Preface.

 Prolegomena.

 The Life of Eusebius.

 Chapter I

 §2.  Eusebius’ Birth and Training. His Life in Cæsarea until the Outbreak of the Persecution. 

 §3.  The Persecution of Diocletian. 

 §4.  Eusebius’ Accession to the Bishopric of Cæsarea. 

 §5.  The Outbreak of the Arian Controversy. The Attitude of Eusebius  .

 §6.  The Council of Nicæa  .

 §7.  Continuance of the Arian Controversy. Eusebius’ Relations to the Two Parties. 

 §8.  Eusebius and Marcellus  .

 §9.  The Death of Eusebius. 

 The Writings of Eusebius.

 Chapter II

 §2.  Catalogue of his Works  .

 Eusebius' Church History.

 Chapter III

 §2.  The Author’s Design  .

 §3.  Eusebius as a Historian. The Merits and Defects of his History  .

 §4.  Editions and Versions  .

 §5.  Literature  .

  Testimonies of the Ancients in Favor of Eusebius. 

 Testimonies of the Ancients Against Eusebius.

 Book I

 The Church History of Eusebius.

 Chapter II.—  Summary View of the Pre-existence and Divinity of Our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ. 

 Chapter III.—  The Name Jesus and also the Name Christ were known from the Beginning, and were honored by the Inspired Prophets. 

 Chapter IV.—  The Religion Proclaimed by Him to All Nations Was Neither New Nor Strange. 

 Chapter V.—  The Time of his Appearance among Men. 

 Chapter VI.—  About the Time of Christ, in accordance with Prophecy, the Rulers who had governed the Jewish Nation in Regular Succession from the Days

 Chapter VII.—  The Alleged Discrepancy in the Gospels in regard to the Genealogy of Christ. 

 Chapter VIII.—  The Cruelty of Herod toward the Infants, and the Manner of his Death. 

 Chapter IX.—  The Times of Pilate. 

 Chapter X.—  The High Priests of the Jews under whom Christ taught. 

 Chapter XI.—  Testimonies in Regard to John the Baptist and Christ. 

 Chapter XII.—  The Disciples of our Saviour. 

 Chapter XIII.—  Narrative concerning the Prince of the Edessenes. 

 Book II

 Book II.

 Chapter I.—  The Course pursued by the Apostles after the Ascension of Christ. 

 Chapter II.—  How Tiberius was affected when informed by Pilate concerning Christ. 

 Chapter III.—  The Doctrine of Christ soon spread throughout All the World. 

 Chapter IV.—  After the Death of Tiberius, Caius appointed Agrippa King of the Jews, having punished Herod with Perpetual Exile. 

 Chapter V.—  Philo’s Embassy to Caius in Behalf of the Jews. 

 Chapter VI.—  The Misfortunes which overwhelmed the Jews after their Presumption against Christ. 

 Chapter VII.—  Pilate’s Suicide. 

 Chapter VIII.—  The Famine which took Place in the Reign of Claudius. 

 Chapter IX.—  The Martyrdom of James the Apostle. 

 Chapter X.—  Agrippa, who was also called Herod, having persecuted the Apostles, immediately experienced the Divine Vengeance. 

 Chapter XI.—  The Impostor Theudas and his Followers. 

 Chapter XII.—  Helen, the Queen of the Osrhœnians. 

 Chapter XIII.—  Simon Magus. 

 Chapter XIV.—  The Preaching of the Apostle Peter in Rome. 

 Chapter XV.—  The Gospel according to Mark. 

 Chapter XVI.—  Mark first proclaimed Christianity to the Inhabitants of Egypt. 

 Chapter XVII.—  Philo’s Account of the Ascetics of Egypt. 

 Chapter XVIII.—  The Works of Philo   that have come down to us. 

 Chapter XIX.—  The Calamity which befell the Jews in Jerusalem on the Day of the Passover. 

 Chapter XX.—  The Events which took Place in Jerusalem during the Reign of Nero. 

 Chapter XXI.—  The Egyptian, who is mentioned also in the Acts of the Apostles. 

 Chapter XXII.—  Paul having been sent bound from Judea to Rome, made his Defense, and was acquitted of every Charge. 

 Chapter XXIII.—  The Martyrdom of James, who was called the Brother of the Lord. 

 Chapter XXIV.—  Annianus the First Bishop of the Church of Alexandria after Mark. 

 Chapter XXV.—  The Persecution under Nero in which Paul and Peter were honored at Rome with Martyrdom in Behalf of Religion. 

 Chapter XXVI.—  The Jews, afflicted with Innumerable Evils, commenced the Last War Against the Romans. 

 Book III

 Book III.

 Chapter II.—  The First Ruler of the Church of Rome. 

 Chapter III.—  The Epistles of the Apostles. 

 Chapter IV.—  The First Successors of the Apostles. 

 Chapter V.—  The Last Siege of the Jews after Christ. 

 Chapter VI.—  The Famine which oppressed them. 

 Chapter VII.—  The Predictions of Christ. 

 Chapter VIII.—  The Signs which preceded the War. 

 Chapter IX.—  Josephus and the Works which he has left. 

 Chapter X.—  The Manner in which Josephus mentions the Divine Books. 

 Chapter XI.—  Symeon rules the Church of Jerusalem after James. 

 Chapter XII.—  Vespasian commands the Descendants of David to be sought. 

 Chapter XIII.—  Anencletus, the Second Bishop of Rome. 

 Chapter XIV.—  Abilius, the Second Bishop of Alexandria. 

 Chapter XV.—  Clement, the Third Bishop of Rome. 

 Chapter XVI.—  The Epistle of Clement. 

 Chapter XVII.—  The Persecution under Domitian. 

 Chapter XVIII.—  The Apostle John and the Apocalypse. 

 Chapter XIX.—  Domitian commands the Descendants of David to be slain. 

 Chapter XX.—  The Relatives of our Saviour. 

 Chapter XXI.—  Cerdon becomes the Third Ruler of the Church of Alexandria. 

 Chapter XXII.—  Ignatius, the Second Bishop of Antioch. 

 Chapter XXIII.—  Narrative Concerning John the Apostle. 

 Chapter XXIV.—  The Order of the Gospels. 

 Chapter XXV.—  The Divine Scriptures that are accepted and those that are not. 

 Chapter XXVI.—  Menander the Sorcerer. 

 Chapter XXVII.—  The Heresy of the Ebionites. 

 Chapter XXVIII.—  Cerinthus the Heresiarch. 

 Chapter XXIX.—  Nicolaus and the Sect named after him. 

 Chapter XXX.—  The Apostles that were Married. 

 Chapter XXXI.—  The Death of John and Philip. 

 Chapter XXXII.—  Symeon, Bishop of Jerusalem, suffers Martyrdom. 

 Chapter XXXIII.—  Trajan forbids the Christians to be sought after. 

 Chapter XXXIV.—  Evarestus, the Fourth Bishop of the Church of Rome. 

 Chapter XXXV.—  Justus, the Third Bishop of Jerusalem. 

 Chapter XXXVI.—  Ignatius and His Epistles. 

 Chapter XXXVII.—  The Evangelists that were still Eminent at that Time. 

 Chapter XXXVIII.—  The Epistle of Clement and the Writings falsely ascribed to him. 

 Chapter XXXIX.—  The Writings of Papias. 

 Book IV

 Book IV.

 Chapter II.—  The Calamities of the Jews during Trajan’s Reign. 

 Chapter III.—  The Apologists that wrote in Defense of the Faith during the Reign of Adrian. 

 Chapter IV.—  The Bishops of Rome and of Alexandria under the Same Emperor  .

 Chapter V.—  The Bishops of Jerusalem from the Age of our Saviour to the Period under Consideration 

 Chapter VI.—  The Last Siege of the Jews under Adrian  .

 Chapter VII.—  The Persons that became at that Time Leaders of Knowledge falsely so-called  .

 Chapter VIII.—  Ecclesiastical Writers  .

 Chapter IX.—  The Epistle of Adrian, decreeing that we should not be punished without a Trial  .

 Chapter X.—  The Bishops of Rome and of Alexandria during the Reign of Antoninus  .

 Chapter XI.—  The Heresiarchs of that Age  .

 Chapter XII.—  The Apology of Justin addressed to Antoninus. 

 ChapterXIII.—  The Epistle of Antoninus to the Common Assembly of Asia in Regard to our Doctrine  .

 Chapter XIV.—  The Circumstances related of Polycarp, a Friend of the Apostles  .

 Chapter XV.—  Under Verus,   Polycarp with Others suffered Martyrdom at Smyrna 

 Chapter XVI.—  Justin the Philosopher preaches the Word of Christ in Rome and suffers Martyrdom. 

 Chapter XVII.—  The Martyrs whom Justin mentions in his Own Work. 

 Chapter XVIII.—  The Works of Justin which have come down to us. 

 Chapter XIX.—  The Rulers of the Churches of Rome and Alexandria during the Reign of Verus. 

