,,frauds ,,and ,,follies ,,of ,,the     
,,fathers  ,a ,review ,of ,the ,worth   
,of ,their  ,testimony ,to ,the ,four   
,gospels  ,by ,joseph ,mazzini ,wheeler 
,i4  ,to expose the delirium and        
delinquencies of a respected or even    
respectable body of men is always an    
ungracious1 though it may not be an     
unnecessary1 task4 ,but when we are     
informed that rejection of certain      
supernatural stories means our          
condemnation here and damnation         
hereafter1 we feel tempted to examine   
the kind of men who first accepted and  
promulgated those stories4 ,the man who 
tells me ,i shall be damned if ,i do not
 believe in his theories or thaumaturgy 
may have many estimable qualities1 but  
he must not be surprised if1            
disregarding these1 ,i call attention to
 instances of his credulity4 ,when1     
moreover1 priests assume authority over 
conduct on the ground that their ,church
 or their doctrines were ,god-given1 it 
becomes necessary to investigate how    

that ,church and those doctrines were   
built up2 and if we find superstitious  
fooleries and pious frauds mixed        
therein1 it may do something to abate   
our confidence in priestly pretentions4 
,in regard to the ,fathers1 as to much  
else1 the ,catholic is the most         
consistent of all ,christian ,churches4 
,the men who established the ,church1   
and fixed what was and what was not     
,canonical ,gospel1 are surely entitled 
to some authority on the part of        
believers4 ,when ,protestants wish to   
prove the authenticity of their         
infallible book1 they have to fall back 
upon the witness of the fallible        
,fathers whose authority they are at    
other times always ready to repudiate4  
,the intellectual and moral character of
 the men who were the original          
depositaries of ,christian faith and    
literature is then evidently of the     
utmost importance4 ,all historical      
evidence as to the authenticity of the  
,new ,testament1 or the faithfulness of 

ecclesiastical history1 comes through   
them4 ,if they were credulous and       
untrustworthy1 the edifice built upon   
their testimony or their faith will be  
found to be tottering4  ,now1 concerning
 the ,fathers of the ,christian ,church1
 we have1 at the outset1 to allege that1
 as a class1 not only were they         
superstitious and credulous1 and        
therefore unreliable1 but that many of  
them were absolutely fraudulent1 not    
hesitating to use any and every means to
 further the interests of their         
religion4  ,bishop ,c4 ,j4 ,ellicott1 in
 his article on the ,apocryphal         
,gospels1 which appeared in the         
,cambridge ,essays for #ahef1 pp4 #age1 
#agf1 says3 ,but credulity is not the   
only charge which these early ages have 
to sustain4 ,they certainly cannot be   
pronounced free from the influence of   
pious frauds4444 ,it was an age of      
literary frauds4 ,deceit1 if it had a   
good intention1 frequently passed       
unchallenged4444 ,however unwilling we  

may be to admit it1 history forces upon 
us the recognition of pious fraud as a  
principle which was by no means         
inoperative in the earliest ages of     
,christianity4  ,jeremiah ,jones says3  
,to make testimonies out of forgeries   
and spurious books to prove the very    
foundation of the ,christian revelation1
 was a method much practised by some of 
the ,fathers1 especially ,justin        
,martyr1 ,clemens ,alexandrinus1 and    
,lactantius4--,a ,new and ,full ,method 
of ,settling the ,canonical ,authority  
of the ,new ,testament1 part ii41 chap1 
xxxiv41 p4 #cah1 vol4 i4 #ahbg4  ,b4 ,h4
 ,cowper1 a well-known champion of      
,christianity1 and once editor of the   
,journal of ,sacred ,literature1        
confesses in the ,introduction to his   
,apocryphal ,gospels 7p4 xxv41 #ahfg73  
,ancient invention and industry went    
even further1 and produced sundry scraps
 about ,herod1 ,veronica1 ,lentuius1 and
 ,abgar1 wrote epistles for ,christ and 
his mother1 and ,i know not how much    

besides4 ,no difficulty stood in the    
way2 ancient documents could easily be  
appealed to without necessarily         
existing2 spirits could be summoned from
 the other world by a stroke of the pen1
 and be made to say anything2 sacred    
names could be written and made a       
passport to fictions1 and so on ad      
libitum4  ,m4 ,daille says3 ,for these  
forgeries are not new and of yesterday2 
but the abuse hath been on foot above   
fourteen hundred years4--,the ,right    
,use of the ,fathers1 p4 #ab1 #afge4    
,mosheim mentions a variety of          
commentaries filled with impostores or  
fables on our ,savior's life and        
sentiments1 composed soon after his     
ascent into heaven1 by men who1 without 
being bad1 perhaps1 were superstitious1 
simple1 and piously deceitful4 ,to these
 were afterwards added other writings   
falsely accredited to the most holy     
apostles by fraudulent                  
individuals4--,institutes of            
,ecclesiastical ,history1 part iii1     

chap4 ii1 sec4 #ag1 p4 #fe1 vol4 i4     
,stubbs's edition1 #ahfc4  ,the same    
justly-renowned historian declares that 
a pernicious maxim which was current in 
the schools1 not only of the ,egyptians1
 the ,platonists1 and the ,pythagoreans1
 but also of the ,jews1 was very early  
recognised by the ,christians1 and soon 
found among them numerous               
patrons--namely1 that those who made it 
their business to deceive with a view of
 promoting the cause of truth were      
deserving rather of commendation than   
censure4--,commentaries on the ,affairs 
of the ,christians before the time of   
,constantino the ,great4 ,second        
century4 sec4 #g1 pp4 #dd1 #de4 ,r4 ,s4 
,vidat's translation4 #ahac4  ,dr4      
,gieseler1 ,professor of ,theology in   
,gottingen1 says3 ,in reference to the  
advancement of various ,christian       
interests1 and in like manner also to   
the confirmation of those developments  
of doctrine already mentioned1 the      
spurious literature which had arisen and

 continually increased among the ,jews  
and ,christians1 was of great           
importance4 ,the ,christians made use of
 such expressions and writings as had   
already been falsely attributed by      
,jews1 from partiality to their         
religion1 to honored persons of         
antiquity1 and altered them in parts to 
suit their own wants1 such as the book  
of ,enoch and the fourth book of ,ezra4 
,but writings of this kind were also    
fabricated anew by ,christians1 who     
quieted their conscience respecting the 
forgery with the idea of their good     
intention1 for the purpose of giving    
greater impressiveness to their         
doctrines and admonitions by the        
reputation of respectable names1 of     
animating their suffering brethren to   
steadfastness1 and of gaming over their 
opponents to ,christianity4--,compendium
 of ,ecclesiastical ,history1 sec4 #eb1 
vol4 i41 pp4 #aeg1 #aeh4 ,translated by 
,dr4 ,s4 ,davidson4 ,t4  ,t4 ,clark's   
,foreign ,theological ,library4  ,but as

 our purpose is to examine these        
writings somewhat in detail1 we will    
commence with     ,,the ,,apostolic     
,,fathers4  ,this name is given to those
 ,christian writers who are alleged to  
have had intercourse with the ,apostles4
 ,these writings are said to date from  
about #ig to #aej a4c4 ,dr4 ,j4         
,donaldson says3 ,of these writers      
investigation assures us only of the    
names of three1 ,clement1 ,polycarp and 
,papias4 ,there is no satisfactory      
ground for attributing the ',epistle of 
,barnabas' to ,barnabas1 the friend of  
,paul1 nor the ',pastor' of ,hermas to  
the ,hermas mentioned in the ,epistle to
 the ,romans499 ,yet it is to be noticed
 that both these works were read in the 
primitive churches as ,scripture1 and   
are included in the ,sinaitic ,codex1   
which is asserted to be the most ancient
 manuscript of the ,new ,testament      
extant4      99 ,the ,apostolical       
,fathers1 chap1 i41 p4 #aja1 #ahgd4  ,we
 take first     ,,st4 ,,clement4  ,there

 is a fellow-laborer with ,paul of the  
name of ,clement1 mentioned in his      
,epistle to the ,philippians 7iv41 #c71 
but whether this is the same individual 
whom the ,catholics make a ,pope of     
,rome1 and some of the ,fathers say was 
a kinsman of the ,roman ,emperor1 is a  
matter of dispute1 and much doubted by  
the best authorities4 ,bishop ,lightfoot
 7,st4 ,paul's ,epistles3 ,philippians1 
p4 #aff7 says3 ,the notices of time and 
place are opposed to the identification 
of the two4 ,a sufficient evidence of   
the estimation in which ,st4 ,clement   
was held1 however1 is to be found in the
 number of forgeries which ,christian   
piety have palmed upon the world in his 
name4 ,in the ,alexandrian ,codex1 one  
of the oldest and most important        
manuscripts of the ,new ,testament1 two 
epistles addressed to the ,corinthians  
stand inscribed with his name1 and are  
enumerated in the list of books of the  
,new ,testament4 ,of these1 the second  
is on all hands allowed to be a forgery1

 and the first is generally considered  
to be interpolated4 ,that forgeries or  
interpolations have taken place in      
regard to those books of the same ,codex
 which1 upon the authority of certain   
,fathers1 have been formed into the     
received canon of sacred ,scripture1    
must not1 of course1 be suspected on    
pain of everlasting burning4 ,the fact  
of the ,epistle to the ,hebrews being   
ascribed to ,st ,paul1 the second       
,epistle ascribed to ,st ,peter1 and    
such texts as those of the heavenly     
witnesses 7#a ,john v41 #g1 #h71 show   
any scholar that nothing of the kind    
could have taken place by any           
possibility whatever4 ,is it likely that
 ,god would allow his ,holy ,word to be 
tampered with8  ,the history of ,clement
 of ,rome1 says ,canon ,westcott 7,on   
the ,canon1 p4 #bb1ahha71 is invested   
with mythic dignity which is without    
example in the ,ante-,nicene ,church4   
,it was too utterly impossible for other
 ,fathers and founders of the ,church to

 be invested with mythic dignity4 ,jesus
 must have come of the seed of ,king    
,david1 even though ,joseph had nothing 
to do with his genealogy4 ,the events of
 his life1 ,westcott goes on to say1    
have become so strangely involved in    
consequence of the religious romances   
which bear his name1 that they remain in
 inextricable confusion4 ,and so indeed 
they are2 almost as badly as those of   
the founder of ,christianity4  ,clement 
is called at one time a disciple of ,st4
 ,paul1 and at another of ,st4 ,peter1  
who ,paul withstood to his face because 
he was to be blamed 7,gal4 ii41 #aa74   
,the ,abbe ,migne1 in his ,patrologie1  
makes him ,pope in #ia ,a4,c4 ,the      
,clementine ,homilies1 purporting to be 
written by ,clement himself1 says he was
 ordained by ,peter4 ,some put the first
 ,popes as ,linus1 ,cletus1 ,anacletus1 
and then ,clement2 others give their    
order as ,linus1 ,cletus1 ,clement1     
,anacletus2 others ,clement1 ,linus1 c42
 in short1 they are given every way4    

,baron ,bunsen called ,anacletus a      
purely apocryphal and mythical          
personage1 and some wicked sceptics have
 thought the same of the whole batch4   
,in addition to the two epistles which  
stand on the same parchment with ,holy  
,scripture1 ,st4 ,clement is credited   
with two epistles to ,virgins--which1   
though superstitious1 are possibly none 
the less authentic2 two epistles to     
,james the brother of the ,incarnate    
,god1 the ,apostolic ,canons 7which     
include his own writings as sacred      
scripture71 the ,apostolic              
,constitutions1 the ,recognitions1 a    
,liturgy1 and twenty ,clementine        
,homilies4 ,all of these1 says ,mosheim1
 were fraudulently ascribed to this     
eminent father by some deceivers1 for   
the purpose of procuring them greater   
authority4 ,clement has also been       
supposed the author of the ,epistle to  
the ,hebrews and the ,acts of the       
,apostles4  ,restricting ourselves for  
the present to the first epistle1       

generally put forward as genuine1 until 
a comparatively late date quoted as     
authoritative scripture by the ,fathers1
 put in the apostolic canons among      
sacred and inspired writings1 and which 
,eusebius tells us 7,hist4 ,eccl4 iii41 
#af7 was publicly read in very many     
churches in old times and even in his   
own day2 we at once discover evidence   
that the writer could not have been akin
 to the ,caesars or of a noble ,roman   
family4 ,he bespeaks his ,jewish birth  
by his continual citation of the ,jew   
books1 by his references to the services
 at ,jerusalem 7chaps4 xl4 and xli471   
and by speaking of our father ,jacob4   
,but1 like other ,christian writers1 he 
is very loose in his quotations4 ,for   
instance1 he jumbles up the first       
,isaiah and an apocryphal ,ezekiel in   
the following quotation1 ,say to the    
children of my people1 ,though your sins
 reach from earth to heaven1 and though 
they be redder than scarlet and blacker 
than sackcloth1 yet if ye turn to me    

with your whole heart1 and say1         
',father1' ,i will listen to you as to a
 holy people499 ,he mentions 7chap1 lv47
 the blessed ,judith1 which book1 by the
 way1 ,volkmar and others think must be 
dated a4c4 #aag-aah4 ,he also 7chap1    
xvii47 quotes ,moses as saying1 ,i am   
but as the smoke of a pot1 and other    
passages 7chap4 xxiii4-xxvi71 probably  
from the apocryphal ,assumption of      
,moses4 ,but this is no worse than      
,matthew 7ii41 #bc7 quoting as from the 
prophets1 ,he shall be called a         
,nazarene2 ,paul's wrongly quoting the  
,psalms 7,eph4 iv41 #h72 or ,jude 7ver4 
#ad7 citing the apocryphal book of      
,enoch as by the seventh from ,adam4    
,but it somewhat vitiates his supposed  
testimony to the canonical books4 ,it is
 evident1 however1 that he was          
acquainted with ,paul's ,epistles to the
 ,corinthians1 and his own reads at     
times like a bad imitation of ,paul4    
99 ,pp4 #ab and #ac1 vol i41            
,ante-,nicene ,christian ,library4      

,all our citations1 unless otherwise    
mentioned1 will be taken      from this 
valuable series of volumes4  ,the       
apostle to the ,gentiles1 and thereby   
the real founder of modern              
,christianity1 disregarding a certain   
threat of its supposed founder 7,matt1  
v41 #bb71 ventured1 in arguing for the  
resurrection1 the somewhat questionable 
statement1 ,thou fool1 that which thou  
sowest is not quickened except it die   
7#a ,cor4 xv41 #cf74 ,clement altogether
 outdoes this4 ,he says 7chap1 xxv473   
,let us consider that wonderful sign of 
the resurrection which takes place in   
eastern lands1 that is1 in ,arabia and  
the countries round about4 ,there is a  
certain bird which is called a phoenix4 
,this is the only one of its kind1 and  
lives five hundred years4 ,and when the 
time of its dissolution draws near that 
it must die1 it builds itself a nest of 
frankincense and myrrh1 and other       
spices1 into which1 when the time is    
fulfilled1 it enters and dies4 ,but as  

the flesh decays a certain kind of worm 
is produced1 which1 being nourished by  
the juices of the dead bird1 brings     
forth feathers4 ,then1 when it has      
acquired strength1 it takes up that nest
 in which are the bones of its parents1 
and bearing these it passes from the    
land of ,arabia into ,egypt1 to the city
 called ,heliopolis4 ,and1 in open day1 
flying in the sight of all men1 it      
places them on the altar of the sun1    
and1 having done this1 hastens back to  
its former abode4 ,the priests then     
inspect the registers of the dates1 and 
find that it has returned exactly as the
 five hundredth year was completed4     
,this is the way the ,christian         
evidences were presented by the         
authoritative head of the ,church in the
 first century4 ,tertullian 7,de        
,resurr4 ,cam41 sec4 #aj71 takes ,psalm 
xcii41 #ab1 as referring to this        
prodigy4 ,st4 ,cyril of ,jerusalem1 ,st4
 ,ambrose1 ,st4 ,gregory1 ,st4          
,epiphanius1 and other of the ,fathers1 

follow ,clement in his fable4 ,it is    
said that ,clement in this only followed
 ,herodotus1 ,pliny1 ,ovid1 and         
,tacitus1 who mention the phoenix4 ,this
 is false4 ,herodotus 7ii41 #ac7 simply 
relates the report of others1 and does  
not intimate that he believed any part  
of it1 but positively declares that some
 of the statements were not credible4   
,pliny 7,nat4 ,hist1 x41 #b7 states     
expressly that the accounts may be      
fabulous4 ,ovid 7,metam41 xv41 #cib7    
uses the legend for poetical purposes4  
,tacitus 7,ann41 vi41 #bh7 declares that
 the statements are uncertain4 ,these1  
be it remembered1 were unenlightened    
heathen1 but the apostolic saint founds 
the distinguishing article of the       
,christian creed upon this mistake of an
 ,egyptian myth4 ,may it not have been a
 phoenix1 instead of a dove1 which      
descended on ,jesus at ,jordan8 ,the    
cherubim described by ,ezekiel were     
curious fowl4 ,there are some queer     
animals mentioned in the ,apocalypse2   

