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`The fidelity, the veracity and the probity of Josephus are universally allowed, and Scaliger in particular declares
that, not only in the affairs of the Jews, but even of foreign nations, he deserves more than all the Greek and
Roman writers put together'.
Here is the testimony of Josephus concerning the Old Testament Scriptures:
`For we have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing from and contradicting one another,
but only twenty-two books, which contain the records of all the past times; which are justly believed to be
divine; and of them, five belong to Moses ... The prophets who were after Moses, wrote down what was done in
their time in thirteen books. The remaining four books contain hymns to God, and precepts for the conduct of
human life.
`How firmly we have given credit to these books of our own nation is evident by what we do; for during so many
ages as have already passed, no one has been so bold as either to add anything to them or take anything from
them; but it becomes natural to all Jews, immediately, and from their birth, to esteem those books to contain
divine doctrines, and to persist in them, and if occasion be, willingly to die for them' (Apion, Bk. i. Par. 8).
This is the testimony of a man who most evidently expresses his deep conviction, and not his own only, but that
of the national mind as well. We draw attention, moreover, to the fact that this man, who would sooner die than add
to or take away from the sacred Scriptures, declares that the Hebrew Canon consists of TWENTY-TWO BOOKS only.
Most readers are aware that the English Old Testament contains THIRTY-NINE BOOKS, but this is because the twelve
minor prophets are reckoned separately, and double books such as 1 and 2 Chronicles are counted as two. In the
Hebrew Canon, Ruth is reckoned with Judges, Nehemiah with Ezra, Lamentations with Jeremiah, this with the
twelve minor prophets that are treated as one, reduces the number of scrolls, without altering the number of separate
books.
A TESTIMONY 232 YEARS BEFORE CHRIST
The Book of Ecclesiasticus was written in Syro-Chaldaic about A.M. 3772, or two hundred and thirty years
before Christ, and was translated by the author's grandson into Greek. In the prologue he speaks of his grandfather
giving himself to the reading of `the law, and the prophets, and the other books of our fathers', which is sufficient
proof that such a recognised collection of sacred books then existed.
THE TESTIMONY OF TRANSLATIONS
As Paul had used the term `Old Covenant' in 2 Corinthians 3:14 it was quite natural that the writings of the
apostles should be known as the `New Covenant' (Eusebius H.E., vi. 25) or `The Gospels and the Prophets' (Clement
of Alexandria, Ignatius, Justyn Martyr and others). Before the close of the second century, translations of the New
Testament began to be made, and this effectively prevented any alteration, addition or subtraction, for such a fraud
would immediately become known and exposed - unless, indeed, we are credulous enough to believe that friends
and foes, of different nations, languages and opinions, should all without exception have agreed to countenance such
a fraud.
In the third edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica we read:
`This argument is so strong, that, if we deny the authenticity of the New Testament we may with a thousand
times greater propriety reject all the other writings in the world'.
The following facts must be borne in mind by any who would raise objections to the canonicity of the books of
the New Testament:
(1).It cannot be shown that any one doubted the authenticity of any book of the New Testament in the period when
such books appeared.
(2).No account is on record that would lead one to reject any such book as spurious.
(3).No great length of time elapsed after the death of the writers before the New Testament was widely known.
(4).The books of the New Testament are actually mentioned by writers living at the same time as the apostles.
(5).No facts are recorded which actually happened after the deaths of the writers, apart, of course, from prophecy.