All that is known of the life of Tatian can be soon told. He was an Assyrian by birth, as he himself distinctly states. If other writers call him a Syrian, the discrepancy may be explained by the common confusion between the two nationalities; or possibly it should be accounted for by his place of residence during the later years of his life. As a heathen he exercised the profession of a sophist, and in this capacity travelled far and wide. His mind was first turned towards Christianity by reading the Scriptures, which impressed him greatly. As a Christian he became the hearer—in some sense the disciple—of Justin Martyr, doubtless at Rome; and when Crescens, the cynic, succeeded in bringing about his master's death, Tatian's life also was imperilled by the plots of this machinator. While he remained in the metropolis he had among his disciples Rhodon, who in later years undertook to refute one of his heretical works. Subsequently he left Rome, and seems to have spent the remainder of his life in the East, more especially in Syria and the neighbouring countries.
After the death of Justin Martyr—how soon after we do not know—his opinions underwent a change. Hitherto he had been regarded as strictly orthodox; but now he separated himself from the Church, and espoused views closely allied to those of the Encratites. A leading tenet of his new ascetic creed was the rejection of marriage as an abomination. But he is stated also to have adopted opinions from Gnostic teachers, more especially the doctrine of Æons, which he derived from the Valentinian school [273:1]. The author ofSupernatural Religionfurther says that, 'although Tatian may have been acquainted with some of his (St Paul's) Epistles, it is certain that he did not hold the Apostle in any honour, and permitted himself the liberty of altering his phraseology' [273:2]. Where did he learn this 'certain' piece of information that Tatian thought lightly of St Paul? Assuredly not from any ancient writer. It is quite true that Tatian is stated to have mutilated some of St Paul's Epistles and rejected others. But so did Marcion, who held the Apostle in extravagant honour. And the motive was the same in both cases. The Apostle's actual language did not square with their favourite tenets in all respects, and therefore they assumed that his text must have been corrupted or interpolated. So far from its being at all doubtful, as our author seems to suggest, whether Tatian was acquainted with any of St Paul's Epistles, we have positive evidence that he did receive some [273:3]; and moreover one or two coincidences in his extant work point to an acquaintance with the Apostle's writings. His leanings, like those of Marcion and Valentinus, were generally in the opposite direction to Judaism. His tendency would be not to underrate but to overrate St Paul. At the same time such passages as 1 Tim. iv. 3, where the prohibition of marriage is denounced as a heresy, were a stumbling-block. They must therefore be excised as interpolations, or the Epistles containing them must be rejected as spurious.
The date of Tatian is a matter of some uncertainty. He was a hearer, as we have seen, of Justin Martyr in Rome; and if the chronology of this father had been established beyond the reach of doubt, we should be treading on firm ground. On this point however there has been much variety of opinion. The prevailing view is, or was, in favour of placing Justin's death as late as A.D. 163-165, on the authority of Eusebius; but the most careful investigations of recent criticism have tended towards a much earlier date [274:1]. The literary activity of Tatian seems to have begun about the time of Justin Martyr's death; and after this we have to allow for his own career, first as an orthodox Christian, and then as a heretic. When Irenæus wrote his first book, Tatian was no longer living, as may be inferred from the language of this father [274:2]: and this book must have been written before A.D. 190, and may have 'been written as early as A.D. 178 [274:3]. Again, if we may assume that the 'Assyrian,' whom the Alexandrian Clement mentions among his teachers [274:4], was Tatian, as seems highly probable, we have another indication of date. The first book of theStromateis, in which this fact is recorded, was itself written about A.D. 194 or 195; and Clement there speaks of the Assyrian as one of his earlier masters, whom he had met with in the East, before he settled down under the tuition of Pantænus at Alexandria. In like manner Tatian's connection with Rhodon would point roughly to the same conclusion. On the whole, we shall perhaps not be far wrong if we place the literary activity of Tatian at about A.D. 155-170. It may have begun some few years earlier, or it may have extended some few years later.
Tatian was a voluminous writer; but of several writings mentioned by the ancients only one has come down to us, hisApologyorAddress to the Greeks. It was written after the death of Justin, but apparently not very long after. At all events it would seem to have been composed before he had separated from the Church and set himself up as a heretical teacher. Its date therefore is dependent on the uncertain chronology of Justin. The author ofSupernatural Religionspeaks of it as 'generally dated between A.D. 170-175,' and seems himself to acquiesce in this view. Though I think this date probably several years too late, the point is not worth contending for.
As a rule, the early Apologies abstain from quotations, whether from the Old Testament or from the New. The writers are dealing with Gentiles, who have no acquaintance with and attribute no authority to their sacred books, and therefore they make little or no use of them [275:1]. Thus theApologeticusof Tertullian does not contain a single passage from the New Testament, though his writings addressed to Christians teem with quotations from our Canonical books. Hence it is not in this extant work that we should expect to obtain information as to Tatian's Canon of the Scriptures. Any allusion to them will be purely incidental. As regards our Synoptical Gospels, the indications in Tatian's Apology are not such that we can lay much stress on them. But the evidence that he knew and accepted the Fourth Gospel is beyond the reach of any reasonable doubt.
The passages are here placed side by side:—
TATIAN. | ST JOHN. | 'God is a Spirit' ([Greek: pneuma ho | 'God is a Spirit' ([Greek: pneuma Theos]), § 4. | ho Theos]), iv. 24. | 'And this then is the saying | 'And the light shineth in the ([Greek: to eirêmenon]); The | darkness, and the darkness darkness comprehendeth not the light'| comprehended it not' ([Greek: hê skotia to phôs ou | ([Greek: kai hê skotia auto ou katalambanei]), § 13. | katelaben]), i. 5. | 'Follow ye the only God. All things |'All things were made through have been made by Him, and apart | Him, and apart from Him was from Him hath been made no one thing'| made no one thing' ([Greek: panta ([Greek: panta hup' autou kai chôris | di' autou egeneto kai chôris autou gegonen oude hen]), § 19. | autou egeneteo oude hen]), i. 3.
In the last passage from St John I have stopped at the words [Greek: oude hen], because the earliest Christian writers universally punctuated in this way, taking [Greek: ho gegonen k.t.l.] with the following sentence, 'That which hath been made was life in Him.'
Besides these passages there are other coincidences of exposition, with which however I need not trouble the reader, as they may fairly be disputed.
It is difficult to see how any one can resist coincidences like these; and yet the author ofSupernatural Religiondoes resist them.
The first passage our author has apparently overlooked, for he says nothing about it. If it had stood alone I should certainly not have regarded it as decisive. But the epigrammatic form is remarkable, and it is a characteristic passage of the Fourth Gospel.
Of the second passage it should be noticed that Tatian introduces it with the expression ([Greek: to eirêmenon]), which is used in the New Testament in quoting the Scriptures (Luke ii. 24, Acts ii. 16, xiii. 40, Rom. iv. 18); that in the context he explains 'the Word' (Logos) to be 'the light of God,' and 'the darkness' to be 'the unintelligent soul;' that this use of [Greek: katalambanein] is very peculiar, and has caused perplexity to interpreters of St John, being translated variously 'comprehended' or 'surprised' or 'overcame;' that the passage in the Fourth Gospel here again is highly characteristic, and occurs in its most characteristic part; and lastly, that the changes made by Tatian are just such as a writer would make when desiring to divest the saying of its context and present it in the briefest form. On the other hand, the author ofSupernatural Religionhas nothing to allege against this coincidence; he can produce nothing like it elsewhere; but he falls back on 'the constant use of the same similitude of light and darkness,' and other arguments of the kind, which are valueless because they do not touch the point of the resemblance.
