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From the Jews, who had preserved them with religious care, the Christian Church received the Books of the Old Testament. But it was not at once that the Canon of these was fixed. For as the Jews had not admitted some-such as the Book of Esther, of Tobit, of Judith, of Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus, and the Books of the Maccabees--their authority was long questioned; and it was not till after mature deliberation, that they were universally acknowledged.

The Books of the New Testament, after the ascension of our Saviour, were written under various circumstances, and on various occasions: the Gospels, to satisfy the laudable wishes of many, who were naturally desirous to be informed of the facts of our Saviour's life; to impress his admirable lessons on their minds: to perpetuate his words; and to oppose the wild conceptions of some dissatisfied men. The Acts of the Apostles were written to record the first preaching of the Gospel by the Apostles, and the interesting events of the labours of St. Paul; and the Epistles, for the further instruction of those who had been converted to Christianity, and to strengthen them in the arduous duties of their new calling

These writings, historical and moral—the latter addressed to particular societies—from a limited circulation, at first, would be, and were, gradually more and more extended, and more and more read in the different assemblies of the