ay be understood "as indicating the various ways in which
these revelations were communicated, that is, by dreams, visions,
symbols, Urim and Thummim, prophetic ecstasy, etc." Under the new
dispensation, God has completed the whole revelation of his will by
his Son, and no new revelation is to be expected to the end of the
world.

The fourth proposition asserts, that this revelation has been
committed to writing until the time of Moses, or for a period of two
thousand five hundred years, no part of the sacred books was
written. God then communicated his will to the Church by immediate
revelation; and the long lives of the patriarchs enabled them to
preserve uncorrupted what was so revealed, and to transmit it from
generation to generation. Two persons might have conveyed it down
from Adam to Abraham; for Methuselah lived above three hundred years
while Adam was yet alive, and Shem lived almost a hundred years with
Methuselah, and above a hundred years with Abraham. But after the
lives of men were shortened, and revelation was greatly enlarged, it
pleased God that the whole of his revealed will should be committed
to writing, that the Church might have a standing rule of faith and
practice, by which all doctrines might be examined, and all actions
regulated,—that sacred truth might be preserved uncorrupted and
entire,—that it might be propagated throughout the several nations
of the earth, and might be conveyed down to all succeeding
generation. Though, in the infancy of the Church, God taught his
people without the written Word, yet now that his former ways of
revealing his will to his people have ceased, the Holy Scripture, or
written Word, is most necessary. Without this the Church would be
left to the uncertainty of tradition and oral teaching; but the
written Word is a sure test of doctrines, and a light in a dark
place, both of which are most necessary.—Isaiah 8:20; 2 Peter 1:19.

SECTION 2. Under the name of Holy Scripture, or the Word of God
written, are now contained all the books of the Old and New
Testaments, which are these:

Of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I Samuel, II Samuel, I Kings, II
Kings, I Chronicles, II Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job,
Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, The Song of Solomon, Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah,
Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah,
Malachi.

Of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts of the
Apostles, Epistle to the Romans, I Corinthians, II Corinthians,
Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, I Thessalonians, II
Thessalonians, I Timothy, II Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Epistle to
the Hebrews, Epistle of James, I Peter, II Peter, I John, II John,
III John, Jude, Book of the Revelation.

All which are given by inspiration of God to be the rule of faith
and life.

SECTION 3. The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of divine
inspiration, are no part of the canon of the Scripture, and
therefore are of no authority in the Church of God, nor to be any
otherwise approved or made use of than other human writings.

Exposition of 1.2–1.3

These sections relate to the true canon, and the divine inspiration
of the Holy Scriptures. In opposition to the Romish Church, which
reckons the apocryphal books of equal authority with the Scriptures,
it is asserted that these books are no part of the canon of the
Scripture; and in opposition to the Deists, who deny that the
Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God, it is
affirmed that all the sacred books are given by inspiration of God.

The term Scriptures signifies writings in general, but is
appropriated to the Word of God, which is also, by way of eminency,
called the Bible, or book, because it is incomparably the best of
all books. The sacred books are divided into the Old Testament and
the New Testament. The former includes those books which were
written under the old dispensation of the covenant of grace, or
prior to the incarnation of the Son of God; the latter includes
those books which were written after the commencement of the new
dispensation, or posterior to the advent of Christ. The Apostle Paul
lays a foundation for this distinction; for he uses the phrases Old
Testament and New Testament, and in one instance designates the
writings of Moses and the prophets by the former title.—2
Corinthians 3:14. The word canon literally signifies a rule, and was
early used to designate the Inspired Scriptures, which form a
perfect rule of faith and life.