 Chapter XX.—  The Rulers of the Church of Antioch. 

 Chapter XXI.—  The Ecclesiastical Writers that flourished in Those Days. 

 Chapter XXII.—  Hegesippus and the Events which he mentions. 

 Chapter XXIII.—  Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth, and the Epistles which he wrote. 

 Chapter XXIV.—  Theophilus Bishop of Antioch. 

 Chapter XXV.—  Philip and Modestus. 

 Chapter XXVI.—  Melito and the Circumstances which he records. 

 Chapter XXVII.—  Apolinarius, Bishop of the Church of Hierapolis. 

 Chapter XXVIII.—  Musanus and His Writings. 

 Chapter XXIX.—  The Heresy of Tatian. 

 Chapter XXX.—  Bardesanes the Syrian and his Extant Works. 

 Book V

 Book V.

 Chapter I.—  The Number of those who fought for Religion in Gaul Under Verus and the Nature of their Conflicts. 

 Chapter II.—  The Martyrs, beloved of God, kindly ministered unto those who fell in the Persecution. 

 Chapter III.—  The Vision which appeared in a Dream to the Witness Attalus. 

 Chapter IV.—  Irenæus commended by the Witnesses in a Letter. 

 Chapter V.—  God sent Rain from Heaven for Marcus Aurelius Cæsar in Answer to the Prayers of our People. 

 Chapter VI.—  Catalogue of the Bishops of Rome. 

 Chapter VII.—  Even down to those Times Miracles were performed by the Faithful. 

 Chapter VIII.—  The Statements of Irenæus in regard to the Divine Scriptures. 

 Chapter IX.—  The Bishops under Commodus. 

 Chapter X.—  Pantænus the Philosopher. 

 Chapter XI.—  Clement of Alexandria. 

 Chapter XII.—  The Bishops in Jerusalem. 

 Chapter XIII.—  Rhodo and his Account of the Dissension of Marcion. 

 Chapter XIV.—  The False Prophets of the Phrygians. 

 Chapter XV.—  The Schism of Blastus at Rome. 

 Chapter XVI.—  The Circumstances related of Montanus and his False Prophets. 

 Chapter XVII.—  Miltiades and His Works. 

 Chapter XVIII.—  The Manner in which Apollonius refuted the Phrygians, and the Persons   whom he Mentions. 

 Chapter XIX.—  Serapion on the Heresy of the Phrygians. 

 Chapter XX.—  The Writings of Irenæus against the Schismatics at Rome. 

 Chapter XXI.—  How Appolonius suffered Martyrdom at Rome. 

 Chapter XXII.—  The Bishops that were well known at this Time. 

 Chapter XXIII.—  The Question then agitated concerning the Passover. 

 Chapter XXIV.—  The Disagreement in Asia. 

 Chapter XXV.—  How All came to an Agreement respecting the Passover. 

 Chapter XXVI.—  The Elegant Works of Irenæus which have come down to us. 

 Chapter XXVII.—  The Works of Others that flourished at that Time. 

 Chapter XXVIII.—  Those who first advanced the Heresy of Artemon their Manner of Life, and how they dared to corrupt the Sacred Scriptures. 

 Book VI

 Book VI.

 Chapter II.—  The Training of Origen from Childhood. 

 Chapter III.—  While still very Young, he taught diligently the Word of Christ. 

 Chapter IV.—  The pupils of Origen that became Martyrs. 

 Chapter V.—  Potamiæna. 

 Chapter VI.—  Clement of Alexandria. 

 Chapter VII.—  The Writer, Judas. 

 Chapter VIII.—  Origen’s Daring Deed. 

 Chapter IX.—  The Miracles of Narcissus. 

 Chapter X.—  The Bishops of Jerusalem. 

 Chapter XI.—  Alexander. 

 Chapter XII.—  Serapion and his Extant Works. 

 Chapter XIII.—  The Writings of Clement. 

 Chapter XIV.—  The Scriptures mentioned by Him. 

 Chapter XV.—  Heraclas. 

 Chapter XVI.—  Origen’s Earnest Study of the Divine Scriptures. 

 Chapter XVII.—  The Translator Symmachus. 

 Chapter XVIII.—  Ambrose. 

 Chapter XIX.—  Circumstances Related of Origen. 

 Chapter XX.—  The Extant Works of the Writers of that Age. 

 Chapter XXI.—  The Bishops that were well known at that Time. 

 Chapter XXII.—  The Works of Hippolytus which have reached us. 

 Chapter XXIII.—  Origen’s Zeal and his Elevation to the Presbyterate. 

 Chapter XXIV.—  The Commentaries which he prepared at Alexandria. 

 Chapter XXV.—  His Review of the Canonical Scriptures. 

 Chapter XXVI.—  Heraclas becomes Bishop of Alexandria. 

 Chapter XXVII.—  How the Bishops regarded Origen. 

 Chapter XXVIII.—  The Persecution under Maximinus. 

 Chapter XXIX.—  Fabianus, who was wonderfully designated Bishop of Rome by God. 

 Chapter XXX.—  The Pupils of Origen. 

 Chapter XXXI.—  Africanus. 

 Chapter XXXII.—  The Commentaries which Origen composed in Cæsarea in Palestine. 

 Chapter XXXIII.—  The Error of Beryllus. 

 Chapter XXXIV.—  Philip Cæsar. 

 Chapter XXXV.—  Dionysius succeeds Heraclas in the Episcopate. 

 Chapter XXXVI.—  Other Works of Origen. 

 Chapter XXXVII.—  The Dissension of the Arabians. 

 Chapter XXXVIII.—  The Heresy of the Elkesites. 

 Chapter XXXIX.—  The Persecution under Decius, and the Sufferings of Origen. 

 Chapter XL.—  The Events which happened to Dionysius. 

 Chapter XLI.—  The Martyrs in Alexandria. 

 Chapter XLII.—  Others of whom Dionysius gives an Account. 

 Chapter XLIII.—  Novatus,   his Manner of Life and his Heresy. 

 Chapter XLIV.—  Dionysius’ Account of Serapion. 

 Chapter XLV.—  An Epistle of Dionysius to Novatus. 

 Chapter XLVI.—  Other Epistles of Dionysius. 

 Book VII

 Book VII.

 Chapter I.—  The Wickedness of Decius and Gallus. 

 Chapter II.—  The Bishops of Rome in those Times. 

 Chapter III.—  Cyprian, and the Bishops with him, first taught that it was necessary to purify by Baptism those converted from Heresy. 

 Chapter IV.—  The Epistles which Dionysius wrote on this Subject. 

 Chapter V.—  The Peace following the Persecution. 

 Chapter VI.—  The Heresy of Sabellius. 

 Chapter VII.—  The Abominable Error of the Heretics the Divine Vision of Dionysius and the Ecclesiastical Canon which he received. 

 Chapter VIII.—  The Heterodoxy of Novatus. 

 Chapter IX.—  The Ungodly Baptism of the Heretics. 

 Chapter X.—  Valerian and the Persecution under him. 

 Chapter XI.—  The Events which happened at this Time to Dionysius and those in Egypt. 

 Chapter XII.—  The Martyrs in Cæsarea in Palestine. 

 Chapter XIII.—  The Peace under Gallienus. 

 Chapter XIV.—  The Bishops that flourished at that Time. 

 Chapter XV.—  The Martyrdom of Marinus at Cæsarea. 

 Chapter XVI.—  Story in Regard to Astyrius. 

 Chapter XVII.—  The Signs at Paneas of the Great Might of our Saviour. 

 Chapter XVIII.—  The Statue which the Woman with an Issue of Blood erected. 

 Chapter XIX.—  The Episcopal Chair of James. 

 Chapter XX.—  The Festal Epistles of Dionysius, in which he also gives a Paschal Canon. 

 Chapter XXI.—  The Occurrences at Alexandria. 

 Chapter XXII.—  The Pestilence which came upon them. 

 Chapter XXIII.—  The Reign of Gallienus. 

 Chapter XXIV.—  Nepos and his Schism. 

 Chapter XXV.—  The Apocalypse of John. 

 Chapter XXVI.—  The Epistles of Dionysius. 

 Chapter XXVII.—  Paul of Samosata, and the Heresy introduced by him at Antioch. 

 Chapter XXVIII.—  The Illustrious Bishops of that Time. 

 Chapter XXIX.—  Paul, having been refuted by Malchion, a Presbyter from the Sophists, was excommunicated. 

 Chapter XXX.—  The Epistle of the Bishops against Paul. 

 Chapter XXXI.—  The Perversive Heresy of the Manicheans which began at this Time. 

 Chapter XXXII.—  The Distinguished Ecclesiastics   of our Day, and which of them survived until the Destruction of the Churches. 

 Book VIII

 Book VIII.

 Chapter I.—  The Events which preceded the Persecution in our Times. 

 Chapter II.—  The Destruction of the Churches. 