,isaiah and ,job mention unicorns1 and  
the former dragons4 ,the ,jews were     
indeed great in the natural-history     
department4 ,rabbinical references to   
the phoenix are numerous4 ,the ,talmud  
speaks of the zig1 a bird of such       
magnitude that when it spread out its   
wings the disc of the sun was obscured2 
and the bar-juchne1 one of whose eggs   
once fell down and broke three hundred  
cedars and submerged sixty villages499  
99 ,see ,b4 ,h4 ,cowper's article on the
 ,talmud1 in ,the ,journal      of      
,sacred ,literature1 ,jan41 #ahfh4  ,the
 second epistle1 or rather homily1 of   
,clement1 though equally bound up with  
the sacred records1 and placed in the   
,apostolical ,canon1 is admitted to be  
spurious1 and is every way less notable4
 ,the concluding leaves of the          
,alexandrian manuscript have been lost4 
,it ends abruptly with this interesting 
chapter3--  ,let us expect1 therefore1  
hour by hour1 the kingdom of ,god in    
love and righteousness1 since we know   

not the day of the appearing of ,god4   
,for the ,lord himself1 being asked by  
one when his kingdom would come1        
replied1 ',when two shall be one1 and   
that which is without as that which is  
within1 and the male with the female1   
neither male nor female4' ,now1 two are 
one when we speak the truth one to      
another1 and there is un-feignedly one  
soul in two bodies4 ,and 'that which is 
without as that which is within' meaneth
 this3 ,he calls the soul 'that which is
 within1' and the body 'that which is   
without4' ,as1 then1 thy body is visible
 to sight1 so also let thy soul be      
manifest by good works4 ,and 'the male  
with the female1 neither male nor       
female1 this 4444  ,here is an          
interesting quotation by the earliest   
,christian ,father of words uttered by  
,god ,incarnate upon an important       
matter4 ,had they found their way into  
the ,canonical ,gospels1 what books     
would have been written upon their      
beauty and sublimity6 ,as it is1 we     

gather from ,clement of ,alexandria99   
that these words and other important    
sayings of ,jesus were found in the     
,gospel of the ,egyptians4 ,this gospel 
was certainly an ancient one1 and is    
supposed by ,grabe1 ,erasmus1 ,du ,pin1 
,father ,simon1 ,grotius1 ,mills1 and   
others1 to have been among those        
referred to by ,luke in his preamble3   
,forasmuch as many have taken in hand to
 set forth in order a declaration of    
those things which are most surely      
believed among us4 ,this ,gospel of the 
,egyptians was received by the ,ophites1
 the ,encratites1 the ,valentinians1 and
 the ,sabellians4 ,it was evidently at  
one with the doctrines of the ,essenes  
in regard to women4 ,for instance1      
,clement of ,alexandria quotes from it  
the following3 ,the ,lord says to       
,salome3 ',death shall prevail as long  
as women bring forth children4' ,i am   
come to destroy the works of the woman1 
that is1 the works of female            
concupiscense1 generation1 and          

corruption4 ,when you despise a covering
 for your nakedness1 and when two shall 
be one1 and the male with the female    
neither male nor female4 ,intimations   
that similar views regarding marriage   
were found in the early ,christian      
,church may be gathered from ,matt1     
xix41 #ab2 ,rev4 xiv41 #d2 #a ,cor4     
vii41 #h1 etc4 ,but the subject is too  
delicate to be handled by other than a  
divinity student4       99 ,stromata1   
book ill-1 #i1 #ac4     ,the ,english   
editors have      deemed it best to give
 the whole of this book in ,latin4      
,passing1 then1 ,clement's two epistles 
to virgins with the remark that although
 generally rejected as spurious by      
,protestants1 they are considered       
genuine by their editors1 ,wetstein1    
,bellet1 and ,cardinal ,villecourt1 we  
come to ,the ,recognitions of ,clement4 
,of these remarkable documents          
,hilgenfeld says1 ,there is scarcely a  
single writing which is of so great     
importance for the history of           

,christianity in its first stage4 ,the  
editors of the ,anti-,nicene ,christian 
,library call it a theological romance2 
but it is a question whether that       
epithet would not equally fit every     
other so-called historical composition  
of the first three centuries of the     
,christian era4 ,cardinal ,baronius     
7,annal4 tom1 i41 an4 #ea7 call sit a   
gulf of filth and uncleanliness1 full of
 prodigious lies and frantic fooleries4 
,but ,cardinal ,beliarmine says it was  
written either by ,clement or by some   
other author as ancient and learned as  
he4  ,it begins1 ,i1 ,clement1 who was  
born in the city of ,rome1 and proceeds 
to narrate his thoughts on philosophy1  
his doubts and hopes of a future life4  
,to resolve these the worthy ,father    
determined to go to ,egypt1 and bribe a 
magician to bring him a soul from the   
infernal regions to consult whether the 
soul be immortal4 ,but he heard of the  
,son of ,god in ,judea and was ready to 
accredit the wonders ascribed to him4   

,having heard ,barnabas1 ,clement       
proceeds to ,caesarea and sees ,peter1  
who instructs him concerning the ,true  
,prophet4 ,and now comes the curious    
part of the story4 ,peter is engaged in 
continuous controversy on the true      
,mosaic and ,christian religion with a  
miracle worker1 called ,simon the       
magician1 who it is said confessed he   
wrought his wonders by the help of the  
soul of a healthy young boy1 who had    
been violently put to death for that    
purpose1 and then called up from the    
dead and compelled to be his assistant4 
,peter follows this ,simon about from   
place to place1 exposing him4 ,he       
especially follows him to ,rome4 ,the   
astounding revelation in connexion with 
this story we give in the words of the  
author of ,supernatural ,religion 7vol4 
ii41 p4 #cd73 ,there cannot be a doubt  
that the ,apostle ,paul is attacked in  
it1 as the great enemy of the true      
faith1 under the hated name of ,simon   
the magician1 who ,peter followed       

everywhere for the purpose of unmasking 
and confuting him4 ,he is robbed of the 
title of ',apostles of the ,gentiles1'  
which1 together with the honor of       
founding the ,churches of ,antioch1 of  
,laodicea1 and of ,rome1 is ascribed to 
,peter4 ,all that opposition to ,paul   
which is implied in the ,epistle to the 
,galatians and elsewhere 7#a ,cor4 i41  
#aa1 #ab2 #b ,cor4 xi41 #ac--bj2 ,philip
 i41 #ae1 #af7 is here realised and     
exaggerated1 and the personal difference
 with ,peter to which ,paul refers is   
widened into the most bitter animosity4 
,the most able authorities1 such as     
,davidson1 ,b4 ,lightfoot1 ,mansel1     
,hilgenfeld1 ,reuss1 ,baur1 ,scholten1  
and ,schwegler agree in this view1 which
 is strongly confirmed by the epistle of
 ,peter to ,james1 which stands as a    
preface to the ,clementine ,homilies1   
dealing with the same matter of ,simon  
,magus4 ,peter says3 ,for some among the
 ,gentiles have rejected my lawful      
preaching1 and accepted certain lawless 

and foolish teaching of the hostile man4
 ,canon ,westcott1 in his edition of    
#ahff1 said on this passage3 ,there can 
be no doubt that ,st4 ,paul is referred 
to as 'the enemy' 7on the ,canon1 p4    
#beb74 ,since the quotation of this     
damaging admission by the author of     
,supernatural ,religion1 it has been    
removed4 ,but whether the fact that the 
,simon ,magus who is reviled in the     
,clementine ,recognitions is intended to
 represent ,paul has the authority of   
,canon ,westcott or not1 there can be no
 doubt that this view better agrees with
 ,paul's epistles1 and all we know of   
the early ,christians1 than the         
reconciling but unhistoric ,acts of the 
,apostles1 which took the place of the  
,clementine theological romance1        
because1 in the struggle for existence1 
the ,christian ,church which was built  
on ,paul rather than that which was     
built on ,peter 7,matt4 xvi41 #ah71     
proved to be the fittest to survive4    
,,ii4     ,,st4 ,,barnabas  ,st4        

,barnabas is the next of the ,apostolic 
,fathers demanding our attention4 ,here1
 again1 it is very doubtful if we have  
any of the authentic words of the       
companion of ,paul1 so highly extolled  
by ,renan1 and declared by the author of
 the ,acts of the ,apostles to have been
 a good man1 and full of the ,holy      
,ghost and of faith 7xi41 #bd74  ,the   
epistle ascribed to ,st4 ,barnabas1     
although generally received as his for  
many ages1 and repeatedly cited as      
,apostolic by ,clement of ,alexandria1  
and also cited by ,origen1 and found1   
together with the ,shepherd of ,hermas1 
in the ,sinaitic ,codex1 is repudiated  
by most modern scholars1 and declared by
 the author of ,supernatural ,religion  
to be an instance of the singular       
facility with which1 in the total       
absence of critical discrimination1     
spurious writings were ascribed by the  
,fathers to ,apostles and their         
followers 7vol4 i41 p4 #bcc1 #ahgi74    
,although the weight of authority is    

against its authenticity1 it is still   
supported as genuine by such scholars as
 ,schmidt1 ,grieseler1 and ,samuel      
,sharpe2 and it must be admitted that   
most of the arguments used against it   
have been based upon its contents not   
coming up to what critics have supposed 
ought to be the ,apostolic standard4 ,at
 any rate1 it is an-interesting relic of
 the early ,church which is considered  
genuine by the most important section of
 ,christendom1 the ,roman ,catholics4   
,in ,jerome's time it was still read    
among the ,apocryphal ,scriptures1 and  
in the ,stichometria of ,nicephorus     
7ninth century7 it is put among the     
disputed books of the ,new ,testament4  
,barnabas is still more questionably    
fathered with a gospel of his own1 which
 is no longer extant4 ,but as it appears
 to have contained a very peculiar      
statement to the effect that ,jesus did 
not actually die upon the cross1 and    
that it was ,judas who was crucified in 
his stead1 which statement has been     

taken up1 from whatever quarter1 by the 
,mohammedans1 this gospel is1 of course1
 set down as a ,mohammedan forgery4     
,the ,catholics have a tradition that   
,barnabas was converted after witnessing
 the miracle at that wondrous pool of   
,bethesda1 where the angel came down    
troubling the waters4 ,he was a ,levite 
of ,cyprus1 and his name was formerly   
,joses4 ,it is noteworthy that upon     
entering the ,church1 ,christian        
converts took new names1 a custom common
 to the ,buddhists4 ,clement of         
,alexandria says he was one of the      
seventy ,apostles4 ,he is stated to have
 converted ,clement of ,rome1 and to    
have been stoned by the ,jews about the 
year #fd4 ,all these statements rest on 
the mere authority of the ,church1 not  
the slightest proof being forthcoming   
either for or against them4 ,nothing was
 known of his tomb until the year #dgh1 
when the ,cypriotes1 being required to  
submit to the episcopal sway of ,peter  
the ,fuller1 ,patriarch of ,antioch1 his

 coffin1 with the ,gospel of ,saint     
,matthew inside1 turned up in the nick  
of time to avert the calamity and assert
 the independence of a place having such
 indubitable relics4 ,the ,church of    
,toulouse yet claims to have his body1  
and eight or nine churches pretend to   
having possession of his head4 ,of the  
value of this wondrous head we shall    
presently have sufficient proof4  ,the  
,acts of ,barnabas1 a so-called         
apocryphal book1 gives an account1 by   
,mark1 of the journeyings and martyrdom 
of this ,apostle 7,vol4 ,,xvi41         
,ante-,nicene ,christian ,library74 ,the
 ,evangelist tells how ,paul was quite  
enraged against him so that1 although he
 gave repentance on his knees upon the  
earth to ,paul1 he would not endure it4 
,and when ,i remained for three         
,sabbaths in entreaty and prayer on my  
knees1 ,i was unable to prevail upon him
 about myself2 for his great grievance  
against me was on account of my keeping 
several parchments in ,pamphylia 7p4    

#bid74 ,paul1 according to this story1  
refused to accompany ,barnabas if he    
took ,mark with him1 and ,barnabas      
elected to stand by ,mark4 ,they removed
 a fever from one ,timon by laying their
 hands upon him4 ,and ,barnabas had     
received documents from ,matthew1 a book
 of the ,word of ,god1 and a narrative  
of miracles and doctrines4 ,this        
,barnabas laid upon the sick in each    
place we came to1 and it immediately    
made a cure of their sufferings 7p4     
#big74 ,once in their journeyings they  
found a certain race being performed1   
and upon ,barnabas rebuking the city1   
the western part fell1 so that many were
 killed and wounded1 and the rest fled  
for safety to the ,temple of ,apollo4   
,but our purpose is with the ,apostolic 
epistle which goes under his name4      
,joses may have been a ready speaker1 as
 is judged by his ,christian name of    
,barnabas1 or ,son of ,exhortation2 but 
he certainly cannot be classed as a     
brilliant letter writer4 ,his epistle1  

like many other ,apostolic documents1   
would be considered dreadfully prosy but
 for its age and reputation4 ,though no 
great hand at composing1 ,barney had a  
remarkable faculty for dealing with     
types4 ,types are an attractive study to
 theologians2 biblical stories--like    
that of ,jonah and the whale1 for       
instance--which1 taken in a plain and   
natural way1 are evident absurdities1   
serve capitally as divine types and     
symbols4 ,at this sort of interpretation
 ,barnabas was1 as we shall see1 a      
perfect master4 ,he outdoes the author  
of the ,epistle to the ,hebrews1 which1 
by the way1 ,tertullian 7,de ,pudicitia1
 #bj7 ascribes to ,barnabas4  ,he prides
 himself upon his exegesis of           
,scripture1 which he does not hesitate  
to ascribe to divine inspiration4       
,blessed be our ,lord1 he exclaims1 who 
has placed in us wisdom and             
understanding of secret things 7c4 vi41 
p4 #aaj1 vol4 i41 ,ante-,nicene         
,christian ,library72 and1 further on1  

he boldly avows inspiration on behalf of
 what ,osburn calls a tissue of         
obscenity and absurdity which would     
disgrace the ,hindoo ,mythology         
7,doctrinal ,errors of the ,apostolic   
and ,early ,fathers1 p4 #be1 #ahce74    
,according to ,barnabas1 the ,mosaic    
legislation had ,christ in view rather  
than the sanitary condition of the      
,jews4 ,he even manufactures a law of   
,moses in order to make out a type of   
,christ having vinegar to drink4 ,he    
says 7c4 vii41 pp4 #aab1 #aac7          
,moreover1 when fixed to the cross1 he  
had given him to drink vinegar and gall4
 ,hearken how the priests of the people 
gave previous indication of this4 ,his  
commandment having been written1 the    
,lord enjoined1 that whosoever did not  
keep the fast should be put to death1   
because ,he also ,himself was to offer  
in sacrifice for our sins the vessel of 
the ,spirit1 in order that the type     
established in ,isaac1 when he was      
offered upon the altar1 might be fully  

accomplished4 ,what1 then1 says ,he in  
the prophet8 ',and let them eat of the  
goat1 which is offered with fasting1 for
 all their sins4' ,attend carefully3    
',and let all the priests alone eat the 
inwards1 unwashed with vinegar4'        
,wherefore8 ,because to me1 who am to   
offer my flesh for the sins of my new   
people1 ye are to give gall with vinegar
 to drink3 eat ye alone1 while the      
people fast and mourn in sackcloth and  
ashes4  ,some have supposed these       
spurious regulations were taken from    
traditions1 but the ,rev4 ,j4 ,jones    
says3 ,i rather look upon it as a pious 
forgery and fraud1 there being nothing  
of the sort known to have been among the
 ,jewish customs1 and this book having  
several such frauds in it 7,a ,new and  
,full ,method of ,settling the          
,canonical ,authority of the ,new       
,testament1 vol4 ii41 p4 #cgg1 #ahbg74  
,if it is not either of these it is very
 clear that we have lost some important 
portions of ,god's inspired word in the 

