To Correspondents by Editor

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 13, 1859

To Correspondents.

By Editor

WHEN, where, and by whom were the books of the whole Bible collected so as to make one volume? and why were these and no others received as canonical? A. C. HUDSON.

ANSWER. The following testimony from the Encyclopædia Americana answers the above query more fully than any other we now have at hand:

"It is generally admitted, that the canon of the Old Testament was settled soon after the return from Babylon, and the re-establishment of the Jewish religion. This work was accomplished, according to the traditions of the Jews, by Ezra, with the assistance of the great synagogue, who collected and compared as many copies as could be found. From this collation a correct edition of the whole was prepared, with the exception of the writings of Ezra, Malachi and Nehemiah, which were added by Simon the Just. When Judas Maccabæus repaired the temple, which had been destroyed by Antiochus Epiphanes, he placed in it a correct copy of the Hebrew Scriptures, whether the autograph of Ezra or not is not known. This copy was carried to Rome by Titus. The division into chapters and verses is of modern origin. Cardinal Hugo de Sancto Caro, who flourished in the 13th century, having divided the Vulgate into chapters, for convenience of reference, similar divisions were made in the Hebrew text by rabbi Mordecai Nathan, in the 15th century. The present divisions into verses was made by Athias, a Jew of Amsterdam, in his edition of 1661. The punctuation is also the work of modern scholars."

"The books of the New Testament were all written in Greek, unless it be true, as some critics suppose, that the gospel of St. Matthew was originally written in Hebrew. Most of these writings have always been received as canonical. Eusebius distinguishes three sorts of books connected with the New Testament: 1. Those which have always been unanimously received, namely, the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, 12 Epistles of Paul, the first Epistle of Peter, and the first of John. 2. Those who were not received, at first, by all the churches; of these, some which have been already mentioned, though at first rejected by some churches, have been since universally received; others, such as the Books of the Shepherd, the Letter of St. Barnabas, the two Epistles of St. Clement, have not been generally acknowledged as canonical. 3. Books forged by heretics, to maintain their doctrines; such are the Gospels of St. Thomas, St. Peter, &c. The division of the text of the New Testament into chapters and verses was introduced earlier than that of the Old Testament; but it is not precisely known when, or by whom."

H. S. Gurney: We find no testimony by which we can determine anything definite concerning the pictures of Num. xxxiii, 52, and Isa. ii, 16.

A. H. Robinson: We agree with you in applying the exhortation of Paul in 1 Cor. vii, 39, and 2 Cor. vi, 14, to matrimonial alliances between believers and unbelievers.

Wm. Merry: We do not understand that it is at the commencement of the new covenant that men will have no need to teach their neighbors, because all know the Lord from the least to the greatest; but this covenant extends into the eternal state; and therefore it is under this covenant that this state of things will be realized.

H. Gardner: Those of whom you speak will have to show some objections to the doctrine of the pre-existence of Christ before we can tell what portion of the testimony in its favor is applicable to their case.