« THE;' ', APOCRYPHAL NEW TESTAMENT BEING ALL THE GOSPELS, EPISTLES, AND OTHER PIECES NOW EXTANT, 1TTRIBUTED IN THE FIRST FOUR CENTURIES TO JESUS CHRIST, HIS APOSTLES AND THEIR COMPANIONS; AND NOT INCLUDED, BY ITS COMPILERS, IN THE AUTHORIZED NEW TESTAMENT. TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL TONGUES. ILLUSTRATED FROM ANCIENT PAINTINGS AND SCULPTURES. [TY PHILADELPHIA: GEBBIE & CO., PUBLISHERS. COPYRIGHTED, /S/fJ 'P2TI ^ 7 SR SI ORNlK- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Frontispiece. Members of the Council of Nice Presenting their Decision to the Emperor Constantine: Fourth Century 1 The Emperor Constantine Presenting the Labors of the Council of Nice to Christ for his blessing 10 The Birth of the Virgin 17 Elizabeth receiving the visit of Mary 25 The Birth of Christ 33 The Adoration of the Magi 41 The Birth of John the Baptist 49 The Presentation in the Temple 57 Mary Offering in the Temple 65 The Birth of Christ 73 The Murder of the Innocents 73 St. John the Baptist 81 The Baptism of Christ in the Jordan 89 The Last Judgment 97 Hell 105 Christ's Entry into Jerusalem, and Christ before Pilate 113 The two spies sent by Joshua to Jericho, and their escape from the house from Bahab 121 Christ in the Prsetorium and mocked, and his Descent into Hell . . . 129 The Bed Sea swallowing up the army of Pharaoh, after the Israelites had passed through >x • • • • ' • • 137 Christ Praying in the Garden 145 Peter cutting off the ear of Malchus, and the kiss of Judas 145 Christ bearing his Cross to Golgotha, followed by holy women .... 153 Veronica afflicted with an issue of blood 1G1 Christ on the Cross between the two Malefactors 177 Marriage of Cana in Galilee 193 The Burial of Christ 193 Mary supporting the dead Christ on her knees 209 The Interment of Christ 217 The Besurrection of Christ 225 Christ as a Gardener appearing to Mary Magdalene 233 Jesus Christ ascending to Heaven with two angels 241 Jonah cast into the sea, and his coming out of the whale 257 9 jJFTER the writings contained in the New Testament were selected from the numerous Gospels and Epistles then in existence, what became of the Books that were rejected by the compilers? This question naturally occurs on every investigation as to the period when, and the persons by whom, the New Testament was formed. It has been supposed by many that the volume was compiled by the first council of Nice, which, according to Jortin,* originated thus : Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, and Arius, who was a presbyter in his diocese, disputed together about the nature of Christ ; and the bishop being displeased at the notions of Arius, and finding that they were adopted by other persons, "was very angry." He commanded Arius to come over to his sentiments, and to quit his own : as if a man could change his opinions as easily as he can change his coat ! He then called a council of war, consisting of nearly a hundred bishops, and deposed, excommunicated, and anathematized Arius, and with him several ecclesiastics, two of whom were bishops. Alexander then wrote a circular-letter to *Rem. on Eccl. vol. ii., p. 177. IV all bishops, in which he represents Arius and his partisans as heretics, apostates, blasphemous enemies of God, full of impudence and impiety, forerunners of Antichrist, imitators of Judas, and men whom it was not lawful to salute, or to bid God-speed. There is no reason to doubt of the probity and sincerity of those who opposed Alexander and the Nicene Fathers; for what did they get by it besides obloquy and banishment ? Many good men were engaged on both sides of the controversy. So it was in the fourth century, and so it hath been ever since. Eusebius of Nicomedia, and Eusebius the historian, endeavoured to pacify Alexander, and to persuade him to make up the quarrel ; and Con- stantine sent a letter by the illustrious Hosius of Corduba to Alexander and Arius, in which he reprimanded them both for disturbing the church with their insignificant dis- putes. But the affair was gone too far to be thus composed, and Socrates represents both sides as equally contentious and refractory. To settle this and other points, the Nicene council was summoned, consisting of about three hundred and eighteen bishops, — a mystical number* of which many profound remarks have been made. The first thing they did was to quarrel, and to express their resentments, and to present accusations to the emperor against one another. So say Socrates, Sozomen, and Rufinus. Theodoret favours his brethren in this affair, and seems to throw the fault upon the laity. But the whole story, as it is related by them all, and even by Theodoret, shows that the