Page:A General Survey of the History of the Canon of the New Testament (7th edition, 1896).djvu/83

 Rh ( 70—170); the second to the persecution of Diocletian ( 170—303); and the last to the third Council of Carthage ( 303—397). Later speculations on the question in part belong more properly to special introductions to the different books, and in part are merely the perpetuation of old doubts. But each of these periods marks some real step in the progress of the work. The first includes the period of the separate circulation and gradual collection of the Sacred Writings: the second completes the history of their separation from the mass of ecclesiastical literature: the third comprises the formal ratification of the current belief by the authority of councils.

Something has been already said of the various difficulties which beset the inquiry, especially during the first period. An examination of the testimony of Fathers, Heretics, and Biblical Versions, will next shew how far it can be brought to a satisfactory issue.