On the third passage he remarks that, unlike the author of the Fourth Gospel, 'Tatian here speaks of God, and not of the Logos.' Just so; but then he varies the preposition accordingly, substituting [Greek: hupo] for the Evangelist's [Greek: dia] to suit his adaptation. Our author also refers to 'the first chapters of Genesis;' but where is there any language in the first chapters of Genesis which presents anything like the same degree of parallelism? Here again, he is unable to impugn the coincidence, which is all the more remarkable because the words are extremely simple in themselves, and it is their order and adaptation which gives a character of uniqueness to the expression.
So much for the individual coincidences. But neither here nor elsewhere does our author betray any consciousness of the value of cumulative evidence. It is only necessary to point to the enormous improbability that any two writers should exhibit accidentally three such resemblances as in the passages quoted; and the inference will be plain.
It is not however in this testimony which his extant work bears to the Fourth Gospel, however decisive this may be, that the chief importance of Tatian consists. Ancient writers speak of him as the author of a Harmony or Digest of the four Gospels, to which accordingly he gave the name ofDiatessaron. This statement however has been called in question by some recent critics, among whom the author ofSupernatural Religionis, as usual, the most uncompromising. It is necessary therefore to examine the witnesses:—
1. In the first place then, Eusebius states definitely [277:1]—'Tatian composed a sort of connection and compilation, I know not how, of the Gospels, and called it theDiatessaron([Greek: sunapheian tina kai sunagôgên ouk oid' hopôs tôn euangeliôn suntheis to dia tessarôn touto prosônomasen]). This work is current in some quarters (with some persons) even to the present day.'
This statement is explicit; yet our author endeavours to set it aside on the ground that 'not only is it based upon mere hearsay, but it is altogether indefinite as to the character of the contents, and the writer admits his own ignorance ([Greek: ouk oid' hopôs]) regarding them' [278:1].
His inference however from the expression 'I know not how' is altogether unwarranted. So far from implying that Eusebius had no personal knowledge of the work, it is constantly used by writers in speaking of books where they are perfectly acquainted with the contents, but do not understand the principles or do not approve the method. In idiomatic English it signifies 'I cannot think what he was about,' and is equivalent to 'unaccountably,' 'absurdly,' so that, if anything, it implies knowledge rather than ignorance of the contents. I have noticed at least twenty-six examples of its use in the treatise of Origen against Celsus alone [278:2], where it commonly refers to Celsus' work which he had before him, and very often to passages which he himself quotes in the context. It is not ignorance of the contents, but disparagement of the plan of Tatian's work, which the expression of Eusebius implies. TheDiatessaronwas commonly current, as we shall see presently, in the neighbouring districts: and it would be somewhat strange if Eusebius, who took a special interest in apocryphal literature, should have remained unacquainted with it.
2. Our next witness is overlooked by the author ofSupernatural Religion. Yet the testimony is not unimportant. In theDoctrine of Addai, an apocryphal Syriac work, which professes to give an account of the foundation and earliest history of Christianity at Edessa, the new converts are represented as meeting together to hear read, along with the Old Testament, the New (Testament) of theDiatessaron' [278:3]. It seems clear from this notice that, at the time when the writer composed this fiction, the form in which the Evangelical narratives were commonly read in the churches with which he was best acquainted was aDiatessaron, orHarmony of Four Gospels. From internal evidence however it is clear that the work emanated from Edessa or its neighbourhood. The date of the fiction is less certain; but it is obviously an early writing. The St Petersburgh MS containing it is assigned to the sixth century, and the British Museum MSS to the fifth or sixth century [279:1]; while there exists an Armenian version said to have been made as early as the fifth century. The work itself therefore must have been written much earlier than this. There is indeed no good reason for doubting that it is the very Syriac document to which Eusebius refers as containing the correspondence of our Lord with Abgarus, and preserved among the archives of Edessa, and which therefore cannot have been very recent when he wrote, about A.D. 325 [279:2]. At the same time it contains gross anachronisms and misstatements respecting earlier Christian history, which hardly allow us to place it much earlier than the middle of the third century [279:3]. Whatever may be its date, the fact is important that the writer usesDiatessaron, adopted from the Greek into the Syriac, as the familiar name for the Gospel narrative which was read in public. Of the authorship of this work however he says nothing. This information we have to seek from other sources. Nor is it far to seek.
3. We are told that the most famous of the native Syrian fathers, Ephraem, the deacon of Edessa (who died A.D. 373 [280:1]), wrote a commentary on theDiatessaronof Tatian. Our informant is Dionysius Bar-Salibi, who flourished in the last years of the twelfth century, and died A.D. 1207. In his own Commentary on the Gospels, he writes as follows [280:2]:—
Tatian, the disciple of Justin, the philosopher and martyr, selected and patched together from the Four Gospels and constructed a Gospel, which he calledDiatessaron, that isMiscellanies. On this work Mar Ephraem wrote an exposition; and its commencement was—In the beginning was the Word. Elias of Salamia, who is also called Aphthonius, constructed a Gospel after the likeness of theDiatessaronof Ammonius, mentioned by Eusebius in his prologue to the Canons which he made for the Gospel. Elias sought for that Diatessaron and could not find it, and in consequence constructed this after its likeness. And the said Elias finds fault with several things in the Canons of Eusebius, and points out errors in them, and rightly. But this copy (work) which Elias composed is not often met with.
This statement is explicit and careful. The writer distinguishes two older works, bearing the name ofDiatessaron, composed respectively by Tatian and Ammonius. In addition he mentions a third, composed at a later date by this Elias. Of the work of Ammonius of Alexandria (about A.D. 220) Eusebius, as Bar-Salibi correctly states, gives an account in hisLetter to Carpianus, prefixed to his Canons. It was quite different in its character from theDiatessaronof Tatian. TheDiatessaronof Tatian was a patchwork of the Four Gospels, commencing with the preface of St John. The work of Ammonius took the Gospel of St Matthew as its standard, preserving its continuity, and placed side by side with it the parallel passages from the other Gospels [281:1]. The principle of the one work wasamalgamation; of the other,comparison. No one who had seen the two works could confuse them, though they bore the same name,Diatessaron. Eusebius keeps them quite distinct. So does Bar-Salibi. Later on in his commentary, we are told, he quotes both works in the same place [281:2]. When therefore he relates that Ephraem wrote a commentary on theDiatessaronof Tatian, he is worthy of all credit. From the last witness we have learnt that theDiatessaronwas commonly read in the churches of Edessa; and it was therefore most natural that this famous Edessan father should choose it for commenting upon.
It is quite true that other Syrian writers have confused these twoDiatessarons[281:3]. But this fact is only valid to show that confusion was possible; it is powerless to impugn the testimony of this particular author, who shows himself in this passage altogether trustworthy. Who would think of throwing discredit on Lord Macaulay or Mr Freeman, because Robertson or Hume may be inaccurate?
4. Our next witness is more important than any. The famous Greek father Theodoret became bishop of Cyrus or Cyrrhus, near the Euphrates, in the year 420 or 423 according to different computations, and held this see till his death, which occurred A.D. 457 or 458. In the year 453 he wrote his treatise onHeresies, in which he makes the following statement:—
He (Tatian) composed the Gospel which is calledDiatessaron, cutting out the genealogies [282:1] and such other passages as show the Lord to have been born of the seed of David after the flesh. This work was in use not only among persons belonging to his sect, but also among those who follow the apostolic doctrine, as they did not perceive the mischief of the composition, but used the book in all simplicity on account of its brevity. And I myself found more than two hundred such copies held in respect in the churches in our parts ([Greek: tais par' hêmin ekklêsiais]). All these I collected and put away, and I replaced them by the Gospels of the Four Evangelists.
