Class. .

xS^ilXii^
Book h/ ^
 History
of the

Christian Religion

to the

YEAR TWO HUNDRED,

By CHARLES B. WAITE, A. M.

Fifth Edition— Revised.

Containing much additional matter in Appendix.

CHICAGO:
C. V. WAITE & CO.
1900.

]
Librtiry of CoiH.?>^2««,

NOV 23 1900

SECOND COPY
Oelivecod to

ORDER DIVISION

NOV 27 1900

Copyright, 1900,

By Cbaries B. Waite.
 PREFACE.
This volume is the result of an investigation, ex-
tending through several years, and instituted for the
satisfaction of the author.
Two years of the time were spent in the Library
of Congress, which is peculiarly rich in the depart-
ment of Biblical Literature. It contains the writ-
ings of all the earlier fathers, in the original, and
an immense collection of the works of later writers.
The intent to publish was formed upon ascertain-
ing facts and arriving at conclusions which ap-
peared of great importance, and which had never
before been fully made known.
To the accomplished Librarian who furnished
,

the author with every facility for the prosecution of

his work, and gave him much valuable informa-
tion, he returns his sincere thanks also to the as-
;

sistant librarians, for the promptness with which

the treasures of the Library were from time to time
placed at his disposal.
It is believed that this will be found to be the
most complete record of the events connected with
the Christian religion during the first two centuries
that has ever been presented to the public.
iV PREFACE.
The time has been divided into six periods, and
the different writers and events are carefully ar-
ranged in regular chronological order. In fixing
the dates of the various writers, it was found that
the subject was involved in much confusion.
In
each case, the different were carefully
dates
examined, and the one selected which appeared the
most consistent, and supported by the most ap-
proved authorities.
A comprehensive view is given of the gospels of
the first two centuries, with a brief sketch of those
of a later date. The comparisons which have been
instituted between the canonical and certain apocry-
phal gospels, constitute a peculiar feature of this
work, and one which is believed to be of great im-
portance in arriving at correct conclusions.
The Gospel of Marcion has been reproduced from
the writings of the fathers, principally from the
Greek of Epiphanius. This is something which,
so far as the author is aware has never before been
,

attempted in this country.

The references to authorities will be found useful
to those who may desire to pursue further the inves-
tigation of the questions discussed.
The reader will find considerable repetition in the
following pages. The importance of the subject,
and the necessity of examining many of the ques-
tions from different points of view, would seem to
justify, if not absolutely to demand, a restatement,
from time to time, of the same facts and proposi-
tions in different chapters.
In the preparation and publication of this work,
the author has proceeded upon the assumption that
 .

PREFACE. V

the ascertainment of the truth is all important, and

that its promulgation cannot fail to result in the
permanent benefit of the human race.
The author is under special obligations to the
Hon. William Birney, of Washington, formerly
Professor in the University of France, who took a
deep interest in the prosecution of the work, and de-
voted many hours examination and criticism
to its
The final result of the undertaking is submitted
to the public, in the hope that it may add some-
thing to the pages of reliable history.
 FROM PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION.

The History of the Christian Religion has met

with a reception from the public, and especially
from that great exponent of popular thought, the
secular press, far more favorable than the author
had expected. With but very few exceptions, the
reviews have been fair and liberal in spirit, while
many of them have been in the highest degree com-
mendatory.
In this edition the author has availed himself of
sundry criticisms, as well as of the kind suggestions
of friends, in making some corrections, which, it is
believed, will materially add to the value of the
work.
The changes do not in any way affect the main
propositions which peculiarly characterize the book,
and which have given it such a hold upon the pub-
lic mind. These remain unimpeached, and almost
unassailed.
A writer of reputation in theological circles lately
delivered a lecture upon the date of the canonical
gospels, in which he asserted that there was no
record of their introduction, and no evidence that
they displaced older gospels .The fact is there were
,

various instances of the displacement of older gos-

pels, and the substitution of the canonical in their
Viii PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION.
Stead. Even as late as the fifth century Theodoret
found it necessary to suppress the Gospel of Ta-
tian, and substitute in its place the four Gospels.

"I found myself," says Theodoret (A. D. 430), "upwards of two

hundred such books held in honor among your churches, and collect-
ing them all together, I had them put aside, and instead introduced
the Gospels of the Four Evangelists."— [Hseret., Fab. 1. 20. See His-
tory, ch. 22.

Such points worthy of attention in the

as appear
various criticisms which have thus far appeared
will be here briefly noticed :

—
Chrishna and Christ. It is claimed to have
been settled that the legends concerning Ghrishna
have originated since the Christian era.
The author has yet to meet with a writer who has
produced any tangible evidence to sustain the posi-
tion. The argument is based upon the facilities of
intercommunication between Palestine and India,
which would render interpolations possible, and
upon the fact that the legends of Chrishna are not
in some of the older sacred books of the Hindus.
The first branch of the argument neutralizes it-
self since the same facilities which would enable
;

the Hindus to interpolate from the Christian gos-

pels, would furnish the Christian missionaries
equal opportunities to enrich their own gospels
from the Hindu writings. As to the omission of
the legends from the Vedas, that is no more strange
than the fact that the Christian Bible has an Old
and a New Testament. If the Chrishna stories are
later than the Vedas that does not prove that they
,

are also later than Christ.

That they were anterior to the Christian era, is
maintained by Christian Lassen, an eminent Ger-
 PKEFACE TO THIRD EDITION. ix

man scholar and Professor of Ancient Indian Lan-

guage and Literature in the Royal University at
Bonn. In the second volume of his Indian An-
Indische Alterthumskunde
' ,

tiquities , '
pp 1124 to '
^
.

1128, he discusses the question fully, and comes to

the following conclusion :

"I can discover no valid ground for the conjecture that Christian
legends had then already [during the first three centuries of the
Christian era] been transferred to Krishna."

"Kann ich keinen trif tigen Grund f uer de Yermuthung entdecken,

dass christliche Legenden damals schon auf Krishna uebertragen
worden seien."— [Alterthumskunde, vol 2, p. 1128 2d ed.; p. 1109 of 1st
edition.

Whether any such transfer was made at a later

period, he does not discuss. But if the integrity of
the Chrishna legends at any time after Christ be
once established, the presumption of their contin-
uance in the same form becomes exceedingly strong,
and, in the absence of evidence of change, conclu-
sive.

That Chrishna lived long before Christ is incon-

trovertible. Col. Wilford supposes him to have
flourished about 1300 B. C. while according to Col.
;

Tod, he was born B.C. 1156. Sir Wm. Jones says

the story of his birth is long anterior to the birth of
Christ, and thinks it was probably at the time of
Homer. Lassen places him in the period preceding
the Pandava. —
[Alterthumskunde, vol. 1, pp. 765-
770.
That the history of Chrishna antedated Christian-
itywas the opinion of Mr. H. T. Colebrook, Major
Moor, and many others. That Chrishna himself
was before Christ is conceded in the Religious Cy-
clopedia of McClintock and Strong,
X PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION.
Here, then, we have the older religion and the
older god. This, in the absence of any evidence on
either side, ought to settle the question. To assume
without evidence that the older religion has been
interpolated from the later, and that the legends of
the older hero have been ^made to conform to the
history of a later character, is worse than illogical
— it is absurd. As well might one take a painting
of one of the old masters, and claim that it has been
retouched to make it resemble one known to have
had a later origin.

The Divinity of Christ, and his Miraculous

—
Conception. Professor Elliott, of the Presbyteri-
an Theological Seminary, quotes at some length
from the History to show that according to the au-
thor certain doctrines were not taught in the first
century and assuming that the divinity of Christ
;

was one of them, he makes quotations from Paul's

writings apparently in favor of that doctrine. The
author nowhere asserts that the divinity of Christ
was not taught in the first century. On the contra-
ry, he shows (chap. 33), that Pliny spoke of the
Christians as singing hymns '^to Christ as to God,''
and (on the preceding page) distinctly admits that
such a doctrine was countenanced by Paul himself.
The author does maintain that there is no evi-
dence of the doctrine of the miraculous conception
in the first century, and the mistake of Professor
Elliott arose from thinking this doctrine was neces-
sarily involved in the other.
Marcion held that Christ in his conception and
birth was entirely human, but that when he was
baptized, preparatory to entering upon his minis-
 PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION. xi
try, theHoly Ghost descended upon him, and from
that time he became divine. This doctrine he
claimed to have received from Paul.
If the Epistles of Paul are studied in the light of
this~'ffieofy71¥wiirbe seen that all of the expres-
sions implying the divinity of Christ find a full ex-
planation while so far from believing in the mi-
; ,

raculous conception, he says that Christ was of the

"'^
seed of David, according to the flesh. "
^"

When THE Four Gospels were Written. The —

editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, in a learned
and very favorable review of the History, says that
tomany, the views of the author in differing from
eminent German scholars as to the date of the four
gospels, will seem, at the outset, to savor of pre-
sumption.
Of this he is fully aware. He can only say that
he has given his own convictions, after a careful
and thorough examination. In so doing, he feels
that he is more at liberty to differ from the German
scholars alluded to, from the fact that they nearly
all differ from each other. It is believed that in
this work the solution of the question is made eas-
ier by the application of a principle to which suf-
ficient attention has not heretofore been given a ;

principle designated as the law of accretion. This,

properly applied, indicates for the four gospels a
date late in the second century. The historical evi-
dence points the same way.
Having arrived at his conclusions by evidence,
both internal and external, the author feels justified
in maintaining them, even against some eminent
names. He is not, however, unsupported by high
 .

xii PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION.

German authority. Eicliliorn and several others
came to the conclusion that the four gospels did not
come into use until near the close of the second cen-
tury.

Credibility the Gospels

of Argument of—
Greenleaf. The argument — of Prof. Greenleaf has
been reproduced by several of our critics. He un-
dertook to apply to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,
as witnesses, certain presumptions and rules of evi-
dence .

The first questions put to a witness are as to his

name and place of residence, and his means of
knowledge of the facts concerning which he is ex-
pected to testify. But what are the names and
where were the residences of the men who wrote or
compiled the four gospels? When did Matthew,
Mark, Luke or John ever claim to have written a
gospel? So far from claiming any such thing, if
any one of them could be placed upon the witness
stand to-day, and questioned he would undoubtedly
,

testify at once that he knew nothing about any gos-

pel bearing his name, and never heard of it. There
is, then, nobody in the witness box to whom these

legal presumptions and rules of evidence can be ap-

plied .

As to the presumption of validity arising from

the gospels being ancient, and being in the posses-
sion of the church, the law wisely provides for a
record of title papers where the custodian
is an in-
terested party. Here there is no record, and the
slight presumption arising from possession has been
overthrown
There have been many other criticisms, but these
 PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION. Xill

are the most important. We must not pass, how-

ever, an allusion by one critic to the discrepancy
between Josephus and the gospel historians, in ref-
erence to the person whose wife had been taken by
Herod. He says a glance at Smith's Bible Diction-
ary will explain the apparent diversity. Certainly ;

and how is it explained? Simply by adding to

Philip another name, to make the name of this
prince accord with the gospel narrative. This
mode of making history conform to theology,
is at least to be admired for its simplicity, and is
not infrequent in our religious and semi-religious
cyclopedias.
In conclusion, we again call attention to the fact
that none of the main propositions of this work
have been in the slightest degree impeached ; much
less,overthrown.
Nearly every one of these propositions is of a
negative character. A single positive fact upon the
other side would be sufficient for disproof. For in-
stance, it is stated that no reference is made to the
miracles of Christ by any writer. Christian, heathen
or Jewish , hundred years after they
until nearly a
are said to have been performed. A single well
attested passage from any writer would disprove
the assertion. Why is no such passage produced?
Simply because it cannot be found.
Until these propositions are overthrown, this
work will remain, as it has thus far proved to be,
an obstacle in the path of superstition, and an aid
to the free searcher after truth. C. B. W.
 PREFACE TO FIFTH EDITION.

It is now nearly twelve years since the fourth

edition of this work was exhausted So many in-
.

quiries have been made for it during that time,

that a fifth edition has become an imperative neces-
sity. This would have been issued long since but
for the unfortunate loss of the plates, which neces-
itated an entire republication.
The author has availed himself of this opportu-
nity tomake a careful and thorough revision of
the entire work.
Though the History of the Christian Religion
has been before the public for a number of years,
and has been extensively and sometimes adversely
criticised, it can be safely asserted that no single

statement of fact contained in it has been success-

fully controverted. This is the more remarkable,
since the book is a magazine of facts from begin-
ning to end. In such a multitude of statements,
XVI PEEFACE TO FIFTH EDITION.

itwould not have been strange if some error had

been found. That there has not been, is the
strongest possible evidence of the correctness and
reliability of the entire work. Having passed
through such an ordeal, the fifth edition will un-
dergo no changes of consequence in the text. As
a history, it will stand as it was written.
The value of the work will, however, be enhanced
by the addition of an Appendix, in which will be
discussed the following topics :

Was Jesus an Essene?

The Zealots ;

The Inquisition ;

all of them subjects of absorbing interest.

Other notes, also, have been added to those in
the original appendix.
A new Index has been prepared, completely al-

phabetical, and some other changes and additions

have been made, all adding to the value of the
work, which has now about a hundred pages more
than the earlier editions.
During the last twenty years great changes have
been going on in the theological world, especially
in the view taken of the origin and history of the
gospels. The theory of the apostolic origin of
these books —that they were written by eye-wit-
nesses of the events therein related — is no longer
insisted upon. On the contrary, it is now conceded
 PREFACE TO FIFTH EDITION. XVII

that the gospels had their origin in tradition, partly-

oral, partly written. Evidence of this change of
front is given in an article in the Appendix,
entitled ^^Date of the Gospels, '* wherein quotations
aremade from late authors upon the subject.
The articles on the Essenes and the Zealots will

be found to contain important matter not hitherto

sufficiently understood.

The subject of the Inquisition has been treated

in a new light, and its philosophical connection
with the Christian religion has been shown. In-
stead of being, as has been maintained, an excres-
cence which originated some six or seven hundred
years ago, it has been traced back to Jerome and
Augustine, and its roots have been found in the
teachings of Paul the apostle, with some sanction
in the reported sayings of Jesus himself.
It is believed that in the present form, with the
improvements and additions mentioned, this work
will more than justify the many encomiums that
have been passed upon it throughout this country
and in Europe.
Chicago, October, 1900.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS.

FiEST Period. —Apostolic Age. A. D. 30 to A. D. 80.

CHAPTER I.
PAGE.
The Lost Gospels of the First Century 1

CHAPTER II.

John the Baptist—Jesus Christ— Paul— Peter and the other

Apostles— The Epistles of the New Testament 16

Second Pekiod.—Apostolic Fathees. A. D. 80 to 120.

CHAPTER III.

Clement of Rome—Ignatius—Polycarp o... 40

CHAPTER IV.
Lost Gospels of the Second Century— Gospel of the Hebrews 62

CHAPTER V.
Lost Gospels of the Second Century— Continued. Gospel of
the Egyptians 78

CHAPTER VL
Lost Gospels of the Second Century— Concluded 88

CHAPTER Vn.
The Age of Miracles.— Apollonius of Tyana.., 101
XX. CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VIII.
PAGE.
Age of Miracles— Continued. Simon Magus, 117

CHAPTER IX.
Other Miracles and Miracle- Workers— Jewish Superstitions-
Miracles of the Fathers—Miracles of the New Testament... 128

Third Period.
The Three Apocryphal Gospels.—A. D. 120 to 130.

CHAPTER X.
The Three Apocryphal Gospels —The Protevangelion 144

CHAPTER XI.
The Protevangelion and the Gospels of Luke and Matthew 150

CHAPTER Xll.
Gospel of the Infancy 167

CHAPTER XIII.
The Gospel of the Infancy Compared With Luke and Matthew 175

CHAPTER XIV.
Origin and History of the Gospels of the Infancy 188

CHAPTER XV.
The Acts of Pilate 202

CHAPTER XVL
Acts of Pilate and the Canonical Gospels Compared 211

CHAPTER XVIL
Other Extant Gospels 242
CHAPTER XVIIL
Writers of the Third Period 251

Fourth Period.
Forty Years op Christian Writers.— A. D. 130 to 170.

CHAPTER XIX.
Writers from A. D. 130 to A. D. 150
 CONTENTS. "
XXI
CHAPTER XX.
PAGE
Marcion— A. D. 145 272

CHAPTER XXI.
Justin Martyr— A. D. 150 to 160 304

CHAPTER XXII.
Writers from A. D. 150 to 170— Continued 319

CHAPTER XXIIT.
Value of the Testimony of Eusebius 327

CHAPTER XXIV.
Review of Third and Fourth Periods— A. D. 120 to 170 538

Fifth Peeiod.
The Four Canonical Gospels. —A. D. 170 to 185.

CHAPTER XXV.
The Four Canonical Gospels 340

CHAPTER XXVI.
The Four Gospels as a Group - 353

CHAPTER XX VII.
History of Jesus as given in the Gospels 361

CHAPTER XXVIII.
Gospel According to Luke 379

CHAPTER XXIX.
Gospel According to Mark : 388

CHAPTER XXX.
Gospel According to John 394

CHAPTER XXXI.
Gospel According to Matthev/ 402

CHAPTER XXXII.
Acts of the Apostles..... 415

CHAPTER XXXIII.
Origin and History of Christian Doctrines— The Miraculous
Conception— Miracles of Christ— His Material Resurrec-
— —
tion—His Divinity The Trinity Atonement Original
Sin, etc ., 420
XXII CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
PAGE
Writers of the Fifth Period 440

CHAPTER XXXV.
Review of Fifth Period— Destruction of the Literature of the
Gospels—List of Gospel Writings of that Age Lost or
Destroyed 44*

Sixth Period.
Close op the Second Century —A. D. 185 to A. D. 200.

CHAPTER XXXVI.
Writers of the Sixth Period 462

CHAPTER XXXVII.
Irenaeus— Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian 470
CHAPTER XXXVIIL
Formation of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy 474

CHAPTER XXXIX.
Review of Sixth Period— Testimony of Heathen Writers— Gen-
eral Review —Conclusion 483
 LIST OF CHRISTIAN WRITERS
AND WRITINGS, OF THE FIRST TWO CENTURIES.

Chronologically Arranged.

A.D
Oracles of Christ, by Matthew, §0
((
Gospel of Paul,
Gospel or Recollections of Peter, «

Paul's Epistles. (See Note.)

1. 2d Epistle to the Thessalonians, 62
2. 1st 53
3. 1st " « Corinthians, 57
4. 2d " " " u

5. Epistle to the Galatians, 58

6. " " Romans, «

7. « to Philemon, 62
8. " to the Colossians, .«

9. " « Philippians, 63
10. " " Ephesians, M

The General Epistle of Peter, (1st Peter), 80

" James, «(

Jude, «

First Epistle of Clement of Rome, to the Corinthians, 97

Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans, 115
" " " Ephesians, <i

((
•• " to Polycarp,
Gospel according to the Egyptians, (C

Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians, 116

Proverbs of Xystas, 119
Menander, Prodicus, 120
XXIV LIST OP WRITERS.

A. D.
Preaching of Peter, Doctrine of Peter, 125
Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, "

Sibylline Oracles, later form, Preaching of Paul, "

"
Some Syriac Documents,
"
Gospel according to the Hebrews,
Gospel of Philip, "
Gospel of Perfection,
Gospel of Matthias, Gospel of Judas Iscariot, "

Gospel or Harmony of Basilides, Book of the Helkesaites, "

Midwife of our Savior, Gospel of Thaddssus, "

And many other gospels now lost, written about this time.
Aces of Peter, Acts of Paul, "

Acts of Peter and Andrew, Acts of John, Acts of St. Mary, «

And more than 30 other books of Acts, some of them extant.

Apocalypse of Peter, Apocalypse of Paul, of Bartholomew, "

And many other books of Revelation, written about that time.

Saturninus, Basilides, Papias, "

The Protevangelion, or Book of James, "

Aristides, Quadratus, 126

Gospel of the Infancy, attributed to Thomas, 130
Acts of Pilate, or Gospel of Nicodemus, "

Epistle of Barnabas, Epistle to Titus, attributed to Paul, "

First and Second Epistles to Timothy, attributed to Paul, "

General Epistle of John, (1st John), «

Second and Third Epistles of John, "

Agrippa Castor, Aristion, John the Presbyter, «

Revelation or Apocalypse of John, "

Carpocrates, 135
Epistles to the Magnesians, Trallians, Smyrnaeans and Philadel-
phians, attributed to Ignatius, 140
Epiphanes, Cerdon, Epistle to Diognetus, "

Epistle to the Laodiceans, attributed to Paul, "

Hermas, Author of The Shepherd, 145

Cerinthus and his Gospel, "

Marcion and his New Testament, "

Isidorus, Valentinus, and The Gospel of Truth, 150

Justin Martyr, The Clementines, **
 LIST OF WRITEES. XXV

A. D.
Apelles and his Gospel, Peregrinus, Marcellina, 160
"
Epistle to the Hebrews, attributed to Paul,
Soter, 164
Tatian and his Harmony or Gospel, ( ?) 170
Philip, Montanus, Second Epistle of Peter, "

Gospel according to Luke, '*

Aristo of Pella, Dionysius of Corinth, Miltiades, 175

Maximus, Pinytus, Dialogue between Jason and Papiscus, "

Gospel according to Mark, «

Modestas, Musanus, 176

Florinus, Blastus, Epistle of Churches of Vienne and Lyons, 177
Melito of Sardis, Athenagoras, Claudius Apollinaris, "

Gospel according to John, 178

Theophilus of Antioch, Bardesanes, Hermogenes, 180
Bacchylus of Corinth, Pantaenus, «

Gospel according to Matthew, «

Acts of the Apostles, "

Apollinaris, Bishop of Hierapolis, "

Marcia, 183
Hegesippus, 186
Asterius Urbanus, 188
Irenseus, Cassianus, Ptolemseus, Heracleon, Victor, 190
Serapion, Bishop of Antioch, Maximilla, Muratorian Fragment, "

Theodotus, of Byzantium, 192

Rhodon, Narcissus, Bishop of Jerusalem, 195
Palmas, Polycrates, Bishop of Ephesus, 196
Clement of Alexandria, TertuUian, Noetus, Hermas, 3d, 200
Praxeas, Symmachus, Maximus, Bishop of Jerusalem, "

Seleucas, Artemon, Pistis Sophise, "

Julius Africanus, 2d Epistle of Clement of Rome, "

[Note. The Epistles of Paul.— We have taken as genuine the ten epistles
which constituted the Apostolicon of Marcion, The same course has been adopted by
Dr. Davidson, except that he rejects, upon what appear insufficient grounds, the
Epistle to the Ephesians.]
 ROMAN EMPERORS
OF THE FIRST TWO CENTURIES.
B. C. A. D.
Augustus, 31 to 14
A.D.
Tiberius, 14 to 37

Caligula, 37 to 41

Claudius, 41 to 54

Nero, 54 to 68

Galea, 68 to 69

Otho, January to April, 69

VlTELLIUS, April to December, 69"

Vespasian, 69 to 79

Titus, 79 to 81

domitian, 81 to 96=

Nerva, 96 to 98

Trajan, 98 to 117
Hadrian, 117 to 13&

Antoninus Pius, 138 to 161

Marcus Aurelius, 161 to 180

commodus, 180 to 192

Pertinax, January to March, 193

Julian, March to June, 193

Septimius Severus, 193 to 211

FiEST Period A. D. 30 to A. D. 80

THE APOSTOLIC AGE.

CHAPTER I.

lost gospels of the first century.

The Gospel of Paul— Gospel op Peter
—References and CitationsorbyKecolleotions
the Fathers of the
Church— Views of Modern Writers— Oracles or Say-
ings OF Christ, attributed to Matthew — These the
Germs of the Synoptic Gospels, Luke, Mark and Mat-
thew.
'

This an attempt to write a history of the Chris-

is
tian religion during the first two centuries. Not a*-^
history of Christianity, which would require us to
follow the principles of that religion, in their dis-
semination through various countries and in their
,

influence upon other institutions Nor yet a his-

.

tory of the church which would make it necessary

;

to examine questions of ecclesiastical polity, to

trace the rise and progress of different forms of
church government, and to notice the manners and
customs of the early Cristians, and their treatment
by the civil magistrates.
These are touched upon only in their bearing up-
on the main object of the inquiry which is, an ex-
;

amination into the principal doctrines distinctive of

 :

2 HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.

the Christian religion, so far as they were known
and taught in the first two centuries also the prin- ;

cipal traditions and books by which those doctrines

were disseminated.
The difficulty of the undertaking is great. The ^
gospels of the first century are unfortunately lost. *^
There are left, of that century, only the epistles "^
^^
of Paul, the one epistle of Clement of Rome, some
slight notices by Jewish and heathen writers, and
the few legends and traditions preserved in the
writings of the fathers, and in the extant second
century gospels. And when we enter upon the next "^
"'
century, though there is more remaining than of
the the great body of the Christian lit-'
first, still,
"^
erature of that age also, has been lost or destroyed .

Availing himself of what remains, the author

will, though conscious of the magnitude of the task,
enter upon it at least with fidelity to the truth as ,

he understands it.
The time will be divided into six periods, to be
designated as follows

FiEST Period .Apostolic Age

. . A.D. 30 to A.D. 80.
Second Period... Apostolic Fathers.. " 80" 120. **

Third Period The Three Apocryphal

Gospels " 120 " " 130.
Fourth Period . . Forty Years of Christian
Writers " 130 " " 170.
Fifth Period The four Canonical Gos-
pels " 170 " " 185.
Sixth Period Close of the Second Cen-
tury " 185 " " 200.
 FIRST PERIOD.
Lost Gospels of the Fiest Centuey.
When had become partially estab-
Cliristianity
lished by the teaching of Christ and the preaching
of his apostles and disciples, there arose among the
Christians of the various churches a necessity, and
hence a demand for some written testimonies or
,

records of the life and doctrines of their great mas-

ter. But this need was not so apparent or pressing
in the first century, and especially during the life-
time of those who had been with Jesus, and had
been his followers and companions.
Of the num.erous gospels which were in circula-
tion in the second century, not more than three
can with any certainty, or with any high degree of
probability, be traced back to the times of the
apostles. These are the Gospel of Paul, the Gospel
or Recollections of Peter, and the Oracles or Say-
ings of Christ, attributed to Matthew.
the gospel of PAUL.
Ewald, one of the best of the German critics,
concludes that there was a Gospel of Paul thinks it ;

was in the Greek language, and that it may have

been written by the evangelist Philip.^
It maybe inferred that it afterward became incor-
porated into the Gospel of Marcion (A. D. 145),
since Marcion v/as a follower of Paul, and for his
own gospel claim.ed the sanction of that apostle.^
Marcion was a native of Sinope, a town of Asia
(i.) Jahrbuecher, 1848, 1849.
(2.) See Fabricius, Codex Apocryphus, Hamb. 1703, vol. i, p. 372. Also History of
the Canon, by Westcott, 3d ed. Lond. 1870, p. 282.
4 FIKST PERIOD A. D. 30 TO A. D. 80.

Minor, on the south shore of the Black Sea. It is

supposed that the church at Sinope was furnished
by Paul, at the time of its formation, with a collec-
tion such as he supplied to the other Asiatic
churches containing records of the life and teach-
;

ings of Christ.
Itwas the opinion of Jerome, and of several other
writers, that when Paul spoke of his gospel, (Rom.
2. 16; 16, 25; 2d Thess. 2. 14,) he referred to a
written gospel then in circulation.
Paul may have had such a gospel in mind but his
;

language is not sufficiently explicit to justify us in

concluding, with any certainty, that he meant any
thing more than that gospel of which he was the
great expounder.
There is, however, a more distinct trace of the
Gospel of Paul in his First Epistle to the Corinthi-
ans, ch. 11, vv. 23 to 25. By comparing this pas-
sage with Luke 22. 19, 20, it will be seen that the
language is almost identical ; while the parallel
passages, Matt. 26. 2^ to 28, and Mark 14. 22 to 24,
'have no such complete similarity, though the idea
is the same. The Gospel of Luke, whether directly,*^
or through Marcion's, was founded partly upon the •

Gospel of Paul. That Paul had something to do

with a written gospel, which now appears, in whole
^'
or in part, in the compilation of Luke, is generally
acknowledged and this passage in First Corinthi-
;

ans, taken in connection with the corresponding

passage in Luke, is strong evidence that in Corin-
thians Paul refers to a written gospel, which he had
''delivered'' to the church at Corinth, and a portion
of which written gospel appears in Luke 22. 19, 20.
 LOST GOSPELS OF THE FIKST CENTURY. D
Paul may have referred, also, to the same gospel in
Galatians 2.2.
This supposition receives countenance from a
passage in TertuUian. In his work against Marcion
(A. D. 200-210), after saying that Marcion did not
ascribe his gospel to any author, and arguing
thence that it was not authentic, he proceeds as fol-
lows :

" Had Marcion even published his gospel in the name of Paul him-
self,the single authority of the document, destitute of all support
from preceding authorities, would not be a sufficient basis for our
faith. There would still be wanting that gospel which Paul found in
existence, to which he yielded his belief, and with which he so ear-
nestly wished his own to agree, that he actually on that account went
up to Jerusalem, to know and consult the apostles 'lest he should run
or had been running in vain;' in other words, that the faith which he
had learned and the gospel which he was preaching, might be in ac-
cordance with theirs. Then, at last, having conferred with the au-
thors, and having agreed with them touching the rule of faith, they
joined their hands in fellowship, and divided their labors thenceforth
in the office of preaching the gospel, so that they were to go to the
Jews, and Paul to the Jews and Gentiles. Inasmuch, therefore, as
the enlightener of Luke himself desired the authority of his prede-
cessors, for both his own faith and preaching, how much more may 1
not require from Luke's Gospel, that which was necessary for the
gospel of his master,"— [TertuUian adv. Marcion, bk. 4, eh. 2, Ante-Ni-
cene Christian Library, vol. 7, p. 180.

From this passage of Tertullian it is manifest,

first, that there was a Gospel of Paul, and the infer-
ence very strong that it was in writing since
is ;

Paul is represented as going to Jerusalem to com-

pare his gospel with another, and while there, con-
ferring with the '^authors'' of the other gospel sec- ;

ondly, that it was Necessary, for the purpose of ver-

ification, that these two gospels should be com-
pared and thirdly, that all this was anterior to the
;

Gospel according to Luke. It might be inferred,

from the closing portion of the paragraph that Ter- ,
6 FIRST PERIOD A. D. 30 TO A. D. 80.

tullianthought the Gospel of Luke itself stood in

need of some verification.
It does not follow, however, that the gospel with
which Paul was so anxious to compare his own, was
written before his . The word '
'
primitive
^
' inserted
by the Ante-Nicene translator, in brackets, before
the word 'authors,'' we have therefore discard-
'

ed as unnecessary to the sense, and unauthor-

ized.
The language of Tertullian is, "Denique, ut cum auctoribus contu-
lit, et convenit de regula fidei, dexteras miscuere," etc.— [Tertull. Op?
torn. 1, p. 251.

The opinion of Ewald is, that the Greek Gospel

of Paul was the first ever written There was prob- .

ably no great length of time intervening between

the origin of that and of the other two gospels of
the first century.
The testimony of Irenseus (A. D. 190) concerning
this gospel is, that it was written by Luke.
''Luke, also, the companion of Paul, recorded
"*
in a book the gospel preached by him .

Notwithstanding the positive language here used,

the statement is to be taken with some allowance.
Irenseus was fully committed to the four gospels,
and was engaged in endeavoring to give them au-
thority. He maybe have intro-
said, in fact, to
duced them to the notice of the literary world since ;

he is the first author who mentions more than one

of them. He speaks frequently of these gospels,
and argues that they should be four in number,
neither more nor less because there are four uni- ,

versal winds, and four quarters of the world.

(i.) Irenaeus v, Ilaer. bk. 3, ch. i, Ante-Nic. vol. 5, p. 259.
 LOST GOSPELS OF THE FIRST CENTURY. 7
Davidson calls liim '^credulous and blunder-
ing."'
Those who are so quick to receive the statement
of Irenaeus that the Gospel of Paul was written by
Luke, a statement manifestly made to give apos-
tolic sanction to the Gospel of Luke, are not pre-
pared to accept so readily his assertion that the
ministry of Jesus lasted twenty years, and that he
was fifty years old at his crucifixion.^

THE GOSPEL OR RECOLLECTIONS OF PETER.

This was a book more generally known than the
Gospel of Paul, and of the existence of which there
can be no doubt. In the year 190, a large number
of these Gospels of Peter were found in use by the
church of Rhossus, in Cilicia and so much were ;

the Christians of that church attached to them

that it became necessary for Serapion, one of the
bishops, to suppress them, and to substitute the
canonical gospels in their stead.
Another case of the suppression of older gospels
in use in the churches, to make way for those
which had been selected, will be noticed hereafter.
(See Tatian.)
Eusebius (A. D. 325) speaking of the Gospel ac-
cording to Peter, with other books, says :

"Neither among the ancient nor the ecclesiastical writers of our

day, has there been one that has appealed to the testimony taken
from them." Again, in book 3, chapter 25, he speaks of the Gospel of

(i.) Canon, p. 121.

(2.) Iren. v, Haer. 2. 22, Ante-Nic. vol. 5, p, 196.

(3.) Dr. Lardner's Works, vol. 4, p. 636; Theodoret, Fab. Haer, 2, 2; Euseb. Ecc. Hist.
6. 12; Lost and Hostile Gospels by S. Baring-Gould, p 245. Theodoret there says, the
Nazarenes held that Christ was a just man, and they used the Gospel of Peter. He
speaks as of his own day, A. D. 430.
 :

8 FIRST PERIOD A. D. 30 TO A. D. 80.

Peter as among those that were "adduced by the heretics, under the
name of the apostles," and "of which no one of those writers in the
ecclesiastical succession, has condescended to make any mention in
his works;" and says, "they are to be ranked not only among the spu-
rious writings, but are to be rejected as altogether absurd and impi-
ous."— [Eccles. Hist, bk 3, ch. 3.

Eusebius had a peculiar faculty for diverging

from the truth. Let us see how far from it he has
gone in these assertions :

1. Justin Martyr, in the Dialogue, written about

A. D. 160, says:
"The mention of the fact, that Christ changed the name of Peter,
one of the apostles, and that the event had been recorded in his [Pe-
ter's] Memoirs, together with his having changed the name of two
other brethren, who were sons of Zebedee, to Boanerges, tended to
signify that he was the same through whom the surname Israel was
given to Jacob, and Joshua to Hosea."— [Dialogue with Trypho, ch. 106.

The translation, as given in the Ante-Nicene

Christian Library, vol. 2, p. 233, is as follows
"And when it is said that he changed the name of one of the apos-
tles to Peter, and when written in the memoirs of Him that this
it is

so happened, as well as that he changed the name of other two

brothers," etc.

The word ^'Him,'' commencing with a capital

letter, of course refers to Christ thus making it ;

read, the memoirs of Christ, and ignoring Peter

as the author. The Greek is,
"Kai to eipein metonomakenai auton Petron hena tone Apostol-
one, kai gegrapTithai en tois apomneemoneumasin autou,'* etc.
Such a construction , besides referring the pro-
noun autou (of him), at the close of the sentence,
to the more distant antecedent, contrary to the rule
in such cases, attributes to Justin language which
he is not in the habit of using. Elsewhere, when
speaking of the gospels which he cites so frequently,
he calls them, not Memoirs of Christ, but 'Memoirs '
 LOST GOSPELS OF THE FIRST CENTURY. 9

of the Apostles/' He has ten times ''Memoirs of

the Apostles/' and five times '^Memoirs ;" not once
*'Memoirs of Christ."
For the rendering we have adopted we have the
authority of Dr. Westcott^ and other eminent schol-
ars. Moreover, it is powerfully supported by the
fact, thatthe only one of the canonical gospels
which has this account of the change of the name
of James and John to Boanerges, is Mark, which
has such an intimate connection with the Gospel of
Peter. (See Mark 3. 17.)
We conclude, therefore, that Justin Martyr here
Tefers to the Memoirs or Recollections of Peter,
which can be nothing else than the Gospel of Peter.
It was probably a consideration of this passage
which induced Credner to say that Justin made use
of this gospel.^
2. The next writer who refers to the Gospel of
Peter, is TurtuUian (A.D. 200-210). He was one
of the three fathers who were engaged in establish-
ing the canonical gospels. And as Irenseus had
undertaken to confound the Gospel of Paul with
the Gospel of Luke, so TertuUian endeavors to
identify the Gospel of Peter with the Gospel of
Mark. He says
''The Gospel which Mark published is affirmed
to be Peter's, whose interpreter Mark was."^
Jones, who
unwilling to recognize the Gospel
is
of Peter as authoritative, attempts to break the
force of this testimony by interpolating, in the
translation, the words "by some"; thus: "is af-
(1) Hist, of the Canon, p. 103.
(2) Geschicht. N. T. Kan. p. 7U.
iSi) Tert. ad. Marcion, 4. 5.
10 FIRST PERIOD A. D. 30 TO A. D. 80.

firmed by some to be Peter's.'' But this is en-

tirely unauthorized.
The original is, ^'Evangelium quod Mar-
edidit
cus, Petri affirmatur, cujus interpres Marcus;"
translated in the Ante-Nicene collection, ''That
[gospel] which Mark published, may be affirmed to
be Peter's, whose interpreter Mark was."
Tertullian manifestly intended to assert that in
his day the Gospel of Mark was understood to be
Peter's, or to have the Gospel of Peter for its orig-
inal.

3. The third father who referred to this Gospel,

was Origen, A. D. 230.
"There are some," says he, "who say the brethren of Christ [here
mentioned] were the children of Joseph by a former wife, who lived
with him before Mary; and they are induced to this opinion by some
passages in that which is entitled the Gospel of Peter, or The Book
—
of James." [Com. on Matt. 13. 55.

must not be inferred that Origen here speaks

It
of the books as the same but that the opinion was;

held in accordance with passages in the one book

,

or the other. In the Protevangelion or Book of ,

James, as it was called, it is related, that when the

high priest told Joseph that he was the person se-
lected to take the virgin, he demurred, saying, ^'I
am an old man and have children but she is young,;

and I fear lest I should appear ridiculous in Is-

rael."
Though Origen was not fully prepared to accept
this statement, not seeing it in the canonical gos-
pels, which had then, to use his own language, been
** chosen,"^ and were thenceforth to be authorita-
tive, yet the fact had become so well understood,
(l) "And that not four gospels but very many were written, out of which those we
 LOST GOSPELS OF THE FIRST CENTURY. 11

from the previous use of the other gospels, that it

was by most of the fathers, implicitly received as
true for a long time afterward
, Epiphanius Chrys- . ,

ostom, Cyril, Theophylact, (Ecumenius, and all

the Latin fathers till Ambrose, and the Greek
fathers afterward, held to the opinion that Joseph
was a widower, and had children by a former wife ;

showing that the Gospel of Peter and the Protevan-

gelion were regarded as authority.
Thus we find the Gospel of Peter expressly re-
ferred toby three of the fathers before Eusebius,
though that historian asserts that no one of them
had condescended to make any mention of it.
Eusebius exhibited a still more reckless disregard
for the truth, in regard to the Preaching of Peter.
He made a similar sweeping assertion respecting
that while the fact was, it had been mentioned by
;

Heraclion and Lactantius and six times by Clem-

,

ent of Alexandria, and every time with indications

of approval. It may be well to mention an error
of some writers, in supposing the Preaching of Pe-
ter and the Preaching of Paul to be one book, or
parts of the same book, merely from their being
mentioned in the same connection by Lactantius.
Such an inference is not authorized.
Other writers have mentioned this gospel The- .

odoret (A. D. 430) says, *'The Nazarenes are Jews

who venerate Christ as a just man merely, and it is

said they use the Gospel according to Peter.'"

have were chosen, and delivered to the churches, we may perceive," etc.— [Origen, in
Proem. Lucse, Horn, i, t. 2, p 210.
Again: "Four gospels only have been approved, out of which the doctrines of our Lord
and Savior are to be learned."
These gospels were selected, or "separated" from others.— [Westcott, p. 317.

(i) Haer. Fab. 2. 2.

12 FIRST PERIOD A. D. 30 TO A. D. 80.

Credner thinks the gospel was one of the oldest

writings of the church, and the source from which
Justin Martyr drew many of his quotations also ;

that it was essentially identical with the Harmony

of Tatian, and the Gospel according to the He-
brews.^
Dr. MilP says was publicly read by the Chris-
it

tians and Mr. Whiston^ asserts that it was prob-

;

ably, in some sense, a sacred book.

Jones, who wishes to discredit it, says it was
interdicted by the decree of Pope Gelasius (A. D.
494) according to some copies though he does not
, ;

explain how the interdict crept into those copies,

nor why it is not in the decree as generally pub-
lished, and as it appears in his own work, vol. 1, p.
154.
The Gospelof Peter favored the opinions of the
Docetse, who
held that Christ and Jesus v/ere dif-
ferent that Jesus really suffered, but Christ only
;

in appearance.
Norton whose opinion is entitled to great weight,
,-^

thinks this gospel was not a history of Christ's

ministry.'^
Rev. Baring-Gould asks the question, '^Was
S.
this gospel a corrupted edition of St. Mark?'' and
answers it thus: ^'Probably not. We have not
much ground on which to base an opinion but ,

there is just sufficient to make it likely that such

was not the case "^ .

He considers the statement concerning the broth-

(i) Gesch. d. N. T. Kanon, p. 22.
(2) Prolegom. in Nov. Test., sec. 336.
(3) Essay on the Constitutions of the Apostles, p. 24.
(4) Evidences of the Genuineness of the Gospels, by Andrews Norton, Boston, 1837,
vol. I, p 234. Notes.

(5) Lost and Hostile Gospels, p. 221.

 LOST GOSPELS OF THE FIEST CENTURY. 13

ers and most valuable, as the

sisters of Christ, as
gospel is ''wholly unprejudiced, and of great an-
tiquity."'

THE ORACLES OR SAYINGS OF CHRIST.

Our information concerning this collection, is
exceedingly meager being based entirely upon a
;

passage in Eusebius, in vfhich Papias is represented

as saying, ''Matthew set forth the Oracles in the
Hebrew dialect, which every one interpreted as he
was able."^
Eusebius says further, that Papias wrote five
books of "Expositions of the Oracles of the Lord."
These are a part of the multitude of lost writings of
those times.
Baring-Gould thinks the Oracles consisted of five
parts ending at the following passages
, :

First, at Matthew ch. 7, v. 28 ; second, at Matt.

11. 1 ; third, at Matt. 13. 53 ; fourth, at Matt. 19.
1, and Matt. 26. 1. Upon this theory, the
fifth, at
Oracles were a compilation of different manu-
scripts. It is the generally received opinion that
a number of older manuscripts have entered into
the construction of the Gospel according to Mat-
thew, and that this gospel was to some extent based
upon the Oracles.
RECAPITULATION.
The Gospel op Paul, though it does not stand
out so clearly and indisputably as the Gospel of Pe-
ter, has yet sufficient evidence of having been one
of the gospels of the first century. It is testified to
by Marcion, and is apparently alluded to by Irense-
(1) p. 222.
(2) Euseb. Ecc, Hist., bk. 3, ch. 39.
14 FIRST PERIOD A. D. 30 TO A. D. 80.

•QSand Tertullian, and by Paul himself. It was in

the Greek language.
The Gospel or Recollections of Peter, was a
book well known, and of high authority among the
ancient Christians. Even after the introduction of
the four gospels afterward made canonical the Gos- ,

pel of Peter maintained so firm a footing that it be-

came necessary to suppress it in some of the
churches. It was retained and used by the Naza-
renes, long afterward.
by Justin Martyr, and referred to by
It is cited
Tertullian and Origen. The statement of Eusebi-
us, that no one of the ecclesiastical writers had ap-
pealed to testimony taken from it, and that no one
of them had condescended to make any mention of
it, is untrue. The passage in Justin Martyr is mis-
translated in the Ante-Nicene collection and the,

passage in TurtuUian is mistranslated by Jones.

The statement contained in this gospel, that Jo-
seph had children by a former wife, was generally
received by the fathers, for several centuries. The
Gospel of Peter is highly spoken of by Dr. Mill,
Mr. Whiston, and other eminent writers. Credner,
a German writer of high authority, thinks it was
used by Justin Martyr, A. D. 150-160.
The Oracles, or Sayings of Christ, in the Ar-
amaic language, we know but little about. It has
been generally conceded, on the authority of Euse-
bius, that Papias (A. D. 125) had such a book, and
that he wrote commentaries upon it.
Doctrines. —There is no evidence that any of
these gospels taught the miraculous conception.
 LOST GOSPELS OF THE FIRST CENTURY. 15
or the material resurrection of Christ, or contained
any account of his miracles, or any reference to
&jiy book containing such accounts or teaching ei-
ther of those doctrines.
It will be seen as we proceed, that the three gos-
pels which have been considered were the germs of
,

the three synoptic gospels, respectively. That is,

the Gospel of Paul was the germ of the Gospel ac-
cording to Luke the Gospel of Peter, of the Gos-
;

pel according to Mark and the Oracles, of the Gos-

;

pel according to Matthew.

They cannot, however, in any sense, be consid-
ered the same. The synoptic gospels were un-
doubtedly written long afterward, and contained, in
:many respects, very different material. Moreover,
the Gospel of Paul appears to have passed through
fche Gospel of Marcion before reaching the author

of Luke, and the Oracles through the Gospel of the

Hebrews before reaching the author of Matthew.
 CHAPTER II.

APOSTOLIC AGE— A. D. 30 TO A. D. 80.

(continued.)

John the Baptist —Jesus Christ —Paul —Peter —John—

The Jameses — The Judases — The Other Apostles —
Epistles of the New Testament — The Apocalypse.

The first character in Christian history is John

the Baptist.
What was his connection with Jesus, and what
were his relations to the origin of the Christian re-
ligion ?
Josephns, while he gives an account of John
the Baptist baptizing and making converts, says
nothing of his announcing the approach of a com-
ing Messiah.^
The author of Luke commences his account of
John the Baptist by saying that he appeared in the
fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pon-
tius Pilate being Grovernor of Judea and Herod be-
ing Tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip Tetrarch
of Iturea and of the region of Trachonitis, Lysanias
Tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being
the high priests. (Luke 3. 1, 2.)
In the 23d verse of the same chapter, after relat-
ing the baptism of Jesus, he states that he began to
be about thirty years of age.
(i) Antiquities, bk. i8, ch. 5, 2.
 APOSTOLIC AGE JOHN THE BAPTIST. 17
If by this language tlie author of Luke meant to
say that Jesus was not then past thirty, did he not
make a mistake of at least three years? Tiberius
commenced reigning A. D. 14, and the fifteenth
year of his reign would be A. D. 29, or when Jesus
was thirty-three years of age, as he was four years
old at the commencement of the Christian era.
We do not, however, look upon this as a very seri-
ous discrepancy, and think Dr. Lardner over-esti-
mated the question when he spoke of it as one
of ^'very great difficulty. '^ The word ''hosei,''
used by the gospel historian, relieves
''about,'' him
from any very exact criticism.
So of another objection the statement that An-
;

nas and Caiaphas were high priests it being noto-

;

rious that the Jews never had but one high priest
at a time. This has been partially explained by
showing that Josephus, in one place, spoke of one
as a high priest, who had held, but did not at the
time referred to, hold that office. The language
here is somewhat more definite, and appears more
plainly to intimate that two did actually hold the
position the same year.
This would indicate that this portion of the book
was written long afterward, by one not acquainted
with Jewish customs . Dr Lardner says It would
.
, '
'

be extremely unreasonable to impute to St. Luke so

great a mistake as the supposing there were prop-
erly two high priests among the Jews at the same
time.'' The most effectual way of relieving him
from the imputation is, not to charge upon him
the authorship of a work which bears so many
marks of having been written long after his day.
18 FIRST PERIOD A. D. 30 TO A. D. 80.
passage in Josephus concerning Christ
If the
were genuine then the failure to connect him with
,

John the Baptist, would be utterly incomprehensi-

ble. But since it is the general verdict of scholars
that the paragraph in the 3d chapter of the 18th
book of the Antiquities, wherein it is stated that
Jesus was the Christ, etc. is an interpolated forgery,
,

the matter appears very differently. It is easy to

see that Josephus, retaining all his Jewish preju-
dices and antipathies, might have intentionally
passed over the proclamation of the coming Mes-
siah.
Pursuing the biography of John, as given in the
gospel history, the next incident presents a diffi-

culty of a more serious character.

Herod the Tetrarch shut up John
It is stated that
in prison, being reproved by him for Herodias, his
brother Philip's wife. (Luke, 3. 19, 20 Mark, 6. ;

17-20 Matthew, 14. 3-5.) This Philip could be no

;

other than Philip the Tetrarch of Trachonitis, men-

mentioned in Luke 3. 1. He was the brother, or
rather half-brother of Herod the Tetrarch, and
Herod had no other brother Philip. They were
both sons of Herod the Great.
But according to Josephus, Philip could not have
been the former husband of Herodias. It was an-
other Herod, half-brother of Herod the Tetrarch,
having the same father, but not the same mother.
The father of this Herod was Herod the Great,
while his mother was Mariamne, daughter of Si-
mon the high priest.'
Josephus could not well be mistaken in this mat-
(i) Antiq., bk i8, ch. S, sec. i, and same, sec. 4.
 APOSTOLIC AGE JOHN" THE BAPTIST. 19
ter,being liimself a Jew, and all the parties occu-
pying a high position among his people. Not only
were all these sons of Herod the Great, but Hero-
dias was Agrippa the Great. The atten-
sister of
tion of the historian was particularly called to the
transaction, and he relates in full the visit of Her-
od the Tetrarch to Herod, his half-brother, his fall-
ing in love with Herodias, his brother's wife, and
their subsequent arrangement to be married. Also
the difference that arose on this very account, be-
tween Herod the Tetrarch and Aretas, King of Pe-
traea, father of the wife whom Herod put aside, in
favor of Herodias ; a difficulty which resulted in a
war.
The gospel account of the death of John, is also
very different from that of the historian. It does
not appear in Luke, but in Mark and Matthew it is
related that the daughter of Herodias danced before
Herod, at a supper given by him on his birthday ;

(Mark, 6. 21, 22;) that Herod w^as pleased, and

promised to give her whatever she should ask and ;

she, being instructed by her mother, asked the head

of John the Baptist that the king ordered it to be
;

given her, and it was brought in a charger. (Mark,

6. 21-29; Matt., 14. 6-11).

The account by Josephus is, in substance :

That John was a good man that he commanded;

the Jews to exercise virtue, and exhorted them to

come to his baptism that crowds came about him,
;

much pleased at his discourses that Herod feared ;

that his great influence over the people might put

it into his power and inclination to raise a re-

bellion, the people being ready to do anything he

 :

20 FIRST PERIOD A. D. 30 TO A. D. 80.

should advise ; that to prevent any mischief he
might do, and to put it out of his power to raise a
rebellion, Herod had him thrown into prison at
Macherus, and there put to death.
Though it might be possible, by the exercise of
skill and ingenuity, to show that the accounts of
John the Baptist, as given by Josephus on the one
hand and the gospel historians on the other, are
not absolutely contradictory, except as to the for-
mer husband of Herodias yet the general tenor of
;

the two biographies is so different, and the narra-

tives so divergent, as to render it problematical
whether John sustained any such relation to Jesus
as is commonly supposed.
The Gospel of Marcion (A. D. 145), which, in
other respects was very similar to Luke contained
, ,

no such history of John. Marcion 's Gospel was

probably first written. The first two chapters of
Luke were not in Marcion. In place of the 3d and
4th chapters, there was the first chapter in Mar-
<5ion's Gospel, which commenced as follows
. "Now in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate
ruling in Judea, Jesus came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee,
and straightway on the sabbath days, going into the synagogue, he
taught,
" 2. And they were astonished at his doctrine, for his word was
with power."

There was no statement in Marcion as to the age

of Christ, nor concerning the two high priests, nor
were there any contradictions of Josephus.
Before leaving the history of John the Baptist,
we cannot refrain from referring to the grotesque
incident of the daughter of Herodias dancing at a
supper given by Herod to his lords, high captains
,and chief est^.t3S This portion of the narrative
 APOSTOLIC AGE—JOHN THE BAPTIST JESUS. 21
caused a sore trial to the faith of the great Dr.
Lardner.
" It may
perhaps be expected," he says, " I should here produce an
instance, about that time, ofsome lady of like station with Herodias'
daughter, who danced at a public entertainment. But I must own, I
am not furnished with any instance exactly parallel."
Although the Doctor did not hesitate to believe
in miracles, yet, when any thing purported to be
inside the bounds of nature, he desired to see it
within the range of probability.

JESUS CHRIST.

The next character is Christ himself.

He is said to have been begotten of a virgin, by
the overshadowing of the Holy Ghost.
This event does not appear to have been men-
tioned in heathen, Jewish or Christian history, un-
til more than a hundred years after it is said to

have taken place. The doctrine of the immaculate "^

ot miraculous conception when it was promulgated
,
"

to the Christians of the second century, was found**--

"
to be so congenial to the prevailing disposition to
deify Christ, that it was at once taken up by the
bishops, and incorporated among the founda-
tions of the grand religious structure then being
erected.
Paul, who had already laid the foundations of the
structure, seems to have known nothing of the doc-
trine.
It was somewhat incongruous to deify a person
born in the ordinary course of generation. The mi-
raculous conception was needed, to give form and
consistency to the doctrine of the divinity of Je-
sus.
22 ^ FIRST PERIOD A. D. 30 TO A. D. 80.

Many attempts have been made to write the life

of Christ. But it is difficult to see where, outside
the gospels, the material for such a work is to
come from ; while, if the gospels are to be taken,
as a basis, equally difficult to understand what
it is

be gained by rewriting what is contained in

is to
them. Any such attempt only brings out, in plain-
er light, the discrepancies in those accounts, and
finally results in a mere display of ingenuity on
the part of the biographer, in his efforts to recon-
cilethem or, as in the case of some writers, in a
;

sublime unconsciousness of any discrepancies what-

ever.
We know was a
of Christ historically, that he
prominent moral and religious teacher that he had ;

the most devoted followers and disciples that he ;

was put to death in the reign of Tiberius Cae-

sar ;^ and that upon his doctrines and precepts,
and upon a belief in his spiritual resurrection^
Paul, the chief of his disciples, founded a new re-
ligion.
PAUL.
That Paul was the one who did the work, is man*
ifest, from recorded tradition, and from those won-
derful epistles, written in the first century, which
are still extant, and the most of which are consid-
ered by scholars to be genuine.

Countless volumes have been written concerning

Paul works abounding in unmixed eulogy. It is
;

the duty of the impartial historian, while appreci-

ating and admiring those grand qualities which
mark him as one of the greatest men of any ag(
(i) See Appendix.
 APOSTOLIC AGE PAUL. 23
while conceding his intellectual and moral gran-
deur, his thorough conviction of the truth of the
doctrines he was teaching, and the zeal and devo-
tion which he manifested in their propagation, to
point out, at the same time, some of the defects in
his character.
The chief of these, which was the result of his
excessive zeal, was an impatience, and even a vin-
dictiveness, toward those who differed with him in
opinion.
By an occasional outburst of that spirit of perse-
cution under the influence of which he had so un-
relentingly pursued the Christians, he demon-
strates, that however thorough was his conversion,
it had not eradicated or essentially changed those

traits of character, and peculiarities of disposition,

which distinguished him from other men. Com-
mentators would have us believe, that when, in his
I would they were
^
Epistle to the Galatians he said
, , '

even cut off who trouble you,'' he meant nothing

more than that they should be cut off from the
church. But this he had power to have done and ;

did direct it, in addressing other churches. An ex-

amination of the context, and of the whole epistle,
in the commencement of which he had anathema-
tized any one who should preach any other doc-
trine {' Let him be accursed ') together with the
, '
'
,

application of a careful and thorough philological

analysis of the words used by the apostle, all com-
bine to give to his language a deeper meaning
showing that in a moment of exasperation, he gave
utterance to a sentiment, which, taken in connec-
tion with the teaching and practice of Peter, and the
construction which was put upon some of the say-
 '

24 FIRST PERIOD —A. D. 30 TO A. D. 80.

ings of Christ, resulted in the most fearful and
wide-spread persecutions, through subsequent ages.
It is not strange that the apostle should have
such feelings toward those whom he saw endeav-
oring to remove some of the beautiful pillars from
the splendid edifice he was constructing but it is to ;

be regretted that he did not foresee the use which

could be made of his language in after times.
Again notwithstanding the spirit of kindness, of
:

brotherly love and even of tenderness, pervading

,

the letters of the apostle, there may be discovered

occasionally, beneath glimpses of an over-
it all,

bearing and tyrannical disposition. This is partic-

ularly noticeable in his injunctions to the female
Christians, and in his determination to discounten-
ance any ambition on their part to take an equal
place with their brothers in the management of
church affairs.
They were permitted to hold the position of dea-
coness, an office the functions of which consisted
principally in ministering to the necessities of the
saints. An office of labor and subserviency they
could fill, but not one of honor ^'I suffer not a wo- ;

man to teach said Paul thus disclosing his dom-

, '
' ;

ineering spirit, and his inability to rise above the

prejudices of the age.
This prohibition of the apostle was scrupulously
carried out and in the Council of Laodicea, A. D.
;

365, the 11th canon forbade the ordination of wo-

men for the ministry, while the 44th canon prohib-
itedthem from entering into the altar.
But the point upon which the fathers were most
sensitive, in reference to the position of women in
(i) Landon's Manual of Councils, pp. 284 to 287.
 APOSTOLIC AGE PAUL. 25
the church, related to administering the rite of bap-
tism. One of the earliest Chistian writings was the
Acts of Paul and Thecla. It was a romance.
Thecla,who was engaged to be married, had heard,
from an upper window, Paul, preaching. She had
fallen in love withhim had deserted her lover and;

relatives, and had followed Paul had become a ;

devoted Christian had baptized first baptizing

; ;

herself. Then she worked miracles, became a saint,

and finally a martyr. She was held in the highest
veneration by the fathers. But the book gave im-
plied sanction to the right of women to baptize.
On that account was declared heretical, and
it

search was made an unusual pro-

for its author ;

ceeding in those days. It was traced to a presbyter

of one of the eastern churches, who acknowledged
he had written it '' for the honor of Paul." He
was tried for the offense, and being convicted, was
deposed from the ministry. ^

The women claimed the right to baptize their own

sex. But the bishops and presbyters did not care
to be relieved from the pleasant duty of baptizing
^
the female converts .

Of the life of Paul we know but little. The ac-

counts in the Acts of the Apostles, cannot, for rea-
sons which will hereafter be given, be considered
historical.
In the first epistle of Clement of Rome, it is

stated that Paul was seven times imprisoned. Dr.

(i) Tertullian, de Baptismo, ch. 17; Jerome, de Vir., i. 7. Jerome states, erroneous-
ly, that Turtullian had said he was convicted before John.

(2) See Bunsen's Christianity and Mankind, vol. 7, pp. 386 to 393, published in the
3d volume of the Analecta. The converts were first exorcised of the evil spirits that
were supposed to inhabit them; then, after undressing, and being baptized, they were
anointed with oil. The custom may not have prevailed in the colder climates.
 .

26 FIRST PERIOD —A. D. 30 TO A. D. 80.

Doellinger says Paul was seven times imprisoned.*

Was Paul Married? —Eusebius said,
" Paul does not demur, in a certain epistle, to mention his own wife,
whom he did not take about with him, in order to expedite his min-
istry the better."

In saying Eusebius was quoting from the

this,
Stromata, of Clement of Alexandria (A. D. 200).
The full passage in Clement is as follows :

" Paul does not, indeed, in a certain epistle, fear to speak of his own
wife, whom he did not take about with him, because it was not neces-
sary for him, in the great work of the ministry. Therefore he says
in a certain epistle, Have we not power to take about a sister wife,
'

as also the other apostles ?' For they, as was proper, while engaged
in the ministry, because they could not keep them apart, were accus-
tomed, doubtless as a matter of commendation, to take about with
them female attendants, not as wives, but as sisters, who, together
with the female servants, might be among the women who had charge
of the house, by whom without any reprehension or suspicion of evil
the doctrine of the Lord might be carried even to the secret apart-
ments of the women."— [Strom., bk. 3, ch. 6, Latin Translation in An-
te-Nicene Collection, vol. 12, p. 109,

Paul, according to the fathers, was martyred at

Rome, A. D. 67 or 68.
An interesting story is preserved, of Paul and
Perpetua. It is related that Perpetua, seeing Paul
dragged along the streets of Rome, in irons, had
compassion upon him, and wept bitterly. She had
but one eye.
Paul asked her for her handkerchief. She gave it.
It was tied around Paul's head, and afterward re-
turned to her, bloody. When she received it back,
her other eye was restored. Perpetua was afterward
thrown into prison, and tortured, and at last, with
a great stone tied to her neck was thrown over a ,

precipice
(i) First Age of the Church, p. 87.
 APOSTOLIC AGE EPISTLES OF PAUL. 27
There was between Paul and his followers on one
side and Peter and his followers on the other, a
strong antagonism not generally understood in our
,

day, and which, if properly taken into account,

will explain several knotty points of scripture, and
throw light upon many controverted questions in
the early history of the church. Paul was rejected
by large bodies of Jewish Christians and in the ;

entire volume of the Recognitions, a Petrine work

of the early ages, abounding in scripture quota-
tions, there is not a single citation from PauFs epis-
tles.
The controversy related principally, in the first
instance, to the observance by the Christians of Jew-
ish rites and ceremonies ; but afterward it became
hereditary and traditional.
The Ebionites claimed that Paul was an impostor
that he only became a convert for the purpose of
obtaining a Jewish lady with whom he had fallen
in love, and when he failed, he turned against the
Jews, and opposed their observances and customs.

—
His Epistles. Ten of the Epistles of Paul are
probably genuine though some of the German
;

critics hold that we cannot be certain of more than

four: Romans, 1st and 2d Corinthians, and Gala-
tians.' The 15th and 16th Chapters of Romans,
also, are disputed, or at least not considered part of
the Epistle to the Romans not only by German ;

critics, but by many others. Davidson and some

others confine the objections to the 16th chap-
ter.^
(i) See an interesting and well written work, entitled "What is the Bible?" by J. T.
Sunderland, Chicago, 1878; where authorities are referred to.

(2) Davidson, Int. to N. T., i, p. 137. Weiss, das Marc, 1872, p. 49$.
 . ,

28 FIRST PERIOD — A. D. 30 TO A. D. 80.

Though all the fourteen epistles ascribed to Paul
have maintained a place in the canon, many, even
among evangelical writers look with distrust upon ,

the Epistle to the Hebrews, as having been admit*

ted upon insufficient evidence.
Westcott states that at the close of the second
century, it had not yet become established as au-
thoritative in the churches.' It was not in the
Latin version made by Tertullian, A. D. 210; Je-
rome speaks of it dubiously, and Toland says it
was doubted by *^the soundest part'' of the an-
cients.^ Dr. Doellinger says Paul did not write
it. 3
The New Testament as compiled by Marcion (A,
D. 145) contained ten epistles of Paul. He knew
of no epistles to Timothy, to Titus, or to the He-
brews or if he did, he did not consider them genu-
;

ine Probably they were later productions

.

The style of the Apostle Paul, though strong and

concise, is sometimes elliptical and ambiguous.
He indulges in mystical and allegorical expressions
and his applications are at times far-fetched and
fanciful .
^ ^
He often
, '
' says Doellinger , '
' gets more
out of a passage than the words or historical sense
convey.'' This author shows that in one place he
applies to his argument a meaning precisely oppo-
site to that of the passage quoted. The passage is
Psalms 68. 18 where, instead of ^'Thou receivedst
;

gifts among men," or, ^'Thou hast received gifts

for men," Paul reads, '^He gave gifts unto men."^
(Ephes.,4. 8.)
(i) History of the Canon, p. 306.

(2) Amyntor, p. 57.

(3) First Age of the Church, p. 83.

 APOSTOLIC AGE —DOCTRINES OF PAUL. 29
Doctrines. —The epistles of
Paul being the old-
est Christian writings extant, their importance in '

the history of the Christian religion, cannot be

over-estimated
Paul believed in the resurrection of Christ, with ^
a spiritual body. His idea of the resurrection, like ^
that of Clement of Rome, was that the spiritual'-"'
body arose from the decay of the natural body, as a -

plant from the decay of the seed sown to produce

it. It is manifest that when Paul saw Jesus, he saw
what appeared to be a spirit since it was after the ;

time when, as is alleged, Christ had ascended in the

body. There is no evidence that Paul knew any
thing of the canonical gospels nor is there any ;

reason to believe he had ever seen a gospel in which

Jesus denied being a spirit, after the resurrection.
With Paul, the resurrection and ascension were one
and the same thing and obviously meant, a man-
;

ifestation from the spiritual world.

Paul believed that Christ, after his resurrection,
or ascension, communicated to his disciples, by the
agency of the Holy Spirit, through intercession
with the Father, supernatural gifts ''charismata" ; ;

and that these gifts were imparted by the laying on

of hands. The precise nature of these ^'charisma-
ta" has been the subject of much discussion.
There is no doubt that in the view of Paul, they not
only included some miraculous powers, but extend-
ed as well to the natural operations and processes
of the mind those involved in preaching and ex-
;

horting, as well as in interpreting, prophesying,

etc. The assistance of this extraordinary gift ex-
(i) Origin of the Four Gospels, by Tischendorf, 1867, p. 24; Credibility of the Gos-
pel History, by Dr. Lardner, vol. 3, p. 148,
30 FIRST PERIOD A. D. 30 TO A. D. 80.

tended to all the qualities necessary for the guid-

ance as well as the edification of the church.
Whether Paul claimed to have himself performed
miracles, is also a mooted question. He apparently
makes such a claim, in Eom. 15. 18, 19, and in 2d
Corinthians, 12. 12 but it has been contended that
;

the original does not necessarily require that con-

struction.*
Whatever Paul may claim for himself and his
fellow-disciples, by virtue of the descent of the Holy
Ghost, there is no reference in his epistles to any
miracles performed by Jesus, during his earthly
ministry, nor any evidence that Paul believed
in any such miracles, or had ever heard of them.
It has often been asked, why did not any heathen
or Jewish writer of the first century speak of the
miracles of Christ? But a question which is
arises
equally suggestive, why does neither Paul nor
Clement of Rome, the only Christian writers of the
first century, make the slightest allusion to them?
The same is true of the miraculous conception.
Justin Martyr constantly referring to Christ as
is
^'born of a virgin.'' So with other writers of the
second century. But in the epistles of Paul and
Clement, though they abound continually in refer-
ences to Christ, we look for that phrase in vain.
PETER.

If the fanatics of subsequent times couldpoint

to the sayings of Paul, as apparent authority for
their excesses, they could, with still more confi-
dence, turn to the teaching and example of Peter.
" When," says Dr. Doellinger, "Ananias and Sapphira, through
(i) Supernatural Religion, vol. 3, pt. 2, ch. 2.
 APOSTOLIC AGE PAULAS DOCTRINES PETER. 31
their hypocrisy and avaricious attempt at deception, had made the
first assault on the authority of the apostles and the Holy Ghost rul-
ing in the church, St. Peter inflicted a terrible punishment upon
tJiem" I

When we meet with such language in a Christian

writer of the nineteenth century, what might not be
expected of the priests of the middle ages?
In the Epistle of Clement to James, in the An-
te-Nicene collection, Clement describes his ordina-
tion.
He says, when Peter was about to die, the breth-
ren being assembled (at Rome), he laid his hands
on Clement as the bishop, and communicated to
him the power of binding and loosing, etc. and as ;

to him who should grieve the president of the

truth, after declaring that such a one sins against
Christ, and offends the Father of all, Peter pro-
ceeded as follows
" Wherefore, /jesZiaZZ TOO* ^^^Je; and therefore it becomes him who
presides, to hold the place of a physician; and not to cherish the rage
of an irrational beast."— [Ante-Nicene Christian Library, vol. 17, p. 7.

does not require a forced construction to ena-

It
ble one to find the inquisition in this sentence.
The genuineness of the epistle is not generally ad-
mitted by Protestants but it appears among the ;

ancient writings of the church. If its authenticity

cannot be proved, the same may be said of other
writings which are implicitly received as genuine.
But little is known of the personal history of Pe-
ter. His name was Simon. There has not been
the same difficulty in distinguishing him from the
Apostle Simon Zelotes, as in the case of the two
apostles James, and the two apostles Judas. There
(i) First Age of the Church, by John Ignatius Doellinger, D. D., 2d London Edition,
1867, p. 44-
32 FIRST PERIOD —A. D. 30 TO A. D. 80.
results, however, considerable confusion, when an
attempt is made to identify Peter with the Cephas^
so often alluded to by Paul, and we are tempted to
seek refuge from the dilemma, by assuming, with
Eusebius, that Paul alludes to a person supposed
to be one of the seventy not to Peter the Apostle. ^ ;

It is noticeable that in every place in the gospels

but one (and the total number is nearly a hundred)
where Peter is mentioned, the Greek name ^'Pe-
tros'' is given, which is supposed to be used by
Jews as well as others. This would indicate that
all the canonical gospels, Matthew included, are
original Greek productions.
So little is there authentic in the history of Pe-
ter, that to this day the learned cannot agree
whether he ever went to Rome. Protestants gen-
erally do not admit that such a journey was
made. ^
Theodore of Mopsuestia, about A. D. 394, says,
Peter went to Rome, the others elsewhere. But he
probably took it from Eusebius. That writer does
not hesitate to make the statement explicitly, and
to give the most circumstantial evidence. But in
this instance, as in so many others, his testimony
is at second hand, from lost writings. He quotes
from Caius, a writer whose works, if they ever ex-
isted, are now lost or destroyed, what he said dis-
puting with Proclus and Gains quotes from another
,

writer whose works are lost, Dionysius of Cor-

^
inth.
(i) Eccles. Hist., 1. 12, citing Clement of Alexandria.

(2) Rev. Dr. Sunderland, late Chaplain of the United States Senate, is said to have
thanked the Lord, in a prayer, at a public meeting, that Paul had visited Rome, though
Peter had not.

(3) Euseb. Eccles. Hist., 2. 25.

 APOSTOLIC AGE PETER. 3^
Going back 135 years, we find the same thing in
Irenseus. He says
" Matthew wrote a gospel for the Jews, and in the language of the

Jews, at the same time when Peter and Paul founded the church at
Eome."— [Iren. adv. Hser., 3. 1.

This complicates the question somewhat. Per-

haps the easiest way to dispose of this testimony,
would be to adopt the construction of Dupin, who,
maintaining that Matthew wrote his gospel earlier,
says the words of Irenseus are not to be understood
in the literal sense.
The journey of Peter to Rome, and his residence
there, cannot be denied by Protestant writers with- ,

out rejecting the testimony of witnesses who, in oth-

er matters are by the same writers relied upon
, , ,

with implicit confidence.

The received accounts of the miracles of Peter,
are sufficient to excite our astonishment ; but the
most wonderful of all his miracles is related in the
Acts of Peter and Andrew, where he is represented
as making a camel go through the eye of a needle.

"After the needle had been brought, and all the multitude of the
city were standing by to see, Peter looked up and saw a camel com-
ing. And he ordered her to be brought. Then he fixed the needle in
the ground, and cried out with a loud voice, saying: In the name of '

Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, I order thee, O
camel, to go through the eye of the needle.' Then the eye of the nee-
dle was opened like a gate, and the camel went through it, and all the
multitude saw it."— [Ante-Nicene, vol. 16, p. 371.

The miracle was repeated. Onisephorus, who

would not believe, sent for another needle and an-
other camel with a woman sitting on the camel
,

^'And they went through twice.''

(i) Dupin, Eccles, Hist., vol. i, p, 46.
 .

34 FIRST PERIOD — A. D. 30 TO A. D. 80.

—
His Epistles. The First Epistle of Peter is not
free from doubt, and the Second has long been a
subject of controversy.
was omitted in the Latin Version of Tertul-
It
lian of Africa, (A. D. 210,)' in the Muratorian
Fragment, in the Peshito Version, used in the east
"^

in ancient times 3 and as Mr. Toland says, was

;

doubted by the soundest part of the ancient writers

Westcott cannot trace it back earlier than A. D.
170, and says it was not authoritative until near
*

the close of the second century. ^

Davidson says it was the last of the New Testa-

ment documents ^ and Norton declares that there
,

is no historical evidence to justify us in believing

it to be the work of the Apostle Peter. ^

Doctrines. —Thereextant which can

is too little

be relied upon as the genuine writing of Peter, to

throw much light upon the history of Christian
doctrine. The two epistles ascribed to him are as
silent as those of Paul concerning the miracles ol
Christ, or the material resurrection, or the miracu-
lous conception.
If we could only rely upon the Clementine writ-
ings as authority for the views of Peter, we might
infer that he did not look upon Jesus as equal to
the Father.
"Our Lord," he is represented as saying, " neither asserted that
there were gods, except the Creator of all, nor did he proclaim him-
self to be God, but he pronounced him blessed who called him the
Son of that God who ordered the universe."— [Clementine Homilies,
16. 15.

(i) Westcott, History of Canon, p. 234.

(2) McClintock and Strong.

(3) Westcott, p. 221. (4) p. 2'?4. (5) p. 306.

(6) Canon, p. 85.

(7) Genuineness of the Gospels, vol. 2, p. 162.
 APOSTOLIC AGE WEITINGS OF JOHN. 35
*^
JOHN.
John is tlie only one of the twelve apostles whose
life appears to extend into the region of authentic
history. And of him, this can only be said of the
latter portion of his life. He is supposed to have
been driven to Patmos, by some persecution, but
the learned cannot agree what emperor it was un-
der the range being from Claudius to Domitian.
;

In the persecution under Domitian he was taken

to Eome. There, it is said, the boiling oil into
which he was thrown had no power to hurt him .

The account of his living to an old age, at Ephe-

sus, has been universally received, and maybe con-
sidered historic. Irenseus says that at Ephesus
John leaped out of a public bath, with horror, when
he saw Cerinthus, the heretic, entering it. Cerin-
thus flourished about the middle of the second cen-
tury. Some ecclesiastical historians, in aid of Ire-
nseus have tried to bring Cerinthus within the
, first
century.
The Writings of John. Probably none of the—
writings attributed to the Apostle John are entitled
to be considered genuine.
His 2d and 3d epistles were omitted in the
Peshito ^ were not established as late as at the close
,

of the second century, ^ and were doubted by Euse-

bius himself. Even
as late as 1562, when Igna-
tius, Patriarch of Antioch, hearing of the advan-
tages of printing, sent a certain priest of Mesopota-
mia into Europe, with a copy of the Syriac Testa-
(i) Tertullian, de Praes., c.36.

(2) Westcott, Hist. Canon, p. 221.

(3) Ibid., p. 297.

 ^

36 FIRST PERIOD —A. D. 30 TO A. D. 80.

ment to be printed, it lacked the 2d Epistle of Pe-

ter, 2d and 3d John, Jude, and Revelation.^
The Apocalypse, or Revelation, ascribed to
John, seems to have been one of many productions
of the kind which appeared early in the second
century. It is similar to the Revelation of Cerin-
thus, and may have emanated from the same
source.
was omitted from the Peshito Version from
It ;

the Catalogue of Cyril of Jerusalem from that of ;

Gregory Nazianzen and Davidson thinks it was ;

not in the collection of New Testament books made

by Eusebius for the use of the churches, by order
of Constantino.^
It was not established at the close of the second
century, 3 and was not in the Syriac Testament, sent
to be printed in 1562.
But the most remarkable circumstance is the fact
that it was rejected by the very churches to whom
it was addressed.

In the Council of Laodicea, A, D. 365, consisting

of 32 bishops, from the different Asiatic churches,
by the 60th canon it was solemnly decreed what
,

should be the canonical books of the New Testa-

ment. The Apocalypse was omitted. ^
Eusebius argues against it, and thinks it was
written by John the Presbyter, or Elder, who lived
in the second century.
After all this evidence, it would seem superflu-
(i) Jones, vol. i, p. 87.

(2) Canon, p. 118.

(3) Westcott.
(4) Landon's Manual of Councils, pp. 284 to 287.

(5) Ecc. Hist., 3. 39. Also, 7. 25. The argument is credited to Dionysius.
 APOSTOLIC AGE WEITINGS OF JOHN. 37
ous to add that the church at Thyatira was not
,

founded until after the death of the Apostle John.

The Gospel according to John. The Eev. Dr. —
Davidson, who is considered such high authority
that he was employed to write the article on the
Canon for the new edition of the Encyclopedia
Britannica, says :

^^Its existence [the Gospel of John] before 140

A. D., is incapable either of decisive or probable
showing.'' And again: ''The Johannine author-
ship has receded before the tide of modern criti-
cism and although the tide is arbitrary at times,
;

'
it is here irresistible."
THE JAMESES.
Two apostles are mentioned by the name of
James; one, the son of Zebedee, and brother of
John, also called James the Elder; and the other,
James the son of Alpheeus, who was called James
the Less, and James the Just. But whether the
latter James was the same with the brother of the
Lord, commentators have not been able to decide.
This, the great church historian, Neander, pro-
nounces the most difficult question in apostolic his-
tory.
James, the brother of Jesus,is a historic person-
age. An
account of his death is given, with full
particulars, by Josephus. Some evangelical writers
have been inclined to let this passage go with the
other, as a forgery. But there does not appear to
be any good reason to deny its authenticity. The
account is as follows :

(i) Canon of the Bible, by Samuel Davidson, D. D., LL. D., London, 1877, p. 99. Joha
not written before 150. See Davidson's Int. N. T.
 ^

38 FIEST PEKIOD — A. D. 30 TO A. D. 80.

"Festus was now dead, and Albinus was but upon the road; [hav-
ing been appointed procurator of Judaea] so he [Ananus, who had
;

just been appointed high priest], assembled the Sanhedrim of judges

and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called
Christ, whose name was James, and some of his companions ; and
when he had formed an accusation against them, as breakers of the
law, he delivered them to be stoned."— [Aniig. hk. 20, ch. 9.

The historian then proceeds to relate, that some

of the citizens condemned the proceeding, and went
to meet Albinus, who was returning from Alexan-
dria that they complained to him of Ananus, and
;

claimed that he had no right to assemble the San-

hedrim without Albinus' consent; that Albinus
taking the same view of the matter, wrote a severe
letter of reproof to Ananus, and soon after, had the
high-priesthood taken from him. Now here is a
network of historical facts and incidents connected
with the customs and ecclesiastical polity of the
Jews, which forbids the supposition of the whole
account being a forgery. And if the words relating
to Christ are to be stricken out there must be some ,

good reason given for it. We do not see any.

There is nothing inconsistent in the language. Jo-
sephus is not here, as in the other passage, made
to declare that Jesus is the Christ. He is spoken
of as ^' Jesus who was called Christ," to distin-
guish him from other Jews by the name of Jesus.

Epistle op James. —
Commentators think this
epistle was written by James the son of Zebedee,
according to the subscription of the Syriac Version ;

or James the son of Alpheus, ' or James the brother

of the Lord,"" or an unknown James, which was
(i.) Dr. Davidson, Introduction to N. T., i. 385, supports 2d or 3d hypothesis.
(2.) Alford, Gr. Test. 4. 28, supported by Eusebius.
 APOSTOLIC AGE —EPISTLE OF JAMES. 39

Luther's opinion. As the Epistle maintains its

place among the writings of the New Testament,
we must conclude that upon the question of its
inspiration, it is immaterial by whom it was writ-
ten.

The Judases and the other Apostles. There —

were two apostles by the name of Judas. The one,
called Thaddaeus, the other, Judas Iscariot. Wheth-
er the one called Thaddseus, and at other times
Lebbseus, was also the Lord's brother, here again
the learned cannot agree nor whether he was the
;

author of the Epistle of Jude. This epistle was not

in the Peshito, nor in the Syriac Version of 1562.
It was by Norton and had been long before
rejected ^

by Michaelis.^ This was one of the seven books

which were for a long time discredited by the fath-
ers. The others were 2d Peter, 2d and 3d John,
James, Hebrews and Revelation.
It is scarcely worth while to attempt to complete
a history of the apostles. The whole subject is in-
volved in obscurity. After, with much difficulty,
we have upon eleven apostles, the twelfth,
settled
in the synoptic gospels was Bartholomew, while in
John it was Nathanael.
(I.) Vol. 2, p. 162.

(2.) Vol, I, p. 291.

 SECOND PERIOD
THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS.
A. D, 80 TO A. D. 120.

CHAPTER III.

Clement of Rome, Ignatius, and Polycakp.

Clement. A.D.97. —No

grander character ap-
pears in Christian history, than Clement of Rome.
Whether we look at his First Epistle to the Cor-
inthians, generally considered to be genuine, or at
the numerous other writings attributed to him and
,

the recorded traditions concerning his life and teach-

ings, we one of the highest and
find, in either case,
noblest types of Christian character. His first
Epistle, written about A. D. 97, will compare favor-
ably with the Epistles of Paul.
The great and absorbing question connected with
this, the first authentic Christian writing outside
the gospels, and subsequent to the New Testament
Epistles, is, whether any of the gospels are recog-
nized in and which?
it,

There are some passages claimed as parallel, but

there is no mention of any gospel by name. Of the
supposed parallel passages, some have a similarity
of language, while the idea is different ; in others,
 APOSTOLIC FATHERS. CLEMENT OF ROME. 41
the same or a similar meaning is conveyed in dif-
ferent language.
When these are eliminated it will be found that , ,

while there are, in Clement, twenty passages parallel

to similar ones in the N. T. Epistles, there are but
five parallel to any in the canonical gospels. But
these do not by any means indicate that these
gospels were then in existence. The passages all
relate to the sayings of Christ, which were preserved
by tradition, as well as in older gospels. Four of
the parallelisms are in Matthew, and no doubt were
in the Oracles, or other collections of sayings, to
which Clement had access. The other is in Luke,
6th chapter, vv. 36 to 38. That also is a saying of
Christ, which in Clement differs considerably from
Luke, although Clement professes to give the very
^'words of the Lord Jesus, which he spake.''
[Clem. Ep. ch. 13.
Tischendorf concludes that Clement's Epistle
does not furnish proof of the existence of the four
gospels at that time.^
In connection with the Epistle of Clement, there
is acircumstance worthy of notice.
In the 17th chapter of Luke, between the 1st and
2d verses, the words elsewhere occurring in the
gospels, ^'it had been good for that man if he had
not been born," are wanting. Now these very
words were in the Gospel of Marcion, in the same
connection as they would be if between verses 1st
and 2d, of 17th Luke. They were also used in a
similar connection, by Clement, in the 46th chapter
(I,) Origin of the Four Gospels, p. 52.
 ;

42 SECOND PERIOD A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

of his Epistle, long before the time of Marcion. If

then, as is claimed, Marcion ^s Gospel is nothing
but a corruption of Luke, how did it happen, that
Marcion should interpolate a sentence precisely in
the same connection in which it had been used by

Clement? Is it not more probable that Clement

and Marcion were using in common an ancient
gospel, in which that sentence occurred, and that
the author of Luke either omitted the sentence, or
made use same ancient
of a different version of the
gospel? words occur in
It is true, these or similar
Mark and Matthew, but not in the same connection
as in Marcion. In Clement thev are in the same
connection.
The authorities are somewhat conflicting as to the ,

time when Clement was Bishop, but it is now pretty

generally agreed that he wrote his Epistle about
A. D. 97. He is said to have lived to the year 100.'
Besides his First Epistle to the Corinthians, there
are several volumes of writings attributed to Clem-
ent. There is a Second Epistle to the Corinthians ;

the Epistle to James, giving an account of his ordin-

ation by Peter two Epistles in praise of Virginity
;

the Canons and Apostolic Constitutions, and the

Clementines, so called, consisting of the Epitome,
the Homilies and the Recognitions.
The Recognitions is a religious romance of much
interest throwing light upon the manners and cus-
,

toms of the times, and upon the religious views and

practices of the early Christians, and especially
illustrating the prevailing rage for miracles.
(2.) Mosheim, vol. i, p. 96 ; 2d ed. note.
 APOSTOLIC FATHERS —CLEMENT OF ROME. 43
There is but little doubt that portions of it, at
least,were written in the second century the evi- ;

dences which have been detected of a later date,

being in the interpolations. The Latin translator,
Eufinus, (A. D. 410), is the same who is generally
believed to have taken such unwarrantable liberties
with the text of Origen.
Origen referred to the Recognitions, A. D. 230.
Clement commences, in the Recognitions, by
stating that he was born in the city of Rome, and
was from his early youth given to meditating upon
,
,

serious subjects; upon the nature of life, whether

there was pre-existence and would be immortality,
,

&c. While engaged in these reflections, a report

reached him, which took its rise in the regions of
the east, in the reign of Tiberius Caesar. He
speaks of the miracles of Christ. These reports be-
came confirmed. About this time, Barnabas came
to Rome to preach and he being derided by the
;

people, and a tumult having arisen, Clement, who

was a person of distinction, interfered in behalf of
Barnabas. He becomes interested, and resolves to
return with him to the east. Barnabas sails, and
Clement, as soon afterwards as he can arrange his
affairs.

Arriving at Csesarea, Barnabas presents Clement

to Peter, who receives him joyfully, and running
up to him, kisses him, Peter is preparing for a
debate with Simon Magus. (For an account of this
discussion, see chapter 8.)
After a long stay, and meeting with many inci-
dents, Clement recognizes in two of the disciples of
44 SECOND PERIOD A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

Peter, Niceta and Aquila, two brothers of Clement,

who, with their mother, had gone to a distant
country, in their boyhood, and whom he had never
heard of since. He also recognizes, in an old wo-
man, and an old man, who are unknown to each
other, and whom Clement meets at different times,,
his mother and his father neither of whom he had
;

seen since his boyhood. These are the '^Recogni-

tions,'' which give title to the book.
—
Doctrines. Turning again to the First Epistle of
Clement to the Corinthians, which, out of defer-
ence to the learned, is the only one of the writings
attributed to him which can be recognized as genu-
ine, let us see what it contains.
Though it is a. long epistle, covering more than
forty octavo pages, and is full of doctrinal allusions,
we look in vain for any trace of the immaculate or
miraculous conception of Jesus, or of his miracles,
or of his material resurrection.
His views of the resurrection are given in the
24th chapter, in beautiful language, similar to that
used by Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians. He
compares the burial of the body, to the sowing of
fruit in the earth.

"The sower goes forth and casts it into the ground; and the seed
being thus scattered, though dry and naked when it fell upon the
earth, is gradually dissolved. Then out of its dissolution, the mighty
power of the province of the Lord, raises it up again," &c.

He refers to the phenix ; a bird which was reported

to live to a great age ; and says when its days are
,

fulfilled, it builds its nest, and lies down and dies,

and when its flesh has decayed, a new bird arises in
its place.
 APOSTOLIC FATHERS CLEMENT OP ROME. 45
It is difficult to believe, that Clement, when he
wrote these words, or Paul, when he declared, *'It
, '
is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption
sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual
''it is

body,'^ had before him a gospel in which it was re-

corded, that Jesus expressly denied being a spirit,
after his resurrection, and called for meat, that
he might demonstrate to his disciples, that he had
a material body like theirs.

The spiritualism of Paul and Clement was too re-

fined for the gross conceptions of the second cen-
tury, which would be satisfied with nothing less
than the resurrection of the very crucified body of
Jesus. Gospels were accordingly constructed, con-
taining accounts of such a resurrection related with
,

great circumstantiality.

In the 40th chapter, Clement recognizes the rites

and ceremonies of the Jewish worship, as still sub-
sisting in his day, apparently even in the Christian
church
A large part of this epistle relates to those stir-
ring up sedition and schism in the church. By the
acts of these, the large-hearted father was deeply
grieved.

After reminding them of the time when they were

united and harmonious, in the following beautiful
and affecting words,
*'Every kind of faction and schism was abomin-
able in your sight ye mourned over the transgres-
;

sions of your neighbors; their deficiencies you

deemed your own ;"
 ,

46 SECOND PERIOD A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

He refers to those who, '^through pride and sedi-

tion, have become the leaders of a detestable emula-
tion.'' But so far from expressing feelings of
hatred toward them, he says in the same paragraph
'^Let us be kind to one another, after the pattern of
the tender mercy and benignity of our Creator.''
After citing many examples of humility and long
suffering from the Old Testament, he calls upon his
brethren to reflect, how free from wrath God is,
toward all his creation*. [ch. 19. —
Illustrating his subject by the peace and harmony
of the universe he says , :

" The heavens, revolving under his government, are subject to him
in peace. Day and night run the course appointed by him, in no wise
hindering each other. The sun and moon, with the companies of the
stars, roll in harmony, according to his command, within their pre-
scribed limits, and without any deviation. The fruitful earth, ac-
cording to his will, brings forth food in abundance," &c. " The vast,
immeasurable sea, gathered together by his working, into various
basins, never passes beyond the bounds placed around it, but does as
he has commanded."

^^Those," said he, ''who have been the leaders of

sedition and disagreement, ought to have respect to
the common hope."

He closes with this sublime benediction :

" May God, seeth all things, and who is the ruler of all spirits,
who
and the Lord of flesh,— who chose our Lord Jesus Christ, and us
all

through him, to be a peculiar people,— grant to every soul that calleth

upon his glorious and holy name, faith, fear, patience, long-suffering,
self-control, purity and sobriety; to the well pleasing of his name,
through our High Priest and Protector, Jesus Christ, by whom be to
Him glory, and majesty, and power, and honor, both now and forever-
more. Amen."
 APOSTOLIC FATHERS IGNATIUS. 47
—
Ignatius. A. D. 115. The personal history of
Ignatius is so complicated with that of his epistles,
that they cannot be separated.
Two hundred years ago, there were fifteen epistles
in circulation, ascribed to Ignatius, who was Bishop
of Antioch, about the commencement of the second
century.
Scholars soon decided that eight of them were
spurious. The other seven, being those addressed
to the Ephesians, Magnesians, Trallians, Romans,
Philadelphians and Smyrnseans, and to Polycarp,
appeared in two forms one very much longer than
;

the other, and in some places, containing whole

pages not in the shorter form. Internal and other
evidence caused the rejection of the long form, or
long recension, and the learned settled down upon
the short recension, or the Vossian Epistles, as they
were named, from Vossius, their publisher, as the
genuine writings of Ignatius; not, however, with-
out some doubt expressed, as to the genuineness
even of these.
Thus matters stood until 1845 when Dr. Cure-
;

ton, who had charge of the Syriac department of

the British Museum, published three Syriac Epist-
les of Ignatius, which had been discovered three
years previous, having been procured by Archdea-
con Tattam, from the monastery of St. Mary Dei-
para, in the desert of Nitria, in Egypt.
Dr. Cureton, in an able treatise, maintained that
these were the only genuine epistles of Ignatius.
They were the Epistles to the Ephesians, to the
 :

48 SECOND PERIOD A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

Romans, and to Polycarp ; all in shorter form than

in the Vossian Letters.
For a number of years, the opinion of Dr. Cure-
ton gained ground, and promised fair to become
universal. But of late, the investigations of Ger-
man scholars have resulted in raising grave doubts as
to the integrity of any of the epistles. In England,
the subject has undergone an animated discussion,
and has been made the occasion of exhaustive re-
search, resulting in very able treatises on both sides
of the question.
The was opened by the author of ^^Super-
subject
natural Religion.'' After reviewing the arguments
against the accepted statements of the fathers, that
Ignatius was sent from Antioch to Rome to be mar-
tyred, statements upon which the genuineness of
the letters in any shape depends, since in every
form they purport to be written on such a journey,
the author says
" This conclusion, however, confirmed by
irresistible in itself, is,

facts arrived at from a It has been

totally different point of view.
demonstrated that Ignatius was not sent to Eome at all, but suffered
martyrdom in Antioch itself on the 20th of December, A. D. 115;
when he was condemned to be cast to wild beasts in the amphitheater,,
in consequence of the fanatical excitement produced by the earth-
quake which took place on the 13th of that mouth."— [Sup. Eel. vol.
ljp.268.

The writer refers to a number of authorities, all

German, except Dr. Davidson.
This statement Vv^as subjected to the most search-
ing criticism, by Mr. Westcott, in the Preface to
the 4th edition of his work on the Canon, and by
Dr. Lightfoot, in an article on the Ignatian Epistles,,
 APOSTOLIC FATHERS —IGNATIUS. 49
published in the Contemporary Review for Febru-
ary, 1875. Also in a milder and more liberal style,
by Mr. Sanday, in ^^The Gospels in the Second
'^
Century.
The criticisms of Lightfoot, Westcott and others,
were replied to with great ability, in over fifty
pages of the Preface to the sixth edition of Super-
natural Eeligion.
The argument, briefly stated, on both sides, is as
follows :

Against the Martyrdom at Rome, and against

THE Genuineness op any op the Epistles. It is —
shown that during the winter of 115-116, the Em-
peror Trajan, being engaged in war with the Par-
thians, was in Antioch. If, therefore, he condemned
Ignatius to martyrdom, he would be more likely to
do it where they both were. Sending him to
there,
Rome would be an additional act of cruelty, not in
accordance with the character of Trajan, who was a
mild prince, under whose reign but one other in-
stance of martyrdom is recorded, and that not well
established. Ignatius, according to the account,
was sent by a long and difficult land route, instead
of the shorter and easier route by sea which is im- ;

probable. Deputations of Christians have access

to him, and accompany him, though he represents
himself as guarded strictly by ten leopards. (Ro-
man soldiers ).
He is represented as being permit-
ted to write long letters advocating the very doctrines
,

for which he is condemned. The epistles do not

contain the last exhortations and farewell words
that might be expected; but ''are filled with ad-
50 SECOND PERIOD A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

vanced views of church government, and the dignity

of the episcopate.'^ There is no instance recorded,
even during the persecutions under Marcus Aurelius,
in which any one was sent to Rome, to be cast to
wild beasts although such executions frequently
;

took place in Syria. Again, an earthquake occurred

in Antioch, on the 13th of December, A. D. 115,
which caused great consternation. This was a week
before the martyrdom. It is probable that Ignatius
fell a victim to the superstitious feeling which re-
sulted from it. His remains were afterward known
to be at Antioch, said to have been brought from
Some, but they were probably there all the time.
These arguments are endorsed by Davidson in
England, and in Germany, by Volkmar, Bauer,
Scholten and Hilgenfeld. Volkmar also adds the
authority of an ancient writer, John Malalas, about
A. D. 600, who lived at Antioch, and would there-
fore, be likely to know.

For the Martyrdom at Rome, and the Genuine-

ness OF the Cureton (the three Syriac) Epistles.
— The unbroken testimony of the fathers for nearly
five hundred years. If Malalas lived at Antioch,
so did Chrysostom and Evagrius, both earlier than
Malalas, and both of whom state the martyrdom
was at Rome. Besides, Malalas is shown to be en-
tirely unreliable on several other subjects. Many
reasons may have operated on the mind of Trajan,
to induce him to send Ignatius to Rome, which
cannot be judged of at this late day. Other instances
are shown, where Christians, when in imprisonment.
 APOSTOLIC FATHERS EPISTLES OF IGNATIUS. 51

had been permitted to see their friends, and com-

municate with them. It is conceded that Ignatius
suffered martyrdom, by order of Trajan. Arguments
therefore go for naught, which are based upon the
clemency of Trajan, or on the supposed fact that
there were no other martyrdoms. The objection
that he was permitted to write long letters, is re-
moved, since it is generally conceded, that not more
than the three short letters, according to Syriac
version, are genuine. But little can be inferred
from the contents of the letters. The martyr wished
to improve that opportunity to give advice and in-
struction which would be of lasting benefit. The^
connection between his execution and the earth-
quake, is merely speculation. Furthermore, and —
these two considerations are probably the strongest
of all — such a way
First, the epistles are referred to in
in the Epistle of Polycarp, as to require a compli-
cated double forgery, if the Ignatian letters are not
genuine and secondly, the Epistles of Ignatius are
;

quoted by Origen, A. D. 230, and still earlier, by

Irenaeus, A. D. 190; both quotations being found
in the Cureton Epistles.
Such arguments are urged by Drs. Westcott,
Lightfoot and others in England, and in Germany,
by Bleek, Guericke and MayerhofF.
In our judgment, ^the scales turn on the side of
the martyrdom at Rome, and the authenticity of
the Cureton Epistles.
Dr. Lightfoot, while he accepts these epistles as
genuine, states that the Vossian letters are a pro-
duction of not later than the middle of the second
52 SECOND PERIOD A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

century, and desires the question of genuineness

to remain an open one. But do not the Cureton
genuine, exclude any longer form of the
letters, if
same epistles ? Besides, that question was supposed
to have been settled by Lipsius, whose opinion Dr.
Lightfoot himself had indorsed, before writing this
article for the Contemporary Review. Lipsius had
come to the conclusion that the Vossian letters were
an interpolation that is, a forgery as to four, and
;

an interpolation as to the other three and that they;

were written about A. D. 140.

The Curetoi^ Epistles. —They are written in an

affectionateand fatherly spirit, and the sentiments
and views of the writer are expressed in language
at once simple and dignified.
When referring to those making trouble in the
church, he does so in the following words :

"Bear with all men, even as our Lord beareth with thee."
(Addressed to Polycarp.) " If thou lovest the good disciples only,
thou hast no grace; rather subdue those that are evil by gentleness."
" Let not those who seem to be somewhat, and teach strange doc-
trines, strike thee with apprehension." " More especially is it fitting,
that we should bear everything, for the sake of God, that he also may
bear us."

In the Epistle to the Romans, the condemned

martyr looks j oy fully forward to the time when he
shall be offered up, as a testimony to the faith.
He is even apprehensive, lest the brethren should
interfere.
" Ye cannot," said he, "give me any thing more precious than this,
that I should be sacrificed to God, while the altar is ready." Again:
" I am the wheat of God, and by the teeth of the beasts I shall be

ground, that I may be found the pure bread of God." (Quoted, with
a slight variation, by Iren^us, adv. Hger., 5. 28.)
 APOSTOLIC FATHERS IGI^ATIUS. 53

The and enthusiasm of Ignatius, in contem-

zeal
plation of his martyrdom, rose to the height of fa-
naticism. His mind even dwelt with delight upon
the details of his sufferings.
" Fire and the cross, and the beasts that are prepared, cutting off
of the limbs, and scattering of the bones, and crushing of the whole
body, harsh torments of the devil, let them come upon me, but only
let me be accounted worthy of Jesus Christ."

He
coveted and earnestly desired the glory of
martyrdom, and feared the brethren at Rome, whom
he was addressing, might interfere in his behalf,
before his arrival.

*^
THE IMMACULA.TE CONCEPTION.
—
Doctrine. In the Epistle of Ignatius to the
Ephesians, there is, apparently, an obscure reference
to the immaculate conception of Jesus the first ;

intimation of such a doctrine, which we have ^been

able to find in history.
It is in these words :

"There was concealed from the ruler of this world, the virginity of
Mary, and the birth of our Lord, and the three renowned mysteries,
which were done in the tranquility of God, from the Star."

first, even in connection with what fol-

This, at
lows, not
isvery clear. There appears to be a hid-
den meaning, not easily fathomed.
But if it be remembered, that Ignatius was Bishop
of Antioch, in Syria, a country imbued with the
religious and mythological ideas of Persia, that he
must be supposed to have been familiar with the
two principles, one of good, and the other of evil,
and of their conflict through the ages and also that
;

Zoroaster had been immaculately conceived by a ray

54 SECOND PERIOD —A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

from the divine reason had been taken to heaven

;

by lightning, and there enthroned as a living star ;

if we suppose these thoughts and images to be blend-

ed with his Christian convictions, giving his religi-

ous views a tinge of that Gnosticism then commen-
cing to prevail so extensively in the church, the
paragraph cited may be read with what follows
more intelligibly.

" There was concealed from the ruler of this world, the virginity of
Mary, and the birth of our Lord, and the three renowned mysteries,
which were done in the tranquility of God, from the Star/' Then the
following: "And here, at the manifestation of the Son, magic began
to be destroyed, and all bonds were loosed; and the ancient kingdom
and the error of evil were destroyed."

The ancient struggle is at an end the principle;

of good has triumphed and this has come from the

;

influence of the living Star. The Gospel of the In-

fancy, which was published soon afterward, and
which Ignatius may have seen, states that the magi
came to Bethlehem, guided by a star, in accordance
with the prophecy of Zoroaster.

Evidence as to the Four Gospels. There is but —

one passage in the Cureton Epistles, which can be
cited, even as apparent evidence of the existence of
either of the four gospels.

^^Be thou wise as the serpent in every thing, and

harmless, as to those things which are requisite, as
the dove.'' No source is indicated, whence this is
taken. It is one of the sayings of Jesus, which
were preserved in various forms, both by tradition,
and in the older gospels. It is not much relied on
as evidence. Rev. Mr. Sanday, after citing the
 APOSTOLIC FATHERS POLYCARP. 55

passage, from the Epistle of Ignatius to Polycarp,

and thinking it ought to be referred to the similar
passage in Matthew 10.16, adds :

"It however, possible, that Ignatius may be quoting, not directly

is

from our gospel, but from one of the original documents, (such as
Ewald's hypothetical Spruch-Sammlung), out of which our gospel
was composed; though it is somewhat remarkable that this particular
sentence is wanting in the parallel passage in St. Livike.'^— [Gospels in
the Second Century p.
^ 78.

Ignatius had been forty years bishop of Antioch,

and was said to be 86 years old at the time of his
death.

''The Martrydom op Ignatius.'^ This pur- —

ports to have been written soon after the martyr-
dom, by some persons who accompanied Ignatius
to Eome.
Many have expressed doubts as to its authenticity
others have rejected it altogether. It is unnecessary
to decide. The document has but little historic
value, since the martyrdom is generally admitted.

Polycarp. —
A. D. 116. It is difficult to under-
stand how
the Ante-Nicene editors and some other
writers can concede the genuineness of the Epistle
of Polycarp to the Philippians, and still claim that
itcannot be dated earlier than the middle of the
second century. If there is any portion of it that
belongs to that period, it must be an interpolation.
The original epistle, if genuine, was written very
soon after the martyrdom of Ignatius. This will
become manifest, by comparing this letter with the
one from Ignatius to Polycarp.
56 SECOND PERIOD A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

In that letter, Ignatius says, *' I salute him who

is reckoned worthy to go to Antioch, in my stead,
as I directed thee/' This can only become intel-
ligible by reference to the 13th chapter of the Epis-
tle of Polycarp to the Philippians It must be borne
.

in mind that Smyrna, the residence of Polycarp,

was southeast of Philippi, in Macedonia, the place
to which his letter was directed that Ignatius had
;

passed through Macedonia, on his way to Rome, and

that Antioch, whence he started, was along way
southeast of Smyrna. Polycarp, writing from
Smyrna to the Philippians, says **
Both you and
:

Ignatius wrote to me, that if any one went into

Syria, he should carry your letter with him.'' He
proceeds to say, in substance, that he will send the
letter, if he has an opportunity. Again, same
chapter (13), he says: ''Any more certain in-
formation you may have obtained, both respecting
Ignatius himself, and those with him, have the
goodness to make known to us."
He refers to Ignatius in language implying that
he had proceeded, with his friends, on his journey
to Rome. Nothing can be plainer, than if the let-
ter is genuine, it was written after Ignatius had
gone to Rome to suffer martyrdom but before in-
,

formation of the particulars had been sent to

Smyrna.
has been objected, that in ch. 9, he spoke of
It
Ignatius as having already suffered martyrdom,
while afterward, he asked for information of Igna-
tius and ''those with him." The latter portion has
been thought to be an interpolation. But we do not
 APOSTOLIC FATHEES —POLYCARP. 57

think the two passages irreconcilable Ignatius had .

gone to Rome as a martyr, and Polycarp be-

lieved him to have suffered when he wrote and in- ;

quired after his companions, and for the particulars

of the martyrdom.
Upon the question of the genuineness of this
Epistle, also, there has been considerable discus-
sion. But it was expressly referred to, about the
year 190, by IrensBus, who in his youth had known
Polycarp personally. Polycarp lived till 155.

Evidence as to the Four Gospels. —The pass-

ages claimed as parallel, are all sayings of Christ,
somewhat similar to those in the canonical gospels
but not ascribed to any definite source. No men-
tion is made of either of the Gospels Luke, Mark,
John or Matthew, by Clement, Ignatius or Poly-
carp .

One of the sayings of Jesus quoted by Polycarp,

is precisely like one quoted by Clement but is not ;

in any one of the four gospels. It is as follows :

*^
Be pitiful, that ye may be pitied. In Clement, '^

word for word the same. Again Clement ^^ For- : ;

give, that it may be forgiven you.^' Polycarp;

'<
Forgive, and it shall be forgiven you.' ^ The near-
est to which in the canonical gospels, is, ^^For if ye
forgive men their trespasses," &c.
These circumstances and some others struck the
mind of the Rev. Mr. Sanday with so much force,
that he admitted the passages might have been de-
rived from other collections.'

(I.) Gospels in the Second Century, p. 87.

 ;

58 SECOJ^D PERIOD —A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

He concludes, that if the apostolic fathers did not
make use of the gospels, they had writings closely
resembling them. That is true, so far as the say-
ings of Christ are concerned. But in other re-
spects, they were widely different. The sayings of
Jesus had become so extensively known among his
disciples, and had been preserved in so many dif-
ferent ways, that they maintained, for the most
part, a substantial identity, in whatever writing
contained.
Perhaps the mdst satisfactory solution of the
question of the evidence of the apostolic fathers,
was found by Dr. Less, a German evangelical
scholar, who wrote about the year 1770. He was
author of a celebrated work, written to establish
the ^'authenticity, uncorrupted preservation, and
credibility of the New He was stimu-
Testament. ''
lated to investigate the question, by a remark of
Lord Bolingbroke. In his Letters on the Study of
History, Bolingbroke had exposed a want of judg-
ment in *' those who attempt to vindicate the an-
tiquity of the sacred writings by examples drawn
from the fathers of the first century, with a design
to prove that these fathers had read the gospels
though the instances alleged amounted to no dem-
^
onstration .
'

Whereupon Dr. Less gave the subject a very care-

ful and thorough examination. The result is given
by Bishop Marsh, in a note to Michaelis, as follows :

"From the Epistle of Barnabas, no inference can be adduced

that he had read any part of the New Testament.
 APOSTOLIC FATHERS NOT WITNESSES TO GOSPELS. 59
**
From the General Epistle, as it is called, of Clement of
Rome, it may be inferred, that Clement had read the First Epistle
of the Corinthians.
*'
From the Shepherd of Hermas, no inference -whatever can be
drawn.
" Fromthe Epistle of Ignatius, it may be concluded that he had
read Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians, and that there existed In his
St.
time, evangelical writings, though it cannot be shown that he quoted
from them. (This investigation was made long before the discovery
of the Cureton Epistles, and the remark of Dr. Less was founded upon
the Vossian Letters, which were more voluminous, and included four
spurious letters ascribed to Ignatius.)

"From PoLYCARP's Epistle to the Philippians, it appears

that he had heard of St. Paul's Epistle to that community, and that
he quotes a passage which is in the First Epistle to the Corinthians,
and another which is in the Epistle to the Ephesians; but no positive
conclusion can be drawn, with respect to any other Epistle, or any
of the Four Gospels."— [Michaelis by Marsh, vol. 1, p. 354, citing Leasj
Gesoh. der Religion, pp. 503-537, ed'n 1786,

As the result of this analysis, including, besides

the apostolic fathers proper, Barnabas and Hermas,
and extending to about the middle of the second
century, no evidence of the four gospels was seen,
in the writings of the apostolic fathers, by this em-
inent German theologian. Subsequent English
and American ecclesiastical writers have discovered
much, as they suppose, which escaped his careful
scrutiny.
All three of the apostolic fathers mentioned Paul
expressly, and referred to his writings.
Clement, in writing to the Corinthians, referred
to Paul's Letter to them, and Polycarp, in his Let-
ter to the Philippians, spoke of Paul's Epistle to
that Church.
There has been an attempt made to make Poly-
carp a witness for the four gospels, in another man-
 ,

60 SECOND PERIOD — A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

ner. Feuardentius, in his note to Irenasus, 3. 3^

published, with some other fragments, what pur^
ported to be a fragment of Poly carp, out of a very
ancient manuscript of Victor Capuanus' catena
upon the four evangelists, wherein Polycarp men-
tioned each by name Vhich catena," says Feuar-
;
^

dentius, *^he there promises to publish but whether ;

he did or no I know not " Victor Capuanus lived

.
,

A. D. 480, according to this writer. Grynseus^

places him at A. D. 455: others a hundred years
later.

This testimony may

be stated thus Feuardentius :

says, that Capuanus had, in 480, a manuscript,,

showing that Polycarp, more than 300 years pre-
vious, mentioned the four gospels.
Westcott prudently abandons this evidence, sig^
nificantly asking, '^Is anything known of the MS.
catena, from which it was taken?"'
Polycarp was for many years. Bishop of Smyrna,,
and was martyred, A. D. 155.
He was a devoted Christian, and an able ex-
pounder of the faith. In his treatment of heretics,
he traveled in the footsteps of Clement and Igna^
tins.

Speaking of Valens, who had been a presb3^er^

but who had departed from the faith, he says :

"Iam deeply grieved, therefore, brethren, for him and for his wife;^
to whom may the Lord grant true repentance And be ye, then,
I

moderate in this matter, and do not count such as enemies, but call
them back as suffering and straying members, that ye may save your
whole body."— [Ch. 11.

(i) Canon, p. 36.

 APOSTOLIC FATHERS. 61

RECAPITULATION.
The apostolic fathers make no mention
of the
miracles of Jesus, nor do they refer to any of the
circumstances connected with the alleged material
resurrection.
Upon that subject, Clement holds the same views
with Paul, and illustrates them in an impressive
and beautiful manner.
Ignatius, A, D. 115, appears to allude, in a mys-
terious way, to the immaculate conception of Jesus ;

the first time we find it mentioned in history.

No reference is made toeither of the four gospels,
nor to the Acts of the Apostles, nor are there any
quotations except such as evangelical writers con-
cede may have been taken from other sources.
''The Martyrdom of Polycarp.^' —
This was
doubtless one of the earliest of the martyria. Its
genuineness has been denied but the question is of
;

importance, as the document contains noth-

little
ing of much historical value, in the way of fact or
doctrine.
 CHAPTER IV.

THE LOST GOSPELS OF THE SECOND CENTURY.

Gospel According to the Hebrews.

This is the most celebrated of the ancient gos-

all

pels. It made its first appearance early in the sec-

ond century probably not
;
later than 125, and pos-
sibly five or even ten years sooner.
As this gospel, in various forms, and under dif-
ferent titles was the one most in use among the
,

Christians of the second century, we shall give all the

citations of it by the fathers, and all the fragments
of the gospel which they have preserved.
1. Hegesippus ; a. D. 185. According to Euse-
bius. Ecclesiastical History, bk. 4, ch. 22.
Eusebius here says of Hegesippus,
" He has also written (laid down) some things concerning the Gospel
according to the Hebrews and Syrians, as also concerning the Hebrew
language, by which he evidences that he was converted from Judaism
to Christianity."

