rdians of
the sacred text were not a few individuals, but the great body of
believers, and that no systematic corruption of their contents could
have taken place without their knowledge and consent, which would never
have been given.

Intimately connected with the above is a second fact, that of the great
multiplication of copies of the books of the New Testament, especially
of the gospel narratives, since these contain the great facts that lie
at the foundation of the Christian system. Every church would, as a
matter of course, be anxious to possess a copy, and Christians who
possessed the requisite means would furnish themselves with additional
copies for their own private use. If, now, we suppose one or more of
these copies to have been essentially changed, the corruption would not,
as in the case of a printed work, extend to many hundreds of copies. It
would be confined to the manuscript or manuscripts into which it had
been introduced and the copies made therefrom, while the numerous
uncorrupt copies would remain as witnesses of the fraud; for the
supposition of a very early corruption during the apostolic age, before
copies of the gospels had been to any considerable extent multiplied, is
utterly absurd.

A third fact is the high value attached by the primitive churches to the
gospel narratives, and their consequent zeal for their uncorrupt
preservation. No one will deny to them the qualities of earnestness and
sincerity. To them the gospels were the record of their redemption
through the blood of Christ. For the truths contained in them they
steadfastly endured persecution in every form, and death itself. Could
we even suppose, contrary to evidence, that private transcribers altered
at pleasure their copies of the gospels, it is certain that the churches
would never have allowed their public copies to be tampered with. The
resistance which Marcion met with in his attempt to alter the sacred
text, shows how watchful was their jealousy for its uncorrupt
preservation.

A still further fact is the want of time for essential corruptions, like
those now under consideration. That such corruptions could have taken
place during the apostolic age, no one will maintain. Equally certain is
it that they could not have happened during the age next succeeding,
while many presbyters and private Christians yet survived who had
listened to the apostles, and knew the history of the gospels written by
them or their companions. B