Rufus H. Bartlett, M. D., writes the following letter to the Inter Ocean, which will no doubt prove of great interest to all Bible students, ministers of the Gospel, and bibliographers generally. If the remarkable book which he refers to can be authenticated it will prove a valuable addition to Biblical history, and will go far toward disturbing and correcting the many false theories and distortions of the Bible now affected by infidels and atheistic lecturers, who have unfortunately gained too great a prominence before the public of late years. The letter is as follows:
To the Editor of the, Inter Ocean,—
Some time ago I was called to see a sick Persian, who, when recovered, gave to me as a very choice gift, a look at a very interesting old book. Its heavy covers of rotten and honey-combed wood, its leaves of ancient parchment, all very worn and stained, some portions written with ink of one color and some with another, which is in many places entirely faded out, all go to show that it is of a very ancient origin. Comparisons were made with specimens of early writings in the works of John Kitto, which indicate that it must have been written between the first a and sixth centuries.
There were very few testaments written in the apostolic age by the early fathers, most of which remain until to-day. One is in Berlin, one in St. Petersburg, one or two copies are found in the libraries of Rome, Paris, and the British Museum. Mr. George Memor, of Asia Minor, who was educated at Smyrna, in one of the best Greek schools, and who has seen two or three of these testaments, gives it as his opinion that this book is of much earlier date, the writings of which he is unable to decipher. It is believed to be the first written reports of Christ's sermons, and to be a copy of the original letters by St. Paul to the different churches. In a letter written to Bishop Titus, St. Paul addresses him as "My Child Titty," and when writing to Timothy he addresses him as " My Child Timothy" always. In all his letters to the different churches he uses always the expression ''My brethren;" which is not found, so far as I know, in our Biblesof to-day. Further comparisons show that translators have succeeded in making some very plain things very dfficult and hard to understand.