The churches to which he refers were doubtless those belonging to his diocese of Cyrrhestice, which contained eight hundred parishes [283:1]. The proportion of copies will give some idea of the extent of its circulation in these parts.
It is vain, in the teeth of these facts, to allege the uncritical character of the father as discrediting the evidence. The materials before Theodoret were ample; the man himself was competent to form a judgment; and the judgment is explicit. Neither can there be any reasonable doubt, considering the locality, that theDiatessaronhere mentioned is the same which is named in theDoctrine of Addai, and the same which was commented on by Ephraem Syrus. When the author ofSupernatural Religionargues that Theodoret does not here regard thisDiatessaronas patched together from the four canonical Gospels, it is unnecessary to follow him. This point may be safely left to the intelligence of the reader.
Here then we have the testimony of four distinct witnesses, all tending to the same result. Throughout large districts of Syria there was in common circulation from the third century down to the middle of the fifth aDiatessaronbearing the name of Tatian [283:2]. It was a compilation of our Four Gospels, which recommended itself by its concise and convenient form, and so superseded the reading of the Evangelists themselves in some churches. It commenced, as it naturally could commence, with the opening words of the Fourth Gospel—a gospel which, as we have seen, Tatian quotes in his extant work. It was probably in the main a fairly adequate digest of the evangelical narratives, for otherwise it would not have maintained its grounds; but passages which offended Tatian's Encratic and Gnostic views, such as the genealogies, were excised; and this might easily be done without attracting notice under cover of his general plan. All this is consistent and probable in itself. Moreover the range of circulation attributed to it is just what might have been expected; for Syria and Mesopotamia are especially mentioned as the scene of Tatian's labours [284:1].
In this general convergence of testimony however, there are two seemingly discordant voices, of which the author ofSupernatural Religionmakes much use. Let us see what they really mean.
1. Epiphanius was bishop of Constantia, in Cyprus, in the latter half of the fourth century. In his book onHeresies, which he commenced A.D. 374, he writes of Tatian, 'TheDiatessaronGospel is said to have been composed by him; it is called by someaccording to the Hebrews' [284:2].
Here then our author supposes that he has discerned the truth. ThisDiatessaronwas not a digest of our Four Gospels, but a distinct evangelical narrative, theGospel according to the Hebrews. Of this Gospel according to the Hebrews he says that 'at one time it was exclusively used by the fathers.' I challenge him to prove this assertion in the case of one single father, Greek or Latin or Syrian. But this by the way. If indeed this Hebrew Gospel had been in its contents anything like what our author imagines it, it would have borne some resemblance at all events to theDiatessaron; for, wherever he meets with any evangelical passage in any early writer, which is found literally or substantially in any one of our Four Gospels (whether characteristic of St Matthew, or of St Luke, or of St John, it matters not) he assigns it without misgiving to this Hebrew Gospel. But his Hebrew Gospel is a pure effort of the imagination. The only 'Gospel according to the Hebrews' known to antiquity was a very different document. It was not co-extensive with our Four Gospels; but was constructed on the lines of the first alone. Indeed so closely did it resemble the canonical St Matthew—though with variations, omissions, and additions—that Jerome, who translated it, supposed it to be the Hebrew original [285:1], of which Papias speaks. Such a Gospel does not answer in any single particular, unless it be the omission of the genealogy (which however does not appear to have been absent from all copies of this Gospel), to the notices of Tatian'sDiatessaron. More especially the omission of all reference to the Davidic descent of Christ would be directly opposed to the fundamental principle of this Gospel, which, addressing itself to the Jews, laid special stress on His Messianic claims.
How then can we explain the statement of Epiphanius? It is a simple blunder, not more egregious than scores of other blunders which deface his pages. He had not seen theDiatessaron: this our author himself says. But he had heard that it was in circulation in certain parts of Syria; and he knew also that the Gospel of the Hebrews was current in these same regions, there or thereabouts. Hence he jumped at the identification. To a writer who can go astray so incredibly about the broadest facts of history, as we have seen him do in the succession of the Roman Emperors [285:2], such an error would be the easiest thing in the world. Yet it was perfectly consistent on the part of our author, who in another instance prefers John Malalas to the concurrent testimony of all the preceding centuries [285:3], to set aside the direct evidence of a Theodoret, and to accept without hesitation the hearsay of an Epiphanius.
2. 'Tatian's Gospel,' writes the author ofSupernatural Religion, 'was not only calledDiatessaron, but according to Victor of Capua, it was also calledDiapente([Greek: dia pente]) "by five," a complication which shows the incorrectness of the ecclesiastical theory of its composition.'
This is not a very accurate statement. If our author had referred to the actual passage in Victor of Capua, he would have found that Victor does not himself call itDiapente, but says that Eusebius called itDiapente. This makes all the difference.
Victor, who flourished about A.D. 545, happened to stumble upon an anonymous Harmony or Digest of the Gospels [286:1], and began in consequence to investigate the authorship. He found two notices in Eusebius of such Harmonies; one in theEpistle to Carpianusprefixed to the Canons, relating to the work of Ammonius; another in theEcclesiastical History, relating to that of Tatian. Assuming that the work which he had discovered must be one or other, he decides in favour of the latter, because it does not give St Matthew continuously and append the passages of the other evangelists, as Eusebius states Ammonius to have done. All this Victor tells us in the preface to this anonymous Harmony, which he publishes in a Latin dress.
There can be no doubt that Victor was mistaken about the authorship; for, though the work is constructed on the same general plan as Tatian's, it does not begin with John i. 1, but with Luke i. 1, and it does contain the genealogies. It belongs therefore, at least in its present form, neither to Tatian nor to Ammonius.
But we are concerned only with the passage relating to Tatian, which commences as follows:—
Ex historia quoque ejus (i.e.Eusebii) comperi quod Tatianus vir eruditissimus et orator illius temporis clarus unum ex quatuor compaginaverit Evangelium cui titulumDiapenteimposuit.
Thus Victor gets his information directly from Eusebius, whom he repeats. He knows nothing about Tatian'sDiatessaron, except what Eusebius tells him. But we ourselves have this same passage of Eusebius before us, and find that Eusebius does not call itDiapentebutDiatessaron. This is not only the reading of all the Greek MSS without exception, but likewise of the Syriac version [287:1], which was probably contemporary with Eusebius and of which there is an extant MS belonging to the sixth century, as also of the Latin version which was made by Rufinus a century and a half before Victor wrote. About the text of Eusebius therefore there can be no doubt. Moreover Victor himself, who knew Greek, saysex quatuor, which requiresDiatessaron, and the work which he identifies with Tatian's Harmony is made up of passages from our Four Gospels alone. Therefore he can hardly have writtenDiapentehimself; and the curious reading is probably due to the blundering or the officiousness of some later scribe [287:2].
Thus we way safely acquiesce in the universal tradition, or as our author, [Greek: ouk oid' hopôs], prefers to call it, the 'ecclesiastical theory,' respecting the character and composition of Tatian's Diatessaron [287:3].
