretics as well as Catholics; and usually appealed to by both sides in the controversies which were in those days.
8. That the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, thirteen Epistles of Saint Paul, the first Epistle of John, and the first of Peter, were received, without doubt, by those who doubted concerning the other books which are included in our present canon.
9. That the Gospels were attacked by the early adversaries of Christianity as books containing the accounts upon which the religion was founded.
10. That formal catalogues of authentic Scriptures were published; in all which our present sacred histories were included.
11. That these propositions cannot be affirmed of any other books claiming to be the books of Scripture; by which are meant those books which are commonly called apocryphal books of the New Testament.
During the reign of Tiberius Cæsar, while Herod was Tetrarch of Galilee, and Pontius Pilate governor of Judea, a country inhabited by a people called Jews, and tributary to the Romans, there appeared in that place a good man, a doer of wonderful works, called Jesus the Christ. He made many disciples both of Jews and Gentiles, who are hence called to this day Christians. He was condemned, by Pilate the Procurator, to the cross, but appeared again alive after three days to his disciples. He enjoined on them the strictest morality. He had a brother, by name James, who was put to death by Herod. Although the sect of which this man was the founder are harmless, and have not been actually convicted of any crime except hatred to our gods, yet they are punished with the greatest severity; many are put to death, some thrown to wild beasts, some burnt alive, and others crucified; but at these punishments some appear to rejoice, declaring they are confident of everlasting happiness. They are detested by all men for their superstition and bigotry; and so they ought, for they will not worship any of our gods, neither the image of Cæsar, nor of Jupiter, Juno, Mars, Bacchus, nor Venus; but only this Christ, who was put to death; but whom they confidently affirm (even after the most excruciating tortures) to be alive.
Notwithstanding all this persecution, and in defiance of the exertions of our government to extinguish this detestable superstition, it has spread rapidly like a pestilence from Judea, where it first commenced, throughout the whole world: and has infected not only the country parts and villages, but our chief towns and cities, even to Rome, where every bad thing finds its way. So that the temples of our gods have been almost totally forsaken, and there are but few purchasers for the sacrifices. At length our great emperor Constantine has been contaminated, and now openly professes Christianity. The life of this Christ has been written by his disciples.
He was preceded by another good man, called John the Baptist, who commanded the Jews to exercise virtue, both as to righteousness to one another and piety toward God, and so come to his baptism in water. Herod sent this man to prison, and afterwards had him put to death.
The authors from whose works the substance of the above facts are taken, are—Tacitus, Josephus, Suetonius, Juvenal, the younger Pliny, Martial, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Lucian, Celsus, Porphyry, the Emperor Julian, corroborated by the following friends: Barnabas, Clemens, Polycarp, Irenæus, Ignatius, Quadratus, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Eusebius.
Still further corroborated by one hundred and twenty other Christian authors, within the first four or five centuries of the Christian era. Thus stands the external testimony:—
Making, on an average, a writer for every three years, for the first four centuries.
N. B. To this may be added the testimony of the Jewish records themselves, as contained in the Talmud.
The Talmuds are two in number, the Babylonish and Jerusalem. They consist of two parts, the Mishna or text, and the Gemara or commentary. They contain a mass of Jewish records, traditions, laws and precepts. The Babylonian Talmud was commenced in Babylon, 311 years before Christ, by Rab. Ase; and after his death was continued by Rab. Maromar, and finally finished A. D. 500, by Rab. Avina; Rab. Abraham, Ben David. Vol. xxxiv, 1.
The little said in these Jewish records respecting Christ has been a matter of astonishment among the learned, and could only be accounted for on the ground that the Jews, not knowing what excuse to make for not receiving their Messiah, deemed to say little or nothing on the subject, the wisest policy. However, they did not pass over, in total silence, the history of Christ, but absurdly ascribed his power of performing miracles, (which they freely admitted), to his having clandestinely acquired the right pronunciation of the SHEMMAPHORESU, or the ineffable name of God, which they say he stole out of the temple! Hence we find neither Jew nor heathen denied for the first four centuries the power possessed by the Divine Friend of Simon of performing miracles. The latter attributed his power to magic acts! The following extract of some of the particulars relative to Christ, as recorded in the Babylonian Talmud, I have taken from the Hebrew Lexicon, (under the article 'kashaph'), of my learned and very talented friend, W. L. Roy, Esq., Professor of the Oriental languages in New York. The reader is referred to the New York discussion, published in that city, for the remarkable and triumphant discomfiture of the infidels on this subject when they brought forward a Jew to deny that the Babylonian Talmud mentioned Christ. No one who was then present can forget the ability, activity and zeal evinced by my friend, Mr. Roy, on that occasion. In his Hebrew Lexicon he writes as follows:—
'KA-SHAPH. The Talmud applies this opprobrious107epithet to our blessed Saviour. It mentions Jesus of Nazareth in the following passages: Tal. Jerus. Schab. fol. 14, 14; Tal. Babyl. Sanh. fol. 107, 2; Tract Avoda, Sara., fol. 16; Tal. Babyl. Sanh., chap. vi, 4, fol. 43. The disciples of Jesus—Matthew, James and John—are named in particular in Tal. Babyl. Sanh., chap. vi. fol. 43. The power of working miracles is ascribed to them in Avoda Sara., fol. 27, 2. The crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth, and the hour of the day at which it took place, are expressly mentioned. It is stated to have been in the evening (afternoon) of the Pesach (Passover) at three o'clock. Tal. Babyl. Sanh., fol. 43, 67, 1. His wonderful miracles, such as healing the sick, cleansing the lepers, and raising the dead to life, (particularly Lazarus,) are admitted in Tal. Babyl. Sanh. fol. 107, 2; Schab. fol. 104, 2; Jerus. Tal. Schab. fol. 13, 1. A miraculous cure is affirmed to have been wrought by one of his disciples, in the name of Jesus, on the son of Rab. Jesus, son of Levi. Tal. Jerus. Schab. fol. 14, 4; Avoda, fol. 40, 4. The Talmud, however, imputes the power by which he wrought those miracles to magic.'
Thus we perceive that several of the principal transactions, including the crucifixion of Christ, some of his miracles, and also those of his disciples, are mentioned in this credible record, kept by the most acrimonious enemies Christianity ever had.—Ex.