The Sacred Scriptures are now collected into one volume, but that
volume contains a considerable number of separate books, written by
different persons, and in different ages. How, then, do we ascertain
the authenticity and genuineness of each of these books, and why do
we receive them as canonical, to the exclusion of all others? In
determining a question of this kind, we must employ the same method
which we follow when the genuineness of any other book is the
subject of investigation. How do we know that the books which bear
the names of Homer, Horace, Tacitus, and Livy were really composed
by them, but by the uniform testimony of all succeeding ages? In the
same way do we ascertain that the writings of the Apostles and
Evangelists are genuine; we have the testimony of their
contemporaries and immediate successors, who are the most competent
witnesses in this case. The task of searching the records of
antiquity has been undertaken by learned men, and executed with
great industry and zeal. The result of their inquiries is, that the
books now included in the New Testament were received as inspired by
the primitive Church, and numerous passages were quoted from them by
the earliest Christian writers; that catalogues of these books,
which coincide with ours, are inserted in the works of different
authors who flourished in the third and fourth centuries; and that
these books were publicly read in Christian congregations, and were
continually appealed to by Christian writers, as the standard of
faith, and the supreme judge of controversies. The canon of the Old
Testament is ascertained by a short process,—we know that the Jews
arranged their sacred books into three classes, the Law, the
Prophets, and the Hagiography, or holy Writings. Now, our Lord, just
before his ascension, thus addressed his disciples,—"These are the
words which I spoke unto you, while I was yet with you, that all
things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and
in the prophets, and in the psalms concerning me." Luke 24:44. The
Psalms are here put for the Hagiography, probably because they were
the principal book, or occupied the first place in that division.
Our Lord, by adopting this common division of the sacred books,
which comprehended all the Hebrew Scriptures, ratified the canon of
the Old Testament, as it was received by the Jews. This, however,
does not determine what particular books were then included in the
Sacred Volume; but on this point we have the testimony of the Jewish
historian, Josephus, who indeed does not name the books of the Old
Testament, but he numbers them, and so describes them that there is
scarcely room for any mistake. His testimony is corroborated by that
of several of the early Christian fathers, who have furnished us
with catalogues of the books of the Old Testament, from which it
appears, that the canon then existing was the same as that which we
now possess. Besides, a Greek translation of the Old Testament,
known by the name of The Septuagint, was made two hundred and
seventy years before the Christian era, which are the same books
that are at present found in the Hebrew copies.

The books commonly called Apocrypha, were never admitted into the
list of canonical books, until the Council of Trent, at its fourth
session, 1546, placed them in the same rank with the inspired
writings. They are rejected by the Protestant Churches for the
following reasons—The Jews, to whom the oracles of God were
committed, and who were never blamed for unfaithfulness to their
trust, never acknowledged these books to be of divine authority.
They were not written in the Hebrew, but in the Greek language, and
the authors of them were posterior to Malachi, in whom, according to
the universal testimony of the Jews, the spirit of prophecy ceased.
No part of these books is quoted by Christ or his apostles, nor a
single word found in all the New Testament from which it can be
inferred that such books were in existence. These books contain many
things erroneous, superstitious, and immoral; and some of the
writers, instead of advancing a claim to inspiration, acknowledge
their own weakness, and apologize for their defects. The Church of
England, though she does not receive the apocryphal books as
canonical Scripture, and therefore does not "apply them to establish
any doctrine," yet she directs certain portions of them to be read
in the church, "for example of life, and instruction of manners."
Now, as these portions are read promiscuously with the lessons taken
from the canonical books, and no notice is given to the people that
they are selected from the Apocrypha, they are in reality
undistinguished from the inspired writings; and however good and
instructive these apocryphal lessons may be, it never can be
justified that they should thus be put on a level with the Word of
God.

The Holy Scripture is called the Word of God, because it is given by
inspiration of God. "The possibility of inspiration seems to be
granted by all who profess to be Christians, though there is a great
diversity of opinion with respect to in nature and degrees, as
applied to the Scriptures. Some are of opinion that the inspiration
of the Scriptures amounted to nothing more than a mere
superintendence over the minds of the sacred voters, so as to
prevent them from publishing gross errors. Others go a little
further, and maintain that, besides superintendence, the
understandings of the several writers were enlarged,—that their
conceptions were elevated above the measure of ordinary men,—and
that with their minds thus elevated, they were left to their own
judgment both as to matter and words. The advocates of plenary
inspiration, again, maintain that the Holy Spirit suggested to the
minds of the persons inspired not only the matter to be
communicated, but also the words in which the communication was to
be made. A fourth party are for taking in all these supposed kinds
of inspiration now mentioned; and they maintain that the sacred
writers sometimes wrote under mere superintendence, sometimes under
superintendence accompanied with a high elevation of conception, and
at other times under a divine suggestion, or what is called plenary
inspiration, according to the nature of the subject on which they
wrote."