,pentateuch4 ,barnabas also has a       
chapter on the red-heifer1 which was    
sacred to ,typhon among the ,egyptians1 
as a type of ,christ1 and says 7chap1   
viii41 p4 #aae7 ,the calf is ,jesus4    
,it appears1 too1 that ,abraham was a   
,greek scholar some time before the     
,greek language was known1 and that he  
circumcised his servants as a type of   
,christianity4 ,barnabas knew1 probably 
by inspiration1 the exact number who    
were circumcised1 and tells us 7chap1   
ix41 p4 #aaf73 ,learn1 then1 my         
children1 concerning all things richly1 
that ,abraham1 the first who enjoined   
circumcision1 looking forward in spirit 
to ,jesus1 practised that rite1 having  
received the mysteries of the three     
letters4 ,for the ,scriptures saith1    
',and ,abraham circumcised ten1 and     
eight1 and three hundred men of his     
household4 ,what1 then1 was the         
knowledge given to him in this8 ,learn  
the eighteen first1 and then the three  
hundred4 ,the ten and eight are thus    

denoted--,ten by ,i1 and ,eight by ,h1  
you have the initials of the name of    
,jesus4 ,and because the cross was to   
express the grace of our redemption by  
the letter ,t1 he says also ',three     
,hundred4' ,he signifies1 therefore1    
,jesus by two letters1 and the cross by 
one4 ,he knows this1 who has put within 
us the engrafted gift of ,his doctrine4 
,no one has been admitted by me to a    
more excellent piece of knowledge than  
this1 but ,i know that ye are worthy4   
,verily ,barnabas must have been full of
 faith and of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,no     
wonder he was expressly set apart and   
sent forth to the work of an apostle by 
the order of the ,holy ,ghost 7,acts    
xiii41 #b--d74 ,the importance which he 
places upon numbers may be compared with
 that assigned by the author of the book
 of ,revelation4 ,barney tells us that  
the world will last #f1jjj years because
 it was made in six days1 and the       
inference is doubtless as true as the   
fact 787 on which it is based4 ,his     

system of finding types in the ,old     
,testament has lasted in the ,christian 
,church to our own time1 and derives    
countenance from several passages of    
,paul4 ,this most excellent piece of    
knowledge concerning ,abraham is hardly 
more far-fetched than saying that ,levi 
paid tithes to ,mel-chisedek because he 
was potentially in the loins of his     
forefather ,abraham when he met him     
7,heb4 vii41 #i1aj71 or that ,agar was a
 type of ,jerusalem 7,gal4 iv41 #be74   
,barney applies to ,jesus the passage1  
,isaiah xlv41 #a1 ,thus saith the ,lord 
to his annointed1 to ,cyrus4 ,this the  
,rev4 ,j4 ,jones 7p4 #chd7 calls a      
wilful and designed mistake4 ,but his   
reference to prophecies are scarcely    
more disingenuously ingenious than      
,matthew's making ,jesus go to ,egypt1  
that it might be fulfilled which was    
spoken of the ,lord by the prophet1     
saying1 ,out of ,egypt have ,i called my
 son2 he dwelt at ,nazareth1 that it    
might be fulfilled which was spoken by  

the prophets1 ,he shall be called a     
,nazarene 7ii41 #bc72 or1 saying that   
,jesus spoke in parables1 ,that it might
 be fulfilled which was spoken by the   
prophet1 saying1 ,i will open my mouth  
in parables2 ,i will utter things which 
have been kept secret from the          
foundation of the world 7xiii41 #ce74   
,his loose system of quotation may also 
be paralleled from the sacred volume4   
,in ,matt1 xxvii41 #i1 the passage from 
,zechariah xi41 #ab1 #ac1 is attributed 
to ,jeremiah2 in ,mark i41 #b1 a        
quotation from ,malachi iii41 #a1 is    
ascribed to ,isaiah2 in #a ,corinth1    
ii41 #i1 a passage is quoted as ,holy   
,scriptures which is not found in the   
,old ,testament1 but is taken1 as       
,origen and ,jerome state1 from an      
apocryphal work1 ,the ,revelation of    
,elias4  ,one more specimen of this     
,apostolical ,father will suffice4 ,it  
occurs chap1 xi41 p4 #aah1 and is as    
remarkable for the ,levite's            
understanding of the laws of ,moses as  

for his information upon natural        
history3 ',and thou shalt not eat1' he  
says1 'the lamprey or the polypus1 or   
the cuttle fish4' ,he means1 ',thou     
shalt not join thyself to be like to    
such men as are ungodly to the end and  
are condemned to death4' ,in like manner
 as those fishes above accursed1 float  
in the deep1 not swimming like the rest1
 but make their abode in the mud at the 
bottom4 ,moreover1 ',thou shalt not1' he
 says1 'eat the hare4' ,wherefore8      
',thou shalt not be a corrupter of boys1
 nor like unto such4' ,because the hare 
multiplies1 year by year1 the places of 
its conception2 for as many years as it 
lives so many ----,gr4---- it has4      
,moreover1 ',thou shalt not eat the     
hyena4' ,he means1 ',thou shalt not be  
an adulterer1 nor corrupter1 nor like   
them that are such4' ,wherefore8        
,because that animal annually changes   
its sex1 and is at one time male and at 
another female4 ,moreover1 he has       
rightly detested the weasel4 ,for he    

means1 ',thou shalt not be like to those
 whom we hear of as committing          
wickedness with the mouth1 on account of
 their uncleanness2 nor shalt thou be   
joined to those impure women who commit 
iniquity with the mouth4 ,for this      
animal conceives by the mouth4' ,we will
 leave this shocking old ,father with a 
very serious question1 as to the value  
of his testimony to the truth of        
,christianity4     ,,st4 ,,ignatius4    
,this ,apostolic saint need not detain  
us long4 ,he is alleged to have been the
 identical babe taken up in the arms of 
,jesus as an example of innocence and   
humility to his none too innocent or    
humble disciples4 ,but in truth his     
history is as untrustworthy and fabulous
 as that of the other heroes of the     
early ,christian ,church4 ,st4          
,chrysostom tells us that ,ignatius     
never saw the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 and 
he might have added neither did any of  
the other early ,christian writers1 with
 the possible exception of the author of

 the ,revelation2 unless1 like ,paul1   
they saw him in a trance4 ,he is said to
 have been a ,syrian ,bishop of         
,antioch1 but1 like the ,galilean       
fishermen1 to have written in ,greek4   
,fifteen epistles are ascribed to him1  
but of these eight are universally      
admitted to be spurious1 and the other  
seven are exceeding doubtful1 three only
 being found in the ,syrian manuscript4 
,calvin said3 ,nothing can be more      
disgusting than those silly trifles     
which are edited in the name of         
,ignatius4 ,the reason for the          
,presbyterian's condemnation lay in the 
stress which these epistles place upon  
,episcopacy4 ,the writer declares       
himself to have been inspired by the    
,spirit saying on this wise3 ,do nothing
 without the bishops 7,phil4 vii41 p4   
#bcc74 ,he says bishops are to be looked
 on even as the ,lord himself 7ad4      
,ephes4 vi41 p4 #aeb74 ,again1 let all  
reverence deacons as ,jesus ,christ1 of 
whose place they are the keepers 7ad4   

,trail41 chap1 iii41 p4 #aia71 and ,he  
who honors the bishop has been honored  
by ,god2 he who does anything without   
the knowledge of the bishop does in     
reality serve the devil 7ad4 ,smyrn1    
chap1 ix41 p4 #bdi74  ,dr4 ,donaldson   
7,apostolic ,fathers1 p4 #ajb7 says3    
,the writings now ascribed to him       
present a problem which has not yet been
 solved--in whatever form they be       
examined1 they will be found to contain 
opinions and exhibit modes of thought   
entirely unknown to any of the          
,ep-,apostolic writings4  ,ignatius1 who
 was surnamed ,theophorus1 is said to   
have been martyred1 but the year in     
which his death occurred is among the   
obscurities of early ,christian         
chronology4 ,it is alleged that he      
voluntarily courted death by giving     
himself up as a ,christian to ,trajan   
when that emperor was at ,antioch1 and  
that he was sent by a circuitous route  
all the way to-,rome in order to be     
devoured by wild beasts there1 or1      

apparently1 rather in order to write his
 epistles while a prisoner on his       
journey4 ,but no reference to this      
legend is to be traced during the first 
six centuries of the ,christian era4    
,this absurd story is now generally     
discredited4 ,the life and writings of  
,ignatius must be classed in the vast   
catalogue of ,christian myths and       
fabrications4     ,,st4 ,,polycarp4     
,most of the little that is reported of 
this saint is also probably mythical4   
,his importance chiefly depends upon his
 being made the link between the        
,apostle ,john and ,irenaeus1 the first 
writer who towards the close of the     
second century names the four ,gospels4 
,archbishop ,usher 7,proleg4 ad ,ignat4 
,ep41 chap1 iii474 thought ,polycarp was
 the angel of the ,church at ,smyrna1   
referred to in ,revelations ii41 #h4 ,a 
trivial objection to this is1 that it   
would make ,polycarp live until #ajj    
years afterwards1 as the old father is  
alleged to have lived on through all the

 early persecutions1 only to suffer     
death in #afg1 under the reign of the   
mild and gentle ,antoninus4 ,later      
critics1 however1 have decided that     
,statius ,quadratus1 under whom he is   
said to have died1 was pro-consul in    
a4d4 #aed-e or #aee-f--;all of which    
shows the very reliable nature of early 
,christian records4 ,he is said to have 
declared that he served ,christ for     
eighty-six years1 but learned           
authorities are again divided as to     
whether he meant that as his age1 or as 
dating from the time of his conversion4 
,irenaeus1 from whom we get our         
information concerning ,polycarp1 gives 
us the following choice anecdote1 which 
illustrates how these ,christians loved 
one another3 ,there are also those who  
heard from him that ,john1 the disciple 
of the ,lord1 going to bathe at         
,ephesus1 and perceiving ,cerinthus     
within1 rushed out of the bath-house    
without bathing1 exclaiming1 ',let us   
fly1 lest even the bathhouse fall down1 

because ,cerinthus1 the enemy of the    
truth1 is within4' ,and ,polycarp       
himself replied to ,marcion1 who met him
 on one occasion and said1 ',dost thou  
know me8' ',i do know thee1 the         
firstborn of ,satan' 7,irenaeus against 
,heresies1 book iii41 chap1 iii41 sec4  
#d41 p4 #bfc1 ,vol4 ,v4 ,ante-,nicene   
,christian ,library74 ,in the so-called 
,epistle of ,polycarp to the            
,philippians1 which consists of a string
 of quotations from the ,old ,testament 
and ,paul1 occurs this passage3 ,for    
whosoever does not confess that ,jesus  
,christ has come in the flesh1 is       
antichrist2 and whosoever does not      
confess the testimony of the cross1 is  
of the ,devil2 and whosoever perverts   
the oracles of the ,lord to his own     
lusts1 and says that there is neither a 
resurrection nor a judgment1 he is the  
first-born of ,satan 7chap1 xii41 p4    
#gc74 ,schwegler and ,hilgenfeld        
consider the insertion of this phrase1  
firstborn of ,satan1 as proof of the    

inauthenticity of the ,epistle4 ,they   
argue that the well-known saying was    
employed to give an appearance of       
reality to the forgery4 ,nor are there  
wanting other indications of its        
spuriousness4 ,it refers to the mythical
 martyr journey of ,ignatius1 and while 
treating him as dead in chapter ix41 has
 him alive and kicking again in chapter 
xiii4  ,the ,church of ,smyrna is said  
to have issued an encyclical letter     
detailing ,polycarp's martyrdom1 which  
is reported by that eminent ,church     
historian1 or rather mythographist1     
,eusebius 7,ec4 ,hist41 iv41 #ae74 ,it  
relates how as ,polycarp was entering   
into the stadium1 there came to him a   
voice from heaven1 saying1 ',be strong1 
and show thyself a man ,o1 ,polycarp4'  
,no one saw who it was that spoke to    
him1 but those of our brethren who were 
present heard the voice 7chap1 ix41 p4  
#hh74 ,upon which ,dr4 ,donaldson       
quietly says 7,apostolical ,fathers1    
chap1 iii41 p4 #bjb2 #ahgd73 ,it is not 

very probable that there was any voice  
from heaven2 and it is improbable that  
there were ,christians in the place to  
hear the voice4  ,the old father proved 
to be of the asbestos-like nature of    
,shadrach1 ,meshach1 and ,abednego4     
,when he had pronounced this amen1 and  
so finished his prayer1 those who were  
appointed for the purpose kindled the   
fire4 ,and as the flame blazed forth in 
great fury1 we1 to whom it was given to 
witness it1 beheld a great miracle1 and 
have been preserved that we might report
 to others what then took place4 ,for   
the fire1 shaping itself into the form  
of an arch1 like the sail of a ship when
 filled with wind1 encompassed as by a  
circle the body of the martyr4 ,and he  
appeared within not like flesh which is 
burnt1 but as bread that is baked1 or as
 gold and silver glowing in a furnace4  
,moreover1 we perceived such a sweet    
odor1 as if frankincense or some        
precious spice had been smoking there   
7chap1 xv41 p4 #ib74 ,but this divine   

interposition was only to make a        
display--,polycarp was not to escape2 he
 was only saved from the flames to      
perish by the dagger4 ,at length1 when  
those wicked men perceived that his body
 could not be consumed by the fire1 they
 commanded an executioner to go near and
 pierce him through with a dagger4 ,and 
on doing this1 there came forth a dove1 
and a great quantity of blood1 so that  
the fire was extinguished2 and all the  
people wondered that there should be    
such a difference between the           
unbelievers and the elect1 of whom this 
most admirable ,polycarp was one1 having
 in our own times been an apostolic and 
prophetic teacher1 and bishop of the    
,catholic church which is in ,smyrna4   
,for every word that went out of his    
mouth either has been1 or shall yet be1 
accomplished 7chap1 xvi41 p4 #ib74 ,the 
account relates that ,polycarp had a    
vision of his pillow on fire1 and       
prophesied therefrom that he should be  
burnt alive4  ,the dove which flew out  

of ,polycarp's side proved him to have  
been possessed of the ,holy ,ghost4     
,herodian relates that at the           
,apotheosis of the ,roman emperors it   
formed part of the solemnity to let an  
eagle fly from out of the burning pile  
of wood on which the corpse of the new  
deity was cremated1 to intimate that    
this bird of ,jove carried the soul of  
the deceased to heaven4 ,lucian1 in his 
account of the death of ,peregrinus1    
relates how he told the simpletons that 
at the death of this ,christian martyr1 
a vulture flew up out of the flames1    
taking his course direct to the skies1  
and screaming out in an articulate      
voice1 ,soaring above the earth1 ,i     
ascend to ,olympus4 ,the miracles at the
 death of ,polycarp may be just as true 
as that of the earthquake and the saints
 having come out of their graves at the 
death of ,jesus2 but sceptics will      
doubtless be found who consider1 with   
,dr4 ,donaldson 7p4 #bai71 that not one 
of the facts has proper historical      

testimony for it4     ,,iii4            
,,hermas4  ,the ,pastor of ,hermas1 the 
editors of the ,ante ,nicene ,christian1
 ,library inform us in their            
,introductory notice 7vol4 ,i41 p4      
#cai71 was one of the most popular      
books1 if not the most popular book1 in 
the ,christian ,church during the       
second1 third1 and fourth centuries4 ,w4
 ,osburn1 in his ,doctrinal ,errors of  
the ,early ,fathers1 p4 #ce1 #ahce1     
declares--with much show of reason--it  
is the silliest book that ever exercised
 an influence over the human            
understanding4 ,this gives a sufficient 
gauge of the value of the judgment of   
those centuries4 ,as with all other     
early ,christian writings1 with the     
exception of some of the epistles of    
,paul1 much doubt exists as to its      
author4 ,the earliest opinion was that  
it was the production of the ,hermas who
 is saluted by ,paul in his ,epistle to 
the ,romans xiv41 #ad4 ,origen1 in his  
commentary on the ,romans 7bk4 x41 #ca71

 states this opinion distinctly1 and it 
is repeated by the ecclesiastical       
historian ,eusebius 7hi41 #c4171 and by 
,jerome in his work against heresies    
7iv41 #bj1 #b74 ,there is an early      
,a,ethiopic version of ,hermas which    
contains the curiously bold figment that
 it was written by the ,apostle ,paul   
himself1 under the title of ,hermes1    
which name1 as stated in the twelfth    
verse of the fourteenth chapter of the  
,acts of the ,apostles1 was bestowed    
upon him by the inhabitants of ,lystra4 
,the ,muratorian fragment on the ,canon1
 however 7the authorship of which is    
unknown1 but which may plausibly be     
dated about the year #bjj17 asserts that
 ,the ',pastor' was written very lately 
in our times1 in the city of ,rome1 by  
,hermas1 while ,bishop ,pius1 his       
brother1 sat in the chair of the church 
of the city of ,rome 7i4e41 #adb--aeg   
,a4,c471 and the best modern authorities
 since the time of ,mosheim incline to  
this opinion4 ,yet it is quite possible 

that the name of the author is as       
fictitious as the contents of the work4 
,it is a threefold collection of        
visions1 commandments1 and similitudes4 
,the author claims to receive a divine  
message and to record the words of      
angels1 and there is evidence that in   
the early days of the ,church this claim
 was unquestioned4 ,c4 ,h4 ,hoole1 in   
the introduction to his translation of  
the work 7p4 xi47 says3 ,at the very    
earliest period it was undoubtedly      
regarded as on a level with the         
canonical books of the ,new ,testament  
being distinctly quoted by ,irenaeus as 
,scripture4 ,irenaeus1 as everyone      
knows1 is the first who mentions the    
four ,gospels by name4 ,clement of      
,alexandria speaks of it as divine      
revelation 7,strom4 ,i41 xxix74 ,origen 
claims it as inspired by ,god 7loc4     
cit47 ,all the early ,fathers accepted  
its authority except ,tertullian1 and he
 only disputed it after he became an    
heretical ,montanist4 ,in his orthodox  

works he too cites it as part of ,holy  
,scripture4 ,eusebius tells us that it  
was read publicly in the churches1 and  
it is found in the ,sinaitic ,codex of  
the ,new ,testament1 together with the  
epistle of ,barnabas1 along with the    
canonical books4 ,dupin 7,ecclesiastica 
,writers1 p4 #bh1 #afib17 says3,the     
',pastor' hath been admitted by many    
churches as canonical4  ,hermes makes no
 mention of a ,trinity nor of the       
,incarnation1 and1 though he speaks of  
the ,son of ,god1 this ,son of ,god     
seems to be the same as the ,holy       
,spirit4 ,of the man ,jesus he makes no 
mention4 ,when the ,arians appealed to  
this book its reputation sank with the  
orthodox party4 ,about the year #did it 
was condemned in the decree of ,pope    
,gelasius1 and from that time it has    
declined in public favor4 ,jerome1 who  
in his ,chronicon had lauded it1 in his 
commentary on ,habakkuk taxes it with   
stultia foolishness4 ,and not unjustly4 
,its visions are almost as fantastic as 

those recorded in the ,apocalypse4 ,its 
divine revelations are about on a level 
with the maudlin platitudes uttered     
through the lips of spiritist trance    
mediums4 ,although so highly appreciated
 by the primitive ,christians1 there are
 few among the moderns who would not    
find his vagaries puerile and           
unreadable4 ,he has a complete system of
 angelology4 ,there are two angels with 
a man--one of righteousness1 and the    
other of iniquity-- 7,commandment       
,sixth1 chap1 ii41 p4 #cei17 and these  
originate all evil and all good4 ,there 
is even an angel over the beasts4       
,hermes is acquainted with this angel's 
name4 ,it is ,thegri 7,vision iv41 #b1  
p4 #cdf74 ,from these angels he receives
 much valueless information4 ,mosheim   
says of his work3 ,it seems to have been
 written by a man scarcely sane1 since  
he thought himself at liberty to invent 
conversations between ,god and angels1  
for the sake of giving precepts1 which  
he considered salutary1 a more ready    

