# Der Lutheraner_St. Louis Missouri_1851 06 10_S164
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

164

such simpletons would even bring out their supposed wisdom before others?! But that it is a mad notion to assert that the writings of the N. Testament were not composed by the men to whom they are ascribed, and that only a simpleton, Gl., can give credence to it, is easily gauged. For Mr. S. will concede that those who proved this to him, or rather made him believe it, namely Strauss, Bauer, etc., which individuals, so far as is known, are still living, were not present when the books of the N. Testament were written, so that they, therefore, if they will not be content with the testimony of the Church, i.e., with the fact that all Christian congregations on earth so believe and teach, but wish to examine this faith and this doctrine, must hold to what the old church historians and the writers who lived nearest to the apostolic age say about it.

The oldest chief work on church history, which is also universally regarded as the principal source for the church history of the first times of the Christian Church, is the Church History, reaching to the year 324 A.D., of Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea, who lived in the first half of the fourth century. The same reports, as of other matters, so also on this, which books were held genuine among the Christians of his time and before his time, i.e., as really written by the Apostles and apostolic men whose names they bear. He expresses himself on this especially in the third book, in the 24th chapter of his work, where it says that the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles of Paul, the first of John and the first of Peter are Homologumena, i.e., acknowledged by all as genuine, but the Epistle of James, of Jude, the second of Peter, the second and third of John and the Apocalypse are Antilegomena, i.e., such as the genuineness of which was at that time still doubted by some (which doubts, however, after Eusebius' time, were, as is well known, removed by thorough investigation of the Synods of Laodicea and especially of that of Hippo Regius, 393, and of later ones), while other writings, e.g., the Gospel of Peter (an Apocryphon no longer extant), the Gospel of Thomas, etc., were brought to light by heretics under the name of the Apostles. Eusebius appeals for his report to the tradition of the Church. We can therefore go back still farther, and in still earlier times inquire for confirmation of the tradition of the Church. When we do this, we meet first with Origen of Alexandria about the year 225 A.D., a teacher of the Church famed for learning, acuteness, and untiring diligence, who indeed wrote no church history, but commentaries and homilies on various books of the holy Scripture, and in these works reports essentially the same as Eusebius, and indeed again on the ground of the tradition of the Church. We can therefore once more ascend higher, and look about us again for confirmation of the tradition of the Church. When we do this, there meet us the distinguished teachers of the Church Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, and Irenaeus, who likewise wrote no church histories, but instructive and edifying works, in which we again find essentially the same, in so far, namely, as the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, 13 Pauline Epistles, the first of Peter, the first of John, and the Revelation of John count with them as genuine, while they are not agreed about the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews (although they acknowledge it as canonical), and in so far as they do not expressly mention the second of Peter, the second of John Irenaeus and Clement expressly acknowledge, the third of John, likewise the Epistle of James, the three do not expressly mention, the Epistle of Jude Tertullian and Clement expressly acknowledge. Further, there meet us still farther up and still nearer to the apostolic times Theophilus of Antioch about 175, and Justin Martyr (executed 165), two Apologists, and Papias, and farthest back, and nearest of all to the apostolic age, the apostolic Fathers Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, disciple of the Apostle John, who in 169, after he had served the Lord faithfully 86 years, died in extreme old age the death of a martyr at the stake; Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, who died as a martyr at Rome in the year 116; and Clement of Rome, companion of Peter, from whose various writings the genuineness of individual N. Testament writings appears in the clearest manner. Of this here are some specimens, not, perhaps, because we wished to make a display of our knowledge, as enemies of the Bible, into whose sight this may come, might pretend, because such facts are a thorn in their eye, thus not, perhaps, to make a display of his knowledge, for the writer of this is well aware that he has far too little of it for anyone to make a display with it, but simply to show on what ground we stand, and that we do not, like the enemies of the Bible, deal in empty talk, but with facts. Theophilus of A. says in his writing to Autolycus, in the second book, in the 22nd chapter: "Hence the holy Scripture teaches us, and all men moved by the Spirit of God, among whom John says: "In the beginning was the Word, etc." Here the book is made recognizable by a citation (i.e., a passage quoted from it, John 1, 1) and John is named as its author.

Justin M. in his "Dialogue with the Jew Trypho": "Among us a man named John, one of the Apostles of Christ, in a revelation that was made to him, prophesied that those who have believed in our Christ will reign with him 1000 years (spend them in Jerusalem)." Here again the book is plainly designated by its name and a quotation from it (cf. Rev. 20, 4), and the Apostle John is named as author. Papias: "Matthew wrote a Gospel," and "Mark, who had become Peter's interpreter, wrote down carefully all the words and deeds of the Lord which he remembered." Polycarp in his Epistle to the Philippians: "The Apostle Paul, who was formerly in your midst, and taught the word of truth plainly and thoroughly, who also, after he had departed from you, wrote to you," thus the Epistle to the Philippians. Ignatius in his Epistle to the Ephesians: "Ye are fellow-initiates of the holy Paul, who has become a martyr and is to be called blessed, who in his whole Epistle exhorts you in Christ," thus in the Epistle to the Ephesians. Clement of Rome in his first Epistle to the Corinthians: "Take up again to heart the Epistle of the blessed Paul, the Apostle, what he wrote to you first, at the beginning of the preaching of the Gospel; in accordance with truth and in demonstration of the Spirit he wrote to you concerning himself and concerning Cephas and Apollos, because ye were then also attached to persons." Again a plain designation of the first Epistle to the Corinthians, which begins with the rebuke of the congregation on account of its division into parties from the partiality of some for Paul, of others for Peter, and of still others for Apollos, and at the same time an express naming of Paul as the author.

In order to satisfy ourselves in our inquiry now in the fullest measure, we hear, after having listened around within the Church, outside of it also, everywhere where there is ever any hope of learning something about the books of the N. Testament.

First we turn to the parties of the oldest time excluded by the Church on account of heresy. Nothing lay nearer to them than, in their struggle against the Church, to appeal, for the palliation of their heresy, to this, that the holy Scriptures of the Church were not genuine, and therefore the doctrine of the Church agreeing with them was also not the right one, if they could, namely, have done this even with some ground; but on the contrary, they acknowledge them in general as genuine, and endeavor only to justify their heresy out of them. Marcion in particular, the head of such a party, about the middle of the second century acknowledged as genuine, and used, ten Epistles of Paul: the Epistle to the Romans, the two to the Corinthians, that to the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, the two to the Thessalonians, and that to Philemon. Does not this prove that the genuineness of the N. Testament writings was in general so evident that it could occur to no one to deny it?

Then we turn also to the heathen who opposed Christianity in writing. While they, to judge by their writings, sought out everything that could be advanced with any show against Christianity, and some of them by no means lacked understanding and discernment, there is found in none the assertion that the holy Scriptures were un-