It maybe mentioned in passing, that this is the

principal testimony relied upon to show that there
was a Syriac Version of the canonical gospels in
the second century. But so far from its being any
evidence of the fact, Eusebius was not referring at
all to the canonical gospels, or either of them, but
 LOST GOSPELS GOSPEL OP THE HEBREWS. 63

to the Gospel of the Hebrews. He calls it the Gos-

pel according to the Hebrews and Syrians by which ;

he evidently means, that it was used by the Jews in

Syria, as elsewhere.
This viewconfirmed by the statement of Jer-
is

ome, which will appear presently, that the Gospel

of the Hebrews was written ''in the Chaldee and
Syriac languages.'' It appears it was used by the
Nazarenes residing in Berea, Syria hence it was ;

translated into Syriac.

2. Clement OF Alexandria; A. D. 200. Strom-

ata, bk. 2, ch. 9.

"And it is written in the Gospel according to the Hebrews, 'He who

wonders shall reign, and he who reigns shall be at rest.'"

3. Origen A. D. ; 230. Comm. in Joan. :

" But if any one will receive the Gospel according to the Hebrews,
in which our Savior says, 'The Holy Ghost, my mother, lately took me
by one of my hairs, and bore me to the great mountain Tabor,' " &c.

From the same. Fragment of the gospel, preser-

ved in Hom. 8, in Matt. tom. 3, p. 21 :

"But let us treat this place a little otherwise: It is written in a

certain gospel, which is entitled, 'according to the Hebrews,' (if any
one be pleased to receive it, not as of any authority, but only for
illustration) of the present question."

Then comes the following account of the collo-

quy between Jesus and the rich man, which the
reader can compare with Matt. 19. 16-24. As he
does so, he may wonder at its being pronounced by
Origen, *'not of any authority,' since it is in spirit '

the same as the account in Matthew, and is some-

what more simple and natural.
 " "

64 SECOND PERIOD —A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

There reason to believe that the clause in

is
brackets is one of the many interpolations to which
it is well known the writings of Origen have been

subjected. In the same sentence he himself speaks

of it as a gospel not as a book called ''the Gospel
;

according to the Hebrews/' but as a gospel, ''en-

titled according to the Hebrews.'' The phrase
"it is written," used by the fathers, is generally
understood to apply to writings considered script-
ural. Origen says, "It is written in a certain gos-
pel." It will be seen also directly, that Jerome
speaks of this gospel as "one which Origen often
used."

The following is the narrative.

"Another rich man said unto him, 'Master, what good thing shall I
do that I may live ?' He said unto him, *0 man, fulfil the law, and
the prophets.' And he answered him, 'I have done so.' Then said he^
unto him, *Go sell all thou hast, and give to the poor; and come, fol-
low me.'
"Then the rich man began to smite his head, and it pleased him not.
And the Lord said unto him, *How sayest thou, I have fulfilled the law^
and the prophets, when it is Thou shalt love thy
written, in the law.
neighbor as thyself ? And lo, many
of thy brethren, sons of Abra-
ham, are covered with filth, and dying of hunger, and thy house is full

of many good things, and nothing therefrom goeth forth at any time,
unto them.'
"And turning himself about, he said unto Simon, his disciple, sit-
ting near him, 'Simon, son of Jonas, it is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the
kingdom of heaven.'

Rev. S. Baring-Gould, after comparing this with

the corresponding passage in Matthew, says :

"The comparison of these two accounts is not favorable to that in

the canonical gospel. It is difficult to understand how a Jew could.
 LOST GOSPELS —GOSPEL OF THE HEBREWS. 65
have asked, as did the rich young man, (according to Matthew's Gos-
pel), what commandments he ought to keep, in order to enter into
life. The decalogue was known by heart to every Jew. Moreover,
the narrative in the lost gospel is more connected than in the canon-
ical gospel."

To which may be added, that the account is con-

siderably shorter than in the Gospel of Matthew, or
Mark ; indicating, according to a principle which
will be frequently adverted to as we proceed, that
it was first written. The narrative in Luke is of
about the same length with that in the Hebrews.

4. EusEBius; A. D. 325. Ecc. Hist. bk. 3, ch.

25.

In enumerating the apocryphal books, he adds :

"In this number, some have placed the Gospel according to the
Hebrews; with which they of the Jews, who profess Christianity, are
very much delighted."

Again, speaking of the Ebionites ; ib. ch. 27:

"They made use only of that which is called the Gospel according
to the Hebrews; very little esteeming any other."

Again, speaking of Papias ; ch. 39 :

"He mentions another history, concerning a woman accused of

many crimes before our Lord, which is contained in the Gospel ac-
cording to the Hebrews."

5. Epiphanius ; a. D. 385. Hseres. 29, sec. 9 :

(the Nazarenes) have tbe Gospel of Matthew most entire in

"They
the Hebrew language, among them: for this truly is preserved among
them; as it was at first in Hebrew characters. But I know not wheth-
er they have taken away the genealogy from Abraham to Christ."
66 SECOND PERIOD —A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.
Again, against Heresies, 30 : (Ebionites.)
"They (the Ebionites) also receive the Gospel according to Matthew.
FoT this, both they and the Cerinthians make use of, and no other.
They call it the Gospel according to the Hebrews; for the truth is,
that Matthew is the only one of the New Testament writers who
published his Gospel and preaching in the Hebrew language and He-
brew characters."

Again in
; Sec. 13 :

"In the gospel which they (the Ebionites) have called the Gospel
according to Matthew, which is not entire and perfect, but corrupted
and curtailed, and which they call the Hebrew Gospel, it is written:
"There was a certain man called Jesus; and he being about thirty
years of age, made choice of us. (This was called also the Gospel of
the Twelve Apostles.) And coming to Capernaum, he entered into the
house of Simon, called Peter, and opening his mouth, said: When I
passed by the Lake of Tiberias, I chose John and James, the sons of
Zebedee, and Simon and Andrew, and Thaddeus, and Simon
Zelotes, and Judas Iscariot; and thee, Matthew, sitting at the receipt
of custom, I called, and thou didst follow me. I will, therefore, that
ye be my twelve apostles, for a testimony to Israel. And John the
Baptist was baptizing, and the Pharisees went out to him, and were
baptized, and all Jerusalem,

" And John had his garment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle
*

about his loins, and his meat (according to that gospel) was wild
honey, the taste of which was like manna, or as cakes made with honey
and oil.* Thus they change the true account into a falsehood, and for
locusts, put cakes made with oil and honey.

"The beginning of their gospel was this: *It came to pass, in the
days of Herod, King of Judsea, that John came baptizing with the
baptism of repentance, intheBiver Jordan, who was reported to be of
the family of Aaron, the high priest, the son of Zacharias and Eliza-
beth; and all people went out after him.'

"And after several other things, it is said in this gospel: *The peo-
ple being baptized, Jesus also went, and was baptized by John; and as
he ascended out of the water, the heavens were opened, and he saw
the Holy Spirit of God in the form of a dove, descending and enter-
ing into him; and a voice was made, {egeneto)^ from heaven, saying:
Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; and then an-
other, I have this day begotten thee; and suddenly there shone around
 LOST GOSPELS GOSPEL OF THE HEBREWS. 67
the place a great light; which when John saw, (says this gospel), he
said to him, Who art thou, Lord? and then another voice from heaven
came to him, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'
Hereupon, (according to this gospel), John fell down before him, and
said, *0 Lord, I pray thee, baptize me;' but he hindered him saying,
that it is so fit, that all things should be fulfilled. See how their false
doctrine appears everywhere, how all things are imperfect, disordered
and without truth or order.
"So also Cerinthus and Carpocrates, using the same gospel of theirs,
would prove from the beginning of that Gospel according to St. Mat-
thew, viz., by the genealogy, that 'Christ proceeded from the seed of
Joseph and Mary.' But they (the Ebionites) have quite other senti-
ments; for they have taken away the genealogy from Matthew, and
accordingly begin their gospel, as I have above said, with these words:
It came to pass, in the days of Herod, King of Judaea, &c."

Again, Epiphanius says, sec. 16 :

"They (the Ebionites) do not say that he, (Christ), was begotten of
the Father, but made as one of the angels; but being greater than
they, he has dominion over them, and all the works of the Almighty;
and that he came and taught that which is contained in their gospel,
viz., 'I came to abolish sacrifices; and unless ye cease to offer sacrifices,
the wrath (of God) shall not cease from you.' And such as these are
their tenets."

Epiphanius also tells us,^ that a certain Jew,

called Joseph, found in a cell at Tiberias, in the
time of Constantine, the Hebrew Gospel ascribed to
Matthew. Not much confidence has been placed in
this statement by subsequent writers.

6. Jekome; A.D. 400. Catal. Vir. Illust. in Matt.

"Matthew, also called Levi, who became from a publican an apostle,
was the first who composed a gospel of Christ; and, for the sake of
those who believed in Christ from among the Jews, wrote it in the
Hebrew language and letters but it is uncertain who it was who
;

translated it into Greek. Moreover the Hebrew (copy) itself is to this

time preserved in the library of Cassarea, which Pamphilus the mar-
tyr, with much diligence, collected. The Nazarenes who live in
Berea, a city of Syria, and make use of this volume, granted me the
favor of writing it out; in which (gospel), there is this observable, that
(i.) Haeres. 30, Ebion. sec. 6.
 "

68 SECOND PERIOD — A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

wherever the evangelist either cites, himself, or introduces our Savior
as citing, any passage out of the Old Testament, he does not follow
the translation of the LXX, but the Hebrew copies; of which there
are these two instances, to wit: 'out of Egypt have I called my Son;'
and 'he shall be called a Nazarene.'
—
[Note. If this statement of Jerome, who is not very reliable, could
be depended upon, there was a version of the Old Testament then in
circulation, containing the latter passage; a passage which, it has been
often asserted, was not in the Old Testament; and which is not now
to be found in that volume.]

Again, same work, Life of James after relating ;

various wonderful things concerning James he says , :

"The gospel also, which is called 'according to the Hebrews,' and

which I translated into Greek and Latin, and which Origen of ten used,
relates that after our Savior's resurrection, when our Lord had given
the linen cloth to the priest's servant, he went to James, and appeared
to him; for James had sworn that he would not eat bread, from that
hoar in which he drank the cup of the Lord, till he should see the
Lord risen from the dead. And a little after, the Lord said, 'Bring
the table and the bread;' and then it is added, he took the bread and
blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to James the Just, and said
to him, 'My brother, eat thy bread; for the Son of man is risen from
the dead.'"

This appearance is not related in the canonical

gospels but an appearance to James is mentioned
;

by Paul, Cor. 15. 7

1 which would indicate that
;

the Gospel of the Hebrews contained the oldest

traditions.

Again ; Jerome, adv. Pelag. 1. 3, in prin.

"In the Gospel according to the Hebrews, which is written in the
Chaldee and Syriac languages, which the Nazarenes use, that accord-
ing to the Twelve Apostles; or as most think, according to Matthew;
which is in the library of Cagserea, there is the following history:
" 'Behold, the mother and brethren of Christ spake to him: John the
Baptist baptizeth, f or the remission of sins; let us go and be baptized
of him. He said to them, In what have I sinned, that I have need to
go and be baptized by him ? unless my saying this proceeds, perhaps,
from ignorance ?'
 LOST GOSPELS GOSPEL OF THE HEBREWS. 69
"And in the same volume it is said, 'If thy brother offend thee by
any word, and make thee satisfaction, though it be seven times in a
day, thou must forgive him.* Simon, his disciple, said to him, 'What!
Seven times in a day ?' The Lord answered and said unto him, *I tell
thee also, even till seventy times seven.'

Again, Jerome, Lib. 4, Comm. in Isai. c. 11.

"According to this gospel, which is written in the Hebrew language
and read by the Nazarenes, the whole fountain of the Holy Ghost de-
scended upon him. Besides, in that gospel just mentioned, we find
these things written:
" 'It came to pass, when the Lord ascended from the water, the
whole fountain of the Holy Ghost descended, and rested upon him,
and said to him, 'My Son, among all the prophets, I was waiting for
thy coming, that I might rest upon thee; for thou art my rest; thou
art my first begotten Son, who shall reign to everlasting ages.' "

And again, in Lib. 11, Comm. in Isai. 40, 11

"But it is written in the Gospel according to the Hebrews, which
the Nazarenes read, 'The Lord said. The Holy Ghost, my mother, just
now laid hold on me.'

By the same, in Lib. 2, Comm. in Mic. 7. 6 :

"Whoever reads the book of Canticles, and will understand, by the

spouse of the Soul, the word of God, and will believe the gospel which
is entitled, 'The Gospel according to the Hebrews,' which I lately
translated, in which our Savior is introduced, saying, 'Just now my
mother, the Holy Ghost, laid hold on me by one of my hairs,' will not
scruple to say, the Word of God was born of the Spirit, and the soul,
which is the spouse of the Word, has the Holy Ghost for its mother-in-
law, who, in the Hebrew language, is expressed in the feminine gen-
der."

The same in Lib. 6, Comm. Ezek. 18. 7

"In that which is entitled, 'The Gospel according to the Hebrews,'
reckoned among the chief of crimes, for a person to make sor-
it is
rowful the heart of his brother."

Again Jerome,
; Lib. 1, Comm. in Matt. 6.11:
•'Inthegospelentitled, 'according to the Hebrews,' I find, instead
of supersubstantial bread,' 'mahar;' which signifies the morrow; so,
the sense is, 'Give us this day, the bread necessary for the morrow;' i.
e., for the future."
 : " : : :

70 SECOND PERIOD^ —A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

Again, the same. Lib. 2, Coram, in Matt. 12. 13.

"In the Gospel which the Nazarenes and Ebionites use, (which I
lately translated out of Hebrew into Greek, and which is by most
esteemed the authentic Gospel of Matthew), the man who had the
withered hand, is said to be a mason, and prayed for relief in the fol-
lowing words:
"'I my livelihood by my hands; I beseech
was a mason, who got
thee, Jesus, thatthou wouldst restore to me my strength, that I may
no longer thus scandalously beg my bread.' "

And again, in Lib. 4, Comm. in Matt. 23.

"In the gospel which the Nazarenes use, for the son of Barachias, I
find written, 'The son of Joiada.'

The following extracts also are from Jerome

From Lib. 4, Comm. in Matt. 27. 16 :

"In the gospel entitled, 'according to the Hebrews.' he (Barabbas),

isinterpreted. The son of their master, who was condemned for sedi-
tion and murder."

Same book
"In the gospel which I have often mentioned, we read, that a lintel
of the temple, of immense size, was broken and rent." (At the time
of the crucifixion.)

From Epistle ad. Hedib. ch. 8.

"In that gospel which is written in Hebrew letters, we read, not that
that the vail of the temple was rent, but that a lintel (or beam) of a
prodigious size fell down."

From lib. 3, Comm. in Ep. ad. Eph. c. 5, v. 4

"In the Hebrew Gospel, we read, that our Lord said to his disciples,
*Be ye never cheerful, unless when you can see your brother in love.'"

From Prsef. lib. 18, Comm. in Isai.

"For when the apostles supposed him to be a spirit, or according to
the Gospel which the Nazarenes received, an incorporeal demon, he
said to them, 'Why are ye troubled,' &c."
 LOST GOSPELS GOSPEL OF THE HEBREWS. 71

And in De Vir. in Ig., he bears the follow-

111. c. 16,

ing testimony to the source whence Ignatius was

supposed to have taken the quotation, concerning
the conversation between Jesus and his disciples,
after the resurrection.

"In the epistle to the Smyrnseans, (which, in the time of Jerome, and
until lately,was thought to have been written by Ignatius,) he (Igna-
tius) takes a testimony from the Gospel which I lately translated, as
spoken by Christ; he says, I saw Christ in the flesh after the resurrect-
ion, and believe that it was he; and when he came \o Peter, and to
those who were with Peter, he said unto them. Behold, feel me, and
see that lam not an incorporeal spirit; and presently they touched
"
and believed.

Such are the testimonies of the fathers concern-

ing this famous gospel, and the fragments of it
which they have preserved for our inspection.
It may be added, that it was not condemned in
the decree of Gelasius, A. D. 494.

There has been much diversity of opinion, and a

good deal of learning brought to bear upon the
question whether the Gospel according to the He-
brews was written by Matthew and if not, whether
;

Matthew wrote a Gospel in Hebrew.

It will be seen by the foregoing extracts, that
Epiphanius and Jerome are very explicit in assert-
ing that this was the Gospel of Matthew.

The readiness with v/hich these statements are set

aside by able modern writers, may be regarded as
an instructive commentary upon the degree of
credit and authority to which the fathers are entit-
led, on questions requiring for their decision an
educated and critical judgment.
72 SECOJS-D PERIOD A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

It will be noticed hereafter, that Jerome asserts,

with the same positiveness, that the Gospel of the
Infancy, which he translated from memory, and a
portion of which translation has since been called
the Gospel of the Birth of Mary, was written also
by Matthew. In that case, he went so far as to say,
it was in Matthew's own handwriting. (See chap-
ter 17.)

That the Gospel of the Hebrews was Matthew's

Hebrew Gospel, was the opinion of Dupin,' and
Father Simon. ^ Beausobre considered it, whether
written by Matthew or not, very ancient, and of
very high authority.

Dr. Niemeyer thought this gospel, ^^the fountain

from which other writings of this sort, have deriv-
ed their origin as streams from a spring."
; Bar-
onius said, *' The present Greek text of St. Mat-
thew is of no value or authority, unless it were to
be compared with the Hebrew Gospel of the Naza-
"^
renes, which is the true original.

Michaelis [A. D. 1777], examined the question

critically. After citing Father Simon, Dr. Mill,
and other writers, and admitting frankly that the
Nazarenes knew nothing of the Greek gospels, he
considers whether in the gospel of the Nazarenes,
like that of the Ebionites, the first two chapters of
Matthew were wanting. He examines Jerome's
references to the gospel which he had translated,
and comes to the conclusion, that while there is no
(I.) History of the Canon, vol. 2, c. 2, 3.

(2.) Crit, Hist.N. T., Ft. i, ch. 7, 9.

(3.) Annal. ad. Am. Ct. 34, num. 175.
 LOST GOSPELS GOSPEL OF THE HEBREWS. 73

Matthew, it probably
trace of the first chapter of
contained the second chapter. He does not speak
with much confidence, however, and says, ''at diff"-
erent times, I have entertained different opinions
on this subject.''

The experienced by this eminent schol-

difficulty
ar, appears to have been easily surmounted by more
modern writers, some of whom do not hesitate to
assert, in the most positive manner, that the refer-
ences of Jerome prove that the gospel which he
translated contained both chapters.

Michaelis finally concludes, upon the main ques-

tion, that if the Gospel of the Hebrews was origin-
ally the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew, it received
various additions among theNazarenes, after it had
been translated into Greek.

Bishop Marsh, assuming that the Gospel of Mat-

thew was a translation from the Hebrew, thinks
the first two chapters may not have been in the
original, and that the Greek translator prefixed a
translation of some other Chaldee document, con-
taining an account of the birth of Christ.^

Stroth, (1780), whose essay on the subject was

printed in Eichhorn's Repertorium, contended that
the Gospel of the Hebrews was used by Justin
Martyr an opinion which many others have since
;

adopted.

(i.) Vol. 3, p. 169.

(2.) Notes to Michaelis. vol. 3, pt. 2. p. 139.

74 SECOND PERIOD —A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.
Bishop Marsh referring to this theory of Stroth
,
^

and to the reasons given, which had been favorably

referred to by Dr. Rosenmueller (A. D. 1800), says,
'*
It is true that if the force of these arguments be
admitted, and they seem really convincing, we can-
not produce Justin as an evidence of the four gos-
pels/'^
Norton thinks the Gospel of the Hebrews should
not be considered apocryphal, and says, in its prim-
itive form it was probably the Hebrew original of
Matthew.^
Toland says the Gospel of the Hebrews was pub-
liclyread in the Nazarene and Ebionite churches
as authentic, ^^for above 300 years;'' and was
'^alleged as a true gospel'' by Papias, Ignatius,
Clemens Alexandrinus, Justin Martyr, Hegesippus
and others. Tischendorf finds that it was proba-
bly used by Justin, by the author of the Clemen-
tines, and by Tatian and Hegesippus.^

From the views of these writers, after comparing

them carefully with the testimony of the fathers,
in the foregoing pages, we may, perhaps, elicit the
truth, and state it in a few simple propositions.
1. The Gospel of the Hebrews was an ancient
gospel, and nearly the only one in use among the
Jewish Christians, in the first ages of the Church.
It was also extensively used by others and was of ,

high authority with the fathers.

(i,) Notes to Michaelis, vol. i, p. 361.

(2.) Genuineness of the Gospels, vol. i, pp. 214, 225.

(3.) Origin of the Four Gospels, p. 78.

 LOST GOSPELS —GOSPEL OF THE HEBKEWS. 75

2. It was universally attributed to Matthew.

3. There was no other Gospel of Matthew at

that time. (First half of second century.) The
Hebrew Gospel of Matthew so much talked about,
other than the Gospel of the Hebrews, is a myth,
so far as there is any historical evidence.

4. The Greek Gospel of Matthew was a subse-

quent production, and either originally appeared in
the Greek language, or was a translation of the
Gospel of the Hebrews, with extensive changes and
additions. There is reason to believe it to have
been an original compilation, based upon the Ora-
cles of Christ, but containing, in whole, or in part,
a number of other manuscripts.
The arguments used to prove that Matthew's
Gospel was originally in Hebrew, all run in a cir-
cle. They assume that the Greek gospel is in some
way from Matthew, and is therefore authoritative.
The reasoning then runs smoothly, and ends in
proving a Hebrew Matthew, a document of the ex-
istence of which no mention is made in history if ;

we except a vague tradition never yet traced to its

source.

As a specimen of this reasoning, we may refer to

the argument of Jones, contained in three proposi-
tions :

1. The Greek gospel contains all that Matthew

ever wrote else it would not be a complete revela-
;

tion of the divine will, so far as Matthew is con-

cerned.
76 SECOND PERIOD A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

2. It differed from the Gospel of the Hebrews.

3. Therefore the latter was not written by Mat-

thew.

The corollary would be, that there was a Gospel

of Matthew in Hebrew, different from the Gospel
of the Hebrews.

By whom AND WHEN —

WRITTEN. It wiU be safe to
accept the almost unanimous opinion of theological
writers, that the Hebrew Gospel used by the Naz-
arenes and Ebionites, was not written by Matthew.
The author is unknown.
It was a compilation made for the use of the
Jewish Christians, from the gospels and gospel
documents then in circulation the manuscripts;

principally used appearing to be, the Oracles or

Sayings of Christ, and the Gospel, Preaching and
Doctrine of Peter. The Oracles probably consti-
tuted the principal basis, and as they had been at-
tributed to Matthew, that circumstance is sufficient
to account for the association of the apostle's name
with this gospel.

The exact time when it was written can only be

a matter of conjecture. It could not have been
later than the first quarter of the second century.
Jerome supposed it to have been written before
the epistles of Ignatius. But this was because he
thought Ignatius had referred to it in his epistle to
the Smyrnaeans ; a document of which Ignatius was
not the author.
 LOST GOSPELS GOSPEL OF THE HEBREWS. 77

Doctrines. —There is no sufficient evidence that

this gospel contained the doctrine of the immacu-
late conception of Jesus. On the contrary, it is
well understood that the earlier Jewish Christians
did not believe in it.

The miracles of Christ now first begin to be

heardof, and as might be expected, the first men-
tioned are those relating to the healing of the sick
and deformed. The more wonderful and startling,
such as turning water into wine, and raising to life
a human body in a state of decomposition, are not
met with until some time afterward.
The doctrine of the resurrection of Christ in a
material body, now for the first time appeared, and
was stoutly maintained by the fathers afterward.
 " ;

CHAPTER V.
LOST GOSPELS OF THE SECOND CENTURY.—Continued.

Gospel According to the Egyptians.

This universally conceded to have been a very-

is

ancient gospel. The learned Dr. Lardner thinks

itwas not written until the second century.'
Clement of Alexandria (A. D. 200) mentions it
in various places, and gives several fragments from
it:

1. From Stromata, bk. 3, ch. 6.

"When Salome asked our Lord, 'How long death should prevail,'
(not as though life were an evil, or the creation an evil), he answered,
*As long as ye women do bring forth children.'

From what follows, it will be seen that this pass-

age was in the Gospel of the Egyptians. The fact
that the gospel is not cited by name in this place,
becomes after we know the quotation was taken
,

from that book, a very strong indorsement of it

since it is asserted that Jesus said what he was re-
ported to have said, in the Gospel of the Egyptians.

2. From the same, ch. 9.

" But they who oppose the established order of God, by their spuri-
ous pretences to celibacy, cite those things which our Saviour spake to

(I.) Works, vol. 3, p. 204.

 LOST GOSPELS GOSPEL OF THE EGYPTIANS. 79
-Salome, whichI just before mentioned. They are, 1 think, in the
Gospel according to the Egyptians; for they say that our Savior him-
am come to destroy the works of the woman; that
self said, *I is, the
works of female concupiscence, generation and corruption.'
"Afterward, Salome asked him how long it should be that death
should prevail against men ? And he answered, While ye women
bring forth children.
"Hereupon she said, 'Then I have done well in bearing no children,
seeing there is no necessity of generation.' To which our Lord
"
jeplied, Teed upon every herb, but that which is bitter, eat not.'

3. From the same, ch. 13.

"Wherefore Cassianus saith, that when Salome asked, when the
things should be known concerning which she inquired, our Lord
answered, 'When you shall despise the covering of your nakedness,
and when two shall become one, and the male with the female,
neither male nor female.' First, (I observe) we have not this saying
in the four gospels given to us, but in that according to the Egyp-
tians."

This passage, quoted from the Gospel of the

Egyptians, may be found in similar language in
the second Epistle to the Corinthians, formerly at-
tributed to Clement of Rome, but which is now
thought to have been written not earlier than
A. D. 150.
The next author who refers to this gospel, is Or-
igen (A. D. 230.) In his Homily on the Gospel
;

of Luke, ch. 1. v. 1, he says

"The church has four gospels, the heretics many; among which is
that according to the Egyptians, that according to the Twelve Apos-
tles," &c. (This according to the Latin translator of Origen.)

The next is Jerome ; Prsef. in Com. in Matt. :

"The evangelist Luke declares that there were many who wrote
gospels, when he says, 'Forasmuch as many,' &c. &c. (ch, 1, v. 1,)
which being published by various authors, gave birth to several her-
esies; such as that according to the Egyptians, and Thomas, and
80 SECOND PERIOD — A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.
Matthias, and Bartholomew, that of the Twelve Apostles, and Basil-
ides, and Apelles, and others, which it would be tedious to enumer-
ate; in relation to these it will be enough at present to say, that there
have been certain men who endeavored, without the spirit and grace
of God, rather to set forth some sort of account, than to publish] a
true history."

It willbe seen that Jerome admits that not only

the Gospel of Basilides, composed about A. D. 125,
and other gospels, admitted to have been first pub-
lished in the second century, were written before
that of Luke, but even the Gospel of Apelles also,
which was written not earlier than A. D. 160.
That the Gospel of the Egyptians was one of
those referred to in Luke's preface, was the opinion
of Origen, Theophylact and others of the ancients,
and among the moderns the same view has been
expressed by Grotius, Dr. Grabe, Erasmus, an^
many others.

Epiphanius speaks of this gospel,' and thus refers

to one of its doctrines :

"They (the Sabellians) make use of all the Scriptures, both of the
Old and New Testament, but principally of some certain passages,
which they pick out according to their own corrupt and preposterous
sentiments. But the whole of their errors and the main strength of
their heterodoxy they have from some apocryphal books, but princi-
pally from that which is called the 'Gospel of the Egyptians;' which
is a name some have given it: for in that, many things are proposed
in a hidden, mysterious manner, as by our Savior, as though he had
said to his disciples, that the Father was the same person, the Son the
same person, and the Holy Ghost the same person."

The learned Dr. Grabe^ has a long dissertation

concerning this gospel, the substance of which is,.

(I.) Haeres. 62. 2.

(2=) Spiceleg. Patr. torn, i, pp. 13 to 34.

 LOST GOSPELS —GOSPEL OF THE EGYPTIANS. 81

that was composed by some Christians in Egypt

it ;

that it was published before either of the canonical

gospels, and that Clement of Alexandria did not
reject it, but endeavored rather to explain it which ;

he would not have done had he considered it the

,

work of a heretic.

Dr. Millthinks this and the Gospel of the He-

*

brews were composed before either of our canonical

gospels, and that the authors of it were probably
Essenes, who received the Christian doctrine from
the preaching of Mark at Alexandria.
Mr. Whiston says
"The Therapeutse mentioned by Philo seem to have been those
firstChristian ascetics, who were converted from the Jews, chiefly in
Egypt, soon after our Saviour's passion, before the coming of Mark
thither, and to have both imperfectly understood and practiced the
Christian religion. Eusebius, Epiphanius and Jerome plainly take
them for Christians, and theii sacred, ancient, mystical books are by
Eusebius supposed to be the gospels and epistles of the New Testa-
ment. The modern critics are entirely puzzled about these Thera-
peutse, and yet are not willing commonly to believe them Christians.
And indeed Eusebius' opinion, that their ancient allegorical books
were our gospels and epistles, is liable to great exceptions, since they
are not allegorical in their nature, nor were they published any con-
siderable time before Philo's own writings; so that upon the whole, I
believe, it is more reasonable to say, these Therapeutse were those
first Christian ascetics, who had gotten very imperfect accounts of
Christianity, and were guided by the Gospel according to the Egyp-
tians, which we know by the fragments remaining, was a gospel sufii-
ciently mystical and allegorical, according to the genius of that
nation."— [^.95a2/ ^^ Const. 1. 37.

The statement of Eusebius,^ that the Therapeutse

of Egypt became Christians, (though not in the
first century), may
be accepted. It is supported
by Epiphanius and Jerome, and by the historical
(i.) Prolegom. in N, T. sec. 35 to 38, and sec. 50.
(2,) Ecc. Hist. 2. 16, 17.
82 SECOND PERIOD —A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

fact, that the Christian monkish system had its

origin in Egypt.
How far the Therapeutse of Egypt and the Es-
senes of Palestine may be identified as one and the
same class or sect, is a question which has been
much discussed. Their beliefs and practices were
similar; they both had, anterior to the Christian
system, many of its peculiar doctrines, and the
members became easy converts to the new religion,
and were among the first Christian disciples.
A full account of the Essenes will be found in
the writings of Josephus.

Jerome says, in his life of Mark,

"He went with his gospel into Egypt, and there constituted a
church; that he was so remarkable in the abstemiousness of his life,
that he obliged all his converts to follow his example; insomuch that
Philo, the most eloquent of all the Jewish writers, when he saw the
first church at Alexandria still observing the Jewish customs, thought
it would be to the honor of his nation to write a book concerning
their way of life; and as Luke says the Christians at Jerusalem had
all things common, so he relates that it was at Alexandria, under
Mark's instructions."— [Cci5o?. Vir. Illust. in Marco.

And again, in his life of Philo, he says, he places

Philo among the church writers, because,
"By writing a book concerning the first church of Mark at Alexan-
dria, he has said much in commendation of the Christians, He not
only mentions such as were there, but in many other provinces; and
calls their places of abode monasteries; from whence it appears, that
thefirst Christians, who believed there on Christ, were such as the
monks now pretend and desire to be; to wit, to have all things com-
mon,'' &c.—[Catal. Vir. Illust. in Philone,

This is a good illustration of the careless writing

of the fathers, and of their readiness to supply,
from their own imaginations, what is wanting in
historical data. Philo, though he writes of the
 LOST GOSPELS — GOSPEL OP THE EGYPTIANS. 8S
Therapeutf8, and of their mode of life, says nothing
of any church of Mark at Alexandria, or of any
other church, nor does he once mention the Chris-
tians in that connection, if indeed in any other.
There is, in fact, no historical evidence, at all
reliable, that any Christian church was founded in
Egypt in the first century. The first reliable infor-
mation upon the subject, is in the letter of Hadrian
to Servianus, husband of Paulina, the Emperor's
sister. Servianus was consul, A. D. 134. The let-
ter is preserved by Vopiscus, who wrote about the
year 300, and who took it from the books of Phle-
gon, the historian, who was a freedman of Hadrian.
From this epistle it appears, that the religion of
the Christians was so crude that Christ and Serapis
were worshiped indiscriminately from which we
;

may reasonably infer that the Christian religion

had not long been established in that country.
The testimony of Epiphanius is as follows :

"They who believed on Christ were called Jesssei, (or Essenes), be-
fore they were called Christians, either because Jesse was the father
of David, or from Jesus, the name of our Lord, because they were
his disciples, and derived their constitution from him, or from the
signification of the name Jesus, which in Hebrew signifies the same
as Therapeutes, (the name by which Fhilo calls them), i. e. a Savior
or physician."— [iYcE^'e^. 29. 4.

Y/ho this Mark or Marcus was, who established

the first Christian church at Alexandria, is uncer-

tain possibly it was the same who wrote the Gos-

;

pel of Mark, in the second century.

That it was not Mark, the associate of Peter, who
wrote the Preaching, and perhaps the Gospel, of
Peter, is manifest from the fact, that in this first
church in Egypt the ascetic system among the
84 SECOND PERIOD — A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

Christians had its origin ; and that system, as we

learn from other sources, originated not earlier
than the second half of the second century.'
Jerome also witnesses that it was not earlier than
that, in the following passage :

"It has often been a question, from whom the desert way of life of
the monks, derives its original. Some derive it as far as from Elijah
and John.
"Others, which the prevailing opinion, from Antonius; which is
is

in part true; for hewas not so much the first in this way of life, as
the means of propagating it; for Amathas and Macarins, two disci-
ples of Antonius, affirm, that one' Paul of Thebais, (in Egypt), was
the chief author of this matter; which I also assent to."— [Iw Vita
Paul, Eremit.par. 3, tr. 8. Be Vit. Con. Ep. 37.

Antonius and Paul of Thebais are thought to

have lived in the third century. However that
may be, it is manifest, from all the evidence, that
the ascetic system of the Christian monks cannot
be traced back further than the latter half of the
second century. Baring-Gould thinks the Gospel
of the Egyptians was related to that of Mark, and
that it was composed at the beginning of the second
century. He classes it among the Petrine Gos-
pels.^
Itwas no doubt older than Mark, and this, as
has been shown, is the opinion of eminent Chris-
tian writers.
Davidson says ^ it was classed by Origen with the
Gospel of the Hebrews, as inauthentic.
Norton'^ thinks it was not a historical, but a doc-
trinal book.

(i.) Consult Serarius, Sozomen and Spanheim.

(2.) Lost and Hostile Gospels, pp. 117, 123.
(3.) Canon, p. 115.
(4.) Vol. 3, p. 243.
 LOST GOSPELS —GOSPEL OF THE EGYPTIANS. 85

This gospel was not condemned in the famous

decree of Pope Gelasius.
As has been already seen, the decree did not in-
clude either of the first century gospels the Gos- ;

pel of Paul, the Gospel of Peter, the Oracles of

Matthew neither did it touch the Gospel of the
;

Hebrews
Jones objects to the Gospel according to the
Egyptians, that it contradicts the canonical gospels,
in representing Salome to be a single woman. But
it will be found, upon examination, that the objec-

tion is hastily made. Matt. 27. 56, and Mark 15.

40, are cited to show that Salome was the mother
of Zebedee's children; assuming that the third
woman spoken of in each place, as present at the
crucifixion, was the same. But this may or may
not have been the case. It is stated, both in Mark
and Matthew, that many women were there. Be-
cause each historian mentions two of the number
alike, it by no means follows, that the third was
also the same.
If Salome had been the mother of the two apos-
tles, James and John, she would doubtless have
been so designated, wherever spoken of.
Before leaving the Gospel of the Egyptians, it
will be necessary to notice a mistranslation of
Jones, made for the purpose of bringing this gospel
into disrepute.
He makes Clement of Alexandria say, Strom.
3, ch. 9,
"The things which follow, spoken to Salome, they cite, who had
rather follow any thing, than the true canon of the gospel," &c.
—[JoneSy vol. l^page 208.
 ;^

86 SECOND PERIOD — A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

The inference would be that Clement considered

the Egytian Gospel an uncanonical book.
The Greek used by Clement is,

"Epipherousin hoi panta mallon ee to kata teen aleetheian euang-

phamenees gar autees," etc.
geliko stoikeesantes kanoni,
" They cite, who rather follow anything, than what is according ta
the truth, in the gospel rule."

The Greek word kanon meant, a rule of measurement;

literally,
hence, secondarily, a moral rule. It was not used,
as applied to the
collection of New Testament books, until the fourth century; while
Clement wrote at the close of the second.

When and by whom written. The original of

this gospel may have been in use among the Ther-
apeutas of Egypt, a long time before the introduc-
tion of Christianity, the passages relating to Christ
being afterward added. Or it may have been writ-
ten in another country, and brought into Egypt
with the Christian religion. In either case it may
be dated as early as A. D. 110 to 115.
Doctrines. We find no evidence that this gospel
contained the doctrine of the immaculate concep-
tion or of the material resurrection, or made any
allusion to the miracles of Christ.

recapitulation.
The Gospel was very ancient
of the Egyptians
written early in the second century is mentioned ;

in several places, and fragments given by Clement

of Alexandria, A. D, 200, who emphatically
indorses it, although Jones disingenuously at-
tempts to prove otherwise. The gospel taught
abstemiousness and celibacy and gave countenance
to the Sabellian form of the doctrine of the unity
 LOST GOSPELS GOSPEL OF THE EGYPTIANS. 87

of the Godhead. According to Jerome, Origen and

Theophylact of the ancients, and Grotius, Erasmus,
Dr. Grabe, Dr. Mill, and others of the moderns, it
was written before the Gospel of Luke, and in the
opinion of Drs. Grabe and Mill, and other eminent
theologians, before either of the canonical gospels.
Was not condemned in the decree of Gelasius. The
objection as to Salome shown to be untenable. The
gospel probably written more than fifty years be-
fore the introduction of Christianity into Egypt
the Christian religion having probably been intro-
duced at the same time with Mark's gospel, an^d
with the establishment of the monkish system
toward the close of the second century.
The story of Joseph and Mary appears not to
have been known when this gospel was written.
Neither is any thing said, so far as we have infor-
mation of its contents, of the miracles of Christ, or
of the material resurrection.
 CHAPTER VI.

LOST GOSPELS OF THE SECOND CENTURY.—Concladed.

Other Lost Gospels.

—
Gospel of Perfection Gospel of Andrew of Bar- —
— —
tholomew OF Philip The Syriao Gospel Gospel of —
—
Eve The Gospel of Matthias of Judas Other Gospels— —
4ND UnCANONICAL WRITINGS.

The Gospel of Perfection. —Epiphanius alludes

to this gospel in the following manner :

But others of them produce a certain spurious and

(the Gnostics)
suppositious work, to which work they have given the name of the
Gospel of Perfection; which really is no gospel, but the perfection of
sorrow; for all the perfection of death is contained in that product of
the devil."— [^^«. Hceres. 26, 2.

Baring-Gould classes this as a Pauline gospel.

It was regarded as sacred by the Ophites. Bauer
thinks it the same as the Gospel of Eve. But they
are distinguished by Epiphanius. Norton says, if
it ever existed, it was not a historical work.'

The doubt expressed by Norton, as to the exist-

ence of this gospel, might well be indulged, if it
depended only upon the assertions of Epiphanius.
But it is expressly mentioned in the Gospel of the
Infancy, one of the oldest pre-canonical gospels
which have been preserved.
(i) Genuineaess of the Gospels, vol. 3, p. 222.
 LOST GOSPELS GOSPEL OF ANDSEW. 89

In that gospel, after a lengthy account of the

miracles performed by Christ while a child in Egypt,
it is added
"And the Lord Jesus did many miracles in Egypt, which are
neither to be found in the Gospel of the Infancy, nor in the Gospel of
Perfection."— [/w/ancjr, ch, 25.

Camerarius supposed that Basilides and other

Gnostics used this gospel, and that it was the same
with the Gospel of Philip.^ But Epiphanius distin-
guishes between them. (See Gospel of Philip.)
Gospel of Andrew. —There are no fragments ex-
tant of the Gospel of Andrew, and but little is
known of it beyond the was condemned fact, that it

as apocryphal in the decree of Pope Gelasius, A. D.

494. In some copies of the decree, however, it was
not mentioned.
The Gospel of Andrew is considered by Jones and
others to have been one of the ''many" referred to
in the preface of Luke. thought to have been It is
alluded to by Augustine (A. D. 420), in his Prol. in
Matthaeum.
Gospel of Bartholomew. Strauss refers to the —
Gospel of Bartholomew as one of those ''always
current,'' quoted by heretics and sometimes by or-
thodox.^
No fragments are extant. It was pronounced
apocryphal by the decree of Gelasius. Was counted
by Jerome, Venerable Bede and others, among those
referred to in Luke.

(i.) Fabricius, Codex. Apoc. vol. i, p. 373. Note.

(2.) New Life of Jesus, vol. i, p. 56. «
90 SECOND PERIOD — A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

Some have thought it the same as the Hebrew

Gospel of the Nazarenes but Jerome, who saw and ;

read the Gospel of the Nazarenes, spoke of the Gos-

pel of Bartholomew as distinct from it.
It was reported that Pantaenus, when sent to
India to preach the gospel, found that Bartholomew
had preached there before him, and had left the
Gospel of Matthew in Hebrew and Jerome says ;

he brought it back with him to Alexandria. This

has been thought to be the same as the Gospel of
Bartholomew. The subject is involved in much
confusion and uncertainty.
Nicephorus says, Bartholomew, while in India,
dictated the Gospel of Matthew to them out of his
memory, and did not take it along with him.'
Monsieur Daille supposed the Gospel of Barthol-
omew was forged, a short time before Gelasius.^
—
Gospel of Philip. The following notice of this
gospel,and fragment of its contents, is taken from
Epiphanius on Heresies, ch. 25, sec. 13.
"They (the Gnostics) laugh at the conduct of the monks, and
those who profess chastity and virginity, as submitting to unnecessary
hardships. They produce a forged gospel, under the name of the holy
Apostle Philip; in which it is written:
" * The Lord hath revealed to me what the soul must say when it
ascends into heaven, and what answer it must make to each of the
celestial powers: I knew myself and gathered; recollected myself on
all sides, and did not raise children for the devil, (Archon, prince of
this world), but extirpated all his principles, and I have gathered my-
self together, the scattered members; and I know who thou art, for I
am one of the celestial number. And thus,' says that book, she is set *

at liberty.' But it adds, that if the soul be found to have propagated

children, it is obliged to stay below, till she shall be able to receive and
bring those children to herself."

(I.) Ecc. Hist, 1, 4, c, 3, 2.

(2.) De Pseud. Dion. Areop. c. 27.
 LOST GOSPELS GOSPEL OF PHILIP. 91

It is not safe to place reliance upon these accounts.

Norton says, '^
Epiphanius is a writer as deficient
in plausibility, as in decency and veracity." He '

was fond of indulging in obscenity, when treating

of the doctrines and practices of heretics.^

Dupin supposes the Gospel of Philip was made

use of by Basilides and Apelles, and by the Ebion-
ites.^

If Epiphanius is to be at all relied upon, there

could have been but little affinity between the Gos-
pel of Philip and that of the Hebrews, or Nazarenes.
The Gospel according to Philip is mentioned by
Timotheus,^ as one of the new books which the im-
pious Manichseus, inspired by the devil, had made.
It is one of the Pauline gospels of Baring-Gould.
Philip, like Paul, is said to have been an apostle of
the Gentiles.
"This Gospel," says Baring-Gould, "belongs to the same category
as those of Perfection, and of Eve, and belonged, if not to the Ophites,
to an analogous sect, perhaps that of the Prodicians."— [Jvosi and
Hostile Gospels, p. 293.

The Syriac Gospel. —This was probably nothing

but the Gospel of the Hebrews in the Syriac lan-
guage. It is said to have been used by Hegesippus,
the first church historian, A. D. 185.
Gospel of Eve, —Is
another of the gospels of
Epiphanius. The following extract is from his fa-
mous work against heresies.

(i.) Genuineness of the Gospels, by Andrews Norton, 1837, vol. 2, p. 211.

(2.) See his work, adv. Haer. 26. 5.

(3.) History of the Canon, vol. 2.

(4.) In Epist. &c. p. 117.

92 SECOND PERIOD — A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

" Some of these, (the Gnostics), do produce a certain spurious and

forged writing which they call the Gospel of Perfection;— others
have the impudence to produce one called the Gospel of Eve; for un- —
der her name, as reported to have received great discoveries, revealed
to her in her discourse with the serpent, they propagate their princi-
ples.
" But
as the discourses of a person in drink, pretending to give ad-
vice, are according to his giddy fancy, not equal, but some of them
merry, others melancholy, so are the wicked principles of these impos-
tors. For they are led away with certain ridiculous testimonies and
visions, which are in that gospel which they make use of. They pro-
duce such as the following:
" I stood upon a very high mountain, and saw one man very tall
'

and another short. And I heard a voice, as it were of thunder; upon

which I went nearer to hear; and he spake to me saying, lam thou,
and thou art I; and again, I am thou and thou art I; and where thou
art, there am I; and I am in all places, and in everything; and where-
soever thou wilt, thou Shalt find me, and in finding me thou findest
thyself.' Behold the doctrine of devils."— [46, 47.

Other pretended quotations are made from this

gospel, which can scarcely be given in English.'

Baring-Gould dignifies this doubtful production

with a place among his Pauline gospels.^ He thinks
it was used by Marcus the Valentinian and says it ,

contained the Alpha Beta story of the childhood of

Christ, to be found in some of the extant gospels.

Gospel OP Matthias. There are no fragments of —

the Gospel of Matthias extant. It was well known
by the ancients, having been referred to by Origen,
Eusebius, Ambrose and Jerome, and in some copies
of the decree of Gelasius.

Origen calls it a gospel of the heretics.^

Jerome and Erasmus include it among those

(i.) See the Greek text of Epiphanius. adv. Hser. ch. 26, sec. 2, 3, and 5.

(2.) Lost and Hostile Gospels, p. 287.

(3.) Homil. in Luc. I. in init.

 LOST GOSPELS — GOSPEL OF JUDAS. 93

which they think were written before Luke. So

also Origen. Venerable Bede was of the same opin-
ion. Dr. Grabe and Dr. Mill think it the same as
the Traditions of Matthias.

Gospel of Judas Iscaeiot. —Judas also had his

gospel.

It is mentioned by Irenseus as follows

" But there are other heretics who say Cain (was delivered) by a
heavenly power, and who acknowledge Esau, Corah and the Sodomites,
as their pattern; who, though they were fought against by the Crea-
tor, yet received no damage thereby; for Wisdom took from them
whatever belonged to it. These things, they say, Judas, who betrayed
Christ, carefully obtained the knowledge of; and as he was the only
one of the apostles who knew the truth, he accomplished the mystery
of betraying Christ. By him (Judas) they say, all things in heaven
and earth were dissolved; and according to their views, they produce
a certain forgery, which they call the Gospel of Judas."— [4(itJ. Hoer, 1
31. L

Epiphanius says
" They will have him to be their relation, and esteem him to have
obtained extraordinary knowledge; inasmuch as they produce a cer-
tain book under his name, which they call the Gospel of Judas,"—
{Adv. Hcer. 38. 1.

Mr. Toland having spoken of the gospel with some

respect, Jones becomes indignant, and calls those
who use impious, beastly, profane
it, ^'a set of
wretches. '^
He must have
accepted the statements
of Epiphanius concerning them, which, by more
moderate writers, are rejected as malicious slanders.
Dr. Lardner refers to some of his stories concern-
'''
ing the heretics, as ''fictions of Epiphanius.

(I.) Vol 4, p. 397.

 : —

94 SECOND PERIOD — A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

Theodoret speaks of this gospel.' Baring-Gould

makes it a Pauline gospel.^ He thinks it was com-
posed by the Cainites.
Not a fragment has been preserved, outside of the
writings of Irenseus and Epiphanius.

OTHEE LOST GOSPELS.

The following, mentioned by various writers, are
not included in the foregoing list, for reasons which
will be given.

Gospel op Apelles.- This and some others will —

be treated of in connection with the persons to whom
they are attributed. (See Apelles.)
The Gospel of Barnabas does not appear to be-
long to the second century.
mentioned in the decree of
It is first expressly
Gelasius, A. D. 494. It has been supposed', how-
ever, by some, that Clement of Alexandria alluded
to it, when, commenting on Psalms, 118. 19, 20, he
says

"Barnabas, expounding this saying of the prophet, thus reasons:

" Although there are many gates opened, righteousness is the gate
'

which is in Christ, at which all they that enter shall be blessed.' "
[Stromata. 6, 8.

But as this passage is not in the Epistle of Barna-

bas, but is in the first Epistle of Clement of Borne
to the Corinthians, it has been thought by Dr. Grabe
and others, that Clement of Alexandria made a mis-
take in the citation. Either that, or both Clements
took the passage from the Gospel of Barnabas.
(i.) Lib. I, Haer. F. c. 15.

(2.) Page 305.

 LOST GOSPELS GOSPEL OF BARNABAS. 95

Dr. Grabe found also, in an ancient manuscript,

another citation, as follows :

"Barnabas the apostle saith, *He who prevails in unlawful con-

tests, is so much the more unhappy, because he goes away, having
more sin.' "

Dr. Grabe was inclined to think this came from

the Gospel of Barnabas. Others were of the opin-
ion that it was in the lost portion of the Epistle of
Barnabas. Since the discovery of the entire manu-
script of the Epistle by Tischendorf as it is found ,

not to contain this passage, more weight is now to

be given to the conjecture of Dr. Grabe.
Mr. Toland, in the '^ Nazarenus,'' says that he
saw this passage in substance, in an Italian manu-
script, in Holland, entitled *^The True Gospel of
Jesus called Christ, a new Prophet sent by God to
the world, according to the relation of Barnabas his
Apostle This is supposed to have been a Moham-
. '

'

medan imposture ,as Mohammed is in several places ,

expressly named as the Paraclete, or promised Com-

forter .

There is a hypothetical history of the Gospel of

Barnabas, which may be worthy of attention.
by Theodorus Lector, Suidas, Nice-
It is related
phorus and others, that, in the reign of the Emper-
or Zeno, the remains of Barnabas, the apostle and
companion of Paul, were found in Cyprus, under a
tree, and upon the breast the Gospel of Matthew in
Barnabas own hand- writing. The book was carried
'

to the emperor, and was very highly esteemed by

him, and put under a crown in his palace. There
is a historical incident connected with this story.
96 SECOND PEEIOD —A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

which gives it an air of probability. It is stated

that on account of the honor which attached to Cy-
prus,by virtue of this discovery, the inhabitants,
by means of it, prevailed in their contest with the
Bishop of Antioch, so that their metropolis had an
independent bishop, not subject to the jurisdiction
of Antioch.

The hypothesis was, that this book, thus found

on the breast of Barnabas, was an interpolated and
corrupted Gospel of Matthew, and was henceforth
called the Gospel of Barnabas.

According to this, one of the gospels became so

corrupted and interpolated by being copied by an
apostle, that it became necessary for the head of the
church to pronounce it apocryphal.

Gospel or Harmony of Basilides. —(See Basil-

ides.)

The Clementine Gospel occupies a conspicuous

place in the work of Baring-Gould. He appears to
be the only writer who has given this name to the
gospel or gospels used in the Clementines. It is
commonly supposed that the principal gospel made
use of in these works, was that of the Hebrews.

Gospel of Cerinthus. —(See Cerinthus.)

Accounts or Genealogies of the Desposyni. —
The Desposyni is the term made use of by Eusebius,
to designate those relatives of Christ, who were sup-
posed to keep family records and genealogies. Fab-
ricius has the above title in his list of gospels.
 LOST GOSPELS — GOSPEL OF THE GNOSTICS. 97

Descent from the Cross, by John. — One of the

many apocryphal writings of uncertain origin, some-
times classed among the gospels.
Gospel of the Encratites. Fabricius and others —
have inferred that Epiphanius ascribed a gospel to
to the sect of the Encratites. It is more probable,
however, that he referred to the Gospel of Tatian.'
The Eternal Gospel. —The idea of the Eternal
Gospel, was taken from Revelation, 14, 6. It was
thought John had promised an eternal gospel and ;

none having appeared, one was accordingly brought

to light, as late as the 13th century attributed by ;

some to John of Parma.

Gospel of the Gnostics is a term sometimes used.
The Gnostics had various gospels. Epiphanius
speaks of their writing *^ The Revelations of Adam,
and other false gospels.'^
False Gospels op Hesychius. This phrase is —
found in the decree of Pope Gelasius, wherein cer-
tain gospels are condemned by that title. What
they were, is uncertain. Jerome speaks of *^
those
books which go under the names of Lucian and
Hesychius, and are esteemed through the perverse
^
humors of some.''

The Book of the Helkesaites is spoken of by

Epiphanius and Eusebius. The Helkesaites affirm-
ed that the book had fallen down from heaven
,

and that they who believed and observed it, should

obtain the pardon of their sins.

(i.) See Epiph, Haeres. bk. 30, 13, also bks. 46 and 47.

(2.) Praefat. in Ev. ad. Damas.

98 SECON-D PERIOD — A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

Epiphanius says, it described Christ as a power,

whose height was twenty- four schoena, or Egyptian
leagues or about sixty-six miles his breadth twenty-
, ;

four miles and his thickness in proportion. His

limbs and feet were correspondingly large. Also,
that according to this book, the Holy Ghost was of
the female sex, and like Christ, reaching above the
clouds, and standing between two mountains.

Gospel of Justin. —Eenan employs this term in

referring to the gospel principally used by Justin
Martyr. This is supposed to have been the Gospel
of the Hebrews, or the Gospel of Peter, which may
have been nearly the same.

Gospel op James the Less. —This

spoken of by
is
some writers, but appears to be none other than the
Prote vangelion which will be fully considered in a
,

subsequent chapter.

Gospel op Jude. —The same as the Gospel of

Judas Iscariot.

Gospel op the Lord. —One of the

Lost Gospels
of Rev. S. Baring-Gould. He says the Gospel of
the Lord was used by Marcion, and apparently be-
fore him by Cerdo. It may, however, be affirmed
with much confidence, that Marcion 's Gospel was
not used before his time since Marcion is univer-
;

sally conceded to have been the author or compiler

of it. But as this consisted of a collection of nu-
merous manuscripts, it is possible that Cerdo may
have used a collection, consisting of a portion of
the same manuscripts.
 LOST GOSPELS GOSPEL OF LONGINUS, ETC. 99

Gospel of Lucius. —Such a title is to be seen in

the list of Fabricius, but it appears to be one of the

books designated as the
False Gospels of Lucianus. These were pro- —
nounced apocryphal in the decree of Gelasius but ;

as in the case of the False Gospels of Hesychius,

they are not described with sufficient certainty to
enable us to identify them.
—
Gospel op Life. This is mentioned by Fabricius,
citing Photius, Cod. 85 also Timotheus, Presb.
;

C, Politanus, in who says:

Epist. &c., p. 117,
'
The impious Manichasans, following him (Manes),
'

and inspired by the devil, make new books, such as,

E vangelium Vi vum "
,

(1 .
) etc

The Legal Priesthood of Christan obscure is

book, sometimes spoken of as a gospel. But little

is known of its contents.

—
Gospel of Longinus. Nothing definitely known
concerning it. Probably not of the second century.

Gospel of Manes.—(Third century.)

Gospel of Marcion. — (See Marcion.)
Memorabilia of Justin. — No gospel, though
sometimes alluded to as such. Same as the '^Me-
moirs," so often referred to by Justin.

Midwife of our Savior. —Condemned by Gela-

sius, which appears to be all that is known of it.

Manichee Gospel. —(See Gospel of Manes.)

Gospel of Merinthus. — Merinthus was only
another name for Cerinthus.

ofC.
 )

100 SECOND PERIOD —A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

Passing of St. Mary, by St. John. In the list

of Fabricius. But little is known of it.

Persian History of Christ. Written by —

Jerome Xaverius, from the Persian, A. D. 1600.
Gospel of Scythianus. —Nothing known relat-
ing to it.

Gospel of Simonides, or of the Simonians. —

( See Simon Magus.
Gospel of Thadd^us. —Rejected by Gelasius.
Gospel of Tatian. —(See Tatian.)
Gospel of Truth. — (See Valentinus.)

other uncanonical writi:n'gs of the second cen-

tury.
Besides the foregoing gospels, there appeared in
the second century, a large number of other writings
relating to Christ and his apostles Acts, Epistles,
;

Revelations, etc. Fabricius gives a list, alphabeti-

Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles,
cally arranged, of
36 in number among which are the Acts of Peter,
;

Acts of Peter and Andrew, Acts of John, Acts of

St Mary, etc.

Then there was the Apocalypse of Peter, Apoca-

lypse of John, (another), Apocalypse of Paul, Bar-
tholomew, etc.

These were subsequently called apocryphal a ;

term, meaning, at first, only hidden but which, ;

afterward, when the books had been for some time

laid aside and disused, came to be looked upon as a
term of reproach.
 CHAPTER VII.

THE AGE OF MIRACLES.

Apolloin^ius of TyAN"A.

Apollonius Tyaneus, one of the most remarkable

characters of history, was born two years before the
commencement of the Christian era. He lived a
hundred years, witnessed the reign of a dozen Ro-
man emperors, and during his long and brilliant
career, sustained the role of a philosopher, teacher,
traveler, religious reformer and worker of miracles.
The most of our information concerning him is

derived from his biography, written in Greek, by

Flavins Philostratus, in the year 210. It was com-
posed at the request of the beautiful and gifted Julia
Domna, wife of the Emperor Septimius Severus.
As soon was made empress, she gathered
as Julia
around her the finest intellects and the greatest ora-
tors of the day. Among them were Dion Cassius,
the historian, the eminent lawyers, Paulus, Papi-
nian and Ulpian, and the learned sophist and schol-
ar, Philostratus. It was under such auspices that
the life of Apollonius was written. The work has
attracted much attention, and has been translated
into various languages.
102 SECOND PERIOD A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

In England in 1680, Charles Blount, the deist,

commenced a translation, and had proceeded as far
as the first two books, which he published with ex-
tensive notes, when he seems to have become
alarmed at the opposition of the ecclesiastics of his
day, and did not further prosecute the work.
In his pre face, Blount refers, in his quaint manner,
to the supposed opposition of the book of Philos-
tratus to the Christian Scriptures. ^^
Philostratus
does not,' says he,
'
^^
anywhere so much as mention
the name of Christ ;and if one heathen writer,
Hierocles, did make an ill use of this history, by
comparing Apollonius to Christ, what is that to
Philostratus ? Now as to myself
, ' ^
he continues
' I , '

am so far from comparing him to our blessed Sav-

ior, or from giving credit to any new miracles, that
my daily request to God is, to give me faith enough
to believe the old.''

In the year 1809, the Rev. Edward Berwick, Vicar

of Leixslip, in Ireland, translated the whole eight
books of Philostratus the celebrated Lardner hav-
;

ing in the mean time given his opinion, that the

work was not intended to antagonize the New Tes-
tament.
Let us now open this celebrated book of Philos-
tratus, and take a brief survey of its contents.
He commences by giving an account of the mate-
rialsfrom which the work was composed stating ;

that he obtained them from the different cities and

temples, from tradition, and from the epistles of
 AGE OF MIRACLES —^APOLLONIUS. 103

Apollonius, " addressed to kings, and sophists, and

philosophers to Elians, Delphians, Indians and
;

Egyptians.'^ Also that he had made use of the

book of Maximus the ^gaean, the biography writ-
ten by Damis the Assyrian, who had accompanied
Apollonius in his travels, and a work written by
one Meragenes.
The following is an epitome of the biography, as
given by Philostratus

LIFE OF APOLLONIUS.
Apollonius was born at Tyana, a town founded by Greeks, in Cap-
padocia.

Before his birth, Proteus, an Egyptian god, appeared to his mother.

She asked the god, whom she should bring forth. To which he replied,
" Thou shalt bring forth me." Apollonius was born in a meadow, un-
der a temple since dedicated to him. When his mother was near the
time of her delivery, she was warned in a dream to go and gather
flowers in a meadow. When she came there, while her maidens were
dispersed up and down, employed in their several amusements, she
fell asleep on the grass. While thus situated, a flock of swans that
was feeding in the meadow, formed a chorus around her, and clapping
their wings, as their custom is, sang in unison, while the air was fan-
ned by a gentle zephyr. At the same time, her son was born. The na-
tives of the place affirm that at the instant of his birth, a thunderbolt,
which seemed ready to fall upon the ground, rose aloft, and suddenly
disappeared.
All the people of the country said he was the son of Jupiter; but
he constantly called himself the son of Apollonius.
As he grew up, he gave signs of great strength of memory, and per-
severing application.
The eyes of all were attracted by his beauty.
His youth was spent, partly in Tarsus, and partly in -^gae, where
he enjoyed the conversation of Plato, Chrysippus and Aristotle. He
was an enthusiastic admirer and devoted follower of Pythagoras. He
declined eating anything that had life, living exclusively on fruits,
104 SECOND PERIOD A. D. 80 tO A. D. 120.

and other productions of the earth. His fame was spread far and
near. While in his youth, he lost his parents, and buried them in his
native town, Tyana. He resolved never to marry.
As a true disciple of Pythagoras, he maintained silence for five
years. Opposes hot baths. Wherever he goes he reforms religious
worship.

His probationary term of silence having expired, he resolves to

travel to India, and visit the Brahmins and Germanes, and converse
with the magi inhabiting Babylon and Susa; saying it was his duty to
go where wisdom and his guardian angel led him. While on this jour-
ney, he acquired from the Arabians a knowledge of the language of
animals; an art for which others of the ancients were celebrated;
Melampus, Teresius, and Thales Milesius.
Entering the territories of Babylon, he had an interview with the
satrap. He continued his journey, interpreting to Damis, his compan-
ion, dreams and visions, Then we have an account of
by the way.
Babylon, with its royal mansions, covered with brass, and the apart-
ments and porticos, adorned with silver, with tapestry of gold, and
with beaten gold.
Apollonius enters the king's palace, conversing with Damis, and
not noticing at all the splendid things surrounding him. He was re-
ceived with honor by the king, Bardanes, who invited him to join in
the sacrifice he was then preparing, of a white horse of the Nisaean
plains, to be offered to the sun, adorned as if in a solemn procession.
Apollonius declined; but sacrificed to the sun with frankincense, and
then retired; lest he should be made a partaker in the shedding of
blood.

He visits India, and is well received by Phraotes, the king. He is

offered money by both these kings, but refuses to receive it.

We must not omit to mention, that while on this journey to India,

Damis, the companion of Apollonius, saw on Mt. Caucasus, the very

chains with which Prometheus had been bound.
They arrive at the wonderful hill occupied by the Brahmins. The
sages communicate freely with Apollonius, who participates in their
ablutions and ceremonies. Philostratus relates, that when, with
staves uplifted, the Brahmins struck the earth all together, they made
it heave and swell like waves of the sea, and they themselves were
 AGE OF MIRACLES —APOLLONIUS. 105
elevated to the height of almost two cubits above it. There they
would dance awhile in chorus, and then descend together, larchus,
the chief of the Brahmins, declares that Apollonius was, in a previous
a pilot of an Egyptian vessel.
life, Apollonius admits it to be true,
and gives some account of his life as a pilot.

Then comes a feast, given by the king and Brahmins. Four Pyth-
ian tripods, like those described in Homer,came forward of their own
accord. Then advanced cupbearers of black brass, like the Gany-
medes and Pelops of the Greeks. The earth strewed under them
herbs, softer than beds. Bread and fruits, and the vegetables of the
season, together with the dainties used at second courses, came of
themselves, each in order, better dressed than they could be by our
cooks. The cupbearers of brass mixed the wine and the water for
the company, which they presented, in small cups, to every guest.

larchus cures the lame, and the blind, and performs many other
miracles.

Apollonius returns home by going south to the sea, thence by ves-

sel,up the Euphrates to Babylon, thence, by way of Antioch, to Cy-
prus and Paphos.

He goes to Ephesus. People flock about him. Certain prophecies

from the oracles at Coryphon, Didyme and Pergamos, in his favor,
spread abroad. Ambassadors come to him from several cities. He
predicts the plague, and tells what is going on at a distance.

The plague raging at Ephesus, ambassadors were sent to him at

Smyrna, entreating him to come to their assistance. Apollonius
said, "I think the journey is not to be delayed." No sooner had he
uttered these words, than he was at Ephesus. There he put an end
to the plague, by having the people stone a demon, which took var-
ious forms.

He travels through Greece. At Athens, an evil spirit

casts out
from a youth. As soon upon him, the
as Apollonius fixed his eyes
demon broke out into the most angry and horrid expressions, and
then swore he would depart out of the youth. Apollonius rebuked
him, commanded him come out, and told him to give a
to visible

sign. Immediately the demon cried out, "I will make that statue
tremble;" to which he pointed, standing in a royal portico. Where-
106 SECOND PERIOD A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

upon the statue first began to shake, then totter, and finally tum-
bled down.

Apollonius visits the temples of Greece, and reforms their religious

rites and ceremonies.
At Corinth, Menippus, one of his disciples, a young Lycian, was in
love with a beautiful and intelligent woman, whom he was soon to
marry. Apollonius goes as a guest to the wedding. When every-
thing is ready, Apollonius announces that the woman is one of the
Empusse, who pass under the name of Lamise and Larvae. Upon
this announcement, everything vanished into thin air; the gold and
cupbearers and cooks, and the whole domestic appara-
silver vessels,

tus. Whereupon the phantom, appearing as if in tears, begged not

to be tormented, nor forced to make a confession. But Apollonius
was peremptory, and she confessed to being an Empusa, and that she
had pampered Menippus with rich dainties, for the express purpose
of devouring him. Philostratus says, "I have been necessarily in-
duced to mention this transaction, as it was one of the most celebra-
ted performances by Apollonius, and as it happened in the center of

Greece, many were acquainted with it."

Having traveled all went to Rome. As Nero

over Greece, he next
was persecuting philosophers, his companions became frightened, and
nearly all left him. At Rome, he was accused of treason. The ac-
cuser came forward, holding in his hand a roll, on which had been
written the accusation. When the roll was unfolded, lo and behold,
neither letter nor character was to be seen.
A girl, when about to be married, "seemingly died," says the bio-
grapher, and the funeral procession was on its way to bury her. She
was of a consular family, and all Rome condoled with the young hus-
band. Apollonius, meeting the procession, said to the attendants,
"Set down the bier, and I will dry up the tears which you are shed-
ding for the maid." He touched the young woman, and uttering a
few words over her, in a low tone of voice, he wakened her from that
death with which she seemed to be overcome. The relatives of the
girl presented him with a hundred and fifty thousand drachmas,
which he settled upon the bride, as a marriage portion.
"It is diflicult to me," adds Philostratus, "as it was to all who were
present, to ascertain whether Apollonius discovered the vital spark,
 AGE OF MIEACLES —APOLLONIUS. 107
which had escaped the faculty, (for itwas raining at the time, which
caused a vapor to rise from her face), or whether he cherished and
brought back her soul, which to all appearances was extinct."
Apollonius visits Spain and Africa, and thence returns to Italy and
Sicily. At Syracuse he makes a prediction, concerning the three em-
perors which Rome was soon to have, which was fully verified in Gal-
ba, Vitellius and Otho. He again travels through Greece. Leaving
one vessel, and taking another, the one he leaves is shipwrecked. He
goes to Egypt. Arriving at Alexandria, he declares a convicted man
innocent. A further examination proves him to be so, and his life is
saved.

At Alexandria, he has an interview with Vespasian, who, on his way

to Eome from Judea, where he had been carrying on the Jewish war,
goes to Egypt on purpose to visit Apollonius.

While Apollonius was in this part of Egypt, a tame lion coming up

to him, and paying him special attention, Apollonius stated to the peo-
ple, that the lion wanted him to tell them by what human soul he was

inhabited. He tells them it is the soul of Amasis, who was formerly

king of Egypt, in the district of Sais. The moment the lion heard this,
he roared in a piteous strain, crouching on his knees, and at the same
time, bursting into tears. The lion was then dressed in collars and
garlands, and sent into the interior parts of Egypt, accompanied all

the way with the sound of flutes, and the singing of hymns.

Journeying into the interior of Ethiopia, Apollonius visits the

gymnosophists. To show they could perform wonders as well as the

Brahmins, Thespesion, their leader, said to an elm tree near the one
under which they were sitting, "Salute Apollonius, O tree." No
sooner were the words uttered, than the tree saluted him; speaking
in a voice which was articulate, and resembled that of a woman.
Titus, having been declared emperor of Rome, requested Apollon-
ius tomeet him at Argos. On his arrival, Titus embraced him, and
said he had a letter from his father, Vespasian, wherein he said, he
considered that Apollonius was his benefactor, to whom they were
under many obligations.

Apollonius again travels through Greece and Italy. In the Helles-

spont, he drove out the wandering Egyptians and Chaldeans, who,
108 SECOND PERIOD A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

for their own gain, operating on the fears of the people, who were
dreading earthquakes, were collecting money, on pretense of making"
costly sacrifices.

He now took up his residence at the grove of Smyrna, on the banks

of the Meles, where he discoursed of fate and necessity. Knowing
that Nerva was to succeed Domitian, he spoke of it as a matter of
public notoriety; and showed that tyrants themselves were unable to
resist the decrees of fate.

Some of his expressions having been repeated to Domitian, Apollo-

nius was cited to appear before him. Before receiving the summons,
however, he was apprised of it by his guardian spirit, and started at
once for Italy. Arriving at Rome, he is brought before the emperor,
and is accused, with great violence, of being an enchanter. Is taken
to prison. Discourses encouragingly to his fellow prisoners.

Being brought before the emperor, he talks with so much boldness^

that Domitian orders his hair and beard to be cut off, and that he be
sent back to prison, loaded with chains, and be cast among the vilest
felons. He was now nearly a hundred years old.

Damis, who was also in prison, asked him when he would be at lib-

erty. "To-morrow," answered ApoUonius, "if it depends on the

judge; this instant, if it depends on myself." Saying this, he drew
his leg out of the fetters, and said to Damis, " You see the liberty I
enjoy." He then put his leg in the fetters again.

He goes to the tribunal, to make his defense. Domitian perused the

indictment, sometimes in great wrath, sometimes with more compos-
ure. "I think," says Philostratus, " we may represent Domitian to
our minds, as a man highly incensed at the laws, for ever having suf-
fered such things as tribunals to be constructed. ApoUonius was re-

quired to enter the tribunal, free from amulet, book or charm, or any
writing whatever. As he went into the room, he did not once look at
the emperor. He was commanded to look at Domitian, as the god of
men. ApoUonius lifted his eyes to the vaulted arch of the court, and
by his gesture showed that they were turned to Jupiter. The water
was then measured into the clepsydra, the dropping from which was
to measure the time of his defense.

There were four articles of accusation.

 AGE OF MIRACLES APOLLONIUS. 109
The accuser thus began :
" What is the reason, Apollonius, you do
not wear the same kind of garments as other men ?"
"Because," replied he, "the earth, which supplies me with food,
supplies me also with raiment; and by wearing garments derived from
it, I offer no injury to miserable animals."
2. "Why do men call you a god?"
" Because," said he, " every man that is good, is entitled to the ap-
pellation."

3. How could he f ortell the plague at Ephesus ? Answer, " By liv-

ing on a lighter diet than other men."

4. "Tell me, Apollonius," said the accuser, " on whose account you
sacrificed a boy on the day you left your house and went into the coun-
try?" "If it can be proved," replied Apollonius, "that I left my
house on the day alluded to, I will grant my being in the country, and
offering the sacrifice in question; but it shall require persons of both
credit and character to substantiate the fact."Thereupon a shout of
applause arose from the spectators; and Domitian himself, being af-
fected by the strength and ingenuity of his answers, said, "I acquit

you of the crimes laid to your charge, but here you shall stay until I

have had some private conversation with you."

Apollonius replied, " You can detain my body, but not my soul; and
I will add, not even my body; for as Homer says,
'Not even thy deadly spear can slay me.
Because I am not mortal.' "

While uttering these words, he vanished from the tribunal.

Damis had gone to Puteoli, where he and Demetrius the philoso-
pher, a friend of Apollonius, were on that day, musing and walking
together, on the seashore, celebrated by the story of Calypso.
They had little or no hope of ever seeing Apollonius again. Tired
with their walk, they sat down in a Nymphseum, a building adorned
with statues of the nymphs, wherein was a cistern of white marble,
containing a living spring of water, which never rose above, and was
never drawn below They were talking listlessly, while
its margin.
sorrow when suddenly Apollonius appeared before
filled their hearts,

them. It was on the same day of the trial, though Puteoli was more
than three days jonrney from Rome. Demetrius wished to know if
110 SECOND PERIOD A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

he was alive. Apollonius stretched out his hand, and commanded him
to take it, to assure himself that he was still living.

He returned to Greece, and traveled through all the cities, teaching

the crowds who flocked to see him.
While Domitian was being assassinated at Rome, by Stephanus,
Apollonius was walking and talking, disputing among the trees, in
one of the xystas of Ephesus. It was about mid-day. Suddenly
Apollonius let his voice fall, as if alarmed at something. He then
went on, conversing in a lower tone. Then became quite silent. Soon
after, fixing his eyes steadfastly on the earth, and advancing three or
four steps, he cried out, "Strike the tyrant; strike;" as if actually wit-
nessing some occurrence.
All Ephesus was astonished at what was heard, there being a large
concourse present. But Apollonius, after stopping some time, cried
out, " Keep up your spirits, O Ephesians, for this day the tyrant is
killed. And why do I say this day ? At this very moment, while the
words are in my mouth, I swear it by Minerva, the deed is done."
Then he remained silent.

This is the account of Philostratus. The same transaction is related

by Dion Cassius, with such variation of details as is supposed to
strengthen statements of that kind. That author's account is as fol-
lows:

the very day— nay, the moment Domitian was assassinated, as

On
itwas afterward known upon a most exact search into the matter,
Apollonius Tyaneus got up, whether it was in the city of Ephesus or
elsewhere, upon a very high stone, and calling the people together*
cried out with a loud voice, " Courage, Stephanus, courage! strike the
murderer. Thou hast struck him; thou hast wounded him; thou hast
killed him." "As incredible as the fact seems to be," says the historian,
"it is no less true." — [Manning's Dion Cassius, vol. 2, p 92.

This testimony of Dion Cassius is more important from the fact

that he was no admirer of Apollonius, but, in another part of his

history, puts him down as an impostor and a magician. He com-
plains of Caracalla, that he was such a favorer of impostors and ma-
gicians, that he paid great honors to the memory of Apollonius of
Cappadocia, and raised a monument to him.— [Dion Cassius, vol. 2, p.

327.
 AGE OF MIRACLES APOLLONIUS. Ill
Baronius supposes the assassination of Domitian to have been com-
municated to Apollonius, by a demon.
The time was now approaching which was to terminate the career
of this remarkable man. Nerva having sent a letter to the philoso-
pher, requesting him to come to Rome and give him his advice, Apollo-
nius replied as follows:
"We will converse together, O emperor, during a long time, where
we will neither command others, nor will others command us."

This letter was afterward construed to mean, that Apollonius was

about to leave this world, and that Nerva's reign was to be short.
"Here," says Philostratus, "ends the history of Apollonius the Tya-
nean, as written by Damis the Assyrian. Concerning the manner of
his death," he continues, "if he did die," various are the accounts.
"Some say he died at Ephesus, waited on by two handmaids, to one
of whom he gave her freedom, forseeing it would be better for the
other to remain where she was.
" Some say he entered the temple of Minerva at Lindus, and there
disappeared."
Others affirm that his exit was made at Crete, in a still more extra-
ordinary way. The temple of Dictyma, at Crete, was under the protec-
tion of dogs, who took care of the riches laid up in it. When
Apollonius entered the temple, the dogs did not bark at him as they
did at others, but received him with fawning affection. The priests
who had the care of the temple, seeing this, seized Apollonius, and
bound him; thinking him a magician, or a robber. About midnight,
he freed himself from his chains, and called the priests, to show that
he did nothing in secret. Then, going to the gates of the temple, he
found them open. As soon as he entered them, they shut of them-
selves, as they had been before, and the temple resounded with the
singing of many virgins; the burden of whose song was, "Leave the
€arth; come to heaven; come, come!"
After his death, he appeared at Tyana, to a young man who had
doubted the immortality of the and discoursed with him upon
soul,

the subject. The young man cried out, "I believe you now." He
had often requested Apollonius to appear to him, and he finally did so.

Here ends the history by Philostratus. Suidas

and Eudocia inform us that a life of Apollonius
112 SECOND PERIOD A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

was written also, by one Soterichus Oasites.

For several centuries after his death ApoUonius

was worshiped as a god, in many parts of the
world. Not only did Caracalla build him a temple,
but Alexander Severus held him in such esteem
that he had his statue in his private closet. On
account of ApoUonius, Tyana was held sacred, and
exempted from the jurisdiction of governors sent
from Rome.
Roman emperors have not refused him the same
honors as were paid to themselves and Gibbon ;

relates that when Aurelian took the town of Tyana^

**a superstitious reverence induced him to treat
with lenity the countrymen of ApoUonius the phil-
osopher.''
M. Bayle remarks that ApoUonius was worshiped
in the beginning of the fourth century, under the
name of Hercules, and refers to Vopiscus, Euse-
bius and Marcellinus, to show that the people of
Tyana had not worship of ApoUonius in
left off the
the beginning of the fourth century. His image
was set up in many temples. Roman emperors
encouraged it.

Lampridius states that Christ was really wor-

shiped by some of the later heathen emperors, to-
gether with Abraham, Orpheus, and ApoUonius;
these being all looked upon as holy men, and
tutelary genii .^
Albert Reville says, ^'The universal respect in
which he was held by the whole pagan world, testi-
(i.) Lamp. Life of Alex. Severus.
 AGE OF MIRACLES —APOLLONIUS. 113

fied to the deep impression which the life of this

supernatural being had left indelibly fixed in their
minds an impression which caused one of his
;

contemporaries to exclaim, ^We have a god living

among us.'
''
— [''Pagan Christ/' etc., by Albert
Reville, London, 1866, p. 39.
Eunapius, who
wrote at the beginning of the
fifth century, says of him, that he was not so much
of a philosopher, as something between a god and
a man, and that Philostratus ought to have en-
titled his history, ''The Descent of a God upon
Earth. "^
Sidonius Apollinaris, (A. D. 475), praises the
morals and philosophy of Apollonius, without
speaking of his miracles. In the 8th book, 3d
epistle to Leon, counselor to the king of the Goths,
he delivers a glowing eulogium upon Apollonius
speaks of his disdain for riches and ostentatious
display ; of his love for science, his frugality, his
gravity, sincerityand uprightness of character, his
abstinence from animal food, etc., and closes as
follows "In one word, to say the truth, I do not
:

know as there is, in all antiquity, the life of a phil-

osopher equal to this one ; and I am very certain
' ^
that such a one cannot be found in this age. '

Notwithstanding all this evidence of the high es-

teem in which he was held by the ancients, the
historian Proude, on the strength of a sentence or
two of Lucian, in a letter to Gelsus, would place
him on a level with the impostor, Alexander Abo-
notichus, of the second century.
(i.) Life of Apollonius, by M. le Nain de Tillemont, page 42.
(2.) History of Apollonius, by Dupin, Paris, 1705, Pref. p. i5.
 : :

114 SECOND PERIOD — A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

That such a classification would do great injus-

tice to Apollonius, is manifest from his epistles,
which are still extant.'

They are addressed to individuals, to societies, to

philosophers, to kings and emperors.
These writings show him to have been a man of
learning, with a consummate knowledge of human
nature, imbued with the noblest sentiments, and
with the principles of a profound philosophy.
In- his letter to Hestiseus, he says :

" The truth is not concealed from us, how beautiful it is to have all

the earth for one's country, and all men for brothers and friends; and
that those who derive their origin from God, are all endowed with
one and the same nature and with a community of reason and affec-
tions; and that wheresoever any one may be, or in whatever manner
born, whether barbarian or Greek, he is still a man. But the claims
of kindred cannot be evaded, and one recalls to himself whatever is
properly his own. Thus the Ulysses of Homer, as they say, did not
prefer immortality, even when offered by the goddess."

In the epistle to Valerius, we have the doctrine

of the indestructibility of matter

"There is no death of any thing, except in appearance; and so, also,

there is no birth of any thing, except in appearance. That which
passes over from essence into nature, seems to be birth, and what
passes over from nature into essence, seems, in like manner, to be
death; though nothing really is originated, and nothing ever perishes;
but only now comes into sight, and now vanishes. It appears, by rea-
son of the density of matter, and disappears by reason of the tenuity
of essence; but is always the same, differing only in motion and con-
dition."

In the next paragraph, enlarging upon the same

idea, he closes by saying, ^^no thing is ever created
or destroyed.'' Again

(i.) They may be seen in the original Greek, in the Library of Congress.
 AGE OF MIRACLES —APOLLONIUS. 115
"By what other name, then, than First Essence, shall this rightly
be called ?These things are done and permitted by the Eternal God,
who becomes all, in all, and through all, and who, if he were to clothe
himself in names and forms, would suffer loss and damage in his
own nature"

To a brother, who had lost his wife, he writes

" It is destined, that \vjhatever has come to perfection, must pass
away. Let not, therefore, the loss of your wife, in the ripeness of age,
shock you, and not, because something is called death, consider life
better than it, since life is considered inferior, by every wise person.
"If there had been anything to be reprehended in your late wife,
you might reasonably be cast down. But she was always esteemed
by us, was always loving to her husband, and everything to be desired."

He closes the letter with these affecting words :

"For tears have I not been able to write more, and more than this I
have not thought necessary."

As to the miracles ascribed to ApoUonius, the

most of them were probably the invention of the
second century. There is little doubt, however,
that he possessed some extraordinary faculty,
which he exercised in such a way as to establish
and maintain an influence over his fellow men, be-
yond what he could otherwise attain.
Perhaps the highest tribute paid to ApoUonius,
was by the emperor Titus. The philosopher hav-
ing written him, soon after his accession, counsel-
ing moderation in his government, Titus replied as
follows

"In my own name, and in the name of my country, I give you

thanks; and will be mindful of those things. I have indeed taken
Jerusalem, but you have captured me."

The miracles of ApoUonius were extensively be-

lieved in the second century, and for hundreds of
116 SECOND PERIOD A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

years afterward ; and by Christians as well as

"^
others. As late as the fourth century, when Hier-
ocles had drawn a parallel between Apollonius and
Christ, Eusebius, who thought it necessary to make *^

an elaborate reply, did not deny the performance of

"'
miracles by Apollonius but attributed them to
,

sorcery.

Tillemont thought he had the assistance of

Satan.
*'The devil,'' said he, ^^may know the history of
past ages," etc., '^and he may know what men are
doing, in very distant places. And what he knew,
he might discover to Apollonius. " Reville is of
the opinion, that Apollonius practiced what this
writer calls ^Hheurgy ;" a sort of compromise be-
tween imposture and the "display of miraculous
power.
The proper estimate upon
difficulty in placing a
such a character, at this distance of time, is great.
But it may safely be asserted, that Apollonius was
a man possessed of many elements of greatness ;

that he was a man of much learning and great

ability and whatever may have been his weak-
;

nesses, he was endowed with a certain grandeur of

soul, which at once commands our respect and
admiration.
 CHAPTER VIII.

THE AGE OF MIRACLES.— Continued.

Simon Magus.

Simon Magus was another miracle worker, who

lived in the first, and whose miracles were written
up in the second century.

Simon was the prince of heretics. His miracles

were notorious, and admitted by all. By orthodox
Christians they were attributed to magic, or to the
machinations of Satan. At a later day, it has been
supposed they might be accounted for on scientific
principles.

Dr. Westcott says, would be interesting to

^^It

inquire how far the magic arts universally attri-

buted to Simon and his followers, admit of a phy-
sical explanation. In his school, if anywhere,
we should look for an advanced knowledge of
nature.'^'

Mosheim is not willing to class Simon among

the heretics, since that would be impliedly admit-
ting that he was a Christian but he concedes that ;

^
^nearly all the ancient and modern writers make

(i.) History of the Canon, p. 249, Note.

 '

118 SECOND PERIOD —A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

him have been the head, the father and the ring-
to
leader of the whole heretical camp.'^

This conspicuous position makes his opinions of

some importance.
Theodoret, (A. D. 430), says that he denied that
there was but one principle. He asserted two, and
held that there was another maker of this world.
This was the Demi-Ourgos, who was under the
control of the Supreme God, who presided over the
whole uni verse. ""
—
This doctrine was extensively
believed in by the Gnostics of the second century .^
In his system, the third power in the trinity was a
woman.'* For this his followers had the authority
of the Gospel of the Hebrews.

Simon held that matter was eternal, and that an

evil deity presided overit.^ He was educated at
Alexandria.^ His followers became so numerous
that they were spread over the whole world, and in
Eome, in the reign of Claudius, a statue was erect-
ed in his honor. 7

In the 8th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles,

we have a glimpse of Simon, who had bewitched
the people, insomuch that they all gave him heed,
^'from the least to the greatest, saying, 'This man
is the great power of God.'
''
[Acts. 8, 9, 10.]

(i,) Mosheim, vol. I, p. 92,

(2.) Haeret. Fab. 4. 188.

(3.) See Dr. Lardner's Works, vol, 4, p. 511.

(4.) Fabricius, Codex Apoc. vol, i, p. 362. Note.

(5.) Mosheim, Ecc. Hist. vol. i, p. 93.

(6.) Clementine Homilies, 2. 22.

(7.) Justin Martyr, ist Apology, 26. 56; Irenseus, v. Haer. 1. 23.
 AGE OF MIEACLES —SIMON MAGUS. 119

In the Recognitions, attributed to Clement of

Eome, and a portion of which, at least, was written
about the same time with the Acts, there is a fuller
account of this wonderful man. As in the Acts of
the Apostles, so in the Recognitions, he appears as
the great antagonist of Peter.
The reader may be introduced to Peter at Cae-
sarea, where he is preparing for a discussion with
Simon Magus.
"When the day dawned, which had been fixed for the discussion
with Simon, Peter, rising at the first cock-crowing, aroused us also;
for we were sleeping in the same apartment, thirteen of us all; of
whom, next to Peter, Zaccheus was first, then Sophonius, etc. After
these, I (Clement) and Nicodemus, then Niceta and Aquila, who had
formerly been disciples of Simon, and were converted to Christ, under
the teachings of Zaccheus. Of the women, there was no one present."
— [Kecognitions, book 2, chapter 1.

Peter then tells them that he has formed the

habit of waking in the middle of the night, and
lying awake till morning, recalling and arranging
in his memory the words of the Lord.
The conversation turning on the coming discus-
know what kind of a person
sion, Peter wishes to
Simon is. Niceta thinks he will prove to be a
formidable antagonist. Aquila gives a full history
of Simon, from which it appears, that his father
was Antonius, and his mother Rachel. By nation
he was a Samaritan, of the Gettones. His profes-
sion was that of a magician, yet exceedingly well
trained in Greek literature desirous of glory, and
;

boasting above all the human race.

"So that he wishes to be an exalted person, who is above God the
Creator, and to be thought to be the Christ, and to be called 'the Stand-
ing one.' He uses this name, as implying that he can never be dis-
 :

120 SECOND PERIOD — A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

solved; asserting that his flesh is so compacted by the power of his

divinity, that it can endure to eternity."— [Ibid. chs. 3 to 7.

Simon had been a disciple of Dositheus, and be-

came one of the thirty. Aquila proceeds with his
story
" But not long after, he fell in love with that woman whom they call
Luna, and he confided all things to us as his friends; how he was a
magician, and how he loved Luna, and how, being desirous of glory,
he was unwilling to obtain her ingloriously;" but was waiting patient-
ly, when he could have her honorably.

"Yet so if we also would conspire with him, in the accomplishment

of his desires.
" Meantime, at the outset, as soon as he was reckoned among the
thirty disciples of Dositheus, he began to depreciate Dositheus himself,
saying that he did not teach purely or perfectly, and that this was the
result, not of ill intention but of ignorance. Dositheus, when he saw
that Simon was depreciating him, fearing lest his reputation among
men might become obscured, (for he himself was supposed to be the
Standing-one), moved with rage, when they met as usual at the school,
seized a rod and began to beat Simon; but suddenly the rod seemed to
pass through his body, as if it had been smoke. On which Dositheus,
being astonished said to him, *Tell me if thou art the Standing one;
that I may adore thee.' And when Simon assured him that he was,
Dositheus, perceiving he himself was not the Standing one, fell
down and worshiped him, and gave up his own place as chief to Simon,
ordering all the rank of thirty men to obey him; himself taking the
inferior place which Simon formerly occupied. Not long after this he
died.
"After the death of Dositheus, Simon took Luna to himself, and
with her he still goes about, as you see, deceiving multitudes, and as-
serting that he himself is a certain power, which is above God, the
Creator, while Luna, who is with him, has been brought down from
the higher heavens. That she is Wisdom, the mother of all things;
*for whom,' says he, *the Greeks and barbarians, contending, were
able, in some measure, to see an image of her; but of herself, as the
dweller with the first and only God, they were wholly ignorant."

He
then proceeds to relate a miracle which he
(Aquila) once saw Luna being in the tower, and
;

looking out of all the windows of the tower at the

same time.
 AGE OF MIRACLES —SIMON MAGUS. 121

Peter evidently believes what Aquila had related,

^^
for he says, It has been permitted to the wicked
one, to use those arts by which the affections of
every one toward the true father may be proved/'
[Bk. 2, chs. 9-18.

THE DISCUSSION.
Chapter 19.— Zaccheus enters, saying it is time the disputation
commenced, for a great crowd, collected in the court of the house, was
awaiting him. Then Peter, having prayed with the brethren, went
forth to the court of the house, and when he saw the multitude all
looking intently on him, in profound silence, and Simon, "standing
like a standard bearer in the midst of them," he commenced:
First he invoked a peaceable discussion. But Simon at once re-
torted, that Christ said, he came, not to send peace but a sword. Peter
replies in the words of Jesus, " Blessed are the peace-makers." Simon
continues to comment upon the inconsistency of Christ, if he came
not to bring peace, enjoining upon others to keep it.— [Chs. 19 to 27.

Simon announces his position. "I say," said he, "that there are
many gods, and that there is one, incomprehensible and unknown to
all; that he is the God of all these gods. He then argues for polythe-
ism; saying to Peter, that he will prove it from his own scriptures.
He cites Genesis, 3. 5: " On the day ye eat of the tree of knowledge, of
good and evil, ye shall be as gods." Also, Gen. 3. 22: "Behold, Adam
is become as one of us." Also Gen. 1. 26: "Let us make man after
our own image and likeness;" and Gen. 3. 22: " Let us drive him out."
Also, Gen. 11. 7: " Come, let us go down, and confound their language;"
and Exodus, 22. 28: " Thou shalt not curse the gods," etc. "One of
these," says Simon, "was chosen by lot, that he might be the god of
the Jews."
" But," says he, "it is not of him that I speak; but of that God who
is also his God, whom even the Jews themselves do not know. For
he is not their God, but the God of those who know him."
Peter has a long disquisition on God, to which Simon replies, that
he would refute him from the words of his master, who said no one
knew the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son should reveal
122 SECOND PERIOD A. D. 80 tO A. D. 120.

him. Yet the god o f the Jews was known to Adam, to Enoch, to
Noah, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and to Moses.— [Chs. 38 to 47.

"Remember," Simon urges, "that you said that God has a son; which
isdoing him wrong; for how can he have a son, unless he is subject
to passions, like men or animals ? My opinion is, that there is a cer-
tain power of the Universe, an ineffable light, whose greatness is to
be held to be incomprehensible; of which power, even the maker of
the world is ignorant, and Moses the lawgiver, and Jesus, your mas-
ter."— [Ch. 49.

The reasoning of Simon: That there is one God, who is better than
all, from whom all that is, took its beginning; that he must be perfect.
That the god who created the world, shows many signs of imperfec-
tion. There must, therefore, be a God over him. He argues the im-
perfection of the god who made the world and man, thus: The many
evils in the world which are not corrected, show that its creator is

powerless, if he cannot correct what is done amiss; or else, if he does

not wish to remove the evils, then he is himself evil; but if he neither
can nor will, then he is neither powerful nor good.— [Chs. 53, 54.

The disputation was closed for the day.

The audience, of whom there were about 3,000, divided, about one-
third going away with Simon, and the rest staying with Peter.
Book 3. The debate is re-commenced next day, and is continued
two days longer.— [Chs. 1 to 69. Ante-Nic. Ch. Lib. vol. 3, pp. 240 to
265.

The second day there is some acrimony in the discussion, and some
difference as to the questions to be debated.

They discuss the nature of evil, free will, the power of God, etc.

Ch. 23.— Simon says, "What I wish to know is this: If what God
wishes to be, and what he does not wish to be, is not?" The pur-
is;

port of the answer of Peter is, that some actions depend upon the will
of man.

The discussion closed for the day; Simon calling upon Peter each
day to show him whether the soul was immortal.
Third day. Simon pressing for evidence of the immortality of the
soul, Peter argues in favor of it, because of the necessity of having a
day of judgment; since men do not get their deserts in this world.
 AGE OF MIRACLES —SIMON MAGUS. 123
Simon claims that Peter cannot assert that the soul is immortal,
and that he knows if it be proved to be mortal, his religion will fall.
" But Peter, when he heard him speaking thus, grinding his teeth,
and rubbing his forehead with his hand, and sighing with a profound
grief, said: * Armed with the cunning of the old serpent, you stand
forth to deceive souls.' "— [Ch. 42.
Ch. 44. —Peter having offered to prove to Simon, in one sentence,
that the soul is immortal, asks him, which is the best evidence, hear-
ing or seeing ? Simon answers seeing. Peter then tells him to go to
his (Simon's) own house, and entering the inner bed-chamber, he would
see an image, containing the figure of a murdered boy, clothed in
purple.

Simon hearing this, was smitten in his conscience, changed color,

and became bloodless. He then proposed to become a convert; think-
ing Peter possessed the power of divination. Peter disabused him
and admitted that he had only stated what he had been informed of,
and spake " what he knew, and not what he foreknew."
Thereupon Simon, seeing himself betrayed, went from one extreme
to another, and becoming fairly furious with anger, burst forth as
follows:

"I stood by and spoke with you inmy goodness, and bore patiently
with you. But now, show you the power of my divinity, so
I shall
that you shall quickly fall down and worship me. I am the first pow-
er, who am always, and without beginning. But having entered into
the womb of Eachel, I was born of her as a man, that I might be vis-
ible to men. I have flown through the air; I have mixed with fire,

and been made one body with it; I have made statues to move; I
have animated lifeless things; I have made stones bread; I have flown
from mountain to mountain; I have moved from place to place, up-
held by angels' hands, and have lighted on the earth. Kot only have
I done these things, but even now I am able to do them; that by facts
I may prove to all, that I am the Son of God, enduring to eternity, and
that I can make those who believe on me, endure in like manner for-

ever. But your words you perform any real

are all vain; nor can
works. (Such as I have mentioned.) He also who sent you is a ma-
gician, who yet could not deliver himself from the suffering of the
cross."
124 SECOND PERIOD — A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

To this speech Peter answered,

"Do not meddle with the things that belong to others; for that you
are a magician, you have confessed and made manifest, by the deeds
that you have done."
At Simon
this point in the proceedings, the historian relates, that
endeavored to make a and the people, in indignation, cast him
riot,

from the court, and drove him forth from the gate of the house. It
does not appear, however, that Peter denied the truth of what Simon
asserted, or that he challenged him to a proof of his miraculous pow-
ers.
After Simon and his friends had gone, Peter explained to those re-
maining, his reference to the image of the murdered boy; Simon had
been deluded by demons, and he had persuaded himself that he had
the soul of a murdered boy, ministering to him, in whatever office he
pleased to employ it.
Peter then pronounced a benediction, and dismissed the multitude,
and thus ended this most remarkable discussion.— [Chs. 48 to 50.

The next morning, Niceta said to Peter, he de-

sired to learn how Simon, who was the enemy of
God, was able to do such wonderful things. ^^ For
indeed,'' says Niceta, ^' he told no lie in his decla-
. '

ration of what he had done (Niceta had been one

'

of Simon's disciples.) Peter undertakes to explain

how Simon ^4s able to do so great marvels." Si-
mon, he said, was a magician.
Niceta asked, In what respect do they sin who
* ^
,

believe Simon, since they see him do so great mar-

vels? Or is it not marvelous to fly through the air^
to be so mixed with fire as to become one body with
it, to make statues walk, etc. Yea," says Niceta,
*'
he has also been seen to make bread of stones.
But if he sins who believes those who do signs, how
shall it appear that he also does not sin, who has
believed our Lord, for his signs and works of pow-
er?"— [Chs. 52 to 57.
 AGE OF MIRACLES — SIMON MAGUS. 125

Peter replies, that if a man believes him who

comes first, showing signs, he must of necessity, for
the same reason, believe him who comes second.
When he believes the second one, he will learn from
him that he ought not to believe the first, who
comes of evil. — [Chs. 58 to 62.
After the disscussion, Simon sets out for Rome,
and Peter resolves to follow him. [Chs. 63 to 65. —
Following Simon Magus to Rome, we learn that
he there lost his life. In the Encyclopedia Ameri-
cana it is stated that he perished in an aeronautic
expedition giving as authority, Eusebius and Sue-
;

tonius. Suetonius in relating the cruel sports and

games which Nero instituted for his own diversion,
^^ ^'
merely says, Icarus fell, splashed with blood.
From which the reader may infer, only, that Nero
had compelled some one to attempt the flight of
Icarus. The story is to be traced to The Acts of ^ ^

Peter and Paul. "

From that book, we take the following
"When, consequently, the people were making a seditious mur-
muring, Simon, moved with zeal, roused himself, and began to say
many evil things about Peter; saying that he was a wizard and a
cheat. And they believed Simon, wondering at his miracles. For he
made a brazen serpent move itself, and stone statues to laugh, and
move themselves, and himself to run, and suddenly to be raised into
the air. As a set-off to this, Peter healed the sick by a word, by pray-
ing made the blind to see, and put demons to flight by a command.
Sometimes, he even raised the dead. Those who adhered to Simon,
strongly affirmed Peter to be a magician."

The matter coming to the ears of Nero, he ordered

Simon the Magian to be brought before him
And he, coming stood before him, and began suddenly to as-
in,
sume on a sudden he became a child, and af-
different forms; so that
ter a little an old man, and at other times a young man. For he
changed himself both in face and stature, into different forms, and
126 SECOND PEEIOD — A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.
was in a frenzy, having the devil as his servant.
"And Nero, beholding this, supposed him to be truly the Son of
God. But the apostle Peter showed him to be both a liar and a wiz-
ard."

After considerable conversation, Nero says :

'^
Art thou not afraid, Peter, of Simon, who con-
firms his godhead by his deeds?''
Peter replies, that Simon does not know the hid-
den thoughts of men.
Nero said, ^^Do you mean me to believe, that
Simon does not know these things, who both raised
a dead man, and presented himself the third day af-
ter he had been beheaded, and who has done what-
ever he said he would do?"
Peter said, '^But he did not do it before me.''
Nero said, But he did all these things before me.
*^

For assuredly, he ordered angels to come to him,

and they came." Peter still demanded that Simon
should tell what was in his thoughts. Simon made
the same challenge to Peter. Peter then demanded
of Simon, to know what he, Peter, had just done in
secret. For, having taken a barley-loaf, he had
broken it, and hid it in his sleeves.
" Then Simon, enraged was not able to tell the secret of the
that he
apostle, cried out, saying:'Let great dogs come forth, and eat him
up, before Caesar.' And suddenly there appeared great dogs, which
rushed at Peter. But he, stretching forth his hands to pray, showed
to the dogs the loaf which he had blessed, and the dogs, seeing it, no
longer appeared.

"Simon said, *Dost thou believe, O Good Emperor, that I, who was
"
dead and rose again, am a magician ?'
[The writer of the Acts of Peter and Paul here explains how Nero
had been deceived by Simon; stating, that as Simon was to be behead-
ed, he had requested that it be done in a dark place; and when the ex-
ecutioner came, and was about to strike the blow, Simon turned him-
 AGE OF MIRACLES SIMON MAGUS. 127
self into a ram. He so remained until the ram's head was taken off,
when be became himself again. On the third day, he appeared, as if
risen from the dead.]

Then followed a conversation in which Nero,

Simon, Peter, and Paul also, who was present,
participated.
Nero, not being able to satisfy himself, says
^'The three of you show that your reasoning is un-
certain and thus in all things you have made me
;

doubt, so that I find I can give credit to none of

you."
Simon now proposes to Nero, that if he will build
a high wooden tower, he will go to the top, and
thence fly through the air, attended by his angels ;

and thus give open evidence of his divinity.

Nero agrees to the proposal, and the next day
builds the tower. Simon goes upon it, and com-
mences flying in the air, attended by his angels.
Peter, looking steadfastly at him, prays to the Lord
to stop him. His prayer is answered, and Simon
falls headlong, in a place called Sacra Via, or Holy
Way, and perishes.^
This, no doubt, was the aeronautic expedition,
alluded to by the encyclopedic compiler, and to
which he supposed Suetonius to refer, when ^^ Ica-
rus fell splashed with blood.''
Simon Magus also had his gospel. It was called
''
The Great Announcement,'' and consisted of the
revelations which, as he claimed, had been commu-
nicated to him from the Supreme God. It was
sometimes called the Gospel of Simonides ; also,
the Gospel of the Simonians.
(i.) Ante-Nicene Ch. Lib. vol. i6, pp. 263 to 273.
 :

CHAPTER IX.

THE AGE OF MIRACLES-Concluded.

Other Miracles and Miracle- Workers.

Alexander Abonotichus Apuleius —Antinous—Jew-^ —

—
iSH Superstitions Miracles of the Fathers The Thun> —
—
BERING Legion Change of Water into Oil, etc. The. —
Miracles of the New Testament.

Alexander Abonotichus. —
The satirist, Lucian,
at the request of Celsus, wrote an account of thi&
celebrated imposter. The following is a condensed
statement of it, as reproduced by the historian ,,

Froude

Alexander was born at Abonotichus, a small town on the south

shore of the Black Sea, early in the second century. The boy was of
unusual beauty. He was taken up by a doctor, who had been a dis-
ciple of Apollonius. Alexander's master was a magician, and he
himself became an apt pupil.

At the age of twenty, when his master died, he set up for himself.
He started for Byzantium, the great mart of ancient commerce.
Here he became acquainted with one Coconas, by whom he was in-
troduced to a wealthy Macedonian lady. She fell in love with him^
and took him and his friend with her, to her country seat at Pella.
Here the two friends laid plans for the future. They purchased a
large, tame snake; took it with them when they left Pella, and by the

aid of the serpent, made a business of fortune-telling.

 AGE OF MIRACLES ALEXANDER ABONOTICHUS. 129
They repaired to Abonotichus. From Chalcedon they brought
some brass plates, which had been discovered buried, and which bore
an inscription, that Apollo and Esculapius were about to appear at
Pontus. The people of Abonotichus commenced building a temple
for Alexander, who now soon acquired great reputation and renown.

Lucian describes him as he then appeared; tall, majestic, extremely

handsome— hair long and flowing, complexion fair, a moderate beard,
partly his own and partly false, but the imitation excellent; eyes large
and and voice sweet and limpid. "As to his character,"
lustrous,
"God grant that I may never meet with such another. His
says he,
cunning was wonderful, his dexterity matchless. His eagerness for
knowledge, his capacity for learning and power of memory, were
equally extraordinary."

He made for the serpent a human face, of linen, which was painted
in an ingenious manner, and so arranged that the mouth would open
and shut, and this was the face of Esculapius. From it he delivered
oracles and spoke in unknown tongues.
The temple was finished, the god was formally established in it, and
the oracles became a permanent institution. People flocked from all

parts of Asia Minor, to consult them. Immense treasures flowed into

the coffers of Alexander.

"The air was full of miracles. The sick were healed; the dead were
raised to life." The Christians considered him a missionary of the
devil.

Among his dupes was Rutelian, a senator, in high favor with the
emperor.

There was a girl, said to be the daughter of Selene, the moon, and
Alexander. She is declared to be destined for Rutelian, and the mar-
riage is celebrated with great pomp and splendor.

Lucian himself visited Alexander and endeavored to expose him.

He frankly admits that the attempt was a complete failure. When
the prophet gave him his hand to kiss, Lucian bit it to the bone. For
this, he came near paying the forfeit of his life. Alexander, conceal-
ing his pain and mortification, treated Lucian with the utmost cour-
tesy and kindness, and gave him a vessel for his return home. The
commander was secretly instructed to throw him overboard. This he
130 SECOND PERIOD A. D. 80 tO A. D. 120.

was too humane to do, but told Lucian he should be obliged to put
him ashore, which he did; and Lucian found himself in Bithynia, a
long way from home.
He returned, a wiser man, and the prophet continued to flourish.
The emperor bestowed distinctions upon him. He lived to be an old
man, and died in the acme of his fame.

—
Apuleius. Some of the early writers speak of
Apuleius as a worker of miracles. He was a pagan
philosopher of the Platonic school, born at Madau-
ra, in Africa.

He D. 150. He was distinguished

lived about A.
for his eloquence, and stood high as a Latin writer.
Having married a rich widow in Tripoli, he was
prosecuted by his relations, on a charge that he had,
in his courtship, made use of magical arts. He de-
fended himself on that occasion, by an 'Apology,^
which is still extant. There has also come down to
us, another of his works, entitled, ^^Metamorpho-
sis, or the Golden Ass ;^' supposed to have been a
satire on the wealthy debauchees of his time. Lac-
tantius, referring to what Hierocles had asserted,
that ApoUonius was greater than Christ, because he
rescued himself from Domitian, while Christ was
put to death, says it is somewhat strange that wri-
ters should pass over Apuleius, ^' of whom many
wonderful things are commonly said.'' ^

Anthstous was a beautiful youth, a favorite of the

Emperor Hadrian. He was born in Bithynia.
He accompanied Hadrian to Egypt, and was drowned
in the Nile, A. D. 132. A city called Antino-opolis,
was built by the emperor, near the spot where he
(i.) Lact. Inst. lib. 5, ch. 3.
 AGE OF MIEACLES JEWISH SUPERSTITIONS. 131

perished, and countless statues were erected in his

honor. Some of them still exist, and are remark-
able for their beauty.

Justin Martyr says he was worshiped as a god.'

Origen says there were miracles wrought in many
places,^ and Celsus mentions, as miracle- workers
Esculapius Aristeas of Proconnesus, and Cleomedes
,

of Astypalsea.

JEWISH SUPERSTITIONS.
The Jews were ever exceedingly superstitious. The miracles of the
Old Testament are familiar to the reader. These were supplemented
by an innumerable multitude of angels and demons of every descrip-
tion.

The casting out of demons was familiar to the Jews, long before
the coming of Christ. In the Book of Tobit, the angel Raphael
directs fumigation with the heart and liver of a fish, in order to drive
a demon out of a man or woman, so that it will never return. The
demon Asmodeus was in love with Sara, the daughter of Raguel, and
had strangled seven men who were going to marry her; but by the
process mentioned above, he was driven out, and flew into Egypt,
where he was bound by the angel.— [Book of Tobit, 6. 7; 3. 1;
6. 14, etc.

In the Book of Enoch, the names of twenty-one angels are given,

who had fallen, through love for the daughters of men. The off-
spring of these were giants, whose height was 3,000 ells. From these
come the evil demons of earth.

Raphael was the angel who presided over the spirits of men. Uriel
was the angel of thunder, earthquakes, etc. There were spirits con-
trolling the winds and the lightning, others over the seas, and still
others over hail, snow, frost, etc., etc.— [Book of Enoch, ch. 69; chs. 7,

8, 9, 34, etc.

The Jews believed the stars were animated beings.— [Gfroerer, das
Jahrhundert des Heils, 1, p. 362.

Enoch saw seven stars bound together, and he inquired of the angel,
on account of what sin they were bound. Uriel replied, they were:

(i.) ist Apology, ch. 29.

(2.) ContraCelsum, 3, 3.
 —

132 SECOND PERIOD A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

stars which had transgressed the commands of the highest God, and
they were thus bound till ten thousand worlds, the number of days of
their transgression, should be accomplished.— [Chs. 21 and 18.

The targums are full of similar views, concerning the stars and
other heavenly bodies.

The multitude of angels was innumerable.

Each angel had a particular duty to perform. Michael was angel
over water, Jehuel over fire, Jechiel over wild beasts, and Anpiel
over birds. Hariel was appointed over cattle, Messannahel over rep-
tiles, Deliel over fish, and Samniel over created things moving in the
waters, and over the face of the earth. Ruchiel was set over the
winds, Gabriel over thunder and fire, and over the ripening of fruit.
Nuriel over hail, Makturiel over rocks, Alpiel over fruit-bearing
trees, Saroel over those which do not bear fruit, and Sandalf on over
the human race. Under each of these were subordinate angels.
[Sanhed. 95. 2; Eisenmenger, Entd. Jud. 2. 378. Sup. Relig. vol. 1>
p. 108.

The demons were equally as numerous. They were in the air, on

earth, in the bodies of men and animals, and even at the bottom of
the sea. They were the offspring of the fallen angels who loved the
daughters of men.— [Eisenmenger, Ent. Jud. 1. 380; 2. 437.

"Their number is infinite. The earth is so full of them, that if man

had power to see, he could not exist, on account of them. There are
more demons than men, and they are about as close as the earth
thrown up out of a newly made grave."
It was stated that each man had 10,000 demons at his right hand,
and 1,000 on his left. "He who wishes to discover these spirits, must
take sifted ashes, and strew them about his bed, and in the morning
he will perceive their footprints upon them, like a cock's tread. If
any one wishes to see them, he must take the afterbirth of a black
cat, which has been littered by a first born black cat, whose mother
was also a first birth, burn and reduce it to powder, and put some of
it in his eyes, and he will see them."— [Bab. Beracoth. 6. 1.

The casting out of demons, was an important feature in the Jew-

ish theological system. Dr. Lightf oot says, "There was hardly any
people in the whole world, that more used, or were more fond of am-
ulets, charms, mutterings, exorcisms, and all kinds of enchantments."
— [Lightfoot, Horse Heb. et. Talm. Works, 11. p. 299.

Josephus states, that among God gave to Solomon

other gifts,
knowledge of the way to expel demons. Josephus himself had seen
a countryman of his own, named Eieazar, release people possessed of
devils, in the presence of the Emperor Vespasian and his sons, and
 AGE OF MIRACLES —MIRACLES OF THE FATHERS. 133
his army. He put a ring, containing one of the roots prescribed by
Solomon, to the nose of the demoniac, and drew the demon out by his
nostrils, and in the name of Solomon and reciting one of his incanta-
tions, he adjured him to return no more.— [Antiquities of the Jews,
bk. 8, ch. 2, sec. 5.