* * * * *
[The actualDiatessaronof Tatian has since been discovered, though not in the original language, so that no doubt can now remain on the subject. The history of this discovery has been given in the careful and scholarly work of Prof. Hemphill of Dublin (The Diatessaron of Tatian1888), where (see esp. p. xx sq) full information will be found. Ephraem's Commentary exists in an Armenian translation of some works of this Syrian father, which had been published in Venice as early as 1836. I had for some years possessed a copy of this work in four volumes, and the thought had more than once crossed my mind that possibly it might throw light on Ephraem's mode of dealing with the Gospels, as I knew that it contained notes on St Paul's Epistles or some portion of them. I did not however then possess sufficient knowledge of Armenian to sift its contents, but I hoped to investigate the matter when I had mastered enough of the language. Meanwhile a Latin translation was published by Moesinger under the title ofEvangelii concordantis expositio facta a Sancto Ephraemo doctore SyroVenet. 1876, just about the time when I wrote the above article; but it was not known in England till some years after. Later still an Arabic translation of theDiatessaronitself has been discovered and published in Rome by Ciasca (Tatiani Evangeliorum Harmoniae Arabice nunc primum etc., 1888). On the relation of Victor'sDiatessaron, which seems to be shown after all not to be independent of Tatian, and for the quotations in Aphraates, etc., see Hemphill'sDiatessaron. Thus the 'ecclesiastical theory'—the only theory which was supported by any sound continuous tradition—is shown to be unquestionably true, and its nineteenth century critical rivals must all be abandoned.]
The following paper has no reference to the work entitled 'Supernatural Religion'; but, as it is kindred in subject and appeared in the same Review, I have given it a place here.
In a former volume M. Renan declared his opinion that 'the author of the Third Gospel and the Acts was verily and indeed (bien réellement) Luke, a disciple of St Paul [291:1]. In the last instalment of his work he condemns as untenable the view that the first person plural of the later chapters is derived from some earlier document inserted by the author, on the ground that these portions are identical in style with the rest of the work [291:2]. Such an expression of opinion, proceeding from a not too conservative critic, is significant; and this view of the authorship, I cannot doubt, will be the final verdict of the future, as it has been the unbroken tradition of the past. But at a time when attacks on the genuineness of the work have been renewed, it may not be out of place to call attention to some illustrations of the narrative which recent discoveries have brought to light. No ancient work affords so many tests of veracity; for no other has such numerous points of contact in all directions with contemporary history, politics, and topography, whether Jewish or Greek or Roman. In the publications of the year 1877 Cyprus and Ephesus have made important contributions to the large mass of evidence already existing.
1. The government of the Roman provinces at this time was peculiarly dangerous ground for the romance-writer to venture upon. When Augustus assumed the supreme power he divided the provinces under the Roman dominion with the Senate. From that time forward there were two sets of provincial governors. The ruler of a senatorial province was styled a proconsul ([Greek: anthupatos]), while the officer to whom an imperatorial province was entrusted bore the name of proprætor ([Greek: antistratêgos]) or legate ([Greek: presbeutês]). Thus the use of the terms 'proconsul' and 'proprætor' was changed; for, whereas in republican times they signified that the provincial governors bearing them had previously held the offices of consul and prætor respectively at home, they were now employed to distinguish the superior power under which the provinces were administered without regard to the previous rank of the governors administering them. Moreover, the original subdivision of the provinces between the Emperor and Senate underwent constant modifications. If disturbances broke out in a senatorial province and military rule was necessary to restore order, it would be transferred to the Emperor as the head of the army, and the Senate would receive an imperatorial province in exchange. Hence at any given time it would be impossible to say without contemporary, or at least very exact historical knowledge, whether a particular province was governed by a proconsul or a proprætor. The province of Achaia is a familiar illustration of this point. A very few years before St Paul's visit to Corinth, and some years later, Achaia was governed by a proprætor. Just at this time, however, it was in the hands of the Senate, and its ruler therefore was a proconsul as represented by St Luke.
Cyprus is a less familiar, but not less instructive, example of the same accuracy. Older critics, even when writing on the apologetic side, had charged St Luke with an incorrect use of terms; and the origin of their mistake is a significant comment on the perplexities in which a later forger would find himself entangled in dealing with these official designations. They fell upon a passage in Strabo [292:1] where this writer, after mentioning the division of the provinces between the Emperor and the Senate, states that the Senate sent consuls to the two provinces of Asia and Africa but prætors to the rest on their list,—among which he mentions Cyprus; and they jumped at the conclusion—very natural in itself—that the governor of Cyprus would be called a proprætor. Accordingly Baronio [293:1] suggested that Cyprus, though a prætorian province, was often handed overhonoris causato be administered by the proconsul of Cilicia, and he assumed therefore that Sergius Paulus held this latter office; while Grotius found a solution in the hypothesis that proconsul was a title bestowed by flatterers on an official whose proper designation was proprætor. The error illustrates the danger of a little learning, not the less dangerous when it is in the hands of really learned men. Asia and Africa, the two great prizes of the profession, exhausted the normal two consuls of the preceding year; and the Senate therefore were obliged to send ex-prætors and other magistrates to govern the remaining provinces under their jurisdiction. But it is now an unquestioned and unquestionable fact that all the provincial governors who represented the Senate in imperial times, whatever magistracy they might have held previously, were styled officially proconsuls [293:2].
The circumstances indeed, so far as regards Cyprus, are distinctly stated by Dion Cassius. At the original distribution of the provinces (B.C. 27) this island had fallen to the Emperor's share; but the historian, while describing the assignment of the several countries in the first instance, adds that the Emperor subsequently gave back Cyprus and Gallia Narbonensis to the Senate, himself taking Dalmatia in exchange [293:3]; and at a later point, when he arrives at the time in question (B.C. 22), he repeats the information respecting the transfer. 'And so,' he adds, 'proconsuls began to be sent to those nations also' [294:1]. Of the continuance of Cyprus under the jurisdiction of the Senate, about the time to which St Luke's narrative refers we have ample evidence. Contemporary records bear testimony to the existence of proconsuls in Cyprus not only before and after but during the reign of Claudius. The inscriptions mention by name two proconsuls who governed the province in this Emperor's time (A.D. 51, 52) [294:2]; while a third, and perhaps a fourth, are recorded on the coins [294:3]. At a later date, under Hadrian, we come across a proprætor of Cyprus [294:4]. The change would probably be owing to the disturbed state of the province consequent on the insurrection of the Jews. But at the close of the same century (A.D. 198)—under Severus—it is again governed by a proconsul [294:5]; and this was its normal condition.
Thus the accuracy of St Luke's designation is abundantly established; but hitherto no record had been found of the particular proconsul mentioned by him. This defect is supplied by one of General Cesnola's inscriptions. It is somewhat mutilated indeed, so that the meaning of parts is doubtful; but for our purpose it is adequate. A date is given as [Greek: EPI PAULOU [ANTH]UPATOU], 'in the proconsulship of Paulus.' On this Cesnola remarks: 'The proconsul Paulus may be the Sergius Paulus of the Acts of the Apostles (chap. xiii.), as instances of the suppression of one of two names are not rare' [294:6]. An example of the suppression in this very name Sergius Paulus will be given presently, thus justifying the identification of the proconsul of the Acts with the proconsul of this inscription.
