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to receive piety in their own 3.37.4 souls. But since it is impossible for us to enumerate by name all those who, in the first succession from the apostles, became pastors or even evangelists in the churches throughout the world, we have reasonably committed to writing the memory of only those by name, whose tradition of apostolic teaching is still even now carried down to us through their commentaries. 3.38.1 Thus, for instance, in the case of Ignatius in the epistles which we have enumerated, and of Clement in that which is acknowledged by all, which he composed in the name of the church of Rome to that of the Corinthians; in which, setting forth many thoughts from the Epistle to the Hebrews, and moreover using some of its very words, he shows most clearly that the writing is not recent, whence also it has reasonably seemed right to number it with the other writings of the apostle. 3.38.2 For as Paul had addressed the Hebrews in writing in their native tongue, some say that Luke the evangelist, and others that this same Clement 3.38.3 translated the scripture; and this would be the more true, in that the Epistle of Clement and that to the Hebrews preserve the same character of style, and that the thoughts in each of the writings 3.38.4 are not far apart. 3.38.4 But it must be known that there is said to be also a second epistle of Clement, but we do not know that this is as well recognized as the former, since we do not even know of the ancients having used it. 3.38.5 And recently some have also brought forward other verbose and lengthy writings as being by the same author, containing dialogues of Peter and Apion; of which there is no mention at all among the ancients, for they do not preserve the pure character of apostolic orthodoxy. The acknowledged writing of Clement, then, is manifest, and the works of Ignatius and Polycarp have been mentioned. 3.39.1 And there are extant five treatises of Papias, which are entitled An Exposition of the Oracles of the Lord. Irenaeus also mentions these as the only ones written by him, saying something like this: “These things Papias, a hearer of John and a companion of Polycarp, an ancient man, also testifies in writing in the fourth of his books. For there are five books composed by him.” 3.39.2 So says Irenaeus. But Papias himself, in the preface to his treatises, by no means shows himself to have been a hearer and eyewitness of the holy apostles, but teaches that he received the things of the faith from those who were their acquaintances, through the words which he says: 3.39.3 “But I shall not hesitate to set down for you, along with the interpretations, all the things that I once learned well from the elders and remembered well, guaranteeing their truth. For I did not delight, as most do, in those who say many things, but in those who teach the truth, nor in those who remember the commandments of others, but in those who remember the commandments given by the Lord to the faith 3.39.4 and proceeding from the Truth itself. And if, anywhere, anyone who had followed the elders came, I would inquire about the words of the elders— what Andrew or what Peter said, or what Philip, or what Thomas or James, or what John or Matthew or any other of the Lord’s disciples, and the things which Aristion and the presbyter John, the disciples of the Lord, say. For I did not suppose that what came from books would profit me so much as what came from a living and abiding voice.” 3.39.5 And here it is worthwhile to observe that he twice lists the name of John. The first of these he lists with Peter and James and Matthew and the rest of the apostles, clearly indicating the evangelist, but the other John, after an interval in his account, he ranks with others outside the number of the apostles, placing 3.39.6 Aristion before him, and he clearly calls him a presbyter; so that through these things is proven the truth of the account of those who have said that there were two men in Asia that used the same name, and that there were two in Ephesus

