Page:Apocryphal Gospels and Other Documents Relating to the History of Christ.djvu/19

Rh are easily imposed upon. In the Romish Church, books professedly inspired have repeatedly been published and accepted by many. For example, two hundred years since, a Spanish nun, a dreamy fanatic, professed to write, by divine revelation, a history of Christ, of Mary, and of the Apostles. This book was voluminous, and gathered from various sources, including the disordered imagination of the writer. Many received it as from God, and to this day, at least French and Italian abridgements of it are widely circulated and devoutly believed in. Yet would anybody affirm that the Church of Rome has added this book to the canon of Holy Scripture? Certainly not.

"But," say those who wish to discredit the true Gospels by giving prominence to the false, "How is it that councils and bishops have forbidden and rejected the Apocryphal Gospels?" The facts already adduced supply a sufficient answer: but I will be a little more precise. For the information and security of weak and erring Christians, and for the instruction of unbelievers, it was found needful to publish lists of the inspired books of Scripture. Appended to these lists we naturally find sometimes mention of other books, which were very popular, or really