Of this Sergius Paulus, the proconsul of Cyprus, Dean Alford says that 'nothing more is known.' But is it certain that he is not mentioned elsewhere? In the index of contents and authorities which forms the first book of Pliny's Natural History, this writer twice names one Sergius Paulus among the Latin authors to whom he was indebted. May not this have been the same person? The name is not common. So far as I have observed, only one other person bearing it [295:1]—probably a descendant of this Cyprian proconsul—is mentioned, of whom I shall have something to say hereafter; and he flourished more than a century later. Only one test of identity suggests itself. The Sergius Paulus of Pliny is named as an authority for the second and eighteenth books of that writer. Now on the hypothesis that the proconsul of Cyprus is meant, it would be a natural supposition that, like Sir J. Emerson Tennent or Sir Rutherford Alcock, this Sergius Paulus would avail himself of the opportunities afforded by his official residence in the East to tell his Roman fellow-countrymen something about the region in which he had resided. We therefore look with interest to see whether these two books of Pliny contain any notices respecting Cyprus, which might reasonably be explained in this way; and our curiosity is not disappointed. In the second book, besides two other brief notices (cc. 90, 112) relating to the situation of Cyprus, Pliny mentions (c. 97) an area in the temple of Venus at Paphos on which the rain never falls. In the eighteenth book again, besides an incidental mention of this island (c. 57), he gives some curious information (c. 12) with respect to the Cyprian corn, and the bread made therefrom. It should be added that for the second book, in which the references to Cyprus come late, Sergius Paulus is the last-mentioned Latin authority; whereas for the eighteenth, where they are early, he occupies an earlier, though not very early, place in the list. These facts may be taken for what they are worth. In a work, which contains such a multiplicity of details as Pliny's Natural History, we should not be justified in laying too much stress on coincidences of this kind.
From the Sergius Paulus of Luke the physician we turn to the Sergius Paulus of Galen the physician. Soon after the accession of M. Aurelius (A.D. 161) Galen paid his first visit to Rome, where he stayed for three or four years. Among other persons whom he met there was L. Sergius Paulus, who had been already consul suffectus about A.D. 150, and was hereafter to be consul for the second time in A.D. 168 (on this latter occasion as the regular consul of the year), after which time he held the Prefecture of the City [296:1]. He is probably also the same person who is mentioned elsewhere as proconsul of Asia in connection with a Christian martyrdom [296:2]. This later Sergius Paulus reproduces many features of his earlier namesake. Both alike are public men; both alike are proconsuls; both alike show an inquisitive and acquisitive disposition. The Sergius Paulus of the Acts, dissatisfied (as we may suppose) alike with the coarse mythology of popular religion and with the lifeless precepts of abstract philosophies, has recourse first to the magic of the sorcerer Elymas, and then to the theology of the Apostles Barnabas and Saul, for satisfaction. The Sergius Paulus of Galen is described as 'holding the foremost place in practical life as well as in philosophical studies;' he is especially mentioned as a student of the Aristotelian philosophy; and he takes a very keen interest in medical and anatomical learning. Moreover, if we may trust the reading, there is another striking coincidence between the two accounts. The same expression, 'who is also Paul' ([Greek: ho kai Paulos]), is used to describe Saul of Tarsus in the context of the Acts, and L. Sergius in the account of Galen. Not the wildest venture of criticism could so trample on chronology as to maintain that the author of the Acts borrowed from these treatises of Galen; and conversely I have no desire to suggest that Galen borrowed from St Luke. But if so, the facts are a warning against certain methods of criticism which find favour in this age. To sober critics, the coincidence will merely furnish an additional illustration of the permanence of type which forms so striking a feature in the great Roman families. One other remark is suggested by Galen's notices of his friend. Having introduced him to us as 'Sergius who is also Paulus,' he drops the former name altogether in the subsequent narrative, and speaks of him again and again as Paulus simply. This illustrates the newly-published Cyprian inscription, in which the proconsul of that province is designated by the one name Paulus only.
2. The transition from General Cesnola'sCyprusto Mr Wood'sEphesuscarries us forward from the first to the third missionary journey of St Paul. Here, again, we have illustrative matter of some importance. The main feature in the narrative of the Acts is the manner in which the cultus of the Ephesian Artemis dominates the incidents of the Apostle's sojourn in that city. As an illustration of this feature, it would hardly be possible to surpass one of the inscriptions in the existing collection [297:1]. We seem to be reading a running commentary on the excited appeal of Demetrius the silversmith, when we are informed that 'not only in this city but everywhere temples are dedicated to the goddess, and statues erected and altars consecrated to her, on account of the manifest epiphanies which she vouchsafes' ([Greek: tas hup' autês geinomenas enargeis epiphaneias]); that 'the greatest proof of the reverence paid to her is the fact that a month bears her name, being called Artemision among ourselves, and Artemisius among the Macedonians and the other nations of Greece and their respective cities;' that during this month 'solemn assemblies and religious festivals are held, and more especially in this our city, which is the nurse of its own Ephesian goddess' ([Greek: tê trophô tês idias theou tês Ephesias]); and that therefore 'the people of the Ephesians, considering it meet that the whole of this month which bears the divine name ([Greek: ton epônumon tou theiou onomatos]) should be kept holy, and dedicated to the goddess,' has decreed accordingly. 'For so,' concludes this remarkable document, 'the cultus being set on a better footing, our city will continue to grow in glory and to be prosperous to all time.' The sense of special proprietorship in this goddess of world-wide fame, which pervades the narrative in the Acts, could not be better illustrated than by this decree. But still the newly-published inscriptions greatly enhance the effect. The patron deity not only appears in these as 'the great goddess Artemis,' as in the Acts, but sometimes she is styled 'the supremely great goddess ([Greek: hê megistê theos]) Artemis.' To her favour all men are indebted for all their choicest possessions. She has not only her priestesses, but her temple-curators, her essenes, her divines ([Greek: theologoi]), her choristers ([Greek: humnôdoi]), her vergers ([Greek: skêptouchoi]), her tire-women or dressers ([Greek: kosmêteirai]), and even her 'acrobats,' whatever may be meant by some of these terms. Fines are allocated to provide adornments for her; endowments are given for the cleaning and custody of her images; decrees are issued for the public exhibition of her treasures. Her birthday is again and again mentioned. She is seen and heard everywhere. She is hardly more at home in her own sanctuary than in the Great Theatre. This last-mentioned place—the scene of the tumult in the Acts—is brought vividly before our eyes in Mr Wood's inscriptions. The theatre appears as the recognized place of public assembly. Here edicts are proclaimed, and decrees recorded, and benefactors crowned. When the mob, under the leadership of Demetrius, gathered here for their demonstration against St Paul and his companions, they would find themselves surrounded by memorials which might stimulate their zeal for the goddess. If the 'town-clerk' had desired to make good his assertion, 'What man is there that knoweth not that the city of the Ephesians is sacristan of the great goddess Artemis?' he had only to point to the inscriptions which lined the theatre for confirmation. The very stones would have cried out from the walls in response to his appeal.
Nor is the illustration of the magistracies which are named by St Luke less complete. Three distinct officers are mentioned in the narrative—the Roman proconsul ([Greek: anthupatos]), the governor of the province and supreme administrator of the law, translated 'deputy' in our version; the recorder ([Greek: grammateus]) or chief magistrate of the city itself, translated 'town-clerk;' and the Asiarchs ([Greek: Asiarchai]), or presidents of the games and of other religious ceremonials, translated 'the chief of Asia.' All these appear again and again in the newly-discovered inscriptions. Sometimes two of the three magistracies will be mentioned on the same stone. Sometimes the same person will unite in himself the two offices of recorder and Asiarch, either simultaneously or not. The mention of the recorder is especially frequent. His name is employed to authenticate every decree and to fix every date.
