CHAP. III. present state of the Greek text; but for our immediate purpose the general outline which has been given is sufficiently accurate and comprehensive. It is enough to show that the Versions exhibit a Canon practically-that they sanction no apocryphal book-that they speak with the voice of early Christendom-that they go back to a period so remote as to precede all historic records of the Churches in which they were used.

CHAPTER IV.

THE EARLY HERETICS.

NON periclitor dicere, ipsas quoque Scripturas sic esse ex Dei voluntate dispositas ut hæreticis materias subministrarent.-TERTULLIANUS.

ance of the testimony of

heretics to

the Canon.

THE New Testament recognizes the exist- CHAP. IV. ence of parties and heresies in the Christian The importsociety from its first origin; and conversely, the earliest false teachers witness more or less clearly to the existence and reception of our Canonical Books. The authority of the collection of the Christian Scriptures rests necessarily on other proof, but still the acknowledgment of their authenticity in detail by conflicting sects confirms with independent weight the results which we have already obtained. It cannot be supposed that those who cast aside the teaching of the Church on other points, would have been willing to uphold its judgment on Holy Scripture unless it had been supported by competent evidence. Custom and reverence might mould the belief of those within the Catholic communion, but separatists left themselves no positive ground but history.

No attacks

Canon of

the New Tes

Still further: even negatively the history of were made on the Ante-Nicene heresies establishes our general tament on conclusions. The first three centuries were early heretics.

historical grounds by

CHAP. IV. marked by long and resolute struggles within and without the Church. Almost every point

The Fathers insist on this fact.

in the Christian Creed was canvassed and denied in turn. The power of Judaism, strong in widespread influence and sensuous attractions, first sought to confine Christianity within its own sphere, and then to embody itself in the new faith. The spirit of Gnosticism, keen, restless, and self-confident, seems to have exhausted every combination of Christianity and philosophy. Mani announced himself as divinely commissioned to reform and reinstate the whole fabric of the faith once (anag) delivered to the saints.' And still it cannot be shown that the Canon of 'acknowledged' books was ever assailed on historic grounds up to the period of its final recognition. Different books, or classes of books, were rejected from time to time, but no attempt was made to justify the measure by outward testimony. A partial view of Christianity was substituted for its complete form, and the Scriptures were judged by an arbitrary standard of doctrine. The new systems were not based on any historical reconstruction of the Canon, but the contents of the Canon were limited by subjective systems of Christianity.

This important fact did not escape the notice of the champions of Catholic truth. Irenæus, Tertullian, Origen, and later writers, insist

much and earnestly on the fact that heretics CHAP. IV. sought to maintain their own doctrines from

the canonical books, fulfilling the very prophecy 1 Cor. xi. 19. which they contained, that heresies must needs be. So great is the surety of the Gospels, that the very heretics bear witness to them; so that each one of them, taking the Gospels as his starting-point, endeavours thereby to maintain his own teaching. They profess to appeal to the Scriptures: they urge arguments from the Scriptures as if they could draw arguments about matters of faith from any other source than the records of faith,' Tertullian adds indignantly2.

:

mony of heretics, however,

partial, and

It has, however, been already noticed that The testithey did not all accept the whole Canon. How far they really used our Scriptures as authoritative will appear in the course of our inquiry; at present we only call attention to the general truth, that they recognized an authoritative written word, which either wholly or in part coincided with our own. And the very fact that they did make choice of certain books whereon to rest their teaching, shows that the use of Scripture was not a mere concession to

1 Iren. Adv. Hær. iii. 12, 7.

2 De Præscr. Hær. c. 14. Sed ipsi de scripturis agunt, et de scripturis suadent! Aliunde scilicet suadere [non] possent de rebus fidei, nisi ex litteris fidei. Cf. Lardner's History of Heretics, Bk. i. § 10.

CHAP. IV. their opponents, but the expression of their own belief.

progressive.

The fundamental anta

gonism of heresy from the first.

The character of the testimony of heretical writers to the books of the New Testament is strictly analogous to that of the Fathers in its progressive development. In the first age, an oral Gospel, so to speak, was everywhere current; and all who assumed the name of Christ sought to establish their doctrine by His tradi- . tional teaching. Controversies were conducted by arguments from the Old Testament Scriptures, or by appeals to general principles and known facts. It has been seen how little can be found in the scanty writings of the first age to prove the peculiar authority of the Gospels and the Epistles; and those who seceded from the company of the Apostles necessarily refused to be ruled by their opinions.

§ 1. The Heretical Teachers of the Apostolic Age. Simon Magus, Menander, Cerinthus.

The first group of heretical teachers exhibits in striking contrast the two conflicting principles of religious error. Mysticism on the one hand, and Legalism on the other, appear in clear antagonism. By both, the Work and Person of Christ are disparaged and set aside. In Simon Magus and Menander we may see the