Miracles of the Fathers. These commence —

about the middle of the second century. More
than a hundred years ago, Rev. Dr. Middleton, in
his ^'Free Enquiry into the Miraculous Powers of
the Christian church/' called attention to the fact,
that in the writings of the apostolic fathers, (refer-
ring to those who had
written previous to about
A. D. 150,) there was not the least pretense to the
possession of extraordinary gifts, nor to any stand-
ing power of working miracles and showed that ;

the claim in the second century, was first set up

about the time of Justin Martyr.
''Here, then," said he, ''we have an interval of
about half a century, the earliest and purest of all
Christian antiquity, after the days of the apostles,
in which we find not the least reference to any
standing power of working miracles,"^
In the writings of Justin Martyr, (A. D. 150 to
160), the claim to miraculous power was put forth
with much distinctness. He says :

"There are prophetical gifts among us at this

day, and both men and women are endued with ex-
traordinary powers by the spirit of God."^
He frequently appeals to what he says every one
might see with his own eyes, in every part of the

(i.) Middleton's Miscellaneous Works, vol, i, p. 8.

(2.) Dialogue, chapter 88.

134 SECOND PERIOD — A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

world, and particularly in Eome, in the case of

persons possessed with devils, *^who were cured
and set free, and the devils themselves baffled and
driven away, by the Christians adjuring and exor-
cising them in the name of Jesus, when all other
exorcists and enchanters had tried in vain to help
them."^
Justin says the angels to whom God had com-
mitted the care of mankind, had been led away by
love of the daughters of men, and begat children,
who are the demons, who have corrupted the
human race.^
He thinks demoniacs are possessed and tortured
by the souls of the wicked dead.^
Irenseus (A. D. 190 to 200), affirms, that "all who are truly disciples
of Jesus, receiving grace from him, wrought miracles in his name, for
the good of mankind, according to the gift which each man had re-
ceived. Some cast out devils, so that those from whom they were
ejected, often turned believers, and continued in the church. Others
had the knowledge of future events, visions, and prophetical sayings.
Others healed the sick by the imposition of hands. Even the dead
had been raised, and lived afterward many years among them. It
was impossible to reckon up all the mighty works which the church
performed, every day, to the benefit of nations."— [Adv. Plaer. lib. 2^
ch. 32.

And in regard to raising from the dead, he declares it to have been

"frequently performed on necessary occasions, when by great fasting,
and the joint supplication of the church of that place, the spirit of
the dead person returned into him, and the man was given back to
the prayers of the saints."— [Adv. Hser. 2. 31.

Again: "We have many," says he, "in the church, endued with
prophetic gifts; speaking with all kinds of tongues, laying open the
secrets of men, for the public good."— [Ibid. 5. 6.

(i.) Apology, 2, 6.

(2.) Apol. 2. 5. Ibid. I. 5' 14.

(3.) Ibid. I. 18.

 AGE OF MIRACLES MIRACLES OF THE FATHERS. 135

Clement of Alexandria (A. D. 200) says presid-

ing angels were distributed over nations and cities ;

that the Son gave philosophy to the Greeks, by

means of the inferior angels and argued that ; it

was absurd to attribute it to the devil.'

TertuUian (A. T>. 200 to 210) calls upon the heathen magistrates to

"summon before their tribunal any person possessed with a devil; and
if the evil spirit, when exorcised by any Christian whatsoever, did not

own himself to be a devil, as truly, as in other places he would falsely

call himself a god, not daring to tell a lie to a Christian, that then
they should take the life of that Christian."— [Apology, ch. 23.

Again: "There is a sister among us, endued with the gifts of rev-
elations, which she suffers in the church, during the time of divine
service, by an ecstasy, in the spirit. She converses with angels, and
sometimes also with the Lord; sees and hears mysteries; and knows
the hearts of some, and prescribes medicines to those who want
them."— [De Anima, sec. 9.

He has a disquisition concerning angels and de-

mons, in which he enters into minute details.^
He gives the case of a woman who went to a
theater, and came back possessed by a demon and ;

on being cast out, the evil spirit said he had a right

to act as he did, having found her within his lim-
its.

Origen (A. D. 230) was of the opinion that certain

demons, offspring of the Titans or giants, who
haunt the grosser parts of bodies and the unclean
places of the earth, had the power of divining the
future.^
After fully discussing the question, and citing
many passages of scripture, he comes to the conclu-
(i.) Stromata, 6. 17.

(2.) Apol. sec. 22; Ad. Scapulam, sec. 2.

(3.) De Spectaculis, sec. 26.

(4.) Contra Celsum, 4. 92; 8. 11.

 ^

136 SECOND PERIOD — A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

sion that the sun, moon and stars are living, ration-
al beings.'

He says many could heal the sick, by invoking

the name of God over them, and of Jesus, with a
recital of some story of his life. ^'I myself," says
he, ''have seen many so healed in difficult cases ;

madness, and innumerable other

loss of senses, evils,
which neither men nor devils could cure. ^ '
'

Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch (A. D. 180), says

that evil and seducing spirits were exorcised and
cast out in his day.^

Minucius Felix, (3d century), addressing himself to his heathen

friend, in his Dialogue of "Octavius," says, "The greatest part of you
know what confessions the demons make, concerning themselves, as
oft as they are expelled out of the bodies of men, by the tor-
by us,
ture of our words, and the fire of our speech. Saturn himself, and
Serapis, and Jupiter, and the rest of them, whom you worship, con-
strained by the pain which they feel, confess what they are."— [Minuc.
Octav. p. 23, ch. 27.

Cyprian (A. D. 250), Arnobius (A. D. 303), and

Lactantius (A. D. 310), all give testimony in simi-
lar language, to the casting out of devils and evil
spirits by the Christians. "^

Eusebius had similar views.

Tertullian relates that a woman, whom he knew,
a member of the church, after having died, while
the presbyter was praying for her, removed her

(i.) De Principiis, i. 7, sec. 3; Contra Cels. S. 10, 11.

(2.) Ibid. lib. 3, ch. 24.

(3.) Ad Autolycum.
(4.) Cyprian, Epist.; Arnobius, lib. i. 46; Lactantius, Divin. Inst. 1. 2, c. 16.

(5.) Praep. Evang., 5. 2.

 AGE OP MIEACLES MIRACLES OF THE FATHERS. 137

hands from her sides, and folded them in the atti-

tude of supplication.^
Even the great Augustine relates a number of
most astounding miracles, which were performed
in the church, in his immediate neighborhood.^

The Thundering Legion. Eusebius quotes from —

a lost work of Claudius Apollinaris, his account of
a remarkable answer to prayer, received, about
A. D. 175, by the Christian soldiers of the Emper-
or Marcus Aurelius, in his war with the Quadri.
TertuUian, writing about A. D. 200, in a public
apology, also urges the same fact.
The incident referred to was this :

"It is said, that when Marcus Aurelius Caesar was forming his
troops in order of battle, against the Germans and Sarmatians, he
was reduced to extremities, by a failure of water."
Thereupon, in answer to the prayers of the Christian soldiers of the
Melitine Legion, so called, there came thunderbolts, which caused
the enemy's flight and overthrow. And upon the emperor's army, a
rain, "which restored it entirely, when it was all but perishing by
thirst."— [Euseb. Ecc. Hist., 6. 5.

This circumstance we mention not because there ,

is any miracle connected with it, even in appear-

ance since there is nothing miraculous in a sud-
;

den shower, or in a superstitious people buing

frightened by thunderbolts but because of the ;

great prominence which has been given to it, in

what might be called miraculous literature.
Much has been Dion Cassius
written about
it.

attributes the occurrence and the preservation of

the army to an Egyptian magician by the name of
(i.) De Anima, sec. 51. (2.) De Civ. Dei, 22. 8.
 ;

138 SECOND PERIOD — A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

Amuphis. Julius Capitolinus attributes it to the

emperor's prayers. Themistius the same. Baro-
nius, Moyle, Scaliger, Valesius and others have
written about it and more recently, the late Cardi-
;

nal Newman devoted fourteen pages to it, at the

close of which, he concludes it to have been a very
noted miracle.'
There was, no doubt, an occurrence of the kind
the army, when in dire extremity, having been re-
lieved by a sudden fall of rain. This we learn
from Dion Cassius and other heathen writers, and
from a sculpture of the celebrated Antonine Column
at Rome, where is a figure of Jupiter Pluvius, scat-
tering lightning and rain, the enemy and their
horses lying prostrate, and the Romans, sword in
hand, rushing upon them.
We hear nothing any connection of Christians
of
in the transaction, except from Tertullian and Euse-
bius, and those who copied from them.

As to the Christian legion, called, according to

Eusebius, the Melitine Legion, which he represents
as afterward remaining intact, Moyle says there
were few or no Christians in the army and adds, ;

'^
I would as soon believe my Lord Marlborough
had a whole regiment of Quakers in his army, as
that Antoninus had a whole legion of Christians in
his."^
Then, as to the name ''Thundering," applied to
the Melitine Legion, which Eusebius makes ApoUi-

(i.) Two Essays on Scripture Miracles, etc,, London, 1870, 2d Edn. pp. 240 to 254.
(2.) Moyle's Posthumous Works, vol. 2, pp. 84, 85.
 AGE OF MIRACLES APOCRYPHAL WRITINGS. 139

naris say the emperor gave to it on account of this

transaction, the fact is, that one of the Roman le-
gions had that name, from the time of Augustus
Caesar.

Turning Water into Oil. —Narcissus, Bishop of

Jerusalem, when lamps, at the vigil
oil failed for
of Easter, sent the persons who had the care of
them, to the neighboring well for water. When
they brought it, he prayed over it, and it was changed
into oil. At least, so says Eusebius.' Narcissus
was made bishop about 180.
This reported miracle has been the occasion of
learned disquisitions by Dodwell, Jortin and many
others. Newman devotes several pages to it, and
closes by saying, that while he cannot say positive-
ly that he believes it, yet he has no doubt about it.^
From the list of noted miracles discussed by Dr.
Newman, those two have been mentioned, because
they are said to have occurred in the second centu-
ry-
It is a significant fact, that they both come, either
originally, or with important accessions, from Euse-
bius.

APOCRYPHAL WRITINGS.
From the middle of the second century, and even
earlier, the Christian world was flooded with anon-
ymous writings of a religious character, filled with
miracles of every description. There was a morbid
demand kind of literature. At a later day,
for that
these writings were styled apocryphal.

(i.) Ecclesiastical Hist., 6. 9. (2,) Essays on Miracles, p. 259.

 ^

140 SECOND PERIOD — A. D. 80 tO A. D. 120.

There were gospels, acts, revelations, epistles, etc.

etc.

The Revelation of Moses gives a long history of Adam and Eve.

The Revelation of Esdra resembles somewhat the Apocalypse of
John. The Revelation of Paul is of the same sort, relating, at great
length, the wonderful things revealed to Paul, when he went up to
the third heaven, and was caught up into paradise, and heard un-
speakable words. [2d Cor. 12. 4.] There is another Revelation of
John, the Book of John concerning the Falling Asleep of Mary, the
Passing [Translation] of Mary, etc.
The Acts of Peter and Paul, the Acts of Paul and Thecla, and the
story of Perpetua, have already been mentioned.
The Acts of Barnabas relate the journeyings, the miracles and
martyrdom of that apostle.
Finding a town, called Curium, was very wicked, he rebuked it,
and the western part fell, "so that many were wounded, and many of
them also died."

The Acts of Philip.—Nicanora, wife of the proconsul of Hiera-

polis, having been converted and healed of her sickness by the
preaching of Philip, her husband was so enraged, that he caused
them both, with Bartholomew, to be scourged, and the two apostles
to be hanged, Philip head downward. In this position, Philip has a
long conversation with Bartholomew, and preaches a discourse to
those standing about. When Mariamne was stripped, her body was
changed, and became a glass chest filled with light.
The Acts and Martyrdom of Andrew.—Andrew has a dis-
cussion with ^geates, the proconsul, ^geates, becoming very
angry, has Andrew crucified. Afterward, he was himself tormented
by the devil, and came to a violent death.
Besides these, there were the Acts of Andrew and Matthias, in the
City of the Man-Eater, the Acts of Peter and Andrew, the Acts and
Martyrdom of St. Matthew, the Acts of the Holy Apostle Thomas,
—
and many others. Fabricius has a list of Apocryphal Acts, 36 in
number. Some of them are written very much in the style of the
Acts of the Apostles.
Acts of Paul.— Dr. Lardner thinks that Origen referred to a
book entitled "The Acts of Paul."— De Principiis, 1, 2, T. 1, p. 54.

The Miracles of the New Testament.

When we turn to the miracles of the New Testa-
ment, we instinctively feel like making them an ex-
 AGE OF MIRACLES —MIRACLES OF THE N. T. 141

ception to the mass of wonders of that age. How

much of this feeling may be owing to education and
association , we will not stop to inquire ; and per-
haps it would not be found easy to determine.

The fact, however, cannot be ignored, that there

is no evidence showing that either of the five books
in which these miracles are recorded, was written
until nearly one hundred and fifty years after the
transactions are said to have occurred. How much
earlier the manuscripts existed from which these,
books were compiled, is not known. None of them
can be clearly traced to the first century.

There are other important considerations. A

number of these miracles consist in casting out de-
mons from human beings. But the doctrine of de-
mons is a doctrine of the past. It is now recognized
and admitted that from the beginning, the demons
,

have existed only subjectively, as forms of doctrine

and belief. What then becomes of this class of mir-
acles ?

If, without irreverence, we carefully examine

even the most imposing class of New Testament
miracles, looking upon them at the same time as
violations of known laws of nature (without which
a miracle loses its force and meaning) we meet with
,

very serious obstacles in the way of giving them

implicit credence.

In the case of Jairus' daughter, we have but to

take the explicit language of Jesus himself, '' The
maid is not dead, but sleepeth.''
 ;

142 SECOND PERIOD — A. D. 80 TO A. D. 120.

There are two other reported cases of raising from

the dead, in the canonical gospels. The raising of
the son of the widow of Nain, is found only in the
compilation of Luke. The authorship of the man-
uscript containing it, and the time when it was writ-
ten, are involved in obscurity.

The and the turning of water

raising of Lazarus,
into wine, the two transactions most plainly con-
travening the laws of nature, are only related in the
Gospel of John the author of that work having
;

probably taken them from the Acts of Pilate.

Why do the other canonical gospels contain no
mention of those stupendous miracles?
How can the belief in miracles be of any import-
ance in the Christian system? If the doctrines and
precepts of the Christian religion are adapted to the
nature of man, and in harmony with the divine
economy of the universe, they will stand, through
all time. If not, they will fall. The changing of
one element or substance into another, or even the
raising of a person from the dead, cannot make
wrong right, or change the truth into falsehood.
This great truth was all but comprehended by
Tertullian, intellectually the most vigorous of all
the early fathers. He declared that the proof of the
Christian religion by miracles, was inconclusive
*^ because,'' said he, ''Jesus Christ has assured his

disciples that some would arise, who should work

false miracles." — [Adv. Marcion, 3. 3.

Archbishop Trench falls into the same line of ar-

gument :
 AGE OF MIEACLES —MIRACLES OF THE N. T. 143
"A miracle does not prove the truth of a doctrine, or the divine
mission of him that brings it to pass. The doctrine must first com-
mend itself to the conscience as being good, and only then can the
miracle seal it as cZiwwe.— [Notes on the Miracles of our Lord, 8th
Ed. 1866, p. 25.

The same view is taken by Mozley and others.

But if the doctrine has received the sanction of the
conscience as good, not already divine?
is it And
what need of the miracle afterward?
 :

THIRD PERIOD.

CHAPTER X.
THE THREE APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS.

The Protevangelion.

Of the extant gospels of the second century, the

three most ancient are, the Protevangelion, or Book
of James, the Gospel of the Infancy, and the Act&
of Pilate, or Gospel of Nicodemus.

The Protevangelion was attributed to the apostle

James, and was called by Origen, ** The Book of
James.''
It is generally considered one of the oldest gospels
of the second century probably appearing about
;

the third decade. The name

, , '
First Gospel
'
^
would '

indicate it to be the first of certain writings of the

kind.
The following is an abstract of its contents
THE protevangelion.
Chapter 1.— An account of Joachim, and of the refusal of his
offerings in the temple, which were despised, because he had na
children.

Chaps. 2 and 3.-— Anna, the wife of Joachim, mourns her barren-
ness,and has a conversation upon the subject with her maid, Judiths
 APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS THE PROTEVANGELION. 145
Chaps. 4 to 7.— The angel announces to Anna that she is to have a
child.

She brings forth a daughter, and calls her name Mary.

When Mary was nine months she walked nine steps. When
old,
she was a year old, Joachim gave a great feast to the priests, scribes,
elders, and all the people of Israel.

When she was three years old, they took her to the temple, accom-
panied by the daughters of the Hebrews, carrying lamps.
Chaps. 8 and 9.—She continued in the temple, and received her
food from the hand of an angel. When she was twelve years old, the
priests met in consultation, to determine what to do with her. Zach-
arias, the high priest, consulting the Lord, was told to summon the
widowers with their rods, etc. The priest took the rods, and went
into the temple to pray. After finishing his prayer, he came out and
distributed the rods.

"The last rod was taken by Joseph, and behold, a dove proceeded
out of the rod, and flew upon the head of Joseph." The high priest
then designated Joseph as the one to take the virgin.
"But Joseph refused, saying: 'I am an old man, and have children;
but she is young, and I fear lest I should appear ridiculous in
Israel.' " The priest insisting, Joseph took her to his house, and then
went away, to mind his trade of building.
Chap. 10.—Mary selected by the priests to spin the true purple, for
a new vail for the temple.

Chap. 11.— The announcement to Mary by the angel. Similar to

Luke.
Chap. 12.—Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth. Similar to the account
in Luke. She is now 14 years old.
Chaps. 13 and 14.—Joseph, returning from building houses abroad,
found the virgin with child, and reproached her. Mary protested her
innocence, saying, she knew not how it had occurred.
Joseph was about to put her away, when an angel appeared, and
dissuaded him from it. Joseph then took the virgin, glorifying God.
Chaps. 15 and 16.— Joseph and Mary were brought before the
priest,accused of having violated her virginity; Joseph having taken
her merely to keep as a virgin.
Joseph was required to drink holy water, which he did, unharmed.
He was then acquitted.
Chaps. 17 and 18.— Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem to be
taxed. As Mary's time drew near, they were obliged to stop, three
miles from Bethlehem.
146 THIRD PERIOD A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

Mary was taken into a cave, and left, with Joseph's sons, while
Joseph went to Bethlehem after a midwife. On the way, he saw
various prodigies. Fowls of the air, stopping in the midst of their
flight; people sitting before a table at dinner, their hands on the table
motionless; sheep standing still, the shepherd with his hand raised to
smite them, his hand remaining motionless; kids with their mouths
to the water, but not drinking.

Chaps. and 20.—Joseph met a mid- wife. As they approached the

19
cave, a bright cloud overshadowed it, and going in, they found Jesus
was born. Salome came to the cave, and desiring proof that Mary was
a virgin, proof was vouchsafed. But as a result, Salome's hand im-
mediately withered. She prayed to the Lord; an angel appeared, and
told her to take the child, and her hand would be restored. She took
the child, and her hand was made whole.

—
Chap. 21. Wise men came from the east to Bethlehem, inquiring
King of the Jews. The interview between Herod and the wise
for the
men. Similar to Matthew.
Chaps. 22 to 24.— Herod having issued his order for the slaughter of
the children, "Mary, hearing that the children were to be killed, being
under much fear, took the child, and wrapped him up in swaddling
cloths, and laid him in an ox-manger, because there was no room for
them in the inn."
Elizabeth, hearing that her son John was to be searched for, took
him, and went up into the mountains. There a mountain opened and
received them. Zacharias, because he would not disclose the hiding
place of his son John, was murdered in the entrance of the temple.
When Zacharias was killed, "the roofs of the temple howled, and were
rent from the top to the bottom, and his blood was congealed to stone."

Chap. 25.— Conclusion. "I, James, wrote this history in Jerusa-

lem; and when the disturbance was, I retired into a desert place, until
the death of Herod. And the disturbance ceased at Jerusalem."

Opinions of the Fathers.

The account in the Protevangelion of the mur- ,

der of Zacharias, father of John the Baptist, was

generally accredited by the fathers. It is mentioned
and endorsed by Tertullian,' by Origen,^ by Epipha-

(i.) Scorpiac, adv. Gnost., c. 8.

(2.) Honj.26, Matt. 23, fol, 49-

 APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS —THE PROTEVANGELION. 147
nius,' by Theophylact,'' and others.

The Protevangelion says, Zacharias was killed at

the entrance of the temple, and his blood was hard-
ened into stone. (Ch. 24.) —
TertuUian says, Zacharias was killed between the
altar and the temple, and the drops of his blood
made indelible impressions on the stones.
As has been already mentioned the circumstance,

of Joseph being an old man when Mary was be-

trothed to him, and having had children by a for-
mer wife, was accredited by the fathers generally.
The Protevangelion was here supported by the Gos-
pel of Peter.

Origen, it is true, only refers to it as believed by

some, but others adopt it implicitly. Eusebius says
James was called the brother of Christ, because he
was also called the son of Joseph. ^ Epiphanius
says the same,* and in another place, that Joseph
was about fourscore years old when he married
Mary and had six children before that time, by a
;

former wife ;^ and again, writing against a sect

which denied the perpetual virginity of Mary, he
says

•'Joseph was very old when he married Mary, and had been many
years a widower; that he was the brother of Cleophas, the son of
James, surnamed Panther; that he had his first wife of the tribe of
Judah, and by her six children, to wit, four sons and two daughters.
His eldest son was James, surnamed Oblias, [this probably taken from

) De Vit, Prophet, vol. 2, p. 250, (attributed to Epiphanius.)

) In Matt.

) Ecc. Hist., 2. I.

) Haeres. 29; Naz, sec. 3, 4.

) Haeres. 51; Alogor. sec. 10.

148 THIRD PERIOD — A. D. 120 tO A. D. 130.

Eusebius, Ecc. Hist. 2. 23], that he begat him when he was about forty
years old; after him he had another son named Jose, then Simeon and
Judas, and then his two daughters Mary and Salome: after his wife's
death, he continued many years a widower, and about fourscore years
old, married Mary."— [Epiph. Hseres., 78, sec. 8.

So also was the account in the Protevangelion ac-

cepted as true by Hilary,' by Chrysostom (A. D.
407), Cyril (A. D. 375), by Euthymius and Theo-
phylact, and generally, as Bishop Pearson says,^ by
all the Latin fathers till Ambrose (A. D. 390), and
the Greek fathers afterward.

Epiphanius refers, also, to the death of Zacharias,

but there is a wide departure from the account in
the Protevangelion.

"It was," he says, "the occasion of the death of Zacharias in the tem-
ple, that when he had seen a vision, he through surprise was willing
to disclose it, mouth was stopped. That which he saw, was
and his
at the time of offering incense; and it was a man standing in the form
of an ass.

"When he had gone out, and had a mind to speak thus to the people,
*Wo unto you, whom do ye worship?' he who had appeared to him in
the temple, took away the use of his speech. Afterward, when he re-
covered it, and was able to speak, he declared this to the Jews, and
they slew him. They add, that on this very account, the high priest
was appointed by their lawgiver to carry little bells, that whensoever
he went into the temple to sacrifice, he whom they worshiped, hearing
the noise of the bells, might have time enough to hide himself, and not
be caught in that ugly shape and figure."--[Epiph. Haer., 79. 5.

That Mary, at three years of age, was taken to

the temple, and remained there eleven years, was
received as true by Euodius, Gregory of Nyssen,
(380), Damascene, (725), Germanus, Bishop of Con-

(i.) In Matth. i.

(2.) On the Creed, p. i75. Art. 3.

 APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS THE PROTEVANGELION 149 .

stantinople, Andreas Cretensis, (675), George, bish-

op of Nicomedia, and others.'

The Protevangelion was not condemned by the

decree of Pope Gelasius.
Jones was mistaken in supposing that Epiphanius
and Austin were the first writers who had recog-
nized the Protevangelion.^ Origen mentioned it as
^HheBookof James;'' Tertullian was acquainted
with it, and still earlier, Justin Martyr.
The fact that Christ was born in a cave, is fre-
quently alluded to in the writings of the fathers.
Thus Gregory Nyssen (380) says :

"We are indeed cheered by the gospel, when we revert to the speech
at Bethlehem, and when we contemplate the divine mysteries in the
cave." "Speelaio musteeria."— [Greg. Nys. Op. vol. 3, p. 348. (See also,
the chapter of this work entitled, "Justin Martyr,")

(i.) See Baronius, (1588), Apparat. ad Aanal., no. 48.

(2.) Jeremiah Jones, New Method, etc., vol. 2, p. 144.

 : —

CHAPTER XI.

THE PROTEVAKGELION,
AND THE GOSPELS OF LUKE AND MATTHEW.

The Protevangelion one of the Manuscripts used in

THE Compilations of Luke and Matthew The Protevan-—
gelion AND the first TWO CHAPTERS OP LUKE AND MaTTHEW
COMPARED. Which was first written?

Dr. Frederick Schleiermacher, who is styled, in

the Imperial Dictionary of 'Biography, *^ the most
influential theologian of Protestant Germany that
has appeared during the present century, ''in an
able essay, has shown, that the Gospel of Luke con-
sists, almost entirely, of a compilation of manu-
scripts, older than the time of the compiler.

Speaking of the first and second chapters, he

says

"It is impossible, at the outset, to avoid observing the great differ-

ence of style between the introductory passage, (ch. 1, vv. 1 to 4), and
this section (balance of chs. 1 and 2); since from very tolerable and
well constructed Greek, which even makes some attempts at elegance,
we suddenly drop into the harshest Hebraistic phraseology; so that
one is loth to attribute both to the same hand,"—[Critical Essay on
Luke, p. 21, Ed. London, 1825.

Again:
"If we compare the end of th^ first chapter with the beginning of
the second, we can scarcely remsun in doubt, that the section from
 APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS THE PEOTEVANGELIOIST. 151
verse 5 to the end of the chapter, (ch. 1), was originally an independent
whole. In the first place, the 80th verse is an evident form of conclu-
sion.

"To this it may be added, that if it were the same narrator who is
proceeding in the second chapter, many things ought to be differently
stated."— [lb. p. 22.

"Thus then we begin by detaching the first chapter as an originally

independent composition. If we consider it in this light somewhat
more closely we cannot resist the impression, that it was originally a
a poetical work rather than a proper historical narrative. The latter
supposition in its strictest sense, at all events, no one will adopt; or
contend that the angel Gabriel announced the advent of the Messiah,
in figures so purely Jewish, and in expressions taken mostly from the
Old Testament; or that the alternate song between Elizabeth and
Mary actually took place in the manner described; or that Zachariah,
at the instant of recovering his speech, made use of it to utter the
hymn, without being disturbed by the joy and surprise of the compa-
ny, by which the narrator himself allows his description to be inter-
rupted.

"At all events, then, we should be obliged to suppose that the au-
thor made additions of his own, and enriched the historical narrative
by the lyrical effusions of his own genius. But even in the historical
part, there is much that will not admit of being understood as literal
narrative. In the first place, the whole chronology depends on the
circumstance which the author was desirous of introducing, that the
child in Elizabeth's womb leaped for joy at Mary's approach. Mary
is, on this account, made to defer her visit till after the fifth month;

and in order to leave no chasm in the whole, the angel, for the same
reason, is made to come to her no sooner. Immediately after the an-
nunciation, she sets out, and stays three months with her cousin; —
circumstance also very improbable, on account of her own approach-
ing nuptials— in order that upon her return, the birth of Jesus might
be immediately subjoined.
"Similar to this is the circumstance, that Zacharias is punished
with dumbness for his unbelief, and thus contrasted with Mary, who
breaks forth, under divine inspiration, into songs of praise; and yet
that, although his unbelief must long before have ceased, he does
not recover his speech till the instant when, by confirming the name,
he solemnly recognizes the angel's declaration of his son's calling.
. we add the whole grouping, the angel coming to Zacha-
"If to this
rias, and announcing the last prophet of the old covenant in the tem-
ple, the same coming afterward to Mary, and announcing the advent
of the Messiah in the despised Nazareth, the meeting of Mary and
152 THIRD PERIOD — A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

Elizabeth, the winding up of the whole by the restoration of Zacha-

rias to speech, and his hymn, which form the conclusion, there nat-
urally presents itself to us a pleasing little composition, completely in
the style and manner of several Jewish poems, still extant among our
apocryphal writings ; written in all probability, originally in Aramaic,
by a Christian of the more liberal Judaizing school, and of the general
style of which, a faithful image is conveyed in the early severe school
of Christian painting."— [Essay on Luke, by Schleiermacher, pp. 24 to

The Protevangelion which is one of the extant

,

apocryphal writings alluded to, is in the Greek lan-

guage, but is filled with Hebraisms, showing it to
have been written by a Hellenic Jew and justify- ;

ing the supposition of our author, that it was orig-

inally in the Aramaic tongue.

The following comparison of the two gospels

will, it is believed, sustain the inference of Schleier-
macher, that the apocryphal gospel, so called, was
first written :

(We have consulted the original Greek text, from the Orthodoxo-
grapha of Grynseus, p. 71, etc.)

The Protevangelion
Compared with Luke and Matthew.
Protevangelion, ch. 11. Luke, ch. 1.

26. And in the sixth month the

angel Gabriel was sent from God,
unto a city of Galilee, named
]Sazareth.
27. To
a virgin espoused to a
And she (Mary) took a pitcher, man whose name was Joseph, of
and went out to fill it with water. the house of David; and the vir-
And behold, a voice, saying; Hail, gin's name (was) Mary.
full of grace; the Lord is with 28. And the angel came
in unto
thee; blessed art thou among wo- her, and Hail (thou that art)
said,
men. highly favored, the Lord is with
And she looked around, to the thee: blessed (art) thou among
right and to the left, to see whence women.
this voice came. And trembling, 29. And when she saw (him,) she
she went into her house, and put was troubled at his saying, and
 APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS —THE PEOTEVANGELION. 153
Protevangelion, ch. IL Luke, ch. 1.

down the pitcher, and taking the cast in her mind what manner of
purple, she sat down in her seat, salutation this should be.
to work it. And behold the an- 30. And the angel said unto her.
gel of the Lord (one version reads, Fear not, Mary; for thou hast
*'a young man of ineffable beau- found favor with God.
ty,") stood by her, and said: Fear 31. And behold, thou shalt con-
not, Mary; for thou hast found ceive in thy womb, and bring
favor with God. forth a son, and shalt call his
name JESUS.
32. He shall be great, and
shall be called the Son of the
Highest; and the Lord God shall
give unto him the throne of his
father David.
When she heard this, she rea- 33. And he shall reign over the
soned with herself. What sort of house of Jacob forever; and of
salutation is this to me? And his kingdom there shall be no end.
the angel said unto her, The Lord 34. Then said Mary unto the
is with thee, and thou shalt con- angel, how shall this be, seeing I
ceive. And shall I conceive, said know not a man?
she, by the living God, and bring
forth as other women do ?
35. And the angel answered and
said unto her. The Holy Ghost
The angel replied, Not so,Mary, shall come upon thee, and the
for the Holy Ghost shall come up- power of the Highest shall over-
on thee, and the power of the shadow thee; therefore also, that
Highest shall overshadow thee; holy thing which shall be born of
therefore also the holy thing thee, shall be called the Son of
which shall be born of thee shall God.
be called the Son of the living
God.
And thou shalt call his name
Jesus, for he shall save his people
from their sins. 36. And behold, thy cousin Elis-
And behold thy cousin Elisa- abeth, she hath also conceived a
beth, she has also conceived a son son in her old age; and this is the
In her old age. And this is the sixth month with her who was
sixth month with her who was called barren:
called barren. 37. For with God nothing shall
be impossible.
For nothing shall be impossible
38. And Mary said, Behold the
with God.
handmaid of the Lord; be it unto
And Mary said,behold the hand- me according to thy word. And
maid of the Lord; be it unto me the angel departed from her.
according to thy word.
Chapter 12. 39. And Mary arose in those
days, and went into the hill-coun-
And she wrought the purple,
try with haste, into a city of Ju-
and took it to the high priest.
da,
And the high priest blessed her,
saying: Mary, the Lord hath mag-
nified thy name, and thou shalt 40. And entered into the house
be blessed in all generations of of Zacharias, and saluted Elisa-
the earth. beth.
 154 THIRD PERIOD — A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

Luke, ch. 1.

Protevangelion, ch. 12. 41. And it came

to pass, that
Then Mary, filled with joy, when Elisabeth heard the saluta-
tion of Mary, the babe leaped in
went away to her cousinElisabeth, womb; and
and knocked at the door.
her Elisabeth was
filled with the Holy Ghost.
When
Elisabeth heard, she ran,
42. And she spake out with a
and opened to her, and blessed loud voice, and said: Blessed (art)
her.
thou among women, and blessed
(is) the fruit of thy womb.
And said: Whence is this to 43. And whence (is) this to me,
me, that the mother of my Lord that the mother of my Lord should
should come to me ? come to me?
For lo; as soon as the voice of 44. For
lo, as soon as the voice
thy salutation came to my ears, of thy salutation sounded in mine
that which is within me leaped ears, the babe leaped in my womb
and blessed thee. for joy.
But Mary, being ignorant of 45. And blessed (is) she that be-
those mysterious things, which lieved; for there shall be a per-
the archangel Gabriel had spoken formance of those things which
to her, lifted up her eyes to heaven, were told her from the Lord.
and said: Lord, what am I, that 46. And Mary said. soul My
allthe generations of the earth doth magnify the Lord, (etc. See
should call me blessed ? the song of Mary, Luke, ch. 1, vv.
46 to 55.)

But as day by day she grew big,

being afraid, she went to her 56. And Mary abode with her
home, and hid herself from the about three months, and returned
children of Israel. to her own house.
She was fourteen years old when
these mysteries happened.

No one can doubt that one of the foregoing nar-

ratives was used in the composition of the other.
If, as Schleiermacher supposes, the author of
Luke has inserted an entire manuscript, running
from verses 5 to 80, then the author of that man-
uscript drew from the Protevangelion, or the author
of the Protevangelion drew from the manuscript,
either before or after it was placed in the gospel of
Luke.
Grynseus, the author of the Orthodoxographa,
believed that the Protevangelion was first written.'
(i.) He says, "Multa habet quae narrationibus quatuor evangelistarum pulchre
consentiunt, plura autem quae ab illis velut parerga sunt praetermissa."
"It contains many things which perfectly agree with the accounts of the four evan-
gelists, but more which are omitted by (from) them as needless."
 APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS THE PROTEVANGELION. 155
If the foregoing parallel passages be carefully
examined, in connection with the abstract in the
previous chapter, it will be seen that the internal
evidence favors the earlier composition of the pas-
sages from the Protevangelion. Those are in the
midst of a much longer story, forming a natural
and consistent part of it while the account in
;

Luke is a disjointed and unconnected narrative.

The variations in Luke are evidently for a pur-
pose.
For instance, in the 27th verse, it is stated that
Joseph was of the house of David and in the 32d
;

verse, that Jesus should be given the throne of his

father David ; which is there any
for neither of
parallel in the Protevangelion. The earlier fath-
ers, who followed this gospel, thought it sufficient
to trace the descent of Mary from David. But the
author of Luke desired to show that Joseph was
descended from David hence the change, which
;

appears to have been made in support of his gene-

alogy.
In pursuance of the same object, in the 4th verse
of the2d chapter, he represents that Joseph went
up from Galilee to Bethlehem, to be taxed, ^^ because
he was of the house and lineage of David." The
17th chapter of the Protevangelion represents Jo-
seph as going to Bethlehem to be taxed, but says
nothing of his being of the house and lineage of
David. If the Protevangelion had been last writ-
ten, there isno reason why that circumstance, if
true, should have been omitted; and especially if
that was the reason why Joseph went to Bethlehem
 : :

156 THIRD PERIOD — A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

to be taxed. On the contrary, the author of the

Protevangelion would have inserted the reference
to David, as calculated tomagnify the importance
of Jesus, by showing his royal descent, on the male
side of his ancestry.
Then the song of praise with which Mary breaks
forth, has a theological look, being composed,
almost entirely, from passages in the Old Testa-
ment. This, also, is not in the Protevangelion.
If, indeed, it was spoken by Mary herself, it may
be looked upon as strong evidence of the truth of
the statement, that Mary was brought up in the
temple since in no other way would she have been
;

so conversant with the Jewish scriptures.

Passing on to the second chapter of Luke, Dr.
Schleiermacher, commenting on verses 1 to 20, and
suggesting that it appears like a separate narrative,
says
"We can recognize neither the same author, nor the prevalence of
a poetical character, since this would necessarily have occasioned the
introduction of more lyrical passages. Here, therefore, we must
refer the main fact, at least, to an historical tradition. But upon
this, if we
seek grounds for an exact conclusion, there arises in the
first place the question, from what source the narrative may be drawn.
For two may be conceived, Joseph and Mary on the one side, the shep-
herds on the other."

After considering the circumstances, he inclines

to the opinion, that the narrative came originally
from the shepherds. He
thinks the shepherds
related what occurred, and the affair became known
in the neighborhood of Bethlehem. He concludes
as follows
"We must therefore suppose, that this story was only drawn forth
from the dust of oblivion, by the recollection of individuals, after the
 APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS THE PROTEVANGELION. 157
fame of Jesus was already established, and therefore probably did not
obtain further publicity until after his death/'— [Essay on Luke, pp.
32 to 35.

The following parallel may enable us to deter-

mine which of these gospels contains the earlier
record of this, story :

THE BIETH OF JESUS.

Protevangelion, ch. 17. Luke, ch. 2.

And it came to pass that there And it came to pass in those

went forth a decree from the Em- days, that there went out a de-
peror Augustus, that all the Jews cree from Caesar Augustus, that
should be taxed, (apographesthai), all the world should be taxed.
who were of Bethlehem of Judea. 2. (And this taxing was first
And Joseph said, I will take made when Cyrenius was Gover-
care that my children shall be nor of Syria.)
taxed; but what shall I do with 3. And all went to be taxed,
this young woman ? To have her every one into his own city.
taxed as my wife I am ashamed;
But if as my daughter, all Israel
4. And Joseph also went up
from Galilee, out of the city of
knows she is not my daughter. Nazareth, into Judea, unto the
The day itself of the Lord shall
city of David, which is called
bring to pass what it will.
Bethlehem; (because -he was of
And he saddled the ass, and the house and lineage of David,)
placed her upon it. Joseph and
5. To be taxed with Mary, his
Simeon followed, and arrived
espoused wife, being great with
within three miles (of Bethlehem.)
child.
6. So it was, that while they
Chapter 18. were there, the days were accom-
plished that she should be deliv-
And he found there a cave, and ered.
led her into it, and leaving her
and his sons in the cave, he went
forth to seek a Hebrew midwife
in the country of Bethlehem.
(On his way Joseph sees the
prodigies mentioned in last chap-
ter.)
(Ch. 19.—He meets a midwife
coming down from the mountains.
They return together, and find
Jesus born, in the cave.) 7. And she brought forth her
first-born son,
In subsequent chapters, various
remarkable events are related, in-
cluding the visit of the wise men
"to Bethlehem," and the order for
the slaughter of the children. The
 :

158 THIRD PERIOD A. D. 120 tO A. D. 130.

Protevangelion, ch. 18. Luke, ch. 2.

story proceeds as follows:)

But Mary hearing that the child-
ren were to be killed, being under
much fear, took the child, and
wrapped him up in swaddling- and wrapped him in swad-
cloths, and laid him
an ox- in and laid him in a
dling-clothes,
manger, because there was no manger; because there was no
room for them in the inn.— [ch. 22. room for them in the inn.

The account of the vision of the shepherds, etc.,

does not appear in the Protevangelion a circum- ;

stance which cannot well be accounted for, if Luke

was first written. The author of the Protevangel-
ion enlarges upon many unimportant circumstan-
ces, and is not in want of space. It is difficult to
see if his work was last written, he should
why,
omit so interesting a portion of the story, as that
concerning the shepherds one too, which would ;

have added so much to the importance of the trans-

action .

In a subsequent chapter, it will be seen that this

account has a parallel in the Gospel of the Infancy.
This gospel states also that Jesus was circumcised
in the cave.

So with the presentation in the temple 22d to :

40th of 2d chapter of Luke, which, Schleiermacher

thinks, was a separate narrative, from another man-
uscript. This, though not in the Protevangelion,
is in the Gospel of the Infancy. The same may be
said of the balance of the chapter, verses 41 to 52.

Of this portion of the narrative, Schleiermacher

says
 APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS THE PROTEVANGELION. 159
"That the last piece of this division, too, Jesus' first visit to the tem-
ple, did not originally belong to the same context with what goes be-
fore, is rendered evident by a variety of marks. Verse 40, which some
most strangely consider as the beginning of this last piece, against all
analogy with 1st. 80, and 2d. 52, is a mere form of conclusion."— [Essay
p. 41.

This learned writer sums up his view of the com-

position of the first two chapters of Luke, as fol-
lows :

"Thus, then, by an apparently gradual annexation of several de-

tached narratives, committed to writing independently of each other^
to a piece which was originally composed, not as an historical narra-
tive, but as a poem, did the first division of this gospel, according to
these indications, take its rise."-[Essay, p. 44.

The internal evidence going to show that this gos-

pel was written before Luke, is supported by the
historical fact, that Justin Martyr (A. D. 150 to 160),
who furnishes no evidence of having seen the Gos-
pel of Luke, was acquainted with the Protevangel-
ion history, and received it as true. He refers to
Christ being born in a cave, and to various other
incidents of the narrative, not found in the canoni-
cal gospels.
Let us now pass on to the Gospel of Matthew

JOSEPH AND THE ANGEL.

PROTEVANGELION, Ch. 13. Matthew, ch. 1.

And when her sixth month was V. 18. Now the birth of Jesus
come, Joseph, returning from his Christ was on this wise: When as
building houses, and entering in- his mother Mary was espoused to
to his house, found the virgin Joseph, before they came together,
grown big with child. she was found with child of the
Holy Ghost.
Chapter 14. 19. Then Joseph her husband,
being a just (man,) and not will-
Then Joseph was exceedingly
afraid,and went away from her,
considering what he should do
with her: and he thus reasoned
with himself:
160 THIED PERIOD — A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

-Protevangelion, ch. 14. Matthew, ch. 1.

If I conceal her crime, I shall ing to make her a public example^,
be found guilty, by the law of was minded to put her away pri-
the Lord; and if I discover her to vily.
the children of Israel, I fear lest, 20. But while he thought on
she being with child by an angel, these things, behold, the angel of
I shall be found to betray the life the Lord appeared unto him in a
of an innocent person. What, dream, saying, Joseph, thou son
therefore shall I do ? I will privily of David, fear not to take unto
put her away. thee Mary thy wife; for that
And night came upon him, and which is conceived in her is of the
behold, an angel of the Lord ap- Holy Ghost.
peared to him in a dream, saying: 21. And she shall
bring forth a
Be not afraid to take the young son, shalt call his name
and thou
woman, for that which is within Jesus, for he shall save his peo-
her is of the Holy Ghost. ple from their sins.
And she shall bring forth a son, Now all this was done that
22.
and thou shalt call his name itmight be fulfilled which was
Jesus, for he shall save his people spoken of the Lord by the prophet
from their sins. saying:
23. Behold a virgin shall be with
child, and shall bring forth a son,
and they shall call his name Em-
manuel, which being interpreted
is, God with us.

Then Joseph arose from his 24. Then Joseph, being raised
sleep, and glorified the God of from sleep, did as the angel of the
Israel, who had shown him such Lord had bidden him, and took
grace, and he kept the maiden. unto him his wife.

Here, again, the later and more theological char-

acter of the composition, is apparent in Matthew.

Not only does the angel address Joseph as the son

of David, which form of address is not in the Prote-
vangelion, but verses 22 and 23 are injected into
the Protevangelion history, for the purpose of mak-
ing the account fit in with a certain prophecy of the
Old Testament. These verses are, however, no
improvement upon the Protevangelion. When that
prophecy is examined, it is found not to relate to^

Christ at all.
 APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS THE PBOTEVANGELION. 161
The passage is in the 7th chapter of Isaiah.

In the days of Ahaz, King of Judah, the kings

of Syria and Israel went up to Jerusalem, and made
war against it. Then the Lord sent Isaiah forth
with instructions to meet Ahaz, and to bid him to
be quiet, and fear not. He was instructed to assure
Ahaz, that within three-score and five years, Eph-
raim should be broken. The Lord then bid Ahaz
ask for a sign. But Ahaz replied, he would not
ask, neither would he tempt the Lord. Then the
Lord (through Isaiah) said :

"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin
shall conceive,and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. But-
ter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and
choose the good. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil,
and choose the good,the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of
both her kings."— [Isaiah, 7. 14. 16.

The 8th chapter proceeds as follows :

"Moreover, the Lord said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write
in it with a man's pen concerning Maher-shalal-hash-baz. And I took
unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah
the son of Jeberechiah. And I went unto the prophetess, and she con-
ceived, and bare a son. Then said the Lord to me, Call his name
Maher-shalal-hash-baz. (In making speed to the spoil, he hasteneth
the prey.) For before the child shall have knowledge to cry. My fath-
er, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria
shall be taken away before the king of Assyria."-[Isa. 8. 1-4.

only necessary to read the passage, in con-

It is
nection with the context, to see that it had no ref-
erence to Christ whatever. The language does not
profess to be prophetic, beyond sixty-five years.
Otherwise, it is historical, throughout, and the his-
tory needs no interpretation.
162 THIRD PERIOD A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

VISIT OF THE MAGI - SLAUGHTER OF THE CHILDREN.

Protevangelion, ch. 21. Matthew, ch. 2.

Then Joseph was preparing to Now when Jesus was born in

go away. For there was a great Bethlehem of Judea, in the days
commotion in Bethlehem, by the of Herod the king, behold there
coming of wise men from the east, came wise men from the east to
Jerusalem,

saying: Where is he that is born 2. Saying: Where is he that is

King of the Jews ? For we have born King of the Jews ? For we
seen his star in the east, and are have seen his star in the east, and
come to worship him. are come to worship him.
When Herod heard this, he was 3. When Herod the king had
exceedingly troubled; and having heard (these things), he was
sent messengers to the wise men troubled, and all Jerusalem with
and the priests, he inquired of him.
them in the prsetorium, saying to 4. And when he had gathered
them. Where is it written among all the chief priests and scribes of
you, of Christ the king, that he the people together, he demanded
should be born? of them where Christ should be
Then they say unto him. In born.
Bethlehem of Judea; for thus it 5. And they said unto him, In
is written; And thou Bethlehem, Bethlehem of Judea; for thus it
in the land of Juda, art not the is written by the prophet:
least among the princes of Juda;
6. And thou Bethlehem in the
for out of thee shall come a gov-
land of Juda, art not the least
ernor, who shall rule my
people
among the princes of Juda; for
Israel.
out of thee shall come a governor,
And having sent away the chief who shall rule my people Israel.
priests, he inquired of the wise
men in the prsetorium, and said
7. Then Herod, when he had
privily called the wise men, in-
unto them: What sign was it ye
quired of them diligently what
saw concerning the king that is time the star appeared.
born ? They answered.

We saw an extraordinary large

star, shining among the stars of
heaven, and it so outshined all the
other stars, that they became not
visible; and we know that a great
king has come in Israel, and there-
fore have come to worship him. 8. And he sent them to Bethle-
Then said Herod to them, Go hem, and said, Go and search dil-
and make diligent inquiry, and if igently for the young child, and
ye find him bring me word again, when ye have found him, bring
that I may come and worship him me word again, that I may come
also. and worship him also.
 APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS THE PROTEVANGELION. 163

PROTEVANGELION, Ch. 21. Matthew, ch. 2.

So the wise men went forth, and 9. When they had heard the
behold the star which they saw in king, they departed; and lo, the
the east went before them, till it star which they saw in the east,
came and stood over the cave went before them, till it came and
where the young child was, with stood over where the young child
Mary his mother. was.
10. When they saw the star,
they rejoiced with exceeding great
joy.
11. And when they were come
into the house, they saw the young
child, with Mary his mother, and
felldown and worshiped him;
and when they had opened their
treasures, they presented unto
Then they brought forth out of him gifts; gold, and frankincense,
their treasures, and offered unto and myrrh.
him gold, and frankincense, and 12. And being warned of God
myrrh. in a dream, that they should not
And being warned in a dream return to Herod, they departed
by an angel, that they should not into their own country another
return to Herod, through Judea, way.
they departed into their own (The warning of Joseph, and
country, another way. the flight to Egypt, not in the
Protevangelion. They are how-
ever, in the Gospel of the In-
fancy.)
Chapter 22. 16. Then Herod, when he saw
he was mocked by the wise men,
Then Herod, when he perceived was exceeding wroth, and sent
that he was mocked by the wise
forth and slew all the children
men, being very angry, sent mur-
that were in Bethlehem, and in
derers, commanding them to slay
all the coasts thereof, from two
all the children, from two years
years old and under, according to
old and under.
the time which he had diligently
inquired of the wise men.
17. Then was fulfilled that
which was spoken by Jeremy the
prophet, saying:
18. In Rama there was a voice
heard, lamentation and weeping,
and great mourning; Rachel
weeping for her children, and
would not be comforted, because
they are not.

Here is another prophecy, not alluded to in the

Protevangelion.
In this case as in the other, it is only necessary
to read the prophecy in its connection with the con-
 ' :

164 THIRD PERIOD A. D. 120 TO A, D. 130.

text, in order to determine whether its application

here is legitimate.

In the 30th and 31st chapters of Jeremiah, the

prophet predicts the return of the children of Israel
from their captivity. The revelation was, it ap-
pears, communicated to him in a dream for in the ;

26th verse of the 31st chapter, he says, '^Upon this

I awaked, and beheld and my sleep was sweet un-
;

'
to me.

The 30th chapter commences thus :

"The word that came to Jeremiah, from the Lord, saying:

Verse 3. "For
the days are come, salth the Lord,that I will bring
lo,

again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord; and
I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers?
and they shall possess it."
V. 5. "For thus saith the Lord: We have heard a voice of trembling,
of fear, and not of peace."

V. 10 "And Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet,

and none shall make him afraid."
V. 18. "Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring again the captivity
of Jacob's tents," etc.

V. 20. "Their children also shall be as aforetime," etc.

Ch. 31, V. 8. "Behold I will bring them from the north country," etc.

V. 9. "They shall come with weeping," etc.

Then, soon after, with nothing intervening, to

change the subject matter, comes the following
V. 15. "Thus saith the Lord, A voice was heard in Ramah, lamenta-
tion, and bitter weeping: Rachel weeping for her children, refused to
be comforted for her children, because they were not.
"Thus saith the Lord; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and
V. 16.
thine eyesfrom tears; for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord;
and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.
V. 17. "And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy child-
ren shall come again, to their own border."
 APOCEYPHAL GOSPELS —THE PROTEVANGELION. 165
It needs no argument or construction to show that
the children of Israel are the children referred to in
this chapter, and that it had no more reference to
the infant children of Bethlehem to be slain by
Herod, than it had to the children of Chicago.
It is only by applying a principle known to theo-
logians as ^'accommodation/' that any such appli-
cation of the language can be made. But by the
method of accommodation, any conceivable propo-
sition can be proved from any chapter of the bible.
The reference prophecy of Micah, ''And
to the
thou, Bethlehem, etc., is only in some copies of
'^

the Protevangelion. It is not in the Ante-Nicene

version, and was probably an interpolation.
From the subsequent verses of the 5th chapter of
Micah, appears that the prophecy related to a
it

ruler of Israel who should be able to cope success-

fully with the king of Assyria.
If the prophecy related to Christ, then it was nec-
essary that he should be born in the village of Beth-
lehem But all the copies of the Protevangelion rep-
.

resent that he was born in a cave three miles from

Bethlehem. So it is related in the Gospel of the
Infancy, that Jesus was born in a cave before his
parents reached Bethlehem, though the distance is
not stated. But Bethlehem being comparatively a
small village, the prophecy would not thus be ful-
filled. "For out of thee shall come,'' etc. Hence
the probability that the reference to the prophecy
in some copies of the Protevangelion, is an inter-
polation. Hence also the necessity, that in Mat-
thew, where the verses relating to the prophecy stand
166 THIRD PERIOD —A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

on the same footing with the rest, Jesus should be

born in the very village of Bethlehem.
If Matthew was first written, and was known to
the authors of the other gospels, it is strange that
they should have Jesus born outside of Bethlehem,
at the risk of disconnecting the event from the
prophecy. The authors of those gospels were dis-
posed, neither to deny the Messiahship of Jesus, nor
to deprive him of the benefit of any of the Jewish
prophecies.
For the reasons given, and because in the Prote-
vangelion all the circumstances are simply and nat-
urally related in their connection, as portions of a
longer story, we conclude the Protevangelion was
first written.
 CHAPTER XII.

THE GOSPEL OF THE INFANCY.

DiFFEEENT VERSIONS — SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS —TESTIMO-

NIES AND Citations of the Fathers.

The complete Gospel of the Infancy of the Savior,

first appeared in the Arabic language. It was
translated into Latin, and was published by Mr.
Sike, Professor of Oriental languages at Cambridge,
England. It was published at Utrecht, in 1697.
Besides this, there is a fragment of what is
thought to be a more ancient gospel, ascribed to
the Apostle Thomas, and known as Thomas' Gos-
pel of the Infancy.

It is published in the Ante-Nicene collection, in

three forms two being translations from the
:

Greek, and one from the Latin. It is manifest

that these, as well as the publication of Mr. Sike,
are but different versions of the one Gospel of the
Infancy.
The following is a synopsis of the complete gos-
pel, as published by Mr. Sike :

Chapter 1.— "The following accounts we have found in the book

of Joseph, the high priest, who lived in the time of Christ; and some
say that he is Caiaphas. He has said that Jesus spoke, and indeed,
168 THIED PERIOD A. D, 120 TO A. D. 130.

that when he was lying in his cradle, he said to his mother Mary, I
am Jesus, the Son of God, the Logos whom thou hast brought forth,
as the angel Gabriel announced to thee; and my Father hath sent me
for the salvation of the world."

Chs. 2 & 3.— The decree for the taxing; the journey of Joseph
and Mary; stopping at the cave; Joseph going after a midwife, and
the birth of Jesus in the cave; the general tenor of the story being
the same as in the Protevangelion, but the account being in a con-
densed form, and differing in some details.
Chs. 4, 5 & 6.— The story of the shepherds, the circumcision in the
cave, etc. Jesus brought to Jerusalem. Simeon, and Hannah.— [See
next chapter of this work].

Ch. 7.— The wise men came from the east, "according to the pro-
phecy of Zoradascht," [Zoroaster], and brought offerings, gold, etc.
Lady Mary gave them one of the swaddling-cloths of Jesus, "which
they received from her, as a most noble present." They followed the
star back to their own country.

Ch. 8.— On their return to their own country, having made a fire
and worshiped it, they cast in the swaddling-cloth, which remained
unharmed by the fire.
Oh. 9.— Herod inquired concerning the wise men; whereupon Jo-
seph, being warned by an angel, fled into Egypt.
Chs. 10 to 22.—[Here follows a series of most astounding miracles,
performed by Jesus, while a baby, in Egypt:
Idols fall down at his approach—people possessed of devils, are
cured by touching his swaddling-cloths; in one case, the devils com-
ing out of the mouth of one who had put a swaddling-cloth on his
head. A bride who had become dumb, recovers her speech, by tak-
ing the infant Jesus in her arms— a girl whose body was white with
leprosy, is cured by "being sprinkled with water in which the Lord
Jesus had been washed." Another is freed from Satan, who flees
away in the form of a young man. A
young man who had been
changed into a mule, is re-transformed into his proper shape, by the
boy Jesus having been placed on the mule's back, etc. etc.]

Ch. 23.—In a desert country they met two robbers, named Titus
and Dumachus. Titus having interested himself for the safety of
the mother and child, St. Mary prophesied that the Lord God would
receive him on his right hand, and grant him the pardon of his sins.
Jesus also said to his mother, "When thirty years are expired, O
mother, the Jews will crucify me at Jerusalem, and these two thieves
shall be with me, at the same time, upon the cross, Titus on my right
 GOSPEL OF THE INFANCY. 169
hand, and Dumachus on my left, and from that time, Titus shall go
before me into paradise."

Ch. 24. —In Matarea, the Lord Jesus caused a well to spring forth,
in which St. Mary washed his coat.

Ch. 25.— Thence they proceeded to Memphis, and saw Pharaoh.

They abode three years; "And the Lord Jesus did very many mir-
acles in Egypt, which are neither to be found in the Gospel of the In-
fancy, nor in the Gospel of Perfection."

[Mr. EUicott, in his Essay on the Apocryphal Gospels, which will be

noticed hereafter, very ingeniously supposes the writer of the Infancy,
by the Gospel of Perfection, here to mean the four canonical gospels;
though it is well understood, that one of the lost gospels of the second
century was called "The Gospel of Perfection." See that title].
Ch. 26.— At the end of three years, they returned out of Egypt, and
when they came near Judea, Joseph was afraid of Archelaus. At
the same time, he was warned by an angel to go to Nazareth.
The writer then makes this pertinent remark:
"It is strange, indeed, that He who is the Lord of all countries,
should be carried backward and forward, through so many countries."
—
Chs. 27 to 34. Here follows another series of miracles, similar to
those performed in Egypt.
St. Mary had healed a sick boy, by giving his mother one of the
swaddling-cloths of the boy Jesus, in exchange for a handsome car-
pet. Another woman, who was envious, threw Caleb [the boy who
had been healed] into a hot oven. When his mother returned, she
saw Caleb lying in the middle of the oven, laughing. When the
woman told her story, St. Mary replied, "Be quiet, for I am concerned,
lest thou shouldst make this matter known." After this, the other
woman threw Caleb into a well, but he sat upon the surface of the
water, uninjured. The woman who had thrown him in, fell in her-
self and perished.
A boy whose eyes were closed in death, revived at the smell of the
garments of the Lord Jesus.
A
girl who was afflicted by Satan sucking her blood, put upon her
head, as Satan approached her, one of the swaddling-cloths of Jesus.
Thereupon there issued forth from the cloth, flames and burning
coals, which fell upon the dragon. Then the dragon cried out, "What
have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou son of Mary ? Whither shall I
flee from thee ?" He then left the girl.
A
Cn. 35.— boy named Judas was possessed by Satan. Whenever
Satan seized him, he wished to bite any one present. The mother of
170 THIED PERIOD — A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

the miserable boy took him to St. Mary. In the mean time, James
and Jose had taken away the infant Lord Jesus, to play, and were
sitting down together. Judas came and sat down, at the right hand
of Jesus, and tried to bite him. Because he could not do it, he struck
Jesus in the right side, so that he cried out; and at the same moment,
Satan went out of the boy, and ran away like a mad dog. This boy
was Judas Iscariot.

Ch. 36.— When the Lord Jesus was seven years old, he, with other
boys of about the same age, was making clay into the shape of asses,
oxen, birds, etc. Jesus commanded his to move and walk, which
they did. He also made figures of sparrows, and caused them to fly.
The fathers of the other children told them that Jesus was a
sorcerer.

—
Chs. 37 to 39. Other miracles. Jesus, playing with other boys,
threw the clothes of a dyer into a furnace. When taken out, they
were all dyed, with the desired colors. Jesus accompanied his father
Joseph in his carpenter work, and whenever Joseph wanted any
thing made longer or shorter, Jesus would stretch his hand toward it,
and it became of the proper length. Joseph had spent two years
making a throne for the king of Jerusalem. It was short on each
side, two spans. Joseph was so afraid of the king's anger, that he
went to bed without his supper. In the morning, Jesus took hold on
one side, and Joseph on the other, and pulled, and the throne came
to the right dimensions.

Ch. 40.~Jesus turned some boys into kids; saying to them, "Come
hither,O ye kids, to your shepherd." The boys came forth like kids,
and leaped about. He then turned the kids back into boys.
—
Ch. 41. Jesus gathered the boys together, and ranked them as
though he had been a king. They spread garments upon the ground
for him to sit upon, and crowned him with flowers.

Ch. 42.— In the mean time, a boy was brought along upon a couch.
Having put his hand into a partridge's nest, to take out the eggs, he
had been stung by a poisonous serpent. When the boy came to the
place where the Lord Jesus was sitting, like a king, and the other
boys standing round him like his ministers, Jesus inquired on what
account they carried the boy ? When they told him, he returned
with them to the nest, and there caused the serpent to suck all the
poison out again.
Ch. 43. James the son of Joseph was bitten by a viper. Jesus
blew upon it, and cured it instantly.
Ch. 44. —The Lord Jesus was playing with other boys upon a house-
top. One of them fell off and was killed. Jesus being accused of
 GOSPEL OF THE INFANCY. 171
throwing him he stood over the dead boy, and said in a loud
off,

voice, "Zeinunus, Zeinunus, who threw thee down from the house-
top?" Then the dead boy answered, "Thou didst not throw me
down, but (such a one) did."
Cn. 45.— Jesus, being sent by his mother to the well for water,
broke the pitcher. He thereupon gathered the water into his mantle,
and brought it to his mother.
Ch. 46.—Jesus was with some other boys by a river, drawing water
out of the river by little channels, and making fish pools. Jesus made
twelve sparrows, and caused them to fly. The son of Hanani, a Jew,
came by, and asked if they thus made figures on the Sabbath ? And
he broke down their fish pools. Coming to the fish pool of Jesus to
destroy it, the water vanished away; and the Lord Jesus said to him,
''In like manner as this water has vanished, so shall thy life vanish."
And presently the boy died.
Ch. 47.— "Another time, when the Lord Jesus was coming home, in
the evening, with Joseph, he met a boy, who ran so hard against him,
that he threw him down; to whom the Lord Jesus said, *As thou hast
thrown me down, so shalt thou fall, nor ever rise!' And that mo-
ment, the boy fell down and died."

Chs. 48 and 49.— Jesus was sent to school to Zaccheus. The master
told him to say Aleph, which he did. Then, to say Beth. "Then the
Lord Jesus said to him, 'Tell me first the meaning of the letter Aleph,
and then I will pronounce Beth.' " Jesus explained the meaning of
Aleph and Beth, and all the alphabet. He was taken to a more
learned master. When the same scene was repeated, the master
raised his hand to whip him, but his hand presently withered, and he
died.

Ch. 50.—Jesus with the doctors in the temple. [See next chapter of
this work.]

Ch. 51.—Jesus explains to an astronomer, "the number of the

spheres and heavenly bodies, as also their triangular, square and
sextile aspect; their progressive and retrograde motion; their size,
and several prognostications."
'
Ch. 52.— He explains to a philosopher, physics and natural philoso-
phy. "The things which were above and below the power of nature;
the powers of the body; the numbers of its members, and bones,
veins, arteries and nerves; how the soul operated on the body," etc.
£The particulars of these explanations are not given.]
Ch. 53. —His parents find him among the doctors, in the temple.
Ch. 54.— Jesus conceals his miracles and secret works, and devotes
172 THIRD PERIOD A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

himself to the study of the law, till thirty years old. His acknowl-
edgment by the Father, at the Jordan.

Ch. 55.— Conclusion.— "The end of the whole Gospel of the In-
Supreme God, according to what we
fancy, by the assistance of the
found in the original."

Testimot^ies and Citations by the Fathers.

1. Justin Martyr was acquainted with this gos-
pel, A. D. 150 to 160. [See Justin Martyr.]
All the arguments, therefore, against its antiq-
uity, drawn from internal evidence, if directed
against the gospel as a whole, fall to the ground.
Those arguments are based upon modes of expres-
sion which were thought not to prevail until the
third or fourth century, or even later such as ;

^^
The Lord Christ," ^^The Lady St. Mary ;'^ etc.,
also upon the veneration and devotion paid to
Mary, and the efficacy ascribed to relics and em-
blems. Whatever force there may be in these ob-
jections, they can only apply to some portions of
the gospel, and to some of its phraseology, which
may have been introduced by a copyist or a trans-
lator.

2. It is referred to by Irenseus, (A. D. 190), in

an unmistakable manner.
He claims it was a forgery of the Marcosians, of
the second century, and relates, with much partic-
ularity, the scene between Jesus and the school-
master.^

3. by Origen, (A. D. 230), as

It is alluded to
the Gospel of Thomas.'' Also by Epiphanius,
(i,) Adv. Haer. i. 20.

(2.) In Luc. I. I.
 GOSPEL OF THE INFANCY. 173

(385),^ by Eusebius, (325),^ by Cyril, (375),3 and by

Athanasius ; (373.)

It is possible that some of the miracles in Egypt

may have been added by a later hand, to a changed
version of the Gospel of Thomas. Epiphanius,
however, refers to the miracles performed by Jesus
in his childhood, and does not discredit them.
He says

"Christ wrought his first miracle in Cana of Galilee, the third day
after he began to preach; for Christ is not said to have been at the
marriage before his temptation. Nor did he work any miracles, or
preach any sermons before that time, except some things which some
say he did at play, when a child. And indeed it was fit some things
should be done by him in his childhood, that there might not be any
foundation for the assertion of those heretics, who say that Christ
did not come upon him till he was baptized, in Jordan, in the form
of a dove."-[H8er. 51, 20.

Both Eusebius and Athanasius relate, that when

Joseph and Mary arrived in Egypt, they took up
their abode in Hermopolis, a city of Thebais, in
which was a superb temple of Serapis. When
Joseph and Mary entered the temple, not only the
great idol, but all the lesser gods fell down before
them.*
It is agreed by Origen, Jerome and many others,
that the Gospel of the Infancy, or the Gospel of
Thomas, was one of ''the many,'' referred to in
Luke.
Jones, who has made an elaborate attack upon

(i.) Haer. 51. 20.

(2.) Ecc. Hist. 3. 25.

(3.) Hier. Catech. 4, p. 38.

(4.) Euseb. Demonst. Evang. lib. 6, c. 20; Athan. de Incarn. Verbi, p. 89.
 —

174 THIRD PERIOD — A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

the Gospel of the Infancy, pronouncing its mira-

cles absurd and ridiculous, concedes, nevertheless,
that the original of this gospel was written early
in the second century.^
In the Ecclesiastical History of Sozomen, one of
the Greek fathers, who wrote A. D. 439, will be
found the following reference to some of the inci-
dents connected with the residence of Christ in
Egypt.
"At Ermopolis in Thebais, is a tree called Persea, of which the
branches, the leaves, and the least portion of the bark, are said to heal
disease, when touched by the sick. It is related by the Egyptians,
that when Joseph fled with Christ and Mary, the Holy Mother, from
the wrath of Herod, they went to Ermopolis; and, as they were enter-
ing the city, this tree bent down, and worshiped Christ. 1 relate pre-
cisely what I have heard, from many sources, concerning this tree. I
think that this was the sign of the presence of God in the city; or
perhaps, as seems most probable, it may have arisen from the fear of
the demon, who had been worshiped in this large and beautiful tree,
by the people of the country; for at the presence of Christ, the idols
of Egypt were shaken, even as Isaiah the prophet had foretold. On
the expulsion of the demon, the tree was permitted to remain as a
monument to what had occurred, and was endued with the property
of healing those who believed. The inhabitants of Egypt and of Pal-
estine, [referring to another event which he had related, also], testify
to the truth of these events which took place among themselves."
[Sozomen's Ecc. Hist. bk. 5, ch. 21.

Such the testimony, and such are the conclu-

is

sions, of one of the more moderate of the ancient

ecclesiastical historians. There were many mir-
acles ascribed to Jesus, which were fully accredited
by the Those not
fathers, for several centuries.
contained in the canonical gospels, became, after a
while, first doubted, then discredited the miracles ;

related in those gospels only, being considered fi-

nally worthy of belief.

(i.) Jones on the New Testament, vol. 2, p. 259.
 CHAPTER XIII.

THE GOSPEL OF THE INFANCY,

COMPARED WITH LUKE AND MATTHEW.

The Gospel of the Infancy one of the Manuscripts

USED in THE COMPILATIONS OF LUKE AND MaTTHEW THE —
FIRST TWO Chapters of those Gtospels and the Gospel
OF THE Infancy compared.

In regard to the taxing, etc., the parallel passage

in the Protevangelion has already been given. The
following is the parallel with the Infancy
THE TAXING. AND THE BIRTH OF CHRIST.
Gospel of the Infancy, ch. 2. Gospel of Luke, ch. 2.

In the three hundred and ninth And it came

to pass in those
year of the era of Alexander, days, that there went out a de-
Augustus published a decree, cree from Caesar Augustus, that
that all persons should go to be all the world should be taxed.
taxed, into their own country. 2. (And this taxing was first
Joseph therefore arose, and made when Cyrenius was Gover-
with nor of Syria.)
3. And all went to be taxed,
every one into his own city.
Mary his spouse, he went to Jeru- 4. And Joseph also went up
salem, and then came to Bethle- from Galilee, out of the city of
hem, that he and his family Nazareth, into Judea, unto the
might be taxed, in the city of his city of David, which is called
fathers. Bethlehem, (because he was of
the house and lineage of David,)
5. To be taxed, with Mary, his
espoused wife, being great with
["When they came by the cave," child.
they stopped, and there Jesus was (Christ was then born in Beth-
born.] lehem.)
176 THIRD PERIOD —
A. D. 120 tO A. D. 130.

This reference to *'tlie cave/' as something well

understood, indicates that the writer of the Infancy
was familiar with the Protevangelion.
VISION TO THE SHEPHEKDS.
Infancy, ch. 4. Luke, ch. 2.

After this, when the shepherds 8. Andthere were in the same

came, and had made a fire, and country shepherds abiding in the
they were rejoicing exceedingly, field, keeping watch over their
the heavenly host appeared to flock at night.
them, praising and adoring the 9. And lo, the angel of the
Supreme God. As the shepherds Lord came upon them, and the
were engaged in the same em- glory of the Lord shone round
ployment, the cave at that time about them; and they were sore
seemed like a glorious temple, afraid.
because both the tongues of an-
10. And the angel said unto
gels and men united to adore and
them, Fear not; for behold I
magnify God, on account of the
bring you good tidings of great
birth of the Lord Christ,
joy, which shall be to all people.
11. For unto you is born this
day, in the City of David, a Sa-
vior, who is Christ the Lord.
12. And this (shall be) a sign
unto you; ye shall find the babe
wrapped in swaddling-clothes, ly-
ing in a manger.
13. And suddenly there was
with the angel a multitude of the
heavenly host, praising God, and
saying:
14. Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth, peace, good will
toward men.
15. And it came to pass as the
angels were gone away from
them into heaven, the shepherds
said to one another. Let us now
go even unto Bethlehem, and see
this thingwhich is come to pass,
which the Lord hath made known
to us.
16. And they came with haste,
and found Mary and Joseph, and
the babe lying in a manger.

The account in the Gospel of the Infancy, though

sufficiently marvelous, has much the more natural
surroundings.
 GOSPEL OF THE INFANCY. 177

Mary, on her way Bethlehem, not being able

to
to continue the journey, stops at a cave, used by
shepherds for herding cattle. Here Jesus is born.
In the mean time, the shepherds, returning to the
cave, baild a fire, and as they come to understand
the nature of the transaction, they unite in praises
to God, in which they are joined by the heavenly
host of angels.
In Luke, Jesus born in Bethlehem, and the
is
shepherds, who by an
are in the field, are informed
angel of the birth of a Savior, and that he is lying
in a manger but they are left to find the place the
;

best way they can. Then the heavenly host, in-

stead of appearing where Jesus was, is made to
appear to the shepherds in the field
It is manifest that the story has been taken from
itsnatural setting, in order that Jesus might be
born at Bethlehem, in fulfillment of the prophecy
of Micah.
THE CIRCUMCISION.
Infancy, ch. 5. Luke, ch.2.
And when the time of circum- 21. And when eight days were
cision was come, viz. the eighth accomplished for the circumcis-
day, on which the law commanded ing of the child, his name was
that a boy should be circumcised, calledJESUS, who was so named
they circumcised him in the cave, by the angel before he was con-
etc. ceived in the womb.

PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE.

Here, again, it may be well to note the remarks
of Shleiermacher. He says :

"What we read from 22 to 40 in chapter 2, respecting the presenta-

tion of the child in the temple, which was combined with the purifi-
cation of his mother, seems also to have been originally related and
committed to writing, without connection with the preceding pas-
sage; for at the end, mention is made of the return to Nazareth, just
 :

178 THIRD PERIOD — A. D. 120 TO A. D, 130.

as though the parents had come from that place to Jerusalem, with-
out notice being taken, by a single word, of their residence up to that
time in Bethlehem, which would nevertheless, have been so easy and
natural. This narrative, therefore, knows nothing of that residence.
Only I would not on that account understand the surprise of Mary
at the language of Simeon, as implying that she herself did not know
yet who her son was."—[Essay on Luke, p. 39.

While the narrative of the vision to the shep-

herds, as contained in Luke, had a basis in the
Gospel of the Infancy, there has been a wide de-
parture from the story as there given, and much
new matter introduced, showing that the whole
account had been rewritten.
In the following, however, it will not be difficult
to perceive, that we have but different versions of
the same narrative
Infancy, chs. 5 and 6. Luke, ch, 2.

Ten days having intervened, 22. Ami when the days of her
they brought him to Jerusalem; purification, according to the law
and on the fortieth day of his of Moses, were accomplished,
birth, they presented him in the they brought him to Jerusalem,
temple before the Lord, making to present (him) to the Lord;
offerings for him, according to
what is prescribed in the law of 23. (As it is written in the law
Moses, to wit: Every male who of the Lord, Every male that
openeth the womb, shall be called openeth the womb shall be called
the holy of God. holy to the Lord;)
24. And to offer a sacrifice ac-
cording to that which is said in
the law of the Lord, a pair of
turtle-doves, or two young
pigeons.
25. And behold there was a
Then old Simeon sa^? him shin- man in Jerusalem, whose name
ing as a pillar of light, when the (was) Simeon; and the same man
Lady Virgin Mary, his mother, (was) just and devout, waiting
was carrying him in her arms, for the consolation of Israel; and
and rejoicing exceedingly over the Holy Ghost was upon him.
him. And angels, praising him, 26. And it was revealed unto
stood around him in a circle, like him by the Holy Ghost, that he
life-guards standing by a king. should not see death before he
had seen the Lord's Christ.
27. And he came by the Spirit
into the temple; and when the
 GOSPEL OF THE INFANCY. 179
Infancy, ch. 6. Luke, ch. 2.

parents brought in the child Je-

sus, to do for him after the cus-
tom of the law,
Then Simeon, going up before 28. Then took he him up in his
Lady Mary, and stretching out arms, and blessed God, and said:
his hands before her, said to the
29. Lord, now lettest thou thy
Lord Christ, my Lord, let
Now, O servant depart in peace, accord-
thy servant depart in peace, ac- ing to thy word.
cording to thy word.
30. For mine eyes have seea
For mine eyes have seen thy thy salvation
mercy,
31. Which thou hast prepared
before the face of all people;
Which thou hast prepared for 32. A
light to lighten the Gen-
the salvation of all peoples; tiles, and the glory of thy people
A light to all nations, and a Israel.
glory to thy people Israel. 83. And Joseph and his mother
marveled at those things which
were spoken of him.
34. And Simeon blessed them,
and said unto Mary his mother,
Behold, this (child) is set, etc.
35. Yea, a sword shall pierce,
etc.
Hannah, a prophetess, was also 36. And there was one Anna,
present, and drawing near, she a prophetess, the daughter of
gave Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser;
she was of great age, and had
lived with a husband seven years
from her virginity.
37. And she (was) a widow of
about fourscore and four years,
who departed not from the tem-
ple, but served (God) with fast-
ings and prayers, night and day.
38. And she, coming in that
thanks to God, and celebrated instant, gave thanks likewise un-
the happiness of Lady Mary. to the Lord, and spake of him
to all them that looked for re-
demption in Jerusalem.

JESUS DISPUTING WITH THE DOCTORS.

Infancy, ch. 50. Luke, ch. 2.

41. Now his parents went to

Jerusalem every year, at the feast
of the passover.
And when he was twelve years 42. And when he was twelve
old, they took him to Jerusalem, years old, they went up to Jeru-
to the feast. salem, after the custom of the
feast.
180 THIRD PERIOD — A. D. 120 tO A. D. 130.

Infancy, ch. 50. Luke, ch. 2.

And when the feast was fin- 43. And when they had fulfilled
ished, they indeed returned, but the days, as they returned, the
child Jesus tarried behind in
Jerusalem; and Joseph and his
mother knew not (of it.)
44. But they, supposing him to
have been in the company, went
a day's journey; and they sought
him among (their) kinsfolk and
acquaintance.
45. And when
they found him
the Lord Jesus remained behind, not, they turned back again to
in the temple, among the doctors Jerusalem, seeking him.
and elders, and learned men of 46. And it came to pass, that
the sons of Israel; to whom he after three davs, they found him
put various questions in the sci- in the temple, sitting in the
ences, and gave them answers in midst of the doctors, both hearing
his turn. them, and asking them questions.
[The balance of chapter 50 and 47. And all who heard him
the whole of chapters 51 and 52 were astonished at his under-
are taken up with an account of standing and answers.
this discussion. It is stated that
Jesus explained the books of the
law and the mysteries of the
prophets; also the sciences of
astronomy, philosophy, etc. But
the particular explanations are
not given.]
Chapter 53.
While they were speaking to
each other these and other things,
the Lady St. Mary came, after
having been going about for three
days, with Joseph, seeking for
him. She therefore, seeing him
sitting among the doctors, asking
them questions, and answering in 48. And when they saw him,
his turn, said to him, son, My they were amazed; and his moth-
why hast thou thus dealt with er said unto him, Son, why hast
us? Behold, I and thy father thou thus dealt with us ? Behold,
have sought thee, with much thy father and 1 have sought thee,
trouble. sorrowing.
He replied, Wherefore did ye 49. And he said unto them,
seek me ? Did ye not know that How is it that ye sought me?
I ought to be employed in my Wist ye not, that I must be about
father's house ? But they under- my Father's business ?
stood not the word which he 50. And they understood not
spake unto them. the saying which he spake unto
Then the doctors asked Mary them.
whether he was her son. And 51. And he went down with
when she signified that he was,
 GOSPEL OP THE INFANCY. 181
Infancy, ch. 53. Luke, ch. 2.

they said, O happy Mary, who

hast brought forth such a son.
Then he returned with them to them, and came to Nazareth, and
Kazareth, and obeyed them in all was subject unto them; but his
things; and his mother kept all mother kept all these sayings in
these sayings in her heart. her heart.
And the Lord Jesus grew in 52, And Jesus increased in wis-
stature and wisdom and in favor dom and stature, and in favor
with God and man. with God and man.

The foregoing accounts are closely parallel, with

no particular inference as to which was first

written.

The next chapter of the Infancy is as follows :

Ch. 54.— "But from this time he began to conceal his miracles and
secret works, and gave himself to the study of the law, till he arrived
to the end of his thirtieth year; at which time the Father publicly
owned him at Jordan, sending down this voice from heaven: This is
my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; the Holy Ghost being
also present, in the form of a dove."

Passing on to the Gospel of Matthew, the parallel

commences with the 7th chapter of the Infancy,
and the 2d chapter of Matthew, as follows :

VISIT OF THE MAGI.

Infancy, ch. 7. Matthew, ch. 2.

And it came to pass, when

the Now when Jesus was born in
Lord Jesus was born at Bethle- Bethlehem of Judea, in the days
hem, a city of Judea, in the time of Herod the King, behold, there
of Herod the King, behold, wise came wise men from the east to
men came from the east to Jeru- Jerusalem,
salem, as Zoradascht [in the An- 2. Saying: Where is he that is
te-Nicene copy, Zeraduscht] had born King of the Jews ? For we
predicted; and there were with have seen his star in the east, and
are come to worship him.
[Verses 3 to 10 have a parallel in
the Protevangelion, which has
been given.]
11. And when they were come
into the house, they saw the
182 THIED PERIOD A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

Matthew, ch. 2.

them gifts, gold, and frankin- young child with Mary his moth-
cense, and myrrh. And they er, and fell down and worshiped
adored him, and presented to him him. And when they had open-
their gifts. ed their treasures, they presented
Then the Lady Mary took one unto him gifts; gold, and frankin-
of those swaddling- cloths (in cense and myrrh.
which the infant was wrapped),
and gave it to them instead of a
blessing; which they received 12. And being warned of God
from her as a most noble present. in a dream, that they should not
And in the same hour there ap-
peared unto them an angel in the
form of that star, which had be-
fore been their guide in their
journey; and they went away,
following the guidance of its
return to Herod they departed
they returned into their
light, till
into their own country, another
way.
own country.
[On their return, having made
a fire and worshiped it, they cast
which re-
in the swaddling-cloth,
mained unharmed by the fire.]

be noticed, that according to the Infancy

It will
Gospel, the visit of the magi was made in accord-
ance with the prophecy of Zoradascht (Zoroaster).
The reference to the prophecy of Zoroaster can-
not well be explained, except on the hypothesis
that the Gospel of the Infancy was first written.

THE FLIGHT TO EGYPT.

Infancy, ch. 9. Matthew, ch. 2,
But Herod, perceiving that the 13. And when they were de-
wise men did delay, and not re- parted, behold the angel of the
turn to him, called together the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a
priests and the wise men, and dream, saying: Arise and take
said. Tellme in what place the the young child and his mother,
Christ to be born.
is And when and flee into Egypt; and be there
they replied. In Bethlehem, a city until I bring thee word; for Her-
of Judea, he began to contrive in od will seek the young child,
his mind, the death of the Lord to destroy him.
Jesus Christ.
Then appeared an angel of the
Lord to Joseph in his sleep, and
said, Arise, take the boy and his
 GOSPEL OF THE INFANCY. 183
Infancy, ch. 9. Matthew, ch. 2.
mother and go into Egypt, at the 14. When he arose, he took the
crowing of the cock. So he arose young child and mother, by
his
and went. night, and departed into Egypt.
[Here follows the passage of
Hosea, ch. 11, v. 1, referring to
the calling of Israel out of Egypt,
which is applied, as a prophecy,
to this transaction.]

In reply to the inquiry of Herod, as to the place

where the Christ was to be born the priests and
,

wise men said, ''In Bethlehem.'' Yet, according to

the Infancy Gospel, he was born on the road,
before his parents reached Bethlehem. (According
to the Protevangelion, three miles distant). The
author of Luke, perceiving this inconsistency, has
Christ born in the village of Bethlehem. But in
so doing, as has been seen, he is obliged to break
up the consecutive incidents, and, in several re-
spects, to reconstruct the narrative.

The slaughter of the children is mentioned in the

Protevangelion, but not in the Infancy, in this
connection

In the twelfth chapter, there is a reference to it,

as also to the prophecy of Micah, thrown in, in the
midst of the miracles wrought in Egypt. It is
doubtless an interpolation.
Josephus, though he enlarges upon the cruelties
of Herod, says nothing of the slaughter of the
children.

The account can scarcely be considered historical.

It must be looked upon as legendary, and probably
first appeared in the Protevangelion.
 :

184 THIRD PERIOD A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

THE RETURN FROM EGYPT.

Infancy, ch. Matthew, ch. 2.

19. But when Herod was dead,

behold, an angel of the Lord ap-
peareth in a dream, to Joseph in
Egypt,
20. Saying: Arise, and take the
young child and his mother, and
go into the land of Israel; for
they are dead who sought the
young child's life.
At the end of three years, he
21. And he arose, and took the
returned out of Egypt; and when
young child and his mother, and
he came near to Judea, Joseph
was afraid to enter; for, hearing
came into the land of Israel.
that Herod was dead, and that 22. But when he heard that
Archelaus his son reigned in his Archelaus did reign in Judea, in
stead,he was afraid; and when the room of his father Herod, he
he went to Judea, an angel of was afraid to go thither. Not-
God appeared to him and said; O withstanding, being warned of
God in a dream, he turned aside
into the parts of Galilee,
23. And he came and dwelt in
Joseph, go into the city of Naza- a city called Nazareth.
reth, and there abide.
It is indeed wonderful, that the
Lord of all countries should thus
be carried about, through so
many regions.

In the foregoing comparisons, the reader must

have noticed, that where, in the account of the
birth and childhood of Jesus, as given in Luke and
Matthew, there was no parallel in one of the
apocryphal gospels, the history was almost invari-
ably supplemented in the other. This will appear
more plainly by the following arrangement, where
the portions of each which contain parallel pas-
sages are indicated

Luke.
The Announcement, and the Visit to Elisabeth.
Protevangelion, chs. 11 and 12. Luke, ch. 1, vv. 26 to 56.
 GOSPEL OF THE INFANCY. 185
The Taxing, and the Birth of Jesus,
Protevangelion, chs. 17 and 18. )

Also, Infancy, chs. 2 and 3. ) Luke, eh. 2, vv. 1 to 7.

Vision to the Shepherds.

Infancy, ch. 4. Luke, chapter 2, vv. 8 to 16.

Circumcision of Jesus,
Infancy, ch. 5. Luke, ch. 2, v. 21.

Presentation in the Temple.

Infancy, chs. 5 and 6. Luke, ch,2 , vv. 22 to 38.

Jesus disputing with the Doctors.

Infancy, chs. 50 to 53, Luke, ch. 2, vv. 41 to 52.

Matthew.
Joseph and the Angel.
Protevangelion, chs. 13 and 14. Matthew, ch. 1, vv. 18 to 24.

Visit of the Magi, and Slaughter of the Children.

Protevangelion, chs, 21 and 22. )

Also visit of the Magi, Infancy, ch. 7. 5 Matthew, ch. 2, vv. 1 to 18.

Flight to Egypt.
Infancy, ch. 7. Matthew, ch. 2, vv. 13 to 15.

Return from Egypt.

Infancy, ch. 26. Matthew, ch. 2, vv. 19 to 23.

In considering the question of priority, it must

be borne in mind, that these- are, so far as is known,
the only histories of the birth and childhood of
Jesus to be found in the ancient gospels.
There was no such history in the Gospel of the
Hebrews, nor in the Gospel of Marcion nor have ;

we any evidence that there was any such in the

—
gospels still older those of the first century nor —
in any of the lost gospels of the second century.
On the hypothesis that the Protevangelion and
the Infancy were first written, it might be interest-
186 THIRD PERIOD — A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

ing to inquire, according to what rule or law the

selections were made by the authors of Luke and
Matthew. Upon this point we will venture to
make a suggestion.

The Protevangelion and the Infancy were rude

gospels. They were very inartificially constructed,
and both of them contained accounts which were
inconsistent and irreconcilable. They were incon-
sistent, not only with each other, but each with
itself.

Looking at them together, we find, in endeavor-

ing to trace the history of Jesus, that according to
one account, he was taken from Bethlehem to
Jerusalem and publicly presented in the temple
,
;

thence to Nazareth, where he remained till his dis-

pute with the doctors. The other account repre-
sented his parents fleeing with him, soon after his
birth, from Bethlehem to Egypt, under a warning
from an angel not to return by Jerusalem. These
conflicting accounts, founded on different tradi-
tions, ran through the two gospels, indiscrimi-
nately.

Each of the compilers of Luke and Matthew,

wishing to give, as a sort of preface to his gospel,
a history of the birth and childhood of Christ, not
too long, but one which would appear consistent in
itself, selected, we may suppose, such portions of
the other two gospels, as, in his judgment, would
form such a history the one adopting the theory
;

of the presentation in the temple, and the other,

the flight to Egypt. This would result in giving us
 GOSPEL OF THE INFANCY. 187

precisely what we have

two diverse, inconsistent,
;

and utterly irreconcilable histories of the birth and

childhood of Jesus.
"If we compare," says Schliermacher, "without any prepossession,
this (Luke, chs. 1 2), and the corresponding portion in Matthew,
and
we have two parallel successions of narratives; parallel in the stricter
sense of the word, inasmuch as they have no single point, that is, in
this case, no entire fact, in common. They are not at all supple-
mental to each other, but on the contrary, the corresponding mem-
bers of the two successions, almost entirely exclude each other.
Hence, then, if in any one point, the narrative of the one evangelist
is correct, that of the other, so far as it relates to the same epoch,

—
cannot be so." [Essay on Luke, pp. 44, 45.
Again: "All attempts to reconcile these two contradictory state-
ments, seem only elaborate efforts of art, to which one should not
needlessly resort; or indeed, should rather give no explanation at all."
H:ibid. p. 48.

Conceding them to be irreconcilable, he under-

takes, by an ingenious process, to pick out the
truth, a little here from Luke, and a little there
from Matthew.
He thinks the accounts rest upon ^
^a totally dif-
ferent tradition, one from the other.'' — [p. 48.

In the Protevangelion and in the Infancy, the

traditions are grouped together. In Luke and
Matthew, they are separated.
In the next chapter, we shall endeavor to trace
the origin and history of these traditions, and in so
doing, some further light may be thrown upon the
question of priority as between the two apocryphal
and the two canonical gospels.
 CHAPTER XIV.

ORIGIN AND HISTORY

OP THE GOSPELS OP THE INFANCY.

We are now to search for the origin of the

legendary accounts of the conception, birth and
childhood of Jesus.
For the purpose of this investigation, the Prote-
vangelion and the Gospel of the Infancy may be
considered together, as Gospels of the Infancy.
While in the subsequent history of the childhood
of Christ, there are incidents which may be traced
to other countries, there are certain leading feat-
ures in the first part of the narrative, which stamp
it as of Persian derivation. These are, the visit of
the magi, guided by a star, and the fact that the
visit was made in accordance with the prophecy of
Zeraduscht, or Zoroaster.
This prophecy will be found in the life of Zoro-
aster, in Du Perron's translation of the Zend-
Avesta.
Faber thinks the materials from which the Zend-
 GOSPEL OF THE INFANCY. 189

Avesta was composed, were taken from heathen,

rather than from Jewish sources, giving many
reasons, based upon the peculiar construction of
the legends of the Zend-Avesta. One of these pecu-
liarities consists in the association of a star with
the deluge a circumstance not to be found in the
;

Mosaic account of the flood.

Taschter, the second man bull, of the creation,

to whom was committed the charge of bringing on
the deluge, was said to be a star, and his light is
spoken of, as shining on high, during thirty days
and thirty nights, while the waters of the deluge
were increasing.
The star may be found in the mythology of other
nations. Astarte consecrated, at Tyre, a star,
which she found falling from the sky. Electra,
the mother of Dardanus, was one of the seven stars
of the Pleiades, and was saved from a deluge, both
in Arcadia and Samothrace.
The even than Zoroaster, and ac-
star is older,
cording to Faber, older than Hebrew tradition.
There were two Zoroasters. The first, spoken of
by Greek writers, flourished, according to these
authors, several thousand years before Christ.
Pliny speaks of him as thousands of years before
Moses and from that writer and Aristotle, it may
;

be concluded that he lived some six thousand years

before Christ. Hermodorus, Hermippus, and Plu-
tarch concur in dating him five thousand years be-
fore the siege of Troy.

The other Zoroaster flourished, according to Dr.

190 THIRD PERIOD A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

Prideaux, in the time of Darius Hystaspes.' Sir

William Jones agrees in assigning him to that
period.

. was the opinion of the learned Mr. Faber, that

It
there were two Zeraduschts, or Zoroasters, and
that the primeval Zoroaster was none other than
Menu, or Mahabad, or Buddha. He traces many
analogies and resemblances between the ancient
religions and mythologies of the Persians and the
Hindus, and thinks the Zend-Avesta a modern
compilation, founded upon religious books com-
piled by the second Zeraduscht and those again, ;

based upon more ancient legends, which were sub-

stantially identical with the older mythology of
India.

He
ably antagonizes the theory of Dr. Prideaux,
that the accounts of the Zend-Avesta concerning
the deluge and the antediluvial age, were taken
from the Mosaic history.^

Malcolm, in his history of Persia, states that

Zoroaster first introduced the worship of fire.
In the Recognitions may be found an interesting
tradition upon this subject.

Peter states that Zoroaster, being frequently in-

tent upon the stars, and wishing to be considered a
god among them, began to draw forth sparks from
the stars, that he might astonish, as with a miracle,
rude and ignorant men. That he attempted those

(i.) Prideaux's Connect, pt. i, b. 4. P- 219.

(2.) Origin of Pagan Idolatry, by George Stanley Faber, B. D., Rector of Long-
Newton, London, 1816, vol. 2, pp. 58 to yz-
 GOSPEL OF THE INFANCY. 191

things again and again, until he was set on fire,

*'and consumed by the demon himself, whom he
accosted with too great importunity/' That the
men of his day, after this, extolled him
the all

more ; raised a monument to his honor, and adored

him as a friend of God, and one who had been
removed to heaven in a chariot of lightning. They
then worshiped him as a living star; which, says
the author of the Recognitions, is the meaning of
the name from ; *'zoe,'' life, and ^^ aster," star.

The star, which had previously been an object of

worship, now became associated with Zoroaster.

But what about the prophecy, upon which was

founded the legend of the magi?
In the life of Zoroaster, as given by Du Perron,
in his translation of the Zend-Avesta, an account
is

of the three prophetic sons of Zoroaster, who were

to appear, according to the Pehlvian and Parsian
books of the Persians, at successive periods of time.
They were to be the result of immaculate concep-
tions, caused by the washing of virgins in the water
in which the wife of Zoroaster had bathed.
"The first is named Oschederbami. He will appear in the last mil-
lenium of the world. He will stop the sun for ten days and ten
nights,and the second part of the human race will embrace the law,
of which he will bring the 22nd portion.
"The second posthumous son of Zoroaster, is Oschedermah. He
will appear 400 years after Oschederbami. He will stop the sun
twenty days and twenty nights, and he will bring the 23rd part of the
law, and the third part of the world will be converted."

This is somewhat different from the prophecy as

given by Hyde, in his work on the religion of the
ancient Persians. But the Oschedermah and the
192 THIRD PERIOD A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

Oschederbami of Du Perron, are doubtless the

same as the Oshanderbega and the Osiderbega of
Hyde.^
Then follows, in Du Perron, this remarkable
^
prophecy :

"The third is named He will be born at the end of the

Sosiosch.
ages. He will bring the
24th portion of the law; he will stay the sun
thirty days and thirty nights, and the whole earth will embrace the
law of Zoroaster. After Mm
will he the resurrection. Behold what
the books of the Parsees apprise us of the family of the legislator."
— [Vie de Zoroastre, in the French translation of the Zend-Avesta,
by Du Perron, Paris, 1771, vol. 1, pt. 2, p. 45.

From Abulpharagius, we learn that the prophecy

was connected with the appearance of a star, and
the visit of magi.
Zoroaster declared, says this writer, that in the
latter days, a pure virgin would conceive, and that
as soon as the child should be born, a star would
appear, blazing even at noonday, with undimin-
ished luster.
"You, my sons," exclaimed the seer, "will perceive its rising before
any other nation. As soon, therefore, as you shall behold the star,
follow it, whithersoever it shall lead you; and adore that mysterious
child, offering your gifts to him, with profound humility. He is the
Almighty Word, which created the heavens."— [Abulpharagius, accord-
ing to Hyde, de Rel. Vet. Pers. c. 3.

Here, from a writer vouched for by Faber as

high authority, we have, not only the immaculate
conception, the star and the magi of Matthew, but

(i.) See his work, de Rel. Vet. Pers. c. 31,

(2.) The the text of Du Perron:

following is

"Le troiseme est nomme Sosiosch. II naitra a la fin des siecles, apportera le 24
Nosk de laLoi, arreterale Soleil trente jours, et trente nuits; et toute la terre embras-
serala Loi de Zoroastre. Apres lui se sera la resurrection. Voila ce que les Livres des
Parses nous apprennent de la famille de ce Legislateur."
 GOSPEL OF THE INFANCY. 193

also the Logos of John. The Eev. Mr. Faber con-

siders thoroughly the question, whether this re-
markable prediction was before or after the birth of
Christ and concludes it was a long time before.
;

One reason why he rejects the idea of its being a

subsequent forgery, is, that in the old Irish his-
tory, there was a Zeraduscht, associated with a
similar prophecy, which was first delivered by a
Daru or Druid of Bokhara.'
The same prophecy was, in the East, ascribed by
Abulpharagius to a Zeraduscht who was actually a
Daru or Druid of Bokhara. This coincidence is so
singular, that Faber thinks it can only be account-
ed for on the hypothesis of an ancient emigration
from Persia to Ireland, by the north-west passage,
which carried the legend with it.
Thus, in the prophecy of Zoroaster, we have the-
and the magi, which
origin of the legend of the star
appeared early in the second century, in the In-
fancy gospels, and thence became incorporated into
the prefator}^ chapters of Luke and Matthew. To
which may be added, that there was a Christian
sect called Prodiceans^ whose leader, Prodicus,
[about A. D. 120] boasted that they had the secret
,

books of Zoroaster.^
Having traced to their source the legends con-
nected with the conception and birth of Jesus, and
having found them associated with the central
figure of Persian mythology, let us now go farther

(i.) As authority, see Vallancey's Vindication of the Ancient History of Ireland,

Collect, de Reb. Hibern. vol. 4, p. 202.

(2.) Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, bk. i, ch. 15.

 :

194 THIED PERIOD — A. D. 120 tO A. D. 130.

south and see what light may be thrown upon sub-

,

sequent history, as given in the gospels of the In-

fancy portions of which, also, are to be found in
;

Luke and Matthew not forgetting, as we proceed,

;

the intimate connection which existed between the

ancient religions of Persia and India.

CHRISHNA.
In the History of Hindostan, by Eev. Thomas
Maurice, vol. 2, will be found a complete history
of Chrishna, the eighth incarnation of the Hindu
God Vishnu ; by Mr. Maurice from the
translated
Ehagavat Purana, one of the sacred books of
India.

Chrishna, according to Colonel Tod, was born

1156 years before Christ.'
There are many other traditions, that might be
collected from different writers, and thrown to-
gether, which would show a still closer resemblance
between the narratives. But without going into
these, except Baldseus, taking the translation of
Mr. Maurice from the sacred Hindu scriptures,
we have the following parallel between Chrishna
and Christ

Cheishna and Christ.

J BHAGAVAT PURANA. GOSPELS OF THE INFANCY.
Chrishna Christ
Was believed to be God incar- Was believed to be God incar-
nate, by a miraculous conception. nate,by a miraculous conception.
Was born in a dungeon. Was born in a cave.

(i.) Annals and Antiquities of Rajust'han, vol. i, p. 37.

 GOSPEL OP THE INFANCY. 195

Chrishna Christ
At the time of his birth, the The cave was filled with a
walls of his chamber were illumi- great light, and seemed like a
nated. glorious temple.
At the time of his birth, a cho- At the time of his birth, a cho-
rus of devatas, or angels, saluted rus of angels saluted the new-
the newborn infant. born infant.
Of royal descent. Of royal descent.
As soon as born, had the power As soon as born, spoke to his
of speech. (According to Bal- mother, informing her of his di-
dseus, Chrishna, immediately vine character, his origin and des-
when born, conversed with his tiny.
mother, soothing and comforting
her.)
Cradled among shepherds. Cradled among shepherds.
Cansa, the ruler of the country, Herod, the ruler of the coun-
fears the loss of his kingdom, and try, fearsthe loss of his kingdom,
seeks the life of the infant. and seeks the life of the infant.
The child is carried away by The child is carried away by
night, and concealed in a remote night, and concealed in a remote
region. region.
Cansa wroth, and issues an
is Herod is wroth, and issues an
order for the slaughter of all the order for the slaughter of all the
young children throughout his children of Bethlehe
kingdom. years old and under.
Has a combat with, and sub- Has several combats with ser-,
dues a huge serpent, in his in- pents; overcomes them, and
fancy. drives them out of persons pos-
sessed.
The serpent vomits streams of In one case, there issued forth,
fire from his mouth and nostrils. from one of his swaddling-cloths,
flames and burning coals, and fell
on the head of the serpent.
Performs many miracles in his Performs many miracles in his
infancy and boyhood. infancy and boyhood.
While a boy, raises the dead to While a boy, raises the dead to
life. life.

While a boy, strikes dead, per- While a boy, strikes dead, per-
sons who have offended him. sons who have offended him.
Was preceded by his elder bro- Was preceded by John the Bap-
ther. Ram, who was his associate tist, who was sent into the wil-
in the work of purification, and derness, to escape the decree of
was hurried away as soon as Herod.
born, to escape the decree of
Cansa.
On his visit to Egypt, in his
childhood, stopped at a place
Lived at Mathurea. called Maturea. This name it
afterward retained.
One of his first miracles was Among the first miracles, was
curing a leper. the curing of lepers.
 .

196 THIRD PERIOD A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

Chrishna Christ
While a boy, is chosen by the While a boy, is chosen by the
other boys as their king.— [Bal- other boys as their king.
daeus. While a boy, teaches the doc-
tors and philosophers in the tem-
Learns all the sciences in one ple, the whole circle of the
day and night. sciences.

This remarkable parallel, which leaves no room

for doubt, that one of the narratives was drawn
upon in the construction of the other, raises at
once the question, which was first written? A
question of the utmost importance since if the ;

Bhagavat Purana preceded the gospels of the In-

fancy, it could hardly be contended, at the same
time, that it was subsequent to Luke and Matthew.
by evangelical writers, that the
It is considered
Infancy gospels were composed early in the second
century, and the same writers do not now claim
that the canonical gospels appeared much sooner.
If, therefore, the Hindu production was long ante-
rior to that time, the only question remaining
would whether the parallelisms between the life
be,
of Chrishna, and that of Christ as recorded in Luke
and Matthew, were taken directly from the Bhaga-
vat Purana, or through the medium of the Infancy
gospels

The Rev. Mr. Maurice, who fully appreciated

the importance of the question, and saw that in
discussing it the gospels must all be considered to-
gether, would have his readers believe, that the
Bhagavat Purana was interpolated, from ''both the
genuine and the spurious gospels.'' ^

(I.) Vol. 2, p. 322.

 GOSPEL OF THE INFANCY. 197

In advocating this theory, however, he found

himself embarrassed by the fact, that in various
places in this and others of his works, he had con-
tended for the great antiquity of the Hindu books,
and had repeatedly hinted at the absurdity of sup-
posing that the Brahmins would ever ^^ descend so
far from the conscious superiority of mental dis-
tinction^' to which they laid claim, as to receive
instruction, either in regard to the rites of religion,
or the principles of science, from aliens.

But while he did not entertain moment, the

for a
idea, that the Indian philosophers had taken any
thing from Greece or Arabia, from a mythology
much akin to their own and while he believed many
;

of the Indian legends to be older than the oldest of

Greece, he found no difficulty in supposing that
eastern magi would travel a year or more, in search
of a king of the Jews ; down and wor-
would fall
ship him, and on their return, would incorporate
accounts concerning him, into their own sacred
scriptures.

He overlooked the fact, that the prophecy of Zo-

roaster, in which the magi had been instructed, had
no reference to a Jewish king, or to the Jewish
people.

What are the facts, upon which an intelligent

opinion upon the subject, is to be based? The
original Gospel of the Infancy was attributed to the
apostle and evangelist, Thomas. In this connec-
tion,we cannot ignore the ancient tradition of the
church, that Thomas was a missionary to Parthia,
198 THIRD PERIOD — A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

and According to that tradition, and the

to India.
testimony of the fathers, when the distribution was
made by the apostles, of the several regions of the
Gentile world, in which they were respectively to
preach the gospel, the vast district of Parthia, and
the more eastern empires of Asia, were allotted to
Thomas. He visited the various countries then
constituting the Parthian empire that is. Media, ;

Persia, Carmania, Hyrcania and Bactria. The

capital of Bactria was Balkh, the ancient residence
of the magi. Here, according to eastern tradition,
he had an interview with the sages, and the tradi-
tion does not fail to say he converted them.'

From Parthia, St. Thomas is said to have visited

India. not claimed that he converted the
It is
Brahmins, but it is thought the Brahmins may
have profited by his visit, to interpolate their sacred
books, from his instructions.

But how did it happen, that after this visit of

Thomas, there appeared among the Christians of
Palestine, and countries west of it, a Gospel of
Thomas, full of stories so closely resembling the
legends of the Bhagavat Purana? If the interpo-
lations were made by the Brahmins, how was it,
that this gospel appeared after the interpolations,
and not before?
In confirmation of the visit of Thomas to India,
it is related by MafFei, that Cranganor, on the
at
Malabar coast, St. Thomas instituted an order of
(i.) See a work entitled "Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum," hom. 2. This "Im-
perfect Commentary on Matthew" was written about A. D, 560.
 GOSPEL OF THE INFANCY. 199

Christians, still known by his name, and which

boasts to retain the records of their institution, and
a grant of land to St. Thomas, their pastor, from
the reigning king of India.

The records and grant were engraved on tablets of

brass, which had been lost for centuries, but were
dug up, during the vice-royalty of Don Alfonso
Sousa, one of the early governors of Portuguese In-
dia.

Thomas is said to have been murdered at Melia-

poor ; from which circumstance it was afterward

called St. Thome.

The conclusion must be, that while for some of

the salient points of the Gospels of the Infancy, the
authors were indebted to Zoroaster, and the legends
of Persia, the outline of the story was largely filled
up from the history of Chrishna, as sent back to
Palestine, by the Apostle Thomas, from the land of
the Brahmins.
As to the slaughtered infants, there was discov-
ered, in a cavern at Elephanta, in India, a sculp-
tured representation, of great antiquity, of a huge
and ferocious figure, bearing a drawn sword, and
surrounded by slaughtered infants, while mothers
^
were weeping for their slain .

Antiquity of the Bhagavat Pueana.

The Puranas are eighteen in number. The fifth,
which was translated by Maurice, is the Bhagavata.
(i.) History of India, 1. 2, p. 85.

(2.) See Forbes' Oriental Memoirs.

200 THIRD PERIOD — A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

The legends concerning Chrishna appear in sub-

stantially thesame form in several of the others.

Those who may wish

examine further as to the
to
antiquity of these books, Avill find the whole sub-
ject thoroughly and ably discussed, in a correspond-
ence between Col. Vans Kennedy, and Prof. Horace
H. Wilson, author of a translation of the Vishnu
Purana.

The correspondence is in the form of five letters

from Col. Kennedy, the reply of Prof. Wilson, and
rejoinder of Kennedy. It was published originally
in the London Asiatic Journal, for 1840 and 1841,
and was republished in the Appendix to the 5th
volume of the work of Prof. Wilson. '

This writer inclines to the opinion, that the

Puranas, in their present form, are modern com-
pilations and gives some countenance to the theory
;

though he does not fully endorse it, that the Bha-

gavata was written by one Bopadeva, as late as the
twelfth century.

This position opposed, with great ability, by

is

Col. Kennedy, who reminds the learned author of

the ^Vishnu Purana,'' that he had himself, in his
^

Preface to that work, stated, that there is ^'abun-

dant positive and circumstantial evidence of the
prevalence of the doctrines which they [the Puran-
as] teach, the currency of the legends which they
narrate, and the integrity of the institutions which

(i.) The Vishnu Purana: A System of Mythology and Tradition, translated from
the original Sanscrit, by Horace Hayman Wilson, F. R. S., etc., London, 1864.
 GOSPEL OF THE INFANCY. 201

they describe, at least three centuries before the

Christian era/' '

This concession, Col. Kennedy thinks, leaves it

comparatively unimportant when the Puranas as-
sumed the exact form they now have. The word
'^Purana^' itself signifies ^'old, '^ thus indicating the
character of the contents. He maintains, however,
that they are now essentially the same that they
were two thousand years ago.
"It unquestionable," says Col. Kennedy, "that certain works
is

called Puranas, have beenimmemorially considered by the Hindus as

sacred books. They inculcated the doctrines of the Hindu religion."

And proceeding to consider the theory which had

been advanced as to the authorship of the Bha-
gavata Purana, he says :

"If the Bhagavata was written by Bopadeva, at Doulutabad, in

the twelfth century, was the original Bhagavata then in existence or
not ? If it was, what reason, consistent with probability, can be as-
signed, for supposing that the Brahmins of all India would have sup-
pressed one of their sacred books, to which they ascribed a divine
origin, and received, as entitled to the same reverence, the acknowl-
edged composition of an obscure grammarian ? The supposition is
evidently absurd."— [Appendix to vol. 5, of Vish. Pur. by Wilson, p.
278.

He concludes, ^^that the present Puranas are, in

fact, in all essential respects, the same works which
were current, under that name, in India, in the
century prior to the Christian era.''

(i.) Vishnu Purana, etc., by H. H. Wilson, Pref. p. 99.

 CHAPTER XV.

THE ACTS OF PILATE.

It has been supposed that Pilate made a report to

Tiberius Caesar, of the crucifixion of Christ, and of
the circumstances attending it.

Frequent references to such a report were made

by early Christian writers, who called it ^^The Acts
of Pilate.'' That Justin Martyr [A. D. 150] made
frequent allusions to a book or writing of some
sort, entitled ^^The Acts of Pilate,'' will be seen in
a subsequent chapter. [See Justin Martyr.]

Some writers have thought that he alluded to the

original report, supposed to have been made to
Csesar. be seen, however, that he must have
It will
alluded to a gospel then in circulation, entitled
;"
''The Acts of Pilate, or Gospel of Nicodemus
since his citations not only were in that gospel, but
were such as would not have been in any report
made by Pontius Pilate himself. It is possible that
he was not able to distinguish between them, or did
not care to do so. He was not a critical writer.
 THE ACTS OF PILATE. 203

The fact that one of the early gospels ^^s con-

founded by the Christians themselves, with the re-
port of Pilate, renders the existence of such a report
somewhat problematical although it would have
;

been in accordance with the mode of procedure in

such cases that a report should have been made.
TertuUian, some sixty years later than Justin, re-
fers to it several times but not in a manner suf-
;

ficiently definite, to determine whether or not he

distinguishes it from the gospel. He says :

"Tiberius, accordingly, in whose days the Christian name made its

entry into the world, having himself received intelligence from Pales-
tine, of events which had clearly shown the truth of Christ's divinity,
brought the matter before the senate, with his own decision in favor
of Christ. The senate, because it had not given approval itself, re-
jected his proposal. Caesar held to his opinion, threatening wrath
against all accusers of the Christians."— [Apology, ch. 5, Ante Nicene,
vol. 11, p. 63.

Speaking of the darkness at the time of the cruci-

fixion, he says -

"You yourselves have the account of the world portent, still in

your archives."— [Apol. ch. 21; Ant. Nic. vol. 11, p. 94.

The account of the darkness at the crucifixion,

was in the Gospel of the Acts of Pilate. Whether
TertuUian, like Justin Martyr, alluded to this, as-
suming that it was the same as the Romans had in
their archives, or whether he referred to another
document, it is impossible to determine. Again,
he says
"All these things Pilate did to Christ; and now in fact a Christian
own convi<;tion, he sent word of him to the reigning Caesar,
in his
who was at the time, Tiberius."— [Ibid. ch. 21, p. 95.
would be very important to ascertain whether
It
there was any report of Pilate. That there was
204 THIRD PERIOD —A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

such a report, was the general opinion of the fath-

ers ;Eusebius, Jerome and others. Also of Gro-
tius, Bishop Pearson, Spanheim, Fabricius, and
modern writers generally. But these opinions are
all founded upon the testimony of Justin Martyr
and Tertullian The writings of these fathers throw
.

no light upon the subject every thing referred to

;

by them being contained in the gospel. The report,

if any existed, could not have contained much in
common with the gospel. For instance, would Pi-
late, in describing the crucifixion, hav.e quoted from
the Jewish scriptures, and said, ^'Upon his vesture
they cast lots?''
Leclerc, Jonesand others conclude, with good
reason, that if there was such a report, neither
Justin nor Tertullian had ever seen it, nor any sub-
sequent Christian writer.
An attempt has lately been made to reproduce
the original Eeport of Pilate. This will be consid-
ered in another chapter.