But besides these more general illustrations of the account in the Acts, the newly-discovered inscriptions throw light on some special points in the narrative. Thus where the chief magistrate pronounces St Paul and his companions to be 'neither sacrilegious ([Greek: hierosulous]) nor blasphemers of our goddess' [299:1], we discover a special emphasis in the term on finding from these inscriptions that certain offences (owing to the mutilation of the stone, we are unable to determine the special offences) were treated as constructive sacrilege against the goddess. 'Let it be regarded as sacrilege and impiety' ([Greek: estô hierosulia kai asebeia]), says an inscription found in this very theatre [300:1], though not yet set up at the time when the 'town-clerk' spoke. So again, where the same speaker describes the city of Ephesus as the 'neocoros,' the 'temple sweeper,' or 'sacristan of the great goddess Artemis,' we find in these inscriptions for the first time a direct example of this term so applied. Though the term 'neocoros' in itself is capable of general application, yet as a matter of fact, when used of Ephesus on coins and inscriptions (as commonly in the case of other Asiatic cities), it has reference to the cultus not of the patron deity, but of the Roman emperors. In this sense Ephesus is described as 'twice' or 'thrice sacristan,' as the case may be, the term being used absolutely. There was indeed every probability that the same term would be employed also to describe the relation of the city to Artemis. By a plausible but highly precarious conjecture it had been introduced into the lacuna of a mutilated inscription [300:2]. By a highly probable but not certain interpretation it had been elicited from the legend on a coin [300:3]. There were analogies too which supported it. Thus the Magnesians are styled on the coins 'sacristans of Artemis' [300:4]; and at Ephesus itself an individual priest is designated by the same term 'sacristan of Artemis' [300:5]. Nor did it seem unlikely that a city which styled itself 'the nurse of Artemis' should also claim the less audacious title of 'sacristan' to this same goddess. Still probability is not certainty; and (so far as I am aware) no direct example was forthcoming. Mr Wood's inscriptions supply this defect. On one of these 'the city of the Ephesians' is described as 'twice sacristan of the Augusti according to the decrees of the Senate and sacristan of Artemis' [301:1].
One other special coincidence deserves notice. The recorder, desirous of pacifying the tumult, appeals to the recognized forms of law. 'If Demetrius and his fellow-craftsmen,' he says, 'have a matter against any one, assizes are held, and there are proconsuls [301:2]. Let them indict one another. But if you have any further question (i.e., one which does not fall within the province of the courts of justice), it shall be settled in the lawful (regular) assembly.' By a 'lawful (regular) assembly' ([Greek: ennomos ekklêsia]) he means one of those which were held on stated days already predetermined by the law, as opposed to those which were called together on special emergencies out of the ordinary course, though in another sense these latter might be equally 'lawful.' An inscription, found in this very theatre in which the words were uttered, illustrates this technical sense of 'lawful.' It provides that a certain silver image of Athene shall be brought and 'set at every lawful (regular) assembly ([Greek: kata pasan nomimon ekklêsian]) above the bench where the boys sit' [301:3].
With these facts in view, we are justified in saying that ancient literature has preserved no picture of the Ephesus of imperial times—the Ephesus which has been unearthed by the sagacity and perseverance of Mr Wood—comparable for its life-like truthfulness to the narrative of St Paul's sojourn there in the Acts.
I am tempted to add one other illustration of an ancient Christian writer, which these inscriptions furnish. Ignatius, writing to the Ephesians from Smyrna in the early years of the second century, borrows an image from the sacred pageant of some heathen deity, where the statues, sacred vessels, and other treasures, of the temple are borne in solemn procession. He tells his Christian readers that they all are marching in festive pomp along the Via Sacra—the way of love—which leads to God; they all are bearers of treasures committed to them,—for they carry their God, their Christ, their shrine, their sacred things, in their heart [302:1]. The image was not new. It is found in Stoic writers. It underlies the surname Theophorus, the 'God-bearer,' which Ignatius himself adopted. But he had in his company several Ephesian delegates when he wrote; and the newly-discovered inscriptions inform us that the practice which supplies the metaphor had received a fresh impulse at Ephesus shortly before this letter was written. The most important inscriptions in Mr Wood's collection relate to a gift of numerous valuable statues, images, and other treasures to the temple of Artemis, by one C. Vibius Salutaris, with an endowment for their custody. In one of these (dated A.D. 104) it is ordained that the treasures so given shall be carried in solemn procession from the temple to the theatre and back 'at every meeting of the assembly, and at the gymnastic contests, and on any other days that may be directed by the Council and the People.' Orders are given respecting the persons forming the procession, as well as respecting its route. It must pass through the length of the city, entering by the Magnesian Gate and leaving by the Coressian [302:2].
[1:1]Supernatural Religion; An Inquiry into the Reality of Divine Revelation.Two Vols. Second Edition, 1874. [Subsequent editions are as follows, Third and Fourth Editions (1874), Fifth and Sixth Editions (1875), Third Volume (1877), Complete Edition, in Three Vols. (1879).]
[3:1] Iren. v. 36. 1, 2.
[4:1]S.R.II. p. 328 sq.
[4:2]Canonp. 63, note 2.
[4:3] The Greek is [Greek: Einai de tên diastolên tautên tês oikêseôs … kai dia toutoeirêkenai ton Kurionen tois tou patros mou monas einai pollas k.t.l.]
[4:4] [Tacitly corrected in ed. 4 (II. p. 328) where the sentence runs: 'But … there is this distinction etc.' See below, p. 56.]
[5:1] [The author's defence is dealt with, pp. 53 sq, 126 sq.]
[5:2] [The question is discussed below, p. 142 sq, where the author's subsequent explanation is considered.]
[5:3] [This charge is withdrawn in ed. 4 (II. p. 328 n. 3), but objection is still taken to the words 'they taught' as conveying 'too positive a view of the case.' On the character of this withdrawal see below, p. 53 sq.]
[5:4] Our author has already (II. p. 326) accused Tischendorf of 'deliberately falsifying the text by inserting, "say they."' Tischendorf's words are, 'Und deshalb sagen sie habe der Herr den Ausspruch gethan.' He might have spared the 'sagen sie,' because the German idiom 'habe' enables him to express the main fact that the words are not Irenæus' own, without this addition. But he has not altered any idea which the original contains; whereas our author himself has suppressed this all-important fact in his own translation. [On this treatment of Tischendorf see below, pp. 55 sq, 128, 138. The language is modified in ed. 4 (II. p. 326) 'Tischendorf renders the oblique construction of the text by inserting "say they" referring to the Presbyters of Papias,' where the point of grammar is silently conceded.]
The reader may compareS.R.II. p. 100, 'The lightness and inaccuracy with which the "Great African" proceeds is all the better illustrated by the fact, that not only does he accuse Marcion falsely, but he actually defines the motives for which he expunged the passage which never existed etc…. he actually repeats the same charge on two other occasions.'
[6:1]S.R.II. p. 334.
[6:2] [On the wording of this footnote in ed. 4 see below, p. 58. It is omitted in ed. 6, where see II. p. 333.]
[6:3] [See further on this subject below, pp. 53 sq, 126 sq.]
[7:1]c. Cels.i. 8.
[7:2]c. Cels.viii. 76.
[7:3]S.R.II. p. 231 sq. [So also the Complete Edition (1879) II. p. 229 sq.]
[7:4] There is also another aorist in the part of the sentence, which our author has not quoted, [Greek: allo suntagma … en hô didaxein epêngeilato.]
[8:1] [Tacitly corrected in ed. 6 (II. p. 46).]