bishops accused one another. The emperor burnt all their libels, * Barnabas, viii. 11, 12, 13. and exhorted them to peace and unity; so that if they had not been restrained by his authority, and by fear and respect, they would probably have spent their time in altercations. This council of Nice is one of the most famous and interesting events presented to us in ecclesiastical history ; and yet, what is surprising, scarcely any part of the History of the Church has been unfolded with such negligence, or rather passed over with such rapidity. The ancient writers are neither agreed with respect to the time or place in which it was assembled, the number of those who sat in council, nor the bishop who presided in it. No authentic acts of its famous sentence have been committed to writing, or at least none have been transmitted to our time.* Although it is uncertain whether the books of the New Testament were declared canonical by the Nicene Council, or by some other, or when or by whom they were collected into a volume, it is certain f that they were considered genu- ine and authentic (with a few variations of opinion as to some of them) by the most early Christian writers; and that they were selected from various other Gospels and Epistles, the titles of which are mentioned in the works of the Fathers and early historians of the church. J The books that exist, of those not included in the canon, are carefully brought together in the present volume. They patnrally assume the title of the Apocryphal New Testament; and he who possesses this and the New Testament, has in the two volumes, a collection of all the historical records * Mosheim, Eccl. Hist., c. v. \ 12. f See Table II. at the end of this work. % See Table I. at end. relative to Christ and his Apostles, now in existence, and considered sacred by Christians during the first four cen- turies after his birth. In a complete collection of the Apocryphal writings the Apostles' Creed is necessarily included, and as necessarily given, as it stood in the fourth and until the sixth century, (from Mr. Justice Bailey's edition of the Common Prayer Book), without the article of Christ's Descent into Hell; — an interpolation concerning which the author of the Preface to the Catalogue of the MSS. of the King's Library thus expresses himself: "I wish that the insertion of the article of Christ's Descent into Hell into the Apostles' Creed could be as well accounted for as the insertion of the said verse (1 John v. 7*). * Catalogue of MSS. of the king's library, by David Casly, 4to, in Pref. p. xxiv. For large particulars of Christ's Descent into Hell, see the Gospel of Nicodemus, chap. xiii. to xx. The verse above alluded to by Mr. Casly is 1 John, v. 7. This spurious passage, in the authorized version of the New Testament, printed by the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge and the King's Printers, and appointed to be read in churches, stands thus : "For there are three that bear record in Heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost ; and these three are one." This verse, Mr. Casly says, is now generally given up ; being in no Greek MS. save one at Berlin, which is discovered to have been transcribed from the printed Biblia Complutensia ; and another modern one at Dublin, probably translated or corrected from the Latin Vulgate. It is conjectured that it may have been inserted by the mistake of a Latin copyist: for the owners of MSS. often wrote glosses or paraphrases of particular passages between the lines, and ignorant transcribers sometimes mistook these notes for interlined omissions by the original scribes, and accordingly in re-copy- ing the MSS. incorporated these glosses or paraphrases into the body of the text. For instance, Jerome, in one of his letters, says that an explanatory note which he himself had made in the margin of his Psalter had been incorporated by some transcriber into the text ; and Dr. Bentley, in the 96th page of his Epistle, annexed to Malala's Chronicle, has proved "Etva opo$ eariv ev rn Apa^ig, in Galatians iv. 25, to be of the same stamp.f f Cat. King's Libr. Pref. p. xxi. Vll u The best that can be said for it is, that it might possibly have come in, in like manner, not long before, from a gloss It is scarcely necessary to tell the reader, that in 1516 and 1519 Erasmus published his first and second editions of the Greek Testament, both of which omitted the three heavenly witnesses. That having promised to insert them in his text, if they were found iu a single Greek MS. ; he was soon informed of the existence of such a MS. in England, and consequently inserted 1 John, v. 7, in his third edition, 1522. That this MS., after