entrance into the minds of his readers4 
,but celestial spirits with him talk    
greater nonsense than hedgers1 or       
ditchers1 or porters among ourselves    
7,ec4 ,hist41 pt4 ii41 chap1 ii41 sec4  
#ba2 vol4 i41 p4 #fi1ahfc74 ,if we bear 
in mind that this book was the most     
popular among the primitive ,christians1
 we shall have a good idea of the extent
 of their attainments4 ,in his work on  
,christian affairs before the time of   
,constantine1 ,mosheim gives his opinion
 of this ,father that he knowingly and  
wilfully was guilty of a cheat4 ,at the 
time when he wrote1 continues ,mosheim1 
it was an established maxim with many of
 the ,christians1 that it was pardonable
 in an advocate for religion to avail   
himself of fraud and deception1 if it   
were likely that they might conduce     
towards the attainment of any           
considerable good 7vol4 i41 p4 #bhe2    
,vidal tr41 #ahac74 ,he has also been   
deemed the forger of the ,sibylline     
oracles4 ,it is curious that in his     

second vision he confounds an old woman1
 who is said to represent the ,church1  
with the ,sibyl 7,ch4 iv41 p4 #cca74    
,neither his reputation for veracity nor
 the value of his ethical teaching1 as  
given by angels1 is enhanced by his     
statement that when commanded to love   
the truth he said to his angelic        
messenger3 ,i never spoke a true word in
 my life1 but have ever spoken cunningly
 to all1 and have affirmed a lie for the
 truth to all2 and no one ever          
contradicted me1 but credit was given to
 my words4 ,whereupon the divine visitor
 informs him that if he keeps the       
commandments now1 even the falsehoods   
which you formerly told in your         
transactions may come to be believed    
through the truthfulness of your present
 statements4 ,for even they can become  
worthy of credit 7,commandment ,third1  
p4 #cea74  ,the testimony of such a man 
would be of very little value indeed1   
but it is certain that he gives none    
whatever to the ,new ,testament1 and    

this1 although his writings are the most
 extensive of any of the ,apostolic     
,fathers4 ,dr4 ,teschendorf even does   
not suggest that ,hermas gives any      
indication of acquaintance with our     
,gospels1 and although ,canon ,westcott1
 who admits it contains no definite     
quotation from either ,old or ,new      
,testament 7on the ,canon1 p4 #bjj1     
#ahha71 strives to show that some of his
 similitudes1 such as that of the       
,church to a tower1 may have been       
derived from the ,new ,testament1 ,canon
 ,sanday1 another ,christian apologist1 
admits that these references are very   
doubtful4 ,the only direct quotation    
from ,scripture is from a part which is 
not included in our ,holy ,bible1 and   
which1 indeed1 is no longer extant4 ,in 
the ,second ,vision1 chap4 iii41 he     
says3 ,the ,lord is near to them who    
return unto ,him1 as it is written in   
,eldad and ,modat1 who prophesied to the
 people in the wilderness4 ,in ,numbers 
xi1 #bf1 #bg1 we read of ,eldad and     

,medad who prophesied in the camp1 and a
 book under their name appears in the   
,stichometria of ,nicephorus among the  
apocrypha of the ,old ,testament4       
,having thus cursorily reviewed the     
writings of the first five ,fathers1 who
 are usually1 though unwarrantably1     
denominated ,apostolic1 we will briefly 
examine     ,,their ,,testimony ,,to    
,,the ,,gospels4  ,the matter indeed    
might be summarily dismissed with the   
remark that they afford no testimony to 
the ,gospels whatever4 ,but so much     
stress is laid upon them in this respect
 by orthodox writers 7and necessarily   
so1 for if the so-called ,apostolical   
,fathers testify not of the ,gospels1   
there is no evidence of their existence 
until the latter half of the second     
century7 that we must pause and examine 
how far they bear the burden that is    
laid upon them4  ,we have already seen  
that both the age and the authorship of 
every one of these works is of a most   
doubtful character4 ,the names of every 

one of the twelve apostles1 of ,paul1 of
 ,ignatius1 of ,polycarp1 of the        
,diognetus mentioned in ,acts xvii1 #cd1
 of ,clement1 of ,linus1 and of other   
early ,christians of repute1 have been  
appended to the most unblushing         
forgeries4 ,among these so-called       
genuine remains1 as found in ,archbishop
 ,wake's version and the ,ante-,nicene  
,christian ,library1 those attributed to
 ,barnabas and ,hermas are almost as    
certainly forged4 ,of the epistles      
assigned to ,ignatius1 ,professor       
,andrews ,norton says3 ,there is1 as it 
seems to me1 no reasonable doubt that   
the seven shorter epistles ascribed to  
,ignatius are1 equally with all the     
rest1 fabrications of a date long       
subsequent to his time 7,the ,evidence  
of the ,genuineness of the ,gospels1 p4 
#cej1 vol4 i41 #bnd ed41 #ahdg74 ,the   
second of the epistles attributed to    
,clement is recognised by most scholars 
as spurious4 ,the only remaining        
documents which we can at all allow to  

be genuine are the first epistle of     
,clement and that of ,polycarp4 ,even   
these have not been undisputed4 ,the    
former has been challenged as a forgery 
by ,mr4 ,j4 ,m4 ,cotterill1 in a curious
 work1 entitled ,peregrinus ,proteus1   
published by ,t4 and ,t4 ,clark1        
,edinburgh1 #ahgi2 and the latter by    
,blondel1 ,schwegler1 ,hilgenfeld1      
,tayler1 and others1 and it is generally
 allowed to be interpolated4  ,dr4      
,giles 7,christian ,records1 p4 #aji1   
#ahgg17 says3 ,the writings of the      
,apostolical ,fathers labor under a more
 heavy load of doubt and suspicion than 
any other ancient compositions either   
sacred or profane4 ,in former times1    
when the art of criticism was in its    
infancy1 these writings were ten times  
as extensive as they are now1 and they  
were circulated without the slightest   
doubt of their authenticity4 ,but1 as   
the spirit of inquiry grew1 and the     
records of past time were investigated1 
the mists which obscured the subject    

were gradually dispersed1 and the light 
of truth began to shine where there had 
previously been nothing but darkness4   
,things which had chained and enslaved  
the mind for ages1 dissolved and faded  
into nothing at the dawn of day1 and    
objects that once held the most         
unbounded sway over the belief1 proved  
to be unreal beings1 creatures of       
superstition1 if not of fraud1 placed   
like the lions in the path of the       
pilgrim1 to deter him from proceeding on
 the way that leads to the heavenly city
 of truth4  ,in another place ,dr4      
,giles remarks in regard to the question
 of the age and authorship of the these 
,fathers3 ,the works which have been    
written on this question are almost as  
numerous as those which concern the age1
 authorship1 and authenticity of the    
,gospels themselves1 but the general    
issue of the inquiries which have been  
instituted1 has been unfavorable to the 
antiquity of these works as remains of  
writers who were contemporary with the  

,apostles1 but favorable to the theory  
that they are productions of the latter 
half of the second century4 ,that was   
the time when so many ,christian        
writings came into existence1 and all   
the records of our religion were        
sedulously sought out1 because tradition
 was then becoming faint1 original and  
even secondary witnesses had gone off   
the stage1 and the great increase of the
 ,christian community gave birth to     
extended curiosity about its early      
history1 whilst it furnished greater    
safety to those who employed themselves 
in its service 7,christian ,records1    
chap1 xi41 p4 #hi74  ,if the ,gospels   
were written by eye-witnesses of the    
miracles1 and these so-called ,apostolic
 ,fathers had conversed with them1 it is
 scarcely credible that they would have 
omitted to name the actual books        
themselves which possessed such high    
authority4 ,this is the only way in     
which their evidence could be of real   
service to support the authenticity of  

the ,new ,testament writings as being   
the work of ,apostles4 ,but this they   
fail to supply4 ,there is not a single  
sentence in all their remaining works in
 which an unmistakeable allusion to the 
,gospels1 as we have them1 is to be     
found4 ,it is in vain that ,christian   
evidence-mongers appeal to their        
citations of certain sayings of ,jesus  
or certain doctrines of ,christianity4  
,no one disputes that these were in     
general vogue early in the second       
century4 ,but the point to be proved to 
the ,rationalist is that the            
supernatural events of the four ,gospels
 were testified to by eye-witnesses1 who
 published their accounts at the time   
and in the place where the alleged      
supernatural occurrences took place4    
,and of this the ,apostolic ,fathers    
afford no scrap of evidence4 ,of the    
supernatural history of ,jesus they know
 no more than ,paul4 ,they neither      
mention his immaculate conception nor   
his miracles2 nor do they refer to any  

of the circumstances connected with his 
alleged material resurrection4 ,this    
especially applies to the possibly      
genuine writings of ,clement and        
,polycarp4 ,hermas1 as we have          
mentioned1 has no reference to any of   
the acts of ,jesus4 ,barnabas has an    
allusion to great signs and wonders     
which were wrought in ,israel1 but he   
does not say what they were nor when    
they happened4 ,ignatius alone1 in a    
probably spurious epistle to the        
,ephesians1 chap1 xix1 alludes to the   
virginity of ,mary1 her offspring1 and  
the death of the ,lord as three         
mysteries of renown2 but the details he 
gives concerning the brilliant star     
which appeared1 and how all the rest of 
the stars and the sun and moon formed a 
chorus to this star1 and its light was  
exceedingly great above them all1 and   
how every kind of magic was destroyed1  
and every bond of wickedness            
disappeared1 show that the writer       
referred to other sources of information

 than those found in ,matthew and ,luke4
 ,in the full part of the ninth chapter 
of the epistle to the ,trallians1' he   
gives almost the whole of the ,apostles 
creed4 ,this in itself would be         
sufficient evidence of its spuriousness4
  ,stress is laid by all writers on the 
external evidences upon certain alleged 
quotations from our gospels1 which are  
said to be found in the early ,fathers4 
,but the question naturally arises1 if  
they considered them to be of ,apostolic
 authority why did they not mention them
 by name8 ,they say ,moses says1 but    
they never say ,matthew1 ,mark1 ,luke1  
or ,john says4 ,they cite the words of  
,jesus1 but not of his ,evangelists4    
,they also say ,the ,lord said rather   
than saith1 which indicates they were   
rather indebted to tradition than to    
written accounts4 ,irenaeus says he     
heard ,polycarp repeat the oral         
relations of ,john and of other hearers 
of the ,lord1 and ,clement may have     
received his knowledge in the same      

manner4 ,we shall see from the testimony
 of ,papias that he at least preferred  
tradition to the books with which he was
 acquainted4 ,moreover1 such quotations 
of the sayings of ,jesus as occur are   
never given in the same words nor in the
 same order4 ,attempts are made to      
account for this by saying that they    
quoted loosely from memory4 ,but is it  
likely they would quote loosely words   
which they believed to be written by the
 inspiration of the ,holy ,ghost8 ,this 
does not say much for their intellectual
 ability4 ,clement and ,polycarp1 for   
instance1 both give1 ,be pitiful that ye
 may be pitied1 word for word2 while the
 ,gospel shews1 ,blessed are the        
merciful for they shall obtain mercy4   
,clement says1 ,forgive that it may be  
forgiven you2 ,polycarp1 ,forgive and it
 shall be forgiven you4 ,the nearest to 
which is1 ,for if ye forgive men their  
trespasses1 your heavenly ,father will  
also forgive you4  ,such facts have     
constrained ,mr4 ,sanday to admit in his

 work on the ,gospels in the ,second    
,century that ,the author of            
,supernatural ,religion is not without  
reason when he says they may be derived 
from other collections than our actual  
,gospels 7p4 #hg1 #ahgf47 ,canon        
,westcott himself in summing up the     
results says3-- 7#a7 ,no ,evangelic     
reference in the ,apostolic ,fathers can
 be referred certainly to a written     
record4 7#b7 ,it appears most probable  
from the form of the quotations that    
they were derived from oral tradition   
7p4 #fc1 #ahha47 ,we shall see1 however1
 that whether they went to other        
collections or relied upon oral         
traditions1 their ,evangelic references 
are never exactly the same as in our    
gospels4 ,they manifestly had other     
sources of information4 ,moreover it    
must be borne in mind that the          
,christian sayings very frequently crept
 into the text by way of gloss4 ,an     
illustration of this kind of            
interpolation is found in the ,epistle  

of ,barnabas1 chap1 xix41 p4 #acc1 where
 we read1 ,thou shalt not hesitate to   
give1 nor murmur when thou givest4 ,give
 to everyone that asketh thee1 and thou 
shalt know who is the good ,recompenser 
of the reward4 ,but for this supposed   
quotation being omitted in the oldest   
,,ms41 the ,codex ,seaiticus1 it would  
be considered evidence that the writer  
of the epistle was quoting from ,luke   
vi41 #cj4 ,in copying manuscripts there 
was no such strictness as in a modern   
printing-office1 where follow your copy 
is the compositor's rule4 ,if a         
transcriber at the time when our        
,gospels were in vogue 7and be it       
remembered we have no manuscripts either
 of the ,fathers or of the ,new         
,testament older than the fourth or     
fifth century after ,jesus7 saw a       
quotation different from the way in     
which he had been accustomed to see it1 
he would not hesitate to alter it ,so   
that many of the alleged literal        
quotations from our ,gospels may be only

 emendations of the scribes who found   
the quotations were wrong and put them  
right4 ,dr4 ,donaldson1 in the          
introduction to his ,apostolical        
,fathers1 chap1 iii41 p4 #bg1 tells us  
how ,each transcriber1 as he copied1    
inserted the notes of previous readers  
into the text1 and often from his heated
 imagination added something himself4   
,he also informs us 7p4 #bh7 ,that we   
know for certain that even in the second
 and third centuries the letters of     
bishops and others were excised and     
interpolated in their lifetime4 ,so pure
 is the stream through which our        
,gospels have descended6  ,the able and 
learned author of ,supernatural         
,religion well puts the argument3 ,when1
 therefore1 in early writings1 we meet  
with quotations closely resembling1 or  
we may add1 even identical with passages
 which are found in our ,gospels1 the   
source of which1 however1 is not        
mentioned1 nor is any author's name     
indicated1 the similarity or even       

identity cannot by any means be admitted
 as proof that the quotation is         
necessarily from our ,gospels1 and not  
from some other similar work now no     
longer extant1 and more especially not  
when1 in the same writings1 there are   
other quotations from sources different 
from our ,gospels 7vol4 i41 pp4 #bac1   
#bad1 #ahgi47 ,that citations similar to
 those found in our ,gospels are not    
necessarily taken therefrom may be      
instanced from ,ignatius1 or the writer 
who used his name who in his ,epistle to
 the ,smyrnaeans1 chap1 iii41 p4 #bdb1  
says3 ,when1 for instance1 ,he came to  
those who were with ,peter ,he said to  
them3 ',lay hold1 handle me and see that
 ,i am not an incorporeal spirit4'      
,according to ,jerome 7,vir4 ,illust4   
#af7 this quotation is from the ,gospel 
of the ,nazarenes4 ,but for this direct 
statement1 it would of course be        
assigned by orthodox traditionalists to 
a quotation from memory of ,luke xxiv41 
#ci4 ,origen1 however1 quoted this      

self-same passage from another work well
 known in the early ,church1 but since  
lost or destroyed1 the ,preaching of    
,peter4  ,but whilst similarity would   
not prove their use1 variation from the 
,gospels is the best proof that they    
were not used4 ,such passages abound4   
,clement1 for instance1 says3 ,our      
,apostles also knew1 through the ,lord  
,jesus ,christ1 that there would be     
strife on account of the episcopate     
7chap1 xliv41 p4 #ch47 ,he says it is   
written cleave to the holy1 for those   
that cleave to them shall themselves be 
made holy 7chap1 xlvi41 p4 #dj47 ,he    
also quotes 7chap4 #a41 p4 #dc7 ,i will 
remember a propitious day1 and will     
raise you up out of your tombs1 which is
 probably from the apocryphal fourth    
book of ,ezra4 ,barnabas declares3 ,the 
,lord says ',he has accomplished a      
second fashioning in these last days4   
,the ,lord says ,i will make the last   
like the first' 7chap1 vi41 p4 #c1      
,sinaitic47 ,he quotes as a saying of   

,jesus3 ,those who wish to behold me1   
and lay hold of my kingdom1 must through
 tribulation and suffering obtain me    
7chap1 vii41 p4 #aad47 ,and again3 ,for 
the ,scripture saith1 ',and it shall    
come to pass in the last days that the  
,lord will deliver up the sheep of ,his 
pasture and their sheepfold and tower to
 destruction 7chap1 xvi41 p4 #abi47     
,other instances might be given4 ,in the
 second ,epistle of ,clement there are  
at least five such passages1 but these  
suffice to show that other documents    
than the ,gospels were referred to1 and 
that even where the sentiment is similar
 the expression is different ,it must be
 borne in mind also that we have it on  
the authority of ,luke in his preface   
that already in his time many had taken 
in hand to set forth in order a         
declaration of those things which were  
most surely believed among ,christians4 
,mosheim1 in his ,ecclesiastical        
,history 7pt4 ii41 chap4 ii41 sec4 #ag1 
p4 #fe1 ,stubbs' ed41 #ahfc7 speaks of  

,a variety of commentaries1 filled with 
impostures and fables1 on our ,savior's 
life and sentiments composed soon after 
his ascent into heaven1 by men who      
without being bad1 perhaps were         
superstitious1 simple1 and piously      
deceitful4 ,to these were afterwards    
added other writings1 falsely ascribed  
to the most holy apostles by fraudulent 
individuals4 ,but these fraudulent      
individuals were ,christians1 and the   
purpose of their frauds was to subserve 
the interests of the ,church4 ,we have  
record of many other ,gospels1 not to   
mention ,acts of ,apostles and          
,revelations4 ,some of these were       
certainly anterior to our own4 ,such    
were probably the ,gospel of ,paul1     
whence ,marcion's ,gospel and ,luke's   
were derived1 the ,gospel of ,peter from
 which possibly ,mark was compiled4 ,the
 ,oracles or ,sayings of ,jesus which   
probably entered into the construction  
of ,matthew together with the ,gospel to
 the ,hebrews4 ,the ,gospel of the      