 Chapter III.—  The Nature of the Conflicts endured in the Persecution. 

 Chapter IV.—  The Famous Martyrs of God, who filled Every Place with their Memory and won Various Crowns in behalf of Religion. 

 Chapter V.—  Those in Nicomedia. 

 Chapter VI.—  Those in the Palace. 

 Chapter VII.—  The Egyptians in Phœnicia. 

 Chapter VIII.—  Those in Egypt  .

 Chapter IX.—  Those in Thebais. 

 Chapter X.—  The Writings of Phileas the Martyr describing the Occurrences at Alexandria. 

 Chapter XI.—  Those in Phrygia. 

 Chapter XII.—  Many Others, both Men and Women, who suffered in Various Ways. 

 Chapter XIII.—  The Bishops of the Church that evinced by their Blood the Genuineness of the Religion which they preached. 

 Chapter XIV.—  The Character of the Enemies of Religion. 

 Chapter XV.—  The Events which happened to the Heathen. 

 Chapter XVI.—  The Change of Affairs for the Better. 

 Chapter XVII.—  The Revocation of the Rulers. 

 Martyrs of Palestine.

 Martyrs of Palestine.

 Chapter I.

 Chapter II.

 Chapter III.

 Chapter IV.

 Chapter V.

 Chapter VI.

 Chapter VII.

 Chapter VIII.

 Chapter IX.

 Chapter X.

 Chapter XI.

 Chapter XII.

 Chapter XIII.

 Book IX

 Book IX.

 Chapter II.—  The Subsequent Reverse. 

 Chapter III.—  The Newly Erected Statue at Antioch. 

 Chapter IV.—  The Memorials against us. 

 Chapter V.—  The Forged Acts. 

 Chapter VI.—  Those who suffered Martyrdom at this Time. 

 Chapter VII.—  The Decree against us which was engraved on Pillars. 

 Chapter VIII.—  The Misfortunes which happened in Connection with these Things, in Famine, Pestilence, and War. 

 Chapter IX.—  The Victory of the God-Beloved Emperors. 

 Chapter X.—  The Overthrow of the Tyrants and the Words which they uttered before their Death. 

 Chapter XI.—  The Final Destruction of the Enemies of Religion. 

 Book X

 Book X.

 Chapter II.—  The Restoration of the Churches. 

 Chapter III.—  The Dedications in Every Place. 

 Chapter IV.—  Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs. 

 Chapter V.—  Copies of Imperial Laws. 

  Chapter VI.   —   Copy of an Imperial Epistle in which Money is granted to the Churches. 

 Chapter VII.—  The Exemption of the Clergy. 

 Chapter VIII.—  The Subsequent Wickedness of Licinius, and his Death. 

 Chapter IX.—  The Victory of Constantine, and the Blessings which under him accrued to the Subjects of the Roman Empire. 

 Supplementary Notes and Tables.

 On Bk. III. chap. 3, § 5 (note 17, continued).

 On Bk. III. chap. 3, § 6 (note 22, continued).

 On Bk. III. chap. 24, § 17 (note 18 continued).

 On Bk. III. chap. 25, § 4 (note 18 continued).

 On Bk. III. chap. 28, § 1.

 On Bk. III. chap. 32, § 6 (note 14  a  ).

 On Bk. III. chap. 36 § 13.

 On Bk. III. chap. 39, § 1 (note 1, continued).

 On Bk. III. chap. 39, § 6.

 On Bk. III. chap. 39, § 16.

 On Bk. IV. chap. 10.

 On Bk. IV. chap. 18, § 2.

 On Bk. V. Introd. § I (note 3, continued).  The Successors of Antoninus Pius  .

 On Bk. V. chap. 1, § 27 (note 26, continued).

 On Bk. VI. chap. 2 (note 1, continued).  Origen’s Life and Writings  .

 On Bk. VI. chap. 8, § 5 (note 4).  Origen and Demetrius  .

 On Bk. VI. chap. 12, § 6.

 On Bk. VI. chap. 23, § 4 (note 6).  Origen’s Visit to Achaia  .

 On Bk. VII. chap. 25, § 11.

 On Bk. VII. chap. 26, § 1 (note 4, continued).

 On Bk. VIII. chap. 2, § 4 (note 3, continued).  The Causes of the Diocletian Persecution  .

 On Bk. X. chap. 8, § 4 (note I, a).

 Table of Roman Emperors.

 The Bishops of Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, mentioned by Eusebius.

  Bishops of Alexandria. 

  Bishops of Antioch. 

  Bishops of Jerusalem. 

 Table showing the Roman Method of counting the Days of the Month.

 Table of Macedonian Months

Chapter III.—  The Epistles of the Apostles. 

1. One epistle of Peter, that called the first, is acknowledged as genuine.  16  The testimony of tradition is unanimous for the authenticity of the first Epistle of Peter. It was known to Clement of Rome, Polycarp, Papias, Hermas, &c. (the Muratorian Fragment, however, omits it), and was cited under the name of Peter by Irenæus, Tertullian, and Clement of Alexandria, from whose time its canonicity and Petrine authorship were established, so that Eusebius rightly puts it among the homologoumena. Semler, in 1784, was the first to deny its direct Petrine authorship, and Cludius, in 1808, pronounced it absolutely ungenuine. The Tübingen School followed, and at the present time the genuineness is denied by all the negative critics, chiefly on account of the strong Pauline character of the epistle (cf. Holtzmann, Einleitung, p. 487 sqq., also Weiss, Einleitung, p. 428 sqq., who confines the resemblances to the Epistles to the Romans and to the Ephesians, and denies the general Pauline character of the epistle). The great majority of scholars, however, maintain the Petrine authorship. A new opinion, expressed by Harnack, upon the assumption of the distinctively Pauline character of the epistle, is that it was written during the apostolic age by some follower of Paul, and that the name of Peter was afterward attached to it, so that it represents no fraud on the part of the writer, but an effort of a later age to find an author for the anonymous epistle. In support of this is urged the fact that though the epistle is so frequently quoted in the second century, it is never connected with Peter’s name until the time of Irenæus. (Cf. Harnack’s Lehre der Zwölf Apostel, p. 106, note, and his Dogmengeschichte, I. p. 278, note 2.) This theory has found few supporters. And this the ancient elders  17  οἱ π€λαι πρεσβύτεροι. On the use of the term “elders” among the Fathers, see below, chap. 39, note 6. used freely in their own writings as an undisputed work.  18  ὡς ἀναμφιλέκτῳ But we have learned that his extant second Epistle does not belong to the canon;  19  οὐκ ἐνδι€θηκον μὲν εἶναι παρειλήφαμεν. The authorship of the second Epistle of Peter has always been widely disputed. The external testimony for it is very weak, as no knowledge of it can be proved to have existed before the third century. Numerous explanations have been offered by apologists to account for this curious fact; but it still remains almost inexplicable, if the epistle be accepted as the work of the apostle. The first clear references to it are made by Firmilian, Bishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia (third century), in his Epistle to Cyprian, §6 (Ep. 74, in the collection of Cyprian’s Epistles, Ante-Nicene Fathers, Am. ed., V. p. 391), and by Origen (quoted by Eusebius, VI. 25, below), who mentions the second Epistle as disputed. Clement of Alexandria, however, seems at least to have known and used it (according to Euseb. VI. 14). The epistle was not admitted into the Canon until the Council of Hippo, in 393, when all doubts and discussion ceased until the Reformation. It is at present disputed by all negative critics, and even by many otherwise conservative scholars. Those who defend its genuineness date it shortly before the death of Peter, while the majority of those who reject it throw it into the second century,—some as late as the time of Clement of Alexandria (e.g. Harnack, in his Lehre der Zwölf Apostel, p. 15 and 159, who assigns its composition to Egypt). Cf. Holtzmann, Einleitung, p. 495 sqq., and Weiss (who leaves its genuineness an open question), Einleitung, p. 436 sqq. For a defense of the genuineness, see especially Warfield, in the Southern Pres. Rev., 1883, p. 390 sqq., and Salmon’s Introduction to the N. T., p. 512 sqq. yet, as it has appeared profitable to many, it has been used with the other Scriptures.  20  Although disputed by many, as already remarked, and consequently not looked upon as certainly canonical until the end of the fourth century, the epistle was yet used, as Eusebius says, quite widely from the time of Origen on, e.g. by Origen, Firmilian, Cyprian, Hippolytus, Methodius, etc. The same is true, however, of other writings, which the Church afterward placed among the Apocrypha.