The Acts of Pilate— Abstract of Contents.

Chapter 1.— Annas and Caiaphas, and eight others, who are
named, went to Pilate, accusing Jesus of many crimes; declaring
they were satisfied that he was the son of Joseph the carpenter, and
that he declared himself the Son of God, and a king. Also that he
attempted a dissolution of the sabbath, and of the laws of their
fathers.

Pilate inquired what Jesus had done ?

The Jews replied, that he worked cures on the sabbath, contrary to
their law; that he cured the lame and the deaf, those afflicted with
the palsy, the blind, the lepers, and demoniacs, by wicked methods.

Pilate sent a messenger after Christ. When the messenger met

him, he worshiped him, and spread his cloak for Jesus to walk upoiL
 THE ACTS OF PILATE. 205
The Jews complained of this act of the messenger. When Pilate
asked him why he had done it, he replied, "When thou sentest me
from Jerusalem to Alexander, I saw Jesus sitting in a mean figure,
upon a she-ass, and the children of the Hebrews cried out, 'Hosanna;'
holding boughs in their hands; others spread their garments in the
way, and said, 'Save us, thou who art in heaven; blessed is he who
Cometh in the name of the Lord.' " The messenger was again sent,
and did as before. "And as Jesus was going in by the ensigns who
carried the standards, the tops of them bowed down, and worshiped
Jesus." This was repeated, in the presence of Pilate.

Ch. 2.— Pilate's wife sent to him, saying: "Have nothing to do with
that just man; for I have suffered much concerning him in a vision,
this night."

Pilate, then calling Jesus, said, "Hast thou heard what they testify
against thee, and makest no answer ?" Jesus replied, "If they had
not the power of speaking, they would not have spoken; but because
every one has the command of his own tongue, to speak both good
and bad, let them see to it."

The elders of the Jews charged him with being born through
forni-
cation; also that on account of his birth, the infants were slain in
Bethlehem, and his father and mother fled into Egypt, because they
could not trust the people. Others of the Jews spoke more favor-
ably, among whom a number are named, including James and Judas.
(These are the only names that correspond with those of the twelve
apostles.) Then Pilate ordered all to go out, except the twelve, and
Jesus to withdraw. He then asked the twelve why the Jews wished
to kill Jesus. They replied that they were angry because he wrought
cures on the sabbath.

Ch. 3.— Scenes between Jesus and Pilate. (See next chapter of this
work.) The closing conversation is as follows:

"Pilate saith to him, 'What is truth ?' Jesus said, 'Truth is from
heaven.' Pilate said, 'Truth, therefore, is not on earth ?' Jesus re-
plied, 'Believe that truth is on earth, among those who, when they
have the power of judgment, are governed by truth, and form their
judgment aright.'

Ch. 4.~Scenes between Pilate and the Jews. Pilate finding no

fault in Jesus— the report of the Jews as to what Jesus had said
about the temple— Pilate declaring himself innocent of the blood of
Jesus, etc.
" Then the governor again commanded the Jews to depart out of
the hall; and calling Jesus, said to him, 'What am I to do with thee?'
Jesus answered him, 'According as it is written.' Pilate said to him,
 " "

206 THIRD PERIOD —A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

* How is it written ?' Jesus answered, Moses and the prophets
*
made
known beforehand, concerning my suffering and resurrection.'

The Jews, hearing this, were enraged, and said to Pilate, " Why will
you longer listen to his blasphemy ?" Pilate said to them, " If these
words seem to you blasphemous, take him, bring him before your
synagogue, and try him according to your law." The Jews said to Pi-
late,"It is contained in our law, that if one man has sinned against
another, he is worthy of nine and thirty stripes; but when he has
blasphemed in this manner, against the Lord, he is to be stoned."
blasphemy, then judge him accord-
Pilate replied, " If this speech is

ing to your law." The Jews "Our law commands us not to put
said,
any one to death. [The preceding sentence in some copies only.] We
desire that he may be crucified, because he is worthy of death at the
cross." Pilate said to them, "It is not proper to crucify him. Let
him be whipped and sent away."
"The governor, looking upon the people, and upon the Jews stand-
ing around, saw many of the Jews in tears; and said to the foremost
of the Jewish priests, 'Not all of the multitude wish him to die.' The
Jewish elders said to Pilate, 'We and the whole multitude came
hither for this purpose, that he should die.' Pilate said to them,
'Wherefore should he die?' They replied, 'Because he declares him-
self the Son of God, and a king.'

Ch. 5.— But Nicodemus, a certain Jew, stood before the governor,
and said: "I entreat thee, O merciful Judge, that thou wouldst deign
to hear me a few words." Pilate said to him, "Speak on."

Nicodemus have spoken to the elders of the Jews, and the

said, "I
and the Levites, and to the whole multitude of the
scribes, the priests
Jews in the synagogue, and have asked them what they would do
with this man ? He is a man who has done many useful and glorious
signs and wonders, such as no man on earth has done, or can do.
Dismiss him, and do him no harm. If he is from God, his wonderful
works will stand. But if from men, they will come to naught. Thus
Moses," etc. [Alluding to the miracles wrought in Egypt, by Jannes,
Jambres, etc.]

The Jews became angry at Nicodemus for interfering. Colloquy

between them and Nicodemus.
Ch. 6.— "Another certain one of the Jews, rising up, asked the gov-
ernor, that hewould hear him a word. The governor said, 'Whatever
thou hast to say, say.' " [Here follows an account of the miracle at
the sheep-pool. See next chapter.]
And another certain Jew, coming forth, said: "I was blind," etc.
[See next chapter.]
 THE ACTS OF PILATE. 207
"And another Jew, starting forth, said: '1 was a leper,'" etc. [See
next chapter.]
"And another Jew came forth and said: 'I was crooked and he
made me straight by his word.'
Ch. 7.— And a certain woman named Veronica, etc. [See next
chapter.]

Then follows, from another Jew, the account of the turning of

water into wine; from another, the casting out of a devil at Caper-
naum.
"Then the following things were also said by a Pharisee:
" *Isaw that a great company came to Jesus, from Galilee and
Judea, and the sea coast, and many countries about Jordan; and
many infirm persons came to him, and he healed them all. And I
heard the unclean spirits crying out and saying, 'Thou art the Son of
God.' And Jesus strictly charged them that they should not make
"
him known.
Ch. 8.— "After this, another person, whose name was Centurio,
said," etc.(See next chapter.)

"And many others, also, from the Jews, both men and women, cried
out, saying:
" 'He is truly the Son of God, who cures all diseases, only by his
word; and to whom all the demons are subjected.' Some from among
them said, 'This power is only from God.*

"Others said to Pilate, that he restored Lazarus from the dead,

after he had been four days in the tomb."

"The governor, hearing these things, trembling, said to the multi-

tude of the Jews, 'What will it profit you, to shed innocent blood ?'
Chapters 9, 10 and 11 give an account of the sentence of Jesus, and
of the circumstances attending his crucifixion. (See next chapter.)

—
Ch. 12. The Jews, having heard that Joseph had begged and
buried the body of Jesus, sought for Joseph and others, his com-
panions and accomplices. They concealed themselves, all but Nico-
demus. He showed himself boldly, and disputed with the Jews. Jo-
seph also afterward appeared, and expostulated with them. The
elders of the Jews were enraged, "and seizing Joseph, they put him
into a chamber, where was no window. They fastened the door, and
put a seal upon the lock." They also placed a guard about it.
Ch. 13.— When he was ordered brought forth, they found the same
sealon the lock of the chamber, but could not find Joseph. While
they were all wondering at this, one of the soldiers who had guarded
 "

208 THIRD PERIOD A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

the sepulcher, entered, and reported that while they were guarding
the sepulcher, etc. (See next chapter.)

"Then the Jews called together all the soldiers who kept the
sepulcher of Jesus, and said to them, 'Who were those to whom the
angel spoke ? Why did ye not seize them ?' The soldiers answering,
said, *We know not who the women were; besides, we became as dead
persons, through fear of the angel; and how could we seize the
women ?'
The Jews do not believe the soldiers, and an altercation ensues be-
tween them. The soldiers say, "Do ye produce Joseph, whom ye put
under guard in your chamber, and we will produce Jesus, whom we
guarded in the sepulcher." The Jews gathered a large sum of money,
and gave it to the soldiers, etc. (See next ch.)
—
Ch. 14. Three persons came from Galilee to Jerusalem, and re-
ported that they had seen Jesus in Galilee, talking with his eleven
disciples, etc. (See next ch.) The chief priests gave these persons a
large sum of money, and had them take oath not to declare what
they had seen, and sent them back to their own country. The Jews
were now in great consternation.

"But Annas and Caiaphas comforted them, saying: 'Why should

we believe the soldiers ?' " etc. (See next ch.)

Ch. 15.— On the advice of Kicodemus, men were sent into the
mountains, to search for Jesus. They could not find him, but found
Joseph. They induced him to return. He related his marvelous
escape. Jesus had appeared to him in the room, and having liberated
him, had shown him the tomb in which he had been laid, etc.

Ch. 16.— The Jews were astonished. They said, they knew the
father and mother of Jesus. A certain Levite said, he knew his
relations, etc.

Ch. 17.—Joseph related to the Jews, that the two sons of Simeon
had risen from the dead, and were at Arimathea. He suggested
visiting them, for the purpose of ascertaining some of the mysteries
of their resurrection. Five persons visited their graves, and [found
them open. They found them in the village, and brought them to
Jerusalem, to the synagogue. They took the book of the law of the
Lord, and swore them by the God Adonai, and the God of Israel, to
tell them how they were raised from the dead, and what they had
seen.

Charinus and Lenthius, the two sons of Simeon, called for paper,
and wrote down the mysteries which they had experienced.
 the acts of pilate. 209
Gospel of Nicodemus. Part 2. The Descent
INTO Hell [Hades] —
This part of the gospel con-
.

sists of the story thus written down, which is^

briefly, as follows :

When they were in the depths of hell, suddenly

there was a golden light, as of the sun. Adam then
rejoiced also Isaiah the prophet, etc.
;
Then their
father Simeon came, and quoted what he said when
he took Jesus in his arms the saints in hell then
;

rejoiced then came John the Baptist, like a little

;

hermit. Seth appeared, and repeated a long speech

of Michael. Then Satan, the prince and captain of
death, announced to the prince of hell that Jesus
was coming. The prince of hell and Satan made
long speeches. While they were discoursing, there
was heard a voice as of thunder: ^'Lift up your
gates, O ye princes, and the King of Glory shall
come in.''
The prince of hell prepared to resist, but the sound
was repeated, and the mighty Lord appeared in the
form of a man, lighting up the darkness. The King
of Glory tramples upon death, seizes the prince of
hell, and takes father Adam and the saints with
him to glory. In exchange for the loss of Adam
and his righteous sons, he gives Satan over ta
Beelzebub, the prince of hell, to be subject to his
dominion forever.
Ch. —
^' These are the divine and sacred
27. mys-
teries,which we saw and heard." Thus say Ghar-
inus and Lenthius.
They, having written all this down, gave one
copy to the Jewish priests, and one copy to Nico-
demus and Joseph ^^and immediately they were
;

exchanged into exceeding white forms, and were

seen no more.''
210 THIRD PERIOD — -A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

'^ But immediately, all these things, which were

related by the Jews in their synagogue, concerning
Jesus, were directly told to the governor, by Joseph
and Nicodemus, and Pilate wrote down all the
transactions, and placed them all in the public
records of the prsetorium/'
—
Ch. 28. Pilate went to the temple, and calling
together the rulers, and the scribes, and the doctors
of the law, he stated that he had heard they had a
large book in the temple, and he desired it to be
brought. When the great book, carried by four
ministers of the temple, and adorned with gold and
precious stones, was brought, Pilate adjured them
to tell him, if they had found an3rthing in the
scriptures about Jesus coming for the salvation of
the human race and at what time of the world he
;

should have come. Annas and Caiaphas being

sworn, declared that they had found, in the first of
the seventy books, where Michael the archangel
gave to the third son of Adam an account concern-
ing the appearance of Christ after 5500 years.
Here follows, in the copy of the gospel which we
have adhered to, taken from theOrthodoxographa,
vol. 1, tom. 2, p. 643, a list of chronological pe-
riods, footing up 4964 years. But in the Latin form
of the gospel, published in the sixteenth volume of
the Ante-Nicene collection, is a list of dates,
which, after a slight correction, foots up 5500
years.
The copy from the Orthodoxographa closes by stating that these Acts were
found, in the 19th year of Tiberius Caesar, by the Emperor, Theodosius the Great, in
Jerusalem, in the prsetoriura of Pontius Pilate, among the public records. That it was
in the 17th year of Herod the Tetrarch, and in the io2d Olympiad. That the history
v/as written in Hebrew, by Nicodemus. In the preface to the Latin form it is stated that
the Acts were translated by ^Eneas, from the Hebrew in the 17th consulship of Theodo-
sius, and the 5th consulship of Valentinian. That they had been written by Nico-
demus, in Hebrew, in the 19th year of Tiberius. That Pilate laid up a statement of the
Acts of Christ in the public records of the praetorium, and wrote a letter to Claudius,
stating that Jesus had been crucified, and referring to the miracles which he had
Tvrought. Also, that he rose again the third day, while the soldiers were keeping guard.
 CHAPTER XVI

ACTS OF PILATE
AND THE CANONICAL GOSPELS COMPAEED.

Before instituting a comparison of these gospels^

it will be necessary to consider more carefully, a
custom which prevailed extensively in the first ages
of the church, and especially in the first two cen-
turies.

The prevailing religious excitement and enthusi-

asm, the trusting credulity and love of the marvel-
ous, which were characteristic of the early Christ-
ians, led them to accept, unhesitatingly, what came
tothem, sanctioned by the authority of their bish-
ops and teachers.
When the better educated among them were
called upon to translate or to transcribe
the reli-
gious writings of the day, they saw at a glance,
what liberties had been taken with previous mate-
rials,and how readily the changes had been accept-
ed. Accordingly, not ynth any improper motives,
but for the purpose of edification, and of increasing
somewhat, the volume, not then very large, of cur-
212 THIRD PERIOD — A. D. 120 tO A. d/130.

rent Christian they made additions,

literature,
more or which they
less extensive, to the writings
were copying or translating. This process, which
may be termed literary accretion, prevailed so ex-
tensively and universally, in those times, that it

was the rule, rather and must

than the exception ;

be constantly kept in view, in all investigations and

discussions of Christian doctrine, as well as in the
exegesis of the Christian scriptures.

This practice is well understood by ecclesiastical

writers, as well as the disposition and habits of
thought to which it is to be referred. ^'The ancient
transcribers of the gospels,'' says Michaelis, ''were
always more inclined to insert new passages, than
to erase what already existed." '

Many passages in the New Testament are thus to

be accounted for ; notably may be mentioned the
last twelve verses of the Gospel according to Mark ;

which are generally considered a later addition to

the narrative.^
One of the most remarkable illustrations of the
process of interpolation and accretion, is in the
Ignatian Epistles. It is now established that the
only genuine writings of Ignatius extant, are the
Cureton Epistles. These consist of about twelve
octavo pages. They were written A. D. 115.

Twenty-five years later, these three epistles had

(i.) Volume 3, p. 169.

(2.) stated in the religious Encyclopedia of McClintock and Strong, that one
It is
of the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, the one called "Codex Bezse," or the
Cambridge manuscript, "is chiefly remarkable for its bold and extensive interpolations;
amounting to some 600 in the Acts alone."— [Article "Cambridge MS."
 THE ACTS OF PILATE. 213

increased from 12 pages to 20, while four new ones

had appeared, making in all, 40 pages. Some time
afterward, the 40 pages, which constituted the
seven epistles, were found swollen to 60, while
eight new epistles had appeared, adding 40 pages
more, makinglOO pages of the Epistles of Ignatius I

These all passed as genuine, for hundreds of years.

Here was a natural growth, from twelve pages to
100. They were all for edification. They all
breathed the same spirit with the original epistles ;

some new doctrines had crept in, but no harm had

been intended, and no great violence had been done
to anything but the truth of history.

While 88 pages had been added to the Ignatian

Epistles, how many had been taken away? One
half page, and that supposed to be by mistake,
from the loss of the last half sheet of the MS.
Of the 150,000 various readings which Griesbach
found in the manuscripts of the New Testament,
probably 149,500 were additions and interpolations.

Prof. Abbot gives us a list of over 60 passages in

the New Testament, the genuineness of which the
Bible Revision Committee considered ^'more or
less questionable. They include Mark, ch. 16, vv.
'
'

9 to 20, and John 8. 1 to 11 and if published

;

together, would constitute of themselves a gospel

of no mean dimensions. What part of the same
space would be occupied by the portions which they
found to have been erased? Probably not one-
hundredth.
In comparing the Gospels of the Infancy with
214 THIRD PERIOD — A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

Luke and Matthew, it was seen that the changes

were to be accounted for by other considerations.
Now, however, when we come to the miracles of
Christ, which are given in the Acts of Pilate on
the one hand, and in the canonical gospels on the
other, the principle is allowed full play, and can be
applied, as internal evidence, tending to show
which were first written.

The fact that in the Acts, the narratives are

related to Pilate by Jews, testifying in behalf of
their master, is no reason why the accounts should
be shortened, but rather the contrary. The wit-
nesses would be anxious to have Pilate impressed
with the details of the wonderful occurrences. If
the writer of the Acts of Pilate had before him the
gospels containing these narratives, we may be
assured he would have put into the mouths of the
witnesses, every circumstance of an impressive
character contained in those accounts, and would
probably have added others. Let us see if that was
the case.
Some of the Miracles op Jesus.
TURNING water INTO WINE.
This miracle is related in only one of the four
gospels the Gospel according to John.
;

The comparison can be made between the Acts of

Pilate and the Gospel of John, with no disturbing
forces from the other gospels, to be accounted for :

Acts of Pilate, ch. 7. GosPEL OF John, ch. 2.

And after other things, a cer- And the third day, there was a
marriage in Cana of Galilee; and
the mother of Jesus was there;
 THE ACTS OF PILATE. 215
Acts of Pilate, ch. 7. Gospel of John, ch. 2.

tain Jew said: I saw Jesus invit- 2. And both Jesus was called,
ed to a wedding with his disci- and his disciples, to the marriage.
ples, and there was a want of 3. And when they wanted wine,
wine; in Cana of Galilee. the mother of Jesus saith unto
And when the wine was all him. They have no wine.
drunk, he commanded the ser- 4. Jesus saith unto her, Wo-
man, what have I to do with
thee ? Mine hour is not yet come.
5. His mother saith unto the
servants, Whatsoever he saith
unto you, do (it.)
vants, that they should fill six 6. And there were set there, six
pots that were there, with water; water-pots of stone, after the
manner of the purifying of the
Jews, containing two or three fir-
kins apiece.
7. Jesus saith unto them, Fill
the water-pots with water. And
and they filled them up to the they filled them up to the brim.
brim. And he blessed them and 8. And he saith unto them.
turned the water into wine. Draw out now and bear unto the
governor of the feast. And they
bare (it.)
9. When the ruler of the feast
And all the people drank, being had tasted the water that was
surprised at this miracle. made wine, and knew not whence
it was, (but the servants who
drew the water knew), the gov-
ernor of the feast called the
bridegroom,
10. And saith unto him. Every
man at the beginning doth set
forth good wine; and when men
have well drunk, then that which
is worse; (but) thou hast kept the
good wine until now.
11. This beginning of miracles
did Jesus, in Cana of Galilee, and
manifested forth his glory; and
his disciples believed on him.

Which of these accounts was first written?

The process of accretion, which has been alluded
to, has two modes of development. The one, by
clothing the same facts in a more copious dress,
the other, by the interpolation of additional facts.
Both these processes are here to be observed.
 :

216 THIKD PERIOD — A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

Not only are the facts constituting the miracle,

which, in the Acts of Pilate, are narrated in a
plain, concise and impressive manner, enveloped
in much additional and useless verbiage, in John,
but also, two additional circumstances are inserted ;

the size of the water-pots, and the fact that the

newly made wine was better than the other. If the
author of the Acts had been acquainted with the
Gospel of John, is it probable that he would have
omitted these circumstances?
The next miracle, also, is related only by John
HEALING OF THE NOBLEMAN'S SON.
Acts of Pilate, ch. 8. John, 4. 46 to 53.

Then a certain nobleman said, 46. And was a certain

there
I had a son at Capernaum, who nobleman whose son was sick at
lay at the point of death. Capernaum.
And when I heard that Jesus 47. And when he heard that Je-
sus was come out of Judea into
was come into Galilee, I went Galilee, he went unto him and be-
and besought him, that he would sought him that he would come
come down to my house, and heal down, and heal his son; for he
my son; was at the point of death.
For he was about to die. 48. Then said Jesus unto him,
Except ye see signs and wonders,
ye will not believe.
49. The nobleman saith unto
him. Sir, come down, ere my child
He said to me, Go thy way; thy die.
son liveth. And my son was 50. Jesus saith unto him, Go
cured, from that hour. thy way; thy son liveth. And
the man believed the word that
Jesus had spoken unto him, and
he went his way.
51. And as he was now going
down, his servants met him, and
told (him), saying. Thy son liveth.
52. Then inquired he of them
the hour when he began to a-
mend. And they said unto him,
Yesterday, at the seventh hour,
the fever left him.
53. So the father knew that (it
was) at the same hour in the
whi(;h Jesus said unto him. Thy
son liveth: and himself believed,
and his whole house.
 THE ACTS OF PILATE, 217

The difference in the narrative consists, almost

entirely, in the greater diffuseness of style and
copiousness of detail, in John, with no new facts of
any importance introduced. This difference indi-
cates a later narrative in John. That the short
paragraph in the Acts should, under the hand of
the author of John, grow into the nine verses,
would be in perfect accordance with the law of
accretion, then prevailing.

The next miracle is related in Luke and Mark,

but not in John or Matthew. The comparison will
be made with the shorter narrative, in Luke.

CASTING OUT THE UNCLEAN DEVIL AT CAPERNAUM.

Acts of Pilate, ch. 7. Luke, 4. 31 to 35.

And another Jew stood forth 31. And

on the sabbath days he
in the midst of them, and said: taught them.
I saw Jesus in Capernaum, 32. And they were astonished
at his doctrine; for his word was
with power.
teaching in the synagogue; and 33. And in the synagogue, there
there was in the synagogue a cer- was a man who had a spirit of
tain man who had a devil. an unclean devil; and he cried
And he cried out, saying: Let out with a loud voice,
me alone what have we to do with
; 34. Saying: Let (us) alone; what
thee, Jesus of Nazareth? Art have we to do with thee, (thou)
thou come to destroy us ? I know Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou
that thou art the Holy One of come to destroy us? I know
Ood. thee, who thou art: the Holy One
of God.
And Jesus rebuked him, and 35. And Jesus rebuked him,
Hold thy peace, un-
said to him. saying: Hold thy peace, and come
and come out of the
clean spirit, out of him. And when the devil
man. And presently he came had thrown him in the midst, he
out of him, and did not at all came out of him, and hurt him
hurt him. not.

In the foregoing account, there is amplification

in Luke. Not satisfied that the man should be
possessed of a devil, the writer makes it "a, spirit
of an unclean devil ;" and he has the devil, before
218 THIRD PERIOD — A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

leaving the man, ''throw him in the midst/' In

Mark, where the narrative is longer, and the am-
plification still greater, the devil, when
required to
come out, is made to cry out with a loud voice.

HEALINO OF THE LEPER.

The miracle is related in Luke, Mark and Mat-
thew. The account in Matthew is almost exactly
the same as that in Luke. Mark shows some evi-
dence of additional accretion. The comparison
will be continued with Luke :

Acts of Pilate, ch. 6. Luke, 5. 12, 13.

Another Jew, also coming 12. And it came to pass, when

forth, said: he was in a certain behold, a
city,
I was a leper, and he cured me man full of leprosy; who, seeing
Jesus, fell on (his) face, and be-
sought him, saying, Lord, if thou
wilt, thou canst make me clean.
13. And he put forth (his) hand
by his word only; saying, I will, and touched him, saying: I will:
be thou clean. And immediately be thou clean. And immediately
I was cleansed from my leprosy. the leprosy departed from him.

HEALING OF THE INFIRM MAN AT BETHESDA.

This miracle, again, is only related in John
Acts of Pilate, ch. 6. John, 5. 1 to 16.

Then another certain one of After this, there was a feast of

the Jews, rising up, desired of the the Jews; and Jesus went up to
governor, that he would hear him Jerusalem.
a word. 2. Now there is at Jerusalem,
The governor said. What thou by the sheep (market), a pool,
wishest to say, say. which is called in the Hebrew
tongue, Bethesda; having five
He said, I lay for thirty-eight
porches.
years, by the sheep-pool at Jeru-
3. In these, lay a great multi-
salem, suffering under a great in-
firmity. I was expecting a cure tude of impotent folk, of blind,
to come from the coming of an halt, withered, waiting for the
moving of the water.
angel, who disturbed the water 4. For an angel went down at a
at a certain time. Whoever, af- certain season into the pool, and
ter the troubling of the water, troubled the water; whosoever
first descended into it, was made then first, after the troubling of
whole of every infirmity. the water, stepped in, was made
 THE ACTS OF PILATE, 219
Acts of Pilate, ch. 6, John, 5. 1 to 16.

whole of whatsoever disease he

had.
Jesus, finding me languishing 5. And a certain man was there
there, said to me. who had an infirmity, thirty and
eight years.
6. When Jesus saw him lie, and
knew that he had been now a
long time so, he saith unto him,
Wilt thou be made whole ? And Wilt thou be made whole ?
1 answered, Sir, I have no man, 7. The impotent man answered
when the water is troubled, to him. Sir, I have no man, when the
put me into the pool. water is troubled, to put me into
the pool; but while I am coming,
another steppeth down before me.
And he said unto me, Kise, 8. Jesus saith unto him, Rise,
take up thy bed, and walk. take up thy bed, and walk.
And I was made whole, and 9. And immediately the man
immediately took up my bed, was made whole, and took up his
and walked. bed, and walked.

[Then follows a colloquy con-

[Here follows a colloquy con- cerning the sabbath, verses 10 to
cerning the sabbath, of the same 16; varying in detail from that in
general tenor as that in John, the other gospel, and consider-
but much shorter.] ably longer.]

HEALING OF THE SERVANT OF

CENTURIO, OR THE SERVANT OF THE CENTURION.
The comparison will be made with Luke the ;

account in that gospel being more nearly parallel.

In Matthew, the narrative is somewhat shorter, but
still it is twice as long as in the Acts of Pilate.

Acts of Pilate, ch. 8. Luke, ch. 7.

After this a certain person Now, when, (etc.), he entered

whose name was Centurio, said: into Capernaum.
I saw Jesus at Capernaum, and 2. And a centurion's servant,
I entreated him, saying: who was dear unto him, was sick,
and ready to die.
3. And whenhe heard of Jesus,
he sent unto him the elders of the
Jews, beseeching him that he
would come and heal his servant.
Lord, my servant lieth at home, a 4. And when they came to Jesus
paralytic. they besought him instantly; say-
And Jesus said to me, I will ing that he was worthy, for whom
come and cure him. But I said. he should do this.
220 THIRD PERIOD — A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

Acts of Pilate, ch. 8. Luke, ch. 7.

5. For he loveth our nation, and

he hath built us a synagogue.
6. Then Jesus went with them.
And when he was not far from
the house, the centurion sent
friends unto him, saying unto
him. Lord, trouble not thyself, for
Lord, I am not worthy, that I am not worthy that thou
thou shouldst come under my shouldst enter under my roof.
7. Wherefore neither thought I
myself worthy to come unto thee:
roof; But only speak the word, but say in a word, and my servant
and my servant shall be healed. shall be healed.
8. For I also am a man set under
authority, having under me sold-
iers; and I say unto one. Go, and
hegoeth; and to another. Come,
and he Cometh; and to my serv-
ant, Do this, and he doeth (it.)

9. When
Jesus heard these
things, he marveled at him, and
turned him about, and said
unto the people that followed
him, I say unto you, I have not
And Jesus said unto me, Go found so great faith, no, not in
thy way; and as thou hast be- Israel.
lieved, so be it done unto thee. 10. And they that were sent,
And the servant was healed, returning to the house, found the
from that same hour. servant whole, that had been sick.

Here the account in Luke is nearly three times

as long as that in the other gospel.

It is manifest, also, that one of the historians

made a mistake in the person upon whose servant
the miracle was performed ; a mistake arising from
the use of the word Centurio, or centurion.
In which gospel was the mistake probably made ?
If the Acts of Pilate was written last, and the
author had at first mistaken the word centurion for
the name of the person, he would, as he proceeded
with the narrative, discover his mistake, by notic-
ing the character of the person, and his military
 THE ACTS OF PILATE. 221

position, as a commander of men. On the other

hand, if Luke was last written, it would be very
natural for the author to suppose, inasmuch as
Centurio was an unsual name, that centurion was
intended. And having
once made the change,
either by mistake or otherwise, he would naturally,
in the usual process of interpolation, make addi-
tions to the narrative, illustrative of the peculiar
position occupied by the person upon whom the
miracle was wrought, and of the willingness of
Jesus to cure Gentiles as well as Jews.

THE HEALING OF VERONICA.

Acts of Pilate, ch. 7. Luke, 8. 43 to 48. (Shortest form.)

And a certain woman, Veron- 43. And a woman having an

ica by name, said: issue of blood twelve years, who
I was flowing with blood for had spent all her living upon phy-
twelve years; and I touched the sicans, neither could be healed
fringe of his garment, and imme- by any,
diately the flowing of my blood 44. Came behind him, and
stopped. touched the border of his gar-
(Note. The name of the woman ment: and immediately her issue
is not given in the first Greek of blood stanched.
form of .the Acts of Pilate, as (Then follow four verses, giving
published in the Ante-Nicene a conversation concerning the
Christian Library, vol. 16, pp. 125 matter, between Jesus, the people
to 148.) and the woman.)

According to Eusebius, this woman erected a

statue to the honor of Christ, on account of the
miracle.^

The historian says, the woman lived at Csesarea

Philippi ; that her house was to be seen in his time,
and several monuments of the miracle. That near
her house was a brazen statue of the woman, fixed
on a pedestal of stone, in the posture of a suppliant,
(I,) Ecclesiastical History, 7. 18.

/
222 THIRD PERIOD — A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

on bended knees, with outstretched hands. Oppo-

site to it, made of the same metal, was the statue
of a man, in a standing posture, with a cloak over
his shoulders and stretching forth his hand to the
woman. At the foot of this statue, at the very
base of the column, grew a certain unknown herb,
which, growing up to the hem of the garment, was
a present remedy, so said Eusebius, for all sorts of
distempers. This statue was said to belike Christ.
*^It continued,'' says Eusebius, ^^to my time, and I
went to that city, and saw it myself.''

Sozomen, the historian, [A D. 439], mentions

the same story, and says that Julian the apostate
took down the statue, and placed his own in the
room of it. He adds, that a fire from heaven smote
the statue erected by Julian, and took off the head
and neck, and fixed it in the earth where it con- ;

tinued to his day, looking black, as if it had been

burnt by lightning.'

The statue is also mentioned by the historian

Cassiodorus, [A. D.550], by Theophylact, Epi-
phanius and Nicephorus. Also by Asterius, a
writer of the fourth century, who says it was re-
moved by the Emperor Maximus.^
Luebke, who was unacquainted with this tradi-
tion, or did not give credit to speaks of the first it,

statue of Christ, as having been erected by Alex-

ander Severus.3

(i.) Sozomen's Ecc. Hist. 5.21.

(2.) See Photius, Bib. Cod. 272, p. 1507.

(3.) History of Art, vol. i, 3d Ed, p. 306.

 THE ACTS OF PILATE. 223
It is said, also, that the second picture of Christ
ever taken, (the first being the one sent by him to
Abgarus, King of Edessa), was stamped or im-
pressed upon the handkerchief of Veronica. That
when Jesus was led to his crucifixion, Veronica,
who followed him, put a handkerchief to his face,
on which Christ impressed his picture. This is
attested by Methodius Bishop of Tyre, [A. D. 300]
,

Constantius Porphyrogenitus, and others.'

CUEING BLIND BARTIMEUS.

Acts of Pilate, ch. 6. Luke, 18. 35 to 43.

And a certain other Jew, rising 35. And came to pass, that
it
as he was come nigh unto Jericho,
up, said: I was blind; could hear a certain blind man sat by the
sounds, but could see no one. way-side, begging:
And as Jesus was going along,
I heard the multitude passing by, 36. And hearing the multitude
and I asked what was there? pass by, he asked what
it meant.
They told me that Jesus was 37. And
they told him that
passing by. Then I cried out, Jesus of Nazareth passed by.
saying: Jesus, Son of David, have
38. And he cried, saying: Jesus,
mercy on me. thou Son of David, have mercy
on me.
39. And they who went before,
rebuked him, that he should hold
his peace; but he cried so much
the more, (Thou) Son of David,
have mercy on me.
And he, standing still, com- 40. And Jesus stood, and com-
manded me to be brought to him. manded him to be brought unto
him; and when he was come
near, he asked him,
41. Saying: What wilt thou that
and said to me. What wilt thou ? I shall do unto thee? And he
I said, Lord, that I may receive said. Lord, that I may receive my
my sight. siccht.

(i.) See Durant, de Retib. Cath. Eccles. 1. i, c, 5:

"Altera Christi imago sudario Veronicae impressa fuit: cum enim Christus ad cruci-
figedum duceretur, Veronica, quae Christum sequebatur, faciei sudarium, admovit, in
quo Christi effigiem, expressam retulit. Hujus rei, auctores sunt Methodius," etc,
Durant also refers to the image of Christ erected by the woman cured of the flowing
of blood.
224 THIRD PERIOD —A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.
Acts of Pilate, ch. 6. Luke, 18. 35 to 43.

And he said to me, Receive thy 42. And Jesus said unto him„
sight. Receive thy sight; thy faith hath
saved thee.
43. And immediately he receiv-
And immediately I saw, and ed his sight, and followed him,
followed him, rejoicing and giv- glorifying God; and all the people,
ing thanks. when they saw (it), gave praise
unto God.

The author of Matthew has two blind men ; and

as Schleiermacher observes, has a habit of duplicat-
ing, in such cases.

THE RAISING OF LAZARUS.

Acts of Pilate, ch. 8. Gospel of John.
But others said to Pilate, that The reader is familiar with the
he raised Lazarus from the dead, long account of this miracle, con-
after he had been four days in tained in the 11th chapter of
his grave. John, consisting of 44 verses.

The foregoing are all of the gospel miracles

which are related in the Acts of Pilate. The result
of the comparison may be stated thus :

In every instance, the account in the Acts of Pilate is shorter than

the shortest narrative in the canonical gospels.

In view of the practice of interpolation, which

prevailed so extensively in the second century, it
is for the reader to judge which was last written.

THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS.

The account of the crucifixion, as given in the
Acts of Pilate, is undoubtedly the nearest historical
of any religious writings of the second century. As
everything connected with this event is of absorb-
ing interest, the subject cannot be approached with
indifference.
 THE ACTS OF PILATE. 225

Bishop Ellicott, in an able Essay on the Apocry-

phal Gospels, published in the Cambridge Essays
for 1856, admits that this account was used by the
earlier fathers.
To show the value of this testimony, we will
quote from his prefatory remarks the contemptuous
language which he employs, when speaking of the
apocryphal gospels as a class
"Their real demerits, their mendacities, their absurdities, their
coarsenesses, the barbarities of their style, and the inconsequence of
their narratives, have never been excused or condoned. It vrould be
hard to find any competent writer, in any age of the church, who has
been beguiled into saying anything civil or commendatory."

And yet the writer who could not refrain from

expressing himself thus strongly toward these un-
fortunate, bantling gospels, when he comes to con-
sider the Acts of Pilate, feels compelled to speak in
a more respectful manner. In commencing, he
says :

"Wepass onward to a very important document, apparently of a

very early date, the first part of the Gospel of Nicodemus, or, as it is
commonly called, the Acta Pilati.
"The question of real interest is this.
"Whether the present Acta Pilati are substantially the same with
the very ancient document, referred to with such respect by Justin
Martyr, Tertullian, and other early and reputable writers. It need
scarcely be said that these ancient acts are not the real, judiciary acts
of Pilate. The Acta noticed by Tertullian, was probably an account
of our Savior's condemnation, written by some early Jewish-Christ-
ian,and derived from eye-witnesses, or from important oral traditions,
which, in so short a time, and on such an event, could not have
become seriously erroneous."

After stating that would be liable to changes

it

and interpolations, and that there is reason to think

the apocryphal Acts of Pilate was one of the inter-
polated manuscripts, he says
 :

226 THIRD PERIOD — A. D. 120 tO A. D. 130.

"When, however, it is remembered that the quotations made by

TertuUian and others from the ancient Acta, are all found in the pre-
sent Acta, it seems fair to conclude, especially from the nature and
length of the composition, that these changes or interpolations have
not been very serious, and that we have, in this first part of this Gos-
pel of Nicodemus, substantially, the very ancient and important Acta
Pilati, of the second century."

Again: "If we strip off the obviously fabulous, it does seem that
the writer has related some portions of the trial in a manner so very
probable and plausible, that we may well pause before we sweep
away the whole as a mere party fiction. There is something very
natural in the way in which the Jews heap up indiscriminate accusa-
tion; there is an eager ferocity on their part, met by a steady and
almost indignant scorn on the part of the governor, that seems, at any
rate, very happily depicted. The desire of the Jews, not only that
Christ should die, but that he should be crucified, that he should die
the death of a malefactor,— is brought out very distinctly.
"There are minor incidents,— the weeping populace —
the appear-
ance of witnesses in favor of the accused (though here there is evi-
dently much interpolated) —the steady defense of Nicodemus —
the
persecution of the pious Joseph— the cloth wound round the crucified
Savior— the crown of thorns still retained on the brow — the account
given by the centurion to Pilate, and the distress of that unjust man
and his wife,— which all tend to make us regard these interpolated,
but still very ancient records, with a greater interest than we can feel
for any other member of the apocryphal family."

After so respectable a testimony for this gospel,

from one who cannot be accused of any prejudice
in its favor, we proceed to contrast its narrative of
the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, with the
parallel accounts in the canonical gospels

THE PROPOSAL TO RELEASE A PRISONER,

This account is given in all four of the canonical

gospels. The narrative however, so divergent,
is,

that it can scarcely be considered parallel, except

in Mark and Matthew. Of these, the comparison
will be made with the shorter form :
 THE ACTS OP PILATE, 227
Acts of Pilate, ch. 9. Matthew, 27. 15 to 23.

Pilate, again calling the multi- 15. Now at (that) feast, the gov-
tude, said to them, Since there is ernor was wont to release unto the
a custom among you, on the day people a prisoner, whom they
of passover, that I should release would.
to you one that is bound; 1 have 16. And they had then a notable
a noted murderer, called Barab- prisoner, called Barabbas.
bas, also Jesus who is called
17. Therefore, when they were
Christ; in whom I find no cause gathered together, Pilate said
of death.
unto them. Whom will ye that I
release unto you ? Barabbas, or
Jesus who is called Christ ?
18. For he knew that for envy
they had delivered him.
19. [Omitted. Parallel in an-
other part of the Acts of Pilate.}
20. But the chief priests and
elders persuaded the multitude,
that they should ask Barabbas,
and destroy Jesus.
Which, therefore, of these two 21. The governor answered and
do you wish to have released ? said unto them, Whether of the
They all cried out, saying, Re- twain will ye that I release unto
lease unto us Barabbas. you ? Thay said, Barabbas.
Pilate saith unto them. What 22. Pilate saith unto them.
then shall I do with Jesus who is What shall I do then with Jesus
called Christ ? They all say unto who is called Christ? (They) all
him, Let him be crucified. say unto him. Let him be cruci-
fied.
23. And governor said,
the
Why, what hath he done?
evil
But they cried out the more, say-
ing : Let him be crucified.
The foregoing accounts are closely parallel. But
the canonical gospel exhibits considerable accretion.
There is some amplification of language, and the in-
troduction of the dream of the wife of Pilate.
PILATE WASHING HIS HANDS OF THE BLOOD OF JESUS.
Acts of Pilate, ch. 9. Matthew, ch. 27.
24. V7hen Pilate saw that he
could prevail nothing, but (that)
Then Pilate, taking water,
rather a tumult was made, he
washed his hands before the peo-
ple, saying:
took water, and washed (his)
hands before the multitude, say-
I am innocent of the blood of ing: I am innocent of the blood
this just person; see ye to it. of this just person; see ye (to it).
The Jews answered, saying: 25. Then answered' all the peo-
His blood be upon us, and upon ple, and said, His blood (be) oil
our children. us, and on our children.
 : :

228 THIED PERIOD —A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

Not in either of the other gospels.

In the Acts of Pilate, Jesus is now sentenced, as

follows
" Then Pilate commanded Jesus to be brought before him, and
spake to him the following words:
" 'Thy own nation hath charged thee, as making thyself a king.
Wherefore, I, Herod, sentence thee to be whipped, according to the laws
of former governors; and that thou be first bound, then hanged upon
a cross, in that place where thou art now a prisoner; and also two
criminals with thee; whose names are Demas and Gestas.'"

JESUS TAKEN TO EXECUTION.

As the account connected in the canonical
is less
gospels, we shall be obliged here, in order to pre-
serve the parallel, to put several passages together
Acts of Pilate, ch. 10. Matthew, ch. 27.
Then Jesus went out of the 26. And ... he delivered him
hall, and the two thieves with to be crucified.
him. And when they were come 33. When they were come unto
to the place which is called Gol- a place called Golgotha, that is to
gotha, they stripped him of his say, a place of a skull,
raiment, and girt him about with
28. They stripped him, and put
on him a scarlet robe,
29. And when they had platted
a linen cloth, and put a crown of a crown of thorns, they put (it)
thorns upon his head, and put a upon his head, and a reed in his
reed in his hand. right hand.

PRAYING FOR HIS ENEMIES.

Acts of Pilate, ch. 10. Luke, 23. 34.

But Jesus said. My Father, for- Then said Jesus, Father, for-
give them; for they know not give them; for they know not
what they do. what they do.

HIS GARMENTS ARE DIVIDED.

Acts of Pilate, ch. 10. Mark, 15. 24.
And when they had crucified
And they divided his garments, him, they parted his garments,
and upon his vesture they cast casting lots upon them, what
lots. every man should take.
 THE ACTS OF PILATE. 229
Matthew, 27. 35.

And parted his garments, cast-

it might be fulfilled
ing lots; that
which was spoken by the prophet:
They parted my garments among
them, and upon my vesture did
they cast lots.

Luke, 23. 34.

And they parted his raiment,

and cast lots.

The law of accretion is well illustrated here, by

comparing the short statements in Luke and the
Acts of Pilate, on the one hand, with Mark and
Matthew on the other. Luke being a compilation,
this portion of it is probably from a manuscript
older, even, than the Acts of Pilate.
In John, the account extended, with the
is
additional statement, that the garments were
divided into four parts, to every soldier a part, and
that lots were cast for the coat, which was without
seam.
MOCKED BY THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND SOLDIERS.
Acts op Pilate, ch. 10. Mark, 15. 29 to 32, 36.

The people in the mean time 29. Andthey that passed by

stood by, and the chief priests railed on him, wagging their
and elders of the Jews mocked heads, and saying: Ah, thou that
him, saying: destroyest the temple, and build-
est (it) in three days,

He saved others, let him now 30. Save thyself, and come
save himself if he can; if he be
down from the cross.
the Son of God, let him now come 31. Likewise, also, the chief
down from the cross. priests, mocking, said among
themselves, with the scribes. He
saved others, himself he cannot
save.
The soldiers also mocked him, 32. Let Christ, the King of Is-
and taking vinegar and gall, rael, descend now from the cross,
offered it to him to drink, and that we may see and believe.
said to him: If thou art King of 36. And one ran and
filled a
the Jews, deliver thyself. sponge full of vinegar, and put
(it) on a reed, and gave him to
drink.
230 THIRD PERIOD — A. D. 120 tO A. D. 130.

JESUS PIERCED IN THE SIDE.

Acts of Pilate, ch. 10. John, 19. 34.

Longinus, a soldier, taking a But oneof the soldiers with a

spear, pierced his side; and di- spear pierced his side, and forth-
rectly, there came forth blood with there came out blood and
and water. water.

THE TITLE UPON THE CROSS.

Acts of Pilate, ch. 10. John, 19.' 19, 20.

And Pilate wrote a title upon 19, And Pilate wrote a title
the cross, in Hebrew, Latin and and put (it) on the cross. And
Greek letters, to wit: the writing was,
"This is the King of the "Jesus of Nazareth, the
Jews." King of the Jews."
20. This title then read many
of the Jews: for the place where
Jesus was crucified, was nigh to
the city: and it was written in He-
brew, (and) Greek, (and) Latin.

In the synoptic gospels, it is not stated who wrote

the title. In Luke, it is 'This is the King of the
Jews.'' In Mark, 'The King of the Jews.'' In
Matthew, 'This is Jesus, the King of the Jews."
In Luke, it is stated to have been in Greek, Latin
and Hebrew.
THE THIEVES ON THE CROSS.
Acts of Pilate, ch. 10. Luke, 23. 39 to 43.

But one of the two thieves who

werecrucified with Jesus, whose 39. And
one of the malefactors
name was Gestas, said to Jesus, who were hanged, railed on him,
If thou art the Christ, deliver thy- saying: If thou be Christ, save
selfand us. thyselfand us.
But the thief who was crucified But the other answering re-
40.
on the right hand, whose name buked him, saying: Dost thou
was Demas, answering, rebuked not fear God. seeing thou art in
him, and said: the same condemnation ?
Dost not thou, who art con-
demned to this punishment, fear
God? We, indeed, justly and
rightly, according to what we And we indeed justly; for
41.
have done, receive our reward. we receive the due reward of our
But this Jesus, what evil hath he deeds: but this man hath done
done? nothing amiss.
 THE ACTS OF PILATE. 231
Acts of Pilate, ch. 10. Luke, 23. 39 to 43.

After this, groaning, he said to 42. And he said unto Jesus,

Jesus, Lord, remember me when Lord, remember me when thou
thou comest into thy kingdom. comest into thy kingdom.
Jesus, answering, said unto him, 43. And Jesus said unto him,
Verily I say unto thee, to-day Verily I say unto thee, to-day
Shalt thou be with me in para- shalt thou be with me in paradise.
dise.

The account in the compilation of Luke, is the

shortest, and indicates a manuscript of greater anti-
quity than the Acts of Pilate. The accretion is in
the latter gospel, which gives as additional circum-
stances, the names of the thieves, the crucifixion of
Demas on the right hand and Gestas on the left hand
of Jesus, and the groaning of Demas, before making
his dying request.

In Mark and Matthew, both of the thieves revile

Jesus.

Attention might here be called to the fact, that

while there are older manuscripts concerning the cru-
cifixion, etc. which found their way into the Gospel
,

of Luke, the case is different with the miracles. The

shortest, and, as there is reason to believe, the ear-
liest accounts of these, are in the Acts of Pilate.

THE DARKNESS AT THE CRUCIFIXION.

Acts of Pilate, ch. 11. Luke, 23. 44, 45.

And it was about the sixth 44. And it was about the sixth
hour; and there was darkness hour, and there was a darkness
over the whole earth until the over all the earth, until the ninth
ninth hour. And while the sun hour.
was eclipsed, etc. 45. And the sun was darkened,
etc.

In Mark and Matthew, it is stated, ''There was

darkness over all the land, until the ninth hour.''
232 THIRD PERIOD A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

RENDING OF THE VAIL OF THE TEMPLE.

Acts of Pilate, ch. IL Matthew, 27. 51.

Behold, the vail of the temple And behold, the vail of the
was rent from the top to the bot- temple was rent in twain from
tom; and the rocks also were the top to the bottom; and the
rent. earth did quake, and the rocks
rent.

In Matthew, there is the work of a later hand,

which interpolated the earthquake. In Luke and
Mark, there is only the rending of the vail.

RISING OP THE SAINTS.

Acts of Pilate, ch. 11. Matthew, 27. 52, 53.

And the graves opened, and 52. And the graves were open-
many bodies of saints who slept, ed; and many bodies of the saints
arose. who slept, arose,
And came out of the graves
53.
after his resurrection, and went
into the holy city, and appeared
unto many.

No such account in any of the other gospels.

The interpolation by the author of Matthew, of the
Acts of Pilate or of some common manuscript, is
manifest. The whole of the 53d verse is accretion ;

and by a strange anachronism, though the author

of Matthew has the graves opened by the earth-
quake, at the time of the crucifixion, and mani-
festly intends to represent their inhabitants as
coming forth in consequence of that event, they do
not arise until several days afterward.

Michaelis, Farrar, Dean Milman and others at-

tribute this scene to the excited imaginations of
some of the disciples.
 THE ACTS OF PILATE, 233
THE DYING WORDS, AND DEATH OF JESUS.
Acts of Pilate, ch. 11. Mark, 15. 34.

And about the ninth hour, Jesus And at the ninth hour, Jesus
cried out with a loud voice, Heli, cried with a loud voice, saying:
Heli, lama, zabathani ? Which in- Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani ?
terpreted, is. My God, my God, Which is, being interpreted, My
why hast thou forsaken me ? God, my God, why hast thou for-
saken me ?
Luke, 23. 46.

And when Jesus had cried with

And after these things, Jesus a loud voice, he said, Father, into
said, Father, into thy hands I thy hands I commend my spirit;
commend my spirit. And having and having said thus, he gave up
said this, he gave up the ghost. the ghost.

SCENES AT THE CROSS AFTERWARD.

Acts of Pilate, ch. 11. Luke, 23. 47, 48.

The centurion, when he saw 47. Now when the centurion

that Jesus, crying out, thus gave saw what was done, he glorified
up the ghost, glorified God, and God, saying: Certainly this was
said: a righteous man.
Of a truth, this was a just man.
And all the people who stood 48. And all the people that came
by, were accordingly troubled at together to that sight, beholding
the sight, and reflecting upon the things which were done, smote
what had passed, smote upon their breasts, and returned.
their breasts, and returned to the
city of Jerusalem.

In one of the canonical gospels, the centurion is

made to say, '^Truly this was the Son of God;''
and in another, **Trulv this man was the Son of
God/'
THE WOMEN AT THE CRUCIFIXION.
Acts of Pilate, ch. 11. Luke, 23, 49.

But all his acquaintances stood And all his acquaintance, and
at a distance, as also the women the women who followed him
who had followed him from Gali- from Galilee, stood afar off, be-
lee; beholding these things. holding these things.

JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA.
Acts of Pilate, ch. 11. John, 19. 38.

And, behold, a certain man of And after this, Joseph of Ar-

Arimathea, named Joseph, who imathea, being a disciple of Jesus,
234 THIRD PERIOD A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

Acts of Pilate, ch. 11. John, 19. 38.

also was a disciple of Jesus, but (but secretly for fear of the Jews)
secretly for fear of the Jews, came besought Pilate, that he might
to the governor, and entreated
take away the body of Jesus; and
the governor, that he would per-
Pilate gave (him) leave.
mit him to take the body of Jesus [Longer accounts in Luke and
from the cross. And the gov-
Mark.]
ernor permitted it.

THE BURIAL OF JESUS.

Acts of Pilate, ch. 11. John, 19. 39 to 41.

And Nicodemus came, bringing 39. And

there came also Nico-
demus, (who, at the first, came to
with him a mixture of myrrh and Jesus by night), and brought a
aloes, about a hundred pound mixture of myrrh and aloes, about
weight. a hundred pounds (weight.)
And with tears, they took down 40. Then took they the body of
Jesus from the cross, and bound Jesus, and wound it in linen
him in linen clothes, with spices, clothes, with the spices, as the
according to the custom of bury- manner of the Jews is to bury.
ing among the Jews, and placed 41. Now, in the place where he
him in a new tomb, which Joseph was crucified, there was a garden;
had built and caused to be cut
out of a rock; in which no man and in the garden anew sepulcher
wherein was never man yet laid.
had yet been placed; and they 42. There laid they Jesus, there-
fore, because of the Jews' prep-
aration (day); for the sepulcher
was nigh at hand.
rolled a great stone to the door of
the sepulcher.
Matthew, 27. 60.
And he rolled a great stone to
the door of the sepulcher, and de-
parted.

THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS.

Acts of Pilate, ch. 13. Matthew, 28. 1 to 7.

And while they (the priests and In the end of the sabbath, as it
rulers of the Jews assembled) began to dawn, toward the first
were all wondering (at the mirac- (day) of the week, came' Mary
ulous escape of Joseph), behold, Magdalene, and the other Mary,
one of the soldiers who were to see the sepulcher.
guarding the sepulcher (of Jesus),
spake in the synagogue, and said:
2. And behold, there was a great
While we were guarding the
sepulcher of Jesus, there was an earthquake; for the angel of the
earthquake; and we saw an angel Lord descended from heaven, and
of God, who rolled away the stone came and rolled back the stone
from the sepulcher, and sat upon from the door, and sat upon it.

it; and his countenance was like 3. His countenance was like
 THE ACTS OF PILATE. 235
Acts of Pilate, ch. 13. Matthew, 28.

lightning, and his garment like lightning, and his raiment white
as snow.
4. And for fear of him, the
snow; and we became through keepers did shake, and became as
fear, as dead persons. dead (men.)
And we heard the angel saying 5. And the angel answered and
to the women at the sepulcher of
Jesus, Fear not; I know that ye said unto the women. Fear not
ye; for I know that ye seek Jesus,
who was crucified.
seek the crucified Jesus. He has
risen, ashe foretold. Come and 6. He not here; for he is
is

behold the place where he was laid risen, as he Come, see the
said.
place where the Lord lay.
and go quickly, and say to his 7 And go quickly, and tell his
He has risen from the
disciples. disciples, that he is risen from
dead, and will go before you into the dead; and behold, he goeth
Galilee. There ye shall see him, before you into Galilee. There
as he told you. shall ye see him; lo, I have told
you.

BRIBING THE SOLDIERS.

Acts of Pilate, ch. 13. Matthew, 28. 11 to 15.

The Jews, hearing this, were 11. Now when they were going,
afraid; and said among them- behold, some of the watch came
selves. If by any means these into the city, and showed unto
things become public, everybody the chief priests all the things
will believe in Jesus. that were done.
12. And when they were assem-
Then gathering a large sum of bled with the elders, and had
money, they gave it to the sol- taken counsel, they gave large
diers, saying: Tell the people, money unto the soldiers,
that while ye were sleeping, the 13. Saying: Say ye, His disciples
disciples of Jesus came by night, came by night and stole him
and stole the body of Jesus. And (away,) while we slept.
if this should come to the ears of
14. And if this come to the gov-
Pilate the governor, we will sat-
ernor's ears, we will persuade
isfy him, and secure you.
him, and secure you.
The soldiers, accordingly, re- 15. So they took the money,
ceiving the money, said as they and did as they were taught.
were instructed by the Jews. And this saying is commonly re-
And their report was spread ported among the Jews until this
abroad, among all the people. day.

The account in Matthew, which is most nearly

parallel with the Acts of Pilate, differs from it in
one very important feature. In the Acts of Pilate,
the resurrection is only stated upon the report of
 '

236 THIRD PERIOD A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

the soldiers. In Matthew, it is related as a distinct

narrative, on the authority of the historian him-
self while the report of the soldiers is brought in
;

afterward, as confirmatory testimony. But in the

bribing of the soldiers, for the purpose of keeping
the resurrection a secret, the narratives again run
together.

The closing sentence in the Acts of Pilate, is,

''And their report was spread abroad, among all

'
the people.
In Matthew it reads, ''And this saying is com-
mon among the Jews, until this day."

The language of Matthew appears to be that of

the later document.

THE ASCENSION OF JESUS.

Acts of Pilate, and Appendix to Mark.
It is generally agreed, that the last twelve verses
of the Gospel of Mark, are an interpolation a sort ;

of appendix to the gospel, added by some tran-

scriber.
There the following parallel between the Acts
is
of Pilate and a portion of this appendix :

Acts of Pilate, ch. 14. Mark, ch. 16.

But a certain priest named

Phineas, Ada, a schoolmaster, and 14. Afterward, he appeared un-
a Levlte named Ageus, they three to the eleven, as they sat at meat,
came from Galilee to Jerusalem, and upbraided them with their
and told the chief priests and all unbelief, and hardness of heart,
who were in the synagogues, say- because they believed not them
ing: who had seen him after he was
We have seen Jesus, whom you risen.
crucified, talking with his eleven
disciples, and sitting in the midst
of them on Mount Olivet, and
saying to them:
 THE ACTS OF PILATE. 237
Acts of Pilate, ch. 14. Mark, ch. 16.

15. And he said unto them. Go

Go ye into all the world; preach ye into all the world, and preach
to all nations; baptizing them in the gospel to every creature.
16. He that believeth and is
the name of the Father, and the baptized, shall be saved; but he
Son, and the Holy Spirit; and he that believeth not, shall be
who shall believe and be baptized, damned.
will be saved. 17. Andthese signs shall follow
them that believe: In my name
shall they cast out devils; they
shall speak with new tongues.
18. They shall take up serpents;
and if theydrink any deadly
thing, it shall not hurt them; they
shall lay hands on the sick, and
they shall recover.
And when he had said these 19. So then, after the Lord had
things to his disciples, we saw
spoken unto them, he was received
him ascending into heaven. up into heaven, and sat on the
right hand of God.

This parallel would indicate that the Acts of Pilate

was antecedent to the gospel, since if it were subse-
quent, this portion of the Acts could not be accounted
for it not being in the original of Gospel of Mark.
;

In the Acts of Pilate, the narrative is continued in

the following manner
The chief priests, being alarmed at the news of
the resurrection of Jesus, and his appearance to the
Galileans, gave them money, and sent them back.
The Jews then assembled for consultation, and
Annas and Caiaphas comforted them, saying
"Why should we believe the soldiers who guarded the sepulcher of
Jesus, telling us that an angel roUed away the stone from the door of
the sepulcher ? Perhaps his own disciples told them this, and gave
them money, that they should declare these things; and that they,
the disciples, might bear away the body of Jesus. Besides, consider
this: That there is no credit to be given to the foreigners, because
they also took a large sum from us, and have declared to all, accord-
ing to the instructions we gave them. They have to maintain faith
either to us, or to the disciples of Jesus."
238 THIRD PERIOD — A. D. 120 tO A. D, 130.

The foregoing are all the parallels between the

Acts of Pilate and the canonical gospels.

It is impossiblenot to perceive, that the narrative

in the Acts of Pilateis more natural and consistent,
and better sustained throughout.

In Luke, there is a preliminary trial before

Herod who has Jesus arrayed in a gorgeous robe,
;

and sent back to Pilate. Then, after the trial, he is

taken to execution, addressing the women by the
way. After the mocking and deriding, the dividing
of the raiment, etc. and the inscription on the cross,
,

the historian gives the prayer of Jesus for his

enemies. Then the scene between the two thieves
on the cross, and between one of them and Jesus.
It is stated that the sun was darkened at the cruci-
fixion. After describing the other scenes in a man-
ner somewhat similar to the other synoptics, the
author of this gospel states that on the first day of
the week, early in the morning, the women who
came with him from Galilee, came to the sepulcher,
bringing spices, etc., for the purpose of embalming
the body of Jesus. They found the stone rolled
away, and the sepulcher empty. They then saw
two men, clothed in shining garments, who told
them Jesus had risen, and reminded them of his
words, that he should rise the third day. Then
Peter went, and saw the grave empty. Jesus after-
ward appeared to the two disciples, on their way to
Emmaus, and to the eleven apostles, at Jerusalem.
Then, leading them to Bethany, he blessed them,
and ascended into heaven.
 THE ACTS OF PILATE. 239

In Mark, Jesus is delivered to Pilate, directly,

by the chief priests, who, after holding a consul-
tation with the elders and scribes and with the
,

council, had apprehended and bound Jesus;

nothing being said about the examination before
Herod. Then follows the trial or examination,
—
before Pilate the clamor of the Jews the show of —
resistance and final yielding by Pilate —
scenes on
the way to the crucifixion, and at the cross, differ-
ing from Luke, in various details, with which the
reader is familiar. Then, after the death and
burial of Jesus, when the sabbath was past, three
women, whose names are mentioned, went with
spices, to anoint him. They found the stone
rolled away, and entering into the sepulcher, they
saw a young man, sitting, clothed in a long white
garment. He told them Jesus had gone into Gali-
lee. Jesus then appeared, first to Mary Magdalene,
after that to the two disciples. Then to the eleven,
as they sat at meat. Then follows the remainder
of the spurious appendix.

In Matthew, the author relates nearly aU the in-

Luke and Mark, concerning the
cidents given in
crucifixion, and several of his own besides. He
has two earthquakes, and many other incidents, un-
known to the other synoptics. After the death and
burial, the two Marys came to the sepulcher there ;

they saw one who is now represented as the angel

who had rolled away the stone from the sepulcher.
He stated also that Jesus had gone into Galilee.
, ,

Jesus appeared to the women as they were return-

,
 '

240 THIRD PERIOD—A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

ing. He then appeared to the eleven, on a moun-

tain in Galilee.

The narrative in John differs still, in many par-

ticulars, from all not only
three of the synoptics ;

omitting many incidents, but adding important

additional matter, not always consistent with the
other accounts. Among such might be mentioned
much that Jesus said to Pilate, sayings of Jesus on
the cross, etc., the piercing of his side the scene ;

with Thomas after the resurrection the appearance

;

of Jesus, after that event, to the fishermen on the

Sea of Tiberias, and the miraculous draft of fishes,
which are manifestly confounded with scenes in
Christ^ s ministry.

If we turn to the narrative of all these events, as

found in the Acts of Pilate, while there is sufficient
that is marvelous, there will be found, nevertheless,
a degree of unity and consistency, which is wanting
in the other gospels.

In the first place, there is the trial before Pilate ;

and in the language of Bishop Ellicott, the Jews

''heaping up indiscriminate accusation ;'' ''an eager
ferocity on their part, met'' at first "by a steady
and almost indignant scorn on the part of the gov-
ernor." At the same time, "the weeping populace ;

. '

the appearance of witnesses in favor of the accused

These witnesses testify to many miracles Jesus had
wrought, hoping thereby to save his life.

All this having failed, Pilate, overborne by the

Jews, passes sentence on Jesus; something quite
natural in a judicial proceeding, but which is
 THE ACTS OF PILATE. 241

entirely omitted in the other gospels, except that in

Luke it is stated, that Pilate gave sentence that it

should be as the Jews required.

Then Jesus is taken to execution. The scenes at
the cross are stated briefly, and in natural order.
Coming to the resurrection, we find it related on
the report of the soldiers. The appearance of Jesus
was to the Galileans and to Joseph of Arimathea.
When considered in reference to the length of the
accounts, it will be found that the narratives in the
Acts of Pilate are generally, though not invariably,
shorter than those in the canonical gospels.

Upon the whole, we may reasonably conclude,

—
that the older gospels ^those of the first century
contained fragmentary accounts of the crucifixion ;

that these were first put together, in a connected

form, in the Acts of Pilate, to which there was
added, for the first time, the material resurrection.
This event, at first stated at second hand, as coming
from the soldiers, was afterward incorporated into
the canonical gospels, as a part of the principal
narrative.
 CHAPTER XVII.
OTHER EXTANT GOSPELS.

HiSTOEY OF Joseph the Caepenter Naeeative op Jo- —

—
seph OF Aeimathea PsEUDo Matthew The supposed —
Gospel of the Nativity of Maey Letteb of Pontius —
— —
Pilate Repoet of Pilate The Giving up of Pontius
Pilate— Avenging of the Savior—The Newly Discovered
Acts of Pilate.
The remaining extant gospels must be considered
very briefly since none of them have fully estab-
;

lished their claims to the great antiquity accorded

to those which have been examined. As a part of
the literature connected with the early history of the
Christian religion, they cannot be passed unno-
ticed.

History of Joseph the Carpenter.— Tischendorf thinks this

gospel was written in the fourth century. There is no reason for
placing it earlier. The early fathers knew nothing of it.

It purports to be a discourse of Jesus Christ himself to his disci-

ples, on the mount of Olives, in which he relates to them the history
of his father, Joseph.

He speaks of the former marriage of Joseph, and the death of his

firstwife; his marriage to the virgin Mary. Says she brought up
James, one of the sons of Joseph's former wife; whence she was called
the mother of James. Eefers to the birth at Bethlehem, the flight to
Egypt and re cum. Joseph lived to be 111 years old. A large part of
 NARRATIVE OF JOSEPH. 243
the gospel is occupied in a minute and affecting account of the scenes
attending the death of Joseph.
The last part of the narrative is as follows:

"Having thus spoken, I embraced the body of my father Joseph,

and wept over it; and they opened the door of the tomb, and placed
his body in it, near the body of his father Jacob. And at the time
when he fell asleep, he had fulfilled a hundred and eleven years.
Never did a tooth in his mouth hurt him, nor was his eyesight ren-
dered less sharp, nor his body bent, nor his strength impaired: but he
worked at his trade of a carpenter, to the very last day of his life;
and that was the six-and-twentieth of the month of Ahib."
This having been related to the apostles, they rose up and pros-
trated themselves, making an address to Jesus, to which he replied,
referring to the prophecies, and to the return into the world of Enoch
and Elias, etc.

Narrative of Joseph of Arimathea.— The full title of the

gospel is,

''The Narrati'oe of Joseph of Arimathea, that begged the Lord's

Body ; in which also he brings in the Cases of the Two Robbers."

It is not known when it was written. It was popular in the middle

ages.

It isbased upon the Gospel of Nicodemus, or the Acts of Pilate.

The narrative in the Acts is closely followed. But Judas charges
Jesus with stealing the law from the temple, and betrays him. Judas
was son of the brother of Caiaphas the priest. Trial of Jesus, and
crucifixion with the thieves.

In the incidents taken from the Acts of Pilate, there is the cus-
tomary accretion. For instance, the thief says to Jesus:
"Before, then, O Lord, my spirit departs, order my sins to be washed
away, and remember me, the sinner, in thy kingdom, when upon the
great, most lofty throne, thou shalt judge the twelve tribes of Israel."

This sentence evidence, that the composition of the

is sufficient

book was subsequent to the second century. The law of accretion is

also aptly illustrated in the address of the other thief on the cross:
"If thou art the Christ, come down from the cross, that I may believe
thee. But now I see thee perishing along with me, not like a man,
but like a wild beast."
The gospel contains original matter, also, of a wonderful and
startling character.

PsEUDO Matthew.— A mere compilation of portions of the Gospel

244 THIRD PERIOD — A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

of the Infancy, with such accretions as may be expected after two

hundred years.

There is reason to believe that it did not appear much before the
time of Jerome. Some have thought it to have been the publication
of Seleucas, alluded to in the correspondence between Jerome and the
bishops. Others have thought it to have been the translation which
Jerome made at the request of the bishops. But that, as will be seen,
was another document.

The SUPPOSED Gospel op the Nativity of

—
Mary. In all the collections of apocryphal gospels,
will befound a Gospel of the Birth of Mary. It is
sometimes spoken of as among the most ancient.
We are satisfied that there was anciently no such
gospel that its supposed existence is based upon a
;

misapprehension. The facts are these :

In the works of Jerome is found a correspondence

between him and tv^o bishops, named Chromatins
and Heliodorus. The bishops, addressing their
beloved brother and presbyter, Jerome, state that
they had found in some apocryphal books, ^'an
account of the birth of the Virgin Queen Mary, as
also the birth and infancy of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ ;'' in which they had observed many
things contrary to their faith. They say they had
heard that he (Jerome) had found a volume in
Hebrew, written in St. Matthew the Evangelist's
own hand, *^in which was described the infant state
of the Virgin Mary and our Savior." They there-
fore entreat him to translate it out of Hebrew into
Latin that they may know what the famous things
;

concerning Christ were and to refute the heretics,

who had mixed other things 'Svith the genuine his-
tory of the Savior's nativity."
 NATIVITY OP MARY. 245

Jerome replies, saying it was a difficult task

which they had imposed on him,
"Because the holy apostle and evangelist Matthew did not himself
wish to have it written for the public; [nee voluit in aperto conscribi.]
For if it was not to have been a secret, he would certainly have an-
nexed it to his own gospel which he published.
"But he composed this little book in Hebrew letters, [sed fecit hunc
libellum Hebraicis Uteris obsignatum,] which he so published, in
order that this book might be in the hands of religious men, written
in his own hand, inHebrew characters; [ex manu ipsius scriptus He-
braicis Uteris.] They have transmitted it from preceding to subse-
quent times. They have taken care, however, never to have it trans-
lated by any one, and have given different accounts of its contents;
textus ejus aliter atque aiiter narraverunt.
"But the truth is, that the book was published by a certain Mani-
chsean disciple, Seleucas by name, who also composed a false history
of the Acts of the Apostles."

He speaks of the publication as injurious, and

not to be listened to by the church. He then ac-
cedes to their request.
In another epistle, he says he will translate
it ^^as well as he can remember ;^' [in quantum re-
cordari possum ;] and
them, that not only
notifies
will the translation be not literal, but that he will
feel at liberty to wander considerably from the ori-
ginal. He says he will translate, following the
meaning rather than the words, saying only ''what
has been written, or what may be supposed consist-
ently, to have been written ;" [et non alia dicam,
quam quae aut scripta sunt ibi, aut consequenter
scribi potuerunt ;] sometimes walking in the same
'
'

path with the author, though not in the same steps ;

and though sometimes turning a little one side, re-

turning the same way again,'' (nunc eadam semita
non iisdem vestgiis incedens, nunc quibusdam di-
verticulis, et eandem viam recurrens).
246 THIRD PERIOD — A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

It will be noticed that nowhere in the correspond-

ence is either the gospel which the bishops had seen,
or the one which Jerome claimed to have seen in
Matthew's handwriting, spoken of as a Gospel of
the Birth or Nativity of Mary only, but in connec-
tion with the Infancy of the Savior.
Jerome proceeded to make his translation, but the
publisher of his works, for some reason, omitted
the last part, and published only that relating to
the birth and infancy of Mary. This was placed
after the correspondence, and the whole was en-
titled ''De Nativitate Marise;'' indicating that all
that followed, was concerning the nativity of Mary.
The translation was only what Jerome remembered
of the Gospels of the Infancy ; he having probably
seen a version purer than that published by Seleu-
cas.

The translation, under the very wide latitude

which the pious father had given himself, doubtless
differed from any version of those gospels which
had previously been seen. Hence it was thought
to be a new gospel an impression which was
;

strengthened by the title placed by Jerome's pub-

lisher before the correspondence ; ''De Nativitate
Marise."
This view of the matter is confirmed by the his-
torical evidence. The first writers who refer to this
gospel, are Epiphanius and Gregory Nyssen, both
of whom were contemporary with Jerome Neither .

of these writers speak of it as ''the Gospel of the

Birth of Mary,'' but as ''De Nativitate MariaB.'"

(i.) See Epiphanius, Hseres. 26. Gnost. No. 12, and Haeres. 79. CoUyr, No. 5.

Also Gregory Nyssen, Horn, de Nativ. S. Mari. Vir. torn. 3- 0pp. p. 346.
 THE REPORT OF PILATE. 247
Letter of Pontius Pilate.— This letter may be seen in trans-
lationfrom Latin and Greek manuscripts, the date of which Is uncer-
tain. The Greek text is given in "The Acts of Peter and Paul."
There is a discussion between the Emperor Nero, Peter, and Simon
Magus. Peter appeals to the writings of Pontius Pilate, sent to
Claudius. Nero orders them to be brought and read, which was done.
The letter stated,

That the fathers of the Jews had promised, that God would send
Jesus from heaven, who should be their king, and he should come to
earth by means of a virgin. That he came into Judea, and was
enlightening the blind, cleansing lepers, healing paralytics, expelling
demons from men, raising the dead, subduing the winds, walking
upon the waves of the sea, and doing many other wonders. That the
Jews seized him and delivered him up to Pilate, who, after scourging
him, gave him up to their will. That they crucified him, but Jesus
rose on the third day, while the soldiers of Pilate were guarding him.
That the Jews bribed the soldiers. That the soldiers could not keep
silence, and had testified that they had seen Jesus after he was risen.

Another and probably older form of this letter is in one version of

the Acts of Pilate. It is not materially different.

Report of Pilate.— There are two forms of this in the Greek.

It is similar to the foregoing. upon the miracles, and is
It enlarges
written in a more fervid style.
It is some ancient form of the letter or Report, was
possible that
the original from which the Acts of Pilate, or the first part of the
Gospel of Nicodemus, was constructed. In their present form the
letter and Report are manifestly of a later date.

The Giving up of Pontius Pilate.— Csesar, filled with rage

at what had happened, sent soldiers, and ordered them to bring Pilate
a prisoner. When brought to Rome, he was arraigned for what he
had done.
While Csesar was addressing Pilate, when he named the name of
Christ, all the multitude ofGods fell down in a body. Pilate making
his defense, and throwing the blame on the Jews, Caesar sent, and
had "all the nation of the Jews" seized. He ordered Pilate to be be-
headed. Pilate prayed to the Lord, and received assurances that he
should be blessed, because under him the prophecies had been ful-
filled.

When he was beheaded, an angel of the Lord received his head.

His wife Procla, seeing this, tilled with joy, immediately gave up the
ghost, and was buried with her husband.
248 THIRD PERIOD A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

The Death of Pilate.— A variation of the foregoing.

Tiberius Caesar, emperor, had a disease, and sent for Jesus to come
and cure him. The messenger, on arriving in Palestine, found that
Christ had been crucified. But on his journey, he met Veronica, who
lent him the cloth on which was impressed an image of the Savior,
which, she said, would cure Caesar.
"Caesar therefore ordered the way to be strewn with silk cloths, and
the picture to be presented to him. As soon as he had looked upon
it, he regained his former health."

Pilate was brought to Rome, where the emperor was furious

against him. But Pilate appearing before him in the seamless tunic
which Jesus had worn, all the anger of Tiberius at once disappeared.

Having been condemned to die a disgraceful death, Pilate killed

himself with his own knife. His body was bound to a great mass,
and sunk in the River Tiber.
"But malignant and filthy spirits, in his malignant and filthy body,
all rejoicing together, kept moving themselves in the waters, and in
a terrible manner, brought lightnings and tempests, thunders and
hail-storms, in the air, so that all men were kept in horrible fear."
Wherefore the Romans, driving him out of the Tiber, carried him to
Vienna, and sunk him in the River Rhone. "But there evil spirits
were present, working the same things in the same place. Those
men, therefore, not enduring such a visitation of demons, removed
from themselves that vessel of malediction, and sent him to be buried
in the territory of Losania. And they, seeing that they were troubled
by the aforesaid visitations, removed him from themselves, and sunk
him in a certain pit, surrounded by mountains; where, to this day,
according to the account of some, certain diabolical machinations
are said to bubble up."

The Avenging of the Savior.—There are, in this document,

two distinct legends: one of Veronica, the other, that of Nathan's
embassy.
In the days of Tiberius CaBsar, Titus, a prince under Tiberius, in
Equitania, was afflicted with a cancer in his face. And Tiberius was
ill, and full of ulcers and fevers, having nine kinds of leprosy. Nath-
an was sent from Judea, to carry a treaty to Rome. He tells about
Christ, his miracles, his crucifixion and his resurrection. Titus ad-
dresses Tiberius strongly in condemnation of the Jews who had slain
Jesus. "Whereupon the wound fell from the face of Titus, "and his
flesh and his face were restored to health. And all the sick who were
in the same place, were made whole, in that hour." He then sent for
 THE AVENGING OF THE SAVIOE. 249
Vespasian, who brought five thousand armed men. With them they
went and made war on the Jews for killing Jesus.

Jerusalem was taken with great slaughter. A search was made,

and Veronica was found, who had the portrait of Jesus. When the
emperor saw the portrait, he was immediately cured. And all the
bJind, the lepers, and those affected in divers ways, were healed.

Nathan then came forward, and baptized Tiberius, who ascended

his throne, and publicly returned thanks to God.

The Newly Discovered Acts of Pilate. —

learned German, while traveling in Missouri, some
years ago, became the guest of a clergyman by the
name of W. D. Mahan, at Boonville. In conver-
sation, he mentioned to this clergyman, that he had
seen, in the Vatican Library, at Eome, the original
Acts of Pilate.
After the German had left, Mr. Mahan, deeming
the matter of great importance, wrote to him, in
Europe, and at considerable expense, had the
manuscript copied. He then published it, with the
correspondence.
Afterward, the same document was published,
under an arrangement with the proprietor, by Rev.
George Sluter, A. M. of the Presbyterian Synod of
,

Missouri.
The publication is preceded by a statement of the
discovery and procuring of the document an in- ;

troduction, giving the references to the Acts of

Pilate by Justin Martyr and Tertullian, and the
subsequent comments of Eusebius. The volume
contains, also, remarks and critical notes.

Without doubt, these clergymen are acting in

good faith, and think they have obtained the orig-
 :

250 THIRD PERIOD —A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

inal Acts of Pilate. There isnone the less doubt

that they are mistaken . One sentence alone is suf-
show that the document published by
ficient to
them is modern date if indeed
of comparatively ;

the whole affair is not an imposition upon them,

by some astute adventurers.
When Pilate requested Jesus to be more circum-
spect in his language, while discoursing to the Jews,
he is represented in this document, as replying to
Pilate, as follows
"Say to the torrent, Stop in the midst of the mountain home, be-
causeit will uproot the trees of the valley."— [Page 55, Sluter's Ed.

This, with considerable more of the same sort, is

without taking time with other reasons,
sufficient,
to brand the document, not only as a forgery, but
as a modern, and a vulgar one. Any person of
but a small degree of literary skill, would have
come nearer to the simple and impressive style of
Jesus. ^^ Brief and concise utterances,'' says Jus-
from him, for he was no sophist,
tin Martyr, ^'fell
but his word was the power of God.''
 CHAPTER X VIII .

WEITEES OF THE THIRD PERIOD,

Menander— Satukninus— Basilides—Peodicus—Aristi-

— QUADRATUS
DES BaENABAS — AgSIPPA CaSTOB
AeISTION —
—John the Peesbytee. — Anonymous Weitings. Peo- —
—
VEEBS OF XySTAS PeEACHING AND DOOTEINE OF PeTEE —
—
Testimony of the Twelve Pateiaechs Sibylline Oracles
— —
Preaching of Paul Syeiao Documents.

Most of the Christian writers of the second cen-

tury who immediately succeeded the apostolic fath-
ers, advocated doctrines which were afterward con-
sidered heretical.
"Heresy," says Dr. Lardner, "in Greek, hairesis, signifies election,
or choice;and is used for any opinion which a man chooseth as best,
or more probable."— [Works, vol. 4, p. 505.

Menander, Saturninus and Basilides, are gener-

ally classed together,by the orthodox fathers, and
their heresies considered in the order here named.

Menander,—A. D. 120,

have been the fellow countryman and

Is said to
disciple of Simon Magus.' This is denied, how-
ever, by some. He is said to have aspired to the
honor of being a Messiah, and one of the ^ons,
(i.) Westcott Canon, p. 252.
 : '

252 THIRD PERIOD — A. D. 120 tO A. D. 130.

sent from the pleroma, or celestial regions, to suc-

cor souls oppressed by the demons of earth. He
had a form of baptism in his own name. His in-
fluence continued for several centuries. He was
written against by Justin Martyr, by Irenasus, Eu-
sebius, and several others. Justin speaks of him
as follows
"And a man, Menander, also a Samaritan, of the town of Cappare-
taea,a disciple of Simon, and inspired by devils, we know to have de-
ceived many, while he was in Antioch, by his magical art. He per-
suaded those who adhered to him, that they should never die. And
even now, there are some living, who hold this opinion of his."
—[Apology, 1. 25.

Saturninus, —A. D. 125.

Saturninus, like Menander, held that there was

one Father, unknown to all, who made angels,
archangels, principalities and powers. He said the
world and all things therein were made by a com-
pany of seven angels. The Savior, he taught to be
unbegotten and incorporeal and that he was a ;

man in appearance only. ^He says that marriage ^

and generation are of Satan.''

Basilides, —A. D. 125,
Was a Gnostic of Alexandria. Is said to have
written a commentary, in 24 books, on *'The Gos-
pel.'' This was refuted by Agrippa Castor.
Fragments of his writings are given by Hippoly-
tus, who wrote in the third century. They have
caused much discussion in reference to the gospel
upon which he commented whether it was in writ- ;

ing, and whether his own or another's.

(i.) Irenaeus, adv. Haer. lib. i, c. 24.

 BASILIDES. 253

He made use of ^The traditions of Matthias;''

or, as Miller supposes, the traditions of Matthew.
These* 'claimed to be grounded on private inter-
course with the Savior/ ' They were, possibly, the
'

much talked of Oracles of Matthew.

The fact that Basilides made
use of such a collec-
tion, is significant, and may go far to explain the
source of many of the sayings of Christ, so often
quoted by the fathers before Irenaeus, and which
have been supposed to be evidence of the existence
of the canonical gospels.

Some have claimed Basilides as a witness to the

four gospels, more particularly to Luke. The
arguments upon which the claim is based, are vague
and unsatisfactory. Perhaps it will be sufficient,
upon this question, to take the judgment of Dr.
Davidson. He says :

"As to Basilides, his supposed quotations from the New Testament,

in Hippolytus, are too precarious to be trusted.''— rCanon, p. 86. See
also his Introduction to the N. T., vol 2, p. 388.

Any apparent use of Luke may be explained by

the fact, that Basilides had access to the same
manuscripts from which the Gospels of Marcion
and Luke were compiled.
—
Doctrines. "Basilides," says Irenaeus, "that he may appear to
have discovered something more sublime and plausible, gives an im«
mense development to his doctrines. He sets forth that Nous was
first born of the unborn Father; that from him again was born Logos,
from Logos Phronesis, from Phronesis Sophia and Dynamis; and
from Dynamis and Sophia, the powers and principalities, and angels,
whom he calls the first; and that by them the first heaven was made.
Then other powers, being formed by emanation from these, created
another heaven, similar to the first," etc.

(i,) Westcott, Canon, p, 264.

 4

254 THIRD PERIOD A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

The chief of the angels who occupy the lowest heaven, is the God
of the Jews, and he and his angels created the world.

That Jesus himself was not crucified, but Simon of Cyrene, who
bore the cross, and assumed the form of Jesus. Salvation belongs to
the soul alone, for the body is by nature subject to corruption. [ Ire- —
nseus adv. Hseres. bk. 1, ch. 24. Ante Nic. vol. 5, p. 90.

Eusebius makes the doubtful statement, that

like Pythagoras, Basilides enjoined upon his fol-
lowers, a silence of five years.' A gospel is attri-
buted to him. But this is thought to be the same
as the commentaries.

Prodicus.—A. D. 120.

But little is known of this writer, except that he

was leader of a sect called Prodiceans and that ;

they were accused, by Clement of Alexandria, of

licentious practices.

"They say," says Clement, "they are by nature the children of the
supreme deity but they dishonor their high birth and freedom for they
; ;

live as they choose, and they choose to live in pleasure. They scorn
to be controlled, as being lords of the sabbath, and the King's chil-
dren."— [Clem. Alex. Str. 3. 4.

They also held that prayer was needless.^

They did not separate themselves from the Chris-
tian churches.

The followers of Prodicus boasted of having the

secret books of Zoroaster.^
Baring-Gould thinks they may have used the
Gospel of Philip.
(i.) Ecclesiastical History, 4. 7; attributing it to Agrippa Castor.
(2.) Stromata, 7. 7.

(3.) Strom. I. 15.

(4.) Lost and Hostile Gospels, p. 293.

 ARISTIDES AND QUADRATUS. 255
Aristides and Quadratus. —A. D. 126.

They delivered to the Emperor Hadrian, Apolo-

gies for the Christian Religion. That of Quadratus
is said to have procured the Rescript of the em-
peror to Minucius, in favor of the Christians.

Eusebius says that this was in circulation among

the brethren, and that he had a copy of it. He
gives an extract, in which there is reference to the
miracles of Christ.' If we could rely upon the
correctness of the statement, this might be recorded
as the earliest historical reference to the miracles
of Jesus.
The same historian, speaking of Quadratus and
others, *' who held the first rank in the apostolic
succession," makes a statement, by which he mani-
festly intends to leave the impression, that the
canonical gospels were in circulation at that time.
He says
"Afterwards, leaving their country, they performed the office of
evangelists to those vs^ho had not yet heard the faith, whilst with a
noble ambition to proclaim Christ, they also delivered to them the
books of the holy gospels."— [Ecc. Hist. 3. 37.

Westcott, after speaking of the apologies of

Quadratus and Aristides, says ^^ Nothing, it will be
:

seen, can be drawn directly from these scanty no-

tices, in support of the Canon."''

Barnabas.—About A. D. 130.

The Epistle of Barnabas is often classed among

the writings of the apostolic fathers. There is much
(i.) Ecc. Hist. 4. 3.

(2.) Canon, p. 76.

 !

256 THIRD PERIOD — A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

difference of opinion as to its date, but those writers

who place it after A. D. 120, comprise a large ma-
jority.

The ancient fathers of the church held it in high

esteem, and attributed it to Barnabas, the compan-
ion of Paul. Such was the opinion of Clement of
''
Alexandria.' Origen called it a ^catholic epistle, *

and ranked it among the sacred scriptures.*

In the introduction to the epistle, in the Anti-
Nicene Collection, it is stated, the ancients unani-
mously attribute it to Barnabas the Levite, of apos-
tolic times.

'* Certainly, '* says the editor, ''no other name is

even hinted at in Christian antiquity, as that of the

writer. '^3 The editor is equally explicit in asserting,
that scarcely any scholars now ascribe it to the illus-
trious friendand companion of St. Paul. What a
commentary upon the credit to be given to the
opinions of the fathers, upon such questions
The Gospels. —Some writers have supposed they
saw canon-
in this epistle, evidence of the use of the
ical gospels. however, much relied upon.
It is not,
The reader will remember the verdict of Dr. Less,
upon this subject.
Dr. Davidson says he has apparently a citation
from Matthew, but it is uncertain. '^

Dr. Westcott, speaking of this class of evidence,

says:

(i.) Strom. 2. 6; 2, 7» etc.

(2.) Contra Celsum, i. 63, Comm. in Rom. i. 24.

(3,)Ante. Nic. vol. 1, p. 99, et seq.

(4.) Canon, p. 94.

 AGRIPPA CASTOR. 257
"References in the sub-apostolic age, to the discourses or actions of
our Lord, as we find them recorded in the gospels, show, so far as
they go, that what the gospels relate was then held to be true; but it
does not necessarily follow that they were already in use, and were
the actual source of the passages in question."— [Canon, p. 49.

The Miracles. —In the 5th chapter of the

Epis-
tle of Barnabas,the first reference to the mira-
is

cles of Christ if we except those in the apocryphal

;

gospels, which appeared about the same time.

Speaking of Jesus, he says :

"Morever, teaching Israel, and doing such great miracles and signs,
[Per as ge tot dedaskon ton Israel, kai peelikauta terata kai seemeia
toion]j he preached the truth to him, and greatly loved him."

Agrippa Castor. —A. D. 130.

According to Eusebius, Agrippa Castor wrote

books against Basilides.' Eusebius says he was one
of the most distinguished writers of that day.^
These, with many other writings of the kind, are
lost or destroyed. It was a natural source of infor-
mation, and would have disclosed, almost certainly,
the nature of the gospels or other writings used by
Basilides.

It issomewhat remarkable, that all the writings

of the second century which would have furnished
the most direct evidence as to the gospels then in
use, have perished.

Aristion. —^About A. D. 130.

It might be inferred from a passage in Eusebius,
that Aristion had preserved written traditions of

(i,) Ecclesiastical History, 4. 7.

(2.) See also Jerome, Catal. Script, c. 20.

 '

258 THIRD PERIOD —A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.

the time of Christ. Speaking of Papias, he says :

"He moreover hands down, in his own writing, other narratives

given him by the previously mentioned Aristion, of the Lord's sayings?
and the traditions of the presbyter John."-[Ecc. Hist. 3. 29.

A fair inference would be that these ''narratives'

were in writing ; as they are distinguished from the
''traditions'' of the presbjrter.

John the Presbyter, —About A. D. 130,

Is supposed by some, to have written the Revela-
tion. This was the opinion of Eusebius.'
He is not without reason, believed to have
also,
been the author of the epistles of John. It will be
noticed that in the 2d and 3d of these epistles, the
writer styles himself "the elder,'' or presbyter.

The theory that he wrote the Gospel of John, has

less plausibility since there is no sufficient evi-
;

dence of its existence, until about half a century

later.

Anonymous Writings.
There are also some anonymous writings, belong-
ing to the third period, which will be briefly consid-
ered.

The Proverbs of Xystas.

Written, about A. D. 119. The genuineness of the book is doubt-
ed by Westcott and others. Ewald places it among the most valuable
relics of early Christian literature.— [Gott. Gel. Anz. 1859, p. 261; and
Gesch. 7. 321.

Westcott says it contains no definite references to the New Testa-

—
ment. [Hist. Canon, p. 174.

(I.) Ecc. Hist. 3. 39.

 ANONYMOUS WRITINGS. 259
The Preaching, and Doctrine of Peter.
These books were well known in the second century.
The Preaching of Peter was condemned by Eusebius, in the same
language used in reference to the Gospel of Peter. He pronounced
it a forgery, and stated that none of the ancients, nor any ecclesias-

tical writers had taken testimonies from it.— [Ecc. H. 3. 3.

On the contrary, it is referred to by Heracleon, A. D. 190, accord-

ing to Origen, (Tom. 1, in Joan, p. 211), and repeatedly by Clement of
Alexandria. —
[Stromata, 1. 29; 2. 15; 6. 5; 6. 6, and 6. 15.] Also by
Lactantius; all before Eusebius. Clement took numerous testimon-
ies from it, and endorsed it in the most emphatic manner; declaring
that Christ said to his disciples, what he is reported to have said, in
the Preaching of Peter.— [Strom. 6. 6.

It was also referred to in the epistle of Peter to James, published

by Cotelerius.— [See Ante-Nic. Ch. Lib. vol. 17, p. 1.

The book was subsequently cited by Theodotus, Byzantius, and

Gregory Nazianzen, of the ancients, and among the moderns has been
very favorably spoken of by Dr. Grabe, Mr. Toland, Mr. Whiston, Dr.
Mill, and others.

The Doctrine of Peter was a small book, in use in the 2d century,

of which little is now known. It was referred to and condemned by
Origen. From him we learn that it contained the same passage which
Jerome says was in the Gospel of the Hebrews, in which Christ says
to those who were with Peter, "Lay hold, handle me, and see that I
am not an incorporeal spirit."-[Origen, de Princip. Prsef sec. 8.
.

Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs.

Supposed to have been written, about A. D. 125. The character
of the book is indicated by the title. Each of the sons of Jacob gives
—
his dying testimony on some important subject. "The Testament of
Reuben concerning Thoughts;" "The Testament of Simeon concern-
ing envy; " etc.

Dr. Lardner thought he discovered in it some slight evidence of

the use of some of the canonical gospels. Nothing better illustrates
the dearth of evidence, than the necessity of searching for it in
a document of this kind.

The Sibylline Oracles

Belong properly to an earlier age, but are supposed to have been in-
terpolated about this time, in order to furnish additional evidence for
the Christian religion. They were extensively quoted, from Justia
260 THIRD PERIOD —A. D. 120 TO A. D. 130.
Martyr down; though the quotations of Justin have reference, for the
most part, to the utterances of the ancient sibyl.
The Preaching of Paul.
This, as well as the Preaching of Peter, was referred to by Lac-
tantius and others, and was generally known in the second century.
It contained references to the Sibylline writings. Also to the fire in
Jordan, at the time of the baptism of Jesus.— [See Anonymous
Treatise on Re-Baptism, Ante-Nicene, vol. 13, p. 426.

It has been favorably referred to by Cardinal Baronius, Dr. Grabe,

and others. Sixtus Senensis believed it to have been written by Paul.
—[Bib. Sane. lib. 2, p. 113.

Syriac Documents.
The late Dr. Gureton found among the Syriac manuscripts of the
British Museum, several documents purporting to have been written
in the first —
and second centuries. [See 20th volume of Ante-Nicene
Collection.

They are full of mistakes and anachronisms, and cannot be con-

—
sidered of much value. [Consult "Revelations of Anti-Christ;" Bos-
ton and N. Y. 1879; an able work, but written in an objectionable
style.
 FOURTH PERIOD. A. D. 130 TO 170.

FORTY YEARS OF CHRISTIAN WRITERS

CHAPTER XIX.
FIRST HALF OF FOURTH PERIOD.— A. D. 130 TO 150.]

Caepookates — Epiphanes — Cebdo — Hekmas — Ceeinthus

— IsiDORUs—Valentinus—Papias — Epistle to Diognetus
—The Clementines.
Carpocrates. —^About A. D. 135.

Irenaeus, in his first book against Heresies, writes

as follows
"Carpocrates, again, and his followers, maintain that the world and
the things which are therein, were created by angels greatly inferior
to the unbegotten Father. They also hold that Jesus was the son of
Joseph, and was just like other men, with the exception that he dif-
fered from them in this respect, that inasmuch as his soul was stead-
fast and pure, he perfectly remembered those things which he had
witnessed within the sphere of the unbegotten God. On this account,
a power descended upon him from the Father, that by means of it, he
might escape from the creators of the world."

After enlarging upon this idea, and stating that

they believe the human soul, which is like that of
Christ, can rise above the creators of the world, he
says:
''This idea has raised them to such a pitch of pride, that some of
262 FOUKTH PERIOD — A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

them declare themselves similar to Jesus; while others, still more

mighty, maintain that they are superior to his disciples, such as Peter
and Paul, and the rest of the apostles, whom they consider to be in no
respect inferior to Jesus."

He then charges them with practicing magical

arts and incantations of using ; philters and love
potions ; of having recourse to familiar spirits,
dream-sending demons, ^'and other abominations ;''

and of leading a licentious life.'

Dr. Lardner thinks the charge of licentiousness

a slander.^
Clement of Alexandria speaks of Carpocrates
and Epiphanes as both advocating a community of
wives. Clement argues against it in the second
chapter of the third book of the Stromata.^

Epiphanes, —About A. D. 140,

Was the son of Carpocrates, and was, like his
father, a Gnostic. He believed in an infinite,
eternal principle. It is ignorance and passion,
which, in disturbing the equality and community
of goods, have introduced evil into the world. The
idea of property forms no part of the divine plan.
All unequal laws should be abolished, and equality
should be re-established. He is reported to have
advocated the community of wives, as well as of
the fruits of the earth.
He died at the early age of seventeen years.
A temple was consecrated to him in Cappadocia,

(i.) Adv. Haer. i. 25. Ante-Nic. vol. 5, p. 93.

(2.) Lard. Works, vol. 4, p. 562.

{3.) Ante-Nic. vol. 12, p. 86,

 HERMAS. 263

and according to Clement of Alexandria, he was

honored as a god.'

Cerdo or Cerdon. —^About A. D. 140.

Cerdon, was a Gnostic. Irenseus says he

also,
came to Rome from Syria, in the time of Hyginus.
His views were adopted and amplified by Marcion.
Like Marcion, he is accused of mutilating the Gos-
pel of Luke and with as little reason. [See ^Mar-
;
*

cion.'']

Hermas. —A. D. 145.

Hermas, like Barnabas, is often classed with the

apostolic fathers. He is, however, placed after 120,
by a large majority of writers, and most of them
date his works near the middle of the second cen-
tury.

The authorship of the Pastor or Shepherd of Her-

mas, as stated in the Muratorian Fragment, is gen-
erally accepted. ''The Pastor, moreover, '^ says the
Fragment, *'did Hermas write, very recently, in our
times, in the city of Rome, while his brother.
Bishop Pius, sat in the chair, in the church of
Rome.''
According to the ''Handbuch der Kirchenge-
schichte," awork extensively used as a text book
among Catholics, Pius was Bishop from A. D. 142
to 157.

This, which may now be considered the settled

verdict of scholars as to the authorship of the Pastor,

(i.) Stromata, bk. 3, ch. 2.

264 FOURTH PERIOD — A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

by no means accords with the opinions of the

fathers.

With them, Hermas, the author of the Shepherd,

was the Hermas of apostolic times. Origen dis-
tinctly ascribes the Shepherd to the Hermas men-
toned in the Epistle to the Romans.' This is fa-
vored by Eusebius,^ and by Jerome. ^

The early writers considered it an inspired book.

Irenseus quotes it Clemens Alex-
as scripture.^
andrinus thought it divinely inspired. It was read ^

in the churches as scripture.

Here we have the same phenomenon as in the

case of the Epistle of Barnabas. A work univers-
ally attributed to a co-worker and companion of
Paul, which modern scholars of all shades of reli-
gious opinion concur in deciding was never written
by him, nor even in that century. In view of such
impossible not to perceive that the books
facts, it is
finally admitted into the canon, were selected with
reference to their contents, rather than to any
question of authenticity, or of proof of apostolic
origin.

The Shepherd of Hermas was one of the most

popular books among the Christians of the second
century.
About the year 494, it was condemned in the de-
(i.) Comment, in Rom. i6. 14; lib. 10, 31. Origen there states that he thinks it

divinely inspired.
(2.) Ecce. Hist. 3. 3. (3.) De Viris Illust. c. 10.

(4.) Adv. Haer. 4. 20. 2.

(5.) Strom. I. 29.

 HERMAS. 265

cree of Pope Gelasius ; from which time it began

to decline in public favor.
As late as the 15th century, a translation of the
Shepherd of Hermas was found in a MS. of the
Latin bible.
The Pastor or Shepherd consists of three books.
The first is entitled Visions, the second. Command-
ments, the third, Similitudes. There is in it all,
nothing attractive to the modern mind. It is not
easy to understand how, in any age, its wild vaga-
ries and crude piety could have been found inter-
esting, and even been considered inspired. A par-
tial explanation may be found in its supposed
semi-apostolic origin.

Its Evidence for the Gospels. Dr. Westcott —

says itcontains no definite quotation from either
the old or New Testament.'
^^From the Shepherd of Hermas, '' says Dr. Less,
*'no inference whatever can be drawn.''

Gerinthus and His Gospel. —^About A. D. 145.

The history as well as the writings of Cerinthus
are strangely blended with those of John the pres-
byter, and even with John the apostle.

By the ancient writers on heresies, he is gener-

ally placed after Carpocrates

A sect called the Alogi, attributed to him (so

says Epiphanius), the gospel, as well as the other
writings of John.

(i.) Canon, p. i8i.

 : ^

266 FOUKTH PERIOD — A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

Cerinthus had both a gospel and a revelation.

Toland states that the Gospel of John was attri-
buted to Cerinthus.^
Cerinthus is believed to have been a Jew by
birth. He was educated at Alexandria, and taught
philosophy there.
Irenseus says
"He represents Jesus as not having been born of a virgin, but as
being the son of Joseph and Mary according to the ordinary course
of human generation; while he, nevertheless, was more righteous,
prudent and wise than other men." "Moreover, after his baptism,
Christ descended upon him in the form of a dove, from the Supreme
Ruler, and that he proclaimed the unknown Father, and performed
miracles."— [Adv. Hser. 1. 26.

The same writer says, John's Gospel was written

to confute the errors spread abroad by Cerinthus .^
This may be accepted, as throwing some light on
the time when the Gospel of John was written.
Jerome also asserts that John wrote against
Cerinthus.'^
IsiDORUS. —A. D. 150.
Isidorus was the son of Basilides. wrote He
works of an exegetical and ethical character. Frag-
ments are preserved by Clement of Alexandria and
Epiphanius. There are other fragments by Hip-
polytus. Isidorus maintained the doctrine of his
father.

'^No references to the gospels, '^ says Westcott.^

(i.) Amyntor, London, 1699, p. 64.

(2.) Mosheim, vol. i, pp. 93 to 95.

(3.) Adv. Hssr. 3. II.

(4.) See Michaelis, vol. 3, p. 278.

(5.) Canon, p. 267.

 THE GOSPEL OF TRUTH. 267

Valentinus, and the Gospel of Truth. — ^A. D. 150.

Valentinus was one of the most famous Gnostics
in the early history of the church. According to
Tischendorf he came from Egypt to Eome, about
,

A. D. 140. He was by birth an Egyptian, and

possibly of Jewish descent. Lardner says he was a
man of letters.'

The Valentinians did not admit that Christ had

a human body. Such a body, they said, must have
sprung, not from spirit, or from God, but from
the will of man.^
The Gospel of Truth is generally attributed to
Valentinus though Westcott says it was composed
;

by his followers.
There was a tradition among the Valentinians,
that Jesus remained among his disciples eighteen
months after his resurrection .^
The Canonical Gospels. An effort has been —
made to make Valentinus a witness for the canoni-
cal gospels.
Davidson says it is doubtful whether Valentinus'
alleged citations from the New Testament can be
relied upon.'^

Papias.—A. D. 125.

Papias, who had long been

considered an imme-
diate successor to the apostles, is now generally
relegated to the second century.

(I.) Vol. 4, p. 526.

(2.) Tertullian, de Came Christi, c. 15.

(3.) Irenaeus adv. Hasr. i. 3. 2.

(4.) Canon, p. 87.

 : ^

268 FOURTH PERIOD — A. D. 130 tO A. D. 170.

Papias was bishop of Hierapolis, in Phrygia. He

was a millenarian. The doctrine that the end of
the world was near at hand, was extensively believed
and may be considered as orthodox in the second
century.
Fragments from Papias. — CEcumenius repre-
sents him as saying that Judas came to his death
in this manner
"His body having ewollen to such an extent, that he could not pass
where a chariot could pass easily, he was crushed by the chariot, so
that his bowels gushed out."

The writer of have seen the

this could hardly
Gospel of Matthew. Irenseus, in the 33d chapter
of the 5th book against heresies, cites from Papias,
sayings of Christ unlike anything in the New Tes-
tament :

"The elders who saw John, the disciple of the Lord, related that
they had heard from him, how the Lord used to teach, in regard ta
these times, and say:

"*The days will come, in which vines shall grow, each having ten
thousand branches, and in each branch ten thousand twigs, and in
each twig ten thousand shoots, and in each one of the shoots ten
thousand clusters, and on every one of the clusters ten thousand
grapes, and every grape, when pressed, will give five and twenty
metrets of wine.' " etc.

Also that 1,000,000,000 pounds of clear, pure

fine flour would be produced from one grain of
wheat and that animals should become peaceful
;

and harmonious, and perfectly subject to man.

Irenseus adds, that these things were borne wit-
ness to by Papias, the hearer of John, and com-
panion of Polycarp.
The famous testimony of Eusebius, concerning
 FRAGMENTS FROM PAPIAS. 269

Papias, which, in some form, will be found in

every work on the canon of the New Testament, is
is as follows

That Papias wrote five books, called an Exposition of the Oracles

of the Lord, citing Irenseus.

That Papias aflSrmed that he received the sayings of the apostles

from those who accompanied them, and that he heard in person
Aristion, and the presbyter John; and gives their traditions.

That there was a narrative received by Papias from the daughters

of Philip, of the raising of a man from the dead, and how Justus,
surnamed Barsabas, swallowed a deadly poison, and received no
harm.
That Papias had set down, as coming to him from unwritten tra-
dition, "some strange parables and instructions of the Savior, and
some other things, of a more fabulous nature."

Eusebius then adds, "as a matter of primary importance, a tradi-

tion regarding Mark, who wrote the gospel."

That the presbyter said that Mark, having become the interpreter
of Peter, wrote down accurately, whatsoever he remembered. It was
not, however, in exact order that he related the sayings or deeds of
Christ. For he neither heard the Lord, nor accompanied him. But
afterward, he accompanied Peter, who accommodated his instructions
to the necessities (of his hearers), but with no intention of giving a
regular narrative of the Lord's sayings. Wherefore Mark made no
mistake in thus writing some things as he remembered them. For of
one thing he took especial care, not to omit anything he had heard,
and not to put anything fictitious in the statements.

That "Matthew put together the oracles (of the Lord) in the
Hebrew language, and each one interpreted them as best he could."
That Papias gives a story of a woman who was accused of many
sins before the Lord,which was to be found in the Gospel of the
Hebrews.
Also that Papias considered, "That the information which he
could derive from books, was not so profitable as that which was pre-
served in a living tradition.— [Eusebius, Ecc. Hist. bk. 3, ch. 39.

Such is this far-famed testimony. That portion

relating to the Gospels of Mark and Matthew, may
be stated as follows :
270 FOUETH PERIOD — ^A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

Eusebius says, that Papias said, that John the

presbyter told, in what manner certain writings of
Mark and Matthew had been constructed.

The value to be attached to any statements of

Eusebius, will be considered hereafter.
One important circumstance will be noted, in the
evidence, as it stands :

Notwithstanding this explanation of the apos-

tolic origin of the books, it appears that Papias
considered them, as evidence, inferior to oral tra-
dition. That, too, a hundred years after the time,
when, as is claimed, they were written.
Again, it is contended by able critics, that the
language here attributed to Papias, concerning the
book written by Mark, cannot be applied to the
gospel which bears his name.' They insist that it
must be referred to the Preaching of Peter, or some
other document more ancient than the Gospel of
Mark. So also of the logia, oracles or sayings of
Christ, by Matthew, which were not the same as
the Gospel of Matthew.

Epistle to Diognetus. —^About A. D. 140.

This is an apology, or argument, in favor of the
Christian system, and in defense of the Christians
of that day. It is well written. It has been
variously attributed to Quadratus, to Aristides,
Justin Martyr, and others Bunsen thought part of .

itwas written by Marcion.^ Westcott thinks he

(i.) Credner, Davidson, Guericke, Griesbach, Neander, and many others.

(2.) Analecta Ante-Nic. i. 103.

 THE CLEMENTINES. 271

sees indications of John's Gospel in this document,

but says there are no direct references.' This
epistle is only to be found in a single manuscript of
a late date, and hence has been suspected of being
a forgery.

The Clementines. — ^A. D. 150.

The Recognitions, the Homilies, Epitome, etc.

These are Ebionite productions. The writer ap-
pears to have had the same gospels which were
used by Justin.
Tischendorf thinks the Gospel of the Hebrews
was used by Justin Martyr, by the author of the
Clementines, and by Tatian and Hegesippus.^

(i.) Canon, p. 8i.

(2.) Origin of the Four Gospels, p. 78.

 CHAPTER XX.
FIRST HALF OF FOURTH PERIOD—Continued.

Marcion.—A. D. 145,

Marcion, the great heresiarch, was born at

Sinope, in the second century. He came to Rome
about the year 142.
Tertullian says, the fiercest and most barbarous
nations lived upon the Euxine Sea that nothing —
had the glow of life there ^that all things were —
torpid and stiff with cold that nevertheless, —
nothing in Pontus was so barbarous and sad, as
that Marcion was born there.
Dr. Lardner, on the authority of Jerome and
Augustine, credits Marcion with being a man of
letters.^ He preached and disseminated his doc-
trines, for twenty years and with such success, ;

that in the time of Epiphanius, his followers were

in every nation under heaven.
The story that before he came to Rome, he had
seduced a young woman, Dr. Lardner thinks an
invention of Epiphanius.^ It probably originated

(i.) Lardner's works, vol. 4, p. 526.

(2.) Ibid. vol. 4, p. 591. /

 MARCION. 273

in the fact, which we learn from Jerome, that Mar-

cion had sent before him to Rome, a woman, to
prepare the minds of the people for his doctrines.'
Marcion is have rejected the Old Testa-
said to
ment entirely not considering it of any authority
;

after the coming of Christ. He wrote a work en-

titled ^'Antithesis,'' in which he contrasted the old
system with the new —the God of the one, with the
God of the other —the law with the gospel. He
represented Christianity as a new system, abrogat-
ing the old, and as entirely disconnected from it.
The Creator of the world described in the Old Tes-
tament, [The Demi-ourgos] was different from the ,

God of the new dispensation, and inferior to him.

From the superior God, Jesus had come, endued
with divine power, commencing with the begin-
ning of his ministry.
He maintained the doctrine of the impurity of
matter and could not therefore believe in the im-
maculate conception. According to Tertullian,^ he
even denied the corporeal reality of the flesh of
Christ. But this statement may be received with
some allowance.
Marcion denied the resurrection of the body,
and believed in the doctrine of necessity.
He was a follower of Paul, and accused the other ^^
apostles of having perverted the gospel doctrines. -

Tertullian ingeniously endeavors to treat this

accusation as aimed at the four gospels ; and argues
(i.) Jerome, adv. Ctesiph. t. 4, p. 477.

(2.) Adv. Marcion, 3. 8. See also de Pr. c. 33, 34.

 ^

274 FOUKTH PERIOD A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

thence that they must have been in existence be-

fore Marcion. His argument, however, destroys
itself; since the apostles denounced, were Peter,
James and John only one of whom has credit for
;

writing either of the four gospels, while to the

other two were attributed two of the apocryphal
gospels. Marcion probably referred to the cor-
ruption of *' the gospbl,*' and not to any written
books.
Marcion taught and permitted the baptizing by
women. It may be inferred, also, from Epiphan-
ius, that he did not treat with much respect those
who refused them this privilege.'

Marcion 's New Testament.

The first New Testament that ever appeared, was
compiled and published by Marcion. It was in the
Greek language. It consisted of *'The Gospel,"
and ''The Apostolicon." No Acts no Eevelation, —
and but one gospel. The Apostolicon comprised
ten of Paulas Epistles, as follows Galatians, 1st :

and 2d Corinthians, Romans, except the 15th and

16th chapters, 1st and 2d Thessalonians, Ephesians,
Colossians, Philemon and Philippians ; arranged in
the order as here named.
This canon of the New Testament was prepared
and published soon after his arrival at Rome prob- ;

ably about A. D. 145. Baring-Gould thinks he

brought the gospel with him from Sinope.^

(i.) Adv. Hser. 42. 4.

(2.) Also part of th« Epistle to the Laodiceans.

(3.) Lost and Host. Gospels, p. 241.
 marcion's new testament. 275

Tertullian accuses Marcion of giving no name or

title tohis gospel. It was called simply ^^the Gos-
pel;'' and sometimes, *Hhe Gospel of the Lord.''
Marcion claimed for it the authority of Paul him-
self. It closely resembles the Gospel of Luke, but
is much shorter.

Ever since the time of Tertullian, it has been, by

many, charged against Marcion, that he corrupted
the Gospel of Luke. This charge, it will be seen
as we proceed, cannot be sustained.

Nearly all we have concerning the Gospel of

Marcion, comes through Tertullian and Epiphanius,
both of whom were violently opposed to him, and
neither of whom was particularly scrupulous in the
means employed against an adversary. Hence it
has become difficult to reproduce the gospel. Sev-
eral German have attempted to reconstruct
critics
it, and it is published in the Codex Apocryphus of

Thilo, from the works of Hahn.

In Marcion 's Gospel, there was nothing corres-

ponding to the first three chapters of Luke.
The first chapter of Marcion was similar to the
fourth of Luke, but had many variations from it
and it is here that the critics have had the most
difficulty.