,egyptians1 which we have already seen  
as quoted by ,clement1 the original of  
which ,c4 ,b4 ,waite thinks may have    
been in use among the ,therapeutae of   
,egypt a long time before the           
introduction of ,christianity1 the      
passages relating to ,christ being      
afterwards added 7,history of the       
,christian ,religion to the year #bjj1  
p4 #gg1 ,chicago1 #ahha47 ,according to 
,origen1 ,theophylact and ,jerome1 this 
,gospel was written before the ,gospel  
of ,luke1 and many learned moderns have 
deemed it earlier than any of the       
,canonical ,gospels4 ,at least          
contemporary with these were the ,gospel
 of ,james or ,protevangelion1 the      
,gospel of ,thomas or ,infancy1 and the 
,gospel of ,nicodemus or ,acts of       
,pilate1 all of which remain1 although  
the ,christian ,church has lost the     
doubtless equally respectable ,gospels  
of ,matthias1 of ,philip1 of            
,bartholomew1 of ,andrew1 and even of   
,judas ,iscariot4     ,,iv4  ,we have   

thus far seen that the five earliest    
,fathers of the ,christian ,church have 
no claim to be considered ,apostolic1   
and that1 so far from bearing testimony 
to the authenticity of our canonical    
,gospels1 their own age and authorship  
are disputed4 ,we have noticed that     
their works never mention by name any of
 the writers of the ,new ,testament with
 the exception of ,paul2 that the       
sayings they ascribe to ,jesus1 while   
often similar to those found in our     
,gospels1 are never identical with them1
 and that they contain much that is     
evidently derived from other sources4   
,we have in addition seen that there    
were numerous ,gospels current in the   
early days of the ,christian ,church2   
thus confirming the account of ,luke    
that many had taken in hand to set forth
 in order the things believed among     
them4  ,the early ,christian ages were  
characterised by anything rather than by
 investigation1 or even by accuracy of  
representation4 ,deception in literary  

productions appears to have been the    
rule rather than the exception4 ,it was 
not only practised but defended4 ,the   
author of ,supernatural ,religion says  
of these ,fathers 7pp4 #dfj--a1 vol4 #a1
 #ahgi73--,no fable could be too gross1 
no invention too transparent1 for their 
unsuspicious acceptance1 if it assumed a
 pious form or tended to edification4   
,no period in the history of the world  
ever produced so many spurious works as 
the first two or three centuries of our 
era4 ,the name of every ,apostle1 or    
,christian teacher1 not excepting that  
of the great ,master himself1 was freely
 attached to every description of       
religious forgery4 ,false gospels1      
epistles1 acts1 martyrologies1 were     
unscrupulously circulated1 and such     
pious falsification was not even        
intended or regarded as a crime1 but    
perpetrated for the sake of edification4
 ,it was only slowly and after some     
centuries that many of these works1     
once1 as we have seen1 regarded with    

pious veneration1 were excluded from the
 canon2 and that genuine works shared   
this fate1 whilst spurious ones usurped 
their places1 is one of the surest      
results of criticism4  ,yet we are to   
suppose that while words written for    
edification were falsely ascribed to    
other ,apostles1 it was utterly         
impossible with regard to our four      
,evangelists4 ,we shall be better able  
to judge this question upon examining   
the testimony of the first person who   
mentions the writings of the first two4 
,,papias4  ,the first information we get
 concerning this ,father shows him to   
have been acquainted with other stories 
than those found in our ,gospels4 ,it   
occurs in ,irenaeus against ,heresies   
7book v41 chap4 xxxiii41 sec4 #c and #d1
 p4 #adf1 vol4 ix41 ,ante-,nicene       
,christian ,library74 ,speaking of the  
rewards which will come in the flesh to 
,christians1 he tells us that elders who
 saw ,john the disciple of the ,lord1   
related that they had heard from him how

 the ,lord used to teach in regard to   
these times1 and say3 ,the days will    
come in which vines shall grow1 each    
having ten thousand branches1 and in    
each branch ten thousand twigs1 and in  
each true twig ten thousand shoots1 and 
in each one of the shoots ten thousand  
clusters1 and on every one of the       
clusters ten thousand grapes1 and every 
grape when pressed will give five and   
twenty metretes of wine4 ,and when any  
one of the saints shall lay hold of a   
cluster1 another cry out1 ',i am a      
better cluster1 take me2 bless the ,lord
 through me4'  ,taking ,smith's ,bible  
,dictionary as authority for the value  
of a metrete1 viz41 eight and two-thirds
 of a gallon1 it follows that the       
product of one millenial grape-vine will
 make a quantity of wine equal in bulk  
to the planet ,mercury1 and allowing to 
the thousand million of the earth's     
inhabitants enough to keep them         
constantly intoxicated1 say two gallons 
of wine a day to each person1 it would  

keep them all dead drunk for the space  
of thirty thousand million years6 ,what 
a jolly old ,father was this6 or1 if he 
is to believed1 what a jolly ,jesus to  
promise and jolly ,john to report such a
 millenial prospect4 ,it beats the      
,mahommedan ,paradise4 ,irenaeus        
continues3--  ,in like manner the ,lord 
declared that a grain of wheat would    
produce ten thousand ears1 and that     
every ear should have ten thousand      
grains1 and every grain would yield ten 
pounds of clear1 pure1 fine flour2 and  
that all other fruit-bearing trees1 and 
seeds and grass1 would produce in       
similar proportions2 and that all       
animals feeding on the productions of   
the earth should become peaceful and    
harmonious among each other1 and be in  
perfect subjection to man4 ,sec4 #d4    
,and these things are borne witness to  
in writing by ,papias1 the hearer of    
,john1 and a companion of ,polycarp1 in 
his fourth book2 for there were five    
books compiled by him4 ,and he says in  

addition1 ',now these things are        
credible to believers4' ,and he says    
that when the traitor ,judas did not    
give credit to them1 and put the        
question1 ',how then can things1 about  
to bring forth so abundantly1 be wrought
 by the ,lord8 ,the ,lord declared1     
,they who shall come to these times     
shall see4' ,which1 in evasiveness1 is  
on a par with some of the utterances of 
,jesus in the ,gospels4 ,dr4 ,donaldson 
7,apostolical ,fathers1 p4 #hig1ahgd17  
says3 ,there is nothing improbable in   
the statement that the ,lord spoke in   
some such way1 and it is not at all     
improbable that ,papias took literally  
what was meant for allegory4 ,dr4 ,giles
 seems to concur in the view that       
,papias repeated words of ,jesus4  ,j4  
,jones 7on the ,canon1 vol4 i41 p4      
#cgj1ahbg17 thinks ,papias both the     
manufacturer of the doctrine of the     
,millenium and of this passage ascribed 
to ,christ calculated to support it4    
,the idea he considers borrowed from the

 ,jews4 ,perhaps it was1 but it         
certainly finds some countenance in the 
,apocalypse4  ,the statement that       
,papias was a hearer of the ,apostle    
,john conflicts with the account in     
,eusebius 7,ec4 ,hist1 iii41 #hi71 which
 implies that he received information   
from ,john the ,presbyter after all the 
,apostles were dead4 ,according to      
,eusebius 7,ec4 ,hist1 iii1 #cf17 and   
,jerome 7,de ,viri ,illust4 xviii471    
,papias was ,bishop of ,hierapolis1 a   
city of ,phyrgia4 ,he is supposed to    
have suffered martyrdom about #afc or   
#afg4 ,his work1 in five books1 was     
entitled ,an ,exposition of the ,oracles
 7or ,words7 of the ,lord4 ,eusebius1 in
 the third book of his ,ecclesiastical  
,history1 chapter #ci1 gives us most of 
our information about ,papias4 ,his     
estimate of him1 as a man of very       
limited understanding1 does not deter us
 from regretting the loss of his        
writings4 ,the fragments which remain   
cast such radiance on some of the dark  

points of the ,christian evidences4     
,paley and all the school of            
evidence-writers cite him as proving the
 existence of our ,matthew and ,mark4   
,but he is now generally seen to prove  
the very reverse4  ,let us first examine
 his statement in regard to ,matthew4   
,as given on the authority of ,eusebius1
 it reads that ,matthew composed the    
logia oracles or sayings in the ,hebrew 
dialect1 and everyone interpreted them  
as he was able4  ,now it is somewhat    
curious that ,papias1 probably in the   
second half of the second century1      
should be the first to give currency to 
the tradition that ,matthew wrote a     
,gospel if that ,gospel had been in     
existence #ajj years4  ,but that the    
work referred to was not the same we now
 have is manifest from its name logia1  
discourses1 sayings1 or oracles4 ,it    
would be an utter misnomer for an       
historical narrative beginning with a   
detailed history of the genealogy1 birth
 and infancy of ,jesus1 and the         

preaching of ,john the ,baptist1 and    
concluding with an equally minute       
account of his betrayal1 trial1         
crucifixion1 and resurrection1 giving   
all his movements and miracles1 and     
which has for its evident aim throughout
 the demonstration that ,jesus was the  
,messiah4 ,our ,gospel1 not written by1 
but according to ,matthew1 has no such  
title4  ,moreover1 ours is a ,greek and 
not a ,hebrew ,gospel4 ,the testimony of
 ,papias on this point is explicit ,it  
is1 moreover1 confirmed by a consensus  
of all the ,fathers3 ,irenaeus1         
,pantaenus1 ,origen1 ,eusebius1 ,cyril  
of ,jerusalem1 ,epiphanius1 ,chrysostom1
 ,augustine1 and all others who allude  
to ,matthew's ,gospel declare that it   
was written in ,hebrew4 ,now our ,gospel
 is considered by the most competent    
authorities an original document4 ,there
 is no ground whatever for considering  
it a translation1 even if we knew that  
,matthew's ,gospel had been properly    
translated1 instead of everyone         

interpreting it as he was able4 ,many of
 the quotations in it from the ,old     
,testament are taken not from the       
,hebrew but directly from the ,greek    
,septuagint4 ,its turns of language have
 the stamp of ,greek idiom1 and could   
not have come in through translation4   
,so that there is no reason for even    
indirectly connecting our ,canonical    
,gospel according to ,matthew with the  
logia which ,papias had heard were      
composed by him4  ,this position is     
somewhat strengthened when we find in   
the ,fragments of ,papias1 p4 #ddb3     
,judas walked about in this world a sad 
example of impiety2 for his body having 
swollen to such an extent that he could 
not pass where a chariot could pass     
easily1 he was crushed by the chariot1  
so that his bowels gushed out4          
,theophylact1 after quoting this        
passage1 adds other particulars1 as if  
they were derived from ,papias4 ,he says
 that ,judas's eyes were so swollen that
 they could not see the light1 that they

 were so sunk that they could not be    
seen1 even by the optical instruments of
 physicians2 that the rest of his body  
was covered with runnings and worms1    
etc4  ,if ,papias knew from ,matthew    
that ,judas had already hanged himself1 
and further from the ,acts of the       
,apostles that he had fallen headlong in
 a field and burst asunder1 it was      
really too hard to inflict on poor      
oft-killed ,judas these additional      
cruelties4 ,surely it were better that  
man had never been born1 though in that 
case we know not how ,christian         
,salvation would have been brought to   
the world4 ,it seems as if each new     
,christian writer felt himself at       
liberty to invent a new death for       
,judas1 who was divinely appointed to   
bring about their redemption4 ,by       
,paul's saying ,jesus appeared to the   
twelve 7#a ,cor4 xv41 #e71 it is evident
 he knew nothing of ,judas's suicide4   
,among the fragmentary remains of       
,papias is one found in ,eusebius1 who  

tells us that3 ,he also relates the     
story of a woman accused of many crimes1
 which is contained in the ,gospel      
according to the ,hebrews4 ,it would    
thence appear likely that if ,papias saw
 and quoted from any ,gospel1 though we 
have no other evidence than this that he
 did either1 it was from the ,gospel to 
the ,hebrews1 which some have thought   
the original of ,matthew1 and which     
would agree with the language in which  
he declares ,matthew to have written4   
,orthodox writers endeavor to make out  
that here ,papias alludes to the story  
found in the eighth chapter of ,john4   
,but surely if ,eusebius knew the story 
in ,john was the same he would not have 
ascribed it to another ,gospel4 ,in     
truth there is no evidence that ,john's 
narrative of the woman taken in adultery
 was extant even in the time of         
,eusebius4 ,it is an undoubted          
interpolation contained in no ancient   
manuscript of value1 and may have been  
taken from some tradition similar to    

that found in ,papias1 yet certainly not
 the same since ,papias speaks of many  
crimes1 ,john only of one4  ,we think   
the reader will agree with ,dr4 ,samuel 
,davidson1 who in his ,introduction to  
the ,study of the ,new ,testament1 vol4 
i41 p4 #chc1 #ahhb1 says3 ,there is no  
tangible evidence to connect the present
 ,gospel with the ,apostle ,matthew4    
,even the orthodox apologist1 ,neander1 
admits ,matthew's ,gospel1 in its       
present form1 was not the production of 
the ,apostle whose name it bears1 but   
was founded on an account written by him
 in the ,hebrew language1 chiefly 7but  
not wholly7 for the purpose of          
presenting the discourses of ,christ in 
a collective form 7,life of ,christ1    
cap4 ii41 sec4 #d1 p4 #g74 ,an admission
 sufficient to destroy the credit of any
 profane work much less a divinely      
inspired record of the sayings and      
doings of an alleged ,god4  ,the author 
of ,supernatural ,religion1 vol4 i4 p4  
#dhf1 #ahgi1 says3 ,it is manifest from 

the evidence adduced1 however1 that     
,papias did not know1 our ,gospels4 ,it 
is not possible that he could have found
 it better to inquire ',what ,john or   
,matthew1 or what any other of the      
disciples of the ,lord4444 say1 if he   
had known of ,gospels such as ours1 and 
believed them to have been actually     
written by those ,apostles1 deliberately
 telling him what they had to say4 ,the 
work of ,matthew being1 however1 a mere 
collection of discourses of ,jesus1 he  
might naturally inquire what the        
,apostle himself said of the history and
 teaching of the ,master4 ,the evidence 
of ,papias is in every respect most     
important4 ,he is the first writer who  
mentions that ,matthew and ,mark were   
believed to have written any works at   
all2 but whilst he shows that he does   
not accord any canonical authority even 
to the works attributed to them1 his    
description of those works and his      
general testimony comes with crushing   
force against the pretensions made on   

behalf of our ,gospels to ,apostolic    
origin and authenticity4  ,we will now  
look at his testimony to ,mark4 ,mark1  
he tells us1 having become the          
interpreter of ,peter1 wrote down       
accurately whatsoever he remembered1    
though he did not arrange in order the  
sayings or deeds of ,christ4 ,for he    
neither heard the ,lord nor accompanied 
him4 ,but afterwards1 as ,i said1 he    
accompanied ,peter1 who accommodated his
 instructions to the necessities of his 
hearers1 but with no intention of giving
 a regular narrative of the ,lord's     
sayings4 ,wherefore ,mark made no       
mistake in thus writing some things as  
he remembered them4 ,for of one thing he
 took especial care1 not to omit        
anything he had heard and not to put    
anything fictitious into the statements4
  ,this description likewise shows that 
our actual second ,gospel could not1 in 
its present form1 have been the work of 
the ,mark referred to4 ,mark or ,marcus 
was an extremely common name in the     

early ,christian period4  ,in the first 
place1 our ,gospel is no more like a    
man's preaching than it is like an epic 
poem4 ,it has1 moreover1 no ,petrine    
characteristics4 ,mark does not give the
 important passage about ,christ's      
church being built upon ,peter 7,matt1  
xvi41 #ah72 nor the distinguishing      
addition called ,peter1 in the calling  
of ,simon2 nor the narrative of ,peter's
 miraculous draught of fishes2 of his   
walking on the sea2 his being sent to   
prepare the ,passover1 or the           
reproachful look of ,jesus when ,peter  
denied him4 ,it also omits the          
expression bitterly when the cock crew1 
and ,peter wept4 ,these omissions have  
been attributed to ,peter's excessive   
modesty4 ,apart from the absence of any 
evidence of this trait in the ,apostle  
whom ,paul withstood to his face because
 he was to be blamed1 it must have been 
a peculiar kind of modesty indeed to    
omit important passages and events lest 
the chief ,apostle should seem too      

prominent1 and to suppress the          
bitterness of his penitence6  ,but      
,irenaeus tells us the ,gospel of ,mark 
was written after ,peter's death1 while 
,clement of ,alexandria makes out that  
he wrote it at the request of friends   
which1 when ,peter knew1 he neither     
hindered nor encouraged4 ,so from these 
accounts1 neither of which accord with  
,papias1 it would appear that ,mark had 
no motive for lessening the prominence  
of ,peter4 ,peter is alleged to have    
died about the year #fj2 so that1       
,papias dying about the year #afe1 and  
writing late in life1 his evidence on   
behalf of ,mark's ,gospel would be about
 #ajj years after it is alleged to have 
been written4 ,this applies with equal  
force to ,matthew4 ,but so marvellous   
are the contents of these ,gospels that 
even the most certain evidence of their 
existence #ajj years later would be very
 unsatisfactory4  ,it will also be      
noticed that ,papias no more mentions a 
,gospel of ,mark than he does of        

