CHRISTIANITY. 149 



and its consequences ; the deluge, and repopulation of the world ; 

 the Jewish nation, God's chosen people ; their laws and their pro- 

 phets ; their disobedience, and their punishment: and especially, the 

 life and doctrines of our Saviour, and of his inspired apostles ; the 

 whole concluding with a Revelation of events, then, or yet to come. 



Of the Old Testament, we have already spoken, as far as we had 

 room, in treating of Judaism. The New Testament was written 

 originally in Greek ; excepting perhaps the Gospel of St. Matthew, 

 which some suppose to have been first written in Hebrew, about A. D. 

 38. This Gospel was the earliest portion of the New Testament; 

 all the books of which were written as early as A. D. 100 ; and a 

 complete catalogue of which was given by Origen, about the year 

 200 ; the same which we now recognize. They were then classed 

 in two divisions, the Evangelicon, and the Apostolicon: but a more 

 convenient subdivision of them, is into, 1. The four Gospels; 2. The 

 Acts of the Apostles ; 3. The twenty-one Epistles; and 4. The Reve- 

 lation of St. John the Divine. The Bible was first divided into 

 chapters by Cardinal Hugo de Sancto Caro, about A. D. 1240 ; and 

 into verses, by Rabbi Mordecai Nathan, about 1445. The Alex- 

 andrian manuscript of the New Testament, now in the British 

 Museum, is believed to have been written in the fourth century. The 

 Bible was first printed in Hebrew, in 1488 ; and the New Testament 

 was first printed in Greek, in 1514. 



Biblical Hermeneutics, so named from the Greek Ippqvew, I inter- 

 pret, is the study of the exact interpretation, or meaning of the 

 Bible. It may be considered as grammatical, when it relates to the 

 discovery of the true signification, by means of the grammatical con- 

 struction, or by the context, comparing the same words as used in 

 different places ; and it is termed historical, when the meaning is 

 ascertained from historical data, such as a reference to the circum- 

 stances, objects, and information of the writer. Indeed, a general 

 knowledge of ancient science and art, may be extensively servicea- 

 ble in this important study ; including an acquaintance with those lan- 

 guages which have the closest affinity to the Greek and the Hebrew. 

 The same principles of interpretation which are applicable to other 

 ancient, or even to modern writings, are, for the most part, applicable 

 also to the Scriptures. The subject of Biblical Exegetics, or the 

 practical exposition of the Scriptures, is also connected with Bibli- 

 cal Divinity ; but as it is differently treated by different denomina- 

 tions, we may be excused from enlarging upon it, in the present 

 work. 



2. Patristic Theology, comprehends the study of the writings of 

 the early Christian Fathers ; those who succeeded the apostolic age. 

 Their writings are valuable, as the earliest commentaries on the New 

 Testament ; and as furnishing abundant evidence of its divine author- 

 ity. We have room here to mention only a few of the most promi- 

 nent among them ; remarking that, while their writings belong to 

 Biblical Divinity, an account of their lives belongs also to the division 

 of Ecclesiastical History, (p. 146). Clemens Romanus, bishop of 

 Rome, wrote two epistles to the Corinthians, and died probably 

 A. D. 100. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, was martyred at Rome, 



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