Apostles. At last the King commanded John from heaven to write in a book the extraordinary
revelation given him on Patmos.
The result was a gradually increasing number of apostolic and non-apostolic writings,
probably far exceeding that contained in the New Testament. At least Paul's epistles show
that he wrote many more than we now possess. But even if he had not thus informed us,
the fact would have been sufficiently well established; for it is improbable that such excellent
writers as Paul and John should not have written more than a dozen letters during their
long and eventful lives. Even in one year they must have written more than that. The con-
troversy of former days over the assertion that no apostolic writings could have been lost
was most foolish, and showed little reckoning with real life.
It is remarkable that from this great mass a small number of writings was gradually
separated. A few were collected first, then more were added, and arranged in certain order.
It took a long time before there was uniformity and agreement; indeed, some writings were
not universally recognized until after three centuries. But in spite of time and controversy,
the sifting took place, and the result was, that the Church distinguished in this great mass
of literature two distinct parts: on the one hand, this arranged set of twenty-seven books;
and on the other, the remaining writings of early origin.
171And when the process of sifting and separating was ended, and the Holy Spirit had
borne witness, in the churches that this set of writings constituted a whole, and was, indeed,
the Testament of the Lord Jesus to His Church, then the Church became conscious that it
possessed a second collection of sacred books of equal authority with the first collection
given to Israel; then it put the Old and the New Testament together, which unitedly form
the Holy Scripture, our Bible, the Word of God.
To the question, How did the New Testament Scripture originate? we answer without
hesitation, By the Holy Spirit.
How? Did He say to Paul or John: "Sit down and write"?
The gospels and the epistles do not so impress us. It does indeed apply to the Revelation
of St. John, but not to the other New Testament Scriptures. They rather impress us as being
written without the slightest idea of being intended for the Church of all ages. Their authors
impress us as writing to certain churches of their own definite time, and that after a hundred
years perhaps not a single fragment of their writings would be in existence. They were indeed
conscious of the Holy Spirit's aid in writingthe truth even as they enjoyed it in speaking;
but that they were writing parts of the Holy Scripture, they surely knew not.
When St. Paul had finished his Epistle to the Romans, it never occurred to him that in
future ages his letter would possess for millions of God's children an authority equal to, or
even higher than that of the prophecies of Isaiah and the Psalms of David. Nor could the
first readers of his epistle, in the church of Rome, have imagined that after eighteen centuries
XXXIV. The Need of the New Testament Scripture