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beginning have delivered to the fathers, it seemed good to me also, being exhorted thereto
by my genuine brethren, and having made myself acquainted with the subject, to set forth
from the beginning and in due order the canonical books which have been delivered to us,
and believed to be divine; so that everyone, if he is led away by deceit, may learn well to
know those who have seduced him, while he who remains pure may rejoice in having this
admonition again repeated.
All the books of the Old Testament, then, are twenty-two; as many, according to
report, as the alphabetical letters of the Hebrews."
Athanasius then gives the books of the Bible as now received with the exception of
Esther. No one knows how or why this book was omitted by him.
Jerome, the most eminent of the Latins, divides the Old Testament into three groups,
and in summing up says:--
"Thus, in all, there are twenty-two books of the Old Law: that is five books of Moses;
eight of the Prophets, and nine of Hagiographa, though some reckon Ruth and
Lamentations among the Hagiographa, and thus make the number twenty-four. This
prologue may serve as a helmeted introduction to all the books of Scripture, which we
have translated from Hebrew into Latin: so that we may be able to know that whatever is
beyond these, is put among the apocryphal books. Therefore Wisdom, which is
commonly called Solomon's, and the book of Jesus, the Son of Sirach, and Tobit, and the
Shepherd are not in the canon. The first book of Maccabees I have found in Hebrews;
the second in Greek, as is evident from its phraseology."
So far we have dealt with the apocryphal writings associated with the O.T.
There are evidences that a great literary activity sprang into being during the apostle's
lifetime. In Luke 1: 1 reference is made to the many who had taken in hand to write a
narrative of the life of Christ. Paul warns the Thessalonians against the possibility of a
forged letter (II Thess. 2: 2), so that we are not surprised to find a great number of
apocryphal writings associated with the N.T. Into these we do not intend to go further
than to say that most of them were published together in 1920 under the title "Apocryphal
New Testament", and that their best refutation is for them to be read in conjunction with
the N.T.
We conclude this article of quotations with the following from the Eclectic Review,
Volume 15::--
"We know that the cause of Revelation has already sustained every species of assault
which cunning could contrive, or power direct. It has had its enemies among the ignorant
and among the learned, among the base and among the noble. Polite irony and vulgar
ribaldry have been the weapons of its assailants. It has had its Celsius, and its Porphyry,
and its Julian. And what were the effects of their opposition? The same as when the
`rulers and elders and scribes' united against it--its purification and increase."