2. The so-called Acts of Peter,  21  These πρ€ξεις (or περίοδοι, as they are often called) Πέτρου were of heretical origin, according to Lipsius, and belonged, like the heretical Acta Pauli (referred to in note 20, below), to the collection of περίοδοι τῶν ἀποστόλων, which were ascribed to Lucius Charinus, and, like them, formed also, from the end of the fourth century, a part of the Manichean Canon of the New Testament. The work, as a whole, is no longer extant, but a part of it is preserved, according to Lipsius, in a late Catholic redaction, under the title Passio Petri. Upon these Acts of Peter, their original form, and their relation to other works of the same class, see Lipsius, Apocryphen Apostelgeschichten, II. I, p. 78 sq. Like the heretical Acta Pauli already referred to, this work, too, was used in the composition of the Catholic Acts of Paul and Peter, which are still extant, and which assumed their present form in the fifth century, according to Lipsius. These Catholic Acts of Peter and Paul have been published by Thilo (Acta Petri et Pauli, Halle, 1837), and by Tischendorf, in his Acta Apost. Apocr., p. 1–39. English translation in the Ante-Nicene Fathers (Am. ed.), VIII. p. 477. however, and the Gospel  22  This Gospel is mentioned by Serapion as in use in the church of Rhossus (quoted by Eusebius, Bk. VI. chap. 12, below), but was rejected by him because of the heretical doctrines which it contained. It is mentioned again by Eusebius, III. 25, only to be rejected as heretical; also by Origen (in Matt. Vol. X. 17) and by Jerome (de vir. ill. 1), who follows Eusebius in pronouncing it an heretical work employed by no early teachers of the Christian Church. Lipsius regards it as probably a Gnostic recast of one of the Canonical Gospels. From Serapion’s account of this Gospel (see below, Bk. VI. chap. 12), we see that it differs from the Canonical Gospels, not in denying their truth, or in giving a contradictory account of Christ’s life, but rather in adding to the account given by them. This, of course, favors Lipsius’ hypothesis; and in any case he is certainly quite right in denying that the Gospel was an original work made use of by Justin Martyr, and that it in any way lay at the base of our present Gospel of Mark. The Gospel (as we learn from the same chapter) was used by the Docetæ, but that does not imply that it contained what we call Docetic ideas of Christ’s body (cf. note 8 on that chapter). The Gospel is no longer extant. See Lipsius, in Smith and Wace’s Dict. of Christ. Biog. II. p. 712. which bears his name, and the Preaching  23  This Preaching of Peter (Κήρυγμα Πέτρου, Prædicatio Petri), which is no longer extant, probably formed a part of a lost Preaching of Peter and Paul (cf. Clement of Alexandria, Strom. VI. 5, and Lactantius, Inst. IV. 21). It was mentioned frequently by the early Fathers, and a number of fragments of it have been preserved by Clement of Alexandria, who quotes it frequently as a genuine record of Peter’s teaching. (The fragments are collected by Grabe in his Spic. Patr. I. 55–71, and by Hilgenfeld in his N. T. extra Can. rec., 2d ed., IV. p. 51 sqq.). It is mentioned twice by Origen (in Johan. XIII. 17, and De Princ. Præf. 8), and in the latter place is expressly classed among spurious works. It was probably, according to Lipsius, closely connected with the Acts of Peter and Paul mentioned in note 6, above. Lipsius, however, regards those Acts as a Catholic adaptation of a work originally Ebionitic, though he says expressly that the Preaching is not at all of that character, but is a Petro-Pauline production, and is to be distinguished from the Ebionitic κηρύγματα. It would seem therefore that he must put the Preaching later than the original of the Acts, into a time when the Ebionitic character of the latter had been done away with. Salmon meanwhile holds that the Preaching is as old as the middle of the second century and the most ancient of the works recording Peter’s preaching, and hence (if this view be accepted) the Ebionitic character which Lipsius ascribes to the Acts did not (if it existed at all) belong to the original form of the record of Peter’s preaching embodied in the Acts and in the Preaching. The latter (if it included also the Preaching of Paul, as seems almost certain) appears to have contained an account of some of the events of the life of Christ, and it may have been used by Justin. Compare the remarks of Lipsius in the Dict. of Christ. Biog. I. p. 28 (Cath. Adaptations of Ebionitic Acts), and Salmon’s article on the Preaching of Peter, ibid. IV. 329. and the Apocalypse,  24  The Apocalypse of Peter enjoyed considerable favor in the early Church and was accepted by some Fathers as a genuine work of the apostle. It is mentioned in the Muratorian Fragment in connection with the Apocalypse of John, as a part of the Roman Canon, and is accepted by the author of the fragment himself; although he says that some at that time rejected it. Clement of Alexandria, in his Hypotyposes (according to Eusebius, IV. 14, below), commented upon it, thus showing that it belonged at that time to the Alexandrian Canon. In the third century it was still received in the North African Church (so Harnack, who refers to the stichometry of the Codex Claramontanus). The Eclogæ or Prophetical Selections of Clement of Alexandria give it as a genuine work of Peter (§§41, 48, 49, p. 1000 sq., Potter’s ed.), and so Methodius of Tyre (Sympos. XI. 6, p. 16, ed. Jahn, according to Lipsius). After Eusebius’ time the work seems to have been universally regarded as spurious, and thus, as its canonicity depended upon its apostolic origin (see chap. 24, note 19), it gradually fell out of the Canon. It nevertheless held its place for centuries among the semi-scriptural books, and was read in many churches. According to Sozomen, H. E. VII. 19, it was read at Easter, which shows that it was treated with especial respect. Nicephorus in his Stichometry puts it among the Antilegomena, in immediate connection with the Apocalypse of John. As Lipsius remarks, its “lay-recognition in orthodox circles proves that it could not have had a Gnostic origin, nor otherwise have contained what was offensive to Catholic Christians” (see Lipsius, Dict. of Christ. Biog. I. p. 130 sqq.). Only a few fragments of the work are extant, and these are given by Hilgenfeld, in his Nov. Test. extra Can. receptum, IV. 74 sq., and by Grabe, Spic. Patr. I. 71 sqq. as they are called, we know have not been universally accepted,  25  οὐδ᾽ ὅλως ἐν καθολικαῖς ἴσμεν παραδεδομένα because no ecclesiastical writer, ancient or modern, has made use of testimonies drawn from them.  26  Eusebius exaggerates in this statement. The Apocalypse of Peter was in quite general use in the second century, as we learn from the Muratorian Fragment; and Clement (as Eusebius himself says in VI. 14) wrote a commentary upon it in connection with the other Antilegomena.

3. But in the course of my history I shall be careful to show, in addition to the official succession, what ecclesiastical writers have from time to time made use of any of the disputed works,  27  τῶν ἀντιλεγομένων and what they have said in regard to the canonical and accepted writings,  28  περὶ τῶν ἐνδιαθήκων καὶ ὁμολογουμένων as well as in regard to those which are not of this class.

4. Such are the writings that bear the name of Peter, only one of which I know to be genuine  29  ὧν μόνην μίαν γνησίαν žγνων. and acknowledged by the ancient elders.  30  As above; see note 2.