a profound sleep of two centuries, has at last been found in the library of Trinity College, Dublin. That the Complutensian edition, which was not published till 1522, though it professes to be printed in 1514, has the seventh and eighth verses patched up from the modern Latin MS., and the final clause of the eighth verse, which is omitted in its proper place, trans- ferred to the end of the seventh. That Colinseus, in 1534, omitted the verse on the faith of MS. That E. Stephens, in his famous edition of 1550, inserted the verse, and marked the words ev tuc ovpavut. as wanting in seven MSS. That Beza, suspecting no mistake, concluded that these seven MSS. contained the rest of the seventh verse, and the eighth with the words ev ttji yrji* Sir Isaac Newton wrote a Dissertation upon this passage, wherein he gave a clear, exact, and comprehensive view of the whole question, and wherein he says, that when the adversaries of Erasmus had got the date.f The text is not contained in any Greek manuscript which was written earlier than the fifteenth century. 2. Nor in any Latin manuscript earlier than the ninth century. 3. It is not found in any of the ancient versions. 4. It is not cited by any of the Greek ecclesiastical writers, though, to prove the doctrine of the Trinity, they have cited the words both before and after this. 5. It is not cited by any of the early Latin Fathers, even when the subjects upon which they treat would naturally have led them to appeal to its authority. 6. It is first cited by Vigilius Tapsensis, a Latin writer of no credit, in the latter end of the fifth century, and by him it is suspected to have been forged. 7. It has been admitted as spurious in many editions of the New Testament since the reformation : — in the first two of Erasmus, in those of Aldus Colinteus, Zwinglius, and lately of Griesbach. 8. It was omitted by Luther in his German version ; in the old English Bibles of Henry VIII., Edward VI., and Elizabeth, it was printed in small types, or included in brackets ; but between the years 1566 and 1580, it began to be printed as it now stands, by whose authority is not known. — (See Travis's Letters to Gibbon, and Porson's to Travis. Also Griesbach's excellent * Porson's Letters to Travis. Preface.' t Newton's works by Horsley, 4to, vol. v. p. 549 —Bishop Horsley, in his edition of Sir Isaac Newton's works, has not included several MSS. on theological subjects for the reasons which perhaps induce the nobleman in whose possession they remain to withhold them still from publication. His lordship's judgment in this respect is said to be influenced by a prelate whose notions do not accord either with Sir Isaac's opinions or criticisms. They are fairly transcribed, in the illustrious author's own hand-writing, ready for the press ; and it is to be regretted that the production of his luminous mind be suppressed by any censorship, however respectable. vm or paraphrase, that was at first put in the margin or between the lines." Dissertation on the Text at the end of his second volume. Archbishop Newcome omits the text, and the Bishop of Lincoln expresses his conviction that it is spurious. (Elem. of Theol. vol. ii. p. 90, note).* In a sumptuous Latin MS. of the Bible, written so late as the thirteenth century, formerly belonging to the Capuchin Convent at Montpelier, after- wards in the possession of Harley, Earl of Oxford, and now deposited in the British Museum, the verse of the three heavenly witnesses is wanting, as appears by the following literal extract from it : lie est qui tteitit per aquam ($ sanpinem. tlje rpeT $ton in oq solum, seb in aqua (3 sanpinem (3 sjnu spe est qui testificatuF quoniam rpe est Ijerttas. (Quoniam tres sunt, qui testimonium bant in tra. Spe* aqua. (3 sanguis, ft tres unum sunit The following Greek and Latin authors have not quoted the text: J Greek authors: — Irenseus — Clemens Alexandrinus — Dionysius Alexandri- nus, (or the writer against Paul of Samosata under his name) — Athanasius — The Synopsis of Scripture — The Synod of Sardica— Epiphanius— Basil — Alexander of Alexandria — Gregory Nyssen — Nazianzen, with his two com- mentators, Elias Cretensis and Nicetas — Didymus de Spiritu Sancto — Chry- sostome — An author under his name de sancta et consubstantiali Trinitate — Csesarius — Proclus — The Council of Nice, as it is represented by Gelasius Cyzicenus— Hyppolytus — Andrias— Six catenae quoted by Simon— The mar- ginal scholia of three MSS. — Hesychius— John Damascenus— Oecumenius — Euthymius Zigabenus. Latin authors :— The author de Baptismo Lfereticorum, among Cyprian's works — Novatian-Hilary— Lucifer Calazitanus — Jerome— Augustine — Am- brose— Faustinus Leo