CRISTOLOGIA

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===== EARLY CHRISTIAN PSALTER =====


Saltério — UM ANTIGO SALTÉRIO CRISTÃO (SIRÍACO)
=== AN EARLY CHRISTIAN PSALTER ===
PREFACE

The little book from which the following extracts have been made was announced as forthcoming in the Contemporary Review for last April, when a brief account was given of its recovery, and some indicatio.i of its importance, both for the spiritual interpretation of Christianity and for the right understanding of the early Christian history and doctrine. Since then it has been published in a complete form, in the ancient Syriac version from which it was recovered, and with such annotations as are desired by scholars. It has, however, seemed to me that the book transcends in importance the field of attention of the scholar, and appeals, in its devotional interest, to the ' even Christian ' of whom Shakespeare speaks—the man or woman ' in the street' of the spiritual city, the people who know how to sing, better than they understand how to translate an Eastern language or comment upon an ancient book. For them, therefore, these pages have been prepared, on the assumption that they love the good music of the soul, and have fellowship with the saints therein.

Some omissions have been made from the recovered book of Psalms, on the ground that certain of the pieces did not harmonise with the spirit of devotion, and could not form a part of a perennial Psalter. It is even probable that they did not come from the same author, or authors, to whom the rest of the collection can be referred. It must be admitted, however, that even in modern hymn-writers we occasionally find the grotesque mingled with the sublime, and the commonplace thrust in amongst the inspired; only, when we are preparing a spiritual handbook, we naturally leave such fantastic, or unequal, or unworthy songs on one side, and go our way heavenward with the rest. It is certainly surprising how few compositions of a doubtful character, whether from the standpoint of literature or of spiritual insight, are contained in these Odes of Solomon. If we cannot say of them what John Wesley said of the collection of hymns produced by himself and his brother, that ' Here you will find nothing turgid, &c.,' we may confidently say that we found little that was not helpful in our book, and almost nothing that had not the reek and air of Paradise. What little has been removed matters little, and this is not the place to discuss it further, nor to invite criticism upon the wisdom of the excisions. Along with the Psalms themselves—or Odes, as I think they were originally called—some brief elucidations are printed, chiefly by way of extract from the larger volume to which reference has been made. There seemed to be a necessity for some slight explanations or expansions of the sacred themes upon which the writers of the Odes were engaged; but here again the value of the compositions was seen, in that so very little sufficed by way of explanation, and that so much of what has come to us was universal Christian language and genuine mother-speech.

For the benefit of those who have not followed the earlier announcements of the book, or who may not have access to the larger volume, it may be well to state that these Odes, ascribed artificially to Solomon, have been found in a Syriac MS. in my own possession, along with an already-known collection of Psalms of Solomon. In neither case is the reference to Solomon anything more than a transparent artifice, many instances of which occur in the Christian literature and elsewhere. In neither case are we carried back into the times of the early Jewish monarchy, for it can be shown that the Psalms of Solomon were written in Jerusalem about half a century before Christ, and I think it can also be proved that the Odes of Solomon belong to Palestine as their origin, and to a date which cannot differ much from the close of the first century after Christ. It is impossible to say whether the name ' Odes of Solomon' was attached to them by the first writer or first editor of the collection. The ascription must, however, be very early, for we find a number of the Odes quoted as from Solomon in a curious Gnostic book, which goes under the name of the Pistis Sophia. This strange book, so valuable to us for the precious fragments which it incorporates, -cannot be dated later than the third century. The author of the book found these Odes of Solomon bound up with his Psalms of David, so the title must be very early. But neither in the case of the Odes nor of the Psalms ascribed to Solomon is the author's name to be taken seriously.

Both of the collections ascribed to Solomon are of the highest importance for the history of Messianic beliefs. In the one case you have the Messianic song before sunrise, in the other the great hope has been turned into the great reality, and ' the first low matin chirp has grown full quire.

They are songs of the spring-time, too, as well as songs of the dark and of the dawn. When you hear them, instead of saying, ' That is the nightingale,' you will say, ' I hear a primitive Christian '—who is, indeed, the spiritual analogue of the bird that sings in the ' propitious May.' Of that song it was said that the same hath oft-times

Charmed magic casements, opening on the foam
Of perilous seas, in fairy-lands forlorn.

But these spiritual songs have the windows open for us upon our own country. Come to the casement, and you will see a land of corn and wine and oil. Here are the wide-spread joys of the kingdom of heaven. Here grow the Divine promises, by which men become holy, and here radiates Divine Gract, by which they become exultant in Christ their Lord, and rejoice in God their Saviour. Am I wrong in hoping that this little book, unexpectedly recovered from obscurity into daylight, may be one of the means which God, in the present day, has chosen to bring to our remembrance the greatness of our calling and the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints ?

RENDEL HARRIS.

Selly Oak, Birmingham, November 1909.

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