5. Paul’s fourteen epistles are well known and undisputed.  31  The thirteen Pauline Epistles of our present Canon, and the Epistle to the Hebrews. These formed for Eusebius an absolutely undisputed part of the Canon (cf. chap. 25, below, where he speaks of them with the same complete assurance), and were universally accepted until the present century. The external testimony for all of them is ample, going back (the Pastoral Epistles excepted) to the early part of the second century. The Epistles to the Romans, Corinthians, and Galatians have never been disputed (except by an individual here and there, especially during the last few years in Holland), even the Tübingen School accepting them as genuine works of Paul. The other epistles have not fared so well. The genuineness of Ephesians was first questioned by Usteri in 1824 and De Wette in 1826, and the Tübingen School rejected it. Scholars are at present greatly divided; the majority of negative critics reject it, while many liberal and all conservative scholars defend it. Colossians was first attacked by Mayerhoff in 1838, followed by the whole Tübingen School. It fares to-day somewhat better than Ephesians. It is still, however, rejected by many extreme critics, while others leave the matter in suspense (e.g. Weizsäcker in his Apostolisches Zeitalter). Since 1872, when the theory was proposed by Holtzmann, some scholars have held that our present Epistle contains a genuine Epistle of Paul to the Colossians, of which it is a later revision and expansion. Baur and the Tübingen School were the first to attack Philippians as a whole, and it too is still rejected by many critics, but at the same time it is more widely accepted than either Ephesians or Colossians (e.g. Weizsäcker and even Hilgenfeld defend its genuineness). Second Thessalonians was first attacked by Schmidt in 1801, followed by a number of scholars, until Baur extended the attack to the first Epistle also. Second Thessalonians is still almost unanimously rejected by negative critics, and even by some moderates, while First Thessalonians has regained the support of many of the former (e.g. Hilgenfeld, Weizsäcker, and even Holtzmann), and is entirely rejected by comparatively few critics. Philemon—which was first attacked by Baur—is quite generally accepted, but the Pastoral Epistles are almost as generally rejected, except by the regular conservative school (upon the Pastorals, see Bk. II. chap. 22, note 8, above). For a concise account of the state of criticism upon each epistle, see Holtzmann’s Einleitung. For a defense of them all, see the Einleitung of Weiss. It is not indeed right to overlook the fact that some have rejected the Epistle to the Hebrews,  32  τινες ἠθετήκασι. That the Epistle to the Hebrews was not written by Paul is now commonly acknowledged, and may be regarded as absolutely certain. It does not itself lay any claim to Pauline authorship; its theology and style are both non-Pauline; and finally, external testimony is strongly against its direct connection with Paul. The first persons to assign the epistle to Paul are Pantænus and Clement of Alexandria (see below, Bk. VI. chap. 14), and they evidently find it necessary to defend its Pauline authorship in the face of the objections of others. Clement, indeed, assumes a Hebrew original, which was translated into Greek by Luke. Origen (see below, Bk. VI. chap. 25) leaves its authorship undecided, but thinks it probable that the thoughts are Paul’s, but the diction that of some one else, who has recorded what he heard from the apostle. He then remarks that one tradition assigned it to Clement of Rome, another to Luke. Eusebius himself, in agreement with the Alexandrians (who, with the exception of Origen, unanimously accept the Pauline authorship), looks upon it as a work of Paul, but accepts Clement of Alexandria’s theory that it was written in Hebrew, and thinks it probable that Clement of Rome was its translator (see chap. 38, below). In the Western Church, where the epistle was known very early (e.g. Clement of Rome uses it freely), it is not connected with Paul until the fourth century. Indeed, Tertullian (de pudicit. 20) states that it bore the name of Barnabas, and evidently had never heard that it had been ascribed to any one else. The influence of the Alexandrians, however, finally prevailed, and from the fifth century on we find it universally accepted, both East and West, as an epistle of Paul, and not until the Reformation was its origin again questioned. Since that time its authorship has been commonly regarded as an insoluble mystery. Numerous guesses have been made (e.g. Luther guessed Apollos, and he has been followed by many), but it is impossible to prove that any of them are correct. For Barnabas, however, more can be said than for any of the others. Tertullian expressly connects the epistle with him; and its contents are just what we should expect from the pen of a Levite who had been for a time under Paul’s influence, and yet had not received his Christianity from him; its standpoint, in fact, is Levitic, and decidedly non-Pauline, and yet reveals in many places the influence of Pauline ideas. Still further, it is noticeable that in the place where the Epistle to the Hebrews is first ascribed to Paul, there first appears an epistle which is ascribed (quite wrongly; see below, chap. 25, note 20) to Barnabas. May it not be (as has been suggested by Weiss and others) that the anonymous Epistle to the Hebrews was originally accepted in Alexandria as the work of Barnabas, but that later it was ascribed to Paul; and that the tradition that Barnabas had written an epistle, which must still have remained in the Church, led to the ascription of another anonymous epistle to him? We seem thus most easily to explain the false ascription of the one epistle to Paul, and the false ascription of the other to Barnabas. It may be said that the claims of both Barnabas and Apollos have many supporters, while still more attempt no decision. In regard to the canonicity of the epistle there seems never to have been any serious dispute, and it is this fact doubtless which did most to foster the belief in its Pauline authorship from the third century on. For the criterion of canonicity more and more came to be looked upon as apostolicity, direct or indirect. The early Church had cared little for such a criterion. In only one place does Eusebius seem to imply that doubts existed as to its canonicity,—in Bk. VI. chap. 13, where he classes it with the Book of Wisdom, and the Epistles of Barnabas, Clement, and Jude, among the antilegomena. But in view of his treatment of it elsewhere it must be concluded that he is thinking in that passage not at all of its canonicity, but of its Pauline authorship, which he knows is disputed by some, and in reference to which he uses the same word, ἀντιλέγεσθαι, in the present sentence. Upon the canonicity of the epistle, see still further chap. 25, note 1. For a discussion of the epistle, see especially the N. T. Introductions of Weiss and Holtzmann. saying that it is disputed  33  ἀντιλέγεσθαι by the church of Rome, on the ground that it was not written by Paul. But what has been said concerning this epistle by those who lived before our time I shall quote in the proper place.  34  See Bk. VI. chaps. 14, 20, 25. In regard to the so-called Acts of Paul,  35  These πρ€ξεις are mentioned also in chap. 25, below, where they are classed among the νόθοι, implying that they had been originally accepted as canonical, but were not at the time Eusebius wrote widely accepted as such. This implies that they were not, like the works which he mentions later in the chapter, of an heretical character. They were already known to Origen, who (De Prin. I. 2, 3) refers to them in such a way as to show that they were in good repute in the Catholic Church. They are to be distinguished from the Gnostic περίοδοι or πρ€ξεις Παύλου, which from the end of the fourth century formed a part of the Manichean canon of the New Testament, and of which some fragments are still extant under various forms. The failure to keep these Catholic and heretical Acta Pauli always distinct has caused considerable confusion. Both of these Acts, the Catholic and the heretical, formed, according to Lipsius (Apokr. Apostelgeschichten, II. 1, p. 305 sq.) one of the sources of the Catholic Acts of Peter and Paul, which in their extant form belong to the fifth century. For a discussion of these Catholic Acts of Paul referred to by Eusebius, see Lipsius, ibid., p. 70 sq. I have not found them among the undisputed writings.  36  οὐδὲ μὴν τὰς λεγομένας αὐτοῦ πρ€ξεις ἐν ἀναμφιλέκτοις παρείληφα

6. But as the same apostle, in the salutations at the end of the Epistle to the Romans,  37  See Rom. xvi. 14. The greater part of this last chapter of Romans is considered by many a separate epistle addressed to Ephesus. This has been quite a common opinion since 1829, when it was first broached by David Schulz (Studien und Kritiken, p. 629 sq.), and is accepted even by many conservative scholars (e.g. Weiss), while on the other hand it is opposed by many of the opposite school. While Aquila and Priscilla, of verse 3, and Epænetus, of verse 5, seem to point to Ephesus, and the fact that so many personal friends are greeted, leads us to look naturally to the East as Paul’s field of labor, where he had formed so many acquaintances, rather than to Rome, where he had not been; yet on the other hand such names as Junias, Narcissus, Rufus, Hermas, Nereus, Aristobulus, and Herodion point strongly to Rome. We must, however, be content to leave the matter undecided, but may be confident that the evidence for the Ephesian hypothesis is certainly, in the face of the Roman names mentioned, and of universal tradition (for which as for Eusebius the epistle is a unit), not strong enough to establish it. has made mention among others of Hermas, to whom the book called The Shepherd  38  The Shepherd of Hermas was in circulation in the latter half of the second century, and is quoted by Irenæus (Adv. Hær. IV. 20. 2) as Scripture, although he omits it in his discussion of Scripture testimonies in Bk. III. chap. 9 sqq., which shows that he considered it not quite on a level with regular Scripture. Clement of Alexandria and Origen often quote it as an inspired book, though the latter expressly distinguishes it from the canonical books, admitting that it is disputed by many (cf. De Prin. IV. 11). Eusebius in chap. 25 places it among the νόθοι or spurious writings in connection with the Acts of Paul and the Apocalypse of Peter. According to the Muratorian Fragment it was “written very recently in our times in the city of Rome by Hermas, while his brother, Bishop Pius, sat in the chair of the Church of Rome. And therefore it also ought to be read; but it cannot be made public in the Church to the people, nor placed among the prophets, as their number is complete, nor among the apostles to the end of time.” This shows the very high esteem in which the work was held in that age. It was very widely employed in private and in public, both in the East and the West, until about the fourth century, when it gradually passed out of use. Jerome (de vir. ill. 10) says that it was almost unknown among the Latins of his time. As to the date and authorship of the Shepherd opinions vary widely. The only direct testimony of antiquity is that of the Muratorian Fragment, which says that it was written by Hermas, the brother of Pius, during the episcopacy of the latter (139–154 a.d.). This testimony is accepted by the majority of scholars, most of whom date the book near the middle of the second century, or at least as late as the reign of Hadrian. This opinion received not long ago what was supposed to be a strong confirmation from the discovery of the fact that Hermas in all probability quoted from Theodotion’s version of Daniel (see Hort’s article in the Johns Hopkins University Circular, December, 1884), which has been commonly ascribed to the second century. But it must now be admitted that no one knows the terminus a quo for the composition of Theodotian’s version, and therefore the discovery leaves the date of Hermas entirely undetermined (see Schürer, Gesch. des jüdischen Volkes, II. p. 709). Meanwhile Eusebius in this connection records the tradition, which he had read, that the book was written by the Hermas mentioned in Romans xvi. This tradition, however, appears to be no older than Origen, with whom it is no more than a mere guess. While in our absence of any knowledge as to this Hermas we cannot absolutely disprove his claim (unless we prove decisively the late date of the book), there is yet no ground for accepting it other than a mere coincidence in a very common name. In Vis. II. 4. 3 Hermas is told to give one copy of his book to Clement. From this it is concluded by many that the author must have been contemporary with the well-known Roman Clement, the author of the Epistle to the Corinthians. While this appears very likely, it cannot be called certain in the face of evidence for a considerably later date. Internal testimony helps us little, as there is nothing in the book which may not have been written at the very beginning of the second century, or, on the other hand, as late as the middle of it. Zahn dates it between 97 and 100, and assigns it to an unknown Hermas, a contemporary of the Roman Clement, in which he is followed by Salmon in a very clear and keen article in the Dict. of Christ. Biog. Critics are unanimously agreed that the book was written in Rome. It consists of three parts, Visions, Mandates, and Similitudes, and is of the nature of an apocalypse, written for the purpose of reforming the life of the Church, which seemed to the author to have become very corrupt. The work (especially the last part) is in the form of an allegory, and has been compared to the Pilgrim’s Progress. Opinions are divided as to whether it is actually founded upon visions and dreams of the author, or is wholly a fiction. The former opinion seems to be the more probable. Until recent years only a Latin translation of Hermas was known. In 1856 the first Greek edition was issued by Anger and Dindorf, being based upon a Mt. Athos ms. discovered shortly before by Simonides. Of the ten leaves of the ms. the last was lost; three were sold by Simonides to the University of Leipsic, and the other six were transcribed by him in a very faulty manner. The Sinaitic Codex has enabled us to control the text of Simonides in part, but unfortunately it contains only the Visions and a small part of the Mandates. All recent editions have been obliged to take the faulty transcription of Simonides as their foundation. In 1880 the six leaves of the Athos Codex, which had been supposed to be lost, and which were known only through Simonides’ transcription, were discovered by Lambros at Mt. Athos, and in 1888 A Collation of the Athos Codex of the Shepherd of Hermas by Dr. Spyr Lambros was issued in English translation by J. A. Robinson, at Cambridge, England. We thus have now a reliable Greek text of nine-tenths of the Shepherd of Hermas. Hilgenfeld, in his last edition (1887) of his Novum Test. Extra Can. Rec., published also a Greek text of the lost part of the work, basing it upon a pretended transcription by Simonides from the lost Athos ms. But this has been conclusively shown to be a mere fraud on the part of Simonides, and we are therefore still without any ms. authority for the Greek text of the close of the work. Cf. Robinson’s introduction to the Collation of Lambros mentioned above, and Harnack’s articles in the Theol. Literaturzeitung (1887). The most useful edition of the original is that of Gebhardt and Harnack, Patrum Apost. Opera, Fasc. III. (Lips. 1877). The work is translated in the Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. II. The literature upon the subject is very extensive, but the reader should examine especially the Prolegomena of Harnack in his edition. Cf. Zahn’s Hirt des Hermas (1868), and the article by Salmon in the Dict. of Christ. Biog. II. p. 912 sqq. Cf. also chap. 24, note 20, in regard to the reasons for the non-canonicity of the Shepherd. is ascribed, it should be observed that this too has been disputed by some, and on their account cannot be placed among the acknowledged books; while by others it is considered quite indispensable, especially to those who need instruction in the elements of the faith. Hence, as we know, it has been publicly read in churches, and I have found that some of the most ancient writers used it.