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εὐσέβειαν ἐν ταῖς αὐτῶν 3.37.4 ψυχαῖς καταδέχεσθαι. ἀδυνάτου δ' ὄντος ἡμῖν ἅπαντας ἐξ ὀνόματος ἀπαριθμεῖσθαι ὅσοι ποτὲ κατὰ τὴν πρώτην τῶν ἀποστόλων διαδοχὴν ἐν ταῖς κατὰ τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐκκλησίαις γεγόνασιν ποιμένες ἢ καὶ εὐαγγελισταί, τούτων εἰκότως ἐξ ὀνόματος γραφῇ μόνων τὴν μνήμην κατατεθείμεθα, ὧν ἔτι καὶ νῦν εἰς ἡμᾶς δι' ὑπομνημάτων τῆς ἀποστολικῆς διδασκαλίας ἡ παράδοσις φέρεται. 3.38.1 ὥσπερ οὖν ἀμέλει τοῦ Ἰγνατίου ἐν αἷς κατελέξαμεν ἐπιστολαῖς, καὶ τοῦ Κλήμεντος ἐν τῇ ἀνωμολογημένῃ παρὰ πᾶσιν, ἣν ἐκ προσώπου τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἐκκλησίας τῇ Κορινθίων διετυπώσατο· ἐν ᾗ τῆς πρὸς Ἑβραίους πολλὰ νοήματα παραθείς, ἤδη δὲ καὶ αὐτολεξεὶ ῥητοῖς τισιν ἐξ αὐτῆς χρησάμενος, σαφέστατα παρίστησιν ὅτι μὴ νέον ὑπάρχει τὸ σύγγραμμα, ὅθεν δὴ καὶ εἰκότως ἔδοξεν αὐτὸ τοῖς λοιποῖς ἐγκαταλεχθῆναι γράμμασι τοῦ ἀποστόλου. 3.38.2 Ἑβραίοις γὰρ διὰ τῆς πατρίου γλώττης ἐγγράφως ὡμιληκότος τοῦ Παύλου, οἳ μὲν τὸν εὐαγγελιστὴν Λουκᾶν, οἳ δὲ τὸν Κλήμεντα 3.38.3 τοῦτον αὐτὸν ἑρμηνεῦσαι λέγουσι τὴν γραφήν· ὃ καὶ μᾶλλον ἂν εἴη ἀληθὲς τῷ τὸν ὅμοιον τῆς φράσεως χαρακτῆρα τήν τε τοῦ Κλήμεντος ἐπιστολὴν καὶ τὴν πρὸς Ἑβραίους ἀποσῴζειν καὶ τῷ μὴ πόρρω τὰ ἐν ἑκατέροις τοῖς συγγράμμασι νοήματα 3.38.4 καθεστάναι. ἰστέον δ' ὡς καὶ δευτέρα τις εἶναι λέγεται τοῦ Κλήμεντος ἐπιστολή, οὐ μὴν ἔθ' ὁμοίως τῇ προτέρᾳ καὶ ταύτην γνώριμον ἐπιστάμεθα, ὅτι μηδὲ τοὺς ἀρχαίους αὐτῇ κεχρημένους 3.38.5 ἴσμεν. ἤδη δὲ καὶ ἕτερα πολυεπῆ καὶ μακρὰ συγγράμματα ὡς τοῦ αὐτοῦ χθὲς καὶ πρῴην τινὲς προήγαγον, Πέτρου δὴ καὶ Ἀπίωνος διαλόγους περιέχοντα· ὧν οὐδ' ὅλως μνήμη τις παρὰ τοῖς παλαιοῖς φέρεται, οὐδὲ γὰρ καθαρὸν τῆς ἀποστολικῆς ὀρθοδοξίας ἀποσῴζει τὸν χαρακτῆρα. ἡ μὲν οὖν τοῦ Κλήμεντος ὁμολογουμένη γραφὴ πρόδηλος, εἴρηται δὲ καὶ τὰ Ἰγνατίου καὶ Πολυκάρπου· 3.39.1 τοῦ δὲ Παπία συγγράμματα πέντε τὸν ἀριθμὸν φέρεται, ἃ καὶ ἐπιγέγραπται Λογίων κυριακῶν ἐξηγήσεως. τούτων καὶ Εἰρηναῖος ὡς μόνων αὐτῷ γραφέντων μνημονεύει, ὧδέ πως λέγων· «ταῦτα δὲ καὶ Παπίας ὁ Ἰωάννου μὲν ἀκουστής, Πολυκάρπου δὲ ἑταῖρος γεγονώς, ἀρχαῖος ἀνήρ, ἐγγράφως ἐπιμαρτυρεῖ ἐν τῇ τετάρτῃ τῶν ἑαυτοῦ βιβλίων. ἔστιν γὰρ αὐτῷ πέντε βιβλία συντεταγμένα». 3.39.2 καὶ ὁ μὲν Εἰρηναῖος ταῦτα· αὐτός γε μὴν ὁ Παπίας κατὰ τὸ προοίμιον τῶν αὐτοῦ λόγων ἀκροατὴν μὲν καὶ αὐτόπτην οὐδαμῶς ἑαυτὸν γενέσθαι τῶν ἱερῶν ἀποστόλων ἐμφαίνει, παρειληφέναι δὲ τὰ τῆς πίστεως παρὰ τῶν ἐκείνοις γνωρίμων διδάσκει δι' ὧν φησιν λέξεων· 3.39.3 «οὐκ ὀκνήσω δέ σοι καὶ ὅσα ποτὲ παρὰ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων καλῶς ἔμαθον καὶ καλῶς ἐμνημόνευσα, συγκατατάξαι ταῖς ἑρμηνείαις, διαβεβαιούμενος ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν ἀλήθειαν. οὐ γὰρ τοῖς τὰ πολλὰ λέγουσιν ἔχαιρον ὥσπερ οἱ πολλοί, ἀλλὰ τοῖς τἀληθῆ διδάσκουσιν, οὐδὲ τοῖς τὰς ἀλλοτρίας ἐντολὰς μνημονεύουσιν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς τὰς παρὰ τοῦ κυρίου τῇ πίστει δεδομένας 3.39.4 καὶ ἀπ' αὐτῆς παραγινομένας τῆς ἀληθείας· εἰ δέ που καὶ παρηκολουθηκώς τις τοῖς πρεσβυτέροις ἔλθοι, τοὺς τῶν πρεσβυτέρων ἀνέκρινον λόγους, τί Ἀνδρέας ἢ τί Πέτρος εἶπεν ἢ τί Φίλιππος ἢ τί Θωμᾶς ἢ Ἰάκωβος ἢ τί Ἰωάννης ἢ Ματθαῖος ἤτις ἕτερος τῶν τοῦ κυρίου μαθητῶν ἅ τε Ἀριστίων καὶ ὁ πρεσβύτερος Ἰωάννης, τοῦ κυρίου μαθηταὶ, λέγουσιν. οὐ γὰρ τὰ ἐκ τῶν βιβλίων τοσοῦτόν με ὠφελεῖν ὑπελάμβανον ὅσον τὰ παρὰ ζώσης φωνῆς καὶ μενούσης». 3.39.5 ἔνθα καὶ ἐπιστῆσαι ἄξιον δὶς καταριθμοῦντι αὐτῷ τὸ Ἰωάννου ὄνομα, ὧν τὸν μὲν πρότερον Πέτρῳ καὶ Ἰακώβῳ καὶ Ματθαίῳ καὶ τοῖς λοιποῖς ἀποστόλοις συγκαταλέγει, σαφῶς δηλῶν τὸν εὐαγγελιστήν, τὸν δ' ἕτερον Ἰωάννην, διαστείλας τὸν λόγον, ἑτέροις παρὰ τὸν τῶν ἀποστόλων ἀριθμὸν κατατάσσει, προτάξας 3.39.6 αὐτοῦ τὸν Ἀριστίωνα, σαφῶς τε αὐτὸν πρεσβύτερον ὀνομάζει· ὡς καὶ διὰ τούτων ἀποδείκνυσθαι τὴν ἱστορίαν ἀληθῆ τῶν δύο κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν ὁμωνυμίᾳ κεχρῆσθαι εἰρηκότων δύο τε ἐν Ἐφέσῳ γενέσθαι