ter
some general suggestions will be made which apply to them as a whole.

1. This is not a question concerning the _truth of Christianity_, but
concerning the _extent of the canon_; a distinction which is of the
highest importance. Some persons, when they learn that doubts existed in
the early churches, to a greater or less extent, respecting certain
books of the New Testament, are troubled in mind, as if a shade of
uncertainty were thereby cast over the whole collection of books. But
this is a very erroneous view of the matter. The books of the New
Testament, like those of the Old, were written one after another, as
occasion required; and the churches received each of them separately on
the evidence they had of its apostolic origin and authority. At length
collections of these books, that is, _canons_, began to be formed. Such
collections translators would of necessity make, unless they found them
ready at hand. The earliest canons of which we have any knowledge are
contained in the old Latin version, the Syriac version called Peshito,
and the Muratorian canon; each of which represented the prevailing
judgment of the churches in the region where it was formed. As this
judgment differed in the different provinces of Christendom in respect
to the books in question, so also do these canons. The Peshito contains
the epistle to the Hebrews and that of James, but omits the other five
books. The Muratorian canon omits the epistle to the Hebrews, the
epistle of James, and the second epistle of Peter; but contains the
epistle of Jude, the book of Revelation, and apparently also the second
and third of John, though in respect to them its language is obscure and
of doubtful interpretation. The old Latin version, so far as we can
judge from the quotations of the church fathers, agreed in general with
the Muratorian canon. It contained, however, the epistle of James,
(Codex Corbeiensis, _ff_,) and that to the Hebrews; and if, as has been
supposed, this latter was a later addition, it was yet earlier than the
time of Tertullian. See Westcott on the Canon, pp. 282, 283. Now this
diversity of judgment with regard to particular books does not affect in
the least the remaining books of the New Testament, which are sustained
by the authority of all the above-named witnesses, as well as by the
undivided testimony of the ancient churches. Did the New Testament claim
to be the work of _a single author_, the case would be different. We
shou