7. This will serve to show the divine writings that are undisputed as well as those that are not universally acknowledged.

16 The testimony of tradition is unanimous for the authenticity of the first Epistle of Peter. It was known to Clement of Rome, Polycarp, Papias, Hermas, &c. (the Muratorian Fragment, however, omits it), and was cited under the name of Peter by Irenæus, Tertullian, and Clement of Alexandria, from whose time its canonicity and Petrine authorship were established, so that Eusebius rightly puts it among the homologoumena. Semler, in 1784, was the first to deny its direct Petrine authorship, and Cludius, in 1808, pronounced it absolutely ungenuine. The Tübingen School followed, and at the present time the genuineness is denied by all the negative critics, chiefly on account of the strong Pauline character of the epistle (cf. Holtzmann, Einleitung, p. 487 sqq., also Weiss, Einleitung, p. 428 sqq., who confines the resemblances to the Epistles to the Romans and to the Ephesians, and denies the general Pauline character of the epistle). The great majority of scholars, however, maintain the Petrine authorship. A new opinion, expressed by Harnack, upon the assumption of the distinctively Pauline character of the epistle, is that it was written during the apostolic age by some follower of Paul, and that the name of Peter was afterward attached to it, so that it represents no fraud on the part of the writer, but an effort of a later age to find an author for the anonymous epistle. In support of this is urged the fact that though the epistle is so frequently quoted in the second century, it is never connected with Peter’s name until the time of Irenæus. (Cf. Harnack’s Lehre der Zwölf Apostel, p. 106, note, and his Dogmengeschichte, I. p. 278, note 2.) This theory has found few supporters.
17 οἱ π€λαι πρεσβύτεροι. On the use of the term “elders” among the Fathers, see below, chap. 39, note 6.
18 ὡς ἀναμφιλέκτῳ
19 οὐκ ἐνδι€θηκον μὲν εἶναι παρειλήφαμεν. The authorship of the second Epistle of Peter has always been widely disputed. The external testimony for it is very weak, as no knowledge of it can be proved to have existed before the third century. Numerous explanations have been offered by apologists to account for this curious fact; but it still remains almost inexplicable, if the epistle be accepted as the work of the apostle. The first clear references to it are made by Firmilian, Bishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia (third century), in his Epistle to Cyprian, §6 (Ep. 74, in the collection of Cyprian’s Epistles, Ante-Nicene Fathers, Am. ed., V. p. 391), and by Origen (quoted by Eusebius, VI. 25, below), who mentions the second Epistle as disputed. Clement of Alexandria, however, seems at least to have known and used it (according to Euseb. VI. 14). The epistle was not admitted into the Canon until the Council of Hippo, in 393, when all doubts and discussion ceased until the Reformation. It is at present disputed by all negative critics, and even by many otherwise conservative scholars. Those who defend its genuineness date it shortly before the death of Peter, while the majority of those who reject it throw it into the second century,—some as late as the time of Clement of Alexandria (e.g. Harnack, in his Lehre der Zwölf Apostel, p. 15 and 159, who assigns its composition to Egypt). Cf. Holtzmann, Einleitung, p. 495 sqq., and Weiss (who leaves its genuineness an open question), Einleitung, p. 436 sqq. For a defense of the genuineness, see especially Warfield, in the Southern Pres. Rev., 1883, p. 390 sqq., and Salmon’s Introduction to the N. T., p. 512 sqq.
20 Although disputed by many, as already remarked, and consequently not looked upon as certainly canonical until the end of the fourth century, the epistle was yet used, as Eusebius says, quite widely from the time of Origen on, e.g. by Origen, Firmilian, Cyprian, Hippolytus, Methodius, etc. The same is true, however, of other writings, which the Church afterward placed among the Apocrypha.
21 These πρ€ξεις (or περίοδοι, as they are often called) Πέτρου were of heretical origin, according to Lipsius, and belonged, like the heretical Acta Pauli (referred to in note 20, below), to the collection of περίοδοι τῶν ἀποστόλων, which were ascribed to Lucius Charinus, and, like them, formed also, from the end of the fourth century, a part of the Manichean Canon of the New Testament. The work, as a whole, is no longer extant, but a part of it is preserved, according to Lipsius, in a late Catholic redaction, under the title Passio Petri. Upon these Acts of Peter, their original form, and their relation to other works of the same class, see Lipsius, Apocryphen Apostelgeschichten, II. I, p. 78 sq. Like the heretical Acta Pauli already referred to, this work, too, was used in the composition of the Catholic Acts of Paul and Peter, which are still extant, and which assumed their present form in the fifth century, according to Lipsius. These Catholic Acts of Peter and Paul have been published by Thilo (Acta Petri et Pauli, Halle, 1837), and by Tischendorf, in his Acta Apost. Apocr., p. 1–39. English translation in the Ante-Nicene Fathers (Am. ed.), VIII. p. 477.
22 This Gospel is mentioned by Serapion as in use in the church of Rhossus (quoted by Eusebius, Bk. VI. chap. 12, below), but was rejected by him because of the heretical doctrines which it contained. It is mentioned again by Eusebius, III. 25, only to be rejected as heretical; also by Origen (in Matt. Vol. X. 17) and by Jerome (de vir. ill. 1), who follows Eusebius in pronouncing it an heretical work employed by no early teachers of the Christian Church. Lipsius regards it as probably a Gnostic recast of one of the Canonical Gospels. From Serapion’s account of this Gospel (see below, Bk. VI. chap. 12), we see that it differs from the Canonical Gospels, not in denying their truth, or in giving a contradictory account of Christ’s life, but rather in adding to the account given by them. This, of course, favors Lipsius’ hypothesis; and in any case he is certainly quite right in denying that the Gospel was an original work made use of by Justin Martyr, and that it in any way lay at the base of our present Gospel of Mark. The Gospel (as we learn from the same chapter) was used by the Docetæ, but that does not imply that it contained what we call Docetic ideas of Christ’s body (cf. note 8 on that chapter). The Gospel is no longer extant. See Lipsius, in Smith and Wace’s Dict. of Christ. Biog. II. p. 712.
23 This Preaching of Peter (Κήρυγμα Πέτρου, Prædicatio Petri), which is no longer extant, probably formed a part of a lost Preaching of Peter and Paul (cf. Clement of Alexandria, Strom. VI. 5, and Lactantius, Inst. IV. 21). It was mentioned frequently by the early Fathers, and a number of fragments of it have been preserved by Clement of Alexandria, who quotes it frequently as a genuine record of Peter’s teaching. (The fragments are collected by Grabe in his Spic. Patr. I. 55–71, and by Hilgenfeld in his N. T. extra Can. rec., 2d ed., IV. p. 51 sqq.). It is mentioned twice by Origen (in Johan. XIII. 17, and De Princ. Præf. 8), and in the latter place is expressly classed among spurious works. It was probably, according to Lipsius, closely connected with the Acts of Peter and Paul mentioned in note 6, above. Lipsius, however, regards those Acts as a Catholic adaptation of a work originally Ebionitic, though he says expressly that the Preaching is not at all of that character, but is a Petro-Pauline production, and is to be distinguished from the Ebionitic κηρύγματα. It would seem therefore that he must put the Preaching later than the original of the Acts, into a time when the Ebionitic character of the latter had been done away with. Salmon meanwhile holds that the Preaching is as old as the middle of the second century and the most ancient of the works recording Peter’s preaching, and hence (if this view be accepted) the Ebionitic character which Lipsius ascribes to the Acts did not (if it existed at all) belong to the original form of the record of Peter’s preaching embodied in the Acts and in the Preaching. The latter (if it included also the Preaching of Paul, as seems almost certain) appears to have contained an account of some of the events of the life of Christ, and it may have been used by Justin. Compare the remarks of Lipsius in the Dict. of Christ. Biog. I. p. 28 (Cath. Adaptations of Ebionitic Acts), and Salmon’s article on the Preaching of Peter, ibid. IV. 329.
