Encyclopaedia Britannica, or, a Dictionary of arts, sciences, and miscellaneous literature : enlarged and improved. Illustrated with nearly six hundred engravings > Volume 19, Scripture-SUG

SCR [ 29 ] SCR
Scripture
141
Gofpel ac¬
cording to
St Mat¬
thew.
142
It# authen¬
ticity.
* Hift. lib.
vi. cap. 35.
and exactly correfponds to our Englifh tvord Gospel.
In the New Teftament this term is confined to “ The
glad tidings of the coming of the IV[effiah.,1 Thus, in
Mat. xi. 5. our Lord fays, “ The poor have the Gofpel
preached that is, The coming of the Mefliah is
preached to the poor. Hence the name of Gofpel was
given to the hiftories of Chrift, in which the good news
of the coming of the Meffiah, with all its joyful circum-
ftances, are recorded.
That the Gofpel according to Matthew -was compo-
fed, fays Dr Campbell, by one born a Jew, familiarly
acquainted with the opinions, ceremonies, and cuftoms
of his countrymen •, that it was compofed by one con-
verfant in the facred writings, and habituated to their
idiom 5 a man of plain fenfe, but of little or no learning,
except what he derived from the Scriptures of the Old
Teftament} and finally, that it was the production ef
a man who -wrote from conviction, and had attended
clofely to the faCts and fpeeches which he related, but
who in writing entertained not the moft diftant view
of fetting off himfelf—we have as ftrong internal evi¬
dence as the nature of the thing will admit, and much
ftronger than that wherein the mind ninety-nine cafes
out of a hundred acquiefces.
That the author of this hiftory of our bleffed Savi¬
our was Matthew, appears from the teftimony of the
early Chriftians. It is attefted by Jerome, Auguftin,
Epiphanius, and Chryfoftom, and in fuch a manner‘as
fhews that they knew the faCl to be uncontroverted,
and judged it to be uncontrovertible. Origen, who
flouriftied in the former part of the 3d century, is alfo
refpeftable authority. He is quoted by Eufebius in a
chapter * wherein he fpecially treats of Origen’s account
of the facred canon. “ As I have learned (fays Ori¬
gen) by tradition concerning the four gofpels, which
alone are received without difpute by the whole church
of God under heaven ; the firft was written by Mat¬
thew, once a publican, afterwards an apoftle of Jefus
Chrift, ijoho delivered it to theJewifh believers, compofed
in the Hebrew language^ In another place he fays,
“ Matthew Avriting for the Hebrews Avho expefted him
who Avas to defcend from Abraham and David, fays
the lineage of Jefus Chrift, fon-of David, fon of Abra- Scripture,
ham.” It muft be obferved, that the Greek Avord' ^
7rct%xtb><ris does not exaClly correfpond to the Englifti
Avord tradition, Avhich fignifies any thing delivered orally
from age to age. ntcgxdorig properly implies any thing
tranfmitted from former ages, whether by oral or Avrit-
ten teftimony. In this acceptation avc find it ufed in
Scripture-f : “ Hold the traditions (rag )<Avhich f ThelT. if
ye have been taught, whether by word or our epijlle.'1'1 IS-
The next authority to Avhich Ave ftiall have recourfe
is that of Irenaeus bilhop of Lyons, Avho had been a
difciple of Polycarp. He fays in the only book of his
extant, that “ MattheAV, among the Hebrews, wrote a Eufel. Hijl.
gofpel in their oA^n language, Avhilft Peter and Paul Eccl. lib. v,
were preaching the gofpel at Rome and founding the caP- 8*
church there.”
To the teftimony of thefe writers it may beobje£led,
that, except Irenaeus, they all lived in the third and
fourth centuries, and confequently their evidence is of
little importance. But there is fuch unanimity in the
teftimony, that it muft have been derived from fome
authentic fource. And is it fair to queftion the veraci¬
ty of refpe&able men merely becaufe Ave kneAV not
from Avhat Avritings they received their information ?
Many books Avhich Avere then extant are noAv loft ; and
how do Ave knoAV but thefe might have contained fuf-
ficient evidence i1 Irenteus at leaft had the beft opportu¬
nities of information, having been Avell acquainted in
his youth Avith Polycarp, the difciple of John ; no objec¬
tion can therefore be made to his evidence. But Ave
can quote an authority ftill nearer the times of the
apoftles. Papias bifhop of Hierapolis, in Ceefarea, Avho
flouriftied about A. D. 116, affirms that MattheAV Avrote
his gofpel in the HebreAv tongue, Avhich every one in¬
terpreted as he Avas able §. Papias Avas the companion j Eufeb.
of Polycarp, and befides muft have been acquainted with
many perfons Avho lived in the time of the apoftles.11 ' In‘ca^'
The fa£t therefore is fully eftabliflied, that MattheAV,39
the apoftle of our Saviour, Avas the author of that gof¬
pel Avhich is placed firft in our editions of the Ncav
Teftament.
The next fubjeft of inquiry refpefts the language in
Avhich
The middle Chapter and the leaft in the Bible is Pfalm 117.
The middle Verfe is the 8th of the 118th Pfalm.
The middle time is the 2d of Chronicles, 4th Chap. 16th Verfe.
The word And occurs in the Old Teftament 35,543 times.
The fame in the Ncav Teftament occurs 10,684 times.
The Avord Jehovah occurs 6855 times.
Old Testament.
The middle Book is Proverbs.
The middle Chapter is Job 29th;
The middle Verfe is 2d Chron. 20th Chap. betAveen 17th and 18th Verfes,
The leaft Verfe is 1 Chron. ill Chap, and ift Verfe.
New Testament.
The middle Book is Theflalonians 2d.
The middle Chapter is betAveen the 13th and 14th Romans.
The middle Verfe is 17th Chap. A£ls, 17th Verfe.
The leaft Verfe is nth Chap. John, Verfe 35.
The 2lft Verfe of the 7th Chapter of Ezra has all the letters of the alphabet.
The 19th Chapter of 2d Kings and 37th of Ifaiah are alike.