[8:2] [Some of the grammatical errors are corrected in ed. 6 (II. p. 63), where however new mistranslations are introduced, as [Greek: pollachôs] 'in divers parts', and [Greek: houtô makarizetai … hoti opsetai ton theon] 'becomes so blessed that he shall see God'.]
[8:3] [[Greek: to rhêma] from 'Reason' becomes 'Word' in ed. 6, but [Greek: zêtêsantes] still remains 'they who inquire' (ii. p. 265).]
[8:4] II. p. 296 sq. [Corrected in ed. 6.]
[8:5] II. p. 193. [Corrected in ed. 6.]
[8:6] I. p. 448, comp. p. 455. [The latter passage is struck out in ed. 6 (see I. p. 455); the former becomes 'committed no error'. See below, p. 163.]
[8:7] II. p. 384.
[8:8] [But in ed. 6 (II. p. 384) I see that my translation is tacitly substituted.]
[8:9] [Defended as a 'paraphrase' (see below, p. 129), but corrected in ed. 6, which also omits the first clause.]
[9:1] [Other errors in translation are given below, p. 129.]
[9:2] I. p. 113. The last words ran 'certainly a late interpolation' in the first edition (I. p. 103). Thus the passage has undergone revision, and yet the author has not discovered the contradiction. [The author's own explanation of this discrepancy is given below, p. 124. In ed. 6 (I. p. 113) the sentence ends, 'and it is argued that it was probably a later interpolation,' while in the Complete Edition (I. p. 113) it is further qualified 'argued by some.']
[10:1] II. p. 421. [The argument in favour of the genuineness is expanded in the Complete Edition (II. pp. 419-423).]
[10:2] [See below, p. 163 sq.]
[11:1]S.R.I. p. 276. [And so throughout all the editions.]
[11:2] [See below, p. 111.]
[11:3] i. pp. 444-485.
[11:4] [The subject is treated at length below, p. 142 sq.]
[12:1] I. p. 441.
[12:2] [On Hegesippus see below, pp. 34 sq, 42.]
[12:3] [On Justin Martyr see below, p. 43.]
[12:4] In I. p. 360, there is a foot-note, 'For the arguments of apologetic criticism the reader may be referred to Canon Westcott's workOn the Canonpp. 112-139. Dr Westcott does not attempt to deny the fact that Justin's quotations are different from the text of our Gospels; but he accounts for his variations on grounds which are' ['seem to us' ed. 6] 'purely imaginary.' I can hardly suppose that our author had read the passage to which he refers. Otherwise the last sentence would doubtless have run thus, 'but he accounts for his variations by arguments which it would give me some trouble to answer.'
[13:1] II. p. 411.
[13:2] Our author himself refers to this saying for a wholly different purpose later on (II. p. 416).
[14:1] II. p. 408. Our author says, 'It is clear that Paul is referred to in the address to the Church of Ephesus: "And thou didst try them which say that they are Apostles and are not, and didst find them false."' He seems to forget what he himself has said (p. 395), 'No result of criticism rests upon a more secure basis … than the fact that the Apocalypse was written in A.D. 68, 69,'i.e., after St Paul's death. This theory moreover is directly at variance with the one definite fact which we know respecting the personal relations between the two Apostles; namely, that they gave to each other the right hands of fellowship (Gal. ii. 9). It is surprising therefore that this extravagant paradox should have been recently reproduced in an English review of high character.
[14:2] 1 Cor. x. 7, 8, 14, 21. When the season of persecution arrived, and the constancy of Christians was tested in this very way, St Paul's own principles would require a correspondingly rigid abstinence from even apparent complicity in idolatrous rites. There is every reason therefore to believe that, if St Paul had been living when the Apocalypse was written, he would have expressed himself not less strongly on the same side. On the other hand these early Gnostics who are denounced in the Apocalypse seem, like their successors in the next generation, to have held that a Christian might conform to Gentile practices in these matters to escape persecution. St Paul combats this spirit of license, then in its infancy, in the First Epistle to the Corinthians.
[14:3] [On the diction of the Fourth Gospel see below, p. 131 sq.]
[14:4] II. p. 445.
[15:1] [The Authorship and Historical Character of the Fourth Gospel(1872). Macmillans.]
[15:2] Our author (II. p. 444) speaks of 'the works of imagination of which the world is full, and the singular realism of many of which is recognized by all.' Is this a true description of the world in the early Christian ages? If not, it is nothing to the purpose.
[15:3] II. p. 389. 'Apologists' lay stress on thedifferenceof theme. [See below, p. 131 sq.]
[15:4] [He does however mention the term elsewhere; see below, p. 123.]
[15:5] II. p. 468, and elsewhere.
[16:1] II. p. 451.
[16:2] [These passages are added without comment in the Complete Edition in a note on II. p. 453.]
[16:3] [On this point see below, p. 131.]
[17:1] II, p. 472 sq; comp. pp. 186 sq, 271. [The statement stands unchanged in the Complete Edition (II. p. 474 sq).]
[17:2] [See further, p. 99 sq.]
[17:3] II. p. 421. Travellers and 'apologists' alike now more commonly identify Sychar with the village bearing the Arabic name Askar. This fact is not mentioned by our author. He says moreover, 'It is admitted' ['evident' ed. 6] 'that there was no such place [as Sychar, [Greek: Suchar]], and apologetic ingenuity is severely taxed to explain the difficulty.' This is altogether untrue. Others besides 'apologists' point to passages in the Talmud which speak of 'the well of Suchar (or Sochar, or Sichar);' see NeubauerLa Géographie du Talmudp. 169 sq. Our author refers in his note to an article by DelitzschZeitschr. f. Luth. Theol.1856 p. 240 sq. He cannot have read the article, for these Talmudic references are its main purport.
[18:1] [The whole question of Sychar in treated at length below, p. 133 sq, where also the author's explanation of his meaning is given.]
[18:2] II. p. 419. [This whole section is struck out in the Complete Edition (see II. p. 417), but the error survived ed. 6 (II. p. 419).]
[18:3] ['never once' ed. 6 (II. p. 424).]
[19:1] II. p. 423 sq.
[19:2] CrednerEinl.I. p. 210 '…hat er es nicht für nöthig gefunden, den Täufer Johannes von dem gleichnamigen Apostel Johannes auch nur ein einziges Mal durch den Zusatz [Greek: ho baptistês] zu unterscheiden (i. 6, 15, 19, 26, 28, 29, 32, 35, 41; iii. 23, 24, 25, 26, 27; iv. 1; v. 33, 36; x. 40, 41).'
[19:3] [For the author's own explanation of this error see below, p. 124 sq.]
[20:1]S.R.I. p. 459.
[21:1]Canonp. 264. The words of Clement (Strom.vii. 17) to which Dr Westcott refers, are: [Greek: Kathaper ho Basileidês, kan Glaukian epigraphêtai didaskalon, hôs auchousin autoi, ton Petrou hermênea].
[21:2]S.R.II. p. 44 sq. The words which I have enclosed in brackets were inserted in the Second Edition. A frank withdrawal would have been worth something; but this insertion only aggravates the offence. [After having been partly re-written in ed. 6 (II. p. 44), the whole section is cut out in the Complete Edition (see II. p. 44).]
[22:1] [For the author's explanation of his language see below, p. 123 sq.]
[22:2] [This point is reverted to below, pp. 134, 187 sq.]
[22:3] [Our author's explanation of the term is given below, p. 134.]
[23:1] [One such list is dealt with in full, p. 65 sq.]
[24:1]Essays in Criticismp. 57.