24 The Apocalypse of Peter enjoyed considerable favor in the early Church and was accepted by some Fathers as a genuine work of the apostle. It is mentioned in the Muratorian Fragment in connection with the Apocalypse of John, as a part of the Roman Canon, and is accepted by the author of the fragment himself; although he says that some at that time rejected it. Clement of Alexandria, in his Hypotyposes (according to Eusebius, IV. 14, below), commented upon it, thus showing that it belonged at that time to the Alexandrian Canon. In the third century it was still received in the North African Church (so Harnack, who refers to the stichometry of the Codex Claramontanus). The Eclogæ or Prophetical Selections of Clement of Alexandria give it as a genuine work of Peter (§§41, 48, 49, p. 1000 sq., Potter’s ed.), and so Methodius of Tyre (Sympos. XI. 6, p. 16, ed. Jahn, according to Lipsius). After Eusebius’ time the work seems to have been universally regarded as spurious, and thus, as its canonicity depended upon its apostolic origin (see chap. 24, note 19), it gradually fell out of the Canon. It nevertheless held its place for centuries among the semi-scriptural books, and was read in many churches. According to Sozomen, H. E. VII. 19, it was read at Easter, which shows that it was treated with especial respect. Nicephorus in his Stichometry puts it among the Antilegomena, in immediate connection with the Apocalypse of John. As Lipsius remarks, its “lay-recognition in orthodox circles proves that it could not have had a Gnostic origin, nor otherwise have contained what was offensive to Catholic Christians” (see Lipsius, Dict. of Christ. Biog. I. p. 130 sqq.). Only a few fragments of the work are extant, and these are given by Hilgenfeld, in his Nov. Test. extra Can. receptum, IV. 74 sq., and by Grabe, Spic. Patr. I. 71 sqq.
25 οὐδ᾽ ὅλως ἐν καθολικαῖς ἴσμεν παραδεδομένα
26 Eusebius exaggerates in this statement. The Apocalypse of Peter was in quite general use in the second century, as we learn from the Muratorian Fragment; and Clement (as Eusebius himself says in VI. 14) wrote a commentary upon it in connection with the other Antilegomena.
27 τῶν ἀντιλεγομένων
28 περὶ τῶν ἐνδιαθήκων καὶ ὁμολογουμένων
29 ὧν μόνην μίαν γνησίαν žγνων.
30 As above; see note 2.
31 The thirteen Pauline Epistles of our present Canon, and the Epistle to the Hebrews. These formed for Eusebius an absolutely undisputed part of the Canon (cf. chap. 25, below, where he speaks of them with the same complete assurance), and were universally accepted until the present century. The external testimony for all of them is ample, going back (the Pastoral Epistles excepted) to the early part of the second century. The Epistles to the Romans, Corinthians, and Galatians have never been disputed (except by an individual here and there, especially during the last few years in Holland), even the Tübingen School accepting them as genuine works of Paul. The other epistles have not fared so well. The genuineness of Ephesians was first questioned by Usteri in 1824 and De Wette in 1826, and the Tübingen School rejected it. Scholars are at present greatly divided; the majority of negative critics reject it, while many liberal and all conservative scholars defend it. Colossians was first attacked by Mayerhoff in 1838, followed by the whole Tübingen School. It fares to-day somewhat better than Ephesians. It is still, however, rejected by many extreme critics, while others leave the matter in suspense (e.g. Weizsäcker in his Apostolisches Zeitalter). Since 1872, when the theory was proposed by Holtzmann, some scholars have held that our present Epistle contains a genuine Epistle of Paul to the Colossians, of which it is a later revision and expansion. Baur and the Tübingen School were the first to attack Philippians as a whole, and it too is still rejected by many critics, but at the same time it is more widely accepted than either Ephesians or Colossians (e.g. Weizsäcker and even Hilgenfeld defend its genuineness). Second Thessalonians was first attacked by Schmidt in 1801, followed by a number of scholars, until Baur extended the attack to the first Epistle also. Second Thessalonians is still almost unanimously rejected by negative critics, and even by some moderates, while First Thessalonians has regained the support of many of the former (e.g. Hilgenfeld, Weizsäcker, and even Holtzmann), and is entirely rejected by comparatively few critics. Philemon—which was first attacked by Baur—is quite generally accepted, but the Pastoral Epistles are almost as generally rejected, except by the regular conservative school (upon the Pastorals, see Bk. II. chap. 22, note 8, above). For a concise account of the state of criticism upon each epistle, see Holtzmann’s Einleitung. For a defense of them all, see the Einleitung of Weiss.
32 τινες ἠθετήκασι. That the Epistle to the Hebrews was not written by Paul is now commonly acknowledged, and may be regarded as absolutely certain. It does not itself lay any claim to Pauline authorship; its theology and style are both non-Pauline; and finally, external testimony is strongly against its direct connection with Paul. The first persons to assign the epistle to Paul are Pantænus and Clement of Alexandria (see below, Bk. VI. chap. 14), and they evidently find it necessary to defend its Pauline authorship in the face of the objections of others. Clement, indeed, assumes a Hebrew original, which was translated into Greek by Luke. Origen (see below, Bk. VI. chap. 25) leaves its authorship undecided, but thinks it probable that the thoughts are Paul’s, but the diction that of some one else, who has recorded what he heard from the apostle. He then remarks that one tradition assigned it to Clement of Rome, another to Luke. Eusebius himself, in agreement with the Alexandrians (who, with the exception of Origen, unanimously accept the Pauline authorship), looks upon it as a work of Paul, but accepts Clement of Alexandria’s theory that it was written in Hebrew, and thinks it probable that Clement of Rome was its translator (see chap. 38, below). In the Western Church, where the epistle was known very early (e.g. Clement of Rome uses it freely), it is not connected with Paul until the fourth century. Indeed, Tertullian (de pudicit. 20) states that it bore the name of Barnabas, and evidently had never heard that it had been ascribed to any one else. The influence of the Alexandrians, however, finally prevailed, and from the fifth century on we find it universally accepted, both East and West, as an epistle of Paul, and not until the Reformation was its origin again questioned. Since that time its authorship has been commonly regarded as an insoluble mystery. Numerous guesses have been made (e.g. Luther guessed Apollos, and he has been followed by many), but it is impossible to prove that any of them are correct. For Barnabas, however, more can be said than for any of the others. Tertullian expressly connects the epistle with him; and its contents are just what we should expect from the pen of a Levite who had been for a time under Paul’s influence, and yet had not received his Christianity from him; its standpoint, in fact, is Levitic, and decidedly non-Pauline, and yet reveals in many places the influence of Pauline ideas. Still further, it is noticeable that in the place where the Epistle to the Hebrews is first ascribed to Paul, there first appears an epistle which is ascribed (quite wrongly; see below, chap. 25, note 20) to Barnabas. May it not be (as has been suggested by Weiss and others) that the anonymous Epistle to the Hebrews was originally accepted in Alexandria as the work of Barnabas, but that later it was ascribed to Paul; and that the tradition that Barnabas had written an epistle, which must still have remained in the Church, led to the ascription of another anonymous epistle to him? We seem thus most easily to explain the false ascription of the one epistle to Paul, and the false ascription of the other to Barnabas. It may be said that the claims of both Barnabas and Apollos have many supporters, while still more attempt no decision. In regard to the canonicity of the epistle there seems never to have been any serious dispute, and it is this fact doubtless which did most to foster the belief in its Pauline authorship from the third century on. For the criterion of canonicity more and more came to be looked upon as apostolicity, direct or indirect. The early Church had cared little for such a criterion. In only one place does Eusebius seem to imply that doubts existed as to its canonicity,—in Bk. VI. chap. 13, where he classes it with the Book of Wisdom, and the Epistles of Barnabas, Clement, and Jude, among the antilegomena. But in view of his treatment of it elsewhere it must be concluded that he is thinking in that passage not at all of its canonicity, but of its Pauline authorship, which he knows is disputed by some, and in reference to which he uses the same word, ἀντιλέγεσθαι, in the present sentence. Upon the canonicity of the epistle, see still further chap. 25, note 1. For a discussion of the epistle, see especially the N. T. Introductions of Weiss and Holtzmann.