After passing the first chapter of Marcion and

fourth of Luke, the progress is somewhat easier.
Tertullian furnishes but little aid but Epiphanius,
;

writing in the same language with Marcion, gives a

list of 78 passages, in which, as he claims, Marcion

corrupted the text of Luke. As he mentions the.

276 FOURTH PERIOD A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

most giving the exact words in

trivial deviations,
every instance, we think it may be taken as the
correct text of Marcion.

This opinionis confirmed by the fact, that in his

scholia, he recapitulates every reading in almost
precisely the same words the deviations being few
;

and unimportant.
work against Marcion, has a
Tertullian, in his
running commentary on Luke, with a constant in-
vective against Marcion and an occasional allusion
,

to his gospel. From this some little further assist-

ance may be obtained. Too much reliance has been
placed upon it by some critics, as it is quite uncer-
tain, in many whether Tertullian is referring
cases,
to the Gospel of Marcion, or to the text of Luke,
as it prevailed in his day. By comparing all that
is said by these two writers, the text of Marcion
may be pretty nearly discovered.
We have not been able to procure a copy of this
important gospel, as it appears in Thilo, or else-
where.
From the works of Tertullian and Epiphanius,
we have, however, attempted to reproduce it oc- ;

casionally invoking the aid of some of the German

critics.

THE GOSPEL. [According to Marcion.]

Chapter 1.— (Mostly in the 4th chapter of Luke.)

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, (Part of Luke

Jesus came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught
3. 1),

them on the sabbath days. (Luke 4. 31.)

Verse 2. And they were exceedingly astonished at his doctrine,
 THE GOSPEL OF MARCION. 277
for his word was with power. (For parallel with verses 2 to 9 inclu-
sive, see Luke, ch. 4. vv. 32 to 39.)

3. And in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an

unclean devil, and who cried out with a loud voice,
4. Saying: Let us alone, what have we to do with thee, Jesus?
<omitting the words "of Nazareth.") Art thou come to destroy us?
I know thee who thou art, the holy one of God.

5. And Jesus rebuked him, saying: Hold thy peace, and come out
of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came
out of him, and hurt him not.
6. And they were amazed, and spake among themselves, say-
all

ing: "What a word For with authority and power he com-

is this ?
mandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.
7. And the fame of him went out into every place, in the country
round about. (This verse is omitted by Volkmar, but retained by
Hahn, Hilgenfeld and others. See Sup. Rel. vol. 2, p. 128. Note.
Baring-Gould, who reproduces this chapter, follows Volkmar. The
two following verses are omitted by Ritschl and Bauer, but retained
by others.)
8. And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon's
house. And Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever; and
they besought him for her.
9. And he stood over her and rebuked the fever; and it left her;
and immediately she arose and ministered unto them. (Following
this, Volkmar has the last part of Luke 4. 14 and 15; but he is not
supported by other critics.)

10. And he came to Nazareth, and, as his custom was, he went into
the synagogue on the sabbath day, and began to preach to them.
(See Luke 4. 16.)

11. And he sat down, and the eyes of all who were in the syna-
gogue, were fastened on him. (Luke 4. 20.)

12. And he began to speak to them. And all bare him witness, and
wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth.
(Luke 4. 21, 22.)

13. And he said unto them. Ye surely

will say unto me this prov-
erb: Physician, heal whatsoever ye have done in Caper-
thyself;
naum, do also here. (Luke 4. 23.) (The next verse, 24th of Luke,
was not in Marcion. Neither were verses 25 and 26, according to
Hahn, Ritschl and DeWette. We accordingly omit them, though
they were retained by Volkmar and Hilgenfeld. Verse 27 is also
278 FOURTH PERIOD — A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

omitted by most critics. Baring-Gould, who follows Volkmar, re-

tains these three verses.)

14. And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things,
were filled with wrath. (Luke 4. 28.)

15. And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him to the
brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast
him down headlong. (Luke 4. 29.)
16. But he, passing through the midst of them, went his way.
(Volkmar says "to Capernaum.") (See Luke 4. 30.)

17. Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with
divers diseases, brought them unto him; and he laid hishands on
every one of them, and healed them. (Luke 4. 40.)

18. And devils also came out of many, crying out and saying.
Thou art Christ, the Son of God. And he, rebuking them, suffered
them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ. (For parallel
to verses 18 to 21, inclusive, see Luke 4. 41 to 44.)
19. And when it was day, he departed, and went into a desert place.
And the people sought him, and came unto him, and staid him, that
he should not depart from them.
20. And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to
other cities also; for therefore am I sent.

21. And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.

Chapter IL (See Luke, ch. 6.)

Verses 1 same as in the Gospel of Luke.

to 13,
14. And he charged him to tell no man. But go and show thyself to
the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded,
for a testimony unto you.
Verses 15 to 39 inclusive, same as in Luke.

Chapter IIL (Luke, ch. 6.)

Verses same as in Luke.

1 to 16,

17. And he came down among them, {en autois\ and stood in the
plain, and there was the company of his disciples, and a great multi-
tude of people, out of all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the sea
coast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him, and to be healed of
their diseases.
18. Same as in Luke.
19. Andthe whole multitude sought to touch him.
20, 21 and 22, Same as in Luke.
23. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy; for behold your reward
 THE GOSPEL OF MARCION. 279
is great in heaven; for in the like manner did your fathers unto the
prophets.

24 to 49 inclusive, same as in Luke.

Chapter IV. (Luke, ch. 7.)

Verses 1 to 28, same as in Luke, except some unimportant verbal

differences.

/Verses 29 to 35 inclusive, of Luke, not in Marcion.)

29. (36 of Luke.) And going into the house of a Pharisee, he ate
with him.
30. (37 and 38 of Luke.) But a sinful woman, standing near, before
his feet, washed his feet with her tears, and anointed them, and
kissed them.

31 to 35 inclusive, same as 39 to 43 of Luke.

36. (44, 45 And he turned to the woman, and said

and 46 of Luke.)
unto Simon, See'st thou this woman ? 1 entered into thy house, thou
gavest me no water for my feet. She has washed my feet with her
tears, and has anointed them, and kissed them.

37 to 40 inclusive, same as 47 to 50 of Luke.

Chapter V. (Luke, ch. 8.)

Verses 1 to 18 inclusive, same as in Luke. (Verse 19 of Luke not in

Marcion.)

19, 20 and 21 inclusive, same as 20, 21 and 22 of Luke. But Volk

mar has, in verse 20 of Marcion, (21 of Luke), "Who is my mother T
and who aremy brethren ? My mother and my brethren are," etc.
22. (23 and 24 of Luke.) He was sleeping with the sailors. And he
arose, and rebuked the wind, and the sea.

23 to 40 inclusive, same as 25 to 42 of Luke.

41. (43, 44 and 45 of Luke.) And a woman, touching him, was

healed of an issue of blood; and the Lord said. Who has touched me?
42 to 52 inclusive, same as 46 to 56 of Luke.

Chapter VI. [Luke, ch. 9.]

Verses 1 to 15 inclusive, same as in Luke.

16. Same as in Luke, except, "he asked blessing upon them."
[Ep autois,]

17 to 21 inclusive, same as in Luke.

280 FOURTH PERIOD — A. D. 130 tO A. D. 170.

22. Saying, the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be'put to
death, and after three days rise again.
23 to 29 inclusive, same as in Luke.

30. (30 and 31 of Luke.) And behold two men talked with him;
Elias and Moses, in glory.
31 to 33 inclusive, same as 32 to 34 of Luke.

of Luke.)
34. (35 From the cloud a voice saying: This is my
beloved Son.
35 to 38 inclusive, same as 36 to 39 of Luke.
39. (40 of Luke.) And I besought thy disciples, and they were not
able to cast him out. {ouk eedunestheesan ekballein auto.)
40. (41 of Luke.) And he said to them, O faithless generation, how
long shall I suffer you ?
41 to 61 inclusive, same as in 42 to 62 of Luke.

Chapter VII. (Luke, ch. 10.)

Verses 1 to 20 inclusive, same as in Luke.

21. In that hour, he rejoiced in the spirit, and said: I thank thee,
Lord of heaven, that those things which were hidden from the wise
and prudent, thou hast revealed unto babes. Even so. Father, for it
seemed good in thy sight.
22. All things are delivered to me of my Father, and no man hath
known the Father save the Son, nor the Son save the Father, and he
to whom the Son hath revealed.

23 and 24, same as in Luke.

25. And behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, say-
ing: Master, doing what shall I obtain life ? {aionion omitted.)

26. He said unto him. What is written in the law ?

and 28, same as in Luke, except that instead of orthos apekri'
27
thees, Marcion had orthos eipes.

29 to 42 inclusive, same as in Luke.

Chapter VIII. (Luke ch. 11.)

Verse 1, same as in Luke.

2. And he said unto them, When ye pray, say. Father, may thy
Holy Spirit come to us. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as
in heaven, so on earth.
3 and 4, same as in Luke.
 THE GOSPEL OF MARCION. 281
5. And he said: Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go
unto him at midnight, asking for three loaves ? [aiton treis artoiis;]
(Verses 6, 7 and 8 of I^uke, not in Marcion.)

of Ivuke.]
6. [9 Ask, and it shall be given. (Verse 10 of I^uke, not
in Marcion.)

7. and 12 of Luke.] Who of you, being a father, if his son ask

[11
a instead of a fish, will give to him a serpent ? Or, instead of an
fish,
eggj a scorpion ?

8. [13 of Luke.] If, therefore, you being evil, know how to give
good things unto your children, how much more y^ur Father, who is
in heaven ?
9 to 23 inclusive, same as 14 to 28 of Luke.

24. [29 of Luke.] And when the people were gathered thick
together, he began to say: This is an evil generation; they seek a
sign; no sign shall be given them.

[Verses 30, 31 and 32 of Luke, not in Marcion.] 25 to 33 inclusive,

same as 33 to 41 of Luke.
34. [42 of Luke.] Wo unto you, Pharisees For ye tithe mint and
I

rue, and all manner and pass over the calling [kleesin], and
of herbs,
the love of God. These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the
other undone.
35 to 40 inclusive, same as 43 to 48 of Luke. [Verses 49, 50 and 51
of Luke, not in Marcion.] 41, 42 and 43, same as 52, 53 and 54 of
Luke.

Chapter IX. (Luke, ch. 12.)

Verses 1, 2 and 3, same as in Luke.

4. (4 and 5 of Luke.) I say unto you, be not afraid of them who

kill the body; fear him who has power, after killing, to cast into hell.

(Veises 6 and 7 of Luke, not in Marcion.)

5. (8 of Luke.) Also I say unto you, whosoever shall confess me

before men, him shall the Son of Man also confess before God.

6. (9 of Luke.) But he that denieth me before men, shall be denied

before God.

7 to 24 inclusive, same as 10 to 27 of Luke. (Verse 28 of Luke, not

in Marcion.)

25. same as 29 of Luke.

26. (30 of Luke.) For all these things do the nations of the
282 FOURTH PERIOD — A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

world seek after. And your Father knoweth that ye have need of
these things of the flesh.

27. (31 of Luke.) Pleen before zeeteite^ omitted.

28. (32 of Luke.) Instead of ho pateer humon, Marcion had ho

pateer; "the Father."
29 to 33 inclusive, same as 33 to 37 of Luke.

34. (38 of Luke.) And if he shall come in the evening watch, (hes-
perieen phulakeen)^ and shall find them so, blessed are those
servants.

35 to 41 inclusive, same as 39 to 45 of Luke.

42. (46 of Luke.) The Lord of that servant will come, and will cut
him in sunder, and will appoint his portion with the unbelievers.

43 to 53 inclusive, same as 47 to 57 of Luke.

54. (58 of Luke.) Instead of separado, Marcion has paradosei se,

55, same as 59 of Luke.

Chapter X, (Luke, ch. 13.)

(Verses 1 to 10 of Luke, not in Marcion.) Verses 1 to 5 inclusive^

same as 11 to 15 of Luke.
6. (16 of Luke.) Ought not this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan

hath bound, lo these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond, on the
sabbath day ?
7 to 17 inclusive, same as 17 to 27 of Luke.

18. (28 of Luke.) There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth,

when ye shall see all the righteous in the kingdom of God, and your-
selves cast out, and held back.

(Verses 29 to 35 of Luke, not in Marcion.)

Chapter XI. (Luke, ch. 14.)

Verses 1 to 6 inclusive, same asln Luke. (Verses 7 to 11 inclusive

of Luke, not in Marcion.)
7 to 30 inclusive, same as 12 to 35 of Luke.

Chapter XII. (Luke, ch. 15.)

This chapter consisted of the first 10 verses only, of 15th Luke»

Chapter XIII. (Luke, ch. 16.)

Verses 1 to 11 inclusive, same as in Luke.

 THE GOSPEL OF MARCION. 283
12. And if ye have not been faithful in that which was another
man's, who will give you that which is mine ?
13 to 16 inclusive, substantially the same as in Luke.

17. Heaven and earth may pass, but one tittle of my words shall
not fail.

18 to 28 inclusive, substantially the same as in Luke.

29. (In place of the last three verses of 16th Luke.) Abraham saith
unto him, They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them,
i^ot after one has risen from the dead, will they listen, {epei oude
tou egeiromenou apo nekron akouousin.)

Chapter XIV. (Luke, ch. 17.)

Verse 1, same as in Luke.

2. (According to Volkmar.) It would be better for him, if he had

not been born; or if a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he
were cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little
ones.

3 to 9 inclusive, same as in Luke.

likewise ye, when ye shall have done

10. So, all those things which
are commanded you.

11, 12, and 13, substantially as in Luke.

14. And he sent them away, saying: Go, show yourselves unto the
priests. And it came to pass, that as they went, they were cleansed.

15, 16, and 17, same as in Luke.

18. These are not found returning, to give glory unto God. And
there were many lepers, in the days of Eliseus the prophet, and none of
these were cleansed, except Naaman the Syrian.

19 to 37, substantially the same as in Luke.

Chapter XV. (Luke, ch. 18.)

Verses 1 to 18 inclusive, same as in Luke.

19. Jesus said to him. Do not call me good; one is good: the Father.
20 to 30 inclusive, same as in Luke. (Verses 31 to 34 inclusive, of
l/uke, not in Marcion.)

31. (In place of 35 to 43 inclusive, in lyuke, were this verse and the
following:) And it came to pass, as he came near Jericho, a blind
man cried out, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.
284 FOURTH PERIOD — A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

32. And when he had healed him, he said, Thy faith hath sayed
thee.

Chapter XVI. (Luke, ch. 19.)

Verses 1 to 8 inclusive, same as in Luke.

9. And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come unto this
house.

10 to 28 inclusive, same as in Luke.

(Verses 29 to 48 of Luke, not in Marcion.)

Chapter XVII. (Luke, ch. 20,)

Verses 1 to 8 inclusive, same as in Luke. (Verses 9 to 18 of Luke^

not in Marcion.)

9, (19 of Luke.) And the chief priests and the scrihes the same
hour sought to lay hands on him, and they feared the people.
10 to 24 inclusive, same as 20 to 34 of Luke.
25. (35 of Luke.) But they who shall be accounted worthy of God,
to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither
marry nor are given in marriage.
26, same as 36 of Luke. (Verses 37 and 38 of Luke, not in Marcion.)

27 to 35 inclusive, same as 39 to 47 of Luke.

Chapter XVIII. (Luke, ch. 21.)

Verses 1 to 17 inclusive, same as in Luke. (Verse 18 of Luke, not

in Marcion.)

18 and 19, same as 19 and 20 of Luke. (Verses 21 and 22 of Luke,

not in Marcion.)
20 to 35 inclusive, same as 23 to 38 of Luke.

(Dr. Lardner thought, the first 18 verses of 21st Luke were not in
Marcion. But later authorities include vv. 1 to 17.)

Chapter XIX. (Luke, ch. 22.)

Verses 1, 2 and 3, same as in Luke.

4. And he communicated with the captains, how he might betray

him unto them.
5, 6 and 7, same as in Luke.

8. And he said to Peter and the rest. Go and prepare, that we may
eat of the passover.
 THE GOSPEL OP MARCION. 285
{Kai eipct to Petro kai tois loipois^ apelthontes etoimasate^ hina
phagomen to pascha.)

9 to 13 inclusive, same as in lyuke.

14, And he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him.

15. Same as Luke, except pros autous in I^uke.

(Verses 16, 17 and 18 of Ivuke, not in Marcion.)

16 to 24 inclusive, same as 19 to 27 of Ivuke. (Verses 28, 29 and 30

of Luke, not in Marcion.)

25 to 28 inclusive, same as 31 to 34 of Luke. (Verses 35 to 38 of

Luke, not in Marcion.)
29 to 38 inclusive, substantially the same as 39 to 48 of I^uke.

(Verses 49, 50 and 51 of Luke, not in Marcion.)

39 to 49 inclusive, same as 52 to 62 of I^uke.
50, substantially the same as 63 of Luke.

51. (64of Luke.) And striking him, they said: Prophesy: Who is
it that smote thee ?

52 to 58 inclusive, same as 65 to 71 of Luke,

Chapter XX. (Luke, ch. 23.)

Verse 1, same as in Luke.

2. And they began to accuse him, saying: We found this fellow per-
verting the nation, and destroying the law and the prophets; forbid-
ding to give tribute to Caesar, and turning away the women and
children.

3 to 32 inclusive, same as in Luke.

33. And coming to the place called the place of Calvary, (place of a
skull, hr anion topos,) they crucified him and divided his garments;
and the sun was darkened.
34 to 42 inclusive, same as in Luke, excepting from Luke the por-
tions contained in verse 33 of Marcion.

(Verse 43 of Luke, not in Marcion.) 43, same as 44 of Luke.

44. (45 of Luke.) And the vail of the temple was rent in the
midst.

45. (46 of Luke.) And crying out with a loud voice, he expired.
46, 47 and 48, same as 47, 48 and 49 of Luke.
49. (50 to 53 of Luke.) And behold, a man named Joseph taking
down the body, wrapped it up, and placed it in a hewn tomb.
286 FOURTH PERIOD — A. D. 130 tO A. D. 170.

50 and 51, same as 54 and 55 of Luke.

52. (56 of Luke.) And returning, they rested the sabbath day,
according to the commandment.

Chapter XXI. (I^uke eh. 24.)

Verses 1 to 4 inclusive, same as in Luke.

5. And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the
earth, those in white clothing said to them. Why seek ye the living
among the dead ?

6. He has risen; remember what he said while yet living, {eti on.)

7. That it was necessary for the Son of Man to suffer, and be deliv-
ered up.
8 to 24, same as in Luke.

25. Then he said to them, O fools, and slow to believe all that he
said unto you!

26, same as in Luke. [Verse 27 of Luke not in Marcion.]

27 to 30 inclusive, same as 28 to 31 of Luke.
31. (32 of Luke.) And they said one to another. Did not our hearts
burn within us, while he talked with us by the way ?
same as 33 to 37 of Luke.
32 to 36 inclusive,
37. and 39 of Luke.) And he said unto them, Why are ye
(38
troubled ? Behold my hands and my feet; a spirit hath not bones, as
ye see me have.
88 to 41 inclusive, same as 40 to 43 of Luke.
42. (44 These are the words which I spake unto you
of Luke.)
while I was yet with you.
(Verse 45 of Luke, not in Marcion.)
43. (46 of Luke.) That thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to
risefrom the dead, the third day.
44 to 48 inclusive, same as 47 to 51 of lyuke.
(Verses 52 and 53 of I,uke, not in Marcion.)

From the foregoing synopsis the reader can

write out the Gospel of Marcion, and will have the
text of that gospel, very nearly as it stood in the
fourth century. The English reader may pass over,
as unimportant, the Greek readings not translated,
and may adopt the corresponding text of Luke.
 marcion and luke. 287

Marcion and Luke.

The question of priority, as between these gos-
pels, is one of the most interesting connected with
the history of early Christian literature.

From the commencement of the third, down to

the beginning of the present century, it has been
fashionable to accuse Marcion of corrupting the
Gospel of Luke the emphatic and oft-repeated
;

assertions of TertuUian and Epiphanius to that

effect, having been deemed sufficient authority.
Bishop Marsh was one of the first to do Marcion
justice. He said there was no proof that Marcion
used Luke's Gospel at all.'

Since then, many of the most intelligent Ger-

man critics have come to the same conclusion.

Baring-Gould also says Marcion was too con-

:
*^

scientious and earnest a man, wilfully to corrupt a

^
gospel.' '

This author thinks that the Church of Sinope,

where Marcion formerly resided, had been fur-
nished by Paul with a collection of the records of
the life and teaching of Christ that Marcion thus ;

obtained his gospel, and brought it to Rome.^

Again: "Marcion's Gospel contained a different arrangement of

the narrative, from the canonical L,uke, and was without many pas-
sages which it is not possible to believe he wilfully excluded."— [Ibid,
p. 242.

(i.) Notes to Michaelis, vol. 3, pt. 2, p. 160.

(2.) Lost and Hostile Gospels, p. 241

288 FOURTH PERIOD A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

He afterward speaks of differences of arrange-

ment, which are unaccountable on the theory that
Marcion corrupted Luke, and says that Marcion's
Gospel was without several passages which appar-
ently favor his views.'

Canon Westcott is equally explicit in acquitting

Marcion from the accusation made against him by
the early fathers of the church.

He says: "Tertullian and Epiphanius agree in aflarming that

Marcion altered the text of the books which he received, to suit his
own views; and they quote many various readings in support of the
assertion. Those which they cite from the epistles, are certainly
insuflacient to prove the point; and on the contrary, they go to show
that Marcion preserved without alteration, the text which he found
in his manuscript. Of the seven readings noticed by Epiphanius, [in
the epistles], only two are unsupported by other authority: and it is
altogether unlikely that Marcion changed other passages, when, as
Epiphanius himself shows, he left untouched those which are most
directly opposed to his system."— [History of the Canon, p. 284.

one of the most hopeful signs of the times,

It is
that men, even in religious matters, can vindicate
the character of an adversary, after it has been
aspersed for fifteen hundred years.
Some writers still persist in repeating the old
slander. But the more candid and intelligent
opinion of Westcott and Baring-Gould, is supported
by Semler, Griesbach, Loeffler, Schmidt, Schleier-
macher, Hahn, and many others.
These writers, perceiving how little reliance is to
be placed upon the statements of the fathers, in
matters of critical exegesis, or of authorship, or
upon their assertions concerning the heretics, have
(i.) Ibid, p. 243; referring to Luke ii. 51; 13. 30, 34, and 20. 9 to 16.
 MARCION AND LUKE. 289

examined carefully the text of Marcion, and find-

ing the statements of Tertullian and Epiphanius
unsupported by internal evidence, have rejected
them altogether.
Which was first written? —Let us now see if
we cannot ascertain with reasonable certainty
which was first written ; the Gospel of Luke or the
Gospel of Marcion.
The question of priority, in this case, is closely
connected with that of brevity.
The first three chapters of Luke were entirely
wanting in Marcion, except the opening clause in
the third chapter, which was the commencement of
the Gospel of Marcion *^In the fifteenth year of
:

the reign of Tiberius Caesar.'^ The balance of the

first chapter of Marcion is contained with some
variations in the fourth of Luke. About half that
chapter is wanting entirely, in Marcion.

After passing this, the different chapters of the

two gospels correspond, the 2d of Marcion with 5th
of Luke, 3d of Marcion with 6th of Luke, and
so on.
The Gospel of Luke the most copious through-
is
out. The number of verses in Luke in excess of
those in' Marcion, is as follows In chapter 7^
:

seven verses in ch. 8, one in ch. 11, ten in ch.

: ; ;

12, three; in ch. 13, seventeen in ch. 14, five;;

in ch. 15, twenty-two in ch. 18, four; in ch. 19,,

;

twenty; in ch. 20, twelve; in ch. 21, three; in

ch. 22, thirteen; in ch. .23, one, and in ch.
24, four: total 122 verses. To this add the
290 FOURTH PERIOD —A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

excess of 23 verses in the 4th chapter of Luke, and

we have altogether 145 verses, or more than three
average chapters. Add the first three chapters of
Luke, which are entirely wanting in Marcion, and
the result is, more than six chapters, or more
than one- fourth of the entire Gospel of Luke,
wanting in Marcion.
But this is not all. In a number of places, the
verses of Marcion are shorter. Then, again, two
or more verses of Luke are contained, in substance,
in one of Marcion, and in one place, nine verses of
Luke in two of Marcion.

The Law of Accretion.

LUKE AND MARCION COMPARED.

Leaving out of view, for the present, the whole-
sale accumulation of matter, aggregating 315 verses,
the law of accretion will be well illustrated by those
cases where one or more verses in Marcion are found
swollen into several in Luke, or where a single pas-
sage has additions. They are as follows :

I.

Marcion, ch. 1, v. 4. Luke, ch. 4, v. 34.

Saying, I<et us alone; what have Saying, I^et (us) alone; what
we to do with thee, Jesus V have we to do with thee, Jesus of
Nazareth?

The difference isAccording to

important.
Matthew, the parents of Jesus, when they returned
from Egypt, being warned of God in a dream,
turned aside, (they were going to Bethlehem or
Jerusalem,) into the parts of Galilee, that a certain
 MARCION AND LUKE COMPARED, 291

prophecy might be fulfilled. The language does»

not imply that Nazareth was their residence.

The theory of the author of Luke was, that

Nazareth was their residence. Accordingly, in this
passage, which, though followed in Mark, has no
parallel in Matthew, Jesus is addressed as ''of
Nazareth," a phrase not in Marcion.

II.

A corresponding variation will be found in

Marcion, 1. 10. Luke, 4. 16.

And he came to Nazareth, and And he came to Nazareth,

as his custom was, etc. where he had been brought up;
and as his custom was, etc.

These are probably interpolations, made for the

purpose of establishing Nazareth as the birth-place
of Jesus.
III.

Luke, 6. 19.
Marcion, 3. 19.
And the whole multitude sought
And the whole multitude sought to touch him; for there went vir-
to touch him. tue out of him, and healed (them)
all.

There is no reason why Marcion, who had not

rejected the miracles of Christ, should omit the
closing sentence. It is more probable that
it was

added in Luke, to give expression to a very natural

inference on the part of the writer, as to the object
of the multitude in pressing forward toward Jesus ,^

and seeking to touch him.

There is no parallel in the other gospels.
292 FOUETH PERIOD A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

IV.

Maroion, 4.
Luke, 7. 36.

And one of the Pharisees de-

And going into the house of a sired him that he would eat with
Pharisee, he ate with him. him. And he went into the
Pharisee's house, and sat down to
meat.

.Jesus and the sinful woman.

Makcion, 4, 30. Luke, 7. 37 and 08.

But a sinful woman, standing And behold, a woman in the

37.
near, before his feet, washed them who was' a sinner, when she
city,
with tears, and anointed them, knew that (Jesus) sat at meat in
and kissed them. the Pharisee's house, brought an
alabaster box of ointment,
38. And stood at his feet, be-
hind (him,) weeping, and began to
wash his feet with tears, and did
did wipe (them) with the hairs of
her head, and kissed his feet, and
anointed (them) with the oint-
ment.

This touching incident, simply and beautifully

told in the sixteenGreek words of Marcion, is spun
out, by the author of Luke, into more than three
times the number, with no improvement in the
story. The washing of the feet of Jesus, which in
Marcion is left as a figurative expression, denoting
the great grief of the woman, Luke as
is stated in
an actual fact. While weeping, *'she began to wash
his feet with tears.'' Then, having washed them,
she must needs ''wipe them with the hairs of her
head.''

There can be but little doubt, that Marcion was

first written and that the author of Luke drew
,

upon his imagination in filling up the text.

 MAECION AND LUKE COMPARED. 293
Again, there is a similar variation, in the follow-
ing reference to the same transaction :

Vi.
Marcion, 4. 36. Luke, 7. 44 to 46.

And he turned to the woman, 44. And

he turned to the wo-
and said unto Simon, Seest thou man, and said unto Simon, Seest
this woman ? I entered into thy thou this woman ? I entered in-
house; thou gavest me no water to thine house; thou gavest me
for my feet. She has washed my no water for my feet. But she
feet with her tears, and has hath washed my feet with tears,
anointed them, and kissed them. and wiped (them) with the hairs
of her head.
45. Thou gavest me no kiss;
but this woman, since the time T
came in, hath not ceased to kiss
my feet.
My head with oil thou didst
46.
not anoint; but this woman hath
anointed my feet with ointment.

The use here, by Jesus himself, of the figurative

expression, ''she hath washed my feet with tears,''
misled the author of Luke into conceiving, and
hence expressing, a literal and complete washing
of feet, followed by wiping them in the manner
described.
This account is not in the other canonical gos-
pels. It is simply a question between Marcion and
Luke.
yn.
JESUS REBUKING THE STORM.
Marcion, 5. 22. Luke, 8. 23, 24.

He was sleeping with the sail- But as they sailed, he fell

23.
asleep; and there came down a
storm of wind on the lake; and
they were filled (with water), and
were in jeopardy.
24. And they came to him, and
awoke him, saying: Master, Mas-
ter, we perish Then he, arose,
I

ors, and he arose, and rebuked and rebuked the wind, and the
the wind, and the sea. raging of the water: and they
ceased, and there was a calm.
 ;

294 FOUETH PEEIOD — A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

The language of Marcion, as given by Epiphan-

ius, ishighly elliptical. It was probably preceded
by some sentence having reference to the storm.
The text of the synoptics is more copious
especially Mark, in which a pillow is provided
for the head of Jesus.
VIII.

HEALING OF THE WOMAN.

Marcion, 5. 41. Luke, 8. 43 to 45.

And a woman, touching him, 43. And

a woman, having an
issue of blood twelve years, who
had spent all her living upon
physicians, neither could be
healed by any,
44. Came behind (him), and
touched the border of his gar-
was healed of an issue of the ment; and immediately her issue
blood. And the Lord said, who of blood stanched.
has touched me ? 45. And Jesus said, Who
touched me? When all denied,
Peter and they who were with
him, said. Master, the multitude
throng thee and press [thee], and
sayest thou, Who touched me ?

If these accounts come from a common manu-

script, it had passed through many hands, before
reaching the author of Luke.
IX
Marcion, 6. 22. Luke, 9. 22.

Saying: The Son of Man must Saying: of Man must

The Son
suffer many things, and be put to suffer many and be reject-
things,
death, and after three days, rise ed by the elders, and chief priests
again. and scribes, and be slain, and be
raised the third day.

Marcion, 6. 30. Luke, 9. 30, 31.

And behold two men talked 30. And behold, there talked
with him two men, who were
Moses and Elias;
with him; Elias and Moses in
glory. 31. Who appeared in glory, and
spake of his decease, which he
should accomplish at Jerusalem.
 MAKCIOX AND LUKE COMPAEED 295
XI, XII, XIII XIV.
Marcion, 6. 34. Luke, 9. 35.

From the cloud a voice, saying: And there camea voice out of
This is my beloved son. the cloud, saying: This is my be-
loved son. Hear him.

Marcion, 6. 40. Luke, 9. 4L

And he said to them, O, faith- And Jesus answering said: O
less generation; how long shall I faithless and perverse generation!
suffer you ? How long shall I be with you,
and suffer you ?

Marcion, 7. 21. Luke, 10. 21.

In that hour, he rejoiced in the In that hour, Jesus rejoiced in

spirit, and said: 1 thank thee, spirit, and said, I thank thee, O
Lord of heaven, that, etc. (bal- Father, Lord of heaven and
ance of the verse substantially as earth, that, etc.
in Luke.)

Marcion, 7. 25. Luke, 10. 25.

Master, doing what shall I ob- Master, what shall I do to in-

tain life ? herit eternal life ?

The word aionion, (eternal,) was inserted by the author of Luke, to

make more meaning of Marcion.
clear the
The argument of Tertullian, (adv. Mar. 4. 25), that Marcion struck
out aionion, so that the question might be confined to this life, is
weak and untenable.
XV, XVI, XVII.
Marcion, 7. 26. Luke, 10. 26.

And
he said unto him, What is He said unto him, "What is
written in the law ? written in the law ? read- How
est thou?

Marcion, 8. 5. Luke, 11. 5.

And shall go unto him at mid- And shall go unto him at mid-
night, asking for three loaves ? night, and say unto him. Friend,
lend me three loaves.

Marcion, 8. 6. Luke, 11. 9.

Ask andit shall hegiYen.iAitei- Ask, and it shall be given you.

te, kai dotheesetai.) kai dotheesetai humin.)
{Aiteite,
296 FOURTH PERIOD —A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.
XVIII, XIX, XX.

Marcion, 8. 7, 8. IvUKE, 11. 11 to 13.

Who
of you, being a father, if 11. If a son shall ask bread of
his son ask a fish, instead of a fish, any of you that is a father, will
will give to him a serpent ? Or he give him a stone ? Or if (he
instead of an egg, a scorpion ? ask) a fish, will he for a fish, give
him a serpent ?
12. Or if he shall ask an egg,
will he offer him a scorpion ?
If ye, then, being evil, know 13. If ye then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts unto your how to give good gifts unto your
children, how much more your children, how much more shall
Father who is in heaven ? (your) heavenly Father give the
Holy Spirit to them that ask
him?

Marcion, 8. 24. Luke, 11. 29.

This is an evil generation; they This is an evil generation; they

seek a sign; no sign shall be given seek a sign, and there shall no
it. sign be given it but the sign of
Jonas the prophet.

Marcion, 9.4. Luke, 12. 4, 5.

I say unto you, be not afraid of 4. But say unto you, my

I
friends, be not afraid of them
that kill the body, and after that,
have no more that they can do.
5. But I will forewarn you

them that kill the body; fear him whom ye shall fear; fear him
who has power after killing, to who, after he hath killed, hath
cast into hell, [eis geennan.] power to cast into hell, [eis teen
geennan.] Yea, I say unto you,
fear him.

The last passage illustrates, throughout, the

prevailing practice of verbal accumulation. The
language of Jesus, ^'I say unto you,'' becomes,

when reaches the author of Luke, ^^I say unto

it

you, my friends ;'' *^Be not afraid of them that

kill the body,'' becomes, ''Be not afraid of them
that kill the body, and after that, have no more
that they can do ;" etc.
 MAECION AND LUKE COMPARED. 297
XXI, XXII, XXIII, XXIV, XXV, XXVI.
Marcion, 9. 5. Luke, 12. 8.

Him shall also the Son of Man Him shall the Son of Man also
confess before God. confess before the angels of God.
[Similar difference in the next
verse.]

Marcion, 9. 34. LUKE, 12. 38.

And if he shall come in the And if he shall come in the

evening watch, and shall find second watch, or come in the
them so, blessed are those ser- third watch, and find (them) so,
vants. blessed are those servants.

Marcion, 9. 42. Luke, 12. 46.

And the Lord of that servant The Lord of that servant will
come in a day when he looketh
not for (him), and at an hour
when he is not aware, and will
will come, and will cut him in cut him in sunder, and will ap-
sunder, and will appoint his por- point him his portion with the
tion with the unbelievers. unbelievers.

Marcion, 13. 29. Luke, 16. 29 to 31.

Abraham saith unto him, They 29. Abraham saith unto him,
have Moses and the prophets, let They have Moses and the proph-
them hear them.
ets; let
30. And he said. Nay, father
them hear them. Not after one Abraham; but if on'^ went unto
has risen from the dead, will they them from the dead, they will re-
listen. pent.
31. And he said unto him, if
they hear not Moses and the
prophets, neither will they be
persuaded, though one rose from
the dead.

Marcion, 14. 10. Luke, 17. 10.

So likewise ye, when ye shall So likewise ye, when ye

have done all those things which have done all those things which
are commanded you. are commanded you, say. are We
unprofitable servants: we have
done that which was our duty to
do.

Marcion, 15. 31, 32. Luke, 18. 35 to 43.

31. And it came to pass, as he 35. And it came to pass, that as

came near to Jericho, a blind he was come nigh unto Jericho, a
298 FOURTH PERIOD A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

certain blind man sat by the way-

side, begging:
36. And hearing the multitude
pass by, he asked what it meant.
37. And they told him, that
Jesus of Nazareth passeth by.
38. And he cried, saying: Jesus
man cried out, Jesus, thou Son of (thou) Son of David, have mercy
David, have mercy on me. on me!
32. And when he had healed
39. And they who went before,
him, he said, thy faith hath saved rebuked him, that he should hold
thee. his peace; but he cried so much
the more, (Thou) Son of David,
have mercy on me!
40. And Jesus stood, and com-
manded him to be brought unto
him; and when he was come near,
he asked him,
41. Saying: What wilt thou that
I shall do unto thee? And he
said. Lord, that I may receive my
sight.
42. And Jesus said unto him.
Receive thy sight. Thy faith
hath saved thee.
43. And immediately he re-
ceived his sight, and followed
him, etc.

XXVII, XXVIII, XXIX, XXX.

Marcion, 16. 9. Luke, 19. 9.

And Jesus said unto him, This And Jesus said unto him. This
day is salvation come to this day is salvation come to this
house. house, forasmuch as he also is a
son of Abraham.
Marcion, 19. 4. Luke, 22.;^4.

And he communicated with the And he went his way, and com.
captains, how he might betray muned with the chief priests and
him unto them. captains, how he might betray
him unto them.

Marcion, 19. 14.

Luke, 22. 14.

And when the hour was come,

And he sat down, and the he sat down, and the twelve apos-
twelve apostles with him. tles with him.

Marcion, 19. 51.

Luke, 22. 64.
And when they had blindfolded
And striking him, they said him, they struck him on the face;
Prophesy; who is it that smote and asked him, saying: Prophesy,
thee? who is it that smote thee?
 MARCION AND LUKE COMPARED, 299

The account in Marcion, besides being shorter,

is the more natural. Being struck from behind,
or by a stranger, Jesus was called upon to tell who
struck him. It was an impulsive action.

But the author of Luke has the Jews deliberately

blindfold Jesus, before striking him.

XXXI.
Marcion, 20. 45. Luke, 23. 46.

And crying out with a loud And when Jesus had cried with
a loud voice, he said, Father, into
thy hands I commend my spirit;
voice, he expired.
and having said thus, he gave up
the ghost.

These dying words of Jesus are not in either of

the other three canonical gospels. They may have
been taken by the author of Luke from the Acts of
Pilate, or from a later version of the manuscript
used by Marcion.

XXXII.

Marcion, 20. 49. Luke, 23. 50 to 53.

And behold, a man named Jo- 50. And behold, (there was) a
seph, taking down the body, man named Joseph, a counselor;
wrapped it up, and placed it in a (and he was) a good man, and a
hewn tomb. just;
51. (The same had not consent-
ed to the counsel and deed of
them;) he was of Arimathea, a
city of the Jews; who also himself
waited for the kingdom of God.
52. This man went unto Pilate,
and begged the body of Jesus.
53. And he took it down, and
wrapped it in linen, and laid it in
a sepulcher, that was hewn in
stone, wherein never man before
was laid.
300 FOURTH PERIOD — A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

XXXVI.
Marcion, 20. 52. Luke, 23. 56.

And returning, they rested the And they returned, and pre-
sabbath day, according to the pared spices and ointments; and
commandment. rested the sabbath day, according
to the commandment.

Luke, 24. 6.
Marcion, 21. 6.

He has risen; remember what

He isnot here, but is risen; re-
member how he spake unto you,
he said,while yet living.
when he was yet in Galilee.

Marcion, 21. 7. Luke, 24. 7.

Saying: The Son of Man must

That it was necessary that the be delivered into the hands of
Son of Man should suffer, and be
sinful men, and be crucified, and
delivered up.
the third day rise again.

MARCION, 21. 37.

Luke, 24. 38 and 39.

And he said unto them, why 38. And he said unto them,
Why are ye troubled ? and why
do thoughts arise in your hearts ?
are ye troubled? Behold my 39. Behold my hands and my
feet, that myself; handle
it is I,
me and see; for a spirit hath not
hands and my feet, a spirit hath flesh and bones, as ye see me
not bones, as ye see me have. have.

THE OTHER SIDE.

We will now give the cases where the text of
Marcion is the more copious :

1.

Marcion, 5. 20. Luke, 8. 21.

According to Volkmar, (though not in the

schedule or scholion of Epiphanius), in this verse,
after the words, **And he answered and said unto
them/' is the question, ^'Who are my mother and
my brethren?'' Balance of the verse, same as in
Luke.
 MARCION AND LUKE COMPARED, 301

Volkmar may have taken some of his variations

from the Dialogues/' etc., attributed to Origen,
*'

to which he appears to have given too much

attention.
II, III, IV, V, VI.
Marcion, 9. 26. Luke, 12. 30.

And your Father knoweth that And your Father knoweth that
ye have need of these things of ye have need of these things.
the flesh; {ton sarkikon.)

Marcion, 14. 2. Luke, 17. 2.

(On the authority of Volkmar.) were better for him, that a

It
It would be better for him if he millstone were hanged about his
had not been born; or if a mill- neck, etc.
stone were hanged about his
neck, etc.
(This may have been the read-
ing of Luke at that time. See
Tertullian adv. Marcion, 4. 35.)

Marcion, 17. 25. Luke, 20. 35.

But they who shall be account- But they who be account-

shall
ed worthy of God, to obtain that ed worthy to obtain that world,
world, etc. etc.

Marcion, 20. 2. Luke, 23. 2.

And they began to accuse him, And they began to accuse him
saying: We found this fellow saying: We found this (fellow)
perverting the nation, and de- perverting the nation, and for-
stroying the law and the prophets, bidding to give tribute to Caesar,
and forbidding to give tribute to saying that he himself is Christ,
Caesar, and turning away the a king.
women and children.
Marcion, 21. 5. Luke, 24. 6.

And as they were afraid, and And as they were afraid, and
bowed down their faces to the bowed down (their) faces to the
earth, those in white clothing earth, they said unto them, etc.
said to them, etc.

Here are six cases in Marcion, against thirty-six

in Luke ;new words in Marcion, to 660 in
or 35
Luke. If to these we add 315 verses of Luke which
are not in Marcion in any form, we have a ratio of
1 to 230.
302 FOURTH PERIOD A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

The strength of the argument, then, based upon

the principle of accretion, would be 230 to 1, that
the Gospel of Marcion was first written.
But there is other evidence of priority. The
Gospel of Marcion is more simple and natural, not
only in the mode of expression, but in the order of
arrangement.
In the fourth chapter of Luke, Jesus is repre-
sented as being tempted in the wilderness, immedi-
ately after his baptism thence he returned into
;

Galilee, and came to Nazareth [Luke, 4. 16]

; ;

where his public ministry commenced But though

.

commencing, at Nazareth, he is made to refer [v.

23] to works which he had done at Capernaum a
, ;

place to which he goes, afterward ;[v. 31.]

In Marcion, on the contrary, his public ministry
commenced at Capernaum; [Marcion, 1. 1] ;

whence, [v. 10] he came to Nazareth, and preached

, ;

and here, in the natural order, [v. 13] he refers to

,

the works done at Capernaum.

This accords with the Gospel of Matthew, which
represents that Jesus did not commence preaching
until after he had taken up his residence in Caper-
naum. [Matt. 4. 13 to 17.] Mark follows Luke.
Matthew and Marcion were probably from a com-
mon manuscript.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus is represented as
performing his first miracle in Cana of Galilee,
after which he went down to Capernaum. [John
2. 11, 12.] This, therefore, is confirmatory of
Marcion.
It is probable that in Luke, the manuscripts were
 MABCION AND LUKE COMPARED. 303

put together out of their natural order, and that

this disorder was followed in Mark. It was the
opinion of Griesbach that the author of Mark had
before him the whole of the present Gospel of Luke.
Schleiermacher thinks he had some of the manu-
scripts which comprise the Gospel of Luke.'

At the same time, the fact that nearly every word

of Marcion is in Luke, besides much additional
matter, is strongly suggestive of the theory, that
the author of Luke had before him, besides other
material, the Gospel of Marcion entire. On the
supposition that Marcion was last written, it is dif-

ficult to conceive why he should have excluded so

large a part of the Gospel of Luke, especially as it
is now conceded that it was not done for dogmatic
purposes. On the other hand, if Luke was written
last, the accumulations were in accordance with the
spirit of the age, and the practice of the times.
Besides, it was necessary to have a gospel different
from that of Marcion, who was a heretic. There is
no satisfactory evidence that Marcion had seen
either of the canonical gospels, or had even heard
of them.

The first two chapters of Luke were wanting in

the gospels of the first century. They were also
wanting in the Gospel of the Hebrews, or Naza-
renes, about A.D. 125, as well as in the Gospel of
Marcion, A. D. 145. They first appeared in the
Protevangelion, about A. D. 125, and were prob-
ably not deemed by Marcion, authentic.

(i.) Schleiermacher on Luke, p. 91.

 : a

CHAPTER XXL
SECOND HALF OF FOURTH PERIOD.

Justin Martyr. —A. D. 150 to 160.

There has been much diversity of opinion as to

the time when Justin Martyr lived, and wrote his
far-famed Apologies.
His Apology was supposed by Page, Nean-
first

der, Otto, Semisch and others, to have been written

A. D. 139. But the reason given for the opinion
was, that Verissimus became Caesar in 139, and it
was thought, if the First Apology had been written
after that date, he would have been styled Caesar
by Justin. He calls him *
'the philosopher ;''

title in which Justin himself took great pride. He

says

"Do you then, since ye are called pious and philosophers, guardians
of justice and lovers of learning, give good heed, and hearken to my
address."— [1st Apology, ch. 2.
And again: "This judgment of yours, O Urbicus, does not be-
come the Emperor Pius, nor the philosopher, the son of Caesar, nor
the sacred senate."— [2d Apology, ch. 2.

Here Verissimus is called the philosopher, in

the Second Apology, also, which is admitted by all
 , JUSTIN MARTYR. 305

to have been written after 139. The title 'philo- ^

sopher" was at that time esteemed a very honor-

able one. The embassy or apology of Athenagoras,
A. D. 177, was addressed as follows
''The Embassy of Athenagoras, the Athenian, a
philosopher and a Christian, concerning Christians,
to the Emperors Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, and
Lucius Aurelius Commodus, Armeniaci, Sarmatici,
and above all, philosophers.^'

There are other considerations, which go strongly

against so early a date.
Justin was born, A. D. 114, and therefore would
be but 25 years of age in 139.

Again : Marcion did not come to Rome, until

about 140. The date is generally fixed at 142.
But Justin, in the First Apology, speaks of him in
terms which imply that he had been a long time
disseminating his doctrines.
"And there is Marcion, a man of Pontus," says he, '-who is even at
thisday alive, and teaching his disciples to believe in some other god
greater than the Creator."— [1st Apology, ch. 26.

Still Justin himself says impliedly,

further:
that he was writing 150 years after Christ

"But some should, without reason," says he, "and for the per-
lest
version of what we teach, maintain that we say that Christ was born
one hundred and fifty years ago, under Cyrenius, and subsequently,
in the time of Pontius Pilate, taught what we say he taught," etc.
—[1st Apology, ch. 46.

Those who contend for an early date, claim that

Justin is here speaking in round numbers merely.
But if, when writing in 139, he wished to speak in
306 FOURTH PERIOD A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

round numbers, would he not have said 140?

Some writers, seeing that for this reason the date
should be nearer 150 than 140, have placed it at
146 to 148. Burton has 148.'
We think it consists better with the age of Justin,
and with what he says of Marcion, as well as with
a true construction of this passage, to take the 150
years as the true time, certainly the minimum
time after the birth of Christ, when the First
Apology was written. This is the opinion of Tille-
mont, Fleury, Ceillier, Dr. Grabe and others, and
is sanctioned by the authority of Norton. Dr.
Davidson speaks of Justin as flourishing about 150,
though he is inclined to date the Apology two or
three years earlier.

We have thought it necessary to review the evi-

dence on this question, because of its importance,
and because, though the evidence of a later date
than 139, appears almost overwhelming, we find,
in the very valuable encyclopedia of McClintock
and Strong, it is still stated, that the First Apology
was written A. D. 139."

What Gospels were used by Justin?

This a question of the highest importance.
is

We have now come to the middle of the second

century, and to one of the ablest and most cele-
brated of the fathers one whose works are famous
;

for the zeal and piety which they display.

(i.) Ecc. Hist, Vol. 2, p. III.

(2.) "Marcion."
Article, The article is accredited to Prof. Worman, of Drew
Theological Seminary.
 JUSTIN MARTYR. 307

Canon Westcott, through some seventy- five pages,

labors with great earnestness, and with much abil-
ity, to show that Justin Martyr was acquainted
with the canonical gospels.
At the very threshold of the subject, we are met
by the fact, that nowhere in all the writings of
Justin, does he once so much as mention any of
these gospels. Nor does he mention either of their
supposed authors, except John. Once his name
occurs not, however, as the author of a gospel,
;

but in such a connection as raises a very strong

presumption, that Justin knew of no gospel of John
the Apostle.
"And further," says he, "there was a certain man with us, whose
name was John, one of the apostles of Christ, who prophesied, by a
revelation that was made to him, that those who believed in our
Christ, would dwell a thousand years in Jerusalem; and that there-
after, the general, and, in short, the eternal resurrection and judg-
ment of all men, would likewise take place."— [Dialogue with Trypho,
eh. 81.

This language is quite inconsistent with the

theory that John was the author of a gospel then
well known and
generally received, and which was
a part of the ^'Memoirs of the Apostles, '^ used and
referred to by Justin.

The failure of Justin Martyr to refer to either of

the supposed authors of the four gospels, as a
writer of such a book, becomes still more significant,
when it is considered how often he refers to the Old
Testament writers by name, (nearly 200 times in
all) and that besides the
, Memoirs of the Apostles ''
^
'
,

the title of which is somewhat indefinite, he speci-

fically mentions two gospels, one of which, the
308 FOURTH PERIOD A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

Acts of Pilate, is still extant. The other, the Gos-

pel of Peter, is lost.

The argument of Westcott and others is, that in-

asmuch as there are found in the canonicals gospels,
passages closely resembling those quoted by Justin,
and in two or three instances, passages exactly the
same,that by the Memoirs of the Apostles, which
Justin frequently refers to, he must mean the
canonical gospels.
On the contrary, it has been shown, by Hilgen-
feld, Credner, Mayerhoff and others, and more
lately by the author of ^'Supernatural Religion,^'
who has reviewed the whole subject with great abil-
ity, that the argument based upon the similarity of
these passages is entirely inconclusive
, and that ;

except in two or three instances, it becomes neces-

sary, in order to obtain parallels, toput together,
not only passages from different portions of the
same gospel, but in some cases, passages from dif-
ferent gospels. Also, that by this process the con-
nection is broken up, while the quotations in Justin
have, for the most part, a consecutive order, and,
as is shown in the context, had such an order in the
gospel from which they were taken.

There are also a number of sayings of Christ,

given by Justin as quotations, which are not in the
canonical gospels at all.

Again, the references of Justin to the various in-

cidents in the life of Jesus, show a divergence from
the canonical gospels, not only in the mode of
stating facts, but in the facts themselves. In some
 JUSTIN MARTYR. 309
instances, they point to a known source, whence
they were taken.
While in Luke and Matthew the genealogy of
Jesus is traced through Joseph, Justin traces it
through Mary. In the Protevangelion, of the use
of which by Justin there is much evidence, Mary is
said to be of the lineage of David.'

Justin, in relating the announcement to Mary,

has the angel say, ^'Behold, thou shalt conceive of
the Holy Ghost, and shalt bear a Son, and he shall
be called the Son of the Highest, and thou shalt
call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people
from their sins.'^^

In the Protevangelion, the angel says to Mary :

"The power of the Most High shall overshadow thee; wherefore also
the holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of
the Highest, [in one version, the 'Son of the living God,'] and thou
shalt call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people from their sins."
^Chapter 11.

In Luke, the closing of the salutation is,

"Therefore also, that holy thing which shall be bom of thee shall be
called the Son of God."— [Luke, 1. 35.

The closing phrase, ^^for he shall save his people

from their sins,'' which is exactly the same in the
Apology and in the Protevangelion, is not in this
passage of Luke neither is it in the 31st verse,
;

which reads, ^^And behold, thou shalt conceive in

thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his
name Jesus."

(i.) Protevangelion, ch. lo.

(2.) Apology, I. 33.

310 FOURTH PERIOD A. D. 130 tO A. D. 170.

Again, in one version of the Protevangelion the ,

angels say to Mary, ^'Fear not, Mary, for thou hast

found favor before the Lord, and thou shalt con-
ceive of his Word.'''

Justin, after quoting what the angel said to Mary,

but without giving his authority, says :

and power of God,

"It is wrong, therefore, to understand the spirit
as anything else than the Word, who is also the first-born of God, as
the aforesaid prophet Moses declared; and it was this which, when it
came upon the virgin and overshadowed her, caused her to conceive;
not by intercourse, but by power."

Nothing of this in Luke. Justin then adds :

"And the name Jesus, in the Hebrew language, means Savior in the
Greek tongue;" and continuing, he repeats the closing words in the
announcement to Mary, thus:
"Wherefore, too, the angel said to the virgin, Thou shalt call his
name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins." [Apology, —
ch. 33.

This deliberate repetition of the sentence, in the

same words, indicates, quite conclusively, that he
was quoting the words of the Protevangelion, from
that gospel, or from some other now lost.

Tischendorf himself thinks this passage was a

recollection from the Protevangelion, and that it
was ^unconsciously added, by Justin, to the
*

account in Luke.'"'
Justin, when speaking of the journey of Joseph
and Mary to Bethlehem, says :

"On the occasion of the first census, which was taken in Judea,
under Cyrenius, he (Joseph) went up from Nazareth, where he lived,

(i.) Ch. II, as given by Tischendorf, Evang. Apoc. p. 2i.

(2.) Wann wurden, etc. p. 'JT.

 JUSTIN MARTYR. 311
to Bethlehem, to which he belonged, to be enrolled; for his family
was of the tribe of Judah, which then inhabited that region."— [Dia-
logue with Trypho, ch. 78.

The differences between the

account of Justin,
and that in Luke, are manifest.
In the one, the census was taken in Judea. (In
the Protevangelion, all the Jews were to be taxed,
who were of Bethlehem, in Judea.) In the other,
the census was to extend to all the world, or in
other words, to the whole Roman Empire. In the
one, (not in this passage,, but in 1st Apology, ch.
34), Cyrenius is styled '^your first procurator in
Judea,'' and in this passage it is stated, that the
going to Bethlehem was on the occasion of the first
census which was taken under him. In the other,
the census is spoken of as being made when Cy-
renius was governor of Syria. In the one, the
descent of Joseph is said to be from the tribe of
Judah. In the other, it is asserted that he was of
the house and lineage of David, and that is given
as the reason for going to Bethlehem, it being the
city of David.

Justin represents Jesus as having been born in a

cave,^ So do the Protevangelion, and the Gospel
of the Infancy. In the 70th and 78th chapters of
the Dialogue, Justin quotes from Isaiah 33. 16, to
prove that it was necessary, for the fulfillment of
prophecy, that Christ should be born in a cave.
That the birth of Christ took place in a cave, was
believed generally by the fathers. Origen and

(i.) Dialogue, ch. 78.

 ^

312 FOUBTH PERIOD — A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

Eusebius state that the cave was shown in their

day/
''Later Fathers/' says Westcott, ''speak of the
cave, without any misgivings that they contradict
St. Luke.''

Justin, when referring to the magi, nearly every

time speaks of their coming from Arabia making ;

the assertion no less than nine times. This must

have been taken from some gospel now lost.
Justin says, speaking of Christ,

"He was deemed a carpenter, (for he was in the habit of working

when among men, making plows and yokes; by which
as a carpenter,
he taught the symbols of righteousness and an active life.)"— [ Dial,
eh. 88.

In the copy of the Gospel of the Infancy pub-

lished by Tischendorf,^ it is said of Jesus,

"Now his father was a carpenter, and made at that time, plows and
yokes."

Justin speaks of a fire in the River Jordan, when

Jesus was baptized. So did the Gospel of the He-
brews.^ It is also mentioned in "The Preaching
of Paul.
"5

Justin has the Holy Spirit say to Jesus, at his

baptism, "This is my beloved Son to-day have I ;

(i.) Origen, cont. Cels. i. 51, and Euseb. Vita Const. 3. 40. See also Socrates,
Ecc. Hist. I. 17; Sozomen, Ecc. Hist. 2. 2; Epiph. Haer. 20. i; Jerome, Ep. 58, ad Paul.
The reference to the cave by Gregory Nyssen, has already been given. (Ch. 10,) Ori-
gen refers to the Gospel of the Infancy.
(2.) Canon, p. 92, note; referring to Origen and Epiphanius.
(3.) Ev. Apoc. p. 144.

(4.) See chopter 4 of this work, fragment from Epiphanius.

(5.) Treatise on Re-Baptism, apppended to Cyprian's works.
 JUSTIN MARTYR. 313

begotten thee." The same form of expression was

in the Gospel of the Hebrews, and was quoted by
others of the fathers.
These are some of the indications, and it must
be admitted they are plain ones, showing that
Justin made extensive use of other gospels.

Some by him, are expressly named.

of those used
—Not only does he Gospel or Me-
allude to the
moirs of Peter,' but he twice cites by name, the
Acts of Pilate, or Gospel of Nicodemus.
In the 35th chapter of the First Apology, he says
of Christ,
"And after he was crucified, they cast lots upon his vesture, and
they that crucified him, parted it among them. And that these things
did happen, you can ascertain from the Acts of Pontius Pilate."

Some writers have thought that the reference

here is to the official report, said to have been made
by Pilate to Tiberius. At the same time it is con-
ceded, that even if such a report was made, Justin
had never seen These writers do not explain,
it.

how he could so confidently refer to a report which

he had never seen, or how such a report could con-
tain an account so manifestly founded upon Jewish
prophecies.
In the text of the gospel called 'The Acts of Pi-
late,'^ as published in the Orthodoxographa of
Grynseus, is the following
"And divided his garments, and upon his vesture they cast lots."—
[Acts of Pilate, ch. 10.

Justin says

(i.) See chapter I of this work.

 :

314 FOURTH PERIOD — A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

"They cast lots upon his vesture, and they that crucified him, parted
it among them;"
And refers to the Acts of Pilate, as authority for
the statement. There is but little doubt, that the
gospel by that name now extant, was the work re-
ferred to by Justin.' 'It will be seen that the phrase-
ology is different from that in the canonical gos-
pels. Davidson also thinks Justin had this
gospel.^

Again in the 48th chapter of the First Apology,

:

Justin says

"And was predicted that our Christ should heal all diseases,
that it

and what was said: There are these words: 'At

raise the dead, hear
his coming, the lame shall leap as an hart, and the tongue of the
stammerer shall be clear speaking; the blind shall see, and the lepers
shall be cleansed; and the dead shall rise and walk about.' And that
he did those things, you can learn from the Acts of Pontius Pilate."

A number of these miracles are reported in the

Gospel of the Acts of Pilate, including the raising
from the dead. It is undoubtedly the authority
referred to in this passage of Justin Martyr. If
any report was ever made by Pilate to Ti-
official
berius, would scarcely contain admissions that a
it

person whom he had put to death, had performed

such miracles.
If, then, as there is every reason to believe, the
Gospel of the Acts of Pilate was the work alluded
to, we have, on the supposition that the canonical
gospels then existed, the extraordinary spectacle
presented, of a writer of the middle of the second

(i.) This is the opinion of Tischendorf. — Evang. Apoc. Proleg. p, 64; — Wann
wurden, etc. p. 82.

(2.) Canon, p. 100.

 JUSTIN MARTYR. 315

century, one of the most prominent fathers of the

church, passing over gospels in general circulation,
and which were considered authoritative, and as
evidence of the miracles of Jesus, citing an apocry-
phal and discredited gospel.

Various other considerations might be mentioned,

affecting, with more or less force, the question, as
to what gospels were used by Justin. But let these
suffice.

When it is considered. That no one of the canon-

ical gospels is expressly mentioned, nor either of
the supposed writers, except John, and he under
such circumstances as negative the presumption
that Justin knew of him as the author of a gospel
that Justin refers by name to the writers of the
Old Testament Scriptures nearly 200 times ^that —
from a large number of quotations from written
accounts of the sayings of Christ, only two or three
—
agree literally with the canonical gospels ^that in
nearly all cases, parallel passages can only be ob-
tained by patching together different passages, and
—
sometimes from different gospels that Justin
quotes sayings of Christ not in the canonical gos-
—
pels ^that he refers to incidents in the life of Jesus,
not found at all in those gospels, but which are in
—
other known gospels and finally that he cites two
or three such by name, and one of them as author-
ity for the miracles of Jesus it cannot be denied,
;

that the evidence that the canonical gospels were

unknown to Justin Martyr, is very strong, and in-
deed, well nigh conclusive.
316 FOURTH PERIOD — A. D. 130 tO A. D. 170.

There are two circumstances which should be

mentioned, which are sometimes relied upon to
break the force of this accumulated evidence.

One is, that Justin quotes from the Old Testa-

ment loosely, the difference between his quotations
and the passages themselves, being, in several in-
stances, as great asbetween the quotations which
have been referred to, and the corresponding pas-
sages in the New Testament. The proportion of
exact quotations is, however, much greater in the
one case than the other, there being over sixty
from the Old Testament, or nearly one-half of the
whole number while in a large number of other
;

instances the variation is very slight.

In the citations on the other hand, relating to

,

the sayings and doings of Christ, the number of

exact quotations will not exceed three, out of
nearly a hundred. Those which are the same,
consist of the sayings of Christ, which were pre-
served in other gospels, and by oral tradition.
Thus, where the quotations are the most important,
and should therefore more exactly correspond they ,

are found, on the contrary, the more divergent.

The other circumstance that Justin does not
is,

expressly mention Paul, or his writings. Hence,

it isargued, his omission to mention other New
Testament writers, should not be looked on with
surprise. There is some force in the suggestion.
At the same time, it is claimed on the other side,
that there were special reasons for this omission.
The silence concerning Paul has been referred to
 JUSTIT^^ MARTYR. 317

the well-known schism between him and Peter.

Justin's works have been considered as standing
upon the Petrine side, or at least, as anti-Pauline.
It is possible that some further explanation of the
silence of Justin, may
be found in the fact, that
the only collection of Paul's epistles then in circu-
lation, had been made by Marcion, a heretic, who
was peculiarly obnoxious to Justin.
In regard to the '^Memoirs of the Apostles,''
which are referred to some fifteen or twenty times
by Justin, as the source of many of his quotations,
those who contend that he meant the Gospel of
the Hebrews,' in support of their theory, point to
the significant fact that the Gospel of the Hebrews
was also known as The Gospel of the Twelve Apos-
tles.' This, they think, was ''The Memoirs of the
'

Apostles," referred to by Justin Martyr.

Justin was of Greek descent, but was born at
Flavia Neapolis, a city of Samaria. He studied in
the various schools of philosophy, and afterward
became an earnest and devoted Christian. He
lived for a while at Ephesus, and then settled in
Rome. Here he suffered martyrdom, about the
year 165.
—
Doctrines. Dr. Priestly held that Justin was
the first who advanced the doctrine of the divinity
of Christ.^
From
the time of Justin Martyr, the doctrine of
the Logos, or Word, which had prevailed in various

(I.) Davidson, Ewald, Credner, Tischendorf, De Wette, and many others.

(2.) History of the Corruptions of Christianity, vol. i, p. 46.

318 FOURTH PERIOD — A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

forms from ancient times and which, had been so ,

extensively treated by Philo, became associated

with the person of Jesus Christ.
The '^Word^' of Philo, was '^The first begotten
Son of God/' ^'the first begotten Word/' ^ ^^the
'

Image of God/' ''the Divine Word/'^ "his most

ancient Word/''* ''the Image of God, by which
the whole world was created.'' But Philo was a
Jew, and knew nothing of Christ as the Word.
In the writings of Justin Martyr, this phrase-
ology was applied to Jesus. ^ similar application A
of the term was afterward adopted in the Gospel of
John.
Paul had applied to Jesus the language of the
Psalmist, "Thou art my Son this day have I be- ;

gotten thee/' but he had not identified the Son

and the Word as the same. The "Word" of Paul
was the written word of Scripture.
Philo had said the Word was the first begotten
Son Justin Martyr, applying these terms to Christ,
;

asserted that he was the Word, the first and only

begotten Son of God. In the writings of Justin,
however, he is still subordinated to the Father. It
remained for the author of the Gospel of John to
boldly and unqualifiedly announce that "the Word
was with God, and the Word was God."
(i.) De Agricult. sec. 12.

(2.) De Confus. Ling. sec. 28.

(3.) De Somniis, 1, sec. 12.

(4.) Ibid, I. 39.

(5.) Dialogue, clis. 87 to 100, 105, and other places.

 CHAPTER XXII.
SECOND HALF OF FOUETH PERIOD.—Continued.
Apelles —Peregkinus—Marcellina—Philip — Soter—
MONTANUS TaTIAN.

Apelles. — ^A. D. 160.

Apelles is have been excommunicated by
said to
Marcion. He afterward had asect and a gospel of
his own. He was a Gnostic. There were various
Gnostic sects. One of their cardinal doctrines was
that Jesus was a man, begotten by man. Some of
them held that he became Christ, the Son of God,
at the time of his anointing and baptism.

"When," says Baring-Gould, "Gnosticism fixed on the anointing as

the communication to Christ of his divine mission and Messiahship,
their mention of it was cut out of the gospels in possession of the
church, and consequently the canonical gospels are without it to this
day."— [Lost and Hostile Gospels, p. 202.

Others believed that Jesus and Christ were dif-

ferent. That Jesus suffered, but Christ only in
appearance. These were called Docetse. Christ,
as distinct from the man Jesus, had a pre- exist-
ence.

According to the fathers, Apelles denied the

resurrection of the dead. He published a collection
320 FOURTH PEEIOD —A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

of revelations which he had received from a noted

courtezan, by the name of Philumene.'
Not much reliance is placed upon these asser-
tions. They are considered slanders by Dr. Lard-
ner and other candid historians. Especially are
such statements against prominent women, who
held heretical opinions, entitled to but little credit.

Neander defends the character of Apelles, and

considers his intimacy with Philumene altogether
blameless.^

The Gospel of Apelles.

But little is known of this gospel. Jerome, in
the preface to his Commentary on Matthew, and
Venerable Bede, in his Commentary on Luke, refer
to the Gospel of Apelles, as one of those alluded to
in Luke: ^^ Forasmuch as many have taken in
hand to set forth,^' etc. (Luke, 1. 1.) According
to these writers, then, the Gospel of Luke was
written in the latter part of the second century.

Peregrinus. — ^A. D. 150 to 169.

Lucian, author of the Dialogues, A. D. 165,
gives a history of Peregrinus. He says he learned
a wonderful doctrine of the Christians, by convers-
ing with their priests and scribes, near Palestine.
"And in a short time, he showed they were but children to him; for
he was prophet, high priest, ruler of a synagogue; uniting all offices
in himself alone. Some books he interpreted and explained; others
he wrote. They spoke of him as a god, and took him for a law-giver,

(i.) See Tertullian, de Praes. adv. Haer. c. 30; Epiph. Haer. 44; Austin, de Hser, ad
Q. 23 in Ap.
(2. Church History, vol. 2, p. 151.
 PEREGRINUS. 321
and honored him with the title of master. They still, therefore, wor-
ship that great man who was crucified in Palestine, because he Intro*
duced into the world this new religion." i

Lucian was contemporary with Peregrinus, hav-

ing been born A. D. 124,^ and living until after
180.3 The same writer says further, that Pere-
grinus was a person who rambled from place to
place, and from one sect of philosophy to another.
^'Having been guilty of parricide and other crimes,
he was obliged for a while to leave his native coun-
try and travel abroad.' He was afterward im- '

prisoned. While in prison, he was visited by

Christians, who administered to his necessities.
The Governor of Syria set him at liberty. He then
returned to Parium, his native place, and after-
ward, about the year 169, he ascended a funeral
pile, which he had voluntarily prepared, and per-
ished in the flames, in the sight of all Greece.

Peregrinus was also called Proteus. His death

is mentioned by some of the fathers.^
Athenagoras refers to it thus :

'•Of the statues of Alexander and Proteus, (the latter, you are
aware, threw himself into the fire near Olympia), that of Proteus is
—
likewise said to utter oracles." [Plea for the Christians, ch. 26.

There reason to believe that the picture drawn

is

by Lucian, was, like his portraiture of Alexander

Abonotichus, and his casual mention of Apollonius
of Tyana, colored by the pen of prejudice.

(i.) De Morte Peregrin, t. i, p. 56";.

(2.) Moyle's Works, vol. 2, p. 363,

(3.) Lardner, vol. 4, p. 149.

(4.) Tertullian, ad Mart. cap. 4, p. 157; Athenagoras, see above.

 : : :

322 FOUKTH PERIOD — A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

From other writers there are more favorable

accounts
Ammianus Marcellinus, (3d century), mentions
his death, and calls him an illustrious philo-
sopher.'

Philostratus (210), refers to his death, and speaks

of him as a cynic philosopher.^
Aulus Gellius, (2d century), speaks of him as
follows
"I saw, when I was at Athens, a philosopher named Peregrinus,
and surnamed afterward Proteus; a man of dignity and fortitude,
who resided in a little cottage, without the city. As I used to go to
him frequently, I heard from him many useful and excellent remarks,
among which this is what I chiefly remember:
"He *A wise man would not be guilty of sin, although gods
said,
and men were alike ignorant of it.' For he thought a wise man
would avoid sin, not from the fear of punishment or disgrace, but
from his sense of duty and love of virtue."— [Noctes Atticae, bk. 12,
ch. 11.

He then represents Peregrinus as quoting these

lines of Sophocles
"Nor vainly think your skill can aught conceal;
Time, that knows all things, shall all truths reveal."

It is as difficult to reconcile this sprightly picture

by the author of the Attic Nights, with what is said
by Lucian, as it is to reconcile the extant Epistles
of Apollonius with the notice which Lucian chose
to take of that philosopher.

Makcellina. —A. D. 160.

Marcellina was the founder of a sect called Mar-

(i.) Amm. I. 29, cap. i.

(2.) De Vit. Soph. i. 2, n i, sec. 13.

 MONTANUS. 323
cellians. She was a Gnostic —a disciple of Carpo-
crates.

The fathers are almost entirely silent concerning

her. If we are left in ignorance of desirable infor-
mation, her name has at least been handed down
free from detraction and calumny.
SoTER.—A. D. 164.

Soter was Bishop of Rome, about A. D. 175.

Dr. Lardner puts him down as one of the writers
of the second century, whose works are lost, and
dates his writings, A. D. 164. He may have
flourished as a writer before he was made bishop.

Philip.—A. D. 170.

This writer in the same category with the pre-

is

ceding. He
mentioned with Soter and others, as
is

writers of the second century, whose works are

lost.'

MoNTANus. —A. D. 170.

Dr. Priestly thinks many of the Montanists were
Unitarians.
Epiphanius gives extracts from the writings of
Montanus, and shows him to have been a millen-
arian.

Apollonius, the Christian writer of the third cen-

tury, became an active opponent of Montanism,
and endeavored to counteract the impulse which
had been given to it by Tertullian. This great
father had left the catholic church, and had gone
(i.) Lardner, vol. i, p. 436.
324 FOURTH PERIOD A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

over to Montanism, about the end of the second

century.
Tischendorf says, the opponents of Montanism
rejected the Gospel of John.'

Epiphanius mentions the Pepuzians, a sect of

Montanists, who permitted women to baptize.^

Tatian.—A. D. 170.

Tatian was by birth an Assyrian. He was con-

verted by Justin Martyr, but afterward became a
Gnostic, a follower of Marcion. He joined the
Encratites, and has been considered by some as the
founder of that sect.

His Oration against the Greeks is still extant. It

contains no mention of any of the canonical gos-
pels. Some writers claim there are passages parallel
with those gospels. They consist of the sayings of
Christ, and the better opinion appears to be, that
they were taken from the Gospel of the Hebrews.

The Gospel or Harmony of Tatian.

There is a Harmony of the Gospels attributed to
Tatian. It is sometimes called, ''The Gospel of
Tatian.''

The work is first heard of in Eusebius, who says,

"Tatian, however, their former chief, having put together a certain
amalgamation and collection, I know not how, of the Gospels, named
this the Diatessaron; which even now is current with some." [ Ecc. —
Hist. 4. 29.

(i.) Origin of the Four Gospels, p. 123.

(2.) Hseer. 49, 2.

 TATIAN. 325

The next reference to the Gospel of Tatian is by

Epiphanius. He says
"It is said that he (Tatian) composed the Gospel by Four, which is
called by some the Gospel of the Hebrews."— [Hser. 46. 1.

It does not appear that either of these writers

had seen any such gospel. They wrote from hear-
say and the statement of Epiphanius as to the
;

name of the gospel, is no doubt based upon the

passage in Eusebius.

The third writer is Theodoret. He says :

"He (Tatian) also composed the gospel which is called the Diates-
saron, excising the genealogies, and all the other parts which declare
that the Lord was born of the seed of David, according to the flesh.
This was used, not only by his own sect, but also by those who held
the apostolic doctrines, who did not perceive the evil of the composi-
tion, but made use of the book in simplicity, on account of its con-
ciseness. T found, myself, upwards of two hundred such books held
in honor among your churches, and collecting them all together, I
had them put aside, and instead, introduced the Gospels of the Four
Evangelists."— [Haeret. Fab. 1. 20.

The next century, Victor of Capua, referring to

Tatian's Gospel, called it ^^Diapente;" **The Gos-
pel by Five.''

Such is the evidence concerning the Gospel or

Harmony of Tatian. Let us attempt to analyze it

Epiphanius only states, that it was then said that

he (Tatian) composed the Gospel by Four and im- ;

mediately adds that it was called by some the Gos-

pel of the Hebrews. This was about A. D. 385.
Half a century later, Theodoret asserts that it was

(i.) Fabricius, Cod, N. T. i, p. 378.

326 FOUETH PERIOD — A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

then called the Diatessaron, and states something

about its composition.
Independently of Eusebius, then, it only appears
that in the fourth and fifth centuries it was called
the Diatessaron, and in the sixth, the Diapente.
But Eusebius says that Tatian himself called it
the Diatessaron. This is not the first statement of
Eusebius tending to give an early date to the can-
onical gospels, in which he is unsupported by
earlier authorities.

The importance of the question renders it neces-

sary to examine into the credibility of this witness,
and to endeavor to ascertain whether his unsup-
ported statement may be relied upon. This sub-
ject will be treated in the next chapter.
In the mean time, there is a circumstance dis-
closed,which in itself goes strongly to rebut the
presumption that Tatian made use of the four
gospels.

It appears from the testimony of Theodoret him-

self, that he felt under the necessity of suppressing
this gospel, though it was held in high respect, and
two hundred were in use in the churches which he
visited.

The Theodoret felt obliged to suppress

fact that
it, is inconsistent with the theory that it was a har-

mony of the four gospels, and throws suspicion

upon a statement made manifestly for the purpose
of supporting such an inference.

(See Note III.)

 CHAPTER XXIIL
VALUE OF THE TESTIMONY OF EUSEBIUS,

The Estimate of Friendly Writers.

Those who are disposed to take the most favor-
able view of this historian, hold him in low repute
as a chronicler of facts.

"The great fault of Eusebius," says canon Westcott, "is a want of

independent judgment. He writes under the influence of the last in-
formant, and consequently his narrative is often confused and incon-
sistent. This is the case, in some degree, with his statements on the
canon."— [Canon, p. 283.] He believes it possible, however, to ascer-
tain his real judgment on the question.

Jones charges him with being too credulous, and

thinks he was imposed upon, in the correspondence
between Christ and Abgarus, or else that the cor-
respondence had been interpolated into the history
of Eusebius.^ The historian affirms that he found
,

the letters written in the Syriac language, in the pub-

lic records of the city of Edessa, and that he himself
translated them into Greek. The letters are very
generally discredited, as well as the statements
of Eusebius concerning them.

(i.) Jones, vol, 2, p. 18.

328 FOURTH PERIOD — A. D. 130 tO A. D. 170.

''No one/' says Scaliger, speaking of Eusebius,

''has contributed more to Christian history, and no
one is guilty of more mistakes. '^ '

His Falsehoods and Forgeries.

The statements of this historian are made, not
only carelessly and blunderingly, but in many in-
stances, in falsification of the facts of history.

Not only the most unblushing falsehoods, but

literary forgeries of the vilest character, darken the
pages of his apologetic and historical writings.

His misstatements made for the purpose of bring-

ing into disrepute the Gospel of Peter and other
writings of the first century, have already been
noticed.

As we will not stop

the greater includes the less,
to consider the countless other merely false state-
ments to be found in his works, but will proceed at
once to some of the forgeries of which he has been
convicted.

Forgeries ok Josephus.
One of the most notorious of these, is in the ac-
count of the death of Herod Agrippa.
In the 12th chapter of Acts, it is stated that
Herod, while sitting upon his throne, arrayed in
royal apparel, and as the people were shouting and
calling him a god, was smitten by the angel of the

(i.) Elench. Trihaer. c. 29. See also, Father Maimberg's Hist, of Arianism, in
French, Tom. i, 1. 1, p. 32; and Valesius' Life of Eusebius, prefixed to his Ecclesiastical
History.
 FORGERIES ON JOSEPHUS. 329

Lord, and was eaten by worms, and gave up the

ghost.'

Josephus says, ^^Agrippa, casting his eyes up-

ward, saw an owl, sitting upon a rope, over his
head.'^^
Eusebius, in order to make Josephus agree with
the Acts of the Apostles, struck out of the text of
the Jewish historian, a whole Greek phrase, mean-
ing an owl sitting upon a rope or cord, and substi-
tuted the word meaning angel so as to make Jo- ;

sephus state that Herod, looking up, saw an angel

over his head.^
This forgery has been known for centuries and ,

is not denied by any. Some endeavor to excuse or

palliate it, while others pass it over in silence, or
as a matter of small importance.
Again was the opinion of the learned Dr.
: It
Lardner, that Eusebius was the one who was guilty
of the forgery of the passage in Josephus concern-
ing Christ.
In the third volume of his works, Dr. Lardner
did not openly charge this forgery upon Eusebius,
though he more than hinted that he believed him
to be the author of it ; saying,
•'Probably some learned Christian, who had read the works of Jo-
sephus, thinking it strange that this Jewish historian should say
nothing of Jesus Christ, wrote this paragraph, in the margin of his
copy, and thence it came to be afterward inserted into many copies
of Josephus."

(l.) Acts, 12. 21 to 23.

(2.) Antiquities, bk. 19, c. 8, 2.

(3.)Ecc. Hist. bk. 2, ch. 10. Eusebius omitted the words "boubona epi skoiniou
tinos," "au owl on a certain rope," and substituted "anggelon," "angel,"
330 FOURTH PERIOD A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

"Who was the first author of this interpolation," said he, "cannot
be said. Tanaquil Faber (ap. Havercamp, p. 272), suspected Eusebius.
I do not charge it upon him, but I think it was first made about his
time."— [Works, vol. 3, p. 542.

Afterward, however, in the preface to the fourth

volume, he speaks more plainly, and says:
"Indeed, it is not Josephus, but Eusebius or some other Christian
about this time, who composed this paragraph. Every one must be
inclined to think so, who observes the connection in the Evangelical
Demonstration, where is the first quotation of It. In the third book
of that work, Eusebius has a chapter or section, against those who do
not give credit to the history of our Savior's wonderful works. {^Pros
tous apenthountas tee tou soteeros heemonperi ton paradoxon prax-
eon dieegeeseV—[Dem. Ev. 1. 3, c. 7, p. 109.] Where follows an excel-
lent argument, taken from the internal characters of credibility in
the evangelical history, the success of the gospel among the Greeks
and Romans, and barbarians, and the zeal, intrepidity and sufferings
of Christ's apostles and the first Christians. Then he says:
*'
'Though the testimony of such men concerning our Savior, must
be esteemed fully suflicient, it cannot be amiss for me to add, over
and above, the testimony of Josephus, a Hebrew; who, in the eigh-
teenth book of the Jewish Antiquities, writing the history of affairs
in the time of Pilate, speaks of our Savior in these words:* where
follows the paragraph which we are considering: where" continues
Dr. Lardner, "our Lord is said to be *a worker of wonderful works,'
{'Heen gar paradoxon ergon poieetees:') which way of speaking is so
agreeable to Eusebius, and has such a similitude with his style, that
I am disposed to put down below, some instances from him; which
must be of use to satisfy us, that the style of this paragraph is very
Christian, if it be not the composition of Eusebius himself; as Tana-
quil Faber suspected."

(Here follow several quotations from the 'Evangelical Demonstra-

tion' in the originalGreek, showing the frequent use by Eusebius, of
the phrase, poieetees ergon paradoxon, 'worker of wonderful works.')
— [Lardner's Works, vol. 4, p. 6.

Thus appears that Dr. Lardner, who, in the

it

third volume, only intimated a strong suspicion

against Eusebius, as the author of this forgery,
now, in the commencement of the fourth volume,
after considering the matter more fully, draws an
 EUSEBIUS AS A WITNESS. 331

indictment, charging him openly with the crime

and calling up the case, introduces the evidence.
The words ^^or some other Christian about this
time,'' contained in the indictment, are to be con-
sidered as surplusage ; since the evidence and the
argument are directed against Eusebius himself.
There are other gross liberties taken by Eusebius
with the writings of Josephus.
He transcribes Josephus' account of Theudas,
and applies it as confirmatory of Acts, 5. 36 while
;

in fact, it disagrees with the account in Acts so

much as to have made commentators great trouble.
He quotes the passage from the fifth chapter of the
twentieth book of the Antiquities, and asserts that
the Theudas there mentioned is the same referred
to in the Acts skillfully suppressing the fact, that
;

the Theudas mentioned by Josephus, led that re-

bellion in the year 45 or 46, at least 38 years after
the time mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles.
Again, in regard to the question of the taxing
Eusebius, in his Chronicles, p. 76, asserts that
Cyrenius *^made a census of goods and persons" in
the time of Herod. In the Ecclesiastical History,
bk. 1, ch. 5, he says that Christ was born ''the
same year when the first census was taken, and
Quirinus was Governor of Syria." He adds, ''This
census is mentioned by Flavins Josephus, the dis-
tinguished historian among the Hebrews." If a
census was taken in the time of Herod, it is not
mentioned by Josephus, who states distinctly, that
after the death of Herod, Archelaus reigned nine
 '

332 FOURTH PERIOD —A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

years and was banished, and then Cyrenius had the

assessment and the taxing.^
Dr. Lardner, referring to this disingenuous pas-
sage, says he ascribes it, not to ignorance, but ''to
'
somewhat a great deal worse.
"It is impossible," says he, "that a man
of Eusebius' acuteness, who
had the New Testament and Josephus
before him, should think a
census made after Archelaus' banishment, was the same with that
before Herod died; but Eusebius was resolved to have St. Luke's his-
tory confirmed by the express testimony of the Jewish historian,
right or wrong."—[Lardner's works, vol. 1, p. 179.

The Forgery on Phlegon.

Origen, in his work against Celsus, says :

"But of the eclipse, which happened in the time of Tiberius, in

whose reign Jesus was crucified, and of the great earthquakes which
were at that time, Phlegon writes in the thirteenth, or as I think, the
fourteenth book of the Chronicle."— [Cont. Celsum, lib. 2, c. 33.

Phlegon was a heathen historian, who wrote

about the middle of the second century, and whose
works are lost.
The statement of Origen, which was open to sus-
picion from the was severely handled by con-
first,

temporary writers, who urged that an eclipse of the

sun could not then have taken place, as the cruci-
jfixionoccurred at the time of the Jewish passover,
which was at the full of the moon when an eclipse ;

of the sun is impossible.

Whether it was further shown that the passage

was misquoted, we know not. At all events, Ori-
gen, afterward, in his Commentary on Matthew,

(1.) Antiquities, bk. 17, ch. 13; also bk. 18, ch. i.
 EUSEBIUS AS A WITNESS. 333

27. 45, in reply to the objectionswhich had been

made, Phlegon did not assert that the
said, that
eclipse mentioned by him, happened at the time of
the full moon, and finally concludes that we must
not too positively maintain, against heathen peo-
ple, that Phlegon spoke of the darkness which hap-
pened at the death of Jesus Christ.
Now comes Eusebius who, writing a hundred
;

years later, not only repeats the original statement,

which had been substantially retracted by Origen,
but undertakes to quote the very words of Phlegon.
The passage in Eusebius is as follows
"Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Lord, according to the prophe-
cies concerning him, came to his passion on the 19th year of the reign
of Tiberius; about which time, we find these things related in other,
even Gentile memoirs, in these very words: 'The sun was eclipsed;
there was an earthquake in Bithynia, and many houses were over-
turned in Nice.' All which things he relates with what happened at
our Savior's passion. So writes and says the author of the Olympiads,
in the thirteenth book, in these words: *In the fourth year of the
two hundred and second Olympiad, there was an eclipse of the sun,
the greatest of any known before. And it was night at the sixth
hour of the day, so that the stars appeared in the heavens. And
there was a great earthquake in Bithynia, which overturned many
houses in Nice.' So writes this aforementioned author."-—[-Eusebius'
Chronicle, p. 77.

This is one of the most manifest of the forgeries

of Eusebius. If there had been any such passage
in Phlegon, stating that there was an eclipse of the
sun, at the very hour when Christ was crucified, it
would have been found out by Origen who would ,

have availed himself of it, when hard pressed by

his adversaries.

Besides, the passage bears internal evidence of

being a fabrication.
 "

334 FOURTH PERIOD — A. D. 130 tO A. D. 170.

Eusebius had already quoted the passage from

Phlegon, giving the very words. In the first quo-
tation, Phlegon says: ''The sun was eclipsed;
there was an earthquake in Bithynia, and many
houses were overturned in Nice.'' This is given
as the language of Phlegon. Afterward, Phlegon
is made to say, *'In the fourth year,'' etc., ''there
was an eclipse of the sun, the greatest," etc., ''and
it was night, the sixth hour of the day," etc., and
"there was a great earthquake in Bithynia which
overturned many houses in Nice." All this new
matter prefixed to the quotation, and the quotation
itself different. What was only "an earthquake,"
(giving the very words, as he said, of Phlegon), be-
comes, in the second quotation, "a great earth-
quake," and the statement that "the sun was
eclipsed," becomes swollen into a long sentence,
full of additional circumstances. Then a heathen
historian, for the purpose of sustaining the Christ-
ian religion, narrates an earthquake, and an eclipse
of the sun taking place at the very hour when
,

Christ was crucified, although the moon was at the

full!

This was only equaled by making a Jewish his-

"was the Christ.
torian declare that Jesus

The Forgery on Thallus.

Eusebius makes Thallus, another heathen histo-
rian, who wrote about 220, testify to the eclipse of
the sun. The following is the language of our his-
torian :

"There was a dreadful darkness over the whole world, and the
 EUSEBIUS AS A WITNESS. 335
rocks were rent by an earthquake, and many buildings were over-
turned in Judea, and in other parts of the earth. This darkness
Thallus calls an eclipse of the sun, in the third book of his histories;
but as seems to me very improperly; for the Jews keep the passover
in the fourteenth day of the moon; at which time an eclipse of the
sun is impossible."-[Eusebius, Canon. Chron. Grsece, by Scaliger, p. 77.

Since quoting from Phlegon, Eusebius appears

to have become enlightened in regard to the possi-
bihty of an eclipse of the sun when the moon is at

its full. Nevertheless, he persists in perpetrating

on the heathen writers. He has no
these forgeries
compunction in making Thallus, a heathen, in his
anxiety to support the gospel historians, declare
that there was an eclipse of the sun at the cruci-
fixion of Christ.

This forgery Eusebius undertakes to father upon

Africanus, quoting as from that writer the words
which are attributed to Thallus. As the works of
Africanus are lost, there is no way of determining
the question with complete certainty. There is no
reasonable doubt, however, that the passage ema-
nated, in the first instance, from the author of the
church history.
Thallus was a Syrian, and wrote in Greek. He
is cited by Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Minucius
Felix, Lactantius and Theophilus, no one of whom
ever claimed that his works contained any such
passage, nor was the passage known, so far as we
have any evidence, to any other ancient writer.

The Forgery on Porphyry.

Eusebius quotes, as evidence of the truth of the
Christian religion, from a pretended work of For-
336 FOURTH PERIOD A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

phyry, entitled ^^The Philosophy of Oracles/' a

work never heard of before the time of Eusebius,
and never since, but from those who accept as
authority the author of the ecclesiastical history.
The majority of scholars are pretty well satisfied
that such a work never existed.

Porphyry flourished in the latter part of the

third century. He was an active opponent of the
Christian religion. He wrote so strongly and pow-
erfully against it, that his writings were, by an
edict of Constantino, condemned to the flames.
Porphyry is made to speak of Christianity as the
''prevailing religion/' which it was not, until
some time after Porphyry.
It was probably not until after the destruction of
the writings of Porphyry, in accordance with the
decree of Constantine, that this bold attempt was
made to bring him in as a witness in favor of the
very religion which he so powerfully opposed.

The ''Philosophy of Oracles'' has been branded

as spurious by Van Dale,' by Fontenelle,^ and other
able writers.

Other portions of the works of the church histo-

rian,have been suspected.
Dr. Dodwell, Thirlby, and Dr. Jortin thought
the letter of rescript of Antoninus Pius, as given
by Eusebius, was a forgery. It is generally sus-
pected that the correspondence between Christ and
Abgarus is a literary work of the same character.
(i.) De Orac. Ethnic, p. 14.

(2.) Hist, of Oracles, Diss, i, ch. 4.

[See Note IV.]

 EUSEBIUS AS A WITNESS. 337
Such was the first chronicler of church history
whose works have come down to us. Such is the
witness, the only witness to any thing which would
indicate, with any definiteness, the existence of any
of the canonical gospels earlier than about A. D.
170.
"Reject Eusebius," says Prof. Stowe, "and what have we for a his-
tory of the Christian churches of the first three centuries, or of the
books used as scripture in those churches ?"—[History of the Bible,
p. 47.

And yet, the truth requires that he should not

at allbe relied upon, except where he is supported
by earlier, or at least contemporary writers, or by
strong circumstantial evidence.
 CHAPTER XX I V .

EEVIEW OF THE THIRD AND FOURTH PERIODS.

A. D. 120 to 170.
Since leaving the apostolic fathers, we have tra-
veled, by the uncertain light of patristic literature,
through half a century ;
—
^the last half of a period
well characterized by Dr. Westcott as the dark age
of church history. (A. D. 70 to 170.)

We have met with twenty-six Christian writers,

some of them persons of much celebrity, and all of
them writers of considerable repute, besides others
of less note, and with various anonymous works,
including the three most famous so-called apocry-
phal gospels.
In all this mass of Christian literature, there is
not to be found a single mention of any of the
canonical gospels. Not one of all these writers, in
any work which has been preserved, has mentioned
Luke, Mark, John or Matthew, as the author of a
gospel.

The Gospel of Marcion, written about A. D. 145,

bears internal evidence of having preceded Luke,
 REVIEW OF THIRD AND FOURTH PERIODS. 339

and in like manner the Protevangelion and the

Gospel of the Infancy were manifestly written be-
fore Luke and Matthew, and the Acts of Pilate be-
fore any of the canonical gospels.

Coming to Justin Martyr, who wrote fully as late

as the middle of the second century, there is no
satisfactory evidence that he used or knew of the
existence of any such gospels as those which after-
ward became canonical.
Continuing through the remainder of the peri-
od, we meet with several writers, nearly all of
whose works are lost. These end with Tatian.
There is no sufficient evidence that the so called
Diatessaron of this writer was a harmony of the
Four Gospels.
The character of Eusebius has been examined,
and he has been found to be, as an unsupported
v/itness, entirely unreliable. The facts to which
this witness testifies, are not, by any means, of a
conclusive character. But they are skillfully
thrown together in such a manner as to create the
impression, that the canonical gospels were in
existence during the time of which he was writing.

In every instance, the assertion by implica-

is

tion. But the intent to deceive is manifest. The

silence, even of Eusebius, as to any evidence
earlier than A. D. 126, is significant.
 FIFTH PERIOD. A. B. 170 tO 185.

CHAPTER XXV.
THE FOUR CANONICAL GOSPELS.
More than fourteen hundred years ago, Faustus,
a Manichsean bishop, a Christian, in his discussion
with Augustine, after calling attention to the fact
that his opponent himself rejected many portions
of the Old Testament, said :

"If there are parts of the Testament of the Father which we are
not bound to observe, (for if you attribute the Jewish law to the
Father, and it is well known that many things in it shock you, etc.)
the testimony of the Son must be equally liable to corruption, and
may equally well contain objectionable things; especially as it is
allowed not to have been written by the Son himself, nor by his apos-
tles; but long after, by some unknown men, who, lest they should be
suspected of writing things they knew nothing of, gave to their books
the names of the apostles, declaring the contents to be according to
these originals. In this, I think they do grievous wrong to the disci-
ples of Christ, by quoting their authority for the discordant and con-
tradictory statements in these writings, saying that it was according
to them that they wrote the gospels, which are so full of errors and
discrepancies, both in facts and opinions, that they can be harmo-
nized neither with themselves, nor with one another. This is nothing
else than to slander good men, and to bring the charge of dissension
on the brotherhood of the disciples. In reading the gospels, the clear
intention of our heart perceives the errors, and to avoid all injustice,
we accept whatever is useful in the way of building up our faith, and
promoting the glory of the Lord Christ, and of the Almighty God,
the Father, while we reject the rest, as unbecoming the majesty of
 THE FOUR CANONICAL GOSPELS. 341
Ood and Christ, and inconsistent with our belief."— [Works of Au-
gustine.— On the Manichean Heresy, bk. 32, 1. 2.

Again, in a subsequent passage, continuing his

argument, he says

"I do not suppose you will even consent or listen to such things, as
that a father-in-law should lie with his daughter-in-law, as Judah did;
or a father with his daughters, as Lot; or with harlots, like Hosea; or
that a husband should sell his wife for a night, to her lover, like A-
braham; or that a man should marry two sisters, like Jacob; or that
the rulers of the people, and the men you consider most inspired,
should keep their mistresses by hundreds and thousands; or accord-
ing to the provision made in Deuteromony about wives, that the wife
of one brother, if he die without children, should marry the surviving
brother, and that he should raise up seed for her instead of his
brother, and if the man refuses to do this, the fair plaintiff should
bring her case before the elders, that the brother may be called, and
admonished to perform this religious duty, and that if he persists in
his refusal, he must not go unpunished, but the woman must loose
his shoe from his right foot, and strike him in the face, and send him
away, spat upon and accursed, to perpetuate the reproach in his
family,

"These, and such as these, are the examples and precepts of the Old
Testament. If they are good, why do you not practice them ? If
they are bad, why do you not condemn the Old Testament, in which
they are found ? But if you think that these are spurious interpola-
tions, that is precisely what we think of the New Testament. You
have no right to claim from us an acknowledgment for the New Tes-
tament which you do not make for the Old."— [Ibid. bk. 32, 4.

Again, he says :

"So, then, with the help of the Paraclete, we may take the same
libertieswith the New Testament, as Jesus enables you to take with
the Old, unless you suppose that the Testament of the Son is of great-
er value than that of the Father, if it is really the Father; so that
while many parts of the one are to be condemned, the other must be
exempted from all disapproval. That too, when we know, as I said
hefore, that it was not written by Christ or his apostles ."—[ibid.

To this charge, thus repeated, Augustine, after

treating other points at length, replies as follows
 :

342 FIFTH PEKIOD A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

"We can now answer the question, how we know chat these books
were written by the apostles. In a word, we know this in the same
way that you know that the books whose authority you are so delud-
ed as to prefer, were written by Manichaeus. For suppose some one
should raise a question on this point, and should contend, in arguing
with you, that the books which you attribute to Manichseus, are not
of his authorship. Your only reply would be, to ridicule the absurd-
ity of thus gratuitously calling in question a matter confirmed by
successive testimonies, of such wide extent. As, then, it is certain
that these books are the production of Manichseus, and as it is ridicu-
lous in one born so many years after, to start objections of his own,
and to raise a discussion on the point; with equal confidence may we
pronounce it absurd, or rather, pitiable, in Manichseus or his follow-
ers, to bring such objections against writings originally well authen-
ticated, and carefully handed down from the times of the apostles to
our own day, through a constant succession of custodiers."— [Ibid.

Faustus in Keply.— "It is not without reason that we bring a

criticaljudgment to the study of the scriptures, where there are such
discrepancies and contradictions. By thus examining every thing,
and comparing one passage with another, we determine which con-
tains Christ's actual words, and what may or may not be genuine.
For your predecessors have made many interpolations in the words
of our Lord, which thus appear under his name while they disagree
with his doctrine. Besides, as we have proved again and again, the
writings are not the production of Christ or of his apostles, but a
compilation of rumors and beliefs, made long after their departure,
by some obscure semi-Jews, not in harmony even with one another,
and published by them under the name of the apostles, or of those
considered the followers of the apostles, so as to give the appearance
of apostolic authority to all these blunders and falsehoods."— [Ibid,
bk. 33.

Angustine, in response, repeats the argument

already given, and illustrates it by reference to cer-
tain books which had appeared under the name of
Hippocrates, and had been rejected by physicians,
because when compared with the genuine writings
of Hippocrates, they were seen to be inferior. As
to the genuine writings of that author, he says

"There is a succession of testimonies of books from the time of

Hippocrates to the present day, which makes it unreasonable now or
 THE FOUR CANONICAL GOSPELS. 343
hereafter to have any doubt on the subject. How do we know the
authorship of the works of Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Varro, and other
similar writers, but by the unbroken chain of evidence?"— [Ibid.

He afterward speaks of ^the ability of the church

'

—
of the apostles a community of brethren as nu-
merous as they were faithful, to transmit their writ-
ings unaltered to posterity, as the original seats of
the apostles have been occupied by a continuous
'
succession of bishops to the present day.

This closed the argument.

Such was the state of the controversy early in

the fifth century ; a controversy within the church
itself.

On the one side, Faustus had stated, first, that it

was ''allowed'^ that the New

Testament was not
written by Christ or his apostles, but long after, by
some unknown men. Then, that they ''knew'^ it
was not written by Christ or his apostles, and fi-
nally that they *'had proven it, again and again.''

To Augustine, not expressly denying the

this,
assertions of Faustus, or challenging him to the
proof, replies with the argument founded on tradi-
tion. This he illustrates by a comparison with
books ascribed to Hippocrates, Aristotle and other
writers.

As to the proof that may have been offered by

Faustus on former occasions, we are entirely igno-
rant. But that such proof of some kind had been
adduced, may be safely inferred, since the state-
ment was not expressly denied by Augustine.
344 FIFTH PERIOD —A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

The argument of Augustine was the same as has

been relied upon since his day.
The bold challenge of Faustus would seem to
have required something more at the hands of his
adversary at least, an enumeration or mention of
;

some of those by whom the tradition had been pre-

served and handed down.
The argument of Augustine was not good, because
the statement upon which it rested was not true.
It was not true that the books had been ^confirmed '

by successive testimonies from the times of the apos-

tles ; that they were originally well authenticated
and carefully handed down , '
' etc .
, unless indeed
, , we
are to suppose, that every successive link in this
chain of evidence has been lost, and that of all the
writings of the Christian fathers to the latter part
of the second century, only those which made no
mention of the books were preserved, while those
which mentioned them were in every instance lost.
Such a supposition, if not actually preposterous, is
in the highest degree incredible and we are forced ;

to the conclusion, that such a chain of evidence

existed only in the imagination of Augustine.

The tradition cannot be traced further back than

Irenseus, A. D. 190. No one of the four gospels
was mentioned earlier, except the Gospel of John,
A. D. 180, by Theophilus of Antioch.
He does not say it was written by the apostle, but
*'by an inspired man."
For nearly a hundred and fifty years after the
events related in the canonical gospels, there is no
 THE FOUR CANONICAL GOSPELS. 345

evidence of any such tradition as was necessary to

sustain the argument of Augustine. The contro-
versy cannot, therefore, be looked upon as having
been settled in his discussion with Faustus and as ;

no new light has since been thrown upon the ques-

tion, it is still an open one.
As such, we propose to consider it. It is the duty
of the historian to do what he can toward settling
truthfully, important facts and surely no fact can
;

be of more importance in religious history, than

the time when the four gospels were written.
The external evidence has been considered as our
history progressed. It was necessarily of a nega-
tive character, but has pointed strongly toward the
non-existence of the books, previous to the year
170. We are now to examine the internal evidence.
This naturally comes last, and is not ordinarily to
be resorted to, except when the historical evidence
''
fails to bring a satisfactory conclusion. '^History
says Westcott, ^^must deliver its full testimony,
before internal criticism can find its proper use.^'
That the external evidence is unsatisfactory, and
justifies the resort to internal evidence, is distinctly
asserted by Rev. Dr. Davidson, who says
"The evidence in favor of the authors traditionally assigned to the
gospels,and some of the epistles, is still uncertain. A wide gap in-
tervenes between eye witnesses of the apostles or apostolic men that
wrote the sacred books, and the earliest fathers who assert their
authorship. The additional bridge between them is a precarious one.
As the chasm cannot be filled by adequate external evidence, we are
thrown back on the internal character of the works themselves."
{Davidson on the Canon, p. 126.

Before proceeding to the internal evidence, there

346 FIFTH PERIOD —A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

are certain considerations which are necessary to a

complete view of the subject.

1. No one of the four gospels is mentioned in any

other part of the New Testament.

2. No work of art of any kind has ever been dis-

covered, no painting, or engraving, no sculpture,
or other relic of antiquity, which may be looked
upon as furnishing additional evidence of the
existence of those gospels, and which was executed
earlier than the the second century.
latter part of
Even the exploration of the Christian catacombs
failed to bring to light any evidence of that
character.

3. The four gospels were written in Greek, and

there was no translation of them into other lan-
guages, earlier than the third century.
It has been supposed by some, that Matthew was
a translation from a Hebrew gospel. But the ten-
dency of modern thought and criticism is strongly
toward the conclusion, that Matthew, as well as
the others, was an original Greek production.
The oldest known translations are the Peshito, in
the Syriac, and in the Latin, an old translation, the
original of the Vulgate.

Efforts have been made to show that there were

Latin translations in the second century. They
have resulted in nothing tangible, and may be
looked upon as mere speculations.
In Germany, Semler made an elaborate attempt
to prove that TertuUian had a Latin translation.
 THE FOUR CANONICAL GOSPELS. 347
which had been used before his time but the effort ;

cannot be pronounced successful. The view taken

by the author of the article in the Encyclopedia of
McClintock and Strong, is doubtless the correct
one that Tertullian did not make use of a transla-
:

tion, but translated for himself. The article was

written originally for Kitto, by Dr. Alexander, and
is entitled '^Ante-Hieronymian Versions.'' The
writer says :

"The early and extensive diffusion of Christianity among the

Latin-speaking people, renders it probable that means would be used
to supply the Christians who used that language with versions of the
scriptures in their own tongue, especially those resident in countries
where the Greek language was less generally known. That from an
early period such means were used, cannot be doubted; but the in-
formation which has reached us is so scanty, that we are not in cir-
cumstances to arrive at certainty on many points of interest con-
nected with the subject. It is even matter of debate, whether there
were several translations, or one translation, variously corrupted or
emended.

"The writer by whom reference is supposed to be made to a

first
Latin version, is Tertullian; in the words, 'sciamus plane non sic esse
in Grsece authentico, quomodo in usum exiit per duarum syllabarum
aut callidam, aut simplicem eversionem,' etc.— [De Monogamia, c. 11.]
*We may certainly know, that in the Greek original, it does not stand
in the form in which, (through the either crafty or simple alteration
—
of two syllables), it has gone out into common use,' etc. [Ante-
Nicene, *in the form which (through, etc.) has gone out/ etc.]

"It is possible Tertullian has in view here, a version in use among

the African Christians: but it is by no means certain that such is his
meaning, for he may refer merely to the manner in which the pas-
sage in question had come to be usually cited, but without intending
to intimate that it was so written in any formal version. The proba-
bility that such is really his meaning, is greatly heightened when we
compare his language with similar expressions in other parts of his
writings. Thus, speaking of the Logos, he says:

" 'Hanc Grseci logon dicunt, quo vacabulo etiam Sermonem appel-
lamus. Ideoque in usu est nostrorum per simplicitatem interpreta-
tionis, Sermonem, dicere, in primordio apud deum esse/ etc. [Ady,
 :

348 FIFTH PERIOD A. D. 130 tO A. D. 170.

Prax. c. 5.] 'This the Greeeks call 'Logos' by which term we also
designate Word (or Discourse); and therefore it is now usual, owing
to the simple interpretation of our people, to say that the Word was
in the beginning with God,' etc.

"Where he seems to have in view, simply, the colloquial usage of

the Christian compatriots."

From this it appears, there is no sufficient evi-

dence of a Latin translation of the gospels, up to
the time of TertuUian, at the opening of the third
century.

The TertuUian did not use a Latin

fact that
translation, is made more manifest by a passage in
the 9th chapter of the second book against Mar-
cion. Speaking of the nature of the soul, he says

"We must, at the outset, hold fast the meaning of the Greek scrip-
ture, which has not spirit, {pnoeen, not pneuma.) Some in-
afflatuSy
terpreters of the Greek, without reflecting on the difference of the
words, and careless about their exact meaning, put spirit for efflatus;"
etc.

Here Tertullian would very naturally have re-

had there been one in use^
ferred to the translation,
and would have commented upon the meaning giv-
en to the Greek words by the translator. On the
contrary, he speaks of the meaning attached to the
^'
words by different /'interpreters of the Greek.
Tertullian was a Greek scholar, and, doubtless, did
his own translating.

In the passage referred to by Tertullian, the word

is SPIEACULUM in the Vulgate, not efflatus. If a.
Latin translation was then in use, it is not probable
the Vulgate would afterward have differed from it,
in the use of this word.
 THE FOUR CANONICAL GOSPELS. 349

Again, in his citations from Marcion, TertuUian

quoted in Latin, as he did from the four gospels.
There is still less reason to suppose that he had
before him a translation of the Greek of Marcion.
The reasonable conclusion is, therefore, that he gave
his own rendering to the text of all these gospels.
TertuUian aside, there is absolutely no evidence
of any Latin translation of the gospels earlier than
the third century.
There is, in fact, nothing very definite until the
fourth century. But as the language of Augustine,
Jerome and Hilary would seem to imply the exist-
ence of at least one translation before their time, it
may be assumed that there was a Latin translation
in the third century.
The Vulgate. —This may be said to date prop-
erly from the revision of Jerome, A. D. 383. It is
not certain whether it extended beyond the gospels,
though he was requested by Damasus to revise the
New Testament, and his work is sometimes spoken
of as a revision of the whole.
If any revision of the balance was made, it was
less carefullyand thoroughly do;tie so that the
;

Vulgate was a composite work, consisting of a

complete translation of the gospels, and some cor-
rections and emendations of the then current Latin
version of the balance of the New Testament.
The Peshito. —Efforts have been made, also, to
date the Syriac version in the second, or even in
thefirst century but with no better success. The
;

whole subject was carefully examined by Bishop

350 FIFTH PEEIOD A. D. 170 TO A D. 185.

Marsh, who came to the conclusion that we had no

reliable evidence concerning the Peshito, earlier
than Ephraem, who lived in the fourth century.
How much earlier than that the version existed,
was a matter of speculation.'
Dr. Davidson goes somewhat farther, but stops
at the third century. He says :

"In Syria, a version of the New Testament for the use of the
church, was made early in the third century." This was the
Peshito.— [Canon, p. 114.

The Latin and Syriac were the languages spoken

by the great body of Christians who did not under-
stand the Hebraistic Greek, in which the scriptures
were written. There being, then, no translations
into these languages before the third century, why,
if the gospels were written in the times of the apos-
tles, were all the churches where those languages
prevailed, deprived of the use of the books for
more than a hundred and fifty years?
4. No manuscripts of the gospels are in exist-
ence, dating farther back than the fourth century.
Of that century or the next, there are three or four ;

and some twenty or thirty, more than a thousand

years old.
Not only no older manuscripts now in
are there
existence, but there no evidence, so far as we are
is

aware, that older copies have existed, at any time,

for hundreds of years past. They are said to have
been destroyed in the persecution of Diocletian,
about A. D. 303 but how could every hidden
;

(i.) Notes to Michaelis, vol. 2, p. 554.

 THE FOUR CANONICAL GOSPELS. 351

manuscript be thus reached and destroyed ?

5. No
autograph manuscript of any of the gos-
pels has ever been known, so far as there is any
authentic record nor has any credible witness ever
;

claimed to have seen such a manuscript. Jerome

did claim that the gospel concerning the birth of
Mary, and the infancy of the Savior, which he trans-
lated for the bishops, was in the handwriting of
Matthew. But we are not aware that he or any one
else ever claimed to have seen a manuscript of a
gospel, in the handwriting of either Luke, Mark,
Matthew or John. If the autograph manuscripts
had ever existed, they would have been preserved
among the most sacred relics of the church.
and were destroyed, where
If they once existed,
is the record of their existence, and when and
where were they destroyed, by whom and under
what circumstances? Who made the first copies
^nd when, and what evidence have we that they
were correctly transcribed ?
6. During the first two centuries, tradition was
esteemed of more value, and better evidence of the
gospel history, than any written book or manu-
script.

Of this the reader has had repeated evidence in

these pages. Papias, writing early in the second
century, considered that the information which he
could derive from books, was not so profitable as
that which was preserved in a living tradition.
The great outlines of the life of Christ, says Ire-
118DUS, were received by barbarous nations, without
 :

352 FIFTH PERIOD A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

written documents, by ^
^ancient tradition/''

The extent to which tradition was relied upon, is

well illustrated by the letter of Ptolemseus to Flora
about A. D. 190. He says he will explain to her the
particulars of that doctrine which he had just been
mentioning, *'by the help of tradition received
from the apostles, and handed down to us.'' He
adds, ** All must be tried by, and made to square
with, the doctrine of the Savior himself which was ,

"^
to be the rule.

This extensive use of tradition, and the prefer-

ring it to any written books, is inconsistent with
the general use of gospels which were deemed
authoritative and inspired records.
7. The dialect in which the New Testament
books were written, a sort of Hebraistic Greek, has
been considered evidence of their antiquity. But
this dialect prevailed for three centuries after
Christ, and was in full use during the second cen-
tury. The same or similar Hebraisms abound in
the apocryphal gospels of that age.
8. The canonical gospels were selected by the
bishops from a large number then in circulation.
This is asserted by Origen, who says
"And that not four gospels, but very many were written, out of
which those we have were chosen^ and delivered to the churches, we
may perceive," etc.— [In Proem. Lucse, Hom. 1, t. 2, p. 210.

(I.) Adv. Hser. 3. 4. 2.

(2,) In App. ad Iren. Grabe, Spi. Pat. vol. 2, p. 77.

 CHAPTER XXVI.
THE FOUR CANONICAL GOSPELS.— Continued.

The Gospels as a Group.

Considered together, as a history, the gospels are

fragmentary and incoherent, and far from harmo«
nious.