At no remote period, the plenary and verbal inspiration of the
Scriptures was very generally abandoned. Events, however, have
occurred of late years, which have occasioned a more thorough
investigation of the subject; and the most eminent writers who have
treated of it more lately, maintain the plenary inspiration of the
sacred books in opposition to those who hold that it was merely
partial and occasional, and their verbal inspiration, in opposition
to those who hold that only the sentiment or matter, and not the
words are inspired. "We are humbly of opinion," says Dr. Stevenson,
"that inspiration, as employed in communicating the sacred oracles
to men, is only of one kind, and that this is the inspiration of
suggestion, according to which not only the matter, but the words
also, were communicated to the minds of the sacred writers. 1. The
Scriptures themselves take notice of only one kind of inspiration,
and represent it as extending to all the parts of Scripture,—to
those which are historical and moral, as well as to those which are
prophetic and doctrinal.—2 Timothy 3:16, 17; 2 Peter 1:21. 2. There
must have been more than an enlargement of the understanding, and an
elevation of conception in inspiration, since a great many of the
things were such as could not have entered into the hearts of men or
of angels, had they not been suggested to the mind by the Divine
Spirit. Of this description were the events foretold by the sacred
writ many years before they took place, and the whole of the
doctrines that relate to the supernatural plan of man's
redemption.—1 Corinthians 2:9, 10. 3. For similar reasons we must
insert for the suggestion not only of the idea, but also of the
words of Scripture. To us it is altogether inconceivable how the
sacred writers, who, like other men, were accustomed to think in
words, could have the ideas suggested to their own minds, except in
words; or how they could have written intelligibly about future
events, with which they could have had no previous acquaintance, and
on doctrinal subjects, far above their comprehension, had not the
language, as well as the matter, been furnished to them by Divine
suggestion.—1 Corinthians 2:13. 4. If what has been called the
inspiration of superintendence and elevation, could in any case be
deemed to have been sufficient, it must have been in cases where the
sacred writers may be supposed to have had a prior acquaintance,
from other sources, with the subjects on which they were called to
write; such as subjects of morality and history. But even in these
cases, plenary inspiration seems to have been absolutely necessary.
With regard to moral subjects, it may be observed, that although the
remains of the law of nature furnish man with certain moral
sentiments, yet, in his fallen state, his views of right and wrong
are so dark and confused, that there is not, perhaps, any case in
which plenary inspiration was more necessary than this, in order
that man might be furnished with a perfect rule of duty. With
respect to history, where the facts recorded may be supposed to have
been known by the sacred writers from their own observation, or from
other authentic sources, it may be observed, in general, that sacred
history differs in the main ends proposed by it, from profane
history." While profane history has for its object only the civil
and political benefit of individuals and nations, the inspired
historians propose a much higher aim—the advancement of salvation in
subservience to the glory of God in Christ,—an aim which requires a
manner of thinking and writing peculiar to itself. "Neither does the
variety of style found throughout the Scriptures form, in our
apprehension, any valid objection to the doctrine of plenary
inspiration. Though the inspired penmen were under infallible
direction, both in regard to the sentiments to be communicated by
them, and the phraseology best adapted to express these sentiments;
yet the Holy Spirit, for wise reasons, seems to have accommodated
his suggestions, so far as relates to mere style, to the age in
which they wrote, and their respective talents for composition. 5.
We observe farther, in support of plenary inspiration, that unless
it be admitted the Bible has no valid claim to be called the Word of
God.