33 ἀντιλέγεσθαι
34 See Bk. VI. chaps. 14, 20, 25.
35 These πρ€ξεις are mentioned also in chap. 25, below, where they are classed among the νόθοι, implying that they had been originally accepted as canonical, but were not at the time Eusebius wrote widely accepted as such. This implies that they were not, like the works which he mentions later in the chapter, of an heretical character. They were already known to Origen, who (De Prin. I. 2, 3) refers to them in such a way as to show that they were in good repute in the Catholic Church. They are to be distinguished from the Gnostic περίοδοι or πρ€ξεις Παύλου, which from the end of the fourth century formed a part of the Manichean canon of the New Testament, and of which some fragments are still extant under various forms. The failure to keep these Catholic and heretical Acta Pauli always distinct has caused considerable confusion. Both of these Acts, the Catholic and the heretical, formed, according to Lipsius (Apokr. Apostelgeschichten, II. 1, p. 305 sq.) one of the sources of the Catholic Acts of Peter and Paul, which in their extant form belong to the fifth century. For a discussion of these Catholic Acts of Paul referred to by Eusebius, see Lipsius, ibid., p. 70 sq.
36 οὐδὲ μὴν τὰς λεγομένας αὐτοῦ πρ€ξεις ἐν ἀναμφιλέκτοις παρείληφα
37 See Rom. xvi. 14. The greater part of this last chapter of Romans is considered by many a separate epistle addressed to Ephesus. This has been quite a common opinion since 1829, when it was first broached by David Schulz (Studien und Kritiken, p. 629 sq.), and is accepted even by many conservative scholars (e.g. Weiss), while on the other hand it is opposed by many of the opposite school. While Aquila and Priscilla, of verse 3, and Epænetus, of verse 5, seem to point to Ephesus, and the fact that so many personal friends are greeted, leads us to look naturally to the East as Paul’s field of labor, where he had formed so many acquaintances, rather than to Rome, where he had not been; yet on the other hand such names as Junias, Narcissus, Rufus, Hermas, Nereus, Aristobulus, and Herodion point strongly to Rome. We must, however, be content to leave the matter undecided, but may be confident that the evidence for the Ephesian hypothesis is certainly, in the face of the Roman names mentioned, and of universal tradition (for which as for Eusebius the epistle is a unit), not strong enough to establish it.
38 The Shepherd of Hermas was in circulation in the latter half of the second century, and is quoted by Irenæus (Adv. Hær. IV. 20. 2) as Scripture, although he omits it in his discussion of Scripture testimonies in Bk. III. chap. 9 sqq., which shows that he considered it not quite on a level with regular Scripture. Clement of Alexandria and Origen often quote it as an inspired book, though the latter expressly distinguishes it from the canonical books, admitting that it is disputed by many (cf. De Prin. IV. 11). Eusebius in chap. 25 places it among the νόθοι or spurious writings in connection with the Acts of Paul and the Apocalypse of Peter. According to the Muratorian Fragment it was “written very recently in our times in the city of Rome by Hermas, while his brother, Bishop Pius, sat in the chair of the Church of Rome. And therefore it also ought to be read; but it cannot be made public in the Church to the people, nor placed among the prophets, as their number is complete, nor among the apostles to the end of time.” This shows the very high esteem in which the work was held in that age. It was very widely employed in private and in public, both in the East and the West, until about the fourth century, when it gradually passed out of use. Jerome (de vir. ill. 10) says that it was almost unknown among the Latins of his time. As to the date and authorship of the Shepherd opinions vary widely. The only direct testimony of antiquity is that of the Muratorian Fragment, which says that it was written by Hermas, the brother of Pius, during the episcopacy of the latter (139–154 a.d.). This testimony is accepted by the majority of scholars, most of whom date the book near the middle of the second century, or at least as late as the reign of Hadrian. This opinion received not long ago what was supposed to be a strong confirmation from the discovery of the fact that Hermas in all probability quoted from Theodotion’s version of Daniel (see Hort’s article in the Johns Hopkins University Circular, December, 1884), which has been commonly ascribed to the second century. But it must now be admitted that no one knows the terminus a quo for the composition of Theodotian’s version, and therefore the discovery leaves the date of Hermas entirely undetermined (see Schürer, Gesch. des jüdischen Volkes, II. p. 709). Meanwhile Eusebius in this connection records the tradition, which he had read, that the book was written by the Hermas mentioned in Romans xvi. This tradition, however, appears to be no older than Origen, with whom it is no more than a mere guess. While in our absence of any knowledge as to this Hermas we cannot absolutely disprove his claim (unless we prove decisively the late date of the book), there is yet no ground for accepting it other than a mere coincidence in a very common name. In Vis. II. 4. 3 Hermas is told to give one copy of his book to Clement. From this it is concluded by many that the author must have been contemporary with the well-known Roman Clement, the author of the Epistle to the Corinthians. While this appears very likely, it cannot be called certain in the face of evidence for a considerably later date. Internal testimony helps us little, as there is nothing in the book which may not have been written at the very beginning of the second century, or, on the other hand, as late as the middle of it. Zahn dates it between 97 and 100, and assigns it to an unknown Hermas, a contemporary of the Roman Clement, in which he is followed by Salmon in a very clear and keen article in the Dict. of Christ. Biog. Critics are unanimously agreed that the book was written in Rome. It consists of three parts, Visions, Mandates, and Similitudes, and is of the nature of an apocalypse, written for the purpose of reforming the life of the Church, which seemed to the author to have become very corrupt. The work (especially the last part) is in the form of an allegory, and has been compared to the Pilgrim’s Progress. Opinions are divided as to whether it is actually founded upon visions and dreams of the author, or is wholly a fiction. The former opinion seems to be the more probable. Until recent years only a Latin translation of Hermas was known. In 1856 the first Greek edition was issued by Anger and Dindorf, being based upon a Mt. Athos ms. discovered shortly before by Simonides. Of the ten leaves of the ms. the last was lost; three were sold by Simonides to the University of Leipsic, and the other six were transcribed by him in a very faulty manner. The Sinaitic Codex has enabled us to control the text of Simonides in part, but unfortunately it contains only the Visions and a small part of the Mandates. All recent editions have been obliged to take the faulty transcription of Simonides as their foundation. In 1880 the six leaves of the Athos Codex, which had been supposed to be lost, and which were known only through Simonides’ transcription, were discovered by Lambros at Mt. Athos, and in 1888 A Collation of the Athos Codex of the Shepherd of Hermas by Dr. Spyr Lambros was issued in English translation by J. A. Robinson, at Cambridge, England. We thus have now a reliable Greek text of nine-tenths of the Shepherd of Hermas. Hilgenfeld, in his last edition (1887) of his Novum Test. Extra Can. Rec., published also a Greek text of the lost part of the work, basing it upon a pretended transcription by Simonides from the lost Athos ms. But this has been conclusively shown to be a mere fraud on the part of Simonides, and we are therefore still without any ms. authority for the Greek text of the close of the work. Cf. Robinson’s introduction to the Collation of Lambros mentioned above, and Harnack’s articles in the Theol. Literaturzeitung (1887). The most useful edition of the original is that of Gebhardt and Harnack, Patrum Apost. Opera, Fasc. III. (Lips. 1877). The work is translated in the Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. II. The literature upon the subject is very extensive, but the reader should examine especially the Prolegomena of Harnack in his edition. Cf. Zahn’s Hirt des Hermas (1868), and the article by Salmon in the Dict. of Christ. Biog. II. p. 912 sqq. Cf. also chap. 24, note 20, in regard to the reasons for the non-canonicity of the Shepherd.