In the first place, there is a radical difference be-

tween the Gospel of John on the one side, and the
three synoptics on the other.
In the synoptics, Jesus speaks in parables and
proverbs Short pithy sayings are ever on his lips
.
,

In John, he indulges in theological discourses. In

the Synoptics, his ministry lasted one year. Scene
Galilee, except the last few days of his life. In
John his ministry lasted some three years, and the
time was spent mostly in Jerusalem, and other
parts of Judea.

There are a few places where the four gospels run

parallel. There are parallel passages, more or less
similar, concerning the feeding of the multitude
—
on five loaves and two fishes Jesus riding into Je-
 .

354 FIFTH PERIOD A. D. 130 TO A. D. 170.

rusalem —the reference to his betrayal, when in

conversation with his disciples —the prediction of
his denial to Peter— the smiting by Peter of the
servant of the high priest—the denial of Christ by
Peter—the question of Pilate to Jesus, asking him
ifhe was the king of the Jews—the scene concern-
ing the release of Barabbas —the crucifixion of
Jesus, with some few of the circumstances attend-
ing — the parting of his garments —the crucifixion
it

of the thieves —the on the cross—the begging

title

of the body of Jesus, his burial, and the visit to the

sepulcher. In these, however, there is consider-
able diversity, and even contrariety of statement.

Then, again, John is parallel with Mark and

Matthew, in the account of Jesus walking on the
sea and of the woman who poured ointment upon
;

him.

John with Mark, in the appear-

is also parallel
ance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene, after the resur-
rection, though the account is much amplified in
John, and is parallel with Luke, in the report of
Pilate to the Jews, that he found no fault in Jesus,
and with the visit of Peter to the sepulcher with, ;

as in the case of Mary, much amplification.

With the exceptionof these, and perhaps two or

three other passages, everything in John is differ-
ent from the other gospels, or very differently
related

Any consideration of the gospels as a group,

must therefore be confined to the other three.
 the four canonical gospels. 355

The Synoptic Gospels.

No
question connected with gospel history, has
attracted more attention, or elicited more discussion,
than that of the origin and formation of the synop-
tic gospels, Luke, Mark, and Matthew. Volumes
have been written upon it, but with very unsatis-
factory results. That they are not merely copied,
one from the other, with changes, is the almost
unanimous verdict of biblical scholars. At the same
time the resemblance, not in incident merely, but
in language also, is so close, as to indicate some
common source, which was drawn upon in their
construction. As to the nature of this source, some
have supposed an original gospel, others, several
original fragmentary gospels others again, have
;

believed them written mainly from oral traditions.

Eichhorn thought but one document was used by

the three evangelists that additions had been made
;

to different copies ofit that some of the evan-

;

gelists had some of these copies others, others;

that everything found in common in the three syn-

optics, was in the common document.

In one respect, the theory of Eichhorn deserves

especial attention ; recognizing as it does, the natur-
al result of accretion. He considered those por-
tionswhich were common to Matthew and Mark,
and not in Luke, additions made in the copies of a
common document, which were used by Matthew
and Mark and in like manner, that those portions
;

found in common in Mark and Luke, and not in

 :

356 FIFTH PERIOD — ^A. D. 170 TO A D. 185.

Matthew, were additions made in the copies used by-

Mark and Luke.'
Bishop Marsh made a thorough examination of
the subject, and his viewsmay be condensed as
follows

1. The three evangelists used copies of a common Hebrew doc-

iiment.

2. Matthew used this with some additions, in writing his original

gospel, which Marsh supposes to have been in Hebrew.
3. Mark and Luke translated the common document into Greek,
and used, besides, another Greek translation of it.

4. Afterward, Matthew was translated into Greek, by some one

"who made use of Mark and Luke.

5. In addition to the common document, there was another,

containing only precepts, parables and discourses of Christ, which
was used only by Matthew and Luke, who had different copies. 2

This theory, though quite complicated, comes

nearer, probably, than any other, to explaining all
the facts, on the hypothesis that Matthew is a mere
translation.

That hypothesis is, however, pretty nearly aban-

doned.
Schleiermacher, not looking upon the theory of
Marsh as satisfactory, discarded the hypothesis of
a common, original gospel, and undertook to show
that Luke, which he considered the principal, and
the most reliable gospel, consisted merely of a col-
lection of a large number of manuscripts, compiled
and arranged by some one, who wrote nothing more
than was necessary to adapt the phraseology to a
(i.) Michaelis, by Marsh, vol. 3, pt. 2, p. 192.

(2.) Notes to Michaelis, vol. 3, pt. 2.

 THE FOUR CANONICAL GOSPELS. 357

continuous narrative. This theory deserves the

most careful attention. It may prove to be the key
to the whole subject especially if it shall become
;

established, as we believe it will be, that Luke was

the first of these gospels, and was written after
Marcion.
Ewald supposes an original gospel, containing the
record of the baptism, the temptation, and the pas-
sion.

This was the substructure used by Paul, and com-

posed, perhaps, by the evangelist Philip. It was
in Greek. Then followed the Hebrew Oracles, by
Matthew, which, with some narratives, contained
nearly all the discourses of Christ. Then came
Mark, and after that Matthew and Luke.'
In all these theories, too little attention appears
to have been given to the evidence indicating a late
date to these gospels too little account taken of
;

their close relation to the apocryphal gospels and ;

the law of accretion, in its application to the ques-

tion, has not been sufiiciently considered.

Other things being equal, the shortest document

isthe oldest. Not until this fact is recognized, can
the complicated questions connected with the syn-
optic gospels, ever be solved.

The character of the synoptics is well delineated

by Mr. Sunderland, as follows :

"At
least three of the four gospels can have had no real authors, as
we usually understand that word. They are the work of editors;
they are compilations; (they are 'mosaics';) the material which enters

(i.) Jahrbuecher, 1848, 1849.

358 FIFTH PERIOD — A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.
in to make them up being real utterances of Jesus, real events of his
life,together with more or less of legendary elements and deviations
from historic facts, occasioned by the lapse of years and the neces-
sary imperfections of the human memory."— [What is the Bible, etc.,
p. 65.

THE LAW OF ACCRETION,

Applied to the Canonical Gospels.

The comparison of the four

result of a careful
gospels, noting all the parallelswhich consist, not
of short passages merely, but of continuous narra-
tives, may be stated as follows :

I. Luke compared with Matthew.

In 92 parallels, Luke is the shorter in 44, and the longer in 32. The
others about equal.

2. Luke compared with Mark.

In 95 parallels, Luke is the shorter in 57, and the longer in 2L The
others equal.

3. Luke compared with John.

In 19 parallels, Luke is the shorter in 13, the longer in 4.

The preponderance of shorter passages in Luke,

As compared with Matthew, is as 11 to 8.

As compared with Mark, as 19 to 7.

As compared with John, more than 3 to 1.

Of all the parallels, 206 in number, Luke is the shorter in 114, the
longer in 57. Proportion, 2 to 1.

This points to Luke as the older gospel, unless some other reason
can be assigned for its greater brevity.
4. Matthew compared with Mark.
In 105 parallels, Matthew is the shorter in 44 and the longer in 35.

5. Matthew compared with John.

In 22 parallels, Matthew is the shorter in 13, and the longer in 7.

6. Mark compared with John.

In 23 parallels, Mark is the shorter in 12, and the longer in 10.
 THE FOUR CANONICAL GOSPELS. 359

According to the law of accumulation, or accre-

tion, the order of date of these gospels would be,
Luke, Matthew, Mark, John.
We think for reasons that will be given in a subse-
quent chapter, that the Gospel of Matthew consti-
tutes an exception to the rule, and the true order
is, Luke, Mark, John, Matthew.

This order for the synoptics, agrees with the con-

clusions of the Rev. Mr. Sanday, as to the relative
correctness of the three gospels.
"The very same investigation," says he, "which shows that our
present St. Mark was not an original (gospel), tells with increased
force against St. Matthew. When a document exists dealing with
the'same subject matter as two other documents, and those two other
documents agree together, and differ from it, on as many as 944 sep-
arate points, there can be little doubt, that in a great majority of
those points, it has deviated from the original, and that it is, there-
fore, secondary in character. It is both secondary, and secondary on
a lower stage than St. Mark; it has preserved the features of the
original with a less amount of accuracy.
"The points of the triple synopsis, on which Matthew fails to
receive verification, are in all, 944; those on which Mark fails to
receive verification, 334; or in other words, the inaccuracies of Mat-
thew are to those of Mark, nearly as three to one."— [Gospels in the
Second Century, p. 152.

The inaccuracies of Matthew as compared with

Luke, he estimates at five to one.

The time when the four gospels were written, can-

not be definitely determined, but may be approxi-
mately stated, thus :

Luke, A. D. 170, Mark, 175, John, 178, Matthew,

180.

The theory of a common document for the synop-

tic gospels, so ably advocated by Eichhorn, cannot
360 FIFTH PERIOD A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

be considered as overthrown. The fragmentary

character of Luke has, it is true, been quite conclu-
sively shown by Schleiermacher. But suppose the
common document was of a like fragmentary char-
acter, and was itself a compilation. Suppose one
copy of this came to the hands of Marcion and was
,

afterward used by the author of Luke, each of whom

made additions from other manuscripts. Suppose
other copies of the same document, in later stages
of accretion, came afterward to the hands of the
other gospel historians, successively, and were used
by them, with additions of their own, or from other
manuscripts. This would account for the compli-
cated phenomena which are presented by the gos-
pels, and which have proved so perplexing to com-
mentators.
Eichhorn did not believe, from a comparison of
the four gospels with each other and with older
documents, that they came into use before the end
of the second century.

Thus his theory, based upon internal criticism,

harmonizes with the historical evidence ; a fact
which entitles it to greater consideration.
 CHAPTER XXVII.
THE FOUR CANONICAL GOSPELS.— Continued.

History of Jesus, as given in the Gospels.

The genealogy, birth and childhood of Jesus, are

narrated in two only of the canonical gospels,
Luke and Matthew.
1. The Genealogy of Jesus.
If immaculately conceived, Christ had no hu-
man genealogy, except upon the mother's side a ;

fact which was recognized in some of the earlier

gospels, and by the earlier fathers, who deemed
it sufficient that Mary was of the race of David. ^

But the compilers of Luke and Matthew, not

satisfied that the genealogy of Jesus should be
traced woman, undertook, strangely
through a
enough, to show that Joseph was descended from
David. That this was an afterthought, is suffi-
ciently manifest from the result of the undertak-
ing. Both historians give a long line of ancestry
(i,) Protevangelion, ch. lo; Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, chs. 23, 43, 45,
100; Clement of Alex. Strom, i. 21.
 : ,

362 FIFTH PERIOD A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

but Matthew has Christ descended from Solomon

son of David, while, according to Luke, he descend-
ed from Nathan, brother of Solomon.

From that point on, the chain would necessarily

be different. Where the names given are alike, if
not all fictitious, and thrown in merely to fill up,
they were, of course, different persons having the
same name and the genealogy ends as might be
;

expected the chroniclers assigning to Joseph dif-

;

ferent fathers.

Many attempts have been made to explain this

palpable contradiction, but there is no substantial
agreement concerning it, among commentators.
The theory that Luke intended the genealogy of
Mary, though flatly opposed to the grammatical
construction of the Greek, finds probably, at the
present time, the most supporters.
Perhaps the reader will be satisfied with the fol-
lowing explanation of Augustine

"St. Matthew descends through Solomon, by whose mother David

sinned; St. Luke ascends through Nathan, another son of the same
David, through whom he was purged from his sin. For we read that
Nathan was sent to reprove him, and that he might, through repent-
ance, be healed. Both evangelists meet together in David, the one
in descending, the other in ascending."— [Sermon 51.

Again: "Now in the generations which Matthew enumerates, the

predominant number is forty. For it is the custom of the holy scrip-
tures, not to reckon what is over and above certain round numbers."
—[Ibid.

2. The Birth and Infancy of Jesus.

Here, again, the only canonical historians are

the authors of Luke and Matthew, and they agree
 THE FOUR CANONICAL GOSPELS. 363

no better in this, than in the genealogy of Joseph.

According to Luke, Jesus having been born in
Bethlehem, his parents remained there until the
forty days expired for the purification of Mary,
when they brought him to Jerusalem, where he was
publicly presented in the temple Joseph and Mary .

then returned to Nazareth, which, according to the

historian, had been their former residence. It has
been seen in a former chapter, that the author of
Luke made several changes in Marcion 's Gospel, to
accommodate it to his theory that the parents of
Jesus had formerly resided in Nazareth.^
The author of Matthew, on the other hand did ,

not recognize Nazareth as having been the former

residence of Joseph and Mary. Instead of return-
ing to that place from Bethlehem, through Jerusa-
lem, they are warned to flee into Egypt, since
Herod would seek to destroy the child. And
when, after the death of Herod, they returned
from Egypt, being warned in a dream, they
'^turned aside '^ into the parts of Galilee.

In Luke, nothing is said of the magi, the slaugh-

ter of the infants, or the flight to Egypt. In Mat-
thew, nothing is said of the announcement to Mary,
the appearance to the shepherds or the presenta- ,

tion in the temple.

The public presentation of Jesus at that time, in

the temple, at Jerusalem, is utterly inconsistent
with the seeking of his life by Herod, and the
warning to his parents at Bethlehem.

<i.) This theory was supported by the Gospel of the Infancy.

364 FIFTH PERIOD A. D. 170 tO A. D. 185.

"All attempts," says Schleiermacher, "to reconcile these two con-

tradictory statements, seem only elaborate efforts of art."— [Essay on
Luke, p. 48.

But this is not all. There is a difference between

Luke and Matthew, of about eleven years, in the
time of the birth of Christ.
According to Matthew, Jesus was born during
the reign of Herod, and some time, say two years,
before his death. Herod was succeeded by Arche-
laus, who reigned nine years, and was then ban-
ished. The country of Archelaus was then added
to the province of Syria, and Cyrenius was sent out
as governor, with instructions to take an account
of the people's effects, for the purposes of taxa-
tion.'

This, which was more than nine years after the

death of Herod, was, according to Luke, the time
when Jesus was born. [Luke, 2. 1 to 7.] —
Numberless attempts have been made to solve
the difficulty. Dr. Lardner has handled the sub-
ject at great length, and with much skill and in-
genuity.^

It may
be safely said, however, that the diffi-
culty has never been removed. In the language of
Schleiermacher, the ^^most indispensable condi-
tions'' to a solution of these chronological difficul-
ties, ^^arewanting." For which reason, he asserts
that in the attempt to solve them, ^^no one has yet
met with the slightest degree of success ."^
(i.) Josephus, Antiq. bk. 17, ch. 13; bk. 18, ch. i.

(2.) Lardner's Works, vol. i, pp. 136 to 179.

(3.) Essay on Luke, p. 38.

 THE FOUR CANONICAL GOSPELS. 365

Perhaps the most plausible theory is that of

Zumpt, who supposes Cyrenius was twice Govern-
or of Syria. ^

The argument of Zumpt, though ingenious, is

far from satisfactory. a speculation as
It is rather
to what might possibly have been. The two gov-
ernorships are inconsistent with the language of
Josephus, who speaks of Cyrenius as one who had
been consul, and who had passed through various
magistracies before becoming consul. His gov-
ernorship is then spoken of, in such a way as indi-
cates it to be a new magistracy.

Besides, even if Cyrenius had before been Gov-

ernor of Syria, the difficulty would not be removed,
except by supposing an assessment and taxing, un-
der his first administration. But the taxing re-
ferred to by Josephus, was a new thing. It was
manifestly the first attempt of the kind, as it re-
sulted in a revolt, of a very serious character.

In regard to the place of residence of the parents

of Jesus, and the journey to Bethlehem, some light
may be thrown upon the subject by Jerome's trans-
lation, from memory, of one of the gospels of the
Infancy, a translation which has usually been
known as the Gospel of the Birth of Mary.^
It is there stated, (ch. 1.), that the family of
Mary's father was of Nazareth, and the family of
her mother of Bethlehem. According to the Gos-

(i.) See Smith's Bible Dictionary, Article "Cyrenius."

(2,) See ch. 17, of this work.
366 FIFTH PERIOD — A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

pel of the Infancy, also, Joseph and Mary were re-

siding at Nazareth.

It would be very natural that as the time of her

delivery drew near, Mary should desire to be with
her mother, who, probably, was not able to visit
her. This furnishes a much more plausible reason
for the journey to Bethlehem, than that of the en-
rollment for taxation, as given in Luke since the ;

personal presence of Mary, for that purpose, would

not, under such circumstances, have been required.

3. The Childhood of Jesus.

Here Luke the only historian, and relates but

is
a single incident the dispute of Jesus with the
:

doctors in the temple, when he was but twelve

years of age. narrative, which Schleier-
This
macher supposes have been contained in a sep-
to
arate manuscript, was no doubt the same which,
with accumulations, constituted the 50th chapter
of the Gospel of the Infancy.

With this exception, the whole life of Jesus, ex-

cept one year or perhaps three years at its close, is

buried in oblivion.
In the Gospel of the Infancy there are further
accounts of the childhood of Jesus. But as some
of them are not to his credit, while all are of an
extravaganb nature, they are prudently omitted
from the canonical history.

4. The Ministry of Jesus.

The plain inference from the synoptic gospels is,

 THE FOUR CANONICAL GOSPELS. 367

that the ministry of Christ lasted but one year.

Every thing related appears to have taken place in
or near Galilee, and within the year. He goes up
to Jerusalem to but one passover.

But according to John, the ministry must have

lasted much longer, as he goes up to three or four
passovers, at least. A large part of the time was
passed in Judea and Jerusalem.

To add to the confusion, Irenseus, the first writer

who mentions the four gospels, asserts that the
ministry of Jesus lasted about twenty years, and
that he was more than fifty years old when he was
crucified. He discusses the question at consider-
able length. The following is his statement, with
the argument by which he supports it

IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES, BOOK II, CHAPTER XXH.

Christ did not suffer in the Twelfth Month after his
Baptism; but was more than Fifty Years old when he died.

"I have shown that the number thirty fails them (the heretics) in
every respect; too few aeons, as they represent them, being at one
time found within the Pleroma, and then again too many.

"There are not, therefore, thirty seons, nor did the Savior come to
be baptized when he was thirty years old for this reason, that he
might show forth the thirty silent seons of their system; otherwise
they must first of all separate and eject (the Savior) himself from the
Pleroma of all.

"Moreover, they affirm that he suffered in the twelfth month, so

that he continued to preach for one year after his baptism. They
endeavor to establish this point out of the prophet; (for it is written,
*To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of retribu-
tion;') being truly blind, inasmuch as they affirm they have found out
the mysteries of By thus; yet not understanding that which is called
by Isaiah, the acceptable year of the Lord, nor the day of retribution.
Por the prophet neither speaks concerning a day which includes a
368 FIFTH PERIOD A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

space of twelve hours, nor of a year the length of which is twelve

months.
"For even they themselves acknowledge, that the prophets have
very often expressed themselves in parables and allegories, and not
according to the mere sound of the words."

2. [In this section, Irenseus comments further upon the meaning

of the phrases, 'acceptable year of the Lord,' and 'day of retribution.'
He claims that the day of retribution has not come, and therefore the
acceptable year of the Lord has not passed, and hence it must be
more than a year of twelve months.]
3. [The argument in this section is based upon the Gospel of John,

Irenseus claiming^ that according to the record of "John, the disciple

of the Lord," Christ went up to Jerusalem to three passovers. Besides
the three mentioned by Irenaeus, there would appear to be another;
four in all, as follows: (1), John, 2. 23; (2), John, 5. 1; (3), John, 6. 4;
(4), John, 13. 1. The first, second and fourth are mentioned by Ire-
nseus. He closes the section thus:]

"Their explanation, therefore, both of the year and the twelfth

month, has been proved false, and they ought to reject, either their
explanation, or the gospel; otherwise, how is it possible, that the Lord
preached for one year only ?
"4. Being thirty years when he came to be baptized, and then pos-
sessing the full age of a master, (or teacher,) he came to Jerusalem^
so that he might be properly acknowledged by all as a master. For
he did not seem one thing while he was another, as those aflfirm who
describe him as being man only in appearance; but what he was, that
he also appeared to be. Being a master, therefore, he also possessed
the age of a master, not despising or evading any condition of
humanity, nor setting aside in himself that law which he had ap-
pointed for the human race, but sanctifying every age, by that period
corresponding to it, which belonged to himself. For he came to save
all through means of himself— all I say, who through him are born
again to God— infants and children, and boys, and youths, and old
men.
"He therefore passed through every age; becoming an infant for
infants, thus sanctifying infants; a child for children, thus sanctify-
ing thosewho are of this age, being at the same time made to them
an example of piety, righteousness and submission; a youth for
youths, becoming an example to youths, and thus sanctifying them
for the Lord.

"So likewise, he was an old man for old men, that he might be a
perfect master for all; not merely as respects the setting forth of the
 THE FOUR CANONICAL GOSPELS. 369^

truth, but also as regards age; sanctifying at the same time, the aged
also,and becoming an example to them likewise. Then, at last, he
came on to death itself, that he might be 'the first born from the dead,
that in all things he might have the pre-eminence;' the Prince of Life,,
existing before all, and going before all,

"5. They, however, that they may establish their false opinion re-
garding that which is written, *To proclaim the acceptable year of the
Lord,' maintain that he preached for one year only, and then suffered
in the twelfth month. They are forgetful to their own disadvantage,
destroying his work, and robbing him of that age which is both more
necessary and more honorable than any other; that more advanced
age, I mean, during which also, as a teacher, he excelled all others*
For how could he have had disciples if he did not teach ? And how
could he have taught, unless he had reached the age of a master ?
For when he came to be baptized, he had not yet completed his thir-
tieth year, but was beginning to be about thirty years of age. (For
thus Luke, who has mentioned his years, has expressed it: 'Now Jesus
was, as it were, beginning to be thirty years old,' when he came to
receive baptism.) And, (according to these men), he preached only
one year, reckoning from his baptism; and on completing his thirtieth
year, he suffered, being, in fact, still a young man, who had by no
means attained to advanced age.

"Now, that the first stage of early life embraces thirty years, and
that this extends onward to the fortieth year, every one will admit;
but from the fortieth and fiftieth year a man begins to decline to-
ward old age; which our Lord possessed, while he still fulfilled the
oflace of a teacher, even as the gospel and all the elders testify; those
who were conversant in Asia with John, the disciple of the Lord,,.
that John conveyed to them that information. And he (John) re-
remained among them, up to to the times of Trajan. Some of them,
moreover, saw not only John, but the other apostles also, and heard
the same account from them, and bear testimony to the statement.

"Whom, then, should we believe ? Such men as these, or Ptolemaeus,

who never saw the apostles, and who never, even in his dreams, at-
tained to the slightest trace of an apostle ?
"6. But besides this, those very Jews who then disputed with the
Lord Jesus Christ, have most clearly indicated the same thing. For
when the Lord said to them, 'Your father Abraham rejoiced to see
my day, and he saw it, and was glad;' they answered him, 'Thou art
not yet fifty years old; and hast thou seen Abraham?' Now, such
language is fittingly applied to one who has already passed the age of
forty, without having yet reached his fiftieth year, yet is not far from
this latter period. But to one who is only thirty years old, it would
 " '

370 FIFTH PERIOD — A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

unquestionably be said, 'Thou art not yet forty years old.' For those
who wished to convict him of falsehood, would certainly not extend
the number of his years far beyond the age which they saw he had
attained. But they mentioned a period near his real age, whether
they had truly ascertained this out of the entry in the public register,
or simply made a conjecture from what they observed, tnat he was
above forty years old, and that he certainly was not one of only thirty
years of age.

"It is altogether unreasonable to suppose that they were mistaken

by twenty years, when they wished to prove him younger than the
times of Abraham. For what they saw, that they also expressed;
and he whom they beheld, was not a mere phantom, but an actual
being of flesh and blood. He did not then want much of being fifty
years old; and in accordance with that fact, they said to him, 'Thou
art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham ?

"He did not, therefore, preach for only one year, nor did he suffer
In the twelfth month of the year. For the period included between
the thirtieth and fiftieth year, can never be regarded as one year,
unless, indeed, among their aeons there be so long years assigned to
those who sit in their ranks, with Bythus, in the Pleroma. Of which
beings, Homer, the poet, too, has spoken; doubtless being inspired
by the mother of their error:
" 'The gods sat round, while Jove presided o'er,
And converse held upon the golden floor.'

This extraordinary passage from Irenseus, we

have given almost entire. It is a very important
chapter in the history of the times one which has ;

hitherto been kept in the background. It is time

an attempt was made to estimate its historical value.
As to the reasoning of Irenseus,much of it is of
an a priori character, and as applied to such a sub-
ject, entitled to but little consideration. But the
argument founded upon the passage, John, 8. 56,

57, is a good one. was then but about

If Jesus
thirty years of age the Jews might have said Thou
, ,
*

art not yet forty years old ;" but they would scarcely
have said, for any purpose, *Thou art not yet fifty
 THE FOUR CANONICAL GOSPELS. 371

years old." Much less, when their objectwas to

remind him of the few years which he had spent
upon the earth, would they have added eighteen or
twenty years in specif^dng the limit which he had
,

not reached.

Our author was fully aware of the force of the

argument, and accordingly he elaborates it with the
confidence of one conscious of writing from a strong
position. His conclusion cannot well be avoided.
We may, therefore, put down the author of the
Gospel according to John, as the second witness of
the second century, to the fact, that Jesus was near-
ly fifty years old at his crucifixion

Besides these two, there is also, unless Irenseus

tells an absolute falsehood, the testimony of all the
elders in Asia, who were conversant with John, and
some of them with the other apostles also. It must
be remembered that Irenseus had been a companion
of Polycarp and of others who had seen John, and
that he was speaking of what had come to his per-
sonal knowledge from the elders in Asia. If,
then, Irenseus tells the truth, the evidence in
favor of the fact, is almost overwhelming. If,
on the other hand, he would deliberately falsify
in a matter of this importance, what is his tes-
timony worth, as to the origin of the four gospels?
Against this evidence, we have only the silence
of the gospels. But if the silence of the synoptics
is consistent with a ministry of three or four
years, why is not the further silence of all the gos-
pels, consistent with a ministry of twenty years?
372 FIFTH PEEIOD ^A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

How would such a theory affect the received

chronology concerning Christ? The date of the
crucifixion at not later than A. D. 36, or when
Christ was by the received chronology, forty years
old, is settled by the fact, that in that year, Pontius
Pilate was removed from his government. That
the death of Jesus occurred while Pilate was procu-
rator is attested, not only by five extant gospels,
but by the historian Tacitus, who, in speaking of
the Christians, says :

"They had their denomination from Christus, who, in the reign of

Tiberius,was put to death as a criminal, by the procurator, Pontius
Pilate.— [Annals, lib. 15, ch. 44.] (Tiberius reigned till A. D. 37.—See
JNote v.)

If, be accepted as a historical fact that

then, it

Christ was about fifty years old at his crucifixion,

the date of his birth would have to be set back at
least ten years.

It having already been found necessary to date

his birth four years before the time first settled upon
for the commencement of the Christian era, there
can be no objection to extending the four to four-
teen, if the facts require it.

It is well known that the date of the Christian

era was fixed, in the year 525, by the Roman Abbot,
Dionysius Exiguus. It was based upon the account
of the birth of Christ as given in Matthew, which
is a legend of but little historic value. It is now
agreed that Dionysius was mistaken in his date, by
at least four years. It is agreed that Jesus was
born at least four years before the commencement
 THE FOUR CANONICAL GOSPELS. 373

of the Christian era, and it may have been fourteen

or even twenty.

5. The Crucifixion of Jesus.

In a former chapter, we have given the reasons

for believing that the extant gospel, called the Acts
of Pilate, contains the most reliable historical
account of the crucifixion.
The accounts in the canonical gospels are by no
means consistent or harmonious. The four histo-
rians agree that Jesus was apprehended and brought
before the high priest, and taken thence before
Pilate, where he was examined. Luke has him
then sent by Pilate to Herod, who mocked him,
arrayed him in a gorgeous robe and sent him back
,

to Pilate an episode of some importance in the

;

trial, not mentioned in the other gospels. Passing

over some minor discrepancies, such as that Barab-
bas was a murderer in Mark and Luke, while in
John he was only known as a robber, and the dif-
ference in the color of the robe placed upon Jesus,
we come to the statement of John that Jesus bore
,

his own cross, (which was customary in such cases),

to the place of crucifixion. The on the
synoptics,
other hand, unite in saying that the cross was borne
by Simon the Cyrenian. This discrepancy, on the
face of it a somewhat serious one, is explained in
one of the apocryphal gospels, which states that
Jesus himself bore the cross a portion of the way,
and Simon the remainder.
Proceeding with the narrative, we find that in
Luke only is related an address of Jesus to the wo-
374 FIFTH PERIOD A. D. 170 TO A D. 185.

men, on the way to his execution. When arrived

there, he is given to drink, according to Mark,
wine mingled with myrrh according to Matthew,
;

he was given vinegar, mingled with gall, in fulfill-

ment of a prophecy Luke has the vinegar without
;

the gall.

Mark says, Jesus was crucified at the third hour.

(Ch. 15, V. 25.) According to John, (19. 14,) it
was about the sixth hour, when he was brought
forth to the Jews by Pilate, after which he had to
be led to execution. According to Matthew and
Mark, there was darkness all over the land, from
the sixth to the ninth hour to which Luke adds,
;

that the sun was darkened. The dying words of

Jesus do not agree Matthew and Mark giving the
;

same as those in the Acts of Pilate, while the words

in Luke are different, and those in John different
from all the others.

Jesus was upon the cross from three to six hours.

Even the latter period was much less than usual.
Persons crucified generally lingered at least twelve
hours, and sometimes two or three days. The
remarkably short time that he remained upon the
cross, before being taken down by his disciples, has
led some writers to adopt the theory of suspended
animation, to account for the supposed resurrec-
tion of his body.

The on the cross is given in four

inscription
different ways, and Luke and John state that it
was written in Greek, Latin and Hebrew. Accord-
ing to Mark, it consisted of four Greek words ac- ;
 THE FOUR CANONICAL GOSPELS. 375

cording to Luke, it consisted of six acccording to

;

Matthew, seven; according to John, seven also;

but with a very important difference in two of the
words.

In Mark and Matthew, both of the thieves on the

cross are represented as reviling Jesus, while,
according to Luke, which follows the Acts of Pilate,
but one of them did so ; he being rebuked by the
other.

The synoptics state that the vail of the temple

was rent; to which Matthew adds an earthquake,
the rending of the rocks, the opening of the graves,
and the coming forth of the dead, though this last
is deferred until after the resurrection. The graves
are opened at the crucifixion , and remain open two
days, the inhabitants waiting till Jesus should first
arise, in order that certain prophecies might be
fulfilled.

In the Gospel of John, it is stated that in fulfill-

ment of certain prophecies, the side of Jesus was
pierced with a spear, and the soldiers refused to
break his legs, according to the custom in such
cases, though it is to be inferred that they had been
commanded to do so.
These narratives throughout bear the impress of
having been constructed with reference to the ful-
fillment of divers Jewish prophecies. It is not
probable that the details of the crucifixion had been
preserved in any authentic record, made contem-
poraneously with the event. If such record ex-
isted, it was disregarded in the prevailing anxiety
376 FIFTH PERIOD— A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

to sustain the Messianic character of Jesus, in

accordance with the prophecies. The Acts of
Pilate, which, in its account of the crucifixion, was
probably the most authentic of any existing record,
was followed, in the canonical gospels, in some
particulars; in others, it was entirely disregarded.

The Resurrection of Jesus.

The resurrection of the crucified body of Christ,

is a doctrine which cannot be traced back beyond
the second century.

Paul, who
believed in visions, thought he had
seen Jesus and enumerates various other occasions
,

when Christ had been seen by his disciples. First,

he was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve, then by
more than five hundred brethren at once, then by
James, then by all the apostles, and last of all by
Paul himself.
were all appari-
It is a fair inference, that these
tions. Paul had seen, or thought he had seen, the
spirit, or spiritual body of Jesus, and he heard that
the others mentioned had seen the same. That
such was the nature of his own vision of Christ, is
evident, not only from his explanation of the
nature of the resurrection, but from the fact that
the appearance to him was after the time when,
according to the canonical gospels, Jesus had as-
cended to heaven. If, then, Jesus appeared on
earth, in the same body in which he was crucified,
it was not to Paul.

The appearance to the others, to which Paul al-

 THE FOUR CANONICAL GOSPELS. 377

ludes, was no doubt, of the same character as that

to himself. The disciples believed they had seen
the spirit or spiritual body of Jesus.
But the Christians of the second century de-
manded a doctrine concerning the resurrection,
of amore material and tangible character.
Accordingly, in the canonical gospels, the very
body in which Jesus was crucified and which was,

buried by Joseph of Arimathea, is raised from the

dead, appears to the disciples, is not only seen but
felt,and Jesus himself, in the flesh, as he was be-
fore he was crucified, calls for meat, to satisfy his
disciples that he was not a spirit that his body ;

was not spiritual, but material and human like

theirs

As might have been expected, the

accounts
framed for the purpose of establishing this doc-
trine, are far from being harmonious or con-
sistent.

In Matthew, two women first come to the sepul-

cher in Mark, three in Luke, a larger number
; ;

in John, one. As to the time of day, in Matthew,

it had begun to dawn in John, it was early, while
;

it was yet dark ; in Mark, it was at sunrise.

According to Matthew, after the women had

arrived at the sepulcher, there was another earth-
quake, and an angel descended from heaven, rolled
back the stone, and then addressed the women.
According to the other historians, the women, upon
arriving at the sepulcher, found the stone rolled
away.
378 FIFTH PERIOD A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

According to Mark, entering into the sepnlcher,

they saw a young man, clothed in a long white
garment. According to Luke, there were two men,
in shining garments. According to John, there
being but one woman, when she saw the stone
rolled away, she ran and told Peter, who, with
another, came to the sepulcher. The other disci-
ple, outrunning Peter, came and looked in. Then
Peter came, and going in, saw the linen clothes,
and the napkin only. The other disciple went in,
and saw the same. They returned home, after
which, Mary, who remained, saw two angels.
Turning round, she saw Jesus, whom she did not
know, even after he had spoken to her, she sup-
posing him to be the gardener.
Paul had known no rolling away of the stone
from the door of the sepulcher. The spiritual body
in which he believed would require no such assist-
ance. But the Petrine and material element in the
church prevailed the spiritual resurrection was
;

set aside, and Christ was made to rise in the very

body in which he had been crucified and buried.
 CHAPTER XXVIII

The Gospel accokding to Luke.

There isgood reason to believe that Luke was

the first of the canonical gospels. This is rendered
probable, partly by internal evidence, (it is com-
piled from the oldest manuscripts), and partly by
the necessity that would exist, of having the first
gospel one which would counteract the influence of
Marcion. This could best be done through a gos-
pel which, while differing from his would not vary
,

from it so much as to be repulsive to his followers.

Besides, Marcion, who was a man of learning,
had, with much care, compiled the most ancient
gospel manuscripts which he could obtain, and the
church authorities were under the necessity of
using, to a considerable extent, the same ma-
terials.

According to Schleiermacher, Luke consists of a

compilation of at least 33 different manuscripts as
;

follows:
380 FIFTH PERIOD ^A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

MANUSCRIPTS IN LUKE
1. Introduction. 20. Ch. IX, vv. 46 to 50.
2. Chapter I. 21. V. 51 to ch. X, V. 24.
3. Ch. II, vv. 1 to 20 inclusive. 22. X, vv. 25 to 37.
4. " V. 21. 23. « 38 to 42.
5. 22 to 40. 24. XI, « 1 to 13.
6. 41 to 52. 25. 14, to ch. XIII, V. 9.
7. III, V. 1, to ch. IV, V. 15. 26. « XIII,vv. 10 to 22.
8. IV, vv. 16 to 30. 27. " « 23, to ch. XIV, V. 24.
9. 31 to 44. 28. "XIV, vv. 25 to 35.
10. V, " 1 to 11. 29. « XV, 1, to ch. XVII, 19.
11. 12 to 16. 30. " XVII, 20, to XIX, 48,
12. 17 to 26. Consisting of three others;
13. 27 to 39. XVII 20 to XVIII 14, XVIII
14. VI, 1 to 11. 15 to XIX 28, and XIX 29 to
15. " " V. 12,to ch.VII,v.lO. XIX 48.
16. « VII, vv. 11 to 50. 31. Chapters XX and XXI.
17. "VIII," lto21. 32. Ch. XXII V. 1, to XXIII 49.
18. « « « 22 to 56. 33. " XXIII V. 50, to the end
19. « IX, « 1 to 45. of the gospel.
No 32, consisting, also, of two or more, blended.

Some may be too artificial, and

of these divisions
may have been established to maintain some sup-
posed unity of purpose in the gospel historian but ;

the analysis itself appears to be founded in fact,

and is, in the main, pursued in a scientific man-
ner.

If, now, the same process be applied to the Gos-

pel of Marcion, it will be found to consist of a
compilation of 26 manuscripts.
An analysis of the two gospels develops the fact
that every manuscript, after the first eight of Luke,
appears in both gospels.
This circumstance favors the theory, that one of
these gospels was used in the construction of the
other. Which was probably the model?
 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE. 381

Not only is Marcion much the shorter, but its

narratives are simpler and more natural than those
of Luke.

The subject may be illustrated by reference to

some of the more important and extensive differ-
ences between the two gospels.
The first Luke were not in
three chapters of
Marcion. The part of the fourth chapter of
first
Luke which appears in Marcion, is that commenc-
ing at verse 16. *'And he came to Nazareth."
This, in Marcion, comes in its regular order, after
the ministry at Capernaum while in Luke, Jesus
;

here refers to his doings at Capernaum, though his

visit there is not stated until afterward.
We find the whole of the fourth chapter of
Luke in Marcion, substantially, except the first
15 verses. But these 15 verses, together with the
preceding chapter, none of which was in Marcion,
constitute altogether, according to Schleiermacher,
a single manuscript. The German critic was wri-
ting without any reference to Marcion. This co-
incidence may therefore be considered confirma-
tory, at the same time, of the theory of Schleier-
macher, and of the priority of Marcion.
In closing the fourth chapter, the author of
Luke having arranged sufficient preliminary matter,
we may suppose that he now took up the Gospel of
Marcion, which he found to be a compilation of
manuscripts carefully collected, and made it from
this point onward, the basis of the Gospel accord-
ing to Luke.
 ;

382 FIFTH PERIOD —A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

Let US see how, upon this supposition, he pro-

ceeded with his work.
The style is much the same in the additional
matter, as in that which is common to both gospels.
Changes and additions are found here and there,
some having been made for dogmatic reasons
others apparently for no other purpose than to
compose a new gospel.
The first addition of much importance, is Luke, ch. 7, vv. 29 to 35.
This contains a saying of Christ, in which is a reference to John the
Baptist. V. 34; "The Son of Man is come, eating and drinking," etc.
This Hahn supposed was omitted by Marcion, because the representa-
tion of Jesus eating and drinking, etc., was opposed to Marcion's
view of the spiritual and ethereal nature of Christ's person, i But in
the very next verse of Marcion's Gospel, Jesus is represented as going
into a Pharisee's house, and sitting down to meat. Whatever reason
existed for adding these verses in Luke, we can see no reason for
omitting them in Marcion.

2. The next place where there is a difference of several verses

entire, is Luke, 11, vv. 6, 7 and 8. This is a mere amplification of v.
5, which, in a condensed form, is in Marcion.

3. Luke, 11. 30, 31 and 32.— These verses relate to Jonas, whose
name had been inserted in the 29th verse. In Marcion the reading
Is, "This is an evil generation; they seek a sign, no sign shall be

given it." In Luke, "no sign shall be given it, but the sign of Jonas
the prophet." The following three verses explain in what manner
the preaching of Jonas might be regarded as a sign. It is a continu-
ation of the idea, and the whole passage must stand or fall together.

4. Luke, 11. 49, 50, 51.— This consists of a quotation from an

apocryphal book, called "The Wisdom of God." The quotation is of
a suspicious character. It contains the statement concerning Zach-
arias, who perished between the altar and the temple; a statement
which, as repeated in Matthew, (23. 35), with the addition of the
words "Son of Barachias," has caused commentators so much
trouble.2

(i.) Das Evangel. Mar. p. 147.

(2,) See Chapter on The Gospel according to Matthew.

 THE GOSPEL ACCOKDING TO LUKE. 383

Marcion has no allusion to Zacharias, and contains, no doubt, the

more ancient form of this passage. Much of the trouble comes from
interpolations.

The interpolation in Luke, led to the worse interpolation in Mat-

thew.

5. Luke, 13. 1 to 10, contains the legend concerning Pilate ming-

ling the blood of the Galileans with their sacrifices; also reference to
those slain by the falling of the town of Siloam; also the parable of
the unfruitful fig-tree. None of it in Marcion.

6. Luke, 29 to 35. This passage is doubtless an interpolation.

13.
The portions of it are much disconnected, and the words "Go ye and
tell that fox," referring to Herod, can scarcely be accepted as the
language of Jesus.
7. One of the most extensive differences is in the parable of the
prodigal son, Luke 15. 11 to 32; no part of which is in Marcion. It
is essentially Pauline in spirit, as has been well remarked.3

There is no reason why so beautiful an illustration of his own

views, should have been omitted by Marcion.

8. Luke, 18. 31 to 34.—Jesus predicts to the twelve, his suffering,

liisdeath and resurrection. The prediction had already been re-
corded, (Marcion 6. 22; Luke, 9. 22), and there is no reason why it
should be repeated. This entire passage in the 18th chapter, is prob-
ably an interpolation.

9. The last twenty verses of the 19th Luke, are entirely wanting in
Marcion. The riding upon an ass's colt, is an awkward episode, and
was probably inserted to set forth the fulfillment of the prophecy in
Zech. 9. 9. Then follows the prediction concerning the destruction of
Jerusalem. The other reference, in less explicit language, to the
same event, (Luke 13. 34, 35), is also wanting in Marcion. There is
no certainty that the prediction was ever uttered by Christ himself.
Justin Martyr, who would have found this prophecy so pertinent to
-enforce his argument, made no allusion to it. The remainder of this
passage appears to have been written to illustrate the fulfillment of
the prophecy in Jeremiah 7. 11.
10. Luke, 20. 9 to 18. The parable of the vineyard.
This is essentially spirit, and has a manifest application
Pauline in
to the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles, after it had been re-
jected by the Jews. There is no reason why Marcion should have
omitted it.

(3.) Hahn, Das Evang. Mar. p. 182; Olshausea, Can. Ev. p. 208.
 :

384 FIFTH PERIOD — A. D. 170 tO A. D. 185.

11. Luke, The paschal supper has been the cause of

22. 16 to 18.
much controversy in all ages of the church, and was the occasion of
the first exercise of a general jurisdiction by the church of Rome.
Without entering into the controversy, suflSce it to say, if, as there is
reason to believe, this passage in 22d Luke is an interpolation upon
Marcion, the question becomes much simplified. The supper de-
scribed in that chapter appears to have been an ordinary meal, having
been eaten the evening before the crucifixion; and yet, in verses 16 to
18, it is referred to as the passover.

12. Luke, 22. 28 to 30. This is a literal application of certain

prophecies to Jesus; an application such as the Jews were constantly
making, but such as he himself would scarcely have made, in the
form here presented.

13. Luke, 22. 35 to 38. Here for the first time, Jesus ismade to
allude to his coming end. And when his disciples told him there
were two swords, he said, "It is enough."

14. Luke, 22. 49 to 51.

These are all of the more extended passages in

Luke, which are not in Marcion 's Gospel. This
analysis, equally with the one in a former chapter^
affords strong evidence that Marcion was first writ-
ten.

There are other considerations, indicating a late

origin to this gospel.

1. It is expressly stated, in the introduction,

that many gospels had been written before this
one

"Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order, a

declaration of those things which are most surely believed among
us, even as they who from the beginning were eye-witnesses and
ministers of the word, delivered unto us; it seemed good to me,
also," etc., [Translated by the author.]

It is the universal conclusion, that the author of

 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE. 385

Luke does not here refer to any of the canonical

gospels.'

The fact that the other three of those gospels are

impliedly excluded by the language used in Luke,
raises a strong implication, that they were not then
written. Why would the author refer to many un-
authorized gospels, and make no allusion to three
which were received as authority? It is an opinion
quite generally entertained, that several gospels
are referred to in Luke, which are known to have
been written in the second century.
Origen considered that the gospel of the Egyp-
tians and the Gospel of the Twelve Apostles, (of
the Hebrews) were among the number.^

Jerome extends the list as follows :

"The evangelist Luke declares that there were many who wrote
gospels,when he says, 'forasmuch as many,' etc. (c. 1, v. 1), which
being published by various authors, gave rise to several heresies.
They were such as that according to the Egyptians, and Thomas,
and Matthias, and Bartholomew, that of the Twelve Apostles,
and Basilides, and Apelles, and others which it would be tedious
to enumerate."— [Hieron, Prsef. in Comm. in Matth.

The Gospel of Basilides was written about A.

D. 125, and that of Apelles, about 160. Of
course, then, according to Jerome, Luke was
after 160.

Epiphanius says, in expounding Luke, 1. 1,

fi.) Origea, Homil. in Luc. i. i; Ambrose, Com, on Luke, i; Augustine, de Cons.

Ev. Eusebius, Ecc. Hist. 3. 24; Erasmus in Luc. i. i; Bellarm. de Mat. Sacr.
I. 4, c. 8;

1. 1, c. 16; Grotius, in Luc. i. i; Father Simon, Crit. Hist, of N. T. par. i, ch. 3; Jones

vol. I, p. 25; Stowe's Hist, of the Bible, p. 142.

(2.) Homily in Luc. i. i.

386 FIFTH PERIOD ^A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

"Saying: 'Forasmuch as many have taken in hand,' by which he

would intimate that there have been many undertakers of the like
work. Among them, I suppose, were Cerinthus, Merinthus, and
others." (See also Epi. Hser. 51. 7.)

Cerinthus flourished and wrote about A. D. 145,

which Epiphanius thinks was before Luke.
Venerable Bede (A. D. 734) agrees with Jerome,
that the Gospels of Basilides and Apelles were
among those referred to in Luke.'

Erasmus thought the Acts of Pilate, or Gospel

of Nicodemus, was among the number.^

Jones includes the Gospel of Marcion.^

All these writers, in thus dating the Gospel
of Luke subsequent to those here named, im-
pliedly renounce the theory of its apostolic
origin.

The discrepancies betweeen this gospel and

2.
that according to Matthew, have already been
pointed out. These differences indicate a late ori-
gin for one or both of these gospels, and involve in
confusion every thing connected with the early
history of Christ.

It is impossible, in the present state of the

inquiry, to name the author of this gospel.
Westcott thinks it circulated mostly about Alex-
andria and Antioch,* when first published.

(i.) Bede's Works. London, 1844, vol. 10, p. 273.

(2.) Annot. in Luc. i. i.

(3.) Jones, vol. 3, Vindication, p. 26.

(4.) Canon, p. 68. Note.

 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE. 387

It may have been written at or near Antioch. In

that case, the person to whom it was addressed,
was probably none other than Theophilus, the
writer, who afterward, about A. D. 180, became
Bishop of Antioch.
Basnage thinks Luke was the first of the canoni-
cal gospels,^ and there are many reasons for believ-
ing he was correct in that opinion.
Michaelis did not consider it inspired f nor does
the author of this, or of either of the canonical
gospels, lay any claim to inspiration.

(i.) Ann. 60, num. 31.

(2.) Vol. I, p. 95.
 :

CHAPTER XXIX.

The Gospel according to Mark.

Mark the shortest of the four gospels.

is Its
brevity is due partly to the omission of the biogra-
phy of Christ, which is contained in Luke and
Matthew.
was probably constructed from the Gospel of
It
Peter, as a basis, with many changes, and the in-
corporation of new material.

If the analysis of Luke be applied to Mark, the

following will be the result
The first seven manuscripts are wanting.
MS. No. 8, Luke, 4. 16 to 30, is omitted in Mark entirely, in place
of which is inserted the calling of the apostles; Mark, 1. 16 to 20.

The previous account of the preaching of John, Mark, 1. 1 to 8, is

so much different from that in Luke, that it is plain it was not from
the same manuscript.

No. 9, Luke, 4. 31 to 44, is closely followed in Mark, (1. 21 to 39.)

There is just sufificient expansion of language to justify the presump-
tion that the same manuscript was used; or possibly here, as well as
in a few other places, the Gospel of Luke itself.
 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK. 389

In point of correctness, it has been already

noticed that Sanday places this gospel below Luke.
The same view is taken by Schleiermacher. Speak-
ing of the synoptics, he says, that in comparing
Luke with Matthew and Mark he sees evidence that
the corresponding narratives in the latter gospels,
were originally more hastily taken down, or were
obscured by passing through many hands.'
Pursuing the analysis,

MS. No. 10, Luke, 5. 1 to 11, is not in Mark, though there is a

shorter account of a similar transaction.

No. 11, Luke, 5. 12 to 16, is contained in Mark, (1. 40 to 45), but with
such an important change at the close, as to draw from Schleier-
macher the following remark:
"By this alteration, the history assumes almost an apocryphal
character; and if, on the one hand, we acknowledge the instruction
we receive by this very circumstance of Mark's narrative, it is no less
true, on the other hand, that the comparison is the more unfavorable
to him, as his additions frequently tend to this sort of exaggeration."
—[Essay on Luke, p. 78.

No. 12, Luke, 5. 17 to 26, all but the first verse, is found substan-
tially the same in Mark, 2. 2 to 12.

No. 13, also, Luke, 5. 27 to 39, is closely followed in Mark, 2. 14

to 22.

So also No. 14, Luke, 6. 1 to 11, in Mark, 2. 23 to 3. 5.

15, Luke, 6. 12 to 7. 10, we first find a break in a manuscript;

In No.
hitherto, such as were used being inserted entire, though with
alterations.

Mark contains the first and last portion of this, while the middle
part, containing portions of the sermon on the mount, is omitted.

The circumstances connected with the choosing

of the twelve, Schleiermacher thinks, were misun-
derstood by Mark. '^ He had hitherto,'' he says,

(1.) Essay on Luke, p. 'JT.

 :

390 FIFTH PERIOD A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

'^followed Luke. Not that I would assert, with

Griesbach, that he had before him the whole of the
present Gospel of Luke, but this collection he most
probably had/''

After showing that the matter was not properly-

understood by Mark, he says :

"Under these circumstances, I do not at all see why one should

take pains, trying all possible explanations, some of them in the
highest degree improbable, to show how Jude, the son of James, and
Lebbeus who was named Thaddeus, may be one persouc"— [p. 93.
No. 16, Luke, 7. 11 to 50, not in Mark.

Schleiermacher perplexed at not finding the mir-

is
acle of Nain by any evangelist but Luke
related ;

especially '^considering the scanty number of

instances of restoration to life/' He thinks the
event was recorded by some one who had heard of
it at Capernaum, or Jerusalem, and who did not

wish to trouble the apostles by applying to them

for confirmation of the account.^

No. L/uke, 8. 1 to 21, is, again, broken up, being found neither
17,
entire, nor in the same order, in Mark. The most of it finds a
parallel, with much amplification, in Mark, 4. 1 to 25, and 3. 31 to 35.

Commenting upon the contents of this manu-

script, Schleiermacher says

"This addition belongs, undoubtedly, to the number of accumula-

tions and exaggerations which are so very common with Mark, both
in the introductions to the several incidents in his gospel, and in the
'*
general statements which he occasionally inserts, to fill up a chasm.
—[Essay; p. 128.

No. 18, Luke, 8. 22 to 56, finds a close parallel in Mark, 4. 36 to 6. 43.

(i.) Essay, p. 91.

(2.) Essay, p. 169.

 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK. 391
The manuscript was inserted entire; not, however, without the usual
amplification in the different narratives.

No. 19, Luke, 9. 1 to 45. This manuscript, with many variations,

and the insertion of much new matter, may be traced as follows:
Mark, 6. 7 to 16; same ch. vv. 30 to 44; ch. 8. 27 to 31; same, 34 to 38;
ch. 9, vv. 1 to 11; same, 17 to 29, and verses 31 and 32.

No. 20, Luke, 9. 46 to 60. Paralleled in Mark, 9. 33 to 40, to which

is subjoined much not in Luke, but parallels to which may be found
in Matthew.

MSS. Nos. 21 to 25 inclusive, comprising Luke, 9. 51 to 13. 9, not in

Mark, except a few verses, Mark, 3. 22 to 27> parallel with part of
No. 25.

Nos. 26 to 29 inclusive, Luke, 13. 10 to 17. 19, not in Mark,

No. 30, Luke, 17. 20 to 19. 48. First division, 17. 20 to 18. 14, not in
Mark. The first part of the second division, Luke, 18, 15 to 43, finds
parallel in Mark 10. 13 to 34, and vv. 46 to 52. The balance of the 2d
division, Luke, 19. 1 to 28, has no parallel in Mark; while, again, the
third division, Luke, 19. 29 to 48, will be found followed more or less
closely, in Mark, 11. 1 to 18.

No. 31. Luke, chs. 20 and 21. Parallel, Mark, 11. 27 to 31, and chs.
12 and 13.

No. 32. Luke, 22. 1 to 23. 49. Parallels, Mark, 14. 1, 2; same ch.
vv. 10 to 17; vv. 22 to 24; v. 26; v. 32; vv. 35 to 38; vv. 43 to 49; vv.
53, 54, and 61 to 72. Also, ch. 15, vv. 1 to 15, 21 to 33, and 37 to 41.

In all this we discover parallels, by no means complete, to only

a portion of No. 32. It is impossible to believe that the authors of
Luke and Mark here used a common manuscript. The author of
Mark, we may suppose, drew somewhat from manuscripts, something
from tradition, and much from his imagination.

No. 33. Luke, 23. 50, to the end. Whatever parallel to this there
may be in Mark, is But Mark here di-
in the last part of the gospel.
verges much from
the others. The last twelve verses are generally
by scholars considered spurious, i

(i.) Canon Farrar, in his "Messages ef the Books," (London and N. Y., 1887), thus
sums up the evidence against the authenticity of the last twelve verses of Mark:
1. There are many remarkable peculiarities of style and expression in the Greek
and which do not accord with the balance of the gospel.
text which are specified,

2, These verses are wanting in the Sinaitic and Vatican MSS., and are omitted ia
392 FIFTH PERIOD — A. D. 170 tO A. D. 185.

As
the result of the foregoing analysis, it will be
seen, that of the 33 manuscripts in Luke, the first
8 are wanting in Mark, being the same, except No.
8, which were wanting also in Marcion. Of the
other 25, 10 are omitted entirely, and 8 are inserted
entire, while the others are more or less broken
and disjointed some of them so much so, as to
;

lose their identity completely.

This result, while it confirms the theory of

Schleiermacher, recognizing, as it does, the identity
and completeness of most of the manuscripts, at
the same time would indicate that the German
theologian had, in some instances, carried his divi-
sion too far; and had specified, as distinct manu-
scripts,some portions of Luke, which were founded
upon tradition, and composed by the author him-
self.

The Gospel according to Mark is supposed to

have been written at Rome.
It was not quoted by TertuUian, in Africa.
At Rome, where the gospel was probably com-
posed, the stories in Luke, concerning the infancy
of Jesus, so manifestly of Eastern original, had
not yet obtained much credence. They were
accordingly omitted. In this respect, the Gospel
of Marcion was, in that portion of Christendom,

many ancient copies of otlier MSS.

3. Eusebius, Jerome and Gregory of Nyssa say that in their day they were wanting
in almost all the Greek copies of the gospels.

4, They must have been unknown to Cyril of Jerusalem, TertuUian and Cyprian, and
were not mentioned by Clement of Rome or Clement of Alexandria.
This passage in Mark corresponds with a portion of the 14th chapter of the Acts of
Pilate; the usual allowance being made for interpolations, in copying from the Acts.
 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK. 393

considered the most reliable, and was looked upon

as evidence that the early biography of Jesus was
unknown.
The Gospel of Peter is supposed to have con-
tained the substance of the Oracles of Matthew
and was at the basis of Mark, and
as the former
the latter, of Matthew, that would account for
much of the similarity between Mark and Matthew,
without assuming that any portion of either was
copied directly from the other. Mark has almost
a complete parallel in Luke and Matthew taken
together. There are but 24 verses which have no
parallel in either of the other synoptics.

As to the order in which these gospels were writ-

ten, much
has been said, but the subject is in the
utmost confusion and uncertainty.
"That St. Mark wrote later than St. Luke," says Michaelis, "I have
no doubt."— [Vol. 3, p. 96. Note.

Baronius, Bellarmine and some others, think

this gospelwas first written in Latin. This is not
improbable, if it was composed at Rome, late in
the second century.
That the gospel in its present form was not the
work of Mark, the companion of the apostles, is
the opinion of Credner,' and several other evangel-
ical writers, among whom Mr. Sanday may be in-
cluded.

(i.) Einleit. Sec. s6.

 CHAPTER XXX

The Gospel according to John.

But little light can be thrown upon the Gospel of

John, by any comparison with the manuscripts of
Luke.

The first manuscript to which any similarity can

be found, is No. 19 the account of the feeding of
;

the multitude, by a miracle. But the differences

in the narratives are very great. According to all
the synoptics, Jesus had retired to a desert place ;

in Luke it is stated that it belonged to the city of

Bethsaida. According to John, he had gone up
into a mountain. According to this historian, it
was on the eve of a Jewish passover. This the syn-
optics say nothing about nor do they connect Jesus
;

with any passover, except the one at which he

suffered. According to Mark and Matthew, who
continue the narrative, Jesus sent away the multi-
tudes, and retired into a mountain to pray;
according to John, he departed into a moun-
 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN. 395

tain, (though he was already in a mountain), to

avoid the multitude who wished to take him by
force, and make him a king. It will be remem-
bered that this manuscript could not be fully
identified in Mark. These were probably different
versions of a common tradition.

The essential features of the tradition were, that

a multitude consisting of 5000 men, besides the
women and children, had been fed by Christ, upon
five loaves and two fishes.

The next parallel is No. 30. Of the contents of

this long manuscript, there is but the circumstance
of Jesus riding on a colt, the foal of an ass,
which is briefly noticed, the fulfillment of a
as
prophecy. This manuscript, also, could not be
recognized distinctly in Mark, and there is no
reason to believe it was used in John.

No. 32. Luke 22. 1 to 23. 49. Portions of this

MS. have John, 13. 1 to 30;
partial parallels, in
vv. 36 to 38 ch. 18, vv. 1 to 18 24 to 28 33 to
; ; ;

40 ch. 19, vv. 15 to 25 28 to 30.

; ;

No. 33. Luke, 23. 50, to the end.

The first part of this manuscript, narrating the
begging of the body of Jesus, and his burial, by
Joseph of Arimathea, has a closer parallel in John
than any of the previous ones (John, 19. 38 to;

42.) The balance of it, however, after the coming

of Mary Magdalene to the sepulcher, cannot be
recognized.

Thus, it will be seen, that not a single manu-

 :

396 FIFT^M PliMOB—A;ili.l70 TO A D. 185.

Luke can be comptetely traced in John.

script in
In some the writer may have used Luke
insta1S.tS^,
or Mazrk.
The inference is, that Luke and John were not
composed from common sources.
The same result will follow, upon comparing
John with Mark and Matthew.
The Gospel of John stands alone. It has every
mark of being an original gospel, while the synop-
tics arecompilations made, for the most part for
the purpose of preserving the early traditions of
the disciples, concerning the life and teachings, the
sufferings, the death and the resurrection of Jesus.

The Gospel of John a theological document,

is

written for theological purposes.

The express testimony to the existence of

first
Bishop of Anti-
this gospel, is that of Theophilus,
oeh, A. D. 180, who speaks of it thus

"And hence the holy writings teach us, and all the spirit-bearing
men, one of whom, John, says, *In the beginning was the
(inspired)
Word, and the Word was with God,' " etc.—[Ad Autolycum, 2. 22.

Here John is not spoken of as an apostle, but as

a spirit-bearing, or inspired man. Such the writer
may have considered John the Presbyter, of the
second century, who is by many thought to be the
author of the gospel.

The internal character of this gospel, is quite in-

consistent with the theory of having been writ-
its

ten by the unlettered fisherman, the son of Zebe-

dee. It is hardly possible that such a person could
 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN. 397

have become the educated and philosophical theo-

logian, whose pen is to be traced in the Gospel of
John.
It is written in purer, and less Hebraistic Greek,
than the other gospels, and its style is elegant and
graceful.

John the apostle, son of Zebedee, was a Jew.

But the author of the Gospel of John, refers to the
Jews in the third person. He
speaks of the feasts
*'of the Jews,^' '^the passover of the Jews,'^ *'the
manner of the purifying of the Jews,'' etc. The
law of Moses is spoken of as ''your law," and
'their law." Furthermore, the Jews are denounced
*

as the children of the devil.

The fact that in this gospel, the full and absolute

divinity of Christ is first distinctly taught, is evi-
dence, also, that was not written by a Jew. The
it

divinity of Jesus was not a doctrine of the Jewish

Christians. It originated with Gentiles, formerly
idolaters. To the Jew, it meant polytheism. The
early Jewish Christians held Christ to be a man
only.

There are also many errors in reference to the

geography of the country. The author speaks of
iEnon, near to Salim, in Judea also of Bethany,
;

beyond Jordan, and of "a city of Samaria, called

'
Sychar. If there were any such places, they were
'

strangely unknown to other writers. The learned

Dr. Bretschneider points out such mistakes and
errors of the geography, chronology, history and
statistics of Judea, as no person who had ever re-
398 FIFTH PERIOD — A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

sided in that country, or had been by birth a Jew,

could possibly have committed.

Even the birthplace of John himself, Bethsaida,

or Julias, is assigned to Galilee, when it was situ-
ated in another country. This mistake alone, is
fatal to the authority of the gospel. This is con-
ceded by Hug,^ provided it cannot be explained.
An attempt has been made to explain it by showing
that it was the custom of the people to speak of the
Gaulonite country as Galilee. Josephus is cited,
las calling Judas, the Galilean, a Gaulonite. Jo-
sephus four times refers to Judas as a Galilean.^
The only place where he is spoken of otherwise,^ is
manifestly a mistake on the part of some tran-
scriber, and arose from the fact, that there were
two cities by the name of Gamala, one in Gauloni-
tis, the other in Galilee. No doubt the passage in
Josephus, '^a Gaulonite, of a city whose name was
Gamala, '' should read, ''a Galilean, of a city whose
name was Gamala.'' It would then correspond
with the other passages in Josephus, and with the
Acts of the Apostles, [5. 37] in all of which he ;

was called Judas of Galilee.

Galilee was a well known district of country,
with well defined boundaries and it is absurd to ;

suppose that another country, entirely disconnected

with it, was called Galilee, without further evi-
dence than this passage of Josephus.

(i.) Introduction to N. T. p. 24.

(2) Antiquities, bk. 18 i. 6; bk. 20, 5. 2; Jewish War, bk. 2, 8. i, and bk. 2, 17,
8.

(3.) Antiquities, bk, 18, i. i.

 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN. 399
The conclusion is, that the author of the Gospel
of John, was ignorant of the birthplace of John
the apostle.

This gospel differs from

all three of the synop-
events which occurred when
tics, in relating several
John the apostle was not present while, strangely
;

enough, other transactions in which, according to

the synoptics, the apostle John was present, are
not related in the Gospel of John at all particu- ;

larly the transfiguration, which, according to all

the synoptics, took place in the presence of Peter,
James and John.
That John had neglected to testify, where his
testimony would naturally be expected, was noticed,
very anciently, by Faustus, the Manichsean, in his
controversy with Augustine. Speaking of the pas-
sage, ^^Think not that I am come,'' etc. (Matt. 5.
17), he says

"Who testifies that Jesus said this ? Matthew. Where did he say-
it ?On the mountain. Who were present ? Peter, Andrew, James
and John. Others, but not Matthew himself. He had not as yet
chosen Matthew. But one of these four, John, wrote a gospel. Well,
then, he relates this somewhere ? No, not at all. How is it, then,
that John, who was on the mountain, does not testify ? And that
this was written by Matthew, who became a follower of Jesus some
time after he descended from the mountain ? It is therefore very
doubtful whether Jesus said this; because a proper witness is silent,
while an improper witness testifies."— [Augustinus contra Faustum,
lib. 17, eh. 1.

The writer of this gospel quotes the Old Testa-

ment prophecies, almost as loosely, and with as
little regard to their applicability, as the author
of Matthew. Psalms, 41. 9, quoted in John 13.
 '

400 FIFTH PERIOD A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

18, did not refer to Christ, nor to Judas. So of

John 17. 12.

So strong is the evidence of a late date to this

gospel, that its apostolic origin is being abandoned
by the ablest evangelical writers. Westcott says,
** The earliest account of the origin of the gospel ^
''
is already legendary.
Dr. Davidson, author of the article on the canon
in the new edition of the Encyclopedia Britan-
nica, says, its Johannine authorship must be
abandoned, and its existence prior to A. D. 140,
cannot be maintained.^ Both Irenseus and Jerome
assert that John wrote against Cerinthus. Cerin-
thus flourished about A. D. 145.
Again, there evidence that in the construc-
is
tion of this gospel, as in that of Matthew, the
author had in view the building up of the Roman
hierarchy, the foundations of which were then
(about A. D. 177—8,) being laid. In the 21st
chapter is a detailed account of an appearance of
Jesus, after his resurrection, to seven of his disci-
ples, at the Sea of Tiberias, something not heard
of in the synoptic gospels, and which bears the
impress of an original narrative, suggested by
scenes in Christ^s ministry. After they had
dined, Jesus is made to say to Peter, *^Feed my
sheep;'' an injunction which was afterward re-
peated.

In Matthew only, is Peter made the rock on

(i.) Introduction, p. 255.

(2.) Davidson on the Canon, p. 99. In his Int. to N. T., the limit is 150,
 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN. 401

which the Church was to be built, and in John

only, is he enjoined to feed the sheep of Christ.
There is reason to believe that both gospels were
written in the interest of the supremacy of the
Church of Rome.
 CHAPTER XXXI

The Gospel accokding to Matthew.

The Gospel of Matthew presents at once phenom-

ena of the most varied and inexplicable character.
While many of its narratives and of its records
of the sayings of Christ, from their brevity and
simplicity, are recognized as among
the oldest tra-
ditions, and as having been taken from near the
fountain head, the gospel itself bears, in other
places, internal evidence of a comparatively late
origin.

The persistent statements of Jerome, supported

by Epiphanius, that the Gospel of the Hebrews was
the Hebrew form of the Gospel of Matthew, state-
ments not at all borne out by the fragments of the
Gospel of the Hebrews, which they have given,
still further complicate a question, in other respects
sufficiently difficult.

Many writers, not willing to discard altogether

 THE GOSPEL ACCOKDING TO MATTHEW. 403

the assertions of Jerome and Epiphanius, have

supposed our Matthew to be a translation from a
more correct version of the Hebrew gospel, than
that quoted by those fathers and that the differ- ;

ences between those quotations and the Greek

Matthew, are to be accounted for, partly by the
difference in the Hebrew versions, and partly by
the freedom of translation. Among these, Bishop
Marsh is one of the most eminent.
Others, giving but little credit to these fathers,
whom have found so unre-
in other matters, they
and resting the case upon internal evidence,
liable,
have pronounced the Gospel of Matthew an ori-
ginal Greek production. This view is strongly
maintained by Jones and other modern critics.

THE MANUSCRIPTS OF LUKE COMPARED WITH '

MATTHEW.
There is a partial parallel, in the third chapter of Matthew, to the

firstpart of manuscript No. 7; [Luke 3, 1 to 22.] Omitting the gen-

ealogies, which are entirely different, the parallel is resumed, and
more closely followed, in the history of the temptation; [Luke, 4. 1 to
13; Matthew, 4. 1 to 11.]

•MS. No. 8, Luke, 4. 16 to 30, has no parallel in Matthew.

No. 9, 4. 31 to 44, which had a complete parallel in Mark, finds
Luke,
only a partial parallel in Matthew, commencing with verse 38, of
Luke, [Matt. 8. 14], and giving an account of the healing of Simon's
wife's mother, and other sick people.

We early find evidence of that tendency to ampli-

fication and exaggeration which is characteristic of
the author of this gospel. Although, in accord-
ance with the accounts in the other synoptics, he
states, in verse 16, that Vhen the even was come,
'

they brought unto him many that were possessed

404 FIFTH PERIOD A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

of devils, and he cast out the spirits with his word,

and healed all that were sick ;'' adding, according
to his custom, a reference to the fulfillment of
prophecy ; and though he had also stated, in ch. 4,
V. 23, that Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching,
etc., and healing all manner of sickness, and all
manner the people; he there
of disease, among
adds, after the narrative has been closed by the
other historians, the following :

V. 24. "And his fame went throughout

all Syria, and they brought
nnto him all were taken with divers diseases and
sick people that
torments, and those who were possessed with devils, and those who
were lunatic, and those who had the palsy; and he healed them."

MS. No. 10, Luke, 5. 1 to 11, cannot be traced in Matthew, though

there a shorter account of the calling of the four disciples, corres-
is
ponding to that in Mark.

No. 11. Luke, 5. 13 to 16. The parallel account in Matthew is

shorter than in Luke or Mark. This is one of the places which indi-(
cate Matthew as containing the earlier narrative. The account of this
miracle, as related in the Acts of Pilate, is shorter than either of these.

No. 12. Luke, 5. 17 to 26. Parallel, Matthew, 9. 1 to 8.

No. 13. Luke, 5. 27 to 39. See Matthew, 9. 9 to 17, which has a close
resemblance.

So also No. 14, Luke, 6. 1 to 11; Matthew, 12. 1 to 13.

No. 15. Luke, 6. 12 to 7. 10. The manuscript,

last ten verses of this
describing the healing of the centurion's servant, are paralleled in
Matthew, 8. 5 to 13. The other portion, which commences with the
choosing of the twelve, and consists, principally, of sayings of Jesus,
can hardly be considered paralleled by the sermon on the mount,
which is much more extensive.

No. Luke, 7. 11 to 50, which has no parallel in Mark, has a partial

16.
parallel in Matthew. See Luke, 7. 18 to 35, and Matthew, 11. 2 to 19.

No. 17. Luke, 8. 1 to 21. See Matthew, 13. 1 to 25, and 12. 46 to 60,
where the parallel is nearly complete.
No. 18. Luke, 8. 22 to 56. Parallel, Matt. 8. 18 vv. 23 to 34 ch.
; ; 9, 18 to
25.
 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 405
19. Luke, 9. 1 to 45. Matt. 10. 1 to 15; 14. 1, 2; vv. 13 to 21; ch. 16
13 to 16, 20; vv. 21 to 28, and ch. 17, 1 to 23. This manuscript, if used
at all, is completely broken up.
20. Luke, 9. 46 to 50; Matthew, 18. 1 to 6.

21. Luke, 9. 51 to 10. 24. Partial parallel in Matt. 8. 19 to 22.

MSS. 22, 23 and 24, Luke, 10. 25 to 11. 13. No parallel in Matthew.
No. 25. Luke, 11. 14 to 13. 9. Partial parallel, Matthew 12. 22 to 30
and vv. 38 to 45.

26 to 29. Luke, 13. 10 to 17. 19. No parallel.

No. 30. Luke, 17. 20, to 19. 48. The first division, 17. 20 to 18. 14, has
no parallel.First part of second division, 18. 15 to 30, has as parallel,
Matt. 19. 13 to 30. Luke, 18. 31 to 43, has Matt. 20. 17 to 19, and 20. 29
to 34. Luke, 19. 29 to 38, has Matthew, 21. 1 to 9, and Luke, 19. 45, 46,
has Matt. 21. 12, 13. These partial parallels do not, however, identify
the manuscript.
No. 31. Luke, chs. 20 and 21. Partial parallels. Matt. 21. 23 to 27;
33 to 45; ch. 22, vv. 15, 32; vv. 41 to 46; ch. 23, vv. 5 to 7; v. 14; and ch.
24, vv. 1 to 44; following which, are lengthy sayings of Christ, found
in Matthew alone.

No. 32. Luke, 22. 1 to 23. 49. Matt. 26. 3 to 5; 14 to 25. The parallel
considerably broken. Matt. 27. 1, 2; 11 to 56.

No. 33. Luke, 23. 50, to the end. Some partial parallels, in Matt. 27.
57, to the end.

—
Recapitulation. Five of the manuscripts are
complete in Matthew, though with the customary
changes and accumulations. Some dozen of the
others have parallels more or less extensive. There
is indicated a common use of manuscripts, though
not to so great an extent as by the authors of Luke
and Mark.
We will now proceed to consider some of the
indications of a late date for the construction of
the Gospel of Matthew.
That Matthew was written for theological
1.

purposes, and for the use of the church, after it

 :

406 FIFTH PEEIOD A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

had become pretty well established, isshown by

the frequent reference to the prophecies, and the
manifest anxiety to show that the events related,
were in fulfillment of the predictions referred to.
True, the author is quite uniformly unfortunate,
in his selection of prophecies, scarcely one of which
has any reference to the subject matter to which it
is applied.^ But the object of the writer is never-
theless apparent.

2. The comparatively late composition of this

work may be inferred from the many additions of
incidents of a striking and marvelous character,
not contained in the other gospels. Notably
among these, are the earthquakes at the crucifixion
and the resurrection, both of which were known
to this historian only. Also, the opening of the
graves, and the rising of the saints.

Schleiermacher, in comparing Luke with Mark

and Matthew, sees evidence that the corresponding
narratives in the latter gospels, were originally
more hastily taken down, or were obscured by pass-
ing through a great number of hands. ^

Speaking of the account of casting out the devils,

(Matt. 8. 28 to 33), he says

"The alteration made here, by introducing two demoniacs, in itself

improbable, as it is not usual for madmen to contract a close friend-
ship and intimacy with each other, might, indeed, admit of a different
explanation, as other instances of a similar duplication are found in
Matthew."— [Essay, p. 137.

(i.) For some instances, see the comparisons between Matthew and the Infancy
gospels.

(2.) Essay on Luke, p, 77.

 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 407

In regard to the feeding of the multitudes, not-

withstanding the statement in Matthew 16, Schlei-
ermacher thinks there was but one feeding, and
that Matthew was misled, by having two different
accounts of the same transaction.^

Speaking of Matt. 16. 13 to 28, he says :

"No one will readily believe, that Christ, in the same breath, as it
were, would deliver to Peter the key of the kingdom of heaven, and
then call him a Satan, who did not favor the things which be of
God."— [Page 153.

Hethinks the manner in which Matthew repre-

sents the transfiguration,shows that the account
had passed through several hands.

"In this narrative," he says, "one perceives the exclusive direction

of the reporter's imagination toward the marvelous. On this account,
the assertion that the two figures were Moses and Elias, appears far
more confident than in Luke, in whose narrative every attentive
reader easily sees that it is founded merely on the expression of Peter,
in a state between sleeping and waking."— [Page 156.

"In the same way, we may remark, likewise, in the healing of the
epileptic in Matthew, a distortion into extravagance." —[Essay, p. 157,

After commenting at length upon the circum-

stance, he says

"Matthew, therefore, either has had a less authentic reporter here,

or perhaps only obscured the state of the case, by his habit of annex-
ing analogous matter."— [Ibid. p. 159.

In the account in Matthew, corresponding to

Luke 9. 46 to 50, Schleiermacher thinks much is
annexed which was not spoken on the occasion.^

(i.) Essay on Luke, p. 144.

(2.) Essay, p. 162.

 : :

408 FIFTH PERIOD A. D. 170 tO A. D. 185.

He comments on the incoherence in the narra-

tives of Matthew.'

Referring to the duplication of the blind men at

Jericho, he says, Matthew ''had before done some-
thing of the same sort, in the case of the demoniac
at Gadara.'' How the mistake happened, he does
not undertake to determine.^
Speaking of Matt. 21. 1 to 17, he says
"As to what is said in Matthew, somewhat strangely indeed, of two
animals, I can only explain it by the attempt to make the application
of the fact to the passage in Zechariah, as close as possible. Any other
explanation appears to be lost labor. For if Matthew is to be reconciled
with the rest, it must have been properly the polos which Christ be-
spoke for himself; but when the polos is able to bear the weight of a
man, though it has never been ridden, the she ass no longer runs by
its side, but has long left it to itself ."—[Essay on Luke, p. 258.

He thinks the rending of the vail poetical. So,

also, the opening of the graves, and the rising of
the saints from the dead, as related by Matthew.^

3. One circumstance indicating a late date for

this gospel, is the passage. Matt. 23. 35

"That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the
earth, from the blood of righteous Abel, unto the blood of Zacharias,
son of Barachias, whom ye slew, between the temple and the altar."

is quoted from an apocryphal book,

In Luke, this
called the''Wisdom of God ;'' and is applied to
Zacharias who perished between the altar and the
temple.'' (Luke, 11. 49 to 51.)
The passage was not in Marcion. In Luke,

(i.) Essay on Luke, pp. igo to 199.

(2.) Ibid. p. 249.

(3.) Ibid. p. 305.

 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 409

though the place of the death of Zachariah is not

described with entire correctness, the reference

is in all probability to Zechariah, the son of
Jehoida. [See 2d Chron. 24. 20, 21.] But this
was ending, a long way back, the list of prophets
whose blood had been shed unjustly. The author
of Matthew, wishing to bring it down to a later
date, adds, ^'son of Barachias. '' This changes the
personage at once, and brings the scene down to a
date subsequent to the time of Christ. Zacharias,
son of Barouches, was massacred by the zealots,
inside the temple, shortly before the siege of Jeru-
salem about A. D. 69.' [See Appendix, Note II.]
;

It is evident that this portion of the Gospel of

Matthew was written, not only after the destruction
of Jerusalem, but a long time after. It will be no-
words are not here, as in Luke,
ticed that these
quoted from the Wisdom of God. They are put
into the mouth of Jesus himself, who is made to
allude to an event as in the past, which took place
more than thirty years after. No one, writing im-
mediately after the destruction of Jerusalem, could
have made such a mistake. But a writer living
more than a hundred years afterward, might do so.
Suppose, a thousand years hence, a history should
be under examination, which should represent An-
drew Jackson as speaking of something as then
past, which had occurred near our own time say ;

the death of Senator Chandler. Would not that be

evidence that the history was written, not only after
the death of Chandler, but a long time after?
(i.) Josephus, Jewish War, bk. 4, ch. 5, 4.
 :

410 FIFTH PERIOD A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

4. In Matt. 27. 8, after stating that the chief

priests took the silver pieces which Judas had thrown
away, and bought with them the potter's field, to
bury strangers in, it is added,
"Wherefore, that field was called the field of blood, unto this day."

The phrase, *^unto this day,'' implies a very long

time between the transaction and the time of relat-
ing it.

So again, Matt. 28. 15. In relating the bribing

of the soldiers by the chief priests, there is the
following

"So they took the money, and did as they were taught, and this
saying is commonly reported among the Jews, until this day."

5. Evidence of the late construction of Matthew,

is tobe found in the attempt, in the 16th chapter,
to specially connect Peter with the foundation of
the Christian church. The narrative of the con-
versation between Jesus and Peter, as given in
Luke and Mark, contains nothing of the kind.
That this was a later interpolation in the gospel
history, made in the interest of the Roman Catholic
hierarchy, then being established, will become
more manifest by comparing the accounts in the
synoptic gospels, as follows :

Luke, ch. 9. Mark, ch. 8. Matthew, ch. 16.

18. His disciples 27. And by the way, 13. He asked his dis-
were with him; and he asked his disci- ciples, saying: Whom
he asked them, say- ples, saying unto do men say that I,
ing: Whom say the them: Whom do the Son of Man, am ?
people that I am ? men say that I am ? 14. And they said,
19. They answering 28. And they an- Some (say) John the
said, John the Bap- swered, John the Baptist; some, Elias;
 THE GOSPEL ACCOKDING TO MATTHEW. 411

Luke, ch. 9. Mark, ch. 8. Matthew, ch. 16.

tist; but some (say), Baptist; but some and others, Jeremias,
Elias ; and others (say) (say), Elias; and oth- or one of the proph-
that one of the old ers, one of the proph- ets.
prophets is risen ets. 15. He saith unto
again. 29. And he saith them. But whom say
20. He said unto unto them. But whom ye that I am ?
them, But whom say say ye that I am? 16. And Simon Pe-
ye that I am ? Peter And Peter answereth ter answered and
answering, said, The and saith unto him, said. Thou art the
Thou art the Christ. Christ, the Son of the
Christ of God.
living God.
17. And Jesus an-
swered and said unto
him, Blessed art thou,
Simon Bar-jona; for
flesh and blood hath
not revealed (it) unto
thee, but my Father
who is in heaven.
18. And I say also
unto thee, that thou
art Peter, and upon
this rock I will build
my church; and the
gates of hell shall not
prevail against it.
19. And I will give
unto thee the keys of
the kingdom of heav-
en; and whatsoever
thou Shalt bind on
earth, shall be bound
in heaven; and what-
soever thou Shalt
loose on earth, shall
be loosed in heaven.
21. And he straitly 30. And he charged 20. Then charged
charged them, and them,that they should he his disciples, that
commanded (them), tell no man of him. they should tell no
to tell no man that man, that he was Je-
thing. sus the Christ.

From the closeness of the parallel it is obvious,

that the account was taken from a common manu-
script, or from a common tradition.

The saying of Christ to Peter, ''Blessed art thou,''

etc. if it had ever been uttered, was too important
,
412 FIFTH PERIOD — A. D. 170 TO A D. 185.

to be omitted by the other historians. It is a man-

ifest interpolation, made to give gospel sanction to
the hierarchy said to have been established by
Peter.
About this time, A. D. 180 to 190, a violent dis-
pute had arisen, concerning the celebration of
Easter. The church at Rome was endeavoring to
control the question, and to make it the occasion
for the establishment of a supreme power. The
Asiatic churches had rebelled against its preten-
sions. It was very important to conciliate them.
Let us suppose that at this juncture this gospel had
appeared at Alexandria, whose bishop supported
Rome. It would at once be adopted in the
churches of Africa, Gaul and Italy, aU of which
were favorable to the papal claims. It would then
be circulated in Asia Minor, among the churches
imbued with Jewish traditions, and among whom
the name of Peter was all powerful, and would
have an immense influence in favor of consolida-
tion.
The Clement of Rome to James, was^
epistle of
it is to be presumed already in circulation.
, In
that it was stated that Peter had, at Rome, given
to Clement, in the presence of the congregation,
the keys of the Kingdom, and had used almost the
very words here attributed to Jesus. Peter had
said of Clement, to the church.
Wherefore, I communicate to him the power of binding and loos-
ing, so that with respect to everything which he shall ordain in the
earth, it shall be decreed in the heavens. He shall bind what ought
to be bound, and loose what ought to be loosed, as knowing the rule
of the church.
 THE GOSPEL ACCORDINa TO MATTHEW. 413

It only needed a gospel, showing that Christ had

conferred this power upon Peter, and the chain of
title of the Roman pontiff was complete.

When, where and by whom written. —No writer

of thefirst centuries ever assigned a date to the
Gospel of Matthew, except Irensous, whose testi-
mony is generally discarded. He states that it was
written for the Jews while Peter and Paul were
founding the church at Rome.^
"If," says Bishop Marsh, "the arguments in favor of a late date for
the composition of St. Matthew's Gospel, be compared with those in
favor of an early date, it will be found that the former greatly out-
weigh the latter."— [Notes to Michaelis, vol. 3, pt. 2, p. 98.

According to the law of accretion, Matthew would

stand next to Luke, in point of antiquity.
On the other hand, it has been seen, that several
considerations point forcibly to a late date for its
composition.
Itremains to be considered, whether there is any
theory which will explain these seemingly contra-
dictory phenomena. We venture to make a sugges-
tion, which, if not entirely correct, may lead to
such inquiries as will result in a correct solution.
About A. D. was sent from Alex-
180, Pantsenus
andria, as a missionary to India. It is said that he
there found a Gospel of Matthew, which had been
left in India many years before, by Bartholomew,
who had preached in that country. There has been
much discussion, as to what this Gospel of Matthew,
sometimes called the Gospel of Bartholomew, was.
(I.) Irenseus, adv. Haer. 3. i.
414 FIFTH PERIOD A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

Let us suppose was a copy of the Oracles of

it

Matthew, to which had been attached some brief

narrative of the ministry of Christ, It would be,
in that case, one of the oldest copies in existence.

Suppose this copy was brought back to Alexan-

dria, accompanied with some old manuscripts of
genealogies ; that some zealous Christian in that
city,wishing to aid in the consolidation of the
church then going on, undertook, from these and
other materials, to write a new gospel ; that it was
published in Alexandria.
Such a work would fulfill all the conditions, and
would exhibit the complex character now found in
the Gospel of Matthew. The Oracles and accom-
panying narrative would furnish in some cases,
^

the most authentic records, and in the shortest and

simplest form of any yet published and this ;

would of itself justify an addition to the gospels

then in circulation.
The author would have before him the gospels of
the Infancy and the Gospels of Mark and Luke.
That Pantsenus was a Jew, we learn from Clem-
ent of Alexandria, who speaks of him as a Hebrew
of Palestine, whom he found concealed in Egypt,
and who ^'was the true Sicilian bee, gathering the
spoil of the flowers of the prophetic and apostolic
meadow." — [Stromata, bk. 1, ch. 1.
 CHAPTER XXXII.

Acts of the Apostles.

The book entitled the ''Acts of the Apostles"

does not much differ, in its general character, from
other writings of the kind which were in circula-
tion among the Christians of the second century.
There were Acts of the Apostles supposed to have
been written by Leucius there were The Acts of
;

the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, The Acts of

Peter and Andrew, The Acts of Philip, The Acts of
Paul and Thecla, etc.
The same bold appeal to the love of the marvel-
—
ous the same disregard of historical facts and geo-
graphical and chronological accuracy, which are to
be seen in those writings, characterize also, the
Acts of the Apostles.
Gaza spoken of as a deserted place, though
is at
that time it was a flourishing city.

In Acts, 5. 34 to 36, Gamaliel is represented as

referring, in a speech, to Theudas, and to acts of
416 FIFTH PERIOD A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

his, which were not performed until some forty

years after the time referred to, and more than ten
years after the time when Gamaliel was delivering
his address. Again the reference in the 21st chap-
,

ter, to the Egyptian impostor, does not at all agree

with the historical account of the same transaction
as given by Josephus.

There is the same loose reference to the prophe-

cies, as in John and Matthew.
This work had but an indifferent standing among
the fathers. As late as at the commencement of
the fifth century, Chrysostom said,

"This book is not so much as known to many. They know neither

—
the book, nor by whom it was written." [Prolegomena to Acts. See
also Mill, Proef in Act. p. 254.
.

The text has always been very uncertain.^ The

Cambridge MS., (Codex Bezse), has six hundred
interpolations.^
The author is supposed to have been the same as
the compiler of the Gospel of Luke a theory based ;

upon the preface to each, and which finds some

confirmation in linguistic peculiarities, and similar-
ity of style.

That it was written late in the second century,

may be safely assumed.
The following passage is from the writings of Aris-
tides, the sophist, who flourished about A. D. 176.
The similarity in style and incidents to the 27tb

(i.) Westcott, Canon, p, 215.

(2.) McClintock & Strong, Article "Cambridge MS."
 ACTS OP THE APOSTLES. 417

chapter of Acts, will be at once apparent.

"We were going to Cephalenia, and again we had a high sea, and a
contrary wind, and we were tossed up and down, to the great detri-
ment of my health, and beyond what my constitution could bear.
Afterward, the like happened in the straits of Achaia, when truly the
good mariners would put out from Patrae, at the very time of the
equinox, against my will, and very much to my prejudice, under my
indispositions. The like things happened again, in the iEJgean Sea,
through the obstinacy of the master of the ship, and of the mariners;
when they would sail, though the winds were contrary; nor would
they hearken to me. So we were carried about by the tempest, over
that whole sea, for fourteen days and nights, and were oftentimes with-
out food, and at length, with difficulty, got to Miletus."--[Sacrorum
Sermon. 2, tom. 1, p. 306.

There is no reason to believe that Aristides had

ever seen the Acts, or any other book of the New
Testament.
That the Acts of the Apostles, also, was written
in the interest of the Roman Catholic hierarchy,
must be obvious to any one who will give the mat-
ter careful consideration.

In the Acts, a prominence given to Peter, not

is

to be found elsewhere in the New Testament, if we

except the two passages already spoken of. It was
Peter who made a speech showing the necessity of
selecting another apostle in place of Judas, (the
Catholic historians add, that he presided over the
election of Matthias) —
it was Peter who made the

great speech on the day of Pentecost, and who first

—
preached to the Jews it was he who first announced
—
that the gospel was to go to the Gentiles it was Peter
whom Paul came to Jerusalem to see, and as
—
Bossuet says, to ''study'' it was Peter who was a
prominent actor at (and, as the Catholic historians
have it, presided over) the council of Jerusalem.
 ,

418 FIFTH PERIOD A. D. 170 tO A. D. 185.

Peter is everywhere prominent everywhere making

;

speeches, and directing the affairs of the church.

He is the ^
^pillar apostle/' of both Jews and Gen-
tiles.

Several of these accounts, giving such prom-

inence to Peter, are in direct conflict with the writ-
ings of Paul. It was the policy of the author of the
Acts, writing in the interest of the Catholic Church,
and aiming at unity of doctrine, to ignore the well-
known differences that existed all through the early
age of the church, between Peter and James, and
their Judaistic followers, on the one hand, and
Paul and the Gentile Christians on the other.
Accordingly, in the Acts, Paul is represented as
preaching to the Jews at Samaria and Jerusalem
immediately after his conversion although he ;

himself distinctly informs us in the epistle to the

,

Galatians, that he preached to the Gentiles seven-

teen years before preaching to the Jews at all.
Three years after his conversion, he went up to
Jerusalem, but saw only Peter and James. Four-
teen years afterward, he went up by re velation and ,

communicated to the Jews, even then privately at

first, the gospel which he had been preaching among

the Gentiles. [Galatians, ch. 2.]

In the Acts, not only does Paul preach at once to
the Jews, but Peter becomes an apostle to the Gen-
tiles. He is made to say,
*'Ye know how that a good while ago, God made choice among us,
that the Gentiles, by my mouth, should hear the word of the gospel,
and believe."— [Acts, 15. 7.

Thus the distinction so much dwelt upon by Paul,

 ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 419
between himself as the apostle of the Gentiles —of
the uncircumcision, and Peter, as the apostle of the
—
Jews the circumcision, is entirely broken down.
Peter preaches to Gentiles and Jews, and Paul to
Jews and Gentiles. This is contrary to what is
known of the history of the Christian church in the
first century, and inconsistent with the declaration
of Paul

"The gospel of the uncircumcision was committed to me, as the

gospel of the circumcision was to Peter. For he that wrought effect-
ually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was
mighty in me toward the Gentiles."— [Galatians, 2. 7, 8.

Even after the conference at Jerusalem, Paul was

obliged to withstand Peter face to face, at Antioch.
[Galatians, 2. 11.]

the Acts of the Apostles was

It is plain that
written in the interest of the Eoman Catholic
Church, and in support of the tradition that the
Church of Rome was founded by the joint labors
of Peter and Paul.
This tradition has no foundation except in the
writings of one or two fathers of the latter part of
the second century fathers who had in view the
;

same general object as the author of the Acts of

the Apostles.
 CHAPTEE XXXIII.

Okigin and History of Christian Doctrines.

A complete history of Christian doctrines would

require volumes. It is obvious, that within the
limits of a single chapter, but a meager outline can
be given. The completeness of our work requires
at least a brief sketch of the doctrines prevailing in
the first two centuries.

The Immaculate Conception.

The first allusion to the immaculate conception
of Jesus is A. D. 115.
in the Epistles of Ignatius ;

The belief in the miracles of Jesus, a belief which

became common early in the second century, was
naturally connected with his deification, and his
assignment to a supernatural origin. A being who
can disregard and overthrow the laws of nature,
must needs be a god, and a god must be begotten
by a god. Thus the three doctrines may be said to
postulate and prove each other.
 ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 421

The doctrine of the immaculate conception of

Jesus, when once announced, rapidly grew into
favor, and was firmly established as a doctrine of
the church, before the close of the second cen-
tury.
The Miracles of Jesus.

The first mention of these was in the Epistle of

Barnabas, A. D. 130, and in the Acts of Pilate and
other apocryphal gospels, which are supposed to
have been written about the same time.
A hundred years of silence by Christian writers,
wonderful, if such miracles were then
is at least
believed. And equally wonderful is the fact, that
no Jewish or heathen historian, during that period,
has recorded that such events were reported of
Jesus, and believed by his followers.
It isnot probable that Christ ever claimed or
pretended to work miracles. Such pretensions
would have detracted from his exalted character,
and would have placed him upon a level with
Simon Magus, ApoUonius, and other miracle
workers of that age.

Miracles in the Church.

Beyond what contained in the epistles of Paul,
is

it does not appear that any claim, was made to the

power of working miracles in the church, until
about the middle of the second century.

The Material Resurrection.

The doctrine of the resurrection of the material
 "

422 FIFTH PERIOD A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

body of Christ, must be placed in the same cate-

gory.
Nothing is heard of it earlier than in the Gospel
of the Hebrews, which is generally thought to have
been written early in the second century. In the
writings of the fathers, the doctrine first appeared
in the middle of the second century.
According to the opinion of many in the first cen-
tury, the soul or spirit of Jesushad gone below, to
a place understood as hades, under or beneath the
earth, and the resurrection was the calling back of
the soul to earth, and its ascension to heaven. To
this doctrine Paul may have alluded, when he asked
'
'Who shall descend into the deep? That is, to
bring up Christ again from the dead?'' [Romans,
10. 7.]
The prevailing view of the resurrection, however,
as taught by the earlier fathers, is well explained by
Neander, the celebrated church historian. He
quotes from Origen, who distinguished ''from the
mutable phenomenal form, the proper essence lying
at the foundation of the body, which remains the
same through all the changes of earthly life, and
which, moreover, is not destroyed at death. This
proper essence, lying at the foundation of the body,
would, by the operation of the divine power, be
awakened to a nobler form, corresponding to the
ennobled character of the soul so that as the soul ;

had communicated its own peculiar stamp to the

body, it would then communicate the same to the

transfigured body
. '

(i.) Neander's Christian Hist. vol. 2, p. 436.

 ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 423

The spiritualism of the first century was des-

tined to be obscured, after the death of its most
illustrious advocates, Paul and Clement. The
Christians of the second century required a grosser
form of doctrine.
Justin Martyr argued for a resurrection of the
^
flesh.

So Athenagoras, in his Treatise on the Resur-

rection, maintained that every particle of matter
which constitutes the human body, would be
brought back to its proper place, and thought it a
reflection on the power of God, to object that the
same particles of matter enter into the composition
of different bodies.

Tertullian thought the dead would be raised with

a material body, and afterward, the bodies would
be changed. A
real fleshly body was to be repro-
duced, and when Christ should appear, it was to be
caught up into the air, and then the material body
would be changed into a spiritual body.^
Irenseus maintains the identity of the future with
the present body.
In the midst of all this materialism, however,
Clement of Alexandria and Origen maintained the
spiritualistic views of Paul and Clement of Rome.

In the construction of the canonical gospels, the

materialistic side prevailed. We there find the
resurrection of a material body, which required the

(i.) Works of Justin, Ante-Nicene, vol. 2, p. 345.

(2.) Tertul. adv. Marcion, bk. 5, ch. 20.

424 FIFTH PERIOD A. D. 170 TO A D. 185.

stone to be rolled away from before the sepulcher.

Divinity of Christ.

Paul, though drawing a broad distinction be-

tween God and Jesus Christ through all his epis-
tles,repeatedly designating the latter as a man, ^of ^

the seed of David, ^' at the same time, in other pas-

sages, [Philippians, 2. 5, 6 2d Cor. 5. 19, etc.],
;

used language capable of another construction and ;

from which was drawn a doctrine, which, by suc-

cessive steps, ended in the complete deification of
Christ, as an essential part of a Triune God.

The Jewish Christians and many of the Gen-

maintained that Jesus was a man
tiles, steadily
only, born in the ordinary course of generation.
To which the Gnostics added, that Christ, as an
86on or divine spirit, entered into him at the time
of his baptism ; from which time he was divinely
inspired.

Among the mass of Gentile Christians, however,

the tendency to deify their great teacher and exem-
plar was early manifested, and rapidly gained in
strength and power.

This tendency can be traced among all the ortho-

dox fathers. Ignatius speaks of him as Jesus ^
^

Christ, our God ;^' and similar expressions are to

be found in other early Christian writers.
The testimony of Pliny is, that the Christians
were accustomed to meet before daybreak, and sing
a responsive hymn, (^'carmen dicere secum in-
 ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 425

vicem"), to Christ as to God. (''Christo quasi

Deo.")'
Whether, in so doing, they were not giving coun-
tenance to polytheism, the Christians of that day
did not stop to inquire. They were too enthusiastic
in the new religion to formulate scientific creeds,
or to take time to establish consistency of doc-
trine .

Justin Martyr was the first who undertook to give a definite shape
to the doctrine. He
maintained that the God of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, who appeared to Moses in the flaming bush, was the Word, or
Christ, who, he says, was also called angel and apostle. While he was
God, he was entirely distinct from God the Father, in every respect,
except that he was begotten or produced from him, by emanation, as
a ray of light proceeds from the sun.2
He is very emphatic in maintaining that Christ is really different
from the Father.
"This rational power," he says, "is not, like the light of the sun,
merely nominally different [from the Father], but really another,
numerically." {Alia kai arithmo Tieteron ti esti.) [Dialogue with —
Trypho, chs. 128, 129.
This he illustrates by fire kindled from a fire; "which," says he, "we
see to be distinct from it." 3

He repeatedly speaks of Christ as God, but so far from asserting his

identity with the Father, either in person or essence, he says:

"They who aflirm that the Son is the Father, are proved neither to
have become acquainted with the Father, nor to know that the
Father of the Universe has a Son."— [1st Apology, ch. 63.
In the same passage, he asserts the divinity of Christ, and says he
was the first-begotten Word of God.

Not only does Justin deny the identity of the Son with the Father,
but he is equally explicit in excluding the idea of equality between
them. Speaking of the Son, he says:
"We esteem him in the second place, {chora,)" "For they pro-

(i.) Ep. 10. 97.

(2.) ist Apology, chs. 13, 63; Dialogue with Trypho, chs, 113, 128, 129, etc.

(3.) Dialogue, ch. 128.

426 FIFTH PERIOD A. D. 170 TO A D. 185.

claim," says he, "our madness to consist in this; that we give to a

crucifiedman, a place second to the unchangeable and eternal God,
the Creator of all." —[1st Apology, ch. 13.

The tendency to polytheism, which naturally resulted from an at-

tempt to deify Christ, had thus culminated in Justin Martyr. Here
were two Gods, the one entirely distinct from, and subordinate to the
other. A reaction followed, which resulted in the doctrine of the
Trinity. The divinity of Christ could not be abandoned. It had
taken too firm a hold upon the hearts of the multitude of his disci-
ples. It must now be reconciled with monotheism. This required
that the Son should, in some way, be identified with the Father. The
object was accomplished through the growth and development of the
doctrine of the Logos. In the writings of Philo, in the first century,
the doctrine of the Word, as the only begotten Son of the Father,
existing with Him, as the creative power, was fully taught and elab-
orated. But Philo, a Jew, knew nothing of Jesus Christ, as the
Word.
Justin Martyr applied this doctrine to Christ, who then became, to
the Christian, the Logos so much dwelt upon by Philo. But Justin
did not, as we have seen, identify the Son, or the Word, with the
Father. It was for the author of the Gospel of John, a quarter of a
century later, boldly to announce, without qualification, that "In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God."
This was the culmination of the doctrine of the Logos, and at the
same time, the foundation of the Trinity. The disposition to deify
Christ, had been gaining ground for nearly a century, and had finally
prevailed, without overthrowing monotheism, which was an essential
part of the Christian system.

No wonder that a gospel which thus so distinctly struck, for the first
time, the key note of that grand anthem which was already in the
hearts of multitudes, waiting only for expression, should at once be-
come popular— should be received as canonical— should take its place
among the gospels which had already been selected— that it should be
ascribed to an apostle, and should maintain its ground, without any
examination as to its authenticity, as an apostolic production.

The Trinity.

A solid foundation for the doctrine of the Trinity-

having thus been laid, the completion of the
structure was the work of the next century and a
 ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 427

half. The doctrine was scientifically formulated at

the Council of Nice, A. D. 325.
From what has been said, it will be seen that it

was not a belief of the first two centuries. Those

who would trace the doctrine to that age, refer to
the formula of baptism, in the name of the Father,
Son and Holy Those who used this formula,
Spirit.
however, did so without any adequate conception
of the doctrine of the Trinity, so far as we have any
evidence from the writings of the Ante-Nicene
fathers. Dr. Shedd, speaking of the formulas em-
ployed in the so-called Apostles' Creed, says
"This is as definite a statement of the doctrine of the Trinity as
was made in any public document, previous to those Sabellian and
Arian controversies which resulted in the more exhaustive and tech-
Nicene symbols."— [History of Christian Doc-
nical definitions of the
trine,by William G. T. Shedd, D. D., Prof, of Bib. Lit. in Union
Theological Seminary, N. Y., 1871, vol. 1, p. 262.

Again :

"Those of the primitive fathers who speculated at all upon the

Trinity, confined their reflections mostly to the relations of the
first and second persons." —[Ibid, vol. 1, p. 268.

Origen speaks of the Trinity, in de Principiis,

bk. 4, 1. 30, according to the Latin of Rufinus,
which is not very reliable.
Natuee of THE Soul.
Tertullian held that both body and soul are
propagated.
"The soul of a man," he says, "like the root of a tree, is drawn out,
(deducta) into a physical progeny, from Adam, the parent stock."
[De Anima, ch. 19.

And again, "Both substances, (bodyand soul), are conceived, fin-

ished, and perfected together."— [De Anima, ch. 27.
 ^ :

428 FIFTH PERIOD A. D. 170 tO A. D. 185.

In the third century, Origen advocated pre-

existence.^

Immortality of the Soul.

The doctrine of the immortality of the soul does
not appear to have been generally held at that
time.
"The soul is not in itself immortal, O Greeks," says Tatian, "but
mortal. If, indeed, it knows not the truth, it dies, and is dissolved
with the body, but rises again at last, at the end of the world, with
the body, receiving death by punishment in immortality."—[Address
to the Greeks, bk. 1, ch. 13.

Similar views were held by Theophilus of

Antioch, who says
"Neither immortal, nor yet mortal did he make him, but capable of
both."—[Ad Autolycum, bk. 2, ch. 27.

The nature of the soul, as explained by Tertullian,

has been seen to be entirely inconsistent with its
immortality.
Free Will and Predestination.
Justin Martyr argued in favor of the freedom of
the will, and against predestination.^

The Alexandrian fathers, while they conceded the

apostacy, held that the human will has a plenary
power of good action and is able to turn by its own
,

inherent power.

Clement of Alexandria asserts that to believe or

disbelieve, is as much at the command of the will,

(I.) De Princip. 4. i, 16; Ibid. 2. 9, 3. 5; Contra Celsum, 4. 39.

(2.) 1st Apology, 43, 10.

(3.) "autexousion."
 OKIGIN AND HISTOKY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 429

as to philosophize or not to philosophize ; that the

first act in regeneration proceeds from man.
The Atonement.
Dr. Priestley, in his work on the corruptions of
Christianity, claims that the atonement is not
taught in the New Testament. The statement, as
applied to the doctrine in its theological sense, may
be technically correct. see how it
But we do not
can be denied, that Paul preached, in general terms,
a doctrine of atonement.
The earlier fathers generally followed the language
of Paul, without attempting any definite statement
of the doctrine. They do not appear to connect it
with original sin or total depravity.

*! For our sins," says Polycarp, "he has even taken death upon him-
self."— [Epist. to the Philippians.

Basilides maintains that penal suffering, or suf-

fering for the purposes of justice, of necessity im-
plies personal criminality in the sufferer, and there-
fore cannot be endured by an innocent person like
Christ.

According to Marcion, the suffering was not real

it was only apparent.
Clement of Rome speaks of the blood of Christ,
shed for our salvation, and of being justified by
faith.'

"There was," says Dr. Shedd, "no scientific construction of the doc-
trine of the atonement, in the writings of the apostolic fathers."
[History of Doct. vol. 2, p. 208.

(i.) Epistle to the Corinthians, 7. 32.

 . '

430 FIFTH PERIOD A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

Clement of Alexandria and Origen held qualified

views in regard to the atonement.

was a favorite view with Ignatius, that the

It
death of Christ brings the human soul into com-
munion with him.
Original Sin.
Wiggers says :

"All or at least the greater part, of the fathers of the Greek Church
before Augustine, denied any real, original sin."— [Augustinism and
Pelagianism, p. 43, Emerson's Translation.

This doctrine had a gradual growth, and was

fully developed by Augustine, A. D. 420.

The maxim of TertuUian was, '^Tradux animse,

tradux peccati.'^ '^The propagation of the soul is
. '
the propagation of sin

Dr. Shedd says, no controversy arose respecting

original sin and regenerating grace, until the fifth
century.

Inherited guilt was first distinctly announced by

Augustine
Eternal Punishment,
Was taught by Justin Martyr, and some others of
the second century.

'^We believe," says Justin, *'that those who live

wickedly, and do not repent, are punished in ever-
""
lasting fire."

(i.) History of Doctrines, vol. 2, "Anthropology."

(2.) ist Apology, ch. 21.

 ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 431

The eternal duration of future punishment was

denied by Origen and Clement of Alexandria.

"The good God," says Clement, "corrects for these three causes:
he who is corrected may become
First, that better than his former
self; then,that those who are capable of being saved by examples,
may be driven back, being admonished: and thirdly, that he who is
injured, may not readily be despised, and be apt to receive injury,"
[Stromata, bk. 4, ch. 24.

Origen beheved in the final restoration of the

whole human race.
The Intermediate State.

Justin Martyr represents the souls of the right-

eous as taking up a temporary abode in a happy,
and those of the wicked, in a wretched place and ;

stigmatizes as heretical the doctrine that souls are

immediately received into heaven at death.'

TertuUian held that martyrs went at once to the

abode of the blessed, but that this was a privilege
peculiar to them, and not granted to other Christ-
ians.^

Providence .

Neander considers that the doctrine of provi-

dence, as now held throughout Christendom, is
peculiarly new.^

We look in vain for any distinct statement of

the doctrine, in the words of the Ante-Nicene
fathers.

(i.) Dialogue with Trypho, S. 8o.

(2.) De Aniraa, 55; De Resur. 43.

(3,) Hist, of Doct. vol. I, p. 123.

432 fifth period a. d. 170 to a. d. 185.

Creation out of Nothing.

This was held by some of the fathers. It is dis-
tinctlyannounced in the Shepherd of Hermas the ;

author of which speaks of God, Vho brought aE *

things into being out of nothing. '' ^

Inspiration.

There was at this time, says Neander, **no coher-

^
ent and systematic doctrine of inspiration.^'
The Old Testament was held to be inspired, and
inspired men were spoken of, under the new dis-
pensation.
Hagenbach says, that Irenaeus first taught the
doctrine of inspiration, as connected with New
Testament books ; and cites Irenaeus against Her-
esies, 3. 16. 2.

MiLLENARIANISM.
Barnabas, Hermas and Papias were millenarians.
So also were Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Tertul-
lian.3

Justin not only held to the doctrine, but he de-

clared it the belief of all but the Gnostics.^
The Sabbath.
The Jewish Christians insisted upon maintain-
ing the Jewish institutions, particularly, circumcis-
ion and the sabbath.
(i.) Commandment, i.

(2.) Hist, of Doctrines, vol. i, p. 90.

(3.) Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho; Irenaeus, adv. Haer. 5. 25. 36; Tert. adv^
Mar. 3. 24.

(4.) Dialogue with Trypho.

 ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 433

Paul protested against it, and urged that the

Christians were freed from those observances. He
cautioned them against permitting any man to
judge them in respect of the sabbath. — [Colossians^
2. 16.]

There is no scriptural evidence of the transfer of

the Jewish sabbath to the first day of the week.
On that day, Christians met, to commemorate
the resurrection of Christ.

Baptism.

Peculiar efficacy was attached to this rite, by the

early Christians.

That the form of baptism was by immersion, or

at leastby a washing of the whole body, must be
the conclusion from an impartial examination of
the writings of the Ante-Nicene fathers.
The constitution of the church of Alexandria,
which thought to have been established about
is

the year 200, required the applicant for baptism to

be divested of clothing, and after the ordinance
had been administered, to be anointed with oil.
(See ch. 2 of this work.)
Justin Martyr speaks of the laver, and of baptism
as a washing.'

When the mother of Clement was converted, she

was baptized in the sea.^

Nothing is heard of infant baptism before Ire-

(i,) ist Apology, ch. 65. He speaks of the ceremony "in the water."— Ch, 6i.

(2.) Recognitions, bk. 7, ch. 38.

 :

434 FIFTH PERIOD — A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

nseus. He is supposed to refer to it in the chapter

on the ministry of Christ, which is quoted at length,
in another part of this volume.

Transubstantiation .

This doctrine is expressly sanctioned by Justin

Martyr, who says

'
"So likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by
the prayer of his word, and from which our flesh and blood by trans-
mutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was
made flesh."— [1st Apology, ch. 66.

The doctrine is apparently sanctioned, also, in

the Epistle to the Smyrnseans, incorrectly attrib-
uted to Ignatius, and in other early writings of the
church.

Religious Intolerance.

Tertullian did not admit the right of the heretics

to use the scriptures :

"We oppose to them," he says, "this step above all others, of not ad-
mitting them to any discussion of the scriptures. If in these lie their
resources, it ought to be clearly seen to whom belongs possession of
the scriptures, that none may be admitted to the use thereof, who has
no title at all to the privilege."— [Prescription against Heretics, ch.15.

Secret Doctrines and Ceremonies.

There were exoteric and esoteric doctrines. The
esoteric were taught only to members of the church.
The instruction in these may have been what is
meant by the initiatory proceedings occasionally
spoken of in the writings of the early Christians.
In the 38th chapter of the 7th book of the Rec-
 ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 435

ognitions, a work written in the second or third

century, it is stated of the mother of Clement, who
had been converted,
"She was then baptized in the sea, and returning to the lodging, was
initiated in all the mysteries of religion in their order."— [Ante-Nicene
Ch. Lib. vol. 3, p. 358.

The secret character of some of the proceedings

among the early Christians, is alluded to by Dr.
Doellinger in the following terms :

"The vail of mystery in which the Christians shrouded their assem-

blies for divine service from the beginning, fostered the suspicion
of indulging in a criminal secret worship."— [First Age of the Church,
p. 100.

The mysteries of the church must be disting-

uished from the mere secrecy of their meetings,
which was a necessity in times of persecution.
The esoteric and exoteric doctrines are alluded to
by Origen who says
, :

"To the carnal they taught the gospel in a literal way; preaching
Jesus Christ, and him crucified. But to persons farther advanced,
and burning witn love for divine, celestial wisdom, they communi-
cated the Logos."— [Origen, Pref. to Comm. on John, Opera, vol.
2, p. 255.

Whether there were other secrecies than those of

doctrine, is uncertain.

Doctrine of the Messiah.