[24:2]Paulusp. 469 sq (1st ed.).
[24:3]Nachapost. ZeitalterII. p. 135.
[24:4]Theolog. Jahrb.XV. p. 311 sq, XVI. p. 147 sq.
[25:1]Zur Kritik Paulinischer Briefe.Leipzig, 1870. The author's conclusions are supported by an appeal to the Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, and Armenian languages. The learning of this curious pamphlet keeps pace with its absurdity. If the reader is disposed to think that this writer must be laughing in his sleeve at the methods of the modern school to which he belongs, he is checked by the obviously serious tone of the whole discussion. Indeed it is altogether in keeping with Hitzig's critical discoveries elsewhere. To this same critic we owe the suggestion, that the name of the fabulist Æsop is derived from Solomon's "hyssopthat springeth out of the wall," 1 Kings iv. 33:Die Sprüche Salomo'sp. xvi. sq.
[25:2]e.g.respecting the date of the book of Judith, on which depends the authenticity of Clement's Epistle (I. p. 222), the date of Celsus (II. p. 228), etc.
[25:3] [See further, p. 141.]
[27:1] [Our author objects to this conclusion; see below, p. 138 sq.]
[27:1] II. p. 484.
[27:2] II. p. 487 sq.
[27:3] II. p. 486.
[27:4] II. p. 487 sq.
[27:5] II. p. 489.
[28:1]S.R.II. p. 490.
[29:1]S.R.I. p. xiv.
[30:1] II. p. 492.
[30:2] II. p. 492.
[30:3] II. p. 492.
[32:1] I. p. 212. The references throughout this article are given to the fourth edition. But, with the single exception which I shall have occasion to notice at the close, I have not observed any alterations from the second, with which I have compared it in all the passages here quoted.
[32:2] Euseb.H.E.iv. 26, 27.
[34:1]S.R.I. p. 432.
[34:2] I. p. 433 sq. I must leave it to others to reconcile the statement respecting the Apocalypse in the text with another which I find elsewhere in this work (i. p. 483): 'Andrew, a Cappadocian bishop of the fifth century, mentions that Papias, amongst others of the Fathers, considered the Apocalypse inspired.No reference is made to this by Eusebius; but although, from his Millenarian tendencies, it is very probable that Papias regarded the Apocalypse with peculiar veneration as a prophetic book,this evidence is too vague and isolated to be of much value.' The difficulty is increased when we compare these two passages with a third (II. p. 335): 'Andrew of Cæsarea, in the preface to his Commentary on the Apocalypse, mentions that Papias maintained 'the credibility' [Greek: to axiopiston] of that book, or in other words, its Apostolic origin…. Apologistsadmit the genuineness of this statement, nay, claim it as undoubted evidence of the acquaintance of Papias with the Apocalypse…. Nowhe must therefore have recognised the book as the work of the Apostle John.' The italics, I ought to say, are my own, in all the three passages quoted.
[34:3] ['regarding the composition of the first two Gospels' ed. 6 (I. p. 433). The error is acknowledged in the preface to that edition (p. xxi).]
[35:1] I. p. 435.
[35:2] ['so far as we know' inserted in ed. 6.]
[35:3] II. p. 320.
[35:4] ['said anything interesting about' Complete Edition (II. p. 318).]
[35:5] I. p. 483.
[35:6] ['to state what the Fathers say about' ed. 6. On the ambiguity of this expression see below, p. 183 sq.]
[35:7] ['mention' ed. 6.]
[35:8] II. p. 322.
[35:9] ['said anything regarding the composition or authorship' ed. 6.]
[35:10] II. p. 323.
[35:11] [So also ed. 6. In the Complete Edition (II. p. 321) the sentence ends 'did not find anything regarding the Fourth Gospel in the work of Papias, and that Papias was not acquainted with it.']
[35:12] II. p. 164.
[35:13] [In ed. 6 the sentence ends here.]
[36:1] II. p. 166.
[36:2] ['said anything about' ed. 6. The whole sentence is omitted in the Complete Edition.]
[37:1] Euseb.H.E.iii. 3. The important words are [Greek:tinestôn kata chronous ekklêsiastikôn sungrapheônhopoiais kechrêntaitôn antilegomenôn,tina te peritôn endiathêkôn kai homologoumenôn graphôn kaihosa peritôn mê toioutôn autois eirêtai.] The words spaced will show the two different modes of treatment; (1) The mention of references or testimonies in the case of the disputed writings only; (2) The record of anecdotes in the case of acknowledged and disputed writings alike. The double relative in the first clause, [Greek: tines … hopoiais], is incapable of literal translation in English; but this does not affect the question. The two modes are well illustrated in the case of Irenæus. Eusebius gives from this Fathertestimoniesto the Epistle to the Hebrews etc., andanecdotesrespecting the Gospel and Apocalypse alike.
[38:1] [Quoted byS.R.ed. 6, p. xiv. For his criticism upon this Essay see below, p. 178 sq.]
[39:1]H.E.iii. 24.
[40:1] See LardnerCredibilityII. p. 35 sq (1835). For the sake of economising space I shall refer from time to time to this work, in which the testimonies of ancient writers are collected and translated, so that they are accessible to English readers. Any one, whose ideas have been confused by readingSupernatural Religion, cannot fail to obtain a clearer view of the real state of the case by referring to this book. It must be remembered, however, that recent discovery has added to the amount of evidence, more especially in reference to the Fourth Gospel. I refer, of course, to the quotations in the Gnostic fragments preserved by Hippolytus, and in the Clementine Homilies.
[40:2] Clem. Rom. 5.
[40:3]S.R.I. p. 223.
[40:4] Clem. Rom. 47. 'Take up the Epistle of the blessed Paul the Apostle. What first did he write to you in the beginning of the Gospel? Of a truth he gave injunctions to you in the Spirit [Greek: pneumatikôs] concerning himself and Cephas and Apollos, because even then ye had made parties ([Greek: proskliseis]).
[40:5] Euseb.H.E.iii. 37.
[41:1]Polyc.2; comp. Matt. x. 16.
[41:2]Ephes.14; comp. Matt. xii. 33.
[41:3]Smyrn.6; comp. Matt. xix. 12.
[41:4]Philad.7; comp. John iii. 8.
[41:5]Magn.8; comp. John viii. 29.
[41:6]Rom.4.
[41:7]Ephes.12.
[41:8] See Lardner II. p. 78 sq for the testimonies in Ignatius generally.
[41:9] Euseb.H.E.iii. 36.
[42:1]De Vir. Illustr.c. 16.
[42:2]Ephes.12; comp.Rom.4.
[42:3]Ephes.7; comp.Ephes.1,Polyc.3,Rom.6 etc.
[42:4]Magn.8-10; comp.Philad.6.
[42:5] See Lardner II. p. 99 sq for the passages.
[43:1]H.E.iv. 14.
[43:2]H.E.iii. 36.
[43:3] I.Apol.66.
[43:4] See SemischJustin MartyrI.
[43:5]H.E.iv. 18.
[44:1]H.E.iv. 24.
[44:2] Lardner II. p. 208 sq.
[44:3]Ad Autol.ii. 22.
[44:4]S.R.II. p. 474.
[44:5]H.E.iv. 24.
[44:6] Lardner II. p. 176 sq.
[45:1]H.E.v. 6.
[45:2]H.E.v. 8.
[46:1]H.E.v. 26.
[47:1]H.E.iv. 26.
[47:2]H.E.v. 18.
[47:3]H.E.vi. 20.
[47:4]H.E.vi. 13, 14.