,matthew4 ,what he speaks of is not an  
inspired narrative1 but records written 
from memory4 ,now if ,mark wrote from   
memory he did not write from            
inspiration4 ,the argument for the      
genuineness of the ,gospel is at the    
expense of its inspiration4 ,but the    
evidence from the numerous passages in  
which ,mark agrees with ,matthew and    
with ,luke is overwhelming that it is   
not an original document written from   
memory at all1 but with the writer      
having other documents directly before  
him4 ,this is admitted by all the best  
critics4  ,papias says ,mark did not    
arrange in order the things which were  
said and done by ,christ1 and that he   
was careful to omit none of the things  
which he heard4 ,how can this apply to  
our ,gospel1 which we have seen omits   
many most important things with which   
,peter was most especially concerned1   
and which moreover is the most orderly  
and consecutive of the ,gospels4 ,canon 
,sanday says 7,gospels in the ,second   

,century1 p4 #aea73 ,the second ,gospel 
is written in order1 it is not an       
original document4 ,these two           
characteristics make it improbable that 
it is in its present shape the document 
to which ,papias alludes4 ,and again 7p4
 #aee73 ,neither of the two first       
,gospels1 as we have them1 complies with
 the conditions of ,papias' description 
to such an extent that we can claim     
,papias as a witness to them4 ,once more
 7p4 #aei71 ,i am bound in candor to say
 that1 so far as ,i can see myself at   
present1 ,i am inclined to agree with   
the author of ',supernatural ,religion' 
against his critics1 that the works to  
which ,papias alludes cannot be our     
present ,gospels in their present form4 
,dr4 ,davidson 7,introduction to ,n4    
,t41 vol4 i41 p4 #eci1 #ahhb17 declares3
 ,a careful examination of ,papias's    
testimony shows that it does not relate 
to our present ,gospel1 nor bring ,mark 
into connection with it as its author4  
,all we learn from it is1 that ,mark    

wrote notes of a ,gospel which was not  
our canonical one4  ,the description of 
,papias would lead us to expect1 not a  
regularly concocted ,gospel1 but        
fragmentary reminiscences of ,peter's   
preaching4 ,it seems altogether more    
likely that the allusion is to the work 
known as the ,preaching of ,peter1 which
 was undoubtedly popular in early       
,christian times1 and which was used by 
,heracleon and ,clement of ,alexandria  
as authentic canonical ,scripture4      
,since ,papias gives no quotations      
whatever from these alleged writings of 
,matthew and ,mark the whole matter     
remains a bare tradition resting on the 
authority of this weak-minded ,father4  
,we are unaware if he took the slightest
 pains to test the truth of the         
statements made4 ,it is highly          
improbable that he did anything of the  
kind4 ,dupin says3 ,the judgment that   
ought to be given concerning him is that
 which hath been already given by       
,eusebius1 that is to say1 that he was a

 very good man1 but very credulous1 and 
of very mean parts1 who delighted much  
in hearing and telling stories and      
miracles4 ,and since he was exceedingly 
inquisitive1 and inclined to believe    
everything that was told him1 it is not 
to be admired that he hath divulged     
divers errors and extravagant notions as
 the judgments of the ,apostles1 and    
hath given us fabulous narratives for   
real histories1 which shows that nothing
 is so dangerous in matters of religion1
 as lightly to believe1 and too greedily
 to embrace1 all that hath the          
appearance of piety without considering 
in the first place how true it is 7,a   
,new ,history of ,ecclesiastical        
,writers1 vol4 i41 p4 #ej1 #afib74      
,traditions coming from such a source   
could be of very little value4 ,it is1  
however1 certain that ,papias preferred 
tradition to any book with which he was 
acquainted ,he says3 ,for ,i imagined   
that what was to be got from books was  
not so profitable to me as what came    

from the living abiding voice --a saying
 which doubtless included the books of  
,matthew and ,mark he referred to1 and  
possibly others of the many who had     
written a declaration of those things   
which are surely believed among us1     
referred to by ,luke4 ,jeremiah ,jones  
thinks he refers to spurious            
productions1 as he never would have said
 this concerning any inspired book 7,new
 and ,full ,method of ,settling the     
,canonical ,authority of the ,new       
,testament1 vol4 i41 p4 #bd74 ,the idea 
of a ,christian bishop preferring       
uncertain tradition to the sure and     
certain testimony of an infallibly      
inspired revelation is well-nigh        
incredible to a ,protestant apologist4  
,this extreme credulity is evinced      
throughout the slight fragments which   
has come down to us4 ,he relates on the 
authority of ,philip's daughters that a 
man was raised to life in his day4 ,he  
also mentions another miracle relating  
to ,justus1 surnamed ,barsabas1 how he  

swallowed a deadly poison and received  
no harm4 ,after this we are not         
surprised at the information that the   
government of the world's affairs was   
left to angels1 and that they made a    
mess of it4 ,it is noticeable that while
 mentioning ,matthew and ,mark1 and     
especially mentioning ,john1 he never   
ascribes to the latter any such writing 
as our fourth ,gospel ,the only saying  
which he does ascribe to him3 ,the days 
shall come when vines shall grow1 having
 each ten thousand branches1 etc41 is   
not only uncanonical but entirely       
dissimilar to the style of both ,gospel 
and ,first ,epistle1 though not to that 
of the ,apocalypse4 ,dr4 ,davidson      
considers his notices of ,st4 ,john     
preclude ,papias from having believed   
him to be the author of a ,gospel ,had  
he known of such a document he would    
surely have mentioned it as much as     
,matthew and ,mark1 and ,eusebius would 
not have failed to reproduce the        
testimony4  ,papias1 bishop of          

,hierapolis1 seems to have been a fair  
average specimen of the early           
,christian4 ,probably he was very devout
 and pious1 but most certainly he was   
not strong in intellect1 and was ready  
to give credence to old wives' tales    
concerning the ,christ or his ,apostles4
 ,it is upon such authorities as these  
that the whole fabric of historical     
,christianity rests4     ,v4            
,,justin ,,martyr4  ,justin1 who is said
 to have derived his surname from having
 suffered martyrdom about a4d4 #aff-afg1
 is the first of the ,fathers who shows 
any detailed acquaintance with the      
statements found in the ,gospels4 ,a    
large number of spurious works have been
 attributed to him1 but we take as      
genuine the ,apologies and the ,dialogue
 with ,trypho1 a ,jew4 ,in the first of 
these 7chap1 xlvi47 he indicates that he
 wrote about #aej years after the birth 
of ,jesus4 ,he was born at ,neapolis in 
,palestine1 being by descent a ,greek1  
and in the early part of his life a     

heathen4 ,he tells us he was converted  
to ,christianity by an old man1 whom his
 biographer1 ,father ,halloix1 thinks   
may have been an incarnate angel4       
,tillemont1 the learned ,catholic       
historian1 considers this highly        
probable4 ,fabricius thought it was     
,bishop ,polycarp1 but ,credner         
considers the narrative a fiction4 ,it  
is difficult to believe that his        
,apologies were ever presented to the   
,roman ,emperors or that his ,dialogue  
with the ,jew represents an actual      
controversy with an opponent4  ,dr4     
,jortin speaks of ,justin as of a warm  
and credulous temper 7,remarks on       
,ecclesiastical ,history1 chap1 xv41 p4 
#bdc1 vol4 i41 #ahdf71 aind ,mosheim    
declares ,the learned well know that    
,justin ,martyr is not to be considered 
in every respect as an oracle1 but that 
much of what he relates is wholly       
undeserving of credit 7,commentaries1   
vol i41 p4 #aab2 #ahac74 ,the ,rev4     
,john ,jones includes him among those   

who did not scruple to use forged       
writings4  ,in chapters #bj and #dd of  
his first ,apology1 for instance1 he    
appeals to the ,sibylline book of       
prophecies respecting ,christ and his   
kingdom1 which it has been proved to a  
demonstration by ,david ,blondell and   
others1 were forged by some early       
,christians with a view to persuading   
the ignorant and unsuspecting heathen   
that their oracles had foretold ,christ4
 ,celsus1 the heathen1 detected and     
pointed out this falsification499 ,he   
quotes spurious productions of          
,hystaspes1 of ,orpheus and ,sophocles1 
in which ,christians had foisted their  
own ideas4 ,for not content with        
counterfeiting the writings of          
celebrities among themselves1 they were 
equally unscrupulous in regard to the   
writings of the ,pagans4       99       
,origen1 bk4 vii21 #ec2 p4 #dge3--,the  
,sibyl was appealed to      by          
,theophilus and other early ,christian  
apologists4 ,the      author of         

,questiones et ,responsiones ad         
,orthodoxos1 a work      falsely        
ascribed to ,justin1 says that ,clement 
of ,rome1 in      his epistle to the    
,corinthians1 appeals to the writings of
      the ,sibyl4 ,in the present       
version there is no such allusion4      
,justin confidently affirms that ,plato 
and ,aristophanes mention the ancient   
,sibyl as a prophetess1 and he gravely  
relates concerning her being the        
daughter of ,berosus1 who wrote the     
,chaldean history4  ,he says 7#ast      
,apol41 chap4 xxi41 p4 #be73 ,and when  
we say also that the ,word1 who is the  
first birth of ,god1 was produced       
without sexual union1 and that he1      
,jesus ,christ1 our teacher1 was        
crucified and died1 and rose again and  
ascended into heaven1 we propound       
nothing different from what you believe 
regarding those whom you esteem sons of 
,jupiter4 ,he argues 7chap1 xxiii41 p4  
#bg7 that devils inspired the heathen   
poets and priests to relate beforehand  

the ,christian narratives as having     
already happened2 and makes out 7chap1  
liv47 that the devils1 knowing the      
prophetic words of ,moses1 invented the 
stories of ,bacchus and ,bellorophon2   
,and when they heard it said by the     
other prophet ,isaiah that he should be 
born of a virgin1 and by his own means  
ascend into heaven1 they pretended that 
,perseus was spoken of4 ,and so with    
,hercules and ,a,eculapius4 ,all of     
which puts us in mind of the learned    
divine who argued that ,god put the     
fossils into the earth less than #fjjj  
years ago1 in order to deceive the      
geologists and exhibit the vanity of    
human knowledge4  ,justin also informs  
us 7,apol41 lxvi47 that through the     
suggestions of wicked demons1 bread and 
wine were placed before the persons to  
be initiated into the mysteries of      
,mithras in imitation of the ,eucharist4
 ,he could believe that ,jesus1 sitting 
at a table1 actually offered his own    
body and blood to eat and drink1 but the

 idea that the ,christian ,sacrament of 
the ,lord's ,supper was copied from the 
,mysteries never struck him4 ,having    
plenty of devils he put them to a deal  
of use4 ,he tells us how they came into 
existence3 ,god committed the care of   
men and of all things under heaven to   
angels whom he appointed over them4 ,but
 the angels transgressed this           
appointment1 and were captivated by love
 of women1 and begat children who are   
those that are called demons 7#bnd      
,apol4 v41 p4 #ge74 ,these subdued the  
human race partly by magical writings   
and partly by fears and punishments4    
,not content with inventing the heathen 
mythology they raised up the            
,samaritans1 ,simon and ,menander1 who  
did many mighty works by magic4 ,this is
 what he says the ,jews said of ,jesus  
7,dial1 chap4 ,ixix74 ,justin twice has 
the audacity to assert that the ,romans 
erected a statue to the ,samaritan      
,simon1 as a god4 ,he gives the         
inscription ,simoni ,deo ,sancto4 ,to   

,simon the ,holy ,god4 ,this1 if not a  
fraud1 was a very gross error4 ,apart   
from the unlikelihood of the story and  
its absence of corroboration by any     
heathen writer1 a fragment has been     
found with the inscription ,semoni      
,sanco ,deo1 being probably the base of 
a statue erected to the ,sabine ,deity1 
,semo ,sancus4 ,he further charges the  
,romans with human sacrifices in        
celebrating the mysteries of ,saturn2 a 
charge absolutely false and unsupported 
by any ,pagan author1 although repeated 
by the ,christian ,fathers1 ,tatian1    
,cyprian1 ,tertullian1 ,lactantius1     
,epiphanius1 etc4 ,justin also says the 
devils put forward and aided ,marcion   
the follower of ,paul1 who accused the  
other apostles of having perverted the  
,gospel doctrines4 ,he frequently       
alleges that the ,christians cast out   
devils in the name of ,jesus ,christ1   
and that women and men among them       
possessed prophetic gifts1 but he gives 
no special instance of any miracle      

wrought in his own time4 ,he makes      
maniacs and demoniacs to be possessed by
 the spirits of the dead1 and appeals to
 necromancy1 divination by immaculate   
children1 dream-senders and assistant   
spirits in proof of life after death    
7immortality he seems to have considered
 the gift of ,god74 ,all the early      
,fathers believed in necromancy4        
,lactantius 7,divine ,institutes1 book  
iv41 chap1 xxvii47 calls it the most    
certain proof of ,christianity1 because 
those who are skilled in calling forth  
the spirits of the dead bring ,jupiter  
and other gods from the lower regions1  
but not ,christ1 for he was not more    
than two days there4 ,justin says we    
ought to pray that the evil angel may   
not seize our soul when it departs from 
the body4  ,he makes the victory over   
,amalek a type of ,christ's victory over
 demons1 and declares that ,isaiah said 
evil angels inhabit the land of ,tanis  
in ,egypt4 ,he declares of the ,jews in 
the wilderness3 ,the latchets of your   

shoes did not break1 and your shoes     
waxed not old1 and your garments wore   
not away1 but even those of the children
 grew along with them 7,dialogue with   
,trypho1 #aca1 p4 #bff47 ,this is a very
 consistent addition to the fable found 
in ,deut xxix41 #e4  ,he charges        
7,dial41 chap1 lxxii47 the ,jews with   
having removed passages from ,ezra and  
,jeremiah1 and in the following chapter 
with having taken away the words from   
the wood in the passage from the        
ninety-sixth ,psalm1 ,tell ye among the 
nations the ,lord hath reigned 'from the
 wood4'' ,to which the note appended in 
the ,ante-,nicene ,christian ,library   
edition 7p4 #ahi7 is ,these words were  
not taken away by the ,jews1 but added  
by some ,christian4--,otto4 ,tertullian 
follows ,justin in regard to this       
passage4  ,he complains of their        
rejecting the ,septuagint version1 and  
gravely tells how ,ptolemy1 ,king of    
,egypt1 had seventy different           
translators shut up in seventy separate 

cots or cells for the purpose of        
translating the ,hebrew ,scriptures4    
,after the completion ,ptolemy found the
 seventy men had not only given the same
 meaning but had employed the same      
words1 whereupon he believed the        
translation had been written by divine  
power4 ,byway of proof that he narrates 
no fable1 he says1 ,we ourselves1 having
 been in ,alexandria1 saw the remains of
 the little cots still preserved        
7,address to ,greeks chap4 xiii41 p4    
#cjj74 ,ptolemy1 however1 he makes      
contemporary with ,herod 7,apol4 xxxi41 
#cc47 ,christ1 he says1 suffered under  
,herod the ,ascalonite4 ,he calls ,moses
 the first ,prophet1 yet declares ,he   
was predicted before he appeared1 first1
 #ejjj years before1 and again #cjjj1   
then #bjjj1 then #ajjj1 and yet again   
#hjj2 in the succession of generations1 
prophets after prophets arose 7#ast     
,apol41 chap1 xxxi41 p4 #ch74 ,david1 he
 makes to have lived #aejj ,b4,c4       
,speaking of the ,polygamy of the       

patriarchs 7,dial41 chap1 cxxxiv41 p4   
#bfi7 he tells us certain dispensations 
of weighty mysteries were accomplished  
in each act of this sort4 ,the marriages
 of ,jacob were types of that which     
,christ was about to accomplish4 ,the   
bloodthirsty ,general ,joshua was a type
 of ,christ1 and the sun standing still 
by his order shows how great the power  
was of the name of ,jesus in the ,old   
,testament ,he tells us the two advents 
were prefigured by the two goats1 and   
continually finds clear prophecies of   
,christianity in passages which have not
 the remotest allusion to it4 ,to give  
one instance1 he says3 ',and that it was
 foreknown that these infamous things   
should be uttered against those who     
confessed ,christ1 and that those who   
slandered him1 and said it was well to  
preserve the ancient customs1 should be 
miserable1 hear what was briefly said by
 ,isaiah1 it is this3 ',woe unto them   
that call sweet bitter1 and bitter      
sweet4' ,such interpretations are       

innumerable in ,justin4  ,in his #ast   
,apology1 chap1 lv41 ,on ,symbols of the
 ,cross1 he says the seas cannot be     
sailed without cross-shaped masts1 nor  
the earth tilled save with cross-shaped 
instruments4 ,and the human form differs
 from animals in nothing else than in   
its being erect and having the hands    
extended1 and having on the face1       
extending from the forehead1 what is    
called the nose1 through which there is 
respiration for the living creature1 and
 this shows no other form than that of  
the cross4 ,and so it was said by the   
prophet1 ',the breath before our face is
 the ,lord ,christ1' which is a         
perversion of ,lam4 iv41 #bj3 ',the     
breath of our nostrils1 the anointed of 
the ,lord4'  ,he put into the mouth of  
his antagonist ,trypho1 the following   
words which possibly represent the usual
 position taken up by the ,jews3 ,but   
,christ--if he has indeed been born and 
exists anywhere--is unknown1 and does   
not even know himself1 and has no power 

