This consists of the epistles of the New Testament viewed as historical documents. Their value as such has been greatly overlooked by both sides to the controversy, especially by the Christian side. Christians have been in the habit of viewing them as inspired compositions, and have studied them almost exclusively on account of the doctrinal and moral teaching which they contain, and each sect has viewed them as a kind of armoury from which to draw weapons for the establishing its own particular opinions. In doing this they have forgotten that they are also historical documents of the highest order, the great majority of which even the opponents of Christianity concede to have been composed prior to the conclusion of the first century of the Christian era, and many of them at a much earlier period. Of these writings four are universally admitted to be genuine, and to have been composed prior to the year 60 of our era. Four more are genuine beyond all reasonable doubt, and of two more the evidence in favour of their authenticity is very strong. The Apocalypse, which is also admitted to be genuine, although not strictly an historical document, can be rendered valuable for the purposes of history. Of the remaining writings the genuineness is disputed; but whether genuine or not, it is impossible to deny their antiquity, and that they are faithful representations of the ideas of those who wrote them. In fact the names of their authors are of no great importance in the present controversy, when the writings themselves bear so decisively the marks of originality. Thus the epistle of James, by whomsoever written, bears the most unquestionable marks of the most primitive antiquity. It is in fact a document of the earliest form of Christianity,—in one word, the Jewish form, before the Church was finally separated from the synagogue. Such are our historical materials. Little justice has been done to their value in the writings of Christian apologists. As included in the Canon of the New Testament, it has been for the most part the practice to view them as standing in need of defence, rather than as being the mainstay of the argument for historical Christianity, and constituting its central position. It will be admitted that it will be impossible for me to do full justice to such a subject in a work like the present. To bring out all the treasures of evidence respecting primitive Christianity, and the foundation of the Christian Church which these writings contain, the whole subject would require to be unfolded in a distinct and separate treatise exclusively devoted to the subject. Still, however, this work would be very incomplete if I did not accept the challenge so boldly thrown down to us, and show that Christianity rests on an historical attestation of the highest order. To this I propose devoting the six concluding chapters of this work.