The full consideration of these Tests of Truth must be postponed to the next chapter. Meanwhile, three discussions of a more general character demand immediate attention.

I. Antiquity, in and by itself, will be found to avail nothing. A reading is to be adopted not because it is old, but because it is the best attested, and therefore the oldest. There may seem to be paradox on my part: but there is none. I have admitted, and indeed insist upon it, that the oldest reading of all is the very thing we are in search of: for that must of necessity be what proceeded from the pen of the sacred writer himself. But, as a rule, fifty years, more or less, must be assumed to have intervened between the production of the inspired autographs and the earliest written representation of them now extant. And precisely in that first age it was that men evinced themselves least careful or accurate in guarding the Deposit,—least critically exact in their way of quoting it;—whilst the enemy was most restless, most assiduous in procuring its depravation. Strange as it may sound,—distressing as the discovery must needs prove when it is first distinctly realized,—the earliest shreds and scraps—for they are at first no more—that come into our hands as quotations of the text of the New Testament Scriptures are not only disappointing by reason of their inexactness, their fragmentary character, their vagueness; but they are often [pg 030] demonstrably inaccurate. I proceed to give one example out of many.

“My God, My God, wherefore hast thou forsaken me?” ? ???at???pe?; So it is in St. Matt. xxvii. 46: so in St. Mark xv. 34. But because, in the latter place, ?B, one Old Latin, the Vulgate, and the Bohairic Versions, besides Eusebius, followed by L and a few cursives, reverse the order of the last two words, the editors are unanimous in doing the same thing. They have yet older authority, however, for what they do. Justin M. (a.d. 164) and the Valentinians (a.d. 150) are with them. As far therefore as antiquity goes, the evidence for reading ???at???p?? e is really wondrous strong.

And yet the evidence on the other side, when it is considered, is perceived to be overwhelming20. Add the discovery that ???at???p?? e is the established reading of the familiar Septuagint, and we have no hesitation whatever in retaining the commonly Received Text, because the secret is out. ?B were sure to follow the Septuagint, which was so dear to Origen. Further discussion of the point is superfluous.

I shall of course be asked,—Are we then to understand that you condemn the whole body of ancient authorities as untrustworthy? And if you do, to what other authorities would you have us resort?

I answer:—So far from regarding the whole body of ancient authorities as untrustworthy, it is precisely “the whole body of ancient authorities” to which I insist that we must invariably make our appeal, and to which we must eventually defer. I regard them therefore with more than reverence. I submit to their decision unreservedly. Doubtless I refuse to regard any one of those same most ancient manuscripts—or even any two or three [pg 031] of them—as oracular. But why? Because I am able to demonstrate that every one of them singly is in a high degree corrupt, and is condemned upon evidence older than itself. To pin my faith therefore to one, two, or three of those eccentric exemplars, were indeed to insinuate that the whole body of ancient authorities is unworthy of credit.

It is to Antiquity, I repeat, that I make my appeal: and further, I insist that the ascertained verdict of Antiquity shall be accepted. But then, inasmuch as by “Antiquity” I do not even mean any one single ancient authority, however ancient, to the exclusion of, and in preference to, all the rest, but the whole collective body, it is precisely “the body of ancient authorities” which I propose as the arbiters. Thus, I do not mean by “Antiquity” either (1) the Peshitto Syriac: or (2) Cureton's Syriac: or (3) the Old Latin Versions: or (4) the Vulgate: or (5) the Egyptian, or indeed (6) any other of the ancient Versions:—not (7) Origen, nor (8) Eusebius, nor (9) Chrysostom, nor (10) Cyril,—nor indeed (11) any other ancient Father standing alone: neither (12) Cod. A,—nor (13) Cod. B,—nor (14) Cod. C,—nor (15) Cod. D,—nor (16) Cod. ?,—nor in fact (17) any other individual Codex that can be named. I should as soon think of confounding the cathedral hard by with one or two of the stones which compose it. By Antiquity I understand the whole body of documents which convey to me the mind of Antiquity,—transport me back to the primitive age, and acquaint me, as far as is now possible, with what was its verdict.

And by parity of reasoning, I altogether decline to accept as decisive the verdict of any two or three of these in defiance of the ascertained authority of all, or a majority of the rest.

In short, I decline to accept a fragment of Antiquity, arbitrarily broken off, in lieu of the entire mass of ancient witnesses. And further than this, I recognize other Notes [pg 032] of Truth, as I have stated already; and I shall prove this position in my next chapter.