until ,elias come to anoint him1 and    
make him manifest to all4 ,and you      
having accepted a groundless report1    
invent a ,christ for yourselves1 and for
 his sake are inconsiderately perishing 
7chap1 viii41 p4 #ig74 ,in answer to    
this home thrust1 ,justin promises ,i   
shall prove to you as you stand here    
that we have not believed empty fables4 
,justin was acquainted with the works of
 ,josephus1 and if the passage had been 
then in existence concerning ,jesus     
being the ,christ1 who was punished on  
the ,cross1 and who appeared again the  
third day1 the divine prophets having   
spoken these and many other wonders     
about him2 here was the opportunity to  
bring it forward4 ,instead of doing so1 
or stating who testified to the         
existence of ,christ and his wonderful  
works1 he rambles off to his favorite   
argument from prophecy and piles up a   
heap of interminable nonsense1 which if 
put forward as a serious defence of     
,christianity at the present time1 would

 either excite suspicion of covert      
infidelity or be greeted with derision4 
,in his ,apology he twice calls in      
evidence the ,acts of ,pilate1 but as   
with the books of the ,sibyl1 it is     
again a ,christian forgery and not a    
heathen document he refers to4 ,this is 
clear from one of the passages he refers
 to being found in the extant ,acts of  
,pilate or ,gospel of ,nicodemus4 ,if   
any official report had been sent by    
,pilate1 it is not likely to have       
related the miracles of the person put  
to death4 ,nor is it probable that      
,justin would have known the contents of
 such a document4  ,justin1 in the      
beginning of the second half of the     
second century1 being the very first    
,father who tells us of ,jesus being    
,god1 born of the ,virgin ,mary1        
crucified under ,pontius ,pilate1 dead  
and rising again and ascending into     
heaven 7for the spurious epistles       
attributed to ,ignatius must be dated   
after ,justin's time7 it is important to

 know where he got his startling        
information from4 ,he never once        
mentions ,gospels by either ,matthew1   
,mark1 ,luke1 or ,john4 ,he refers      
indeed at least thirteen times to       
,memoirs or ,memoirs of the ,apostles1  
but without the least indication of     
their nature1 number or extent4 ,in one 
place 7,dial41 #ajf7 he seems to        
identify them with the ,gospel of       
,peter1 referred to by ,serapion1       
,tertullian and ,origen4 ,canon         
,westcott1 who argues that it refers to 
the ,gospel of ,mark1 commonly placed   
under the authority of ,peter1 thus     
translates the passage3 ,the mention of 
the fact that ,christ changed the name  
of ,peter1 one of the ,apostles1 and    
that the event has been written in his  
7,peter's7 ,memoirs4 ,the best          
authorities agree that upon strictly    
critical grounds the passage refers to  
,peter4 ,the ,ante-,nicene ,christian   
,library 7p4 #bcc7 however reads3 ,and  
when it is said that he changed the name

 of one of the ,apostles to ,peter2 and 
when it is written in the memoirs of him
 that this so happened4 ,making the work
 referred to to be the memoirs of       
,jesus4  ,the only direct mention       
,justin makes of any writer in the ,new 
,testament is the following3 ,and       
further1 there was a certain man with   
us1 whose name was ,john1 one of the    
,apostles of ,christ1 who prophesied1 by
 a revelation that was made to him that 
those who believed in our ,christ would 
dwell a thousand years in ,jerusalem2   
and that thereafter the general1 and1 in
 short1 the eternal resurrection and    
judgment of all men would likewise take 
place 7,dial41 chap1 lxxxi41 p4 #bja74  
,the author of ,supernatural ,religion  
says3 ,the manner in which ,john is here
 mentioned after the memoirs had been so
 constantly referred to1 clearly shows  
that ,justin did not possess any ,gospel
 also attributed to ,john 7vol4 i41 p4  
#bih2 #ahgi74  ,this conclusion is      
corroborated by many circumstances also 

adduced by ,dr4 ,davidson4 ,for         
instance1 his doctrine of the ,logos is 
different from that in the ,gospel      
ascribed to ,john4 ,he does not mention 
any of the miracles found in that       
,gospel1 and instead of knowing the long
 discourses given therein1 declares     
,brief and concise utterances fell from 
him1 for he was no sophist 7,apol4 i41  
chap1 xiv41 p4 #ah74  ,that he does name
 ,john1 however1 as the author of the   
,apocalypse1 and refers by name to the  
,old ,testament writers no less than    
#aig times1 while in about as many      
passages from the ,memoirs he never     
identifies their writer1 unless in that 
concerning ,peter1 is surely            
incompatible with the idea that they    
were the ,canonical ,gospels4  ,the     
whole question of the identity of these 
,memoirs with our ,gospels is ably and  
lengthily dealt with in ,english on the 
orthodox side1 by ,lardner1 ,bishop     
,kaye1 ,professor ,norton1 and ,canons  
,westcott and ,sanday4 ,these arguments 

the inquiring reader should compare with
 those of ,bishop ,marsh1 ,dr4 ,giles1  
,dr4 ,davidson1 and the author of       
,supernatural ,religion4  ,it is evident
 that the account of the sayings and    
doings of ,jesus in the ,memoirs are1 in
 the main1 very similar to the          
,synoptics1 especially ,matthew1 and it 
is likely they were the principal       
materials from which our canon was      
formed4 ,but it is not certain if       
,justin had one document1 two1 three1   
four1 or a dozen4 ,in his first ,apology
 7chap1 lxvi47 there is certainly found 
this expression3 ,for the apostles in   
the memoirs composed by them1 which are 
called ,gospels1 have thus delivered    
unto us1 etc4 7p4 #fi74 ,but ,dr4       
,donaldson says of the words in italics 
,schliermacher1 ,marsh1 and others1     
regarded these words as an              
interpolation1 and they certainly look  
like one 7,critical ,history of         
,christian ,literature1 vol4 ii41 p4    
#cbi2 #ahff74  ,except in one or two    

instances1 parallels with our ,gospels  
are only made by patching together      
passages from different ,gospels4 ,by   
this process the connexion is broken1   
while the quotations in ,justin have for
 the most part a consecutive order1 and1
 as is shown by the context1 had such an
 order in the ,memoirs from which they  
were taken4 ,while quoting them nearly  
#bjj times he makes hardly a single     
allusion to those circumstances of time 
and place which are found in our        
,gospels4 ,he also gives particulars not
 to be found in the ,canonical books4   
,thus he says 7,dial41 chap1 lxxviii17  
that ,jesus was born in a cave1 and     
cites ,isaiah xxxiii41 #af1 as          
prophecying this4 ,this contradicts     
,luke but is found in the ,gospel of    
,james1 the ,gospel of the ,infancy1 and
 the ,gospel according to the ,hebrews4 
,matthew and ,luke give discrepant      
accounts of the genealogy of ,jesus4    
,justin differs from both4 ,he traces   
the ,davidian descent of the ,christ    

through ,mary1 which again agrees with  
,james4 ,he nine times mentions the     
,magi coming from ,arabia1 not from the 
,east4 ,his quotation of the angel's    
message to ,mary 7,apol4 i41 #cc7 agrees
 better with the ,gospel of ,james than 
with ,luke or ,matthew4 ,speaking of the
 journey of ,joseph and ,mary to        
,bethlelem1 ,justin says3 ,on the       
occasion of the first census which was  
taken in ,judaea1 under ,cyrenius1 he   
7,joseph7 went up from ,nazareth1 where 
he lived1 to ,bethlehem1 to which he    
belonged1 to be enrolled4 ,the          
differences between the account of      
,justin and that in ,luke are manifest4 
,he states that ,jesus made ploughs and 
yokes as a carpenter1 which is found in 
the ,gospel of the ,infancy4 ,thrice he 
speaks of ,john as sitting by ,jordan   
7,dial4 #di1 #ea1 and #hh71 and he even 
narrates that when ,jesus stepped into  
the water a fire was kindled in the     
,jordan4 ,this also was from the ,gospel
 according to the ,hebrews4 ,epiphanius 

gives it from a version found among the 
,ebionites4 ,it was also mentioned in   
another early ,christian publication the
 ,preaching of ,paul4 ,justin has the   
,holy ,ghost say to ,jesus at his       
baptism3 ,this is my beloved son2 to-day
 have ,i begotten thee4 ,the same form  
of expression was used in the ,gospel of
 the ,hebrews1 and was so quoted by     
others of the ,fathers4  ,he says       
7,dial41 ciii47 that when the ,jews went
 out to the ,mount of ,olives to take   
,jesus there was not a single man to    
help him4 ,this is in contradiction to  
all our ,gospels4 ,he says that when    
,herod succeeded ,archelaus1 ,pilate1 by
 way of compliment1 sent to him ,jesus  
bound 7chap1 ciii74 ,he tells how they  
sat ,jesus on the judgment seat1 and    
said ,judge us 7,apol41 chap1 xxxv47 ,he
 also relates that ,jesus said3 ,in     
whatsoever things ,i apprehend you1 in  
those also will ,i judge you4 ,grotius  
and others think this taken from the    
,gospel according to the ,hebrews4 ,upon

 two occasions ,justin says that the    
,jews sent persons about the world to   
spread calumnies4  ,so manifestly has   
,justin gone to other sources than our  
four ,gospels that ,canon ,sanday       
admits3 ,either ,justin has used a lost 
gospel or gospels1 besides those that   
are still extant1 or else he has used a 
recension of these gospels with some    
slight changes of language and some     
apocryphal additions 7,the ,gospels in  
the ,second ,century1 p4 #abi2 #ahgf74  
,we conjecture that the ,memoirs of     
,justin were the materials from which   
our ,gospels were compiled1 and that    
they were similar to or used in         
conjunction with the ,gospel according  
to the ,hebrews4  ,credner argues that  
he used the ,gospel of ,peter4 ,it is   
noticeable that the ,diatessaron of     
,justin's pupil1 ,tatian1 was called by 
,epiphanius the ,gospel according to the
 ,hebrews4 ,theodoret tells us that the 
,nazarenes made use of the ,gospel of   
,peter1 and we know by the testimony of 

the ,fathers generally that the         
,nazarene ,gospel was that commonly     
called the ,gospel according to the     
,hebrews4 ,that ,justin used this once  
celebrated ,gospel seems all the more   
probable since we have the express      
testimony of ,eusebius 7,ec4 ,history1  
iv41 #bb7 that it was used by           
,hegesipus1 his contemporary and        
compatriot4     ,,eleutherius  ,nearly  
all our information concerning this     
worthy is derived from ,eusebius4 ,he   
was born in ,palestine of ,jewish       
parents1 and wrote five books of memoirs
 or commentaries no longer extant4  ,as 
he therein mentions ,pope ,eleutherius  
they must have been written after ,b4,c4
 #agg4 ,the date #ahe is a probable one4
 ,the work of ,hegesippus appears to    
have been the earliest attempt to give a
 history of early ,christianity1 and as 
it is evident he represented the ,jewish
 anti-,pauline school1 which eventually 
was swamped by the ,gentile element1 the
 loss or destruction of his writings is 

much to be regretted4 ,such fragments as
 ,eusebius has thought proper to        
preserve certainly makes one curious for
 more4 ,the longest fragment concerns no
 less a person than the brother of the  
incarnate ,god4 ,eusebius gives it in   
the second book of his ,ecclesiastical  
,history1 chap1 xxiii41 from which we   
extract the following3--  ,james the    
brother of the ,lord1 who1 as there were
 many of this name1 was surnamed the    
,just by all1 from the days of our ,lord
 until now1 received the ,government of 
the ,church with the ,apostles4 ,this   
,apostle was consecrated from his       
mother's womb4 ,he drank neither wine   
nor fermented liquors1 and abstained    
from animal food4 ,a razor never came   
upon his head i4e41 ,he was a ,nazarite1
 see ,numbers vi41 #b-e2 ,judges xiii1  
#d-g2 and xvi41 #ag4 ,jesus1 we are told
 in the ,gospel1 came eating and        
drinking1 and ordered his disciples when
 fasting to anoint the head4 ,hegesippus
 tells us of ,james1 his brother3 ,he   

never anointed with oil see ,james v41  
#ad--ag2 and never used a bath4 ,in this
 latter respect too many holy saints    
have followed his insanitary example1   
,he alone was allowed to enter the      
sanctuary4 ,he never wore woollen1 but  
linen garments4 ,he was in the habit of 
entering the temple alone1 and was often
 found upon his bended knees and        
interceding for the forgiveness of the  
people2 so that his knees became as hard
 as a camel's in consequence of his     
habitual supplication and kneeling      
before ,god4  ,in another fragment he   
takes to task ,paul and those who say   
,eye hath not seen1 nor ear heard1      
neither have entered into the heart of  
man1 the things which ,god hath prepared
 for them that fear him4 ,hegesippus    
says that those who say such things1 lie
 against the divine scriptures and our  
,lord who says1 ',blessed are your eyes 
which see1 and your ears which hear1    
'etc4  ,all of which is very suggestive 
of the variety of faith and practice    

which existed among primitive           
,christians4     ,,vi4     ,,irenaeus4  
,the accounts of this father which are  
given in various biographies are purely 
conjectural4 ,his very existence has    
been disputed in a little book published
 by ,thomas ,scott1 of ,ramsgate199 the 
author of which contends that the ,greek
 word ,eirenaios1 meaning peaceful is   
simply the title of a treatise against  
heresies1 the object of which was to    
allay sectarian discord1 and that       
,irenaeus1 bishop of ,lyons1 is a purely
 mythical personage4 ,certain it is that
 very little is known of this old saint4
 ,but in that respect he in no way      
differs from the other early founders of
 ,christianity4       99 ,irenaeus3 ,a  
,leaf of ,primitive ,church ,history    
,corrected      and ,re-,written1 #ahgf4
  ,dodwell makes him to have been born  
in the year #ig1 but ,dupin and the best
 modern authorities place his birth     
about #adj2 a number1 however1 strike a 
medium at about #abj4 ,the importance of

 his date is evident since the work     
against heresies is the first writing   
which makes any mention of the four     
,gospels1 and ,irenaeus claims to have  
been a disciple of ,polycarp1 who was a 
hearer of ,john4 ,this claim can only be
 made at all plausible by giving each of
 these holy martyrs an exceedingly long 
life1 for we have the word of ,eusebius1
 that the book against heresies was     
composed in the time of ,eleutherius1   
the twelfth ,pope1 between #agg and     
#aib1 and ,irenaeus lived until the     
third century4 ,he is said to have been 
made bishop of ,lyons in #agh1 but how  
he managed to get transplanted from     
,asia ,minor to ,gaul1 is one of those  
things which are left to our faith and  
wonder4  ,the fact is1 it is extremely  
doubtful if the author of the book      
against heresies ever saw ,polycarp1 and
 still more doubtful if ,polycarp ever  
saw ,john4 ,he says ,john leaped out of 
the bath when he saw ,cerinthus4 ,now   
,cerinthus was a heretic1 who lived     

about the middle of the second century4 
,he described ,john as wearing the      
petalon1 the bishops insignia of office4
 ,fancy the retired fisherman1 the      
beloved disciple1 who was told by his   
master to carry neither purse nor scrip1
 wearing the priestly robes of office6  
,george ,reber1 in his curious book1    
,the ,christ of ,paul1 7,new ,york1     
#ahgf71 says 7p4 #agh73 ,the studied    
dishonesty of ,irenaeus in attempting to
 palm off the ,presbyter ,john for the  
,apostle1 is as dark a piece of knavery 
as is to be found in the history of a   
church1 which has encouraged such       
practices from the time it claimed to be
 the depositary of all the divine wealth
 left by the apostles4  ,irenaeus is    
alleged to have suffered martyrdon about
 #bjb1 but there is no evidence of this 
prior to the ninth century1 when        
,gregory of ,tours first circulated a   
story to that effect4 ,even such        
orthodox writers as ,cave1 ,basnage1    
,dodwell1 and others1 doubt the         

martyrdon1 since neither ,tertullian1   
,eusebius1 ,theodoret1 nor other early  
writers refer to it4 ,two churches in   
,lyons dispupted for centuries about the
 possession of his relics1 which the    
,catholics allege were afterwards       
sacriligeously despoiled by the         
,calvinists3 a story often refuted4 ,his
 sacred head is said to have been kicked
 about in the gutters1 but of course it 
was miraculously restored to its place1 
and the skull1 we believe1 may be seen  
for a consideration at the present day4 
,the original ,greek text of the book   
against heresies is lost1 and it exists 
only in a barbarous ,latin version4 ,at 
whatever time it was written1 and it may
 probably be dated between #ahb and     
#ahh1 it testifies to the existence of  
numerous heresies in the ,church4 ,it   
contains many statements respecting the 
,gnostics1 particularly the ,valentinian
 heresy4 ,there we may read of their    
peculiar theories concerning ,god and   
,christ4 ,some thought the ,hebrew      

