their own more personal and perfect message to humanity. But for them,
and for the early Church, until at least the middle of the second
Christian century, the only scriptures regarded as authoritative were
those of the Old Testament. Even then, only gradually, and under the
pressure of real needs, were different groups of Christian writings
added and ascribed an authority equal to that of the older Scriptures.

[Sidenote: _Attitude of the later Church, and especially Puritanism_]

Throughout the Middle Ages and in the eyes of the Protestant reformers
the two great divisions of the Bible continued to command equal respect
and attention. From the Old Testament and its reflection in the
teachings of Paul, Puritanism and the theology of the past three
centuries derived most of that which revealed their strength as well as
their weakness. From the law, the prophets, and the book of Proverbs
they drew their stern spirit of justice, their zeal for righteousness,
and their uncompromising condemnation of everything that seemed to them
wrong. Their preachers nobly echoed the thunders of Sinai and the
denunciations of an Elijah, an Amos, and an Hosea. They often failed,
however, to recognize the divine love which prompted the stern words
of the prophets, and to see that these denunciations and warnings were
simply intended to arouse the conscience of the people and to make
them worthy of the rich blessings that God was eager to bestow.
Misinterpretation of the spirit of the later Old Testament reformers,
who dramatically portrayed Jehovah's hatred for the abominable heathen
cults in the form of commands to slaughter the peoples practising them,
frequently led the Puritan fathers to treat their foes in a manner
neither biblical nor Christian. To this narrow interpretation of the
letter rather than the spirit of the Old Testament, and the emphasis
placed upon its more primitive and imperfect teachings can be directly