THE KING’S BUSINESS
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Victorian. And again, if I read about aeroplanes, I should know that the book was not of the 18th cen tury, but of the 20th. That is the test, like the watermark of a bank note. In that little point, as you will see, is an evidence of genuineness. HAIRS IN TJIE BILL. A gentleman once showed me an American dollar bill, and said: “This is one thing by which you can be sure of its genuineness” ; and he pointed out on the back of it some different colored hairs in the paper. He said: “That is a secret; no one knows how they are put in, and they are the evi dence of the genuineness of the bill.” Since then I almost always look for these hairs, for naturally I want to see whether a bill is genuine. The New Testament has similar evidence of genuineness. Its allus ions to Jewish, Roman and Greek his tory and customs prove its early date. Such allusions would in many cases have been impossible later. You can test this for yourselves, and, like Sir William Ramsay, you will be fully compensated for doing so. You re member he said he went out a few years ago to Asia Minor,' believing that the Acts of the Apostles was not a genuine, first-century work, but he returned convinced that it dates back to the first century, and that it was the work of St. Luke, the companion of St. Paul. (c) There is'the testirnony of ad versaries. Every opposition to Chris tianity from the first century has been directed towards the New Testament. Why did men like Celsus, Porphyry, Julian and Rousseau oppose it? If they did not think anything of this book, why did they trouble about it? Whv did they not leave it alone? And why do not men today leave it alone? Because the Bible 'does not leave them alone. What is still more important in the minds of a great
New Testament to be a Divine reve lation ? I do not refer to the Old Testament in detail, because if we can prove the New Testament, I think this carries the Old Testament with it. At any rate, we are on the ground that is most convenient for us, if we concentrate on the New Testament, and look upon that as the embodiment of a Divine revelation. There are just three steps in this argument. First, the New Testament is genuine; that is’ it is the word of those for whom it is claimed—the as sociates of Jesus Christ. This gen uineness of the New Testament may be proved in a variety of ways, and if this were merely an address oh Christian evidence it would be neces sary to elaborate. But I want to state as briefly as possible for the sake of those who are concerned with these subjects in their parishes and in their homes and colleges, some of the general reasons why we believe the New Testament to be genuine. ( a ) There is the testimony of the Church through the centuries. For this we can still refer to that familiar book, Paley’s Evidences of Christian ity. Although the second and third parts of Paley may be ignored, the first part is practically as valuable to day as it ever was. If we take Pa ley’s eleven points, written in that clear, pellucid English of which he was a master, we shall see what I mean by the testimony of the church through the centuries to the genuine ness of these books. ( b ) : There is the direct testimony of the books themselves: If we ex amine them we see clear evidence that they did come from the Apos tles’ time. If any one gave me a book purporting to be of the 18th century, and if I read in it the word “boycott,” I should say, of course, that it was not from that century. The word marks ft as modern and
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