,jahveh a malignant deity whom ,christ  
had come to destroy4 ,others were       
foolish and wicked enough to ask whence 
,god got the matter for his creation4   
,cerinthus and his followers denied the 
virgin birth4 ,carpocrates and his      
school held that ,jesus was the son of  
,joseph1 and just like other men with   
the exception that inasmuch as his soul 
was stedfast and pure a power descended 
on him from the ,father that by means of
 it he might escape from the creators of
 the world4 ,basilides taught that      
,jesus did not suffer death1 but ,simon 
of ,cyrene1 being compelled1 bore the   
cross and was crucified in his stead4   
,irenaeus does not forget to denounce   
these heretics as blasphemers and       
shameless sophists who speak not a word 
of sense4 ,he calls them slippery       
serpents and other choice epithets such 
as the orthodox usually have in store   
for heretics1 so that the reader is     
tempted to wish that the wretches could 
show cause why they should not summarily

 be damned4 ,it is a notable fact that  
none of the heretical books or heretical
 gospels have been preserved2 they come 
to us only through the medium of such   
representations as their opponents chose
 to make of them4  ,george ,reber says3 
,the ,fourth ,gospel was written with no
 other purpose than to prove the        
incarnation1 and that purpose is so     
persistently kept up in every line and  
verse1 from the beginning to the end1   
that if we strike out this1 and the     
miracles which are mere supports of the 
main idea1 there is nothing left1 and so
 with the third book against            
,heresies--it has but one theme4 ,the   
writer sets out with the ,logos idea of 
this gospel1 which is never lost sight  
of4 ,he finds proof in the traditions of
 the ,church--in every page of the ,old 
,testament--in the ,synoptics as well as
 in the fourth ,gospel2 and as we read  
his misapplication of words and         
sentences1 we should conclude that he   
was a lunatic if we did not know he was 

something else 7p4 #ahh74 ,as we read   
whole pages in ,irenaeus1 charging his  
adversaries with forgeries and false    
interpolations1 we smile at the         
impudence and audacity of the man1 who  
has done more to pollute the pages of   
history than any other1 and whose       
footprints we can follow through the    
whole century1 like the slime of a      
serpent 7p4 #baf74  ,reber1 it will be  
seen1 can be as abusive as ,irenaeus    
himself4 ,he calls him one of the most  
dishonest historians of any age and the 
great criminal of the second century2   
and endeavors to make out1 on quite     
insufficient grounds1 that he was the   
forger of the ,gospel according to      
,john4  ,dr4 ,samuel ,davidson1 in his  
able work on ,the ,canon 7p4 #aee2      
#ahhj71 says ,irenaeus was credulous and
 blundering1 and our case against him   
will be sufficient if we prove these    
charges4  ,the orthodox ,dr4 ,donaldson 
observes3 ,what he says about the       
apostle ,john has the appearance of     

being1 to say the least1 highly colored 
7,history of ,christian ,literature1    
vol4 i41 p4 #aeg2 #ahfd74 ,the whole    
purport of his account concerning ,john 
was to refute heretics by the allegation
 of an apostolical succession which     
rests on his unsupported testimony      
alone4 ,the author of the work against  
,heresies was essentially a priest1     
dwelling much on the authority of the   
priesthood and priestly traditions4 ,he 
did more perhaps than any other to lay  
the foundations of the ,romish          
hierarchy4 ,in his third book1 chapter  
four1 he gives the opinion that every   
,church should agree with the ,church of
 ,rome on account of its pre-eminent    
authority4  ,he considers oral          
traditions of no less importance than   
,scripture1 and cites ,clement1         
,polycarp1 and those who were alleged to
 have heard the apostles as decisive    
authorities4 ,hermes he calls divine    
,scripture4 ,to be outside the ,church  
is to be outside truth4 ,holy ,scripture

 is only safely interpreted under       
control of the bishops4  ,our ,father   
cites the authority of ,john1 and all   
the elders in ,asia1 for the assertion  
that the ministry of ,jesus lasted      
twenty years1 and that he was over fifty
 years of age when he was crucified4 ,in
 the twenty-second chapter of his second
 book1 he discusses the question at     
considerable length1 and quotes ,john   
viii41 #ef-eg1 as establishing his      
opinion4 ,for he argues the ,jews would 
not have said to ,jesus ,thou art not   
yet fifty years old1 if he had only been
 thirty4 ,their object being to remind  
him of the short period he had been on  
earth1 they certainly would not extend  
it eighteen or twenty years4 ,if        
,irenaeus was right in this important   
matter1 the evidence of the ,gospel     
history is falsified2 if wrong1 what is 
the worth of his testimony as to the    
origin of the four ,gospels8  ,in regard
 to these he tells us there are mystic  
reasons why there could only be four    

,gospels4 ,it is not possible that the  
,gospels can be either more or fewer in 
number than they are4 ,for since there  
are four zones of the world in which we 
live1 and four principal winds or four  
,catholic ,spirits while the ,church is 
scattered throughout all the world1 and 
the pillar and ground of the ,church is 
the gospel and the spirit of life2 it is
 fitting that she should have four      
pillars1 breathing out immortality on   
every side1 and vivifying men afresh    
7,book iii41 chap1 xi1 sect #h41 p4     
#bic74 ,dr4 ,giles in his ,christian    
,records 7p4 #acg71 points out that as  
this work was written many years after  
the apologies of ,justin ,martyr1 there 
was ample time in the interval for the  
compilation of our ,gospels1 out of the 
authentic ,memoirs of the ,apostles and 
,sayings of our ,lord4  ,in his third   
book1 chapter xxi41 ,irenaeus follows   
,justin in his foolish tale about the   
seventy ,jewish elders1 who made        
separate translations of the ,bible into

 ,greek in the very same words from     
beginning to end4 ,he further tells us  
there was nothing astonishing in this   
since ,god inspired ,ezra to re-write   
all the words of the former prophets and
 to re-establish the ,mosaic law1       
destroyed during the captivity in       
,babylon4 ,the object of making the     
,septuagint version of ,divine          
authority1 was because the quotations in
 the ,christians' ,scriptures were taken
 from it1 strangely enough1 had the     
writers of those ,scriptures been ,jews4
 ,but despite their boasted accuracy1   
,irenaeus 7book iii41 chap1 xx41 sec4   
#d7 quotes ,isaiah as saying1 ,and the  
holy ,lord remembered his dead ,israel1 
who had slept in the land of sepulture2 
and he came down to preach his salvation
 to them that he might save them4 ,in   
another place he quotes this same       
passage as from ,jeremiah1 but it is in 
neither prophet ,justin in his dialogue 
with ,trypho had brought it forward as  
an argument against him1 and accused the

 ,jews of having fraudulently removed it
 from the sacred text4 ,the passage is1 
however1 found in no ancient version or 
,jewish ,targum1 which fact may be      
regarded as a decisive proof of its     
spuriousness4  ,he follows ,justin also 
in his tales of miracles asserting some 
do certainly and truly drive out devils4
 ,others have foreknowledge of things to
 come1 they see visions1 and utter      
prophetic expressions4 ,others still1   
heal the sick by laying their hands upon
 them1 and they are made whole4 ,yea1   
moreover1 the dead even have been raised
 up1 and remained among us for many     
years4 ,as with the other ,fathers1 he  
gives only general statements not       
particular instances4 ,he allows that   
the heretics ,simon and ,carpoerates and
 their followers also perform miracles1 
but not through the power of ,god but   
for the sake of destroying and          
misleading mankind1 by means of magical 
deceptions4 ,none of these ,christian   
miracles were known to the heathen1 and1

 as ,dr4 ,conyers ,middle ton pointed   
out1 in his ,free ,enquiry into the     
,miraculous ,powers in the ,christian   
,church1 at this very same time when one
 ,autolycus1 an eminent heathen1        
challenged his friend ,theophilus1      
,bishop of ,antioch1 a convert and      
champion of the ,gospels1 to show him   
but one person who had been raised from 
the dead1 on the condition of him       
turning ,christian himself1 ,theophilus 
made plain by his answer that he was not
 able to give him that satisfaction4    
,irenaeus follows ,justin in making the 
angels mix with the daughters of men1   
and also in his absurd typology4 ,he    
even makes ,balaam's ass a type of the  
,savior4 ,the cohabitation of ,lot with 
his two daughters was providential and  
typical of the two sister synagogues1   
the ,jewish and the ,christian4  ,in    
common with all the early ,fathers he   
asserts the doctrine of the millenium1  
and this in the grossest sense4 ,we have
 already seen the quotation which he    

gives from ,papias as the actual words  
of ,jesus upon this matter4 ,he believed
 it would be a purely earthly glory and 
felicity after the sort depicted in the 
,jewish apocalypses4 ,this portion of   
his writings1 having been utterly       
discredited1 is very often omitted4 ,he 
believed the end of all things was near 
at hand4 ,the world would last six      
thousand years because made in six days4
 ,antichrist would come from the tribe  
of ,dan and reign three years and five  
days in ,jerusalem1 when he would be    
vanquished4 ,the fall of ,antichrist and
 the end of the world would coincide    
with the fall of the ,roman ,empire1 for
 the mysterious name of the beast is    
,latinus4 ,then the ,lord was to come1  
and there would be no more labor but    
unlimited wine swilling4  ,irenaeus     
affirms also on the same authority of   
tradition delivered to him by those who 
had received it from the apostles1 that 
,enoch and ,elias were translated into  
that very ,paradise from which ,adam was

 expelled1 and that this was the place  
into which ,st4 ,paul was caught up4    
,this is affirmed also by all the later 
,fathers1 both ,greek and ,latin4  ,our 
space will not permit us to further     
enlarge on the vast appeals to faith    
made by ,irenaeus4 ,nor can we pause to 
deal with ,tertullian1 who1 with more   
impetuosity and no less acerbity1       
championed the same orthodoxy1 shrinking
 not from the credo quia absurdum est1  
and who ended by turning heretic4 ,nor  
with the learned ,clement of            
,alexandria1 whose high speculations led
 also into contempt of the world and its
 ways of science1 art1 and civilisation4
 ,nor with the ascetic and              
self-emasculated ,origen1 at once       
profound and prolific1 who1 in his      
attempt to reconcile ,christianity with 
reason1 fell into such errors as        
believing in the pre-existence and      
pretemporal fall of souls1 and the      
redemption of the inhabitants of the    
stars and even of ,satan himself4  ,we  

must reserve a brief space for the great
 ecclesiastical historian4              
,,eusebius4  ,it is to this eminent     
,father that we are indebted for almost 
all we know of the lost ,christian      
literature of the time preceding the    
establishment of ,christianity by       
,constantine4 ,he was born about #bfd or
 #bgj1 and was a priest in the time of  
,diocletian4  ,during the persecution in
 that reign he retired to ,egypt1 where1
 however1 he was imprisoned1 but        
speedily released4 ,this gave rise to a 
suggestion that he had apostatised4 ,who
 art thou1 ,eusebius8 exclaimed         
,potamon1 ,bishop of ,heraclea1 at the  
,council of ,tyre1 where ,eusebius      
violently conducted the persecution of  
,athanasius1 to judge the innocent      
,athanasius4 ,did'st thou not sit with  
me in prison in the time of the tyrant8 
,they plucked out my eye for the        
confession of the truth4 ,thou comest   
forth unharmed4 ,how didst thou escape8 
,in #cae he became ,bishop of ,caesarea4

 ,his friendships were among the ,arian 
party in the ,church1 and his views1 to 
say the least1 inclined that way1 and   
,dr4 ,newman1 in his ,history of the    
,arians in the ,fourth ,century1 speaks 
of him as openly siding with the        
,arians1 and sanctioning and sharing    
their deeds of violence4 ,this1 however1
 did not stand in the way of his sitting
 beside the ,emperor ,constantine1 at   
the ,council of ,nice1 to anathematise  
and put down the ,arians4 ,he subscribed
 the ,nicene ,creed1 apparently with    
some reservations1 as to the word       
consubstantial4 ,it is noticeable that  
his history breaks off abruptly before  
the ,council of ,nice4 ,perhaps it was  
one of those matters he thought best to 
suppress as little to the credit of the 
,church or himself4 ,athanasius1        
,petavius1 ,baronius1 ,montfaucon1 and  
,moller consider him an ,arian4 ,bull1  
,cave1 and ,hely1 defend his orthodoxy4 
,on account of his ,arianism he has been
 violently attacked by ,cardinal        

,baronius1 who impugns the faith of the 
bishop1 the character of the man1 and   
the sincerity of the historian4 ,he     
makes out ,eusebius to have been simply 
an ambitious and cruel courtier2 calls  
him a calumniator1 a panegyrist rather  
than an historian1 and accuses him of   
falsifying the edicts of ,constantine4  
,gibbon1 in his sixteenth chapter1 says3
 ,the gravest of the ecclesiastical     
historians1 ,eusebius himself1          
indirectly confesses that he has related
 whatever might redound to the glory1   
and that he has suppressed all that     
could tend to the disgrace of religion4 
,such an acknowledgment will naturally  
excite a suspicion that a writer who has
 so openly violated one of the          
fundamental laws of history has not paid
 a very strict regard to the observance 
of the other2 and the suspicion will    
derive additional credit from the       
character of ,eusebius1 which was less  
tinctured with credulity1 and more      
practised in the arts of courts than    

that of almost any of his               
contemporaries499 ,no one1 says         
,scaliger1 has contributed more to      
,christian history1 and no one has      
committed more mistakes4 ,c4 ,b4 ,waite1
 7,history of the ,christian ,religion1 
p4 #bh7 goes further and says3 ,not only
 the most unblushing falsehoods1 but    
literary forgeries of the vilest        
character darken the pages of his       
apologetic and historical writings4 ,g4 
,reber 7p4 #ajd7 says3 ,if we except    
,irenaeus1 no writer has so studiously  
put himself to work to impose falsehoods
 on the world as ,eusebius4       99    
,dean ,milman1 in his ,notes to ,gibbon1
 vol4 ii41 p4 #bhe2      #ahed1 speaks  
of the loose and1 it must be admitted1  
by no      means scrupulous authority of
 ,eusebius4  ,constantine said of him   
that he ought not only to be bishop of  
,caesarea1 but bishop of the whole      
world4 ,in his life of that emperor he  
amply repays the flattery4 ,that work is
 not an history but an extravagant      

rhetorical panegyric upon the man who   
murdered his son ,crispus1 his nephew   
,licinius1 suffocated his wife ,fausta1 
and who1 to revenge a pasquinade1 was   
with difficulty restrained from the     
massacre of ,rome1 and who used the     
altar of the ,church1 which promised    
absolution and offered atonement for all
 sins1 as a convenient footstool to the 
throne of the empire4 ,in regard to     
,constantine's murders1 ,gibbon says    
7chap1 xxviii473 ,the courtly bishop who
 has celebrated in an elaborate work the
 virtues and piety of his hero1 observes
 a prudent silence on the subject of    
these tragic events4  ,he makes         
,constantine to have been converted by  
the miraculous appearance of a cross in 
the sky4 ,it is a great question if his 
account of his baptism is correct or if 
he was baptised in ,rome by ,pope       
,sylvester4 ,indeed1 it is a question if
 ,constantine was anything but a ,pagan 
at heart until the end of his days4     
,the title of the thirty-first chapter  

of ,eusebius's twelfth book of          
,evangelical ,preparation1 is a caution4
 ,it reads ,that falsehood1 may be      
employed by way of medicine for those   
who need it4 ,he ascribes to ,porphyry  
7a learned ,pagan who had written       
against ,christianity1 but whose works  
were destroyed by order of ,theodosius7 
a forgery of his own time1 called ,the  
,philosophy of ,oracles1 and then cites 
it as evidence for ,christianity4 ,he   
gives a forged passage ascribed to      
,phlegon1 where that ,pagan is made to  
speak of the darkness which happened at 
the death of ,jesus4 ,if such a passage 
had been in existence it would have been
 mentioned by ,origen1 who refers to    
,phlegon1 but who in his comment on     
,matthew xxvii41 #de1 concludes we must 
not be too positive that he spoke of    
this darkness in ,matthew4 ,he also     
makes ,thallus1 another heathen1 bear   
testimony to the eclipse of the         
sun--another forgery4  ,at the very     
outset of his ,ecclesiastical ,history1 

he knocks us over with a pretended      
correspondence which passed between     
,jesus1 who1 ,jerome says1 knew not how 
to write1 and ,abgarus1 king of ,edessa4
  ,this correspondence1 wherein ,jesus  
is made to cite the words of the ,gospel
 of ,john1 written probably a hundred   
years after1 long did duty among        
,christian evidences1 but is now given  
up by every critic of note as a forgery4
 ,addison was one of the last to quote  
it as genuine4  ,as it would occupy too 
much space to follow this ,father       
through all his misstatements1 we shall 
confine our attention to his            
misrepresentations of ,josephus4 ,one of
 the most notorious of these is the     
account of the death of ,herod ,agrippa1
 grandson of the monster who is supposed
 to have ordered the slaughter of all   
the male children in the inland town    
,bethlehem1 and the coasts thereof1 on  
account of an obscure prophecy4 ,in the 
#abth chapter of ,acts it is stated that
 ,herod1 as the people were calling him 

a god1 was smitten by an angel and was  
eaten by worms4 ,josephus says3         
,agrippa1 casting his eyes upward1 saw  
an owl1 sitting upon a rope1 overhead4  
,eusebius1 in order to make ,josephus   
agree with the ,acts of the ,apostles1  
in transcribing the text of ,josephus1  
struck out about the owl and substituted
 an angel4 ,lardner says3 ,i know not   
what good apology can be made for this4 
,nor do we1 unless that one-winged fowl 
is just as good as any other4  ,he makes
 ,josephus' account of ,theudas         
confirmatory of ,acts v41 #cf2 while1 in
 fact1 it disagrees with that account so
 much as to give commentators the utmost
 perplexity4 ,he also1 tries to         
reconcile ,josephus with ,luke by       
confounding the taxing in the time of   
,herod with that after the banishment of
 ,arche-laus1 who reigned for nine years
 after ,herod's death4 ,dr4 ,lardner's  
works 7vol4 i1 p4 #cdd7 says3 ,i must   
confess ,i ascribe that not to ignorance
 but to somewhat a great deal worse4 ,it

 is impossible that a man of ,eusebius's
 acuteness1 who had the ,new ,testament 
and ,josephus before him1 should think a
 census made after ,archelaus was the   
same with that before ,herod died2 but  
,eusebius was resolved to have ,st4     
,luke's history confirmed by the express
 testimony of the ,jewish historian1    
right or wrong4  ,such instances make us
 suspect ,eusebius in regard to the     
celebrated interpolation in which       
,josephus is made to give evidence to   
,jesus as the ,christ 7,antiq4 xviii41  
hi41 #c74 ,he at any rate first cited   
the forgery1 which was unknown to       
,origen1 and distinctly asserts that    
,josephus did not acknowledge ,christ4  
,dr4 ,lardner tells us the style of the 
paragraph is very ,christian1 if it be  
not the composition of ,eusebius        
himself1 as ,tanaquil ,faber suspected4