( H4 )

Entrance on this Argument, that had the Event ofThings been otherwise, had the doubted Scripturesbeen every where rejected to this Day, Christia­ nity had still been what it now is. For every Ar-ticle of Faith and Rule of PraBice belonging tothat holy Religion, is contained in or deduciblefrom those Books, of which no Doubt was evermade by Orthodox Christians.

CHAP. III.

The various Readings examined j mojl ofthem improperly so called; neither nu-merous nor momentous enough to servethe Purpose of such Collethons: TheAuthorities for those Readings careleflytranscribed from Dr. Mills, and some-times fallaciously misrepresented , espe-cially with Regard to the contefied Passage of i foh.v. 7.

B Y various Readings, we have been used to- :

understand the Readings of MSS. that varyfrom the Pr mt ed Text or Edition of any ancient ,Author. And the End of collecting such various *Readings is, that the Learned may thence be en- : ,abled to form a Judgment of such Edition, and to jdetermine whether it ought to stand, or whether ,a better Text may not yet be compiled out of those ivarious Readings. And therefore these CoIleBiom \

take i.