of his work ("Uncanonical and Apocryphal Scriptures") in the following terms: "The title has been adopted after some hesitation, in order to describe the varied nature of the contents of the books and fragments commonly designated 'Apocrypha.' They are all 'Uncanonical' as being inferior in authority to the books of the Hebrew Canon. They are not all 'Apocryphal' in the stricter sense of the term. They may (though less properly) be called 'Scriptures,' partly from the ecclesiastical use of them as Scripture, and partly from the high honour which some of them merit, for the faith, piety and patriotism which distinguish their authors; perhaps also, from the fact that to so large an extent they consist of paraphrases upon portions of the Canonical Scriptures. But being written at a time when it was believed that prophecy had ceased they could not have originally claimed to be an integral part of the Old Testament." In connection with the above, mention may be made of some other Apocryphal writings (not included in the Apocrypha) known as: The Book of Enoch, The Sibylline Oracles, The Apocalypse of Baruch, The Psalms of Solomon, The Assumption of Moses, The Ascension or Martyrdom of Isaiah, The Book of Jubilees, The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, The Pirke Aboth, &c., &c. But see Appendix No. 4, Note A. Under No. 4 in the List of Authorities in the Appendix will be found a reference to a fragment of 2 Esdras. Prebendary Eddrup (No. 12) under 2 Esdras vii. 35, writes: "No one can fail to observe the abruptness and want of con nection with which the next sentence numbered hitherto as ver. 36 (106) follows on here. There is, in fact, omitted a long passage which is found in the Syriac, the Æthiopic, the Arabic, and Armenian Versions. It was also contained in the earlier copies of the Latin Versions, as large portions of it are cited by St. Ambrose in his book on the Blessedness of Death, written about A. D. 387; and Vigilantius in Spain in the beginning of the fifth century argued from it against praying for the dead. In the later Latin copies this passage is not found, and the Latin version of this portion of Esdras was supposed to have been lost. One cause of the omission has been that the leaf which once contained the lost portion has been cut out of the most ancient and important manuscript containing the IVth Book of Esdras, leaving only about half an inch of its inner margin.10 This MS. written A. D. 822, which formerly belonged to the Monastery of St. Germain des Pres, is now in the National Library at Paris. From the manuscript thus mutilated the later manuscripts followed by the printed editions appear to have been copied. The missing portion of the Latin Version has, however, been lately discovered by the learned sub-librarian of the University of Cambridge in a manuscript of the ninth century at Amiens. This missing portion, which must henceforth resume its place in future editions of the IVth Book of Esdras, is here inserted, and for convenience of reference the verses are numbered onwards continuously from verse 35." 16. On V. 106 (36) Canon Eddrup says: "The first words of this verse have been cut off with the rest of the missing passage and in the oldest MS. of the 4th Book of Esdras, now at Paris, from which, as noted above on verse 35 the leaf containing verses 36-105 has been cut out, the verse on the next page begins abruptly 'first Abraham for the Sodomites.' In order to render the omission less conspicuous, subsequent copyists added 'And I said.' The reading was as we find in the Oriental versions and in the Latin Version, now recovered from the Amiens MSS. 'And I answered and said: How then do we find that first Abraham prayed, &c.' Canon Churton (No. 11), in his introduction to 2 Esdras, says: "In chapter vii. the name of 'Jesus' is substituted for the 'Messiah,' which the oriental versions prove to have been the original reading. In the same chapter, a long passage relating to the future state was suppressed in the Latin editions of the book, although it was quoted by St. Ambrose in the fourth century. It is supposed that the suppression was for doctrinal reasons, on account of the testimony which it gave against the efficacy of prayers for the dead. It was alleged by a Spanish author, Vigilantius, in opposition to Jerome, who replied, 'You propose to me an Apocryphal Book which goes forth under the name of Esdras, and is read by you and others of like views; in this it is written that after death no one may dare to pray for others. This book I have never read. For what good is there to take it in hand since the Church has not received it ?" " Of recent years a society has been formed for the study of the Apocrypha under the title of "The International Society of the Apocrypha." The society issues a quarterly journal entitled "The International Journal of Apocrypha" (No. 147). The Central Warden is the Rev. Herbert Pentin, Milton Abbey, Dorset, England. Some of the Apocryphal Books of the New Testament are the following: The Protevangelium of James, The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, The Gospel of the Nativity of Mary, The History of Joseph the Carpenter, The Gospel of Thomas, The Arabic Gospel of the Infancy, The Gospel of Nicodemus, The Epistles of Jesus Christ and Abgarus King of Edessa, Letter of Herod to Pilate, Letter of Pilate to Herod, The Letter of Pontius Pilate concerning Our Lord Jesus Christ, The Report of Pilate the Procurator concerning Our Lord Jesus Christ, The Report of Pontius Pilate, The Giving up of Pontius Pilate, The Death of Pilate, The Narrative of Joseph, The Avenging of the Saviour, Acts of the Holy Apostles, Peter and Paul, The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Laodiceans, The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to Seneca and of Seneca to Paul. The General Epistle of Barnabas, Acts of Paul and Thecla. The Acts of Barnabas, The Acts of Philip, Philip in Hellas, Acts of Andrew and Matthias, Acts of Peter and Andrew, Acts and Martyrdom of St. Matthew the Apostle, Acts of the Holy Apostle Thomas, Consummation of Thomas the Apostle, Martyrdom of the Holy and Glorious Apostle Bartholomew, Acts of the Holy Apostle Thaddeus, Acts of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian. The first and second Epistles of Clement to the Corinthians, Three Books of Hermas (Visions, Commands and Similitudes), Revelation of Moses, Revelation of Esdras, Revelation of John, The Book of John concerning the Falling Asleep of Mary, The Passing of Mary. P IV. MANUSCRIPTS AND VERSIONS. RINTING was not discovered until about the middle of the fifteenth century. Before this time all copies of the Scriptures were necessarily made by hand. The number of early or ancient MSS. of the Scriptures that have come down to us is comparatively small; and yet they are much more numerous than those of any ancient Greek or Latin Classic. The earliest MSS. we have are Hebrew MSS. of the Old Testament, A. D. 916 (about). Greek MSS. of the New Testament, A. D. 350 (about). The historical explanation of the apparently late dates of the earliest Hebrew MSS. of the Old Testament will be found in Chapter IX. But there were other difficulties connected with the multiplying copies of MSS.-the danger of error and mistake. The copyist would sometimes mistake one letter for another; or if he was writing from dictation he might confound two words of similar or nearly similar sound; or he might leave out or repeat words or even lines; or he might copy from the margin remarks or explanations as if they were part of the document he was copying; or, if he began to think for himself, he might correct what he thought was a mistake. In all these different ways errors have found their ways into our Bible MSS. and MS. versions. A very singular instance of error from repetition occurs in I Chronicles viii. and ix., both in the Authorized and Revised Versions and also in the American Standard Edition of the Revised Version. The error is well known, but it is so ancient |