That Christ was the Messiah whose advent had
been predicted by the prophets was believed by all,

the fathers, and is a doctrine too well understood

to require further comment.
436 fifth period —a. d. 170 to a. d. 185.
Antiquity of Christian Doctrines.
Many of the more prominent doctrines of the
Christian religion prevailed among nations of an-
tiquity, hundreds, and, in some instances, thou-
sands of years before Christ.

The doctrine of a miraculous Conception was common in ancient

times. The story of Chrishna has already been given. Zoroaster
also was believed to have been immaculately conceived by a ray
from the Divine Reason. Mars was conceived by Juno touching
a flower, and she conceived Vulcan by being overshadowed by the
wind. An ancient work entitled Codex Vaticanus, gives an account
of the immaculate conception of Quexalcote, the Mexican Savior.
One of the sects in China worshiped a savior named Xaca, who was
conceived by his mother, in her sleep, seeing a white elephant.^ Ya,
the first Chinese monarch, was conceived by his mother being struck
with a star while traveling.2 Another legend is that Yu, (probably
the same as Ya), was conceived from a water-lily. Many cases might
be mentioned of mortals who had an immaculate conception. Plato,
Pythagoras, Tamerlane, Gengis Khan, Apollonius of Tyana and
Augustus Caesar, were all supposed to have been the product of im-
maculate conceptions.
Stars also presaged the birth of several of them.

At the birth of Confucius, five wise men from a distance came to

the house, celestial music filled the air, and angels attended the
scene. 3

The title of Son of God was very common among the ancients,
and at the commencement of the Christian era. St. Basil says,
"Every uncommonly good man was called the Son of God."
When Apollonius, standing before Domitian, was asked, why men
called him a god, his reply was, "Every good man is entitled to that
appellation."An answer* which Dr. Albert K^ville, a theologian of
Rotterdam, thought might throw a bright light upon the divinity of
Christ. 4

Miracles.— The belief in miracles has been common in all ages of

the world.From the time of Uranus, father of the gods, down

(i.) History of China, by Alvarez Semedo, p. 89.

(2.) History of the Rajahs, by Col. Tod, p. 57.

(3.) See the Five Volumes.

(4.) See chapter of this work entitled "Apollonius."
 ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 437
through all the ages, the world has been filled with wonders. Escu-
Japius raised Hippolytus from the dead— Hercules rescued Alcestis
from the very hand of death— Actseon was changed to a stag— the
walls of Thebes builded themselves to the music of the flute, while
those of Jericho fell before the blasts of the priests of Israel. The
daughters of Anius the high priest, changed everything they chose
into corn, oil and wine, and the hair of Berenice was changed to a
constellation of stars. Meanwhile, Prometheus lay bound on Mt.
Caucasus, the vultures devouring his vitals, which grew as fast as
eaten.

The heavens were full of gods, and earth, air and sea swarmed
with myriads of angels, spirits and demons.

—
Resurrection. Many cases of resurrection from the dead, are
handed down in the ancient mythologies. Mithras, the "Mediator" of
Persia, is said to have risen after three days, i So also, Quexalcote,
of Mexico, Osiris of Egypt, and others.

Some of these, after their resurrection, ascended into heaven.

Chrishna, after rising from the dead, and appearing to his disciples,
ascended to Brahma, in heaven.

The Atonement.— This doctrine has in some form pervaded the

religion of all countries. Offerings of propitiation, to appease the
wrath of an offended God, or to satisfy the demands of justice, have
been common in every period of the world. Sometimes they have
consisted of fruits of the earth; at other times, of animals and men.
As nations have advanced in civilization, the offerings have become
less bloody in their character. In the Sandwich Islands, anciently,
human beings were thrown as a sacrifice into the crater of Kileaua,
the great volcano. Afterward animals were substituted, and finally
products of the earth. The propitiary system of the Jews is well
known. This is considered by Paul as a type of the higher Christian
system.

The Trinity was an essential feature in the religion of many

oriental nations. The Holy Ghost was the third member, under vari-
ous appellations. In the Hindu trinity, it was Siva the other members
;

of the trinity being Brahma and Vishnu.

Mr. Maurice says, this notion of a third person in the deity, was
diffused among all the nations of the earth. 2 Mr. Worsley considers
the doctrine one "of very great antiquity, and generally received by

(I.) Pitrat, p. 105.

(2.) Ind. Antiq. vol. 4, p. 247.

438 FIFTH PERIOD A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

the Gothic and Celtic Nations." i In the Hindu system, this third
person was the Holy Breath, by which living creatures were made. 2
The Holy Ghost became visible in the form of a dove, a tongue of
fire, etc.

The Holy Ghost was sometimes the agent in immaculate concep-

tions. In the Mexican trinity, Y Zona was the Father, Bascal the
Word, and Echvah the Holy Ghost, by the last of whom Chimalman
conceived and brought forth Quexalcote. 3 When Sesostris invoked
the oracle, to know who, before him, could subjugate all things, the
answer was, " First God, then the Word, and with them the Spirit." 4
Plutarch, in his 'Life of Numa', shows thac the incarnation of the
Holy Spirit was known to the ancient Egyptians.
The doctrine of the Word, as the creative power, is also very
ancient. The Chinese Bible states that "God pronounced the prime-
val Word, and his own eternal and glorious abode sprang into exis-
tence." According to the Zend-Avesta, it was by the Word, more
ancient than the world, that Ormuzd created the universe. The
ancient Greek writer, Amelias, speaking of the god Mercury, says,
"And this plainly was the Logos, by whom all things were made."
Plato taught a trinity of the soul, in which it is easy to see analo-
gies,pointing to a higher form of the doctrine.

It is said there was an ancient Greek inscription on the great obelisk

at Rome; thus: 1.The Mighty God; 2. The Begotten of God; and 3.
Apollo the Spirit.

—
Confession and Remission of Sins. These doctrines prevailed
anciently in India; also among the ancient Persians, and Parsees. 5
In China, the invocation of Omito was held to remit the punishment
of the greatest crimes. 6

The doctrines of Original Sin, Fall of Man, and Endless

Punishment, are all found in the religious systems of several ancient
nations.

Sprinkling with water was a religious ceremony of much anti-

quity. 7 This may in some degree account for the change of the form

(i.) Enquiry, p. 42.

(2.) M. Dubois, p. 293.

{3.) Mexican Antiq. vol. 6, p. 1650.

(4.) Nimrod, vol. i, p. 119.

(5.) Volney, p, 211.

(6.) Rev. Mr. Pitrat, p. 232.

(7.J See Potter's Antiquities, and Herbert's Travels.

 OEIGIN AND HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. 439
of Christian baptism from immersion to sprinkling. The practice
prevailed among the ancient Romans, i

The Sacrament or Eucharist has also an ancient original.

It was practiced by the Brahmins of and was introduced into
India,
the mysteries of Mithras. It prevailed, also, among the ancient
Mexicans. 2
The Golden Rule was taught hundreds of years before Christ,
by Confucius, Aristotle, and many others. 3

(i.) Consult the writings of Virgil, Cicero and others.

(2.) Travels of Father Acosta; Memoirs of Mr. Marolles, p. 215.

(3.) Those v/ho may wish pursue this subject further, will find a mass of useful
to
facts in the " Anacalypsis" of Godfrey Higgins; a rare work, in the preparation of which
he was employed for twenty years; and from which some of the foregoing references,
concerning the antiquity of prominent features of the Christian system, have been
taken. Consult also, ''The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors, or Christianity before
Christ;" by Kersey Graves, of Richmond, Indiana; an able and interesting work, con-
taining a fund of very valuable information.
 — —

CHAPTER XXXIV.

Christian Writers of the fifth Period.

—
Maeous Aristo of Pella DioNTSius OP Corinth — —
MiLTIADES MaXIMUS PiNYTUS —
MODESTAS MUSANUS — —
Church of Vienne and Lyons Florinus Blastus Mel- — — —
—
ITO OF Sardis Athenagoras Claudius Apollinaris — —
Theophilus of Antioch— Bardesanes— Hermogenes— Bao-
—
chylus of Corinth Pant^nus Maroia Hegesippus. — —
Marcus. —About A. D. 170.
Marcus was a native of Palestine, and a disciple of
Valentinus. ^^Valentinianism,'' says Baring-Gould,
*
'assumed two forms; broke into two sects ; the
Marcosians and the Ophites."'
Marcus was considered a The most that heretic.
has been preserved concerning him, comes through
Irenseus, who treats of him and his followers, in
the work on Heresies, as follows :

"But there is another among these heretics, Marcus by name, who

boasts of himself as having improved upon his master. [Valentinus.]

(i.) Lost and Hostile Gospels, p. 287.

 MARCUS. 441
He is a perfect adept in magical impostures, and by this means draw-
ing away a great number of men, and not a few women, he has in-
duced them to join themselves to him, as to one who is possessed
of the greatest knowledge and perfection, and who has received the
highest power from the invisible and ineffable regions above. Thus
it appears as if he were really the precursor of Anti-Christ."

After describing some of the magical proceedings

of Marcus, he continues :

"Again, handing mixed cups to the women, he bids them consecrate

these in his presence."

Stating that, after the consecration of the cups,

Marcus would fill larger cups from the smaller ones,
Irenseus proceeds as follows :

"It appears probable enough, that this man possesses a demon as

by means of which he seems able to prophesy, and
his familiar spirit,
also enables as many as he counts worthy to be partakers of his Charis,
themselves to prophesy.

"He devotes himself especially to women, and those such as are

well bred, and elegantly attired, and of great wealth; whom he fre-
quently seeks to draw after him, by addressing them in such seductive
words as these: " [Here giving what purports to be an address of Mar-
cus to the women, exhorting them to receive Charis, or the spirit of
prophecy.] The effect of this speech, he says, is, that the woman,
"vainly puffed up and elated by these words, and greatly excited in
soul by the expectation that it is herself who is to prophesy, her heart
beating violently, [from emotion], reaches the requisite pitch of
audacity, and idly as well as impudently utters some nonsense as it
happens to occur to her, such as might be expected from one heated
by an empty spirit."

Our author does not hesitate to add, that the wo-

man, deeming herself a prophetess, out of gratitude
to Marcus, rewards him, not only by large posses-
sions, but by yielding up to him her person.'

(i.) Irenseus, adv. Hser. bk. i, 13.

442 FIFTH PERIOD A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

Aristo of Pella. —A. D. 175.

The Dialogue between Jason and Papiscus, has

been attributed to Aristo. Westcott thinks it un-
certain whether he was the author. The same
writer adds that the words of the Dialogue do not
prove anything as to the existence of a New Testa-
ment canon.'
Of the Apology which Aristo is said to have de-
livered to Hadrian,^ nothing is known.
In the 22d volume of the Ante-Nicene Collection,
are five small fragments attributed to Aristo. Four
of these are from the Dispute between Jason and
Papiscus, cited by Jerome and others. The other
is from Eusebius.

DioNYSius OF Corinth. —A. D. 175.

Some fragments from this writer are supposed to
have been preserved by Eusebius, who, in his Eccle-
siastical History, gives what purport to be extracts
from his writings.
There has been some controversy over certain
passages which Canon Westcott supposes to refer to
the New Testament his conclusions being strongly
;

attacked by the author of Supernatural Religion.

It is not necessary to notice the discussion further ;

since any fragments which appear only in Eusebius,

are absolutely unreliable.

This is the writer whom Eusebius cites in refer-

ence to the teaching and martyrdom of Paul and

(i.) Canon, pp. 84, 85.

(2.) Chron. Pasc. 477, of Routh, p. 104.

 MODESTAS —MUSANUS. 443

Peter. After giving an alleged quotation from

Caius, a writer whose works are lost, Eusebius says
he ^'superadds'' the testimony of Dionysius, in or-
der that the truth of his history may be still more
confirmed.'

MiLTiADES Maximus —PiNYTus.—About A. D. 175.

But little is known of these writers. Maximus
was Bishop of Jerusalem. He is probably the one
referred to by Eusebius,^ who says he wrote on the
origin of evil, and on the creation of matter.

The same writer refers thus to Pinytus :

Referring to the writings of Dionysius of Corinth, he speaks of an

epistle to the Gnossians, in which Dionysius "admonishes Pinytus,
not to impose upon the brethren without necessity, a burden in re-
gard to purity, too great to be borne; 'but to pay regard to the infirm-
ity of the great mass.' Pinytus, in reply, admires and applauds Dion-
ysius, but exhorts him, at the same time, to impart, some time or
other, stronger food, and to feed the people under him with writings
abounding in more perfect doctrine, when he wrote again," etc.
[Ecclesiastical History, 4. 23.

MoDESTAS —MuSANUS. —A. D. 176.

These writers are mentioned by Dr. Lardner,^ as
writers of the second century,whose works are lost.

Churches of Vienne and Lyons. —A. D. 177.

An have been written by these,
epistle is said to
to certain eastern churches, and the extracts from
it occupy a prominent place in ecclesiastical history.

The information comes through Eusebius. The

(i.) Ecclesiastical Hist. 2. 25.

(2.) Ibid. 5. 27.

<3.) Lard. Works, vol. i, p. 436.

444 FIFTH PERIOD A. D. 170 tO A. D. 185.

epistle is supposed to contain references to the

Protevangelion Gospel.

Florinus —Blastus. — ^A. D. 177.

Florinus was a presbyter of the Roman Church.
Was ejected for heresy. He maintained that God
was the author of evil. Blastus was of the same
school.

Melito of Sardis. —A. D. 177.

It is supposed that some fragments of the lost
writings of Melito, have been preserved in the
Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius.' In these, some
have found, as they have supposed, allusions to
the New Testament writings. The inference is by
others denied. Michaelis was inclined to the opin-
ion, also, that Melito had testified to the existence
of a Syriac version. But Bishop Marsh shows that
the inference of Michaelis was illogical and unau-
thorized.^ The fact is, we have not sufficient
evidence as to what Melito wrote.
Some Syriac writings have appeared under the
name of Melito, but they are not considered genu-
ine. His Discourse, or Apology, and some other
supposed fragments, are given in the 22d volume
of Ante-Nicene.

Athenagoras. —A. D. 177.

But little isknown of Athenagoras, beyond the
fact that he was an Athenian philosopher, became
(i.) Ecc. History, 4. 26.

(^.) Marsh's Miehaelis, vol. 2, p. 552.

 ATHENAGORAS. 445

a Christian, and about the date above mentioned,

is reputed to have presented to the Emperors
Marcus Aurelius and Commodus an apology for
Christians, which is still extant. A Treatise on
the Resurrection is also attributed to him.

In his Apology, Athenagoras has been supposed

to refer to some of the canonical gospels but ;

nothing definite can be determined in regard to it.

We may safely accept the conclusion of Dr.
Donaldson, expressed as follows :

"Athenagoras makes no allusion to the inspiration of the New

Testament writers. He does not mention one of them by name, and
one cannot be sure that he quotes from any except Paul. All the
passages taken from the gospels, are part of our Lord's discourses,
^nd may have come down to Athenagoras by tradition." [Hist. Ch. —
Lit. and Doct. 3. p. 172.

The passages referred to differ also from those in

the canonical gospels, and may have exactly
corresponded with older gospels then extant.
The Athenagoras nowhere mentions
fact that
either of the four gospels by name becomes the ,

more remarkable when it is considered that he

cites by name, Moses, Jeremiah, Jonah, Thales,
Plato, Homer, Hesiod, Orpheus, Herodotus,
Pythagoras, Euripides, Aristotle, and others.
Though the Gospels of Luke and Mark, and
possibly John, may then have been written, it is

not probable that they were much known, or that

any names of reputed authors were attached to them.
Claudius Apollinaris, —A. D. 178,
Was Bishop of Hierapolis. He is said to have
446 FIFTH PERIOD —A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.
participated in the great paschal controversy. In
an extract purporting to be from a work written
by him on the passover, there is a reference to
what Matthew had said, and, by implication, to
the Gospel of Matthew. The extract is found in
the preface to the Paschal Chronicle, a work of the
seventh century. Its genuineness is, however,
generally discredited. ^ Three fragments are given
in Ante-Nicene, vol. 22.

Theophilus of Antioch. —A. D. 180.

This writer occupies a prominent place in all the
works on the canon. He was Bishop of Antioch.
Of his writings three letters to Autolycus are pre-
served, in one of which the Gospel of John is ex-
pressly mentioned by name ^ though it is not ;

stated it was written by an apostle.

Theophilus is reputed to have written a Com-

mentary on the gospels, which is lost.

Bardesanes— Hermogenes— Bacchylus of Corinth

—
Pant^nus. A. D. 180. —
The works of these writers are lost except a few
fragments. ^^The Discourse on Fate," of Barde-
sanes,is given in Ante-Nicene, vol. 22, pt. 2, p. 85.

Bardesanes was a native of Mesopotamia, and

lived at Edessa. He was a man of learning. ^

Some have attributed to Bardesanes the author-

(i.) Donaldson, Hist. Ch, Lit. and Doct. 3. 247; Lardner, Credibility, etc., vol. 2,
p. 296.

(2.) Ad Autolycum, 2. 22.

(3-) Jerome, in Or. c. 10, p. 301; Augustine, de Civitate Dei, liber 22, c. 24.
 MARCIA. 447

ship of the Recognitions. Eusebius mentions him

in his ecclesiastical History, 20. 30.
Hermogenes ascribed matter to an irregular mo-
'
tion.

Bacchylus of Corinth was zealous in defending

the faith against heretics. He was one of the
bishops who convened local councils, at the request
of Victor of Rome, to settle the paschal contro-
versy.
Pantaenus has been spoken of in connection with
the Gospel of Matthew. ^
Alexandria was the scene of his labors. He pre-
ceded Clement of Alexandria in the presidency of
the catechetic school, or seminary, in that city.
Soon after, he went as missionary to India. He
is said to have been the author of commentaries on

the scriptures.

Marcia.—A. D. 183.

Marcia was a concubine of the Emperor Corn-

modus. Dion Cassius says of her :

"She is had a great affection for the Christians, and

related to have
to have done them many good offices; she having a great ascendency
over Commodus."-'[Hist. 1. 72, p. 819.

Hegesipptjs. —A. D. 185.

Hegesippus was a Jewish Christian of Jerusalem.

He traveled extensively in order to become ac-
quainted with the condition of the church, and

(i.) Lardner, vol, 4, p. 266,

(2.) See chapter XXXI.

448 FIFTH PERIOD—A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

came to Rome during the bishopric of Anicetus^

sometime between the years 160 and 170.
Afterward, about 185, he wrote, it is stated, a
historical work, called ^'Memoirs,'' in five books.
It is said to have been a complete history of Christ-
ianity, down to his own time. It is now lost, ex-
cept a few short fragments, most of them being
only such as Eusebius has thought proper to pre-
serve.

Hegesippus was an Ebionite, and, like the others of that sect, was
violently opposed to Paul. The virulence
of these Christians against
the great apostle of the Gentiles, is well illustrated by a fragment of
Hegesippus, preserved by Gobarus, of the sixth century. Keferring
to the words of Paul, in 1 Cor. 2. 9, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God
hath prepared for them that love him," Hegesippus says:
"These words are vainly spoken, and those who say these things
give the lie to the divine writings, and to the Lord, saying, 'Blessed
—
are your eyes that see, and your ears that hear.' " [Photius, Bib. Cod.
232, col. 893.

This passage, cited by Hegesippus, is supposed to be taken from

the Gospel of the Hebrews, which Eusebius says, Hegesippus used, i
It will be noticed that the passage agrees in sense, while differing in
phraseology, from Matthew.

Hegesippus, though he traveled extensively over the Christian

world, makes no mention of the canonical gospels. Some supposed
quotations from them have given rise to the usual discussion.

(i.) Ecc. Hist. 4. 22.

 CHAPTER XXXV.
REVIEW OF THE FIFTH PERIOD.

Introduction op the Four Gospels and Acts of the

Apostles, preparatory to the Establishment of the
— —
Papacy The Subject involved in Mystery Sources of
—
Information gone Slaughter of the Innocents.

Though we find no mention of the four gospels

during the fifth period, with the single exception of
the Gospel of John, there is reason to believe they
were all written during this time, as a part of the
structure upon which Roman Catholic dominion
was to rest. This relation to Roman Catholicism,
is more particularly to be noticed in the Gospels of
John and Matthew, and the Acts of the Apostles.
The Gospels of Luke and Mark may have been
composed without any special reference to the hie-
rarchy the one to counteract the influence of
;

Marcion and his Gospel, and the other, to preserve,

in a complete and comprehensive form, some of
the older traditions of the church, which had been
in circulation in various forms, particularly in the
Gospel of Peter.
 .

450 FIFTH PERIOD A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

The Gospel of John was adopted, as settling in

beautiful language, and in an acceptable form, the
doctrine of the divinity of Jesus, and as indicating
the unity of the church under Peter. The Gospel
of Matthew, in still more explicit language, laid
the foundations broad and deep, for the establish-
ment of the supremacy of the papal power, on the
authority of Christ as delegated to Peter while the
;

Acts of the Apostles bridged over the differences

which had so long existed between the followers of
Peter and Paul.
While thus much apparent upon the surface,
is
if we attempt to go deeper into the subject, we find
everything involved in mystery.
All the most reliable sources of information are
closed to the researches of the historian. Those
writings of the second century to which he would
naturally turn for information, commentaries and
works written especially concerning the gospels
then in circulation, are lost or destroyed, without a
single exception.
Not one remains to give its testimony on one
side or the other of any controverted question.
Also many books written on the same subject,
during the next two or three hundred years while ;

it is notorious that others, which have been pre-

served, have been tampered with and extensively

interpolated

Loss OR Destruction of Evidence concerning

THE Four Gospels.
The following is some of the evidence of the
 LOSS OR DESTRUCTION OP EVIDENCE. 451

second century, which has disappeared.

1. The Commentaries op Basilides. —A. D. 125.

Basilides is have written a Commentary
said to
on ''the Gospel/' in 24 books. A gospel is also
attributed to him. But the better opinion appears
to be that the Commentaries and the Gospel were
one and the same.
These commentaries must have thrown a flood
of light upon the history of the gospels then in
existence. They would at least disclose the number
and character of the principal ones then in circu-
lation.

2. Agrippa Castor, — ^A. D. 130,

Wrote in refutation of the heresies of Basilides.
This has perished with the commentaries of his
adversary.

3. The Works of Prodicus. —A. D. 120.

The followers of Prodicus boasted of having the
secret books of Zoroaster. His writings would
probably have disclosed the connection between
Persian mythology and the Gospels of the Infancy.

4. Apologies of Quadratus and Aristides.

A. D. 126.
If these had been preserved, we could test the
correctness of the assertion of Eusebius that the
Apology of Quadratus referred to the miracles of
Christ; which, in that case, would be, so far as
known, the first reference to them in history. We
452 FIFTH PEROD — A. D. 170 TO A D. 185.

would know also what is meant by the statement

of the same historian, if there be any truth in it at
all, that Quadratus and others, at that time, de-

livered to those who had not heard the faith, the

books of the holy gospels. We would probably
learn from their writings what gospels were extant
in their day.

5. Aristion, —A. D. 130,

According to Papias, as coming through Euse-

bius, preserved traditions concerning Christ. These
traditions would have thrown much light upon the
gospel history, and upon the earlier gospels.

6. John the Presbyter. —A. D. 130.

John, like Aristion, appears in Eusebius as one
of the informants of Papias, particularly concern-
ing certain writings composed by Mark and Mat-
thew ;information which was long supposed to re-
late to the gospels bearing those names. It is now
thought they cannot be regarded as referring to any
of the canonical gospels. Had we the original tra-
ditions, or statements, in full, they would at once
settle the question.

7. Cerinthus, —A. D. 145,

Was the reputed author of a gospel. His gospel

and writings are lost or destroyed.

8. Valentinus. —A. D. 150.

Valentinus had a gospel, called ''The Gospel of

Truth.'' Irenagus places it sharply in antagonism
 LOSS OR DESTRUCTION OF EVIDENCE. 453

with the four gospels says they are false, if that

;

of Valentinus was the Gospel of Truth that if they;

are true, Valentinus' was false. As the work of

Irenseus is preserved, and the four gospels, it is
much to be regretted, and must be considered
calamitous to the cause of impartial investigation,
that we have not the Gospel of Valentinus, and his
writings in support of it.

9. Papias,—A. D. 125,

Is said to have written five books, entitled *' Ex-

position of the Oracles of the Lord.'' This must
have been a Commentary on the Oracles, or collec-
tions of the sayings of Christ and would have
;

been invaluable giving those sayings, as they

;

stood early in the second century.

10. The Writings of Marcion.

Pure Christianity has suffered no greater loss
than that of the writings of Marcion, the great
theological thinker of the second century ^the —
—
compiler of the first complete gospel the collector
—
of the epistles of Paul ^the editor and publisher of
the first New Testament.
While the elaborate work against him, written
by Tertullian, who called him a '^hound," has been
preserved, and the work of Epiphanius, who be-
stowed upon him the euphonious appellation of
''beast," the writings of Marcion have perished,
except such as are found in the references and cita-
tions of his adversaries. His works have shared
the common fate of the writings of the heretics of
454 FIFTH PERIOD A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

the second century, none of which, in their original

form, have been permitted to come down to us.

Marcion was an educated man, and a profound

thinker, and no relic of Christian antiquity, next
to the Epistles of Paul, would to-day be more val-
uable than his writings. Being himself a collector
of gospel and New Testament manuscripts, his
writings upon those subjects would forever set at
rest the question as to what gospels were then in
circulation.

11. The Work of Justin Martyr against Her-

esies.

As his Dialogue withTrypho contains an exposi-

tion of the Old Testament, his work against here-
sies would probably have thrown light upon the
gospels in circulation in his day. It would at least
have determined the much controverted question
as to the gospels used by Justin himself.

12. The Writings of Apelles. —A. D. 160.

Apelles was a Gnostic leader who had a gospel
of his own, and whose writings must have referred
to other gospels. His works are lost or destroyed.

13. Peregrinus, —A. D. about 160,

An erratic but talented Christian philosopher,
held, for a time, a commanding position among
the Christians of Palestine. ''Some books" says
Lucian, ''he interpreted and explained others he
,

wrote.'' His writings would constitute an import-

ant chapter in the history of the times. We have
 LOSS OR DESTRUCTION OF EVIDENCE. 455

sketches of the man from Lucian, Ammianus,

Aulus Gellius and others, but his writings have all
perished.

14. Marcellina. —A. D. 160.

It would scarcely be expected that the heretical

writings of a woman would be preserved, amid
such wholesale slaughter of the obnoxious works
of the opposite sex. The writings of Marcellina
have perished.

15. MoNTANus. —A. D. 170.

Much has been said about Montanism, but we
have only such extracts from the works of its
founder as his adversaries have chosen to preserve.

16. The Writings of Tatian. —A. D. 170.

Tatian wrote, it is said, a Harmony of the gos-

pels. Though it is quite evident that he made use
of the Gospel of the Hebrews, and his work was
even known by some under that name, an attempt
has been made to connect his Harmony with the
four gospels, on the unsupported and suspicious
testimony of Eusebius. He says it was called the
Diatessaron, which he explains as meaning of or
from the four. If we had the writings of Tatian
himself or his Harmony, the question could
speedily be determined.

17. Marcus,—about A. D. 170,

Had, according to Irenseus, an innumerable mul-

titude of apocryphal writings. He probably wrote
 : :

456 FIFTH PEEIOD — A. D. 170 tO A. D. 185.

and of their origin.

in explanation of these books,
Both the books themselves, with a few exceptions,
and whatever he may have written concerning
them, have perished.

18. Pant^nus.—A. D. 180.

While it could not be expected that Pantsenus, if

he wrote the Gospel of Matthew, would admit the
fact, yet if we had the account of his travels in
India, and of his discovery there, as claimed, of an
original Gospel of Matthew, we might have at
least some light thrown upon the origin of that
gospel.

19. The Chronicles of Hegesippus. —A. D. 185.

Hegesippus was the church historian. He

first

traveled over nearly allChristendom, for the

express purpose of obtaining information, and
then wrote the history of the church, from the be-
ginning to his own time. This work is lost or
destroyed. The extent of the loss cannot be over-
estimated.
Eusebius was the next historian, writing 140
years afterward.
He had the history of Hegesippus before him.
After referring to the death of James, and the
statement of Clement, that James was thrown from
a wing of the temple, and beaten to death with a
club, he says
Hegesippus, also, who flourished nearest the days of the apostles,
in the fifth book of his Commentaries gives the most accurate account
of him, thus
 LOSS OR DESTRUCTION OF EVIDENCE. 457

Here follows a lengthy account of the death of

James. Eusebius then adds :

"Such is the more ample testimony of Hegesippus, in which ho

fully coincides with Clement."— [Ecc. Hist. bk. 2, 23.

Again, Eusebius gives an account of the grand-

children of Judas, called the Lord's brother, who
were examined before the Emperor Domitian. He
concludes as follows: ^'Such is the statement of
Hegesippus." '
Again, speaking of the martyrdom of Simeon,
second Bishop of Jerusalem, he says

"To this the same Hegesippus bears testimony, whose words we

have already so often quoted."— [Ecc. H. 3. 32.

He then quotes several passages, further, from

the same author. Subsequently, referring to eccle-
siastical writers he says , :

"Among these Hegesippus holds a distinguished rank, many of

whose writings we have already quoted, where we have given some
things as he has delivered them from apostolic tradition. This author
compiled, in five books, the plain tradition of the apostolic doctrine,
in a most simple style of composition, and clearly shows the time in
which he lived, where he writes respecting those who began to erect
idols, etc." Here follows a quotation from Hegesippus, concerning
the erection of cenotaphs, temples, etc.— [Ecc. Hist. 4, 8.

Again in the same book he says :

"Hegesippus, indeed, in the five books of Commentaries that have

come down to us, has left a most complete record of his own views.
In these he states that he conversed with most of the bishops, when
he traveled to Kome, and that he received the same doctrine from
all. We may also add what he says after some observations on the
Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians."

(i.) Ecc. Hist. 3. 20.

 "

458 FIFTH PERIOD A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

He then quotes Hegesippus concerning the

Church of Corinth. '

Continuing, Eusebius speaks of Hegesippus

coming to Eome, and of the Eoman Bishops, Ani-
cetus, Soter and Eleutherus.
" *In every succession, however,' says Hegesippus, 'and in every
city, the doctrine prevails, according to what is declared by the law
and the prophets, and the Lord.'

He then quotes what Hegesippus says concerning

the beginning of heresies, and the ancient heresies
prevalent among the Jews. ^

"He also speaks of many other matters," says Eusebius, "which we

have in part already quoted, and introduced in their appropriate
places. He also states some particulars from the Gospel of the He-
brews, and from the Syriac, and particularly from the Hebrew lan-
guage, showing that he himself was a convert from the Hebrews.
Other matters he also records, as taken from the unwritten tradition
of the Jews. And not only he, but Irenseus also, and the whole body
of the ancients called the Proverbs of Solomon, 'Wisdom,' compre-
hending every virtue. Also in discoursing on the books called apoc-
ryphal, he relates that some of them were forged in his day, by some
of the heretics."— [Ecc. History, 4. 22.

From the foregoing it will be seen how much of

the history of Hegesippus is incorporated into that
of Eusebius. A
few meager items, of compara-
tively no historical value the manner of the ; —
—
death of James an examination of a few individ-
—
uals before Domitian the martyrdom of Simeon
— the worshiping of idols the journey to Rome,—
and a few words concerning the commencement of
heresies.

(i.) Ecc. Hist. 4. 22.

(2.) Ibid.
 LOSS OR DESTRUCTION OF EVIDENCE. 459

Not a word of what was important to be known ;

—of the history of the progress of the church, and

of the doctrines which had prevailed — of the con-
troversies between the Jewish and Gentile Chris-
tians —of the history of Paul and Peter, and of the
founding of the Church of Rome; and above all,
of the history of the gospels and New Testament
books which Hegesippus found in circulation,
showing by whom they were written, and how they
had been preserved.
So far as can be learned, Hegesippus was pro-
foundly silent concerning the four gospels, and
spoke only of the Gospel of the Hebrews.
The History of Hegesippus must have been writ-
ten after the accession of Eleutherus, Bishop of
Rome and probably about A. D. 185. This was,
;

if we have read history aright, in the infancy of

the four gospels. Whether Hegesippus met with
them, and if so, what estimate he formed of them,
in comparison with the Gospel of the Hebrews, is
a question of the utmost importance, but one upon
which Eusebius is silent.
Since Eusebius had the history of Hegesippus in
his possession,why did he not take measures to
have it preserved, or else incorporate into his own
history, the most important portions of it, and
particularly the evidence, if any, in favor of the
four gospels?
According to Eusebius, Hegesippus said, that in
every city, the doctrine prevailed, according to the
law and the prophets, and the Lord, and that he
460 FIFTH PERIOD A. D. 170 TO A. D. 185.

received the same doctrine from all. Eusebius

would have his readers believe, that the doctrine of
a Jewish Christian of the second century, was pre-
cisely the same as that which prevailed in every
city. Again, Eusebius says that Hegesippus de-
rived his information concerning apostolic doctrine
from tradition. Is that consistent with the exist-
ence of gospels, which were everywhere received
in the church as authoritative? Such gospels
would have been superior to, and would have taken
the place of all tradition concerning apostolic doc-
trine.

20. Commentaries of Heracleon. —A. D. 190.

It is claimed that Heracleon wrote Commenta-
ries on Luke and John. Clement of Alexandria
quotes Heracleon in such a way as to indicate that
he had commented on Luke or Marcion, or on
some other gospel containing the sayings of Christ.
The commentaries on John are inferred from some
passages in Origen.
If these commentaries existed, their loss is irre-
parable.

21. The Writings of Serapion. — ^A. D. 190.

These, of which we have but a brief extract in

Eusebius, would have enlightened us further in
regard to the transaction at Rhossus. From Se-
rapion, we could have learned something of the
four gospels which he was substituting in place of
the Gospel of Peter. He could inform us how long
—
the four gospels had been in circulation where he
 LOSS OR DESTRUCTION OP EVIDENCE. 461

—
obtained them what other gospels he had been
obliged to suppress to make way for them, and
whether he was acting under the direction of the
Church of Rome. His writings have perished.

22. Clement of Alexandria,

Is said tohave composed a work, specially upon
the scriptures which were considered authoritative.
Eusebius says, that in the work called Hypoty-
poses, Clement gave abridged accounts of all the
^
canonical scriptures.
This work has perished, while most of the other
more important writings of Clement have been
^
preserved.
This ends the list of works of the second century,
either written expressly concerning the gospels and
New Testament books in circulation at that time,
or which would have thrown more or less light
upon the subject ;
—more than fifty books, by more
than twenty authors.
Nearly every thing written concerning the gos-
pels to the year 325, and
the copies of the gos-all
pels themselves to the same period, are lost or
destroyed.

(i.) Ecclesiastical Hist. 6. 14.

(2.) Besides the Hypotyposes, (Hupotuposeis), consisting of eight books of expo-

sition of scripture, Clement wrote an Ecclesiastical Canon; (Kanon Ekkleesiastikos.)
This also has perished.
 : —

SIXTH PERIOD. —^A. D. 185 TO A. D. 200.

CLOSE OF THE SECOND CENTURY.

CHAPTER XXXVI.
ASTERIUS UrBANUS— CaSSIANUS— HeRAOLEON— MUEATOR-
lAN — —
Fragment Ptolem^us Maximilla Victor Sera- — —
—
pioN, Bishop of Antioch Theodotus oe Byzantium —
Narcissus, Bishop of Jerusalem —
Khodon Palm as — —
POLYCRATES, BiSHOP OF EPHESUS MaXIMUS, BiSHOP OF
Jerusalem — Noetus — Praxeas — Symmachus — Hermas —
Seleucas — PisTis Sophia — Artemon — Second Epistle of
Clement— Julius Africanus.
Asterius Urbanus. —A. D. 188.
Of this writer, but little is known. According
to Cave, he flourished about the year 188.

Oassianus.—A. D. 190.

Julius Cassianus was a writer of the second cen-

tury, who was quoted by Clemens Alexandrinus,
thus
Wherefore Cassianus saith, that when Salome asked (Christ), when
the things should be known, concerning which she enquired, our
Lord answered, "When you shall despise," etc.
 MURATORIAN FRAGMENT. 463

Which, Clement adds, was to be found in the

Gospel according to the Egyptians. From which
to be inferred that Cassianus made use of that
it is

gospel.

Ptolem^us —Heracleon. —A. D. 190.

These were prominent Gnostics.
Ptolemseus wrote a letter to Flora, which occu-
pies a distinguished place in the literary history of
the times.
In this letter, Ptolemy, having commented upon
the ceremonial and typical laws of the Pentateuch,
as having been annulled by the appearing of the
truth, adds

"These things the other disciples of Christ taught, and also the
apostle Paul." After which he tells Flora, that "he will explain to
her the particulars of that doctrine he had just been mentioning, by
the help of tradition received from the apostles, and handed down to
them," But he adds, "All must be tried by, and made to square with,
the doctrine of the Savior himself, which was to be the rule."— [Ap-
pend, ad Iren. pp. 360, 361. Grabe, Spi. Pat. vol. 2, p. 77.

Heracleon is quoted by Clement and Origen, and

is said to have written Commentaries on Luke and
John. This, again, is denied by some critics. Ori-
gen shows that Heracleon made use of the Gospel
of Peter.

The Muratorian Fragment. —About A, D. 190.

Nothing could better illustrate the paucity of ma-
terialsfrom which to make up a correct judgment
concerning the New Testament writings of the

(i.) See Epiphanius, Haer. 30. 3-7.

464 SIXTH PERIOD —A. D. 185 TO A. D. 200

second century than the prominence which has been

given to an anonymous manuscript, discovered in
the last century, by the Italian scholar, Muratori.

This celebrated manuscript was found in the

Ambrosian library at Milan in a manuscript con-
,

taining other writings of little importance.

It speaks of *'the third book of the Gospel accor-

ding to Luke, '^ of *Hhe fourth of the gospels of
—
John, one of the disciples;'' of the Acts of the
Apostles 13 Epistles of Paul, an Epistle to the
;

Laodiceans, and another to the Alexandrians, (sup-

posed to be the Epistle to the Hebrews), ''forged
in the name of Paul, after the heresy of Marcion ;'^
and ''many others which cannot be received by the
Catholic Church, as gall must not be mixed with
vinegar.''

The Epistle of Jude, and the 2d and 3d Epistles

of John, are spoken of doubtfully, as among the
received books. So also the Book of Wisdom. The
Apocalypses of John and Peter were received, but
some objected to reading in the church the Apoca-
lypse of Peter. Special reference is made to the
Pastor of Hermas, the writer thinking it should be
read privately, but not publicly in the church.
It will be seen that the document exhibits a very
confused condition of the canon.

The manuscript was estimated by Muratori him-

self, to be about a thousand years old. It bears
internal evidence of being a transcript of an older
document. How often it has been copied, cannot
 MURATORIAN FRAGMENT. 465

be known nor even in what language it was origin-

,

ally written. It appears in Latin, and the text is

very corrupt.

It is supposed by some to have been written in

the latter part of the second cen^tury the supposi- ;

tion being based, principally, upon the reference to

the Pastor of Hermas. This, it states, '^was com-
posed very recently, in our own times, in the City
of Rome, the Bishop Pius, his brother, sitting in
the chair of the Church of the City of Rome.''
Pius was bishop about the middle of the second
century.

There are eminent critics, however, who hold,

that the original was not written earlier than the
third century. ^ Their opinion is based upon inter-
nal evidence ;
particularly the expression, *^ sitting
^
in the chair of the church.''

The document itself, a production of about the

eighth century, cannot be looked upon as very sat-
isfactory evidence of the condition of the canon in
the second century.

Victor — Serapion, Bishop of Antioch —Maxi-

MILLA. A. D. 190.

We are not aware that any of the writings of

these are extant, except a fragment or two of Se-
rapion. They are given by Eusebius, and relate
to the interdict of the Gospel of Peter, and the

(i.) Donaldson, Hug, Tayler, Eichhorn and others.

(2.) Donaldson, Ch. Lit. and Doct. 3. p. 212.
466 SIXTH PERIOD A. D. 185 TO A. D. 200.

substitution of the canonical gospels, in its stead.

Theodotus of Byzantium. —A. D. 192.

A considerable fragment from this writer, is

given by Clement of Alexandria. Theodotus
taught that Christf was a man only. He used and
cited the Preaching of Peter. He was excommuni-
cated by Victor, Bij.shop of Rome. ^

Rhodon —Narcissus, Bishop of Jerusalem. —

A. D. 195.
There is a fragment in Eusebius, attributed to
Rhodon, in which he vindicates the character of
^
Apelles.

The same historian relates of Narcissus, Bishop

of Jerusalem, that when the oil failed, at the vigils
of the great watch of Easter, Narcissus commanded
that water from a neighboring well should be
poured into the lamps. Whereupon, Narcissus
having prayed over it, the water was changed into
oil; of which, Eusebius says, a specimen had been
preserved until that time. ^

The same writer relates, that three men having

slandered Narcissus, and sworn to their falsehoods,
with imprecations of death upon themselves, by a
miserable disease, by fire, and blindness, respect-
ively, if their statements were not true, in each
case the curse which had been invoked, was in-

(i.) Darras, Hist. Cath. Church, vol. i, p. 163.

(2.) Euseb. Ecc. Hist. 5. 13.

(3.) Ecc. Hist. 6. 9-

 POLYCRATES. 467
flicted upon them by an omnipotent Providence.

PaLMAS PoLYCRATES, BiSHOP OF EPHESUS. A. D.

196.

These bishops were deputed by Victor, Bishop of

Rome, to convene councils, to consider the question
of the celebration of Easter.

Palmas convened the bishops of Pontus, and

The latter
Polycrates those of pro-consular Asia.
refused to endorse the decree of the Italian Council,
which provided that Easter should be celebrated on
Sunday. Thereupon the Asiatic Churches were
excommunicated. ^
Eusebius says, Polycrates wrote a letter to Victor,,
and gives extracts from it. ^

Maximus, Bishop of Jerusalem. —A. D. 200.

According to Eusebius, Maximus wrote on the
origin of evil,and on the creation of matter. ^ A
lengthy extract is given by Eusebius. ^

NoETUs,—A. D. 200.

About this time, the controversy concerning the

nature of Christ, was carried on with much spirit,
by Theodotus, Hermogenes, Noetus, Vero, Beryllus,
and Sabellius on the one side, and Artemon, and
Paul of Samosata, on the other.

I.) Ecc. Hist. 6. g.

2.) See next chapter.

3.) Ecc. Hist. 3. 31, and 5. 24.

4.) Ecc. Hist. 5. 27.

5.) Evangelical Preparation, 7. 22.

468 SIXTH PERIOD A. D. 185 tO A. D. 200.

Noetus was a native of Asia Minor. He main-

tained that Christ was the one God, both Father
and Son. He was excommunicated.
The views of Noetus led to much discussion,
which resulted in the Arian controversy, and the
establishment of the doctrine of the Trinity.

Praxeas —Symmachus—Hermas—Seleucas. —
A. D. 200.
These writers flourished near the close of the
second century. But little is known concerning
them. Seleucas is reputed to have written a num-
ber of the books in circulation in the second cen-
tury, which were afterward pronounced apocryphal.

There is a strange confusion

the fathers among
in regard to his name. He is called Seleucas,
Lucianus, Lucanus, Leucius, Lucian, Leuthon,
Lentitius, and Leontius. Also Leucius Charinus.
It was Seleucas who had published a version of the
Gospel of the Infancy, which rendered it ne-
cessary for Jerome to give the bishops a better
version.^

PiSTis Sophia—A. D. 200.

Thisa religious work, of the close of the sec-

is
ond century, the author of which is unknown.

Second Epistle of Clement. —A. D. 200.

It is supposed to have been written about this
time. The divinity of Jesus, which was not dis-

ci.) See Supposed Gospel of the Birth of Mary.

 ARTEMON. 469

tinctly taught in the earlier Clementines, (but ra-

ther the contrary doctrine), now more clearly
appears.

Artemon —Julius Africanus. —A. D. 200.

But little is known of Artemon, beyond the fact
that he was prominent in the Noetian controversy.

Africanus was the writer cited by Eusebius, in

his forgery upon Thallus.
These names close the list of the more important
Christian writers of the first two centuries, except
the three great fathers, who will be briefly noticed
in the next chapter.
 —

CHAPTER XXXVII.

Iren^us —Clement of Alexandria —Tertullian.

Irenseus in Gaul, Clement in Egypt, and Tertul-

lian in Northern Africa, were the three fathers, by
whose influence the four gospels were introduced
into general circulation, and who laid, broad and
deep, the foundations of Roman Catholic suprem-
acy.

It is not easy to form a just estimate of these

men. That they were so far above the masses in
general intelligence, as to give them an immense
and controlling influence in the church is certain ,
;

while, judged by the standard of more enlight-

ened times, they themselves appear at a disadvan-
tage.

The Rev. Dr. Davidson says of them :

"Irenaeus was credulous and blundering; Tertullian, passionate

and one-sided; and Clement of Alexandria, imbued with the treasures
of Greek wisdom, was mainly occupied with ecclesiastical ethics."
[Davidson, Canon, p. 121.
 THE THKEE FATHERS. 471
Again, "Irenseus argues that the gospels should be four in number,
neither more nor less, because there are four universal winds, and
four quarters of the world.
"Matthew wrote his gospel while Peter and Paul were preaching in
Rome, and founding the church. [Citing Iren. adv. Haer. 3. 1. 1.]

Such assertions show both ignorance and exaggeration.

"Tertullian affirms, that the tradition of the apostolic churches,
guarantees the four gospels, [citing adv. Marc. 4. 5.], and refers his
readers to the churches of Corinth, Philippi, Ephesus, etc., for the
authentic epistles of Paul. [Citing de Praes. Haer. 36.] What is this
but the rhetoric of an enthusiast?
"Clement contradicts himself in making Peter authorize Mark's
Gospel to be read in the churches; while in another place, he says the
apostle 'neither forbade nor encouraged it.' [Citing Clement accord-
ing to Eusebius, Ecc. Hist. 2. 15, and 6. 14.]"— Ibid.

The same writer continues thus:

"The three fachers of whom we are speaking had neither the abil-
ity nor the inclination to examine the genesis of documents sur-
rounded with an apostolic halo. No analysis of their authenticity
and genuineness was seriously attempted. In its absence, custom,
accident, taste, practical needs directed the tendency of tradition.
All the rhetoric employed to throw the value of their testimony as
far back as possible, even up to or very near the apostle John, is of
the vaguest sort. Appeals to the continuity of tradition and of
church doctrine, to the exceptional veneration of these fathers for
the gospels, to their opinions being formed earlier than the composi-
tion of the works in which they are expressed, possess no force.

"The ends which the fathers in question had in view, their polemic
motives, their uncritical, inconsistent assertions, their want of sure
data, detract from their testimony. Their decisions were much more
the result of pious feeling, biased by the theological speculations of
the times, than the conclusions of a sound judgment. The very
arguments they use to establish certain conclusions, show weakness
of perception. What are the manifestations of spiritual feeling,
compared with the results of logical reasoning?"— [Davidson on the
Canon, pp. 123, 124.

One great work was the estab-

of fchese fathers
lishment of the four gospels, which had now ap-
peared, and were being introduced into the churches.

Immediately connected with this was the estab-

472 SIXTH PERIOD A. D. 185 TO A. D. 200.

lishment of the papal power on a definite basis.

Irenseus, in the third book against Heresies,
written about A. D. 190, gave the opinion, that
every church should agree with the Church of
Eome on account of pre-eminent authority. (See
its

next chapter. ) About five years afterward, he was

called upon by the Roman Bishop, Victor, to as-
semble a council of the Bishops of Gaul, to consid-
er the subject of the celebration of Easter the ;

question having already been passed upon by a

council of Italian bishops. Irenseus presided in
the council, and the result of its deliberations was,
the approval of the decree of the Italian council.
Other councils were in like manner held through-
out the Christian world, and the result, with a
single exception, was everywhere the same. The
movement was to furnish a precedent for the juris-
diction of the Church of Rome over all questions
of the kind.

It will be seen in the next chapter, that the views

of TertuUian concerning the pre-eminence of the
Roman Church, were, notwithstanding his differ-
ence with some of the Roman bishops, scarcely less
decided than those of Irenseus.
As to Clement, he is less explicit in the assertion
of any supremacy of the Roman Church but there
;

is little room to doubt that there existed an under-

standing among these fathers, and a concert of ac-
tion, in upholding and establishing at the same
time, the four gospels and the authority of the
Roman Bishop.
 THE THREE FATHERS. 473
iREN-ffiSUS was Bishop of Lyons. He was born, according to Dod-
well, in the year 97. According to Dr. Grabe, A. D. 108; Tillemont,
about 120. Dupin, about 140. The last is probably the nearest cor-
rect.

About the year 178, he was sent by the Church of Lyons, to Eleu-
therus, Bishop ofRome, with an epistle, describing their sufferings
during the persecution under Marcus Aurelius. On his return, he
was elected Bishop of Lyons, in the year 180. He is supposed to
have been martyred about A. D. 202. His martyrdom is denied by
some critics.
Clement or Alexandria was born either at Athens or Alexan-
about the year 160. From 190 to 202, he presided over the cat-
dria,
echetic school at Alexandria. In the latter year, he was compelled
to leave that city, by the persecution under Severus. It is supposed
by some, that he returned A. D. 211. His return is doubted by others.
He died about the year 220.
Tertullian was the first Latin father whose works have been
He was born
preserved. at Carthage, about the middle of the second
century, and lived to a very advanced age.
He was converted about the year 185, and was married the year
afterward. Was admitted to the priesthood in 192; became a Mon-
tanist in 199, and died about 220.

He was a vigorous, and, at times, powerful writer. But his works

abound in looseness of argument, and in whimsical applications of
scripture, such as were common in that day.
 CHAPTER XXXVIII

The Roman Catholic Hierarchy.

It was during the sixth period, that the founda-
tions were laid, of that great ecclesiastical power,
which dominated the Christian world for thirteen
hundred years, and whose supremacy is still ac-
knowledged throughout a large part of Christen-
dom.
For more than a hundred years after the founda-
tion of the Church of Rome, there is no trace of
its jurisdiction over other churches, outside of the
Italian provinces.

In the latter part of the second century, a dis-

pute existed concerning the celebration of Easter.
The Latin churches claimed it should be on Sun-
day. The Eastern churches had been celebrating
it on the 14th day of the month Nisan. The con-
troversy had lasted nearly half a century. About
A. D. 150, Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, visited
Rome, and explained the views of the Eastern
churches. He was treated by Anicetus, who was
 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC HIERARCHY. 475

then bishop, as an equal no attempt was then ;

made to impose a different day upon the Asiatic

churches. On the contrary, Polycarp and others
celebrated Easter, according to their own views, in
the City of Rome.
But in the time of Victor, the controversy be-
coming more heated, an attempt was made to settle
it. A council was first called by Victor, of all the
churches of Italy. At this council it was de-
creed that Easter should be celebrated on Sunday.
Victor then issued a general letter, requesting local
councils to be assembled by the following bishops :

Theophilus of Csesarea, Irenseus of Lyons, Bac-

chylus of Corintli, Demetrius of Alexandria, Pal-
mas of Pontus, and Polycrates of Ephesus.
The local councils were held. One consisted of
the bishops in Gaul another, of those in Palestine,
;

another in Egypt, etc. All these approved the

decree of the Italian Council, except the churches
of pro-consular Asia, presided over by Polycrates.
These refused to conform.
Thereupon Victor, encouraged and strengthened
by all the other councils, proceeded to excommuni-
cate the non-conforming Asiatic churches. (About
A. D. 195.)
This appears to be the first assumption of su-
(i.) The Catholic Historian Darras, [Genl. History of the Catholic Church, vol. i,

p. i6o], calls this letter an "order/' According to Eusebius, it was a request. He

quotes Polycrates, as writing to Victor, thus: "I could also mention the bishops that
-were present, whom you requested to be summoned by me, and whom I did call."—
[Euseb. Ecc. Hist. 5.24.] It is more probable the letter was in the form of a request.
The council called by Victor himself, consisted of all the bishops of Italy; which may
be looked upon as indicating the extent of his jurisdiction at that time.
476 SIXTH PERIOD —A. D. 185 TO A. D. 200.

preme power by any Roman bishop. From this

time, the supremacy of the Church of Rome rapidly
culminated, both in theory and practice. It is
true, that for a long time some churches remained
rebellious, but they were considered by the great
body of Christians as without the pale of the
church universal, as it had been established by
Christ, and had been represented by a regular suc-
cession of supreme pontiffs, commencing with
Peter. For, as soon as the supremacy of the
Roman Church was once admitted, the Christians
of that day found no difficulty in believing that
such supremacy had continued from the times of
the apostles. They were no more disposed to trace
back the title of a power which they found estab-
lished, than they were to investigate the origin of
books which they found in circulation.

Protestant writers have claimed that the power

of the papacy was not established, nor its claims
admitted in the writings of the fathers, until sev-
eral hundred years after Christ. Even the fair-
minded Neander does not see in the writings of
Irenaeus or TertuUian, any acknowledgment that
**the Roman Church held a prominence as the
Cathedra Petri, over all the other apostolic
churches.'' Whether as Cathedra Petri, or as the
'

Church of Peter and Paul, not only the promi-

nence, but the supremacy of the Church of Rome,
would seem to be pretty clearly acknowledged in ,

the following passage from Irenaeus :

(j.) Church Hist. vol. i, p. 290.

 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC HIERARCHY. 477
"Since, however, it would be very tedious, in such a volume as this,
to reckon up the successions of all the churches, we do put to con-
fusion those who, in whatever manner, whether by an evil self
all
pleasing, by vain-glory, orby blindness and perverse opinion, assem-
ble in unauthorized meetings; (we do this) by indicating that tradi-
tion derived from the apostles, of the very great, the very ancient,
and universally known church, founded and organized at Rome, by
the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul; as also (by pointing
out) the faith preached to men, which comes down to our times by
means of the successions of the bishops.
"For a matter of necessity that every church should agree with
it is
this church, on account of its pre-eminent authority that is, the ;

faithful everywhere, inasmuch as the apostolic tradition has been

preserved continually by those who exist everywhere.
"The blessed apostles, then, having founded and built up the
Church, committed into the hands of Linus, the oflSce of the episco-
pate. Of this Linus, Paul makes mention in the Epistles to Timothy.
To him succeeded Anacletus, and after him, in the third place, from
the apostles, Clement was allotted the bishopric."

He then gives the names of nine bishops, follow-

ing Clement, and proceeds as follows :

"In this order, and by this succession, the ecclesiastical tradition

from the apostles, and the preaching of the truth, have come down to
us. And this is most abundant proof, that there is one and the same
vivifying faith, which has been preserved in the church, from the
apostles until now, and handed down in truth."—[Irenseus adv. Hser.
3.3.

In the time of TertuUian, some twenty years

later,the Roman bishops issued peremptory edicts,
and appealed to the authority of their predecessors. ^

They called themselves bishops of bishops epis- ;

^
copi episcoporum.
TertuUian himself was scarcely less explicit than
Irenseus :

"Since, moreover," he says, "you are close to Italy, you have Rome,

(i,) Tert. De Virg. Velandis. (2.) Ibid. De Pudicitia, ch. i.

478 SIXTH PERIOD A. D. 185 tO A. D. 200.

from which there comes, even into our hands, the very authority.
How happy is its church, in which apostles poured forth all their doc-
trine, along with their blood! Where Peter endures a passion like
his Lord's! Where Paul wins his crown in a death like John's!
Where the apostle John was first plunged, unhurt, into boiling oil,
and thence remitted to his island-exile! See what she has learned,
what she has taught, what fellowship she has had, even with churches
in Africa! One Lord God does she acknowledge, the Creator of the
Universe, and the Christ Jesus of the Virgin Mary, the Son of God,
the Creator, and the resurrection of the flesh. The law and the
prophets she unites in one volume, with the writings of the evangel-
ists and apostles, from which she drinks her faith; this she seals with
the water, arrays with the Holy Ghost, feeds with the eucharist,
cheers with martyrdom; and against such a discipline thus she ad-
mits no gainsayer."— [Tertullian, Prescription against Heretics, ch. 36.

This passage is evidence, not only of the suprem-

acy of the Roman Church, but that the New Testa-
ment then in circulation had been compiled under
the same authority. The New Testament of Mar-
cion, consisting of the Gospel and the Apostolicon,
had been superseded by a larger collection contain-
ing the Acts of the Apostles, the Revelation of
John, a larger number of Epistles of Paul, and in
place of the one gospel of Marcion, four gospels,
which were to stand as four pillars, to support the
authority of the Church of Rome.

Irenseus, while he clearly concedes the supremacy

of that church, at the same time shows the weak-
ness of the foundation upon which the supremacy
rested. He declares that the church had been
founded by Peter and Paul, and that the episcopacy
had been by them committed into the hands of
Linus. From Linus it had gone to Anacletus, and
*' after him, in the third place from the apostles,

Clement was allotted the bishopric. '^ The tradi-

 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC HIERARCHY. 479

tion of the Catholic church has been, that Peter

was the first Bishop of Rome, and that the keys of
the kingdom, as well as the bishopric, were deliv-
ered immediately by Peter to Clement. This tradi-
tion is in accordance with the letter from Clement
to James which was in circulation at an early day,
,

but it is not sustained by Irenseus.

This discrepancy has been the occasion of much

discussion. The most ingenious explanation is
given by E-ufinus, the Latin translator of the Re-
cognitions. He conjectures that Linus and Ana-
cletus merely assisted Peter in the management of
the church, which was still, at the death of Peter,
delivered over to Clement. But then what be-
comes of the continuous ^succession,'' dwelt upon
^

by Irenaeus, in the chain of which two of the links

consisted of Linus and Anacletus?

The difficulty does not end here.

According to
Irenseus, the next bishop to Clement was Evaris-
tus. But this succession, though accepted by some
Catholic writers, is found by others not to accord
with the traditions of the church. Accordingly,
the Roman Almanac, entitled Gerarchia Cattol-
ica, interposes Anacletus between Clement and
Evaristus. The third bishop, the second, exclusive
of Peter, according to this authority, was Cletus,
instead of Anacletus, while Anacletus came after
Clement, and ruled over the church twelve years ;

from A. D. 100 to 112. Darras, the Catholic his-

torian, whose work received the indorsement of
Pope Pius IX, has followed the succession as given
480 SIXTH PERIOD A. D. 185 TO A. D. 200.

by Irenseus ; stating that his chronology is that of

the Chronologie de THistoireEcclesiastique, on the
model of the great work of President Henault, on
the History of France.

But this author does not agree with other Cath-

olic authorities. He
has the bishopric of Peter
commence in the year 33 fixing the very day the
, ;

29th of June. This is nine years earlier than the

time given in the Almanac, which on this point is
supported by Alzog's Handbuch der Kirchenge-
schichte, a book very extensively used heretofore
among Catholics, as a text book of church history.
Cletus, whose bishopric, according to the Roman
Almanac, ends in 90, rules a year longer, accord-
ing to Darras, his bishopric ending A. D. 91.
Then comes Clement, his office terminating, ac-
cording to both, in the year 100. After him,
Evaristus, until 109, according to Darras, but ac-
cording to the Almanac, until 121. Then Alex-
ander, his bishopric, according to Alzog and Darras,
ending in the year 119, but according to the Alma-
nac, in the year 132.

After Alexander, the succession of the pontifi-

cateswas as follows, according to these three au-
thorities :

Sixtus, according to the Almanac, A.D 132 to 142.

((
do. do. Alzog, 119 to 127.
(( u Darras, ((
119 to 128.
u Almanac, ((
Telesphorus, 142 to 154.
(i (( ((
Alzog, 127 to 139.
(( ((
Darras, u 128 to 138.
 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC HIERARCHY. 481
Hyginus, according to the Almanac, A.D. . 154 to 158.
« It
Alzog, « 139 to 142.
(( u Darras, « 138 to 142.
Pius I,
« Almanac, (t
158 to 167.
<( <(
Alzog, « 142 to 157.
M ((
Darras, ((
142 to 150.
Anicetus, u Almanac, ((
167 to 175.
« n Alzog, li
157 to 168.
it ((
((
Darras, 150 to 161.
«(
Almanac, a 175 to 182.
Soter or Soterus,
u <(
Alzog, a 168 to 177.
« (i
Darras, a 162 to 174.
Eleutherus, it
Almanac, ((
182 to 193.
a it
Alzog, ((
177 to 192.
(( t( ((
Darras, 174 to 186.
u Almanac, ti
Victor I, 193 to 203.
(( a Alzog, a 192 to 202.
« it
Darras, <(
186 to 200.

Thus, in these eight pontificates, there are but

two points in which any two of the three authors
agree ; the commencement of the bishoprics of
Sixtus and
Pius. In these particulars, Darras
agrees with the Handbuch. But the Handbuch
and Almanac do not agree in a single date neither ;

does Darras agree with the Almanac in a single

date.
Darras and the Handbuch give the names of
fourteen bishops previous to the year 200 ; the
Almanac gives fifteen.
If Irenseus be brought into the comparison,
while he does not give the dates of the pontificates
he differs from all these authorities in neglecting
,

to say that Peter was bishop of Rome at all. On

the contrary, he states that the church was founded
482 SIXTH PERIOD —A. D. 185 TO A. D. 200.

by Peter and Paul, and by them handed over to

Linus.
If, during all this time, the bishops of Rome
had exercised supreme jurisdiction, can it be possi-
ble that nowhere throughout the Christian world
there would have been kept a record of so much
importance as the succession of the supreme bish-
ops? Would it not have been possible to arrive at
a more harmonious result than this?
It willhave been observed, that the Roman
Catholic Church was established about the same
time that the four gospels and the Acts of the
Apostles were brought into general circulation.
When Serapion, Bishop of Antioch, in the year
190, put aside the Gospel of Peter, and substituted
in its stead the four gospels, he was engaged in the
unification of the church.

And it is a significant fact, that Irenaous, the

first who mentions
writer the four gospels, was the
first who acknowledged the supremacy of the
Church of Rome.
 CHAPTER XXXIX.
—
Review of the Sixth Period Testimony of Heathen
—
Writers General Review— Conclusion.

Review of Sixth Pekiod. — 1. The termination

of the sixth period, which closes the century, finds
the four gospels and the Acts of the Apostles com-
ing into general circulation, with most of the other
New Testament writings.
The condition
of the church in reference to the
New Testament books at the time, is well summed
up by Rev. Dr. Davidson, in the closing paragraphs
of his two volumes of Introduction to the New
Testament
" The following propositions," says he, "are deducible from an im-
partial survey of the history of the first two centuries:"
The propositions condensed are as follows:

1. Before A. D. 170, no book of the New Testament was termed

"scripture."

2. No certain trace of the existence of the fourth gospel till after

Justin Martyr. [This proposition might with equal truth be applied
to the synoptic gospels, in their present form.]
484 SIXTH PERIOD—A. D. 185 TO A. D. 200.
3. The gospels of Matthew and Mark cannot be identified with the
"logia" of Matthew, and the things "said and done" by Jesus, which
Mark wrote, mentioned by Papias.

4. The writings of Paul were either not used, or little regarded, by

the prominent ecclesiastical writers of the first half of the second
century. After A. D. 150, they began to be valued.

5. The present gospels did not assume a canonical position till the
latter half of the second century.
6. No canon of the New Testament, i. e., no collection of New
Testament literature like the present one, supposed to possess divine
authority, existed before A. D. 200.

[Davidson's Introduction to the New Testament, vol. 2, p. 520. The

last proposition cannot be accepted without some hesitation. The
reader will remember the words of TertuUian, written about the year
200:

"The law and the prophets she (the Church of Kome) unites in one
volume, with the writings of evangelists and apostles," etc.
There is reason to believe, that very soon after the four gospels
appeared, somewhere between the years 180 and 200, they were pub-
lished under the authority and by the direction of the Church of
Rome, in a volume with the Old Testament, and with the other New
Testament books then in circulation.]

2.Closely following the introduction into gen-

eral circulation of the books mentioned, was the
establishment of the supremacy of the Bishop of
Rome over the entire Catholic Church the ;

Gospels of John and Matthew being used as power-

ful agencies in the consummation of that object.
Not that the gospels were considered of higher au-
thority than the traditions of the church, but those
traditions themselves were established upon the
firmest foundation, by the sanction of gospels bear-
ing the names of two of the apostles of Jesus.
And here worthy of remark, that while in
it is

the earlier gospels, attributed to Luke and Mark,

neither of whom was an apostle, had been recorded
 REVIEW OF SIXTH PERIOD. 485

the older legends and traditions of the churches,

when, to aid the Bishop of Rome in assuming
authority over the entire Christian world, it was
thought necessary to have still other gospels, they
were both attributed to apostles of Christ.
Heathen Writers. — Something
said in almost
is

every complete work on the canon concerning the

evidence of heathen writers. Such evidence is ab-
solutely of no value in reference to the canon,
because no mention is found in any heathen writer
of any of the Christian writings before they are
referred to by the Christians themselves.

Celsus, who, as quoted by Origen, is perhaps

most relied upon as referring to the New Testa-
ment books, does not appear to have written the
work cited by Origen, *'The True Word,'' until
early in the third century.

There is, however, important evidence concern-

ing the life and death of Jesus at the time claimed
by the Christians facts which have been disputed
;

by some learned writers. ^

General Review — Conclusion. — In
taking a
general review of the first hundred and seventy
years of the Christian religion, the first thing that
strikes the mind, is the dearth of material from
which to construct a reliable history. It is seen at
once, how much must rest upon probability in its
—
difierent degrees ^how much must be relegated to
the province of speculation. The works of the

(i.) See Appendix, i.

486 SIXTH PERIOD A. D. 185 tO A. D. 200.

only church historian whowrote during that

period, lost or destroyed —the
few fragments that
are left being of comparatively little value ^the —
writings of Porphyry and others who wrote against
Christianity, and those of the heretic Christians,
all destroyed —
^there remain only the works of some
of the orthodox fathers, and the text of those in a
mutilated and corrupted condition.

As from a few bones the scientist can reconstruct

the entire anatomy, so from these fragments can
the historian arrive at the frame- work of the ortho-
dox religion of the second century. But the com-
plete and living form of Christianity is wanting.

With the exception of the epistle of Clement of

Rome, written near the close of the first century,
and a few scattering writings afterward, there is
but little in the fathers of that day, to remind one
of the teachings of Jesus, or the fervid utterances
of the apostle to the Gentiles. The fathers of the
second century were, with united energies, engaged
in the work of suppressing heresy. Justin Martyr
was writing against the Jews, Tertullian against
Marcion, and Irenssus against all the heretics.
This raid against those who differed from the
established faith, left but little time to cultivate
the more kindly Christian graces, and finally cul-
minated in the establishment of a power which
should be competent for the suppression of heresy
by force. The teachings of Paul concerning heresy
and his bitter denunciation of heretics, contributed
largely to this result.
 GENERAL REVIEW CONCLUSION. 487

Another thing that strikes the attention, in a

comprehensive review of the period, is the ignor-
ance and superstition, even of the most enlight-
ened and best educated of the fathers. Their
—
bigotry has been noticed their ignorance and su-
perstition were no less.

With rare exceptions, they were men who utterly

despised that learning of the heathen which con-
sisted in attempts to ascertain the laws of the ma-
terial universe. Construing in the narrowest and
strictest sense, the maxim, that the wisdom of this
world is foolishness with God, they confined them-
selves, almost exclusively, to an exposition of the
Jewish scriptures, and of the sayings of Christ,
construed in the light of those scriptures drawing ;

oftentimes, in the application of the prophecies,

the most fanciful and whimsical analogies.
Their credulity was unbounded. They had a sub-
lime disregard for truth not so ; much from per-
versity, as from carelessness, and indifference to
its sacred character. Their unscrupulousness when
seeking for arguments to enforce their positions, is
notorious as well as the prevalence among them
;

of what are knownas pious frauds. Jones, him-

self a zealous Christian writer, says that Justin
Martyr, Clemens Alexandrinus and Lactantius
made use of testimonies out of forgeries and spuri-
ous books, to prove the very foundation of the
Christian Revelation ' and it is believed, on good
;

grounds, that Irenaeus was no better. This father,

(i.) Jones, vol i, p. 364.

 . —

488 SIXTH PERIOD — A. D. 185 TO A. D. 200.

while engaged in the introduction of gospels which

show that the ministry of Christ lasted from one
to three years, not longer than three and a half,
himself declares that it lasted about twenty years,
and that he had the tradition from the elders of
Asia, who had obtained it from John and the other
apostles.

Such is the material at the hands of the his-

torian. Of course he cannot rely implicitly upon
the unsupported assertion of any such writer, for
the truth of any historical fact whatever. In every
instance, he is obliged to scrutinize carefully, and
endeavor to ascertain whether any ulterior motives
may have prompted whatever statement may be
under consideration. If he can find none, and the
fact stands uncontradicted by other writers, it is
cautiously accepted. Under such circumstances,
progress is slow and uncertain. The most that any
writer can hope to accomplish, is to place in proper
shape what is already known, and to establish here
and there a landmark for the benefit of subsequent
historians

In conclusion, as the result of this investigation,

it may be repeated, that no evidence is found of
the existence, in the first century, of either of the
following doctrines the immaculate conception
:

—
the miracles of Christ his material resurrection.
No one of these doctrines is to be found in the
epistles of the New Testament, nor have we been
able to find them in any other writings of the first
century.
 GENERAL REVIEW CONCLUSION. 489

As to the four gospels, in coming to the conclu-

sion that they were not written in the first century,
we have but recorded the conviction of the more
advanced scholars of the present day, irrespective
of their religious views in other respects ; with
whom the question as now presented is, how early
in the second century were they composed? '

Discarding, as inventions of the second century,

having no historical foundation, the three doctrines
above named, and much else which must necessa-
rily stand or fall with them, what remains of the
Christian religion?
—
All that is of any value all that is in harmony
with the immutable laws of the universe all that —
is in accord with the eternal principles of right and
justice, still remains. All else is fast passing
away, and is destined to pass away forever.

(i.) Dr. Davidson does not think either of the four gospels, in its present form,
written before the year loo. The Gospel of John not before 150. See his Introduction
to the New Testament.
 APPENDIX.

NOTES.
I.

Jesus Christ as a Historical Personage.

Some able writers, observing the confusion and uncertainty exist-

ing in the chronology of nearly all the events connected with the
early history of Christianity, have doubted whether such a person
as Jesus Christ lived at the time alleged. These doubts have, in some
instances, been expressed by writers of much learning, and cannot
well be disregarded.

There are three good and reliable witnesses of the first century j
one a Christian, one a Jew, and the other a heathen:
1. Paul.— The Epistles of Paul stand out as a fact, utterly unex-
plainable, and incomprehensible, except upon the hypothesis of the
life and suffering of the central figure of them all.
That Paul wrote his Epistles in the first century, is attested by
Clement of Rome, A. D. 97, who refers to one of them expressly, and
by the fathers and writers of the first half of the second century, par-
ticularly Marcion, who, about 145, made a compilation of those then
in circulation, ten in number.

2. JosEPHUS; who gives an account of the death of James, the

brother of Jesus, in the 9th chapter of the 20th book of the An-
492 APPENDIX.
tiquities. While narrating the particulars of the death of James, h©
speaks of him as "the brother of Jesus who was called Christ." We
know of no good reason for doubting the authenticity of this pas-
sage.

3. Tacitus; who, in the 44th chapter of the 15th book of the

Annals, speaks of Christus, "who, in the reign of Tiberius, was put to
death as a criminal, by the procurator, Pontius Pilate."

II.
Zacharias.

There were four persons by that name, who have been referred to
in the apocryphal and canonical gospels, and in the writings of the
fathers, in such an indiscriminate manner as to create great con-
fusion.

1. Zacharias, or Zechariah, the son of Jehoida. He was stoned to

death in the court of the temple.— [2 Chron. 24. 20, 21.

2. Zacharias or Zechariah, the prophet, who was the son of Bere-

chiah.— [Zech. 1. 1.] We have no account of his death.
3. Zacharias, father of John the Baptist.
In the Protevangelion, it is stated that because he would not dis^

close the hiding place of his son John, who had been concealed from
Herod, he was murdered "in the entrance of the temple."
This account is referred to and accredited by the earlier fathers,

including TertuUian and Origen. It does not appear who was the
father of this Zacharias.

4. Zacharias, the son of Barouchos, who was murdered inside the

temple, about A. D. 69.— [Josephus, Jewish War, bk. 4, ch. 5, 4.

Thus it by that name were

will be seen, that three of the persons

put to death in or near the temple. Of these, the first was the son of
Jehoida; the father of the second not named; and the third was the
son of Barouchos. This comes the nearest to the description of the
Zacharias mentioned in Matt. 23. 35. We have therefore adopted the
opinion of able writers, who consider the last the one referred to by
the author of Matthew.
 APPENDIX. 493

III.
Tatian and his Supposed Gospel.

It is claimed by Dr. George Moesinger, in a work published at Ven-

ice in 1876, that the Commentary of Ephraem the Syrian, of the
fourth century, was based upon the Gospel of Tatian. We do not
think such a theory can be sustained. On the contrary, since writing
this History,and after reading the dissertation of Dr. Moesinger and
his edition of Ephraem, and giving the subject a more thorough
examination, we have come to the conclusion that it is extremely
doubtful whether Tatian the Syrian ever wrote a gospel. It is not
mentioned until Eusebius, who is entirely unreliable. Besides, it
appears from some of the Syrian writers that Ammonius of Alex-
andria was also called Tatian; and it is more than probable that
other writers have been misled by their references to the Gospel Har-
mony of Ammonius Tatianus, or, in the words of the Latin transla-
tor of one of the Syrian authors, "Ammonius, qui est Tatianus,"

supposing they referred to Tatian the Syrian.

IV.
The Philosophy of Oracles.
Attributed to Porphyry.
Gustavus Wolff, who has written two works upon Oracles, in the
Latin tongue, published at Berlin, one in 1854, the other in 1856,

treats the Philosophy of Oracles as the work of Porphyry. As Mr.

Wolff gives all the references to it by ancient writers, scholars will
here find the full strength of the case in favor of the genuineness of
the work. But we do not think this author, with all his learning, has
established its authenticity. The awkward fact still remains that all
the references, with one exception, are to be traced directly or indi-
rectly to Eusebius. What additional matter is furnished by Augus-
tine,may fairly be looked upon as mere amplifications, such as were
common among the early fathers of the Church. To the names of
Pontenelle and Van Dale, given in the text, may be added that of the
learned and celebrated Dr. Lardner against the authenticity.
494 APPENDIX.

The Annals of Tacitus.

In a work put forth by Mr. Ross, in London, an elaborate attempt

is made to prove that the Annals were forged in the 15th century by
Bracciolini. The ingenious author comes as near to maintaining his
position as can be expected, in face of the facts that the Annals were
referred to by various writers, in the 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, 9th and 12th
centuries, and that several of the books were not discovered until
after the death of Bracciolini.

VI.
Date of the Gospels.
THE ARGUMENT IN FAVOR OF AN EARLY DATE.
We say "The argument," because there is but one. There is no
pretense that there isany direct evidence, carrying the gospels back
to the first century, or even any definite tradition to that effect.
The argument, and it applies only to the synoptic gospels, is, that
inasmuch as those gospels contain the prophecy of Jesus concerning
the destruction of Jerusalem, if these books had been written after
that event, they would certainly have referred to it. Since they do
not do so, they must have been written before the destruction of
Jerusalem that ; is, before A. D. 70.

1. This argument, if it proves anything, proves too much, and is

self-destructive. same process of reasoning, it could be

For, by the
proved that the Gospel of Marcion was written before A. D. 70; since
that also contains the prophecy that not one stone of the temple
should be upon another, and contains no reference to the destruc-
left

tion of Jerusalem. JBut we know, with reasonable certainty, that

this gospel was written about A. D. 145.
2. The Gospel of John is admitted by Canon Farrar himself, who
lays great stress upon this argument, not to have been written until
A. D. 90. Why does that gospel make no allusion to the destruction
of Jerusalem ?
If it be said that this gospel makes no mention of the prophecy of
 APPENDIX. 495
Jesus concerning that event, then the question arises, why does it

not, if it be true that such a prophecy was made ? The author of

that gospel had just as good an opportunity to emphasize the fact
that the event had verified the prophecy as either of the synoptic
gospel writers had, when writing after A. D. 70.

3. None of the apocrypal gospels make any mention of the

destruction of Jerusalem. Yet it is not claimed that they were writ-
ten before that event. Their silence concerning the prophecy is

strong presumptive evidence that no such prophecy was made. On

no other hypothesis can such silence be fully accounted for, whether
they were written before or after A. D. 70.

Such isthe argument in favor of dating the three gospels before

A. D. 70; and when that conclusion is reached there is found but
little difficulty in attributing them to Matthew, Mark and Luke.

But the objections to this authorship are such as make it simply

absurd.
In the first place, neither of these men ever claimed or pretended to
have written a gospel. Is it not wonderful, if such claim has any
just foundation, that it was not made by them or by some one else
for them in their life- time ?

Again, why is the first person never used in these gospels ? Why
do not the writers say, "I," occasionally? Why does not Matthew
say, "I was chosen ?" On the contrary, the writer says:

"As Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man named Mat-
thew sitting at the receipt of custom. And he saith unto him, Fol-
low me. And he arose and followed him."
Is this the language a man would use, writing about himself ?
The theory that these books were written by those men at that time
or soon after, lays too heavy a tax upon the credulity of any thought-
ful person.

It should be stated that even orthodox writers are not unanimous

in dating all the synoptics before A. D. 70. Thus Reuss, speaking of
the books of Luke and the Acts, says: "The date of the composition
of this twofold historical work should not be put back too far.
Even the first part of it, the Gospel, is later than the destruction of
Jerusalem."— [Hist, of the N. T- by Eduard (W. E.) Reuss, Professor
 —

496 APPENDIX.
inEmp. William's University in Strassburg: translated by Edw. L,
Houghton, from 5th German Ed., and published in Boston by
Houghton, Mifflin & Co., in 1884, p. 211.

riELDING TO THE EVIDENCE.

The evidence of a late date for the four gospels, which has been
given to the public in this and other works during the last twenty
years, is having its effect in overthrowing the traditional theory that
those gospels were composed by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, in
the first The more candid
century. of religious writers are already
wavering, while some of them have actually abandoned the church
theory altogether.
A notable instance of this may be seen in the work entitled, "The
First Three Gospels;" written by J. Estlin Carpenter, M. A., Oxford,
and published in London in 1890, by the Sunday School Association.
This author, though careful and guarded in his language, con-
cedes, with sufficient clearness, that the gospels had an uncertain
origin sometime in the second century.

Under the title of "The Four Selected," he says:

"It is clear that in the last generation of the second century, the
four gospels, as we have them, were known and received from east to
west."— [The First Three Gospels, p. 4.

Again: "The four gospels, which come clearly into view in the
second half of the second century, had attained a unique position by
its close."— [Ibid. p. 26.

And speaking of the Gospel according to Matthew, he says:

"Certain it is that the work in its present form is not apostolic."
[Ibid. p. 380.] He thinks the first decisive evidence of the existence
of this gospel was after A. D. 140.
This writer agrees also with the author of the History of the Chris-
tian Religion in the opinion that Matthew was the latest of the three
synoptic gospels.

Another instance, showing the tendency of modern thought on the

theological side, may be seen in a work entitled, "The Kingdom of
God; or Christ's Teaching According to the Synoptical Gospels;"
written by Alexander Balmain Bruce, D. D., Professor of N. T.
 APPENDIX. 497
Exegesis at Glasgow, and published in New York by Scribner and
Welford, in 1889.

This writer says:

"It would inspire great confidence in the synoptical records to be
assured that they were compiled by certain of the men who 'had
been with Jesus.' These men were eye and ear witnesses ot Christ's
ministry; they knew much, if not all, that He said and did, and they
could be trusted to tell honestly and with substantial accuracy what
they knew.
"But there is no sufiicient evidence that any one of the first three
gospels, in the form inwhich we have them, proceeded from the
hand of an apostle. The most that can be said is, that their reports
are based on apostolic traditions, preserved either orally or in written
form."— [The Kingdom of God, etc., p. 2.
Again:
Washington Gladden, in his work entitled "Burning Questions,
etc.," speaking of the objection that is made to the authenticity of
the gospels, that they are mere compilations;— that the writers gath-
ered and compiled oral tales and traditions about the Christ,—
says:

"And is, doubtless, some truth in this theory of the origin of

there
the gospels. That is to say, the writers of the Gospel did compile
narratives that were partly oral and partly written."— [Burning
Questions, etc., by Washington Gladden, the Century Co., N. Y., 1890^
p. 215.

This theory, which is now the prevailing one even among theolo-
gians themselves, that the gospels were composed partly from oral
and partly from written tradition, is an entire abandonment of the
other theory, so long and so tenaciously adhered to, that they were
composed by eyewitnesses of the events related in them. The WTit-
ten statement of an eyewitness is neither oral nor written tradition.
In fact, written tradition is nothing more nor less than oral tradition
gathered up and committed to writing. To say, therefore, that the

gospels were compiled partly from oral and partly from written tra-

dition, is equivalent to saying that they were compiled, partly from

oral traditions which had previously been committed to writing, and
partly from oral traditions which were then, for the first time, re-
498 APPENDIX.
duced to writing. Thus, oral tradition constitutes the entire founda-
tion.

VII.
Fulfillment of Prophecy.

CITATIONS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT,

By the Author of the Gospel of Matthew.
In confirmation of the view taken by the author of this work, as to
the inapplicability of the citations made from the Old Testament by
the author of Matthew, the reader is referred to an able work by
Professor Crawford Howell Toy, of Harvard University; published
later than the earlier editions of the History of the Christian Re-
ligion.

In that work, which is entitled "Quotations in the New Testa-

ment," Professor Toy, writing with remarkable fairness, from a
Christian standpoint, takes nearly the same view with the author of
the History, though expressing himself in a somewhat more guarded
manner.
Commenting on the passage in Isaiah, (vii. 14), cited by Matthew
thus: "Behold a virgin shall be with child," etc. Professor Toy
says:
"The rendering 'virgin' is inadmissible. The Hebrew has a separ-
ateword for 'virgin;' and the Greek versions, other than the Septu-
"
agint, here translate by 'young woman.'
Again: "The article here shows that she was some well-known
person, probably not the wife of the prophet (for she is elsewhere,
Isa. viii. 3, called 'the prophetess') ;
possibly a wife of the King. But
she is mentioned here only, and is of no importance in the prophecy
for its prediction or its fulfillment. The child's birth is not repre-
sented as miraculous or in any way extraordinary, and there is noth-
ing to prevent our supposing that the mother was a married woman,"
—[Quotations in the New Testament by Crawford Howell Toy, N.
Y., Chas. Scribner's Sons, p. 1 and note to p. 3.

Again: "The Jews seem never to have understood the passage

Messianically. The name Immanuel occurs nowhere else in the New
Testament (Luke has the birth from a virgin, but not this name).
 APPENDIX. 499
and was apparently never given to Jesus."— [Ibid. p. 3. and Note.
The Professor had previously explained that the name Immanuel
given to the child, meaning "God with us," signified "that this same
result (that is, that men should carry the riches of Damascus and the
spoil of Samaria before the King of Assyria), should take place be-
fore the child in question had numbered more than a few years." "In
this respect," the author continues, "Immanuel plays exactly the
same part as Mahershalal-hash-baz and Shear-yashub, differing from
them only in the fact that his mother's name is not given. He is
merely the sign of a fact, not the instrument of its accomplishment.
His person is to be the sign of the overthrow of Syria and Israel, and

his name is to embody the great and consoling idea of God's presence
with his people. He himself is passive, so far as the record goes;
having fulfilled his function of acting as unconscious sign (for the
fulfillment of the prediction is to take place while he is yet a child),
he vanishes out of the history."— [Ibid. p. 3.

The Professor concludes by saying that the prophetic passage is

understood by Matthew as a definite prediction of the historical fact

of the birth of Jesus. To what extent the author thinks Matthew
justified in thus understanding the prediction, may be gathered from
the foregoing.
Again: In reference to the quotation from Jeremiah:
"In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation and weeping, and
great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be
comforted because they are not;" which the author of Matthew
says was fulfilled when Herod slew the children of Bethlehem,
Professor Toy says:

"The country had been overrun by the Chaldeans, and many of the
people slain, and carried into captivity; and the prophet represents
the nation, in the person of the ancestress Rachel (the best-beloved
wife of Jacob), weeping over the loss of its sons. A repetition of this
scene, and the fulfillment of a prediction, the evangelist sees in the
mourning of the mothers of Bethlehem over their children, slain by
order of Herod. The situations are in a measure alike, though the
later is insignificant in extent in comparison with the earlier. Ne-
buchadnezzar inflicted a crushing blow on the nation; Herod may
have slain ten or fifteen infants."— [Ibid. p. 11.
500 APPENDIX THE ESSENES.
The author thinks the citation of a parallel event from Jeremiah
natural and justifiable, but adds this significant statement:
"The prophet's words contain no prediction, Messianic or other;
the context shows that he is thinking only of the present national
calamity."—[Ibid.
Speaking, in his comments upon another passage, of the latitude
allowed in those days, Professor Toy says:
"The principles of Scripture application of the day allowed the
evangelist to take the words out of their connection, and use them as
seemed to him best."— [Ibid. p. 9.

VIII.
Was Jesus an Essene?

By most writers the Essenes of Palestine and the Therapeutse of

Egypt have been confusedly treated as the same people; or if not the
same, it has been supposed that one was a branch or colony of the
other. Later scholarship has shown, however, that neither of these
theories is correct.

THE THERAPEUT^.
All we know of these people can be traced back to a treatise en-
titled "Concerning a Contemplative Life;" attributed to Philo Ju-
daeus, a Jewish writer of the first century. Attempts have been
made by Professor Lucius, of Strassburg, and others, to prove that
this was not a genuine work of Philo. But it cannot be said that
these attempts have been successful.

Philo does not say that the Essenes and Therapeutse were the same
people. On the contrary it is manifest from the treatise itself that
he did not consider them the same.
The Therapeutse were a body of hermits living in Egypt. Philo's
account of them is quite interesting, but as it is not of them we are
now to speak, let us proceed to the consideration of

THE ESSENES.
What we know of the Essenes is derived from the writings of
Pliny, of Philo Judseus, and of Josephus.
 APPENDIX —THE ESSENES. 501
Philo was the earliest of the three. His writings must be placed
in the first half of the first century.

Josephus is believed to have completed the Antiquities in the

year 94, A. D. He had written The Jewish War some twenty years
previous, about the time when Pliny was finishing his Natural His-
tory.

We will commence with Philo. His testimony is substantially as

follows:
That there were living in Palestine and Syria, people called "Es-

senes;" that they numbered something more than 4,000; that they
derived their name from their piety; that they did not sacrifice living

animals. That they lived in villages, avoiding the cities.

"Among them," says Philo, "there are none attending to any em-
ployment whatever connected with war. * * They are utterly
ignorant of all traffic, and of all commercial dealings, and of all nav-
igation. * * There is not a single slave among them.
"Further, that the seventh day was accounted sacred; that in the
synagogue one would take up the holy volume and read it while some
man of the greatest experience would make explanations."
And still further, that "there is no one who has a house so abso-
lutely hisown private property, that it does not in some sense also
belong to every one; for besides that they all dwell together in com-
panies, the house is open to all of those of the same notions, who
come to them from other quarters; then there is one magazine
among them all; their expenses are all in common; their garments
belong to them all in common; their food is common, since they all
eat in messes."
That whatever they received for their wages was brought into a
common stock; that they cherished respect for their elders, who
were honored and cared for as parents by their children.
The next writer is Josephus. The most important account of
ihe Essenes given by this writer found in the 8th chapter
is to be
of the 2d book of "The Jewish War," and is in substance as fol-
lows:
They were Jews by birth. They rejected pleasures as an evil,
and esteemed continence and conquest over the passions to be vir-
tnous. They neglected wedlock, and adopted children.
They were despisers of riches; had all things in common; were
very communicative; thought oil a defilement; clothed themselves
502 APPENDIX THE ESSENES.
at stated times in white garments; had stewards appointed to take
care of their common affairs

"Whatsoever they say, also, is firmer than an oath. But swearing

is avoided by them; and they esteem it worse than perjury. For
they say, that he who cannot be believed without [swearing by] God,
is already condemned. . . .

"They also take great pains in studying the writings of the

ancients."
He who joins them must take an oath that "he will neither conceal
anything from those of his own sect, nor discover any of their doc-
trines to others; no, not though anyone should compel him to do so
at the hazard of his life."
Moreover, he must swear to abstain from robbery, "awrf to preserve

the hooks belonging to their sect, and the names of the angels," [or
messengers.]
Those caught in any heinous sin were cast out. The outcast, not
being at liberty to partake of food elsewhere, often died in a misera-
ble manner. Sometimes, when on the eve of starvation, he was taken
back.
"They honor their legislator (Moses), and obey their elders and the
majority. If any one blaspheme Moses, he is punished capitally.
They are stricter than other Jews in the observance of the Sab-
bath."
"They are long lived also, insomuch that many of them live above
a hundred years, by means of the simplicity of their diet; nay, as I
think, by means of the regular course of life which they observe
also. And as for death, if it will be for their glory, they esteem it
better than living always." (Their fortitude in enduring sufferings
in the Jewish war with the Romans, is here extolled and commented
upon.)
"There are also those among them who undertake to foretell things
to come by reading the holy books, and using several sorts of puri-
fications, and being perpetually conversant in the discourses of the
prophets; and it is but seldom that they miss in their predictions,"
—[Jewish War, B. II, ch. viii.

OTHER NOTICES BY JOSEPHUS.

Josephus has various other notices of the Essenes; some twenty
altogether. The following are the most important:

From the Antiquities of the Jews.

1. "The sect of the Essenes affirm that fate governs all things, and
 APPENDIX THE ESSENES. 503
that nothing befalls men but what is according to its determina-
tion."— [A. J. Bk. XXII, ch. V, 9.
2. "But here one may take occasion to wonder at one Judas, who
was of the sect of the Essenes, and who never missed the truth in his
predictions. This man, when he saw Antigonus passing by the tem-
ple, cried out to his companions and friends, who abode with him as
his scholars, in order to learn the art of foretelling things to come,
*That it was good of him to die now, since he had spoken falsely
about Antigonus, who is still alive, and I see him passing by;'
although he had foretold that he should die at the place called
Strato's Tower, that very day, while yet the place is six hundred fur-
longs off, where he had foretold that he should be slain; and still this
day is a great part of it already past, so that he was in danger of
proving a false prophet.
"As he was saying this, and that in a melancholy mood, the news
came that Antigonus was slain, in a place under ground, which itself
was also called 'Strato's Tower.' "—[A. J. Bk. XIII, ch. XI, 2.
Substantially the same account is given in "The Jewish War,"
Bk. I, ch. Ill, 5.

3. "The Essenes, also, as we call a sect of ours, were excused by

Herod from this imposition [taking the oath of fidelity.] These men
live the same kind of life as do those whom the Greeks called Pytha-
goreans."
Josephus here relates how an Essene by the name of Manahem,
once saw Herod, when he (Herod) was yet a child and going to school;
and saluted him as King of the Jews. That he prophesied that he
would excel all men in happiness, and would obtain an everlasting
reputation, but would forget piety and righteousness.
That when Herod became king, he sent for Manahem, and asked
him how long he should reign ? Manahem was silent. Herod asked
him whether he should reign ten years or not. "Yes, twenty, nay,
thirty years;" but did not say how long.
"Many of the Essenes," adds Josephus, "have by their excellent
virtue, been thought worthy of the knowledge of divine revelations."
— [A. J. Bk. XV, ch. X, 4. 5.

4. "The doctrine of the Essenes is, that things are best ascribed
all
to God. They teach the immortality of and esteem that the
souls,
rewards of righteousness are to be earnestly striven for. When they
send what they have dedicated to God, into the temple, they do not
offer sacrifices, because they have more pure lustrations of their own;
on which account, they are excluded from the common court of the
504 APPENDIX THE ESSENES.
temple, and offer their sacrifices themselves; yet is their course of
life betterthan that of other men.
"This is demonstrated by that institution of theirs which will not
suffer anything to hinder them from having all things in common;
so that a rich man enjoys no more of his own wealth than he who
hath nothing at all.
"There are about four thousand men who live in this way. They
neither marry wives, nor are desirous to keep servants; as thinking
the latter tempts men to be unjust, and the former gives the handle
to domestic quarrels. But as they live by themselves, they minister
one to another. They also appoint certain stewards to receive the
income from their revenues, and of the fruits of the ground; such as
are good men and priests, who are to get their corn and their food
ready for them."— [Antiq. of che Jews, Bk. XV Til, ch. I, 5.
To which, in Whiston's Josephus, is the following note:
seems by what Josephus says here, and Philo himself elsewhere,
"It
Op. p. 676, that these Essenes did not use to go up to the Jewish fes-
tivals at Jerusalem, or to offer sacrifices there, which may be one
great occasion why they are never mentioned in the ordinary books
of the New Testament."
But Josephus does not say that the Essenes "did not use to go up
to the Jewish festivals at Jerusalem." He says that they were "ex-
cluded from the common court of the temple;" that they sent into
the temple what they had dedicated to God, but did not offer sacri-
fices [with the other Jews], because they had purer lustrations of
their own. "They offer their sacrifices themselves."

When this is taken in connection with the fact that one gate of
the city was called the gate of the Essenes (B. J. V. 4, 2), the inference
is at least but a fair one, that either in another part of the temple or
in a part of the city outside the temple, they had their own peculiar
ceremonies, which, if not accompanied by actual sacrifices, were sup-
posed to have a similar effect in the fulfillment of the law.

Testimony of Pliny (A. D. 77).

"Lying on the West of Asphaltites (the Lake of Sodom, or the

Dead Sea, called by Pliny Asphaltites, from the Greek asphaltos, on
account of the asphaltum floating on its surface), and sufficiently dis-
tant to escape its noxious exhalations, are the Esseni, a people who
live apart from the world, and marvelous beyond all others through-
out the whole earth; for they have no women among them. To sex-
ual desire they are strangers; money they have none; the palm-trees
are their only companions.
 APPENDIX THE ESSENES. 505
"Day after day, however, their numbers are fully recruited by
multitudes of strangers who resort to them, driven thither to adopt
their usages by the tempests of fortune, and wearied with the miser-
ies of life. Thus it is that through thousands of ages, incredible to
relate, this people eternally prolongs its existence, without a single
birth taking place there; so fruitful a source of population to it is
that weariness of life which is felt by others."— [Nat. Hist. bk. v.
ch. 17.

What have we now from Philo, from Josephus, and from Pliny ?
1. There was in Palestine, in the first century, a Jewish sect of a
peculiar character, of great antiquity. The date when they first

appeared, by the name of Essenes, so far as can be gathered from

Josephus, was about the middle of the second century before Christ.
Pliny says that they had existed for thousands of ages.
He must have had other authority as to the antiquity of this sect
than that of Philo or Josephus, since there is nothing in the works of
either of those writers to justify the strong language used by Pliny.
2. The doctrines as well as the manners and customs of these peo-
ple, bore a striking resemblance, in many respects, to those of the fol-
lowers of Jesus the Galilean.
The resemblances may be epitomized as follows:
The Essenes were especially devoted to the service of God—lived
principally in villages and in smaller settlements — were engaged in
rural occupations— had scanty worldly possessions, which they threw
into a common stock— were employed in daily labor, but had little, if

any, commercial intercourse or business relations with those about

them— lived on terms of social equality, aiding both each other and
other like communities— inculcating obedience to law, and to the
requirements of the lawful magistrate— observed the seventh day as
the Sabbath— refused to sacrifice in accordance with the Mosaic law
—had stated meetings for worship and for instruction— made use of
ancient sacred scriptures— were abstemious in their habits— provided
for the poorand the sick from a common stock— cherished respect
— endured unflinchingly any hardship or cruelty rather
for their elders
—
than renounce their principles had more love for one another than
is customary among sects— looked upon pleasure as an evil, but

thought continence and conquest of the passions a great virtue

neglected wedlock— guarded the virtue of women—clothed them-
506 APPENDIX —THE ESSENES.

selves at stated times in white garments— had stewards appointed to<

manage their common affairs— carried nothing with them when they
traveled— had a person appointed to take care of strangers—said
grace at their meals— abstained from oaths on ordinary occasions,
but had their secret oaths of fidelity, etc.—were subject to
trial and

to expulsion for misconduct—were addicted to prophecy—believed in

the immortality of the soul, and in the decrees of fate.
It has often been asked why neither Philo nor Josephus makes any
mention of the Christians ? There is no sufficient evidence that there
were any people known by that name before the destruction of Jeru-
salem. According to the New Testament the disciples were first
called Christians at Antioch, some thirty years before that event.—
[Acts, 11.26.
It may be asked further, why, then, does not Josephus give an
account of these people by some other name ? Is it clear that he has
not done so? What is lacking in his description of the Essenes^
except the doctrine of the expected Messiah ? His omission of that
isno more wonderful of the Essenes, than of the other Jewish sects.

Where has Josephus mentioned that doctrine at all?

Is it clear that the followers of Jesus were not alluded to in the

following passage of Josephus ?

"And nowthese imposters and deceivers persuaded the multitude
to follow into the wilderness, and pretended that they would
them
exhibit manifest wonders and signs which should be performed by
—
the Providence of God." [Antiq. bk. xx, ch. 8, 6.
Again, Josephus says:
"These were such men as deceived and deluded the people under
pretense of divine inspiration; but were for procuring innovations
and changes of the government. These prevailed with the multi-
tude to act like mad men; and went before them into the wilderness,
as pretending that God would there show them the signal of liberty."
[Jewish War, bk. ii, ch. 13, 4.
Again: Why has Josephus made no mention of Jesus, called
Christ ? Or, if he has mentioned him, why has he made no further
mention ? It is true that Josephus was not contemporary with Jesus
if the latter was crucified at the time commonly supposed. But
during the administration of Josephus in Galilee, the country must
have been full of traditions of the crucified Galilean. But a single
 APPENDIX —THE ESSENES. 507
generation had passed, and the fame of Jesus being now spread
abroad in other lands, could it have been any less in Galilee? Paul
was contemporary with Josephus, and in his travels, if the accounts
in the Acts of the Apostles can be at all relied upon, he must, more
than once, have crossed the track of the Jewish priest and magis-
trate.
But is it clear that Josephus made no mention of Christ, or none
other than those in the disputed passages ?
Josephus knew of many persons in Galilee by the name of Jesus.
€ould any of these have been Jesus, called Christ ?
Could he have been any one of the high priests by that name ?
Could he have been Jesus, the son of Sapphias, "the leader of a
and poor people ?"~[Lif e of Josephus,
seditious tumult of mariners
sec. 12.

Was he Jesus, the brother-in-law of Justus, who [Jesus] had been

^'wisely put to deatii?"— [Ibid. sec. 35, 37.

Was he Jesus, the son of Ananus, "a plebeian and a husbandman,"

who came to the feast of the tabernacles, and began suddenly to cry
aloud:

"A voice from the east and a voice from the west, a voice from the
four winds, a voice against Jerusalem and the holy house, a voice
against the bridegrooms and the brides, and a voice against the whole
people;" and who, for seven years and five months, continued to cry,
even though cruelly scourged, 'Woe, woe to Jerusalem!' "— [B. J,
VI. 5, 3.

Or could he have been that unnamed person who "came out of

Egypt;" who "said that he was a prophet, and advised the multitude
of the common people to go along with him to the Mount of Olives;"
and who "said further that he would show them from hence how, at
his command, the walls of Jerusalem would fall down."— [A. J., bk.
XX., ch. 8, 6.] The same Egyptian prophet led his followers into the

wilderness.— [B. J., ii. 13. A. J., xx. 8. 6. See Acts,21. 38.

Or, by a strange anachronism, could he have been connected with

Judas of who was "the author of the fourth sect of Jewish
Galilee,

philosophy, who had inviolable attachment to liberty, and said that

<jrod was their only ruler and Lord; who did not value any kind of

-death, nor could any such fear make them call any man Lord;"—[A,

J., xviii. 1, 6]; who "was a teacher of a peculiar sect of his own, and
508 APPENDIX THE ESSENES.
was not at all like the rest" of the leaders of the Jews ?— [B. J., ii. 8. L,

Again: Why is the New Testament silent concerning the Essenes ?

We have seen that the statement that they were not accustomed to
go up to Jerusalem to sacrifice, is not a sufficient explanation, simply
because it is untrue.
On the contrary, the fact that they did go up to Jerusalem and per-
form sacrifices or purifications of theirown, would make them spe-
cially prominent. was an important sect, and the oldest of any»
It

Why is it not mentioned in the New Testament?

JESUS THE NAZARENE.

Fifteen times in the New Testament the Galilean is spoken of as
"Jesous ho Nazoraios," in the original; which, in King James' trans-
lation, is, in every instance but two, translated "Jesus of Nazareth;"
but which, in every instance, should have been rendered, "Jesus the
Nazarite," or, which would also be unobjectionable, "Jesus the Naza-
rene." This (the latter rendering) is conceded in McClintock and
Strong's Biblical Cyclopedia to be the better one. Under the title of
"Jesus" it has the following:

"To distinguish our Lord from others bearing the name, he was
termed Jesus of Nazareth (John 18. 7, etc.), strictly, Jesus the Naza-
rene, Jesous ho Nazoraios."

Now, why did King James' translators so pertinaciously insist

upon a rendering which is admitted by the highest Biblical (orthodox)
authority, not to be strictly correct ?
That Jesus the Nazarene had lived in Galilee, is reasonably certain.
And it is very which was afterward
possible that he lived in a place
named Nazareth. That the word Nazaret was derived from Nazo-
raios orNazareenos is manifestly more probable than that these^
words were derived from Nazaret. The words Nazareenos and Naz-
oraios have a plain, etymological history; while taking Nazaret as an
original word, commentators are all at sea as to its origin. Besides,
we look in vain for any such place as Nazareth in the life-time of
Jesus.
There is no sufiicient evidence that there was any place known by
the name of Nazareth before the destruction of Jerusalem. The
word does not occur in the Old Testament, nor in Josephus. In the^
 APPENDIX —THE ESSENES. 509
New Testament it is to be found once in the Acts of the Apostles, a
book written late in the second century. It occurs also several times

in the Gospels, which were composed long after the destruction of

Jerusalem.
It is said in Matthew that Joseph, the father of Jesus, dwelt in a
city called Nazareth. But if there was any city by that name, it was
near Tiberias; and how is it that no mention is made of it by Jose-
phus? In his administration of the affairs of Galilee, he had his
headquarters much of the time at or near Tiberias. He was per-
and made frequent mention of
fectly familiar with all of that region,
the principal places. Not only does he not speak of any such city,
but he says expressly that there was no Jewish city near Tiberias.
[Life of Josephus, sec. 65; Whiston, vol. 2, p. 155.

It is certainly remarkable that while Paul, besides mentioning

Christ by the name of Christ more than two hundred times, refers to
him as Jesus, either alone or in connection with other names, more
than two hundred times he does not once designate him as
also,

"Jesus of Nazareth." Had he known any such place, that he should

have referred to Christ as "Jesus of Nazareth," would have been
most natural.
We
can now see why King James' translators insisted upon mak-
ing,and why the translators of the revised version insist upon main-
taining in most instances, the translation "Jesus of Nazareth."

It is because, for the purpose of giving credence to the legendary

stories in Luke and in Matthew, concerning the birth and the child-
hood of Jesus, they wish it understood that the Bible is full of refer-
ences to "Jesus of Nazareth;" whereas that phrase in the English
version has its equivalent in Greek but three times in the entire New
Testament; although Jesus is referred to by the name of Jesus only
nearly six hundred times in the Gospels alone.

But while there is no sufficient evidence that there was any "Jesus
of Nazareth" before the destruction of Jerusalem, and especially
during the life-time of Christ, with "Jesus the Nazarene," the case is
far different. The phrase occurs too many times not to believe that
it was in the original manuscripts from which the New Testament
Gospels were composed. It is more than probable that the place
510 APPENDIX —THE ESSENES.
where Jesus had resided was afterward called Nazareth, from having
been the residence of Jesus the Nazarene.

THE DISCIPLES OF JESUS WERE ESSENES—

THE EVIDENCE.
It may be asked:
"What evidence have you that the followers of Jesus were Es-
senes ?"
We reply, the testimony of Epiphanius:
"We should give the reason why those who gave to Christ his name
were, before they took the name of Christians, called Jessenes;
(Greek, lessaioi.)
"I will remind you, it was because Jesse was the father of David,
and they were therefore named from Jesse, or they obtained the
name of Jessenes [lessaioi] from Jesus Christ our Lord, being per-
fected in doctrine by Jesus, whose disciples they were; or else, finally,
from the signification of the name by which our Lord was called.
"Jesus, in the Hebrew, signifies a healer, or physician. However
that may be, this is the name by which they were known before they
were called Christians."— [Epiph. Hseres. xxix. 4.

The word here used, lessaios, is slightly different from that used by
Philo, which is Essaios (Essene). Josephus, wTiting of the Essenes,
has sometimes Essaios and sometimes Essenos.
Dr. Lightfoot says of this passage in Epiphanius, "From the con-
nection the same sect seems to be meant." There is no doubt of it

whatever; since in the same connection Epiphanius refers to what

Philo had said about the same people.

THE NAZARITES.
As to what constituted a Nazarite, see the sixth chapter of Num-
bers.

To leave the locks unshorn while undertaking any difiicult task in

which divine aid was invoked, and to cut the hair and consecrate
it after success, was practiced among various ancient nations.

Cyril of Alexandria considered that letting the hair grow "was

taken from the Egyptians."
The Nazarite custom was continued down to the Christian era.
Josephus tells us of a vow of Bernice, the sister of Agrippa, who
 APPENDIX THE ESSENES. 511
was staying at Jerusalem in order to perform her vow.— [B. J. ii. 15. 1.

In the fourth book of his Antiquities, Josephus alludes to the

l^azarites in the following language.

"Moreover, those that have made a sacred vow, I mean those that
are called Nazarites [Nazaraioi], that suffer their hair to grow long,
and use no wine, when they consecrate their hair and offer it for a
sacrifice, they are to allot what is shorn off to the priests."— [A. J.,
iv. 4. 4.

The ancient custom of the Nazarites prevailed among the Jewish

disciples of Jesus,and Paul was required to conform to it in order to
satisfy the Jews of his fidelity to their institutions. See Acts xxi. 23
to 26, where Paul was asked by Jewish believers to take four men who
had a vow on them, and to purify himself with them, and be at
charges with them, that they might shave their heads (cut their hair),
thus satisfying the Jews that he did not look with contempt or in-

difference upon the ordinances of Moses. This Paul did accordingly.

Some were Nazarites for life. Such were Samson and Samuel.

JOHN THE NAZARITE, CALLED JOHN THE BAPTIST.

Nazarite was "-Naziraios,'' or ^^Nazaraios" which were equivalent.
The Greek word applied to the followers of Jesus was ^'Nazoraios,"
and this is a term by which they were known during the life-time of
Jesus; since, even taking the statement in the Acts of the Apostles
as it stands, it was not until after the death of the Galilean that his
followers took the name of Christians. Before, it was Essenes and
Nazarenes.
"Nazarene" is the English word which has been substituted for
^'Nazoraios^'' and away from the true signification,
to carry the reader
"Nazarene" is But ^^Nazoraios" was but
rendered "of Nazareth."
another form for ''Nazaraios'' and ''NaziraiosJ' "Naziraios" and
''Nazaraios'' meant a Nazarite, one under a vow, and subjected to
the ceremonial law prescribed in the sixth chapter of Numbers,
Such was John the Baptist, who, like Samson and Samuel, was a
Nazarite for life.

Appearing as such, and inviting Jesus to his baptism, he estab-

lished a sect called "the Nazarites." Jesus attached himself to this

sect, and, after the death of John, became its leader.

Jesus himself, although he fiercely denounced the Pharisees and

512 APPENDIX THE ESSENES.
the Sadducees, had nothing to say against the Essenes. Neither had
John the Baptist. When he saw Pharisees and Sadducees coming to
His baptism, he cried out: "O, generation of vipers, who hath warned
you to flee from the wrath to come ?"
If the Jews were divided and John and Jesus were
into three sects,
denouncing two of those sects, to which of them did John and Jesus
themselves belong ?
The brilliant De Quincey thought that Josephus, in describing the
Essenes,was describing the disciples of Jesus and no other people
whatever. But such a theory at once takes away all history of the
Essenes as a previously existing sect.

JESUS THE NAZARITE.

That Jesus was a Nazarite, under the Mosaic law, is in the highest
degree probable.
That he wore long hair is in accord with all the traditions in regard
to his personal appearance. He was "separated" and devoted to the
service of the Lord from The author of the Epistle to
his infancy.

the Hebrews speaks of Jesus as a high priest, "holy, harmless, unde-

filed, separate from sinners."— [Heb. 7. 26.

Jesus was a Jew, and observed the Jewish customs. He worshiped

in the synagogues on the Sabbath —he participated in the national
festivals— and there no reason to doubt that he observed all the
is

rites and ceremonies which were peculiarly incumbent upon those

who, like himself, had been separated and consecrated to divine

service, even from the mother's womb.
Again, the very name attached to Jesus, and by which he was dis-
tinguished from others of the name, indicates that he was a Nazarite.
He was sometimes called the Galilean, and some thought him the
Christ. But he was more usually called "Jesus the Nazarite" {lesous

ho Nazoraios); sometimes translated, properly enough, "Jesus the

Nazarene." It is a fair inference that Jesus, as well as John, was a
Nazarite from birth, and that his participation in John's baptism had
much naming of the sect. Here was John the Nazar-
to do with the
ite baptizing,and Jesus the Nazarite coming to his baptism. What
more natural than that the sect then formed should be called the
Nazarites, or the Nazarenes ?
 JESUS THE NAZARITE. 513
There is every reason to believe that Luke, 7. 33. 34, is an interpola-

tion. It is not in Marcion, the older Gospel, from which Luke was
composed. The entire passage, from vv. 29 to 35 inclusive, is wanting
in the Gospel of Marcion.
One historical book of the Hebrews, called "Juchasin," asserts that
the Essenes were Nazarites. The author, who was Abraham Zac-
huth, calls the Essene, in Latin, translated from Hebrew, "Nazi-
raeos" or "Nazaraeos," both forms meaning the same, Nazarite. The
Hebrew word signifies "separated;" also "holy;" translated into the

Greek (Septuagint) by the word "heegiasmenos." In the title of the

work he writes:
"Nazarites, who are called Essenes."
Those who are curious to continue these investigations may con-
sult the very learned work, edited by Ugolinus, entitled:
"Thesaurus Antiquitatum Sacrarum," etc., published at Venice in
1759. In the 22d volume of this work will be found much abstruse
learning upon this interesting subject.

That Jesus was well known as "the Nazarite," is manifest from

the Gospels, both the apocryphal and the canonical.
The exact relation subsisting between the Essenes and the Naza-
renes, it is difficult to determine. For eighteen hundred years the
efforts of thosemost interested have been directed to covering up
and destroying what would have thrown light upon the subject.
How far these classes were involved in the war between the Jews
and the Romans, is a question involved in mystery. We learn from
Josephus that some of the Jewish leaders in the war were Essenes,
and from the Gospels themselves that Jesus had armed followers.
Beyond that, much is left to conjecture.

