452 John and others who had seen the Lord. Justin, the martyr, wrote his “ Apolo gies” about the year 150 A. D., and this links him very closely with Polycarp and John. After these fathers of the first and second centuries came Origen, Augustine and others. They all quote from the Bible. In the epistle of Clement we read: “ Be merciful that ye may obtain mercy. With what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you.” In the Shepherd'of Hermas there is ref erence to the denial of Christ and the parable of the sower. In the epistle of Ignatius are the words: “ Be ye wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove.” In the writing of Polycarp there are about forty allusions to the New Testa ment books. Justin, the martyr, quotes the words of Christ: “ Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.” “ Lay hot up for yourselves treasures upon earth,” etc. Indeed, the quota tions of these fathers from the Old and New Testaments were so extensive that a learned man in England declared that if-the whole Bible were lost he could reproduce all except eleven verses from the writings of the Fathers. So that not only the very ancient manuscripts but these quotations by the fathers are an ark which has preserved the Scrip tures unto this day. (3) In Translations. The Bible has also been preserved by its translation into other languages. In the year 385 A. D., St. Jerome translated the whole Bible into the Latin language, which we know as the “ Vulgate.” This Vulgate translation, which is the basis of the Roman Catholic Douay Version, dates, as you see, back to about the time of the Vatican, Sinaitic and Alexandrian manu scripts. It is so revered by our Roman Catholic friends that when a publisher printed the Hebrew in one column and the Greek in another, with the Latin be tween them, a priest declared that it
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reminded him of the crucifixion of his Lord between the two thieves. Even before the version into Latin, portions of the Bible had been translated into the Egyptian, Ethiopian- and Armenian tongues, copies of which are in existence today. But the translation which interests us most of all is the English. In the seventh century Caedmon, the cowherd poet, wove into rhyme the stories of the Old Testament. During the eighth cen tury the Venerable Bede translated much of the Scriptures into the Anglo- Saxon tongue. His death scene in the monastery of Jarrow, 735 A. D„ is a pathetic and beautiful picture. While he is dying, his amanuensis says, “ Mas ter, the book of John is finished except ing the last chapter.” And the dying man continued to translate until the servant said, “Master, only one sentence remains unfinished.” When the last sentence was translated Bede said, “ Carry me to the window where I have prayed so often and let me look out into the sky.” And as he repeated the words, “ Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost,” his gentle spirit took its flight to God. Following the Venerable Bede was Alfred the Great, who, himself a great scholar, delighted in the Bible and trans lated parts of it. But the great pioneer of English translation was the “ Morn ing Star of the Reformation,” 'John Wycliffe. In 1378, he was arraigned before the Court of Black Friars, charged with the crime of translating and circulating the Scriptures. While the trial was proceeding an earthquake shook the building and frightened the court. Judge Courtenay, however, de clared that the trial should proceed, for the earthquake, which was caused by noxious gases seeking their escape, was only a symbol of the condition of af fairs at that time, and that the noxious gases which Wycliffe had generated
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