Scarcely any allusion is made in any of the New Testament writ-

ings to the insurrectionary war being carried on by the Jews against

the Romans, though, according to Bible chronology, the history in
the Acts of the Apostles is brought down to within a few years of
the destruction of Jerusalem.
and the followers of Jesus and the Jewish converts
If the disciples
of Peter and Paul took no part in these transactions, why is there
such a profound silence in regard to them in the New Testament

writings ?
514 JESUS THE NAZARITE.
The commencement of the Jewish war is generally dated at the
time when Vespasian was sent into Judea with an army, A. D. 66.

But ifany reliance at all can be placed upon the accounts given
by Josephus, Judea had been, for seventy years previous, the scene
of constant tumults, revolts and insurrections against the Roman
power. These resulted sometimes in the slaughter of thousands and
even tens of thousands of people in Jerusalem, or in the immediate
neighborhood. Yet of all this the New Testament authors are pro-
foundly ignorant; and concerning such important and exciting events
the books themselves are profoundly silent.

The Acts of the Apostles, which professes to give a history of the

<iisciples for thirty years, making Jerusalem and
A. D. 33 to A. D. 63,

Judea the scene of much of the narrative, has not a word to say
about the attempt made by Caius Caligula to set up his statue in
Jerusalem, an attempt which created such a tumult that it came
near ending in open war— [Jos. A. J. xviii. 8; B. J. ii. 10];— not a
word about the difficulties under Cumanus, and the tumult in which
ten thousand people were trampled to death— [B. J. ii. 12, 1];— no
account of the insurrection of the Sicarii and of the magicians, an4
the attempt made by the Egyptian false prophet, who had a large
force at his command which he led round about from the wilderness
to the Mount of Olives and with whom Felix had a battle, though all
these events took place within that thirty years. The curtain is

raised sufficiently for Paul to be asked if he was not that Egyptian

who, before those days, made an uproar, etc., when it suddenly falls

again, as if it were an unintentional reference to scenes relegated to

the darkness of oblivion.
Reference is made to one Theudas, Acts 5. 36, who had headed an
insurrection about the time of the birth of Christ or soon after, but
there is no reference to the Theudas who long afterward was at the
head of a formidable insurrection [Josephus A. J. xx. 5, 1], although
it occurred during the very time covered by the history of the Acts

of the Apostles. Josephus knew nothing of the Theudas of the Acts,

and the author of the Acts knew nothing or pretended to know noth-
ing of the Theudas of Josephus.
When we consider this profound and mysterious silence of the
2^ew Testament books, we are prepared to accept the statement o£
 APPENDIX —THE ZEALOTS. 515
Epiphanius in regard to the connection of the followers of Jesus with
the Essenes. Their participation in the Jewish war would naturally
follow.
"The Essenes/' says Thomas Goodwin in his Dissertation on the
Theocracy of the Israelites, "adored Christ with unanimous con-
sent."

IX.

The Zealots.

"In the progress of time," says Origen, "they (the Essenes) became
separated; and not adhering to the same order of discipline, they
were divided into four parties. Some of them are exceedingly re-
ligious." After giving illustrations of their religious zeal, which
sometimes led to acts of violence, he adds:
"Wherefore, by chance they drew upon themselves the name
Zealots. And by some they were called Sicarii."— [Origen against
Heresies, ix. 26.

To the same effect is the testimony of Chrysostom, one of the

earliest and most eminent of the Greek fathers. After saying that
there were three sects among the Jews, viz: Pharisees, Sadducees
and Essenes, speaking of the Essenes he says:
"The same are also Sicarii, because of their being Zealots." {Hoi
autoi de kai Sikarioi, dia to einai Zelotai.) — [Homil. in Act. Apost.
46; on Acts 21. 18-38.

For a long time there had been a party among the Jews who had
been called Zealots; but it was not until about the year 54 A. D.,

after the appointment of Felix as procurator, that they were called

Sicarii. Afterward the words were used interchangeably.
Ugolinus speaks of these Jewish sects. After referring to the
statement of Drusius, cap. xxi. in Scholia Graeca, in which he called
the Essenes Sicarii, that is, Zealots, and after saying that Theophil-
actus writes the same, Ugolinus continues as follows:

"Not all of the Essenes were Sicarii; but those who transferred
themselves to the sect of Judas, the Galilean. These, urged by a
peculiar zeal for God, were called Zealots." (Latin, Zelotes; Greek,
516 APPENDIX THE ZEALOTS.
Zelotai.)—['Ugo\inns, Dissertation concerning the three sects of the
Jews, cap. xiv., sec. 4; in his Thesau. Antiq., vol. 22, p. 162.

Concerning these people, sometimes called Sicarii and sometimes

Zealots, Josephus gives us full information.— [Jewish War, bk. ii. 13,

3; ii. 17, 6; iv. 3, 9-14; ch. 4; ch. 5; ch. 6; ch. 7, 2; vii. 8-11.

The Sicarii, he says, derived their name from sica, the Latin word
for dagger or dirk-knife. This weapon, called by Josephus in one
place dagger, and in another place sword, was carried under the
bosom [B. J., ii. 17. 6], and was suddenly thrust into the victim with-
out the slightest warning.
From those of the Essenes who had joined the sect established by
Judas Che Galilean— "the fourth sect" spoken of by Josephus— came
the disciples and followers of Jesus. They were "Zealots for the
law." Though the Scribes and the Pharisees were constantly watch-
ing to entrap Jesus for non-observance of the law, they could never
succeed; he was zealous for its observance as he construed it; and
his disciples were more zealous for the law than were the Scribes and
the Pharisees themselves.
In the one of the Apostles was Simon Zelotes (Luke 6.
first place,

15: Acts 1. 13), or Simon the Zealot. In Matthew 10. 4, and Mark 3.
18, he is called Simon the Canaanite; but this is conceded to be a
mistranslation. The word rendered "Canaanite" is the Syriac word
Kananites, and means the same as the Greek word Zelotes, or the
English word "Zealot."
The Douay version reads, "Simon the Cananean," both in Matthew
and in Mark.
In the translation of the Diatessaron of Tatian, by Eev. J. Hamlin
Hill, B. D., Edinburgh, 1894, the rendering of Luke 6. 15, is, instead of
"Simon, called Zelotes," "Simon, which is called the Zealot."
In the translation by Agnes Smith Lewis, M. K. A. S., London and
New York, 1894, of the ancient Syriac MS. discovered by Tischen-
dorf, called the Sinaitic, and which is considered the oldest manu-
script of the Gospels in existence, the reading is, both in Matt. 10. 4,

and in Mark 3. 18, instead of "Simon the Canaanite," "Simon the

Zealot."
McClintock and Strong, in their Biblical Cyclopedia, after giving
the different names of this apostle, say: "Each of these equally
 APPENDIX THE ZEALOTS. 517
points out Simon as belonging to the faction of the Zealots, who
were conspicuous for their fierce advocacy of the Mosaic ritual."

[Art. "Simon."
Again: It appears from the Gospels themselves that Jesus was
surrounded by armed Zealots as his followers when he was appre-
hended. He was
told that there were two swords {machairai); and
he said was sufficient.— Luke 22. 38. The "machaira'' was a dirk-
it

knife; the same kind of a weapon as that which was called in Latin
sica, and which gave their name to the Sicarii.

Afterward, one of those who were with Jesus drew his dirk-knife
(machairan) and struck a servant of the high priest, cutting off his
ear.— Matt. 26. 51; Mark 14. 47; Luke 22. 49, 50; John 18. 10. John
gives the servant's name, and says that it was Simon Peter who
struck the blow.
Again: The Gospels make frequent mention of the fact that those
seeking to take Jesus feared the people.— Matt. 21. 46; Mark 11. 32^
12. 12; Luke 20. 19; 22. 2. Why should they stand so much in fear of
an unorganized multitude, unless they knew that some of them, at
least, were secretly armed ?

Not only was Jesus surrounded by Zealots, but he was himself a

Zealot. It was in execution of a Jewish law, called "the law of the
whip made of small cords, he scourged the
Zealots," that, with a
money-changers and drove them from the temple.
Such is the opinion of Selden, than whom, perhaps, a man never
lived more learned in the law. In his work, De Jure Natur. et Gent,

bk. iv., c. iv., he goes into a thorough examination of the law of the
Zealots. The chapter is entitled:

"Concerning the singular Law of the Zealots among the Hebrews;

according to which those caught in various crimes were, by private
persons, beaten with impunity, or put to death on the spot."

He gives, in this chapter, a full explication of the law, citing San-

hedrin, cap. 9, sec. ult.; Gemar Babylon, ib. fol. 81; b. & c. Hierosoly-
mit. cod. tit. fol. 27, col. 2. These private avengers are denominated
"pious men who are fired with zeal for God." ^^Homines pii" says
Selden, "gm zelo Numenis accenderentur."
The next chapter he devotes to a consideration of the question,

whether Christ was acting under this law in driving the money-
 :

518 APPE]?fDIX —THE ZEALOTS.

changers out of the temple. After a very learned disquisition, in
which he examines the various offenses which might be thus sum-
marily punished, among which was desecrating the temple or the
sacred utensils, he comes to the pious conclusion that Jesus, wishing
to present himself as a perfect exemplar of absolute justice, was
willing that all should see that what he was doing was according to
law. Hence he scourged the money-changers in accordance with
a law of the Hebrews, called "the Law of the Zealots;" a law author-
izing private punishment for religious offenses.
This law is referred to by Philo, also, in one of his treatises. After
speaking of the punishments of God, he says:

"But the punishments which are inflicted by men, are of various

characters, being death or scourging, those men who are more excel-
lent and more death on such offenders,
strict in their piety, inflicting
but those who are of milder dispositions, scourging them with rods
publicly in the sight of all men."— [De. Spec. leg. 6. 7; Works, III,,

p. 261.

The influence of the Zealots, after the death of Jesus, is well illus-
trated by the following account from the Acts of the Apostles
"And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us
gladly.
"And the (day) following Paul went in with us unto James; and all
the elders were present.
"And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what
things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry.
"And when they heard (it), they glorified the Lord, and said unto
him: Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are
w^ho believe; and they are all zealous of the law [zelotai tou nomou,
correctly translated in the Douay version, 'Zealots for the law;']
"And they are informed of thee that thou teachest all the Jews
who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought
not to circumcise (their) children, neither to walk after the customs.
"What is it, therefore? the multitude must needs come together;
for they will hear that thou art come.
"Do, therefore, this that we say to thee: We have four men who
have a vow on them;
"Them take and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with
them, that they may shave (their) heads; and all may know that
those things whereof they were informed concerning thee are noth-
ing; but (that) thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the
law >K si! sj!
 APPENDIX —THE ZEALOTS. 519
"Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself
with them, entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of
the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for
every one of them."— [Acts, ch. 21, vv. 17 to 26.
In order to understand fully this account, it is necessary to have
recourse to a passage in the untranslated works of Origen.
Speaking of the Essenes, he says:
"Some there are who, when one of them hears some one discoursing
concerning God and his laws, if he is not circumcised, when he
catches such a man somewhere by himself, he threatens him with
death, unless he becomes circumcised; and unless he is willing to
comply, he does not spare him, but cuts him to pieces."— [Contra
Hssreses, ix. 26. Series Grseca, vol. 16, pt. 3, p. 3404.

From what Origen here says it is plain that Paul was in imminent
danger of his life. No one knew this better than did Paul, who was
himself a Zealot, and had been one of the fiercest Zealots for the law.
He lost no time, complying with the suggestion of his
therefore, in
Jewish brethren. That he acted none too soon in this matter, is
manifest from the statement in Acts, ch. 23, vv. 12 to 21, where it

appears that more than forty of the Zealots had bound themselves
by an oath, that they would neither eat nor drink till they had put
Paul to death.
At a later day the spirit and zeal of the Jev^sh Zealots were trans-
ferred to the Christian converts. When these became consolidated
into a compact ecclesiastical body, that spirit and zeal found a suit-
able field for activity.

X.
The Inquisition.

PETER AND PAUL.

Peter, according to the account in the Acts of the Apostles, struck
dead Ananias and Sapphira because they had lied and kept back part
of the price of land they had sold.
Dr. Doellinger, an eminent Catholic theologian, commenting on
this transaction, says:
"When Ananias and Sapphira, through their hypocrisy and avar-
icious attempt at deception,had made the first assault on the author-
ity of the apostles and the holy ghost ruling in the church, St. Peter
 —

520 APPENDIX —THE INQUISITION.

inflicteda terrible punishment upon them."— [First Age of the
Church, by John Ignatius Doellinger, D. D., 2(1 London Edition,
1867, p. 44.

Paul, before his conversion, persecuted the disciples, making havoc

among them, entering into every house, haling men and women and
committing them to prison. He continued to breathe out threaten-
ings and slaughter against the disciples until his conversion, and
after his conversion his persecution was transferred to the heretics
within the church.

DOCTRINES OF PAUL.
Blood Atonement.— It is difficult to understand how any one
can deny that Paul taught the doctrine of the atonement. His views
are set forth in language sufficiently explicit in the following pass-
ages, all taken from the epistles which are, by the German critics,

admitted to be genuine:
"Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in
his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that
—
are past, through the forbearance of God." [Romans iii. 25.
'•For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died
for the ungodly.
"For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet peradventure
for a good man some would even dare to die.
"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us.
"Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be
saved from wrath through him.
"For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the
death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by
his life.
"And not only (so), but we also joy in God through our Lord
Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement."
[Rom. V. 6-11.

"He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all,
how shall he not with him also freely give us all things ?— [Rom.
viii. 32.

"For I delivered unto you first of all, that which I also received,

how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures."—
[1 Cor. XV. 3.
"Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this
present evil world."— [Galatians i. 4. See also Gal. iii. 13.
 APPENDIX —THE INQUISITION. 521
Justification by Faith.— Paul was equally plain in announcing
this doctrine. See Romans i. 16; iii. 22-24; iii. 30; iv. 5; iv. 16; v. 1;
Gal. ii. 16.

Election and Predestination.— These doctrines were promul-

gated by Paul in language, if possible still more explicit. See Rom.
viii. 28, 30; ix. 11-24; xi. 5-7.

ORIGIN of these DOCTRINES.

Sacritice as an atonement for sin, was a doctrine with which the

Jews were familiar. It had prevailed among all the nations of
antiquity. The practice had its origin, as is well known, in the
supposed necessity of placating an angry God. To appease the divine
wrath offerings were made, at first of the fruits of the earth, then of
animals. Among the Jews the prevailing doctrine is stated in the
Epistle to the Hebrews: "Without shedding of blood is no remis-
sion."— [Heb. ix. 22.

If the blood of lambs and goats could so far appease the angry
Deity as to induce him to remit the sins of a people, how natural the
transition to the idea, that the death of a person of extraordinary
merit, and especially one reputed to be the Son of God himself,
should work the remission of the sins of the whole world. The
greater the sacrifice, the more extensive the propitiation.
The ancients were familiar, also, with the idea of sacrifice in the
form of crucifixion. Of these some of the more important were:
Chrishna, of India, B. C. about 1200; the Hindu, Buddha Sakia, B.
C. 600; Thulis, of Egypt, B. C. 1700; and Mithra, of Persia, B. C. 600.

Is it possible that Paul had heard nothing of these ancient saviors ?

And yet he was none the less sincere in believing that the true savior

had now appeared. It is true that Jesus himself, at no time during

his preliminary examination, either before the council or before
Pilate, or on his way to execution, or at the crucifixion, gave any
intimation that he was about to die for the sins of the world.
Nevertheless Paul, who had not participated in the Messianic
dreams of the other apostles, and of Jesus himself, was logically
impelled to look upon the suffering at the crucifixion as a sacrifice.
If he was abandoning one religion of atonement, he must take hold
of another, involving an atonement of a still higher character.
522 APPENDIX —THE INQUISITION.
This idea of a vicarious atonement, to which Paul was naturally
and from the Jewish to the Christian
logically led, in his transition
faith, became with him the absorbing thought, the animating princi-
ple of his subsequent life. Henceforth he was to know only Jesus
and him crucified for the sins of the world.
To the atonement, justification by faith was but a corollary. The
sacrifice must be accepted by him for whom it was made. If his

faith should be sufficient, he would be washed and purified by the

blood of Jesus.
Predestination was but another form of the fatalistic doctrine of
the Essenes. Though educated as a Pharisee, Paulhad adopted
many of the views of the Essenes, and was thoroughly imbued with
the fatalism of that sect.
There are other doctrines of the Apostle which have hitherto been
kept in the background, but which are of great importance in refer-
ence to the subsequent development of the Christian religion. These
must now be considered.

INQUISITION DOCTRINES.
Destruction of the Flesh for the Salvation of the Spirit;
OR, Killing the Body to Save the Soul.

"Ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath
done this deed might be taken away from among you.
"For I verily, as absent in body but present in spirit, have judged
already, as though I were present, (concerning) him that hath so done
this deed
"To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh,
that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus
"Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person."
—[1 Cor. V. 2, 3, 5, 13.

What is Paul's meaning here ? It is claimed that nothing more was

meant than excommunication from the church.
Such, however, was not the language used by the apostle, to direct
exclusion from the church. The brethren were to "withdraw" them-
selves from such (1 Tim. vi. 5; 2 Thess. iii. 6); or "from such" they
were to "turn away" (2 Tim. iii. 5); or they were to "avoid them"
(Rom. xvi. 17); or to "note" or notify them, and to "have no company"
with them (2 Thess. iii. 14).
 APPENDIX —THE INQUISITION. 523
Paul commanded the church at Corinth to "put away" from among
themselves that wicked person. The word here used is exareite
from exairo; or, according to the better reading, areite, from
airo.

Now, what is the meaning of airo and exairo ?

The following is one of the definitions given by Liddell and Scott:
"To lift and take away, to take away, put an end to: later, to
kill."

So, one of the definitions of exaireo, of which exairo is a contracted

form, is, "to make away with."

This use of the phrase "take away," is recognized by us; as when

we say of a friend, "He has been taken away." In fact, this has been
a common use of the phrase and of its equivalents in other languages
for more than two thousand years.

In the New Testament there are frequent examples of the use of

the verb airo in this sense.
For instance:
Matt. xxiv. 39: "And knew not until the flood came, and took them
all away;" hai eeren (from airo) hapantas.
Luke xxiii. 18: " And they cried out all at once, saying, Away with
this man {aire touton, take away this man), and release unto us
Barabbas." See also John xix. 15, and Acts xxi. 36.
John xvii. 15: "I pray not that thou shouldest take them {areeSt
from airo) out of the world."
John XV. 2: "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh
away;" {airei from airo).
John xi. 48-50: "If we let him thus alOne, all will believe on him;
and the Komans will come and take away {arousin from airo) both
our place and nation."
Acts viii, 33: "In his humiliation his judgment was taken away
{eerthee, fiova airo)', and who shall declare his generation? For his
life is taken {airetai) from the earth.
Acts xxii. 22: "And they gave him audience unto this word, and
(then) lifted up their voices, and said: Away with such a (fellow)
{aire ton toiouton, take away such a one) from the earth; for it is not
fit that he should live."

Thus the philological evidence is overwhelming.

But if there were any doubt remaining as to the meaning of this
chapter, and the intent of the apostle, it should be removed by a
524 APPENDIX —THE INQUISITION.
perusal of his subsequent letter to the same church, in which he
alludes to the same transaction. In that subsequent letter he
says:
"Though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I
did repent; for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry,
though (it were) but for a season.
"Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed
to repentance; for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye
might receive damage by us in nothing.
"For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be re-
pented of; but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
"For behold this self -same thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly
sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, (what) clearing of your-
selves, yea, (what) indignation, yea, (what) fear, yea, (what) vehement
desire, yea, what zeal, yea, (what) revenge! In all things ye have
approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.
"Wherefore, though I wrote unto you (I did it) not for his cause
that had done the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but
that our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you."— [2
Cor. vii. 8-12.

The apostle cared nothing for the accused party. Neither did he
care anything for him who had been wronged. His only care was for
the church. And now that the church had aroused itself, and in its
indignation and zeal had taken vengeance on the offender, he, Paul,
was satisfied.
He had already condemned the offender, and had pronounced sen-
tence, and he made it sufficiently clear that he desired the sentence to
be executed. That this had been done, clearly appears also from the
language of the second epistle.

The conclusion drawn from this chapter by Tertullian, Ambrose,

and other fathers of the church, was, "that the individual may be de-
stroyed in order that the church may be saved."
Nor do modern commentators find it easy to come to any other
conclusion.
In Scott's Henry's Comm., Phil., 1855, it is suggested that Paul was
to strike the offender with a dreadful disease in the midst of them,
while assembled together, so that they would be obliged on account
of this disease to carry him forth from their assembly.— [Page 272,

citing Bloomfield and Rosenmueller.

Olshausen admits that the phrase airein ek mesOf "to put away
 APPENDIX —THE INQUISITION. 525
from the midst," really means "to remove, i. e., to kill; " but he thinks
the exclusion from the church is to be understood as a spiritual
death.— [Comm. on 1 and 2 Cor. in 20th vol. Clarke's Theo. Lib. Ed.
1855, p. 88.

Dean Stanley frankly admits that Paul probably intended the

death of the offender.— [On the Epistles to the Corinthians, 5th edi-
tion, London, 1882, pp. 77, 78.

FURTHER FOUNDATIONS OF THE INQUISITION.

"I would they were even cut off who trouble you." —[Galatians
V. 12.

This also we are kindly asked to understand as merely an expres-

sion of the apostle's wish that certain persons might be excluded
from
the church. But he claimed and exercised the right to direct the
exclusion of members from the church. Such directions had repeat-
edly been given.— [1 Tim. vi. 5; 2 Tim. iii. 5; 2 Thess. iii. 6, 14.

In this case he "would" that something might be done which he

had not the power absolutely to order.
Again: "I would they were even cut off." Is exclusion from the
church such an extreme punishment as to justify the use of the word
"even" ?
"I would they were even cut off (apokopsontai) who trouble you."
Apokopsontai from apokopto. What meaning of this verb ?
is the
The first definitions of the verb kopto, given by Liddell and Scott,
are as follows:
1. To strike, smite, cut.
2. To knock down, fell, slay.
3. To cut off, chop off.
The Greek preposition apo meaning /rom, the verb apokopto is de-
fined by the same authority, "to cut off, hew off, knock of''
Let us look at the other places in the New Testament where it is

used:
1. Mark ix. 43: "And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off; (apokop-
son auteen.y
2. Mark ix. 45: "And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off; {apokop-
son auton.y
3. John xviii. 10: "Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it,
and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off {apekopsen) his right
ear."
 —

526 APPENDIX THE INQUISITION.

4. John xviii. 26: "One of the servants of the high priest (being
his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off)" (apekopse) etc.
5. Acts xxvii. 32: "Then the soldiers cut off {apekopsan) the ropes
of the boat, and let her fall off."

Can there be any doubt about the meaning of this word ? Paul
wished these churches to do what he desired the Church at Corinth to
do. He wished the offenders cut off from the face of the earth.
In Adam Clarke's Commentaries we find the following comment
on this passage:

"At first sight it seems as if the apostles were praying for the de-
struction of the false teachers who had perverted the churches of
Galatia."

The learned commentator does not inform us how the first im-
pression made by reading the passage is to be removed.
Olshausen says: " An imprecation of punishment against his oppo-
nents."
The Pulpit Commentary of Spence and Extell favors the theory of
self mutilation— a wish that they would mutilate themselves; and it

expressly disavows the construction which makes the apostle refer

merely to excommunication.— [Commentary on Galatians, p. 248.

The self -mutilation theory is simply absurd. According to that

view, Paul says: "I would they who trouble you would even mutilate
themselves." How would that relieve the church ?
No; Paul wanted these heretics to be put to death.
He had already pronounced them accursed:
"There be some that trouble you (the same expression), and would
pervert the Gospel of Christ.
"But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel
unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be ac-
cursed."— [Gal. i. 7, 8.

And again:
"xiswe said before, so say I now again, if any (man) preach any other
gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed."
[Verse 9.

Now, what is the significance of being accursed ?

In Joshua vi. 17, we read as follows:
"And the city shall be accursed, (even) it and ail that [(are) therein,
to the Lord: only Eahab the harlot shall live," etc.
 APPENDIX THE INQUISITIOIs\ 527
Again, in chapter vii. verse 12:

"Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their ene-
mies, (but) turned (their) backs before their enemies, because they
were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy
the accursed from among you."

Among the Jews, to be accursed was to be subject to condign pun-

ishment. "He that is hanged (is) accursed of God."— [Deut. xxi. 23.]

Any one who stood accursed might be lawfully put to death.

Paul had been a persecutor before his conversion —he was a perse-
cutor still. The spirit of persecution pervades his writings.

"If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema
maran-atha."— [1 Cor. xvi. 22.
In 2 Thess. i. 8, the Lord Jesus is spoken of as "taking vengeance"
on those who obey not his Gospel.
In 1. Tim. i. 20, Hymeneus and Alexander, who had departed from
the faith, he had "delivered unto Satan."

In 2 Tim. iv. 14, "Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil; the

Lord reward him according to his works."

In Titus i. 11, referring to those in the church who were unruly,
and vain talkers and deceivers, it is said:

"Whose mouths must be stopped."

In Acts xiii. 8-11, he is represented as punishing with blindness

Eiymas, that "child of the devil," who had withstood Barnabas and
Paul, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.

Thus was Paul strengthening the foundations of the Inquisition.

Those foundations had already been laid by own
doctrines and by
his

the teachings and example of Peter; and these apostles found en-
couragement in the denunciations of Jesus himself against unbe-
lievers. Those who founded the Inquisition also found encourage-
ment in his sanction of punishment by torture. (According to Matt,
xviii. 34, 35.)

"We shall have occasion, as we proceed, to notice how these founda-

tions were gradually strengthened as time progressed. But one ad-
ditional circumstance need here be mentioned. There was a docu-
ment in general circulation in the early ages of the church, and at
that time considered of high authority. It was entitled, "The Epistle
 —

"528 APPENDIX THE INQUISITION.

of Clement to James." It is translated in the 17th volume of the
Ante-Kicene Christian Library.
In this epistle, Clement describes his ordination. He says that when
Peter was about to die, the brethren being assembled (at Eome), he
laid his hands on Clement, as the Bishop, and communicated to him
the power of binding and loosing, etc., and as to him who should
grieve the President of the Truth, after declaring that such a one
sins against Christ and offends the Father of all, Peter proceeded as
follows:

^^WheietoTe, he shall not live ; and therefore it becomes him who

presides to hold the place of a physician; and not to cherish the rage
of an irrational beast."

JEROME AND AUGUSTINE.

These are the most eminent of the Church Fathers. They were the
expounders of the Nicene Creed, and the highest authorities on faith
and doctrine.
Since these fathers stand as the great landmarks of Christian piety
and learning, and the great exponents of Christian doctrine, their
views on the subject of persecution, and especially concerning the
persecution of heretics, become of the highest importance.

JEROME.
Under Constantine and his sons, commissions had been issued
against heretics, especially against the Donatists, who were visited
with the most rigorous punishment. In 382, under Theodosius I., an
edict was published against the Manichseans and other sects. A law
of Honorius, in 398, threatened the professors of certain heresies, in
particular the priests of the Montanists and the Eunomians, with
banishment and death if they persisted in bringing people together.
The decrees for the extirpation of heathenism were even more severe.
Jerome and Leo the Great were in favor of the death penalty.
Let us look at the teachings of Jerome:
"We may ask," says he, "whether God is good, who has given the
law and the prophets, seeing the life of the wicked is prospered, and
they do not suffer anything from him, according to their deserts.
They have abounded indeed, all those who have separated themselves
in contumely—those who with rabid jaws bark against their maker
who reproach him with blasphemous speeches.
 APPENDIX THE INQUISITION. 529
"These have abounded— they have been planted, and have sent
forth roots. They have begotten sons, and have brought forth fruits.
What fruits has Marcion brought forth, begetting sons of Infidelity ?
What Basilides? What Valentinus ? Concerning whom, indeed, it
is prophesied, saying: 'They have begotten sons, and have brought
forth fruit. Near art thou to their mouth, but far from their heart.'
*They call upon Jesus; but they have him not, neither do they confess
him as Christ. And thou, Lord, hast known me, and hast tried me
in thy sight. Sanctify them in the day of their killing.' (Jer. xii. 3.)
In what way would I expound this ? He calls the torments of those
who are tortured, sanctifiGation. (Tormenta sanctificationem vocat
eorum qui torquentur.) 'Sanctify them," he says, 'in the day of their
killing.' That is, 'by that thou killest them, sanctify them.'" (Id
est, per hoc quod interficis eos, sanctifica eos.)— [Works of Jerome,
Vol. V, 818.

Here is the doctrine of Paul— the destruction of the flesh that the
spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. But Jerome has
improved upon the Apostle, and has explained that the flesh may be
destroyed by torture, and that the torments will result in sanctifica-
tion.
AUGUSTINE.

In his earlier days, Augustine taught religious liberty. But these

were the generous impulses of youth. As he advanced in years, he
saw his error. In his "Retractations," he retracted his previous teach-
ing on this subject:
"There are two books of mine," he says, "the title of which is,
*Against the Party of Donatus.' In the first of these books I said
that I did not favor violently bringing into the communion schis-
matics by the force of any secular power. Indeed, I did not then
favor it, because I had not yet found out by experience, either to how
much evil impunity would embolden them, or to how much better
conditions the diligence of discipline might bring them."— [Retracta-
tiones, Liber II, Caput V.

Having learned by experience the good results of "the diligence of

discipline," he was, from this on, outspoken in his advocacy of perse-

cution.

In his letter to Vincentius, A. D. 408, he says:

"We are precluded from rest by the Donatists; the repression and
correction of whom, by the powers which are ordained of God, ap-
pears to me to be labor not in vain. . . .
530 APPENDIX THE INQUISITION.
"You are of opinion that no one should be compelled to follow
righteousness; and yet you read that the householder said to his serv-
ants, 'Whomsoever ye shall find, compel them to come in/ . ,

"Paul was given up to be imprisoned and bound; but Satan is un-

questionably worse than any jailor; yet to him Paul himself gave up
one man for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit might be saved
in the day of the Lord Jesus. . . .

"Whatever, therefore, the true and rightful mother does, even

where something severe and bitter is felt by her children at her
hands, she is not rendering evil for evil, but is applying discip-
line to counteract the evil of sin, not with the hatred which seeks to
harm, but with the love which seeks to heal. If to inflict persecution
were in all cases blameworthy, it would not have been written in the
sacred books: 'Whoso privily slandereth his neighbor, him will I per-
secute' (cut In some cases, therefore, he who suffers persecution,
off).

is in the wrong; and he who inflicts it, is in the right. . . .

"Truly, if past events recorded in the prophetic books were figures

of the future, there was given, under King Nebuchadnezzar, a figure
both of the time which the Church had under the apostles, and of
that which she now has. In the age of the apostles and the martyrs,
that was fulfilled which was prefigured when the aforesaid king com-
pelled pious and just men to bow down to his image, and cast into
the flames all who refused. Now, however, is fulfilled that which
was prefigured soon after in the same king, when, being con-
verted to the worship of the true God, he made a decree through-
out his empire, that whosoever should speak against the God of
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, should suffer the penalty
which their crime deserved. The earlier time of that king repre-
sented the former age of emperors who did not believe in Christ, at
whose hands the Christians suffered because of the wicked. But the
later time of that king represented the age of the successors to the
imperial throne, now believing in Christ, at whose hands the wicked
suffer because of the Christians."— [Letters of Augustine, p. 395, et
seq.

Again, speaking of heretics, he says:

"Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell;
like Dathan and Abiram, the authors of an impious schism." [L<et- —
ters of Augustine, pp. 395-420.

These were the teachings in accordance with which the burning of

hereticswas soon after commenced, and was continued at intervals
until the twelfth century, when it was reduced to a system, and car-
 APPENDIX —THE INQUISITION. 531
ried on extensively over the Christian world for nearly five hundred
years.
JESUS AND PAUL.
Jesus, according to the Gospel, taught the doctrine of punishment
in hell-fire; using Gehenna, or the valley of Hinnom, v^here the
corpses of the worst malefactors were burnt, as a symbol of the place
where evil doers would be punished in the future. And according to
the author of the Gospel of Matthew, he expressly sanctioned pun-
ishment by torture.
"And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till

he should pay allthat was due unto him.

"So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from
your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses."—
[Matt, xviii. 34, 35.

The punishment in hell-fire was to be everlasting.— [Matt, xviii. 8;

XXV. 41, 46.

Paul, with the view of relieving the offender from this terrible
doom, and at the same time meting out to him punishment in this life,
taught that the body may be destroyed, in order that the spirit may
be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
If Jesus said what he is reported to have said in the Gospel accord-
ding to Matthew, there must have been traditions of those sayings in
circulation in the time of Paul, and known to him; in which case it is
possible that Paul took this idea from the sayings of Jesus, as reported
in the fifth chapter of Matthew:

"And thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast (it) from
if

thee; for profitable for thee that one of thy members should
it is

perish, and not (that) thy whole body should be cast into hell.
"And thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast (it) from
if
thee; for it isprofitable for thee that one of thy members should per-
ish, and not (that) thy whole body should be cast into hell."— [Matt. v.
29, 30.

A logical extension of the doctrine would require that if the of-

fense extend to the whole body, the whole body should perish rather
than be cast into hell.

The doctrine of substitution, and of expiatory suffering with

which Paul, with whom the atonement was a favorite doctrine, was
so familiar, naturally favored also his idea of the destruction of the
532 APPENDIX THE INQUISITION.
body for the salvation of the soul. It was but another form of expi-
atory suffering. Instead of one person suffering in place of another,
it was the same person suffering in this life, in place of suffering in
the life to come. It was suffering for a short time here instead of
suffering throughout endless ages hereafter.

In that view, the infliction of the necessary pain here was an act of
mercy.
The merciful and compassionate character of the proceedings, as
seen from an orthodox Christian standpoint, will account for some of
the phrases in use by inquisitors— phrases which, it has been supposed
by some, were used in derision.

The was admitted to an "audience"; he was "put to the

heretic
question" (by torture); he had preparatory "instruction" and "moni-
—
tion" if he was to suffer everything but death, he was "reconciled";
if he was to be burnt alive, he was to be "relaxed." The motto of the
Inquisition was, "mercy and justice."

UNDER CONSTANTINE.
"Not a moment was lost," says Gibbon, "in excluding the ministers
and the teachers of the separated congregations from any share of
the rewards and the immunities which the emperor had so liberally
bestowed on the orthodox clergy. But as the sectaries might still
exist, under the cloud of royal disgrace, the conquest of the East was
immediately followed by an edict which announced their total de-
struction."— [Citing the Life of Constantino by Eusebius, vol. iii, ch.
63-66.

Under Constantine and his sons commissions were issued against

the Donatists, who were most rigorous punishment.
visited with the
Under Theodosius I, in 382, heretics were searched out and pun-
ished; and from this time the terms "inquisition" and "inquisitors"
came into general use. In 385, Priscillian, the Gnostic and Mani-
chsean, was tried by Maximus, at Treves, by the use of torture, and
was put to death, with six of his disciples.
FIFTH CENTURY.
Having thus been brought into existence in the fourth century, the
Inquisition was in full blast early in the fifth century, during the
time of Jerome and of Augustine, who were well acquainted with
the workings of the same. This is sufficiently manifest from the
Letters of Augustine himself.
 APPENDIX —THE INQUISITION.
"

533
In Letter civ, directed to Nestorius, he says:

"Have you perchance heard some report, which is as yet unknown

to us, that my brother Passidius had obtained authority for proceed-
ings of greater severity against your citizens, whom— you must ex-
cuse me for saying this— he loves in a way more likely to promote
their welfare than you do yourself? For your letter shows that you
apprehend something of this kind, when you charge me to set before
my eyes 'the appearance presented by a town from which men doom-
ed to torture are dragged forth,' and to 'think of the lamentations of
mothers and of wives, of sons and of fathers, of the shame felt by
those who may return, set at liberty, indeed, but having undergo7ie
the to7'ture, and of the sorrow and groaning which the sight of their
wounds and scars must renew.' "—[Letters of Augustine, vol. 2, p. 64.
Again: In Letter cxxxiii, (A. D. 412,) to Marcellinus, he says:

"Fulfill, Christian judge, theduty of an affectionate father. Let

your indignation against their crimes be tempered by considerations
of humanity. Be not provoked by the atrocity of their sinful deeds,
to gratify the passion of revenge, but rather be moved by the wounds
which those deeds have inflicted on their own souls, to exercise a de-
sire to heal them. Do not lose now that fatherly care which you
maintained when prosecuting the examination, in doing which you
extracted the confession of such horrid crimes, not by stretching them
on the rack, not by furrowing their flesh with iron claws, not by
scorching them with flames, hut by heating them with rods— a mode
of correction used by schoolmasters, and by parents themselves in
chastising children, and often also by bishops, in the sentences award-
ed by them.
"It is generally necessary to use more vigor in making inquisition,
so that when the crime has been brought to light, there may be scope
for displaying clemency."— [lb. p. 170. . . .

"Do not executioner now, when the crime has been

call for the
found out, after having forborne from calling in the tormentor when
you were finding it out."— [Ibid.
Augustine was here urging clemency in a particular case. If in
had refrained from "calling in the tor-
this case the party addressed
mentor," was there not a tormentor at hand ready to be called in
when it should be thought the exigencies of the case required it ?

When Jerome was excited by Vigilantius forbidding

the wrath of
the adoration of he expressed his wonder that the bishop of
relics,

the hardy heretic had not destroyed him in the flesh for the benefit of
his soul; and argued that piety and zeal for God could not be cruelty.
 —

534 APPENDIX THE INQUISITION.

Eigor, in fact, he argues, in another place, is the most genuine
mercy, since temporal punishment may avert eternal perdition.
[Epist. 109, ad Rip. Comment, in Naum, 1, 9.
SIXTH CENTURY.

Not only was the Inquisition flourishing in the days of Jerome and
of Augustine, but it was expressly provided for in the Code of Jus-

tinian.

"The inquisition may be extended, also, to death." {In mortem

quoque inquisitio tendatur.)
The Eleventh Section is entitled, "Manichseans, wherever found,
are to be visited with capital punishment." {ManicJiaei ubicunque
reperti capitali poena plectuntur.)

FROM THE SIXTH TO THE TWELFTH CENTURIES.

After the time of Jerome and Augustine, it soon became the
general doctrine of the church, as expressed by St. Isidor of Seville
(A. D. 620), that princes are bound, not only to be orthodox them-
selves, but to preserve the purity of the faith, by the fullest exercise
of their power against heretics.

Under the Patriarch, Michael Oxista, the penalty of burning alive

was introduced as the punishment of the Bogomili. This was in
1119.

If the fires of the Inquisition were slumbering from the sixth to

the twelfth century, it was because heretics, during that time, were
neither so numerous nor so aggressive as to cause much trouble to
the church.
But it is a great mistake to suppose that the institution was first

established in the twelfth century in any other sense than that it was
then more completely organized, and made more effective than ever
before.

In 1163, the Cathari, detected in Cologne, were sentenced to be

burned by judges appointed for that purpose.
In 1212 eighty heretics were burned in Strassburg.
In England, the writ of de lieretico comburendo, "concerning the
burning of heretics," was created by statute in 1401.— [Lea's Hist.
Inq., vol. 1, p. 221.
 APPENDIX THE INQUISITION. 535
FROM THE TWELFTH TO THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

In France, something was done in the latter part of the twelfth

century. But early in the thirteenth century, Pope Innocent III de-
termined, in order to efface forever the last vestige of heresy, to make
the Inquisition a permanent institution. In accordance with the de-
cisionsand the directions of the Lateran Council of 1215, heretics

were hunted out and punished.

In 1232, it was placed under control of the Dominicans.

The institution prevailed in France until about the middle of the
sixteenth century.

In Germany, the first was Conrad of Marburg, who or-

inquisitor
ganized the "holy ofiice," and exercised its functions with terrible
severity in 1231-33. The institution lasted in Germany in a modified
form until the Eeformation.

In Italy the Inquisition had a chequered history for nearly six

hundred King of Italy, put an end to it in
years, until Napoleon, as
1808. It was re-established afterward, and continued in Sardinia
until 1848, and in Tuscany until 1859.

In England all attempts of Eome to introduce its Inquisition

failed; but the Protestant Inquisition took its place, and proved to
be no mean rival, whether we consider the extent of its operations
or the ferocity with which they were carried on.

The Netherlands.— For more than three hundred years the

horrors of the Inquisition were practiced in the Netherlands. Par-
ticularlywas this the case under the bloody Duke of Alva, during
the reign and by the command of Philip II, of Spain.

On the 16th of February, 1568, by a sentence of the Holy Office, all

the inhabitants of the Netherlands were condemned to death as

heretics. From this universal doom only a few persons, specially
named, were excepted. "Three millions of people," says Motley,
"men, women and children, were sentenced to the scaffold in three
lines."— (Rise of the Dutch Republic, ii, 155.) Nothing but the want
of the requisite power prevented this bloody sentence from being
carried into execution.
536 APPENDIX —THE INQUISITION.
SPANISH INQUISITION.

The Holy Office was established in Aragon, by the Dominicans, in

1242.

Toward the close of the fifteenth century the Inquisition was re-
organized in Spain and carried on its work with thoroughness and
completeness.

Much has been said concerning the position occupied by Isabella of

Castile, in reference to the Inquisition, and much abuse and denun-
ciation of that great queen has been indulged in on account of her
connection with it. But the Inquisition had been a cherished insti-

tution there for two hundred and fifty years. Isabella was not re-
sponsible for it. She was in the hands of the priests; and to their
bloody projects she was obliged to yield, though she did so not with-
out a struggle.
Even McClintock and Strong exonerate Isabella.— [Article, "In-
quisition."

The power of Isabella was limited by the Cortes. Had she failed
to sanction the Inquisition, her reign would have been of very brief
duration.

Torquemada and his successors organized the work and carried it

on with great success for more than three hundred years. In 1808,
the Inquisition was abolished in Madrid by an edict of Joseph Bona-
parte. In 1814, it was re-established by Ferdinand VII. In 1820, the

palace of the Inquisition was destroyed by the people. In 1826, the

old tribunal was restored. It was suspended in 1834, and made nuga-
tory by the Constitution of 1855. Notwithstanding which, we find it

in force as late as 1857. Such has been the difficulty in putting an

end to this institution, which has hung on to life with desperate ten-
acity, claiming for its same sanction which perpetuates
existence the
the most sacred and the most ancient ordinances and institutions of
the church. t
No Auto da Fe^ or public burning of heretics, has taken place in
Spain for nearly a hundred and fifty years. But for a long time after
these spectacles ceased, the sentences were carried into execution
privately in the buildings of the Inquisition. Executions were con-
tinued for another hundred years.
 APPENDIX —THE INQUISITION. 537
Thus did the Inquisition do its bloody work for ages.
All the inquisitors in all these countries,and during all these cen-
turies, were engaged in the same great work. They were giving
their victims an opportunity to expiate endless ages of torture and
of burnings in the life to come, by a brief season of torture or burn-
ing in this present life.

They were all following the teachings of Paul, of Jerome and of

Augustine.
They were engaged in the destruction of an immense number of
bodies, in order that a great multitude of souls might be saved in
the day of the Lord Jesus.

XI.
When Was the Bible Completed?
"Each individual book of Scripture is an integral part of the or-
ganic whole of Scripture. . . .

"The vision is shut up and the book is sealed. No hope has been
given us that the seals will be broken, or a new page added."— [The
New Testament Scriptures, by A. H. Charteris, D. D., Professor of
Biblical Criticism, etc., in the University of Edinburgh; N. Y., Robt.
Carter &Bro.; 1882, pp. 218, 222.

Such being the nature and condition of the Bible, it becomes im-
portant to know when it was completed; when the vision was shut
up, and the book sealed.

"We will let Professor Charteris himself answer this question:

"There is not in the whole history of the Church of Christ down to

the Council of Trent in 1546, any decree or formal utterance of the
Church fixing the Canon."—[The New Testament Scriptures, p. 188.
Again:
"The Eastern Church was as completely without a fixed Canon as
the Western at the Reformation."—[Ibid. p. 199.

Now, since all the books composing the New Testament were
written, as is claimed, either in the first or second century, how is it

that for fourteen hundred years it could not be determined which of

those books were entitled to a place and had a right to be considered
Scripture, to the exclusion of others for which the same claim was
made?
538 APPENDIX.
Is it not plain that there was not sufficient evidence to determine
which were genuine and which were not, and that there was no sat-

isfactory rule by which to settle the question ? And if the relative

validity and merit of the books as between each other could not be
determined during all that time, how can we know whether the

bishops of the second century decided correctly, when they selected

the four gospels now in the New Testament to the exclusion of
others which were afterward called apocryphal ?
 GENERAL INDEX

(The figures in parenthesis indicate the year when the person lived or flourished.)

Aaron, the High Priest, John the Baptist also account of Peter and Simon
of the family of, 66, Magus before Nero, 125-127.
Abbot, Prof., doubtful passages, 213. Acts of Philip, 415; abstract of, 140.
Abgarus, king of Edessa, first picture " of Pilate, 142, 144, 202-210, 211-241,
of Christ sent to, 223; coT-respondence 243, 247, 297, 313, 314, 374-376,
with Christ, 327; same probably a 404, 421; one of the three most an-
forgery, 336. cient gospels of the 2d century ex-
Abraham, worshiped by heathen em- tant, 144; abstract of the gospel
perors, 64, 65, 112, 282, 283, 297, 369, 370, and its standing with the fathers,
202-210; compared with the canon-
425.
ical gospels, 211-241; mentioned by
Abulpharagius (1256), 192. Justyn Martyr, 308, 313, 314; written
"Accommodation," a mode of construing before any of the canonical gospels,
scripture, 165. 339; contains the most reliable ac-
Acosta, Father (1640), 439. count of the crucifixion, 373; Eras-
mus thought it was written before
Actaeon, 437. Luke, 386; contains the shortest
Acts of Andrew and Matthias, 140. and probably the oldest accounts
Acts of the Apostles, 61, 118, 119, 140, 212. of the miracles attributed to Christ,
241, 245, 329, 331: when brought into 214-224; newly discovered Acts of
general circulation, 483; not historical, Pilate, 249, 250.
not referred to by theapos'
25, 415, 419; iEons, 251, 367, 424.
tolic fathers, 39, 61; Cambridge MS.
contains 600 interpolations, 212; not in Africanus, see Julius.
Marcion's N. T., 274; critically consid- Agrippa Castor (130), 252, 254; sketch of,
ered, 415, 419; referred to in Murato- 257; wrote against Basilides, his writ-
rian fragment, 464; reference to pas- ings lost or destroyed, 257, 451.
sages in,ii8, 328, 329, 398; Its relation Agrippa the Great, was brother of Hero-
to Roman Catholicism, 449, 450, 478, dias, 19.
482.
Ahaz, king of Judah, 161.
Acts of the Apostles, by Lucius, 415.
" of Barnabas, 140. Albinus, procurator of Judea, 38.
" of the Holy Apostle Thomas, 140. Alcestis, rescued from death by Hercules,
437.
" of John, 100.
Alexander Abonotichus [2d century] 113;
*'
of St. Mary, 100. sketch of him by Lucian, 128, 129, 321.
" and Martyrdom of Andrew, abstract Alexander, bishop of Rome, 480.
of, 140.
Alexander, Dr., on ante-Hieronymian
" and Martyrdom of St. Matthew, 140. versions of N. T., 347.
" of Paul and Thecla, 25, 140, 415. Alexander, era of, 175.
*' of Peter, 100. .•Alexander, statue of, 321.
" of Peter and Andrew, 33, 100, 140, 415. Alexandrians, Epistle to (supposed to be
" of Peter and Paul, 125, 140, 415; con- Epistle to the Heb.), 464.
taining letter of Pontius Pilate, 247; Alfonso Sousa, 199.
544 GENERAL IJ^-DEX.

Alford, Greek Testament, 38. ApoUonius of Tyana [ist century], loi-

Alvarez, Semedo, 436. 116 128 130, 321, 322, 421, 436: biog-
raphy by Philostratus, loi-iii; esti-
of,
Alzog, 479-481. mate of his character by different
Amasis, king of Egypt, 107. writers, 112-116; extracts from
his
Ambrose. Latin fattier of 4th century, 11, epistles, 1T4-116.
92, 148, 385. Apostles of Christ, 21-39, 47o, 487.
Amelias, an ancient Greek writer, 438. Apostolic fathers, 40-61, 263.
Ammianus Marcellinus, a writer, 3d cen- Apuleius, Pagan philosopher of the 2d
tury, 322, 454. century, 130.
Amuphis, an Egyptian magician, 138. Aquila, brother of Clement of Rome,
44.
Anacletus, bishop of Rome, 477-499. 1 19-121.

Ananias and Sapphira, 30. Archelaus, king of Judea, 169, 184, 331, 332,
364.
Ananus, high priest, 38.
Aretas, king of Petraea, 19.
Andrew, the Apostle, 66, 140, 399.
Arian controversy, 427, 468.
Angels in the Jewish system, 131, 132,
Aristeas of Proconnesus, 131.
Anicetus, bishop of Rome, 448, 458, 474, 481.
Aristides (126), author of an Apologv,45i;
Anius, the high priest, 437. sketch of, 255; epistle to Diognetus at-
Anna, grandmother of Jesus, 144, 145. tributed to, 270.
Anna, the prophetess, see Hannah. Aristides the sophist (176), 416, 417.
Annas and Caiaphas, high priests, 16, 17, Aristion (130), 257, 258, 269, 452.
204, 208, 210, 237. Aristo of Pella (175), 442.
Announcement to Mary, 145, 152, 153, 184, Aristotle, 103. 189, 343, 439. 445-
309, 36s
Arnobius. Christian writer early in the 4th
Anonymous writings, 259, 260. century, 136,
Ante-Hieronymian versions, 347. Artemon (200), 467, 469.
Antinous, the favorite of Hadrian, wor- Ascension of Jesus, 236, 238, 376.
shiped as a god, 131.
Asceticism, 81-84.
Antiquity of Christian doctrines, 436-439-
Astarte, 189.
Antonine column, sculpture on, 138.
Asterius Urbanus (188), 462.
Antonius, an ascetic [3d century], 84.
Asterius, writer [4th century], 222.
Antonius, father of Simon Magus, 119.
Athanasius (373J, i73.
Antoninus Pius, emp. (138-161), 138, 305,
336.
Athenagoras (i77), Athenian philosopher
and Christian writer, 305, 321; sketch
Apelles (160), a Gnostic leader, sketch of, of, 444,445; held to a material resurrec-
91, 319, 320, 385. 386, 466; his writings tion, 423.
lost, 454.
Bartholomew, Atonement, the, 429, 430, 437.
Apocalypse ol 100.
" Augustine (420), 89, 136, 272, 385, 399, 446; re-
of Cerinthus, 36.
lates astonishing miracles, 137; discus-
'•
of Esdras, 140. sion with Faustus the Manichaean,34o-
Apocalypse of John, in N. T., 36, 100, 140, 345; his explanation of the genealogy
307, 464, 478; not generally recrfved by of Christ, 362; developed the doctrine
the ancients, 36; omitted from the of original sin and inherited guilt, 430.
canon by the Asiatic churches, 36, 39; Augustus Caesar, 139, 157, i75, 203, 436.
references to passages in, 97; supposed
Aulus Gellius, early in 2d century, 322, 455.
to have been written by John the Pres-
byter, 258; not in Marcion's N. T., Aurelian (emp, 270-275), 112.
274. Aurelius, Lucius Commodus, 305.
Apocalypse of John (another), 100, 140. Aurelius, Marcus (emp. 161-180), 50, 137,
" of Moses, 140.
305, 445, 473-
" Austin (600), Christian writer, 149, 320.
of Paul, 100, 140.
Avenging of the Savior, 248.
" of Peter, 100, 464,

Apocryphal acts, epistles, revelations, etc., Bacchylus of Corinth (180), sketch of, 447,
100, 140. 475.

Apocryphal gospels and writings, 88-100^ Baldseus, 194-196.

139, 169, 257, 352. 455. Baptism, 433-435; form of was immersion,
433; change from immersion to sprink-
Apollo, 129, 438. ling, 439.
ApoUonius, Christian writer [3d cen- Baptism of Jesus, 16, 66, 68, 172, i73. 181,
tury], 323. 312, 319. 357.
 GENERAL INDEX. 545
Baptizing women, 25. Book of Tobit, 131.
Baptizing by women, 25; taught and per- " Wisdom, 464.
of
mitted by Marcion, 274; also by a sect
Bopadeva [12th century], 200, 201.
of Montanists, 324.
Bossuet(i688), 417.
Barabbas, 70, 227, 354, 373.
Brahma, first person Hindu trinity, 437.
Barachiah (Barachias), 70.
Brahmins, 104, 105, 107, T97, 198, 439,
Bardanes, 104.
Bretschneider (1830), 397.
Bardesanes (180), sketch of, 446, 447.
Buddha, 190.
Baring-Gould, Rev. S., 7, 12, 13, 64, 84, 88,
91, 92, 94, 96, 98, 254, 274, 277, 278, 319, 440;
Bunsen (1850), 25, 270.
exonerates Marcion from having cor- Burton (1833), 306.
rupted the gospel of Luke, 287, 288. Byzantius, 259.
Barnabas [ist century], 95, 96, 255;
preaches at Rome, 43.
Barnabas, Epistle of (130), 58, 59.94,95. Caiaphas, High Priest, 16, 17, 167, 204, 243.
256, 257, 263, 264; no evidence for the Cainites, 94.
N. T., 58; attributed by the fathers to Caius (210), 32, 443.
the companion of Paul, 256; such au-
thorship rejected by modern scholars, Cambridge Manuscript (MS. Bezae), 212,
ib.; one of the first books mentioning 416.
the miracles of Christ, 421; the author Camerarius, 89.
a millenarian, 432.
Canon of the N, T., 86.
Baronius (1588), 72, iii, 138, 149, 260, 393.
Canonical Gospels, the four, see Gospels
Barsabas, 269. Canonical.
Bartholomew, 39, 91, 140, 413. Canticles, Book of, 69.
Basil (375), 436. I.
Capuanus' Catena (455), 60.
Basilides (125), a famous Gnostic, 89, 91, Caracalla, emp. (211-217), no, 112,
251-254, 257, 266, 451; Irenaeus' account I

of his doctrines, 254; sketch of, 253, Carpocrates (135), 66, 261, 262, 265, 323; no-
254; is said to have written a comment-
tice of, and his doctrines, 261, 262.
ary on "The Gospel," in 24 books, 252, Cassianus, Julius (190), 79, 462, 463.
451; not a reliable witness for the four Cassiodorus (550), historian, 222.
gospels, 253; maintained that Christ,
being innocent, could not endure Casting out demons, 131, 134, 135, 141.
penal suffering, 429. Catholic Church, 419, 461, 464, 484.
Basnage, thought Luke the first of the Cave (1700), a writer, 462.
canonical gospels, 387. Ceillier, 306.
Bauer, 50, 88, 277. Celibacy taught in the Gospel of the
Bayle, M., 112. Egyptians, 86; also by Saturninus, 252.
Beausobre (1734), 72. Celsus (210), 113, 128, 131, 485.
Bede, Venerable (734), 89, 93, 320, 386. Centurio, 207, 219-221.
Bellarmine (1600), 385, 393. Cephas. 32, 376.
Berenice, 437. Cerdo, or Cerdon, a Gnostic (140), notice
Berwick, Rev. Edward (1809), 102. of, 98, 263.

Beryllus (200-244), 467. Cerinthians used the Gospel of the He-

Bhagavat Purana, 194-198; antiquity of, brews, 66.
198, 199.
Cerinthus (145), a celebrated Gnostic 35,
Bible revision, 213. 36;believed that Jesus was the real
Birney, Wm., iv. son of Joseph, 67, 266; sketch of, 265,
266; had a gospel and a revelation, 266;
Bishops of Rome to the year 200, 480-482.
Toland says to him was attributed
Blastus (177), notice of, 444. the Gospel of John, 266; Irenaeus and
Bleek, a German writer, 51. Jerome assert that John wrote against
Blount, Charles (1680), a celebrated deist. him, 266, 400; his works lost or de-
102.
stroyed, 452.
Cerinthus used the Gospel of the He-
Bolingbroke (1740), 58. brews, 67, 96.
Book of Enoch, 131. Charinus, 208, 209, 265, 266.
" of the Helkesaites, 97. Chimalman, mother of Quexalcote, 438.
" of James, see Protevangelion,
"
Chrishna (B.C. 1156), viii , ix , 194-199, 436,
of John, concerning the falling asleep parallel between Chrishna and
IT,
of Mary, 140. &'
!hrist, 194; antiquity of the legends
of Joseph the High Priest, 167. concerning, 199-200.
546 GENEKAL INDEX.
Christ, see Jesus Christ. Clement, mother of, 433, 435.
Christ and Abgarus, alleged correspond- Clementine Gospel, probably the Gospel
ence between, 327, 336. of the Hebrews, 96.
Christian era, date of, when and by whom Clementines, or Clementine writings, 34,
established, 372. 42, 74, 96, 271, 469; attributed to Clem-
Christian women, 24, 25. ent, consisting of Epitome, 42, 271;
Homilies, 34, 42, 118,271; and Recogni-
Christus, 372. tions, see "Recognitions;" Gospel of
Chromatius (400), a bishop, 244-246. the Hebrews used in the Clementines,
Chronicles of Hegesippus, 456, 459. 96, 271.

Chrysippus (B. C. 230), a Greek philos- Cleomedes of Astypalaea, a miracle-work-

er, 131.
opher, 103.
Chrysostom (407), 11, 50, 148; his testi- Cletus, Bishop of Rome, 479, 480.
mony concerning the Acts of the Codex Bezse, see Cambridge.
Apostles, 416.
Colebrook, H. T., ix.
Church of Corinth, 4, 471.
Commodus, emp. [180-192], 305, 445, 447.
*'
of Ephesus, 471.
Confession and remission of sins, 438.
" of Lyons, 478.
"
Confucius [B. C. 598], magi attended his
Philippi, 471. birth from a distance, 436; golden rule
" Rhossus, 7. taught by, 439.
" Rome, 459, 461, 472, 485; founded Constantine, emp. [306-337], 36, 67; by his
by Peter and Paul, 471. edict the works of Pc 'orphyry were
" at Sinope, 4.
burned, 336.
of Thyatira, 37. Constantius Porphyrogenitus, 223,
Churches of Vienne and Lyons, Epistle Council, Italian, called by Victor, 472,
from (177). 443. 475-

Cicero (B. C. 50), 343- 439- Council of Laodicea [365], forbade the
ordination of women, 24, 36; excluded
Circumcision, insisted upon by Jewish the Apocalypse from the canon, 36.
Christians, 432.
Council of Nice [325], doctrine of the
Circumcision of Jesus, see Jesus Christ. Trinity established, 427.
Claudius Apollinaris (178), a Christian Councils, local, 472, 475.
writer, 137, 138; notice of, 445.
Creation out of nothing, taught by Her-
Claudius, emp. (41-54), 35, 118, 210, 247. mas [145], 432.
Clement of Alexandria(200), 11, 26, 32, 74, Credner [1836], 9, 12, 14, 270-308, 317, 393.
78, 81, 94, 135, 254. 25b, 259, 264, 266, 430, Crucifixion of Jesus, see Jesus Christ.
431, 447, 456, 460, 462, 463, 466, 470-473,
487; references to and quotations from
Cureton, Prof. [1845], 47, 48, 260.
his writings, 11, 26, 63, 78, 79, 85, 86, 94, Cureton Epistles, 48-52, 54, 59.
135, 193. 256, 259, 262, 263, 361, 392, 414 Cyprian [250], 136, 312, 392.
428, 431, 462, 463, 466; some of his lost
works, 461, held to the spiritual view Cyrenius and the taxing, 157, 175, 305, 310,
of the resurrection, 423; denied the 311, 331, 332, 364, 365.
eternal duration of future punishment, Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem [375], n, 36,
431. 148, 173, 392.

Clement of Rome
(97), sketch of, 29, 30, 54,
79, 119; when bishop of Rome, 392, 477,
478, 480; his views concerning the res- Daille, 91,
urrection, 25, 26, 61, 423; says nothing Damascene [725], 148.
of the immaculate conception, or of
the miracles of Christ, 30; not a wit- Damasus [366], 349.
ness to the four Gospels, 40-42, 57, 58; Damis [1st century], 103. 104, 108, 109, iii.
his treatment of heretics, 45, 46; the Dardanus, 189.
keys of the kingdom given to him by
Peter, at Rome, 31, 412,479. Darius Hystaspes [B. C. 500], 190.
Darras [1855], 466, 475, 479*481.
Clement of Rome, Epistle to the Corinthi-
ans (called the First Epistle of Clem- Davidson, Dr., 7, 27, 34, 36, 37, 38, 48-51, 84,
ent), 2, 25, 40-46, 57, 59, 94, 429, 456, 253, 256, 267, 270, 306, 314, 317, 345. 350.
457, 486; 2d Epistle to the Corinthians, 400, 470, 471, 483, 484, 489-
attributed to Clement [150-200], 42, 79, Death of Pilate, 248.
468; Clement to James, epistle, 30,42,
Demas, 228, 230, 231.
412, 479; the foundation of the inquisi-
tion, 31; Epistle of Clement in praise Demetrius, Bishop of Alexandria [i95].
of virginity, 42; the Canons attributed 475.
to him, 42; also the Apostolic Consti- Demetrius, a philosopher of the first cen-
tutions, 42. General Epistle of, 59. tury, 109.
 GENEEAL INDEX. 547
Derai-Ourgos, ii8, 273. Elliott, Prof., X.
Descent from the Cross, by John, 97. Ellicott, Bishop (1856), 169, 225, 226, 240.
Descent into hell, 209. Enoch and Elias, 243.
Desposyni. see Genealogies. Ephraim the Syrian (378), 350.
De Wette (1825), 277, 3i7. Epiphanes (140), sketch of, 262.
Dialogue between Jason and Papiscus, 442. Epiphanius (385), iv ,11,65,67,71,81,83,88-
Diapente, 325, 326, 94, 97, 98, 146-149. 172, 173, 222, 265, 266.
272, 274, 275, 287, 288, 2Q4, 300, 323, 386,
Diatessaron, 324-326, 339, 455. 402, 453; references to uis writings, 65-
Diocletian, emp. (284-305), 350. 67, 80, 83, 90-94, 97, 98, 146-148, 173,
Diognetus, Epistle to (140), notice of, 270. 246, 265, 266, 274,276, 294, 300, 312, 320,
323-325, 385, 402, 403, 463; he thought
Dion Cassius (229), loi, no, 137, 138; what the Gospel of Cerinthus [A. D. 145],
he says of Apollonius, no; of Marcia, written before that of Luke, 385, 386.
447.
Epistles of New Testament, 40, 41.
Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth (i75)) 32,36;
notice of, 442, 443.
Erasmus thought the
(1520I, 80, 87, 92, 385;
Acts of Pilate written before the Gos-
Dionysius Exiguus (525), 372. pel of Luke, 386.
Discussion between Peter and Simon Esculapius, 129, 131, 437,
Magus, 121-124.
Esoteric and exoteric doctrines, 434, 435.
Divinity of Christ, xi , xii , 21, 317, 397, 436;
and history of the doc- Essenes, 81-84.
450, 468; origin
trine, 424-426. Eternal Gospel, 97.
Docetae, a sect of Gnostics, who believed Eternal punishment, 430. 431, 438.
that Jesus and Christ were different, Eucharist, 478; of ancient origin, 439.
12, 319-
Eudocia, in.
Doctrine of Peter, see Peter.
Eunapius (400), 113.
Doctrines, Christian, 14, 29, 34, 44, 53, 61,
77, 86, 118, 253, 317; origin and history
Euodius (410), 148.
of, 420-435; antiquity of, 436-439. Euripides, 445.
Dodwell, Dr. (1700), 139, 336, 473. Eusebius (325), 7, 8, 11, 14, 26, 32, 36, 38,62,
Doellinger, Dr. (1867), 26, 28, 30, 31, 435; 65, 81, 82, 96, 97, 112, 116, 125, 136, 147,
what he says as to the punishment in- 204, 249, 252, 254, 255, 257-259, 268-270,
flicted by Peter, 30. 324-326, 392, 442-444- 448, 451, 452, 455-
461, 471; references to and quotations
Domitian, emp. (81-96), 35, 108-110, 130, from his works, 7, n, 13, 26, 32, 38, 65,
436, 457, 458; his assassination at Rome 81, 96. 116, 137-139. 148, 173, 221, 222,249,
told, at the same time at Ephesus,
254, 259, 264, 268-270, 311, 312, 324, 325,
by Apollonius of Tyana, no.
327-334. 339, 385. 442. 447. 448, 451. 455-
Domna, Julia, wife of Septiraius Severus 461, 466, 467. 469, 471, 475; value of his
(210), lOI. testimony as a witness, 327-337; his
Donaldson, Dr. (i860), 446, 465. falsehoods and forgeries, 328; forgeries
on Josephus, 328-332; forgery on Phle-
Dositheus, "The Standing One," 120.
gon, 332-335; forgery
forgei on Thallus, 334,
Dubois. M. (1800), 438. 535; forgery on Porphyry, 335, 336; other
335;
Dumachus and Titus, 168, 169. forgeries, 336.
Du Perron, translation of the Zend-Avesta Euthymius (1120), 148.
[published in 1771], 188, 191, 192. Evagrius (594), 50.
Dupin (1688), 33. 72, 91, 113, 473- Evaristus, Bishop of Rome, 479, 480.
Durant [published in 1606J, 223. Ewald (1800), 3, 6, 55, 258, 317, 357-

Easter, 412, 466, 467, 472, 474, 475,

Ebionites r2d century], 27, 65-67, 70, 74, Faber [1840], 188-190, 193,
76, 91, 448. Fabricius (1703), 3. 89, 96, 100, n8, 140, 204,
Egyptian imposter, 416. 325.
Eichhorn (1794^, 73, 355. 359. 360, 465. Fall of man, an ancient doctrine, 438.
Eisenmenger, 132. False Gospels of Hesychius, 97, 99.
Elders quoted by Irenaeus, 268. False Gospels of Lucianus, see Gospel of
Electra, mother of Dardanus, 189.
Lucius.
Farrar, 232, 391.
Eleutherus, Bishop of Rome, 458, 459, 473,
481. Faustus, a celebrated Manicbaean bishop
Elijah, 84. (400), 340-345, 399.
Festus, governor of Judea (62), 38.
Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, 66,
145, 146, 151-154, 184- Feuardentius, 60.
548 GENERAL INDEX.
Final restoration, believed in by Origen, Gospel of Cerinthus, 96, 99. 265, 266, 386,
431. 452; written before the Gospel of John,
Fire in the Jordan, 260, 312. 266; before Luke, 386.

Fire worshipers, 168, 182. Gospel of the Ebionites, a version of the

Gospel of the Nazarenes, 72.
Fleury, 306.
Gospel of the Egyptians, 78-88, 463; fre-
Flora (190), 352, 463. quently cited by Clement of Alexan-
Florinus (177), 444. dria, 81; written before Luke, 80, 81.
Fontenelle (1700), 336. 385.

Forbes' Oriental Memoirs (1800), 199. Gospel of the Encratites, referred to by

Epiphanius, 96.
Freedom of the will, 428.
Gospel of Eve, a doubtful gospel, referred
Froude, the historian, 113, 128.
to by Epiphanius, 88, 91, 92.
Gospels, the four Canonical, see Gospels,
Galba,emp. (68-69), 107. Canonical.
Gamaliel, 415, 416. Gospel of the Gnostics, properly no such
gospel, though the term sometimes
Gelasius, decree of (494), 12, 71, 85, 87, 89,
used; 97.
97-100, 149, 264.
Gelasius, Pope (494), 71, 9o, 92, 99, 100. Gospel or Harmony of Tatian. 12, 96,
100, 339, 405; history
of, 324, 326; not
Genealogies of the Desposyni, 96.
a harmony of the four Gospels, 339;
Genealogy of Jesus, see Jesus Christ. based on the Gospel of the Hebrews,
Genesis, 121. 325, 455.
Gengis Khan (1220) 436. Gospel of the Hebrews, 12, 15, 62-77,81
84, 85, 90, 91, 96, 98, 118, 185, 259, 269,
George, Bishop of Nicomedia, 149.
303, 312, 313, 317, 422; claimed by Je-
Gerarchia Cattolica, the Roman Almanac, rome and Epiphanius to be the Hebrew
479. Gospel of Matthew, 62-69, 402, 403;
Germanus, Bishop of Constantinople written before the Canonical Gospels,
(715), 148. 80, 81, 385; used by Justin Martyr, 271;
supposed to have been used by
Gestas, 228, 230, 231.
Tatian, 324, 325, 455; used by Hegesip-
Gfroerer (1850), 131. pus according to Eusebius, 448, 458,
Gibbon (1780), 112. 459.
Gnostics and Gnosticism, 54, 88, 89, 90, 92, Gospel of the Infancy, attributed to
118, 252, 262, 263, 267, 319, 322, 324, 424, Thomas, 54, 72. 88, 89, 144, 158, 163, 165,
432, 463- 167, 169, 172, 174, 176, 178-188, 196, 197, 2I3»
244-246, 3", 312. 339, 351, 363, 365, 40&,
Gobarus [6th century], 448.
414, 451; written before Luke and Mat-
Golden Rule before Christ, 439. thew, 80, 338; synopsis of its contents,
Gospel of Andrew, 89; written before 167-172; testimony of the fathers, 172-
Luke, ib. 174; compared with the first two chap-
ters of Luke and Matthew, 175-187;
Gospel of Apelles, 80, 94, 320, 385, 386;
origin and history of, 188-201.
written before Luke, 80, 320.
Gospel of James, same as the Protevan-
Gospel of Barnabas, 94-96. gelion, 98, which see.
Gospel of Bartholomew, 80, 89, 90, 385, 413; Gospel according to John, 37, 39, 57, 142,
written before Luke, 80, 385. 213, 214, 229, 240, 258, 271, 307, 315,
193,
Gospel of Basilides, 80, 318,324, 338, 351, 353, 358, 359, 367, 368,
96, 253, 385, 386;
written before Luke, 370,371, 373-375, 377, 378, 416, 445, 446.
80, 386.
449,450, 460, 463, 484, 489; references to
Gospel of the Birth of Mary (a supposed and specific passages in, 213-219; 230,
gospel), nothing but a translation by 233, 302; written subsequent to Cerin-
Jerome of a portion of the Gospel of thus, 266; not known to Justin Martyr,
the Infancy, 244-246, 365, 468; this gos- 307, 315; when written, 359; the first Can-
pel was asserted by Jerome to be in onical Gospel mentioned in Christian
the handwriting of Matthew, 72,244, history, 344, 489; radically different
351. from the synoptics, 353, 354; critically
examined, 394-40L
Gospels,Canonical, the four, vii ,viii , 6, 10,
29, 40-42, 54, 57-61, 72, 80, 81. 87, 142, 169,
Gospel of Judas Iscariot, 93,98; mentioned
174, 196, 210-241, 253. 256, 264, 267, 273,
by Irenaeus, 93.
307-309,314,315,324, 326, 337-340, 344,, Gospel of Jude, same as Gospel of Judas
373, 377, 379, 3^5, 423, 445, 448, 449, 452, Iscariot.
453, 459, 460, 470, 471, 478, 82, 489; when Gospel of Justin, sometimes employed to
written, 359; selected for the use of designate the gospel principally used
the churches from a large number by Justin Martyr, 98; this supposed to
of gospels, 10. 352; a support to have been the Gospel of the Hebrews,
Roman Catholic supremacy, 478, 482. ib.
 GENERAL INDEX. 549
Gospel of Life, a gospel of the Man- Gospel of Merinthus, same as Gospel of
ichseans, 99. Cerinthus, 99; referred to by Epi-
Gospel of Longinus, 99. phanius,386.
Gospel of the Lord, same as the Gospel of Gospel of the Nazarenes, the same as the
Marcion, 98. Gospel of the Twelve Apostles, 72^
Gospel of Lucius, one of the false gospels 90, 91.
of Lucianus, so called; these pro- Gospel of Nicodemus, see Acts of Pilate.
nounced apocryphal by the decree of
Gelasius, 99. Gospel of Paul, one of the lost gospels of
Gospel according to Luke, 4-7,9. i5, 16, 17, the first century, 3-7, 9, 13, 15, 85; the
20, 41, 42, 57, 79, 80, 82, 87, 89, 142, 145, foundation of the Gospel of Marcion,
150-166, 173. 175-187, 193, 194, 196, 214, 3; also of the Gospel of Luke, 15,
217-221,228-233,238, 239, 241, 253,263, Gospel of Perfection, 88, 89, 91, 92, 169?
275-303, 309-312, 320, 332, 338, 339, 354- mentioned in the Gospel of the In-
366, 373-375, 377-396, 403-408, 410, 411, fancy, 88, 169.
414, 416, 445, 449. 460, 464, 484; first two
chapters compared with the Protevan- Gospel of Peter, another lost gospel of
gelion, 150-159; with the Gospel of the the first century, 3, 7-15, 76, 85, 98, 147,
Infancy, 175-187; references to specific 259, 308, 313, 328, 449, 463, 482; was part
passages in, 18,41, 55. 65, 80, 89, 150- of the material entering into the Gos-
158, 173, 175-187. 217-221. 228-233, 277- pel of the Hebrews, 76; supposed to be
303, 309, 320, 380-385, 388-393, 394-396, very similar to it, 12, 98; cited by Jus-
403-407, 410, 411, 413. 414, 416; subse- tin Martyr, 8, 9, 308, 313; the basis of
quent to Apelles, 320; founded on the the Gospel of Mark, 10, 15, 388, 393;
Gospels of Paul and Marcion, 6-14; suppressed by the bishops in the sec-
written subsequent to Marcion, 287- ond century to make place for the
303: when written, 360; critically exam- Canonical Gospels, 8, 460, 465. 482.
ined, 379-387.
Gospel of Philip, 89-91, 254.
Gospel of Manes [3d century], same as
the Manichee gospel, 99. Gospel of Scythianus, 100.
Gospel of Simonides, or of the Simonians
Gospel of Marcion, iv, 3, 4, 5, 15, 20,41,42, (followers of Simon Magus), 100, 127.
98, 99, 185. 253, 275, 276, 286, 363, 379-384,
386,392,408,449,460, 478; founded on
Gospel of Simon Magus, the same, 100.
the Gospel of Paul, 3, 4, written before Gospels, the Synoptic, 353, 355-36o, 366,
the Gospel of Luke, 20, 287-303, 338, 371, 373, 375, 389, 396, 410.
357, 384, 386; contained no history of Gospel of the Syrians, or the Syriac Gos-
the infancy and childhood of Christ, pel, probably same as the Gospel ac-
185, 382; the gospel reproduced, 276- ording to the Hebrews, 62, 91.
286; the question of priority as be-
tween Marcion and Luke, 287-303; Gospel of Thaddaeus, 100, 324.
Marcion's gospel interpolated by the Gospel of Thomas, same as Gospel of the
author of Luke, 289-300, 363, 382-384. Infancy, 79, 167, 172, i73, 198, 385-
Gospel according to Mark, 4, 9, 12, 15, 19,
Gospel of Truth, 100, 267, 452; referred to
42, 57, 65, 84, 85, 87, 213, 217, 218, 226,
by Irenaeus, 452, 453.
229, 239, 269, 270, 294, 302, 303, 308, 351, Gospel of the Twelve Apostles, another
354-359, 373-375, 378, 388-396, 406, 414, name for the Gospel of the Hebrews,
445, 449, 452, 471, 484; references to 66, 68. 79, 80, 317, 385; and the same as
specific passages in, 4, 18, 86, 212, 228- the Gospel of the Nazarenes, 72, 90, 91.
233,236,237,374, 410, 411; founded on Gospel of Valentine, the same, 267.
the Gospel of Peter, 9; when written,
359; critically examined, 388-393.
(For other Gospels, see Clementine, Acts,
Eternal, etc.)
Gospel according to Matthew, 4, 13, 15, 19, Grabe, Dr. (1710), 80, 87, 93-95, 259, 260,
32, 33, 41, 42, 55, 57, 62-76, 79, 85, 90, 95,
306, 352, 463, 473. »
96, 146, 150, 159, 165, 166, 184, 186, 187,
192-197, 214, 217-219, 224, 226, 229, 239, Graves, Kersey (1876), 439.
256, 268-270, 290, 291, 309, 332, 346, 351. Gregory Nazianzen (380), 36, 259.
354-359, 361-364, 372, 374, 375, 382, 387- Gregory Nyssen (380), 36, 148, 149, 246, 312,
389, 391, 402-414, 416, 446-450, 452, 456, 392.
471, 484; references to specific pas-
sages in, 4, 13, 18, 19, 55, 57, 63-65, 67, Griesbach (1800), 213, 270, 288, 303, 390.
85, 146, 159-166, 181-187, 227-236, 302, 374, Grotius (1640), 80, 87, 204, 385.
375,377, 382, 394, 396, 400; first two chap- Grynseus (1600), 60, 152, 154, 313.
ters compared with Protevangelion,
150-166; with the Gospel of the In- Guericke (1833), 51, 270.
fancy, 175-187; an original Greek gos- Gymnosophists, 107.
pel, 30, 75, 346, 357; when written, 359.
critically examined, 402-414. Hades, 422.
Gospel of Matthias, 80 , 92, 385; written be- Hadrian, emp. (117-138), 83, 130, 255, 442;
fore Luke, ibid. letter to Servianus, 83.
550 GENERAL INDEX.
Hagenbach (1840), 432. Ignatius (115), .47-50, 53, 60, 61, 71, 74, 424,
Hahn 430; his epistles, 47-51, 76, 212, 420;
(1830), 275, 277, 288, 382, 383.
swollen from 12 to 100 pages, 213; their
Hannah, the prophetess, 168, 179. genuineness considered, 48-52; refer-
Heathen writers, 485. ences to and quotations from, 53-55.
Hegesippus C185), 62, 74, 91, 271, 447, 448,
Epistle to the Ephesians, 47, 53, 59.
455-460; the nrst Jewish historian, 456, Epistle to Polycarp, 47, 55-57.
457; sketch of 447, 448. Epistle to the Romans, 47, 48, 52.
Heliodorus (400), a Catholic bishop, 244- Cureton or Syriac epistles, 48-52, 54, 212;
246. these the genuine epistles, 212.
Helkesaites, 97. Vossian Epistles, 47, 51, 59.
Henault (i744), 480. Epistles ascribed to Ignatius:
Heracleon (190), 11, 259, 460, 463; used the Epistle to the Magnesians, 47.
Gospel of Peter, 463; notice of, 463. Epistle to the Philadelphians, 47.
Herbert Epistle to the Smyrnaeans, 47, 71, 76,
(1634), 438.
434.
Hercules, 112, 437,
Epistle to the Trallians, 47.
Heresies and heretics, 251-254.
Eight others formerly attributed to
Heresy defined by Dr. Lardner, 251. him, 47.
Hermas, companion of Paul, 264. Martyrdom of Ignatius, 48-51, 55.
Hermas, 2d (145), sketch of,
263-265, 432 ; Ignatius, Patriarch of Antioch (1562), 35.
263, 264; the Shepherd or Pastor of Immaculate or miraculous conception, 14,
Hermas, a celebrated book in the early 21, 30, 34, 44, 53, 61, 86, 145, 147, 192, 193,
age of the church, 59, 264, 265, 432, 464, 273, 309. 310, 361, 421, 483, 489; first al-
465. lusion to, extant, 53, 54, 420; immacu-
Hermas, 3d (200), 468. late conceptions, 192, 436.
Hermippus(B. C. 270), 189. Immersion as baptism, 433, 439.
Hermodorus (B. C. 450), 189. Immortality of the soul, 428.
Hermogenes (180), 447, 467, notice of, 447. Imperfect commentary on Matthew, 198.
Herod Agrippa, 328, 329. Infant baptism, 433.
Herod the Great, xiii, 18, 19. 146, 162, 163, Inherited guilt, 430.
165, 168, 174, 181-184, 195, 331, 363, 364, Inspiration, 432.
373. 383.
Intermediate state, 431.
Herod the Tetrarch, 16, 18-20, 66, 67, 210,
238, 239.
Internal criticism, its proper place, 345.

Herod, half-brother of Herod the Tetrarch, Intolerance, 434.

18, 19. Irenaeus (190,) 6, 7, 9, 13, 33, 35, 51, 57, 60

Herodias, 18-21. 93, 94, 118, 134. 172, 252-254, 269, 400, 413,
423, 432. 452, 453, 455, 458, 463, 470-473,
Herodotus (B. C. 450), 445. 475-482, 486, 487; references to and quo-
Hesiod (B. C. 800), 445. tations from his writings, 6, 33, 53,93,ii8,
Hierocles (305), 102, 116, 130. 134, 172, 252-254, 261-264, 266- 268, 35i,
352, 367-370, 371, 413, 432, 440,. 441, 475,
Higgins, Godfrey (1830), 439. 476; the first writer who mentioned the
Hilary (39o), 148, 349- four Gospels, 344, 367, 368, 434; the first
Hilgenfeld, 50, 277, 308. who acknowledged the supremacy of
the Church of Rome, 482.
Hindus and Hindu religion, viii, 190, 191,
194-201. Isaiah, 69, 209.

Hippocrates (B. C. 400), 342, 343. Isidorus (150), notice of, 266.

Hippolytus, restored by Esculapius, 437.

Hippolytus (2,d cent.), 252, 253, 266. Jairus' daughter, 141.
Historical evidence, its proper place, 345. James, Epistle of, 38, 39.
History of Joseph the carpenter, 242, 243. James the son of Alpheus, called James
Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, 21, 29-31, 63, the Less and James the Just, 31, 37, 38,
66, 69, 80, 95, 153, 154, 159, 178, 181, 237, 144, 146, 205, 274, 376, 418: whether he
280, 296, 309, 312, 437, 438, 478; the was brother to Jesus, uncertain; 37.
Holy Ghost of the feminine gender,
63, 69, 98.
James, the brother of the Lord, 37, 38, 68,
147, 170, 242; death of, 37, 38, 456-458.
Homer, ix, 105, 109, 114, 370, 445.
James, surnamed Panther, 147.^
Hug (1808), 398, 465.
James the"] son of Zebedee, brother to
Hyde (1700), 191, 192. John, called also James the Elder, 8, 9.
Hyginus, Bishop of Rome, 263, 481. 37, 38, 66, 85.
 GENERAL INDEX. 551
Jerome (400), 4. 25, 28, 63, 64, 67-73. 76, 80- Joseph of Arimathea, 207-209, 226, 234, 243,
82, 84, 87, 89, 90, 92, 97, 173, 204, 244- 299, 377, 395-
246,259, 264, 266, 273, 349, 351, 365, 392, Joseph, the father of Jesus, 10, 11, 14, 67,
400, 402, 403, 442, 468; specjal refer- 87, 145-147, 152, 155-157, 159-162, T68-170,
ences to and quotations from his writ- 173-175, 179, 180-186, 204, 205, 207-210,
ings, 25, 63, 67-72, 79-84. 92, 97, 244-246, 242, 244, 261, 266, 309-311, 361-363, 366.
257, 264, 272, 312, 320, 385, 386, 442.
Joseph the Carpenter, history of, 242, 243.
Jesus Christ, Ascension of, 27, 236, 238, Joseph, who found the Gospel of Mat-
376. thew, 67.
Baptism of, 16, 66, 68, 172, 173, 181, 312,
Josephus (70), xiii, 16-20, 37, 38, 82, 132,
319, 357, 369.
183, 328-332, 364, 365, 398, 409, 416.
Birth of, 21. 53, 146, 148, 151, 157, 162, 166,
Judas Iscariot, 31, 39, 66, 93, 169, 170, 205,
175, 176, 1S5, 194, 305, 332, 362-366, 372.
243, 268, 371, 400, 410, 417.
Born in a cave, 146, 149, 157, 159, 165, 175,
176, 195, 3". 312.
Judas Thaddseus, called aiso Lebbaeus, 31,
39, 390; whether he was Judas, the
Brothers and sisters of, 13, 147. Lord's brother, uncertain, 39.
Canonical history of, 361-378. Judas of Galilee, 398.
Circumcision of, 177, 185. Judas, the Lord's brother, 147, 457.
Conception of, see miraculous or immac- Jude, Epistle of, 36, 39, 464.
ulate conception.
Jude, the son of James, probably not the
Crucifixion of, 22, 70, 130, 202-236, 238, same as Judas Thaddaeus, 390.
241,247-251,254, 285, 299, 313, 314,332-
335, 354, 357, 372-375. 396.
Julia Domna, loi.
Divinity of, 21, 203, 217, 397, 424.
Julian, Emperor (361), 222.
Genealogy of, 65, 309, 361, 362. Julius Africanus (200), 335, 469.
Infancy and childhood of, 158, 163, 167
Julius Capitolinus [3d century], 138.
201, 244, 362-366. Julius Cassianus, see Cassianus.
Ministry of, 7, i3, 22, 276-285,353, 366,373. Juno, miraculous conception by, 436.
400, 414, 434, 488. Jupiter Pluvius, 138.
Miracles of, see miracles. by faith, 429,
Justification
Relatives of, 96. Justin Martyr (150-160), 12,14, 30, 73, 74,98,
Resurrection of, 15, 29, 44, 61, 68, 71. 77, 118, 131, 133, 134. 149, 159, 172, 202-204,
86, 87, 208, 234-240, 247, 248, 259, 286, 300, 225, 249, 250, 252, 259, 270, 271, 304-318,
354, 376-378, 396, 421-423, 433-488. 334, 335, 339, 383, 423, 425, 426, 454, 483,
486, 487; references to and quotations
Jewish Christians, 27, 74, 76. 77, 397, 424, from his writings, 8, 9, 118, 131, 249,252.
432, 447, 459, 460. 304-376, 423, 425, 426, 428, 430-434; did
Jewish Institutions, 432. not mention the canonical gospels, 307;
Jewish Superstitions, 131, 132. was acquainted with and used other
gospels, 309-317.
Joachim, father of Mary, 144, 145,
John the Apostle, 9, 35, 37, 66, 84, 85, 97,
100, 255, 266, 269, 274, 307, 351, 368, 369,
396-400, 471, 478, 488; his writings, 35, Kennedy, Col. Vans, 200, 201.
265, 266; the gospel attributed to him, Kitto (1850), 347.
see Gospel of John; ist Epistle of
John, 35; 2d and 3d Epistles of John,
35, 36, 39, 258, 464; Apocalypse or Rev-
elation of John, see Apocalypse. Lactantius (310), 11, 130, 136, 259, 260, 335,
487.
John the Baptist, 15-21, 66-68, 146, 195, 209,
Lampridius (310), 112.
382, 388, 410.
Landon's Manual of Councils, 24, 37.
John the Presbyter (130), 36, 258, 265, 269,
Lardner. Dr. (1727), 7, i7, 21, 29, 78, 93,
270, 396, 452; notice of, 258; supposed
102, 118, 140, 251, 259, 262, 267, 272, 284,
to have written the Rerelation, 36;
also believed to have been the author 320, 321, 323, 329, 330, 332, 364, 443.
of the Epistles of John, especially the 446, 447.
2d and 3d, 258. Lassen, Christian, viii, ix.
Parma [13th century], 97. Latin versions, 346-349.
John of
Leclerc (1716), 204.
Jones, Rev. Jeremiah (1726), 9, 12, 14, 36,
75, 86, 89, 93, 149. 173, 174. 204, 326, 3B5, Legal priesthood of Christ, 99.
386, 403, 487. Less, Dr. (1768), 58, 59, 256, 265.
Jones, Sir Wm. (179°), ix, 190. Letter of Pontius Pilate, 247.
Jortin, Dr. (1750), i39, 336. Lightfoot, Dr. (1875). 48, 49, 5i, 52, 132.

Jose, brother of Christ, 148, 170. Linus, Bishop of Rome, 477-479, 482.
552 GENERAL INDEX.
Lipsius, 52. Mary, the mother of Jesus, 10, 54, 67, 87,
Literary accretion, 212-224, 227,
145-148. 151-163, 168-184, 195, 205, 214,
229, 231,
290-303, 358-360; rule stated, 357. 242, 244, 266, 309, 310, 361-363, 478; some-
times called the mother of James, 242.
Loeffler (1800), 288, 347, 348, 425,426.
Mary, the sister of Jesus, 148.
Logos, 168, 193, 317, 435, 438.
Mary Magdalene, 239, 354, 362, 378, 395.
Loss of evidence, 450-461.
Matarea or Mathura, 169, 195.
Lost gospels, 1-15, 62-100, 185.
Maurice (1795-1800), 194-197, i99, 437.
Luebke, 222.
Matthew, 66, 67, 71, 72, 75, 76, 244, 245, 446,
Lucian, author of the Dialogues (165), 97, 452.
113, 128, 129, 320-322, 454, 455.
Matthias, 417.
Lucius Charinus, Lucianus, Lucanus,
Leucius, Lucian, etc., see Seleucas. Maximilla, a prophetess (190), 465.
Luke, 79, 351; see Gospel of Luke. Maxim us, the Mgean [ist century], 103.

Luna, wife of Simon Magus, 120. Maximus, Bishop of Jerusalem (200), 443,
467.
Luther (1530), 39.
Maximus, emp. (235-238), 222.
Lysanias, Tetrarch of Abilene, 16.
Mayerhoflf, 51, 308.
Melitine Legion, 138.
Melito, Bishop of Sardis (177), 444.
Maffei (1588), 198.
Memoirs of the Apostles, alluded to by
Magi, 146, 157, 162, 163, 168, 181, 182, 185, Justin Martyr, 99, 308, 317.
188, 191-193, 197, 198, 363, 436.
Menander (120), sketch of, 251, 252.
Mahabad, same as Menu, or Buddha, 190.
Menu, same as Buddha, 190.
Maim berg, 328.
Meragenes, 103.
Malalas (600), 50.
Mercury, the Logos, 438.
Malcolm (1839), 190.
Messiah, doctrine of the, 16, 166, 435.
Manichaeans, 99, 340.
Methodius, Bishop of Tyre (300), 223.
Manichaeus, or Manes [3d century], 91, 342.
Michaelis (i777),39, 58, 59, 72,73,74, 212,
Manuscripts of the Gospels, 350, 351. 232, 266, 287, 356, 387. 393, 444.
Manuscripts in Luke, 380. Middleton (1752), 133.
Manuscripts of the New Testament, 213, Midwife of our Savior, Book of, 99.
454.
Mill, Dr. (1707), 12, 14, 72, 81, 87, 93, 259, 416.
Marcellians, 322.
Millenarianism, 268, 432.
Marcellina (160), notice of, 322; her writ-
ings lost, 455. Miller (1840), 253,
Marcellinus (300), 112.
Milman (1850), 232.

Marcia (183), notice of, 447.

Miltiades (157), 443.
Minucius, Felix [3d century], 136, 335.
Marcion (145), iv, x, 3-5, 13, 98, 270, 272-305,
306, 317, 319, 324, 348, 349, 360, 429, 449,
Minucius, Rescript to, 255.
453» 454, 464, 486; New
Testament of, Miracles and miracle-workers, 30, 42, loi-
see New Testament; Gospel of, see 127, 146, 191, 248, 249, 436.
Gospel; his writings and doctrines,
273; did not corrupt the Gospel of
Miracles of Apollonius [ist century], 104-
Luke, 287, 288; knew nothing of it, 275, III, 115, 116.

303. " of Simon Magus, 120-127.

Marcosians, 172, 440. " of the Fathers, 133, 134, 137.
" of Paul, 30.
Marcus (170), sketch of, 440, 441; his writ-
ings have perished, 455. of Peter, 33-
" in the church, 133-142, 421,
Marcus Aurelius, see Aurelius.
" of the New Testament, 140-142.
Mariamne, daughter of Simon the High '
Priest, 18. of Christ, 15, 30, 43, 44, 61,70, 77,
86, 87, 102, 141, 142, 143, 173,206,
Mariamne, who was changed to a glass 207, 214-224, 240, 247, 248, 266,
chest, 140. 276-298, 314, 315, 451, 488; first
Mark, the Evangelist, 10, 81-85, 269, 270,
reference to, according to
9,
350, 452.
Eusebius, 255; first reference
to, extant, 257, 421; not prob-
Marolles (1650), 439. able that Christ claimed to
Mars, conception of, 436. perform miracles, 421.
Marsh, Bishop (1802), 58, 73, 74, 287, 350, " of Jesus in his infancy and boy-
356, 403, 413, 444. hood, 89, 168-172, 183.
 GENERAL INDEX. 553
Miraculous or immaculate conception, x, Onisephorus, 33.
21, 195. Ophites, 88, 91, 440.
Mithras, a god of Persia. 437. Oracles of Christ, by Matthew, 3, 13-15, 41,
Modestas (176), 443. 75, 76, 85, 253, 269, 270, 357, 393, 414.
Mohammed (620), 95. Ordination of Clement of Rome, 31, 42.
Montanists and Montanism, 323, 455, 473; Origen (230), 10, 11, 14, 43, 51, 63, 64, 68, 79,
Tertullian a Montanist, 473. 80, 84, 87, 92, 93, 135, 140, 144, 146, 147,
Montanus 149, 259, 301, 385, 422, 423, 430, 431, 460,
(170), 323, 455.
463, 485; references to and quotations
Moor, Major, ix. from his writings, 10, 79, 92, 131, 135, 147,
Moses [B. C. 1500], 122, 178, 189, 206, 278, 172, 173, 256, 259, 264, 311, 312, 332, 333,
279, 283, 294, 297, 310, 396, 397, 407, 425, 352, 385, 428, 435-
445. Original Acts of Pilate, 250.
Mosheim (1726), 42, 117, 118, 266. Original sin, 430, 438.
Moyle (1720), 138, 321. Ormuzd, a Persian god, 438.
Mozley, 143. Orpheus [B. C. 1200], 112, 445,
Muratori (1672), 464, 465. Oschedermah and Oschederbami, 191, 192.
Muratorian Fragment, 34, 263, 463-465. Osiris, of Egypt [B. C. 2000], 437.
Musanus (176), 443- Otho, emp. (69), 107.
Otto (1150), 304.
Narcissus, Bishop of Jerusalem (195), i39.
466.
Narrative of Joseph of Arimathea, 243. Page (1650), 304.
Nathan's embassy, 248. Palmas (196), 467, 475.
Nathaniel, apostle, 39. Pamphilius (300), 67.
Nazarenes, 7, 11, 14, 63, 65, 67-70, 72-74, 76. Pandava, ix.
Neander (1840), 37, 270, 304, 320, 422, 431, Pantaenus (180), 90, 413, 414, 447, 456.
432, 476. Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis (125), 13, 14,
Nero, emp. (54-68), 106, 125-127, 247. 65, 74, 258, 267-270, 351, 432, 452, 453, 484;
Nerva, erap. (96-98), 108, iii. sketch of, 268-270.
Newman, Cardinal (1840), 138, 139. Paschal Chronicle [7th century], 446.
New Testament, 36, 39, 58, 80, 85, 102, 265,
Paschal Controversy, 384, 446, 447.
267-269, 316, 341, 343, 346, 349, 350, 352, Paschal Supper, 384.
417, 429, 442-445, 459. 463. 483, 488, pub- Paul the Apostle, 3-6, 13, 14, 21-30, 32, 33,
lished by the Roman Catholic church;
45. 59, 91, 95, 127, 256, 260, 262, 264, 273-
478, 484. 275, 287, 316-318, 357, 376, 413, 417-419.
New Testament of Eusebius, 36. 424, 433, 437, 445, 448, 450, 453, 454, 459,
New Testament of Marcion (145), 28, 478; 464, 471, 476-478, 482, 484, 486; Paul a spir-
the first ever published, 274, 453; what itualist, 29, 45, 140, 376, 422, 423,429, 442,
it contained, 274. Epistles of Paul:
Nicephorus, the historian (800), 90, 95, Epistle to the Colossians, 274, 433.
222. ist Epistle to the Corinthiansi 4, 27,
Niceta, a brother of Clement of Rome, 44, 44, 59, 68, 274, 448.
119, 124, 2d Epistle to the Corinthians, 27, 30^
Nicodemus, 119, 206-210, 225, 226, 234. 274, 424, 448.
Niemeyer, Dr. (1790), 72. Epistle to the Ephesians, 28, 59, 274.
Nimrod, 438. Epistle to the Galatians, 5, 23. 27, 418,
Noetian Controversy, 469. 419.

Noetus (200), notice of, 467, 468. Epistle to the Hebrews, 28, 39, 464.
Norton (1846), 12, 34, 39, 74, 84, 88, 91, 306.
Epistle to Philemon, 274.
Epistle to the Philip plans, 59, 274, 424.
Epistle to the Romans, 4, 27, 30, 264,
CEcumenius (950), 11, 268. 274, 422.
Old Testament, citations from: Genesis, ist Epistle to the Thessalonians, 274.
121; Exodus, 121; Deuteronomy, 341; 2d Epistle to the Thessalonians. 4, 241,
Psalms, 28, 94, 399; Proverbs, 458; 274.
Isaiah, 141, 174, 311, 367; Jeremiah, 163,
164, 383; Hosea, 183; Micah, 165, 177,
Epistle to Timothy I, 28, 477.
183; Zechariah, 383. Epistle to Timothy II, 28, 477.
Olshausen (1830), 383. Epistle to Titus, 28.
Omito, a Chinese god, 438. Paul of Samosata (200-260), 467.
554 GENEEAL INDEX.
Paul of Thebals, an Egyptian, the first Plutarch (100), 189,438.
Christian monk, 84. Polycarp (116), 48, 52, 55, 57, 61, 268. 371,
Paulina, sister of Hadrian, 83. 474; Epistle to the Philippians, 51, 55,
Pauline Gospels, 88, 91, 92, 94. 56, 59, 429, 474; 475.

Paulus and Papinian (210), 101. Polycrates, Bishop of Ephesus (196), 467,
475.
Pearson, Bishop (1672), 148, 204.
Polytheism, 121, 425.
Pehlvian and Parsian Books of the Per-
sians, 191. Pontius Pilate, see Pilate, Pontius.
Pepuzians, a sect who permitted women Popes, or Bishops of Rome, to A. D. 200,
to baptize, 324. 477-482.

Peregrinus sketch of 320-322; his

(150-169), Porphyry (3oo),335,336, 486; wrote against
writings have perished, 454. the Christian religion, 335; his works,
destroyed by order of the Emperor
Perpetua, story of, 26, 140. Constantine, 335, 336.
Persian history of Christ, 100. Potter's Antiquities (1700), 438.
Persians, and Persian religion and mythol- Praxeas (200), 468.
ogy, 188-194, 199, 451.
Preaching of Paul, 11, 259, 312, 466.
Peshito version, 34-36, 39, 346, 349, 350.
Predestination, doctrine of, 429.
Peter, 7-15, 23, 27, 3o-34, 42, 43, 44, 66, 71, 83,
119-127, 191, 238, 247, 259, ?62, 269, 274, Prideaux, Dr. (1700), 190.
277, 279, 284, 293, 294, 317, 354, 378, 393, Priestley, Dr. (i793), 3i7,323.
399, 400, 403, 407, 410-413, 417-419, 443, Procla, wife of Pilate, 247.
450, 459, 471, 476-482; the first bishop of
Rome, according to Catholic author- Proclus, 32.
ities, 479-481; but not so stated by Prodicians, followers of Prodlcus, 91; a
Irenaeus, 481; his discussion with Christian sect who had the secret
Simon Magus, 121-124; dispute with books of Zoroaster, 193, 254.
Simon before Nero, 125-127; did Peter Prodicus (120), 193, 254, 451.
go to Rome? 32, 33; Epistles of Peter,
34.
Prometheus, 104, 437.
ist Epistle of Peter, 34. Protevangelion, or Book of James, 10, it,
98, 144-166, 168, 175, 176, 181-188, 303, 331,
2d Epistle of Peter, 34, 36, 39. 361, Justin Martyr acquainted
444;
Epistle of Peter to James, 259. with it,309-311; written before Luke
Peter, book of the doctrine of, 76, 259, 260. and Matthew, 150-166, 339.

Peter, book of the preaching of, 11, 76, 83, Proverbs of Xystas, 258.
259, 260, 270, 466; written by Mark, 83. Providence, doctrine of, 431.
Petrine Gospels, 84. Pseudo-Matthew, 243.
Philip, apostle and evangelist, 3, 90, 91, Ptolemaeus (190), 369; letter to Flora, 352,
140, 269, 357. 463.
Philip, Tetrarch of Trachonitis, xiii, 16, 18. Punishment, endless, see Eternal.
Philip, a writer (170), 323. Punishment, nature and object of, 431.
Philo Judseus [ist century], 81-83, 318, 426. Puranas, sacred books of the Hindus, 199-
Philostratus (210), loi-iii, 322. 201.

Philumene [2d century], 320. Pythagoras [B. C. 530], 103, 104, 254, 436,
445.
Phlegon (150), 83, 332-335.
Photius (877), 99, 222, 448.
Pilate, death of, 248. Quadratus (126), Apology of, 255, 451,452;
Epistle of Diognetus attributed to, 270.
Pilate, Pontius, 16, 20, 33, 202-210, 214, 224,
226-228, 230, 233, 234, 247, 248, 299, 305, Quexalcote, 436, 437, 438.
313, 314, 354, 372-374; 383; Letter of,
247; giving up of, 248; newly discov-
ered Acts of 249, 250. Rachel, mother of Simon Magus, 119, 123.
Pinytus (i75),443- Recognitions, 27, 42, 43, 44, 119-127, 190, 271,
Pious frauds, prevalent among the fath- 272, 433, 434. 479; attributed to Barde-
ers, 487. sanes, 447.
Pistis Sophise (200), 468. Regenerating grace, 430.
Pitrat, 437, 438. Renan, 98.
Pius 1, Bishop of Rome, 263, 465, 481. Report of Pilate, 204, 247.
Pius IX, Pope (1846), 479. Resurrection of Christ, see Jesus Christ.
Plato [B. C. 375), 103, 343. 436, 438, 445- Resurrection of Saviors, 437.
Pliny the Eider (75), 189. Revelation, 97, 274, 478.
Pliny the Younger (105), 424. Revelations of Adam, 97.
 GENERAL INDEX. 555
Revelations of Antichrist, 260. For other Simon the Cyrenian, 254, 373.
Revelations, see Apocalypse. Simon, Father (1689), 72, 385.
Reville, Albert, 112, 116, 436. Simon, the high priest, 18.
Rhodon (195), 466. Simon Magus, 43, 117-127, 247, 251, 252, 421;
Ritschl (1850), 277. discussion with Peter, 121-124; before
Roman Catholic Hierarchy, 400, 410, 412, Nero, 125-127; his death, 127.
417-419, 449, 450, 474-482. Simon Peter, see Peter.
Rosenraueller (1800), 74- Simon Zelotes, 31, 66.
Routh (1814), 441. Siva, third member of the Hindu trinity,
Rufinus (410), 43. 427, 479- 437.
Sixtus I, Bishop of Rome, 480, 481.
Sixtus Senensis (1560), 260.
Sabbath, the, 432, 433. Slaughter of the children, 146, 163, 183, 185,
Sabellians and Sabellianism, 80, 86, 427. 198, 205, 363-

Sabellius (200-250), 467. Socrates, historian (440), 312.

Salome, 78, 79, 85, 87, 146, 462; a daughter of Son of God, common among the ancients,
Joseph, 148, 436.

Sanday,Rev. Mr. (1876), 49, 54, 57. 359, 389, Sosiosh, a prophetic son of Zoroaster,
192.
393.
Sapphira, 30. Soter, Bishop of Rome, 323, 458, 481.

Saturninus (125), 251, 252. Soterichus Oasites, 112.

Sayings of Christ, 54-57, 121, 253, 258, 308, Soul, nature of the, views of TertuUian
315, 316, 402, 445, 453, 460.
and Origen, 428.
Scaliger (1600), 138, 32S, 335. Sousa, Alfonso, 199.
Schleiermacher (1820), 150-152, 154, 156-159, Sozomen, historian (439), 84, 174, 222, 312.
177, 187, 224, 288, 303, 356, 360, 364, 366, Spanheim (1680), 84, 204.
379, 381, 389, 390, 392, 406-408. Spiritualism, 45, 135, 376.
Schmidt, J. Alexander, 288. Sprinkling, 438.
Scholten, 50.
Stars, 54, 188-193, 436; the Jews believe
Scripture, when the term applied to New them to be animated beings, 131; so
Testament books, 488. also Origen, 136; the star in the east,
Secrecy of the Christians, 434, 435. 162, 163, 168, 182, 188.

Secret books of Zoroaster, 193, 254. Statue of Christ, 222.

Seleucas, otherwise Leucius, etc. (200), Stephanus, who assassinated Domitiaa
244-246, 415, 468. no.
Semedo, Alvarez, 436. Stowe, Prof. (1867), 337, 385-
Seraisch, 304. Strauss, (1865), 89;
Semler (1783), 288, 346. Stroth (1780), 73, 74.
Serapion, Bishop of Antioch (190), sup- Suetonius (125), 125, 127.
pressed the Gospel of Peter, 7, 460, 465,
Suidas [loth century], 95, in.
482.
Sunderland, Rev. Dr., 32.
Serapis, 83, 136, 173.
Serarius (1600), 84.
Sunderland, J. T. (1878), 27, 357-
Servianus, Supernatural Religion, 30, 49- i3i, 277, 3o8.
83.
442.
Sesostris [B. C. 1400], 438.
Symmachus (200), 468.
Severus, Alexander, emp. (222-235), 112,
Syriac documents, 260, 444.
222.
Severus, Septimius, emp. (193-211), 100, 473. Syriac epistles, see Ignatius.
Shedd, Dr. (1871), 427, 429, 430.
Syriac New Testament in 1562, 35, 36.

Shepherd of Hermas, see Hermas. Syriac Version, 36, 38, 39, 51, 62, 444.

Shepherds, the, 176, 177, 185, 363.

Sibylline Oracles, 259, 260. Tacitus [Annals, 117], 372.
Sidonius ApoUinaris (475), 113. Tamerlane (1400), 436-
Sike (1700), 167. Tanaquil Faber (1665), 330.
Simeon, 168, 178, 179, 208, 209. Tatian (170), vii, 7, 12, 324; sketch of, 324-
Simeon, second Bishop of Jerusalem, 326; used the Gospel of the Hebrews,
457,
74, 271, 324; his writings lost, 455; did
458.
not believe in the immortality of the
Simeon, brother of Jesus, 148, 157. soul, 428.
556 GENERAL INDEX.
Targums, 131. Ulpian (210), loi.
Tattam, Archdeacon (1842), 47.
Taxing under Cyrenius, 157, 175, 185, 331, Valens, 60.
332, 364, 365. Valentinus ai, 267; had a
sketca
(150), 440;
Tayler,Rev. J. J.,465. gospel; his gospels and writings lost,
Telesphorus, Bishop of Rome, 480. 452, 453-
Tertullian ("200-210) and his writings, 5, 6.
Valesius (1660), 138, 328.
14, 25, 28, 34, 35, 135-138, 142, 146, 147. Vallancey (1800), 193.
149, 203, 204, 225, 226, 249, 272-276, 287- Van Dale (1700), 336.
289, 295, 320, 321, 323, 335, 346-349. 392,
428, 430-432, 434. 453. 470-473. 476,
Varro [B. C. 50], 343-
427,
477, 484, 486. Vero (200), 467.
Tertullian v. Marcion, 5, 6, 9, 142, 272, 295,
Veronica, 207, 221, 223, 248, 249,
301, 348, 349, 423, 432. Vespasian, emp. (69-79), 107, 132, 249.
Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, 59. Victor, Bishop of Rome, 447, 465-467, 472,
Thaddeus, the apostle. 66. 475, 481.

Thales [B. C. 575], 445- Victor of Capua, 325.

Thales Milesius, 104. Vishnu, 194, 437.
Thallus (220), 334, 335, 469. Vitellius,emp. (69), 107.
Thecla, 25. Volkmar, 50, 277, 278, 279, 283, 300, 301.

Themistius (380), 138. Volney (i79i),438.

Theodore of Mopsuestia (394-429), 32.
Vopiscus (300-310), 83, 112.
Theodoret 118,
Vossius (1650), 47.
(430), vii, viii, 7, 94, "^25,
326. Vossian Epistles, 47, 48, 51, 52, 59.
Theodorus Lector [6th century], 95. Vulcan, conception of, 436.

Theodosius the Great (390), 210. Vulgate, 346, 348, 349-

Theodotus (192), 259, 466; used and cited
the Preaching of Peter, and taught Weiss, 27.
that Christ was a man only, 466, 467. Westcott (1870), 3, 9, II, 28, 34, 36, 48, 49,

Theophilus of Antioch 60, 117,251, 253, 255,256,258, 265-267,270,

(180), 136, 335, 344,
writer who men-
first 288, 307, 308, 312, 327, 338, 345, 386, 400,
387, 428, 446;
tioned any of the four Gospels, 344, 416, 442.
396. Whiston (1710), 12, 14, 81, 259.
Theophilus, Bishop of Csesarea [3d cen- Wiggers, 430.
tury], 475-
Wilford, Col., ix.
Theophylact (io75), n, 80, 87, 147, 148, 222.
Wilson, Prof. H. H. (1864). 200, 201.
Therapeutse, 81-84, 86.
Wisdom of God, 382, 408, 409.
Theudas,33i,4i5.
Woman in the Trinity, 118.
Thilo (1850), 275, 276.
Word, the, 69, 193, 438, see Logos.
Thirlby (1750), 336.
Worman, Prof., 306.
Thomas, apostle and evangelist, 167, 197-
199, 240.
Tiberius Cassar, emp. (14-37), 16, 17, 20, Xaverius, L. Hieronyraus (1600), 100.
22, 202, 203, 210, 247, 248, 289, 313, 314,
332, 333. 372.
Zaccheus, 119, 121.
Tillemont (1690), 113, 116, 306, 473.
Zacharias,son of Barouchos, slain be-
Timotheus, 91, 99. tween the temple and the altar, 408,
Tischendorf (1850), 29, 41, 74, 95, 242, 267, 409, 435.
271, 310-312, 314, 317, 324. Zacharias, son of Barachias, 382, 383, 408
Titus, emp. (79-81), 107, 115, 248. 409.
Tod, Col. (1825), ix, 194, 436. Zacharias, the High Priest, father of John
Toland (1700), 28, 34, 74, 93, 95, 259, 266. the Baptist, 66, 145-148, i5i-i53, 436.
Total depravity, 429. Zacharias or Zachariah, son of Jehoida,
Tradition as evidence of the Gospels, 343, 409, 436.
344, 349. Zend-Avesta, 188-192, 438.
Traditions of Matthias, 92, 253. Zeno, emp. (474-491), 95.
Trajan, emp. (98-117), 49-51, 369. Zoroaster (B. C. 500), 53, 54. 168, 182, 188-
Transubstantiation, 434. 193, 197, 199, 254, 436. 451.
Trench, Archbishop (1863), 142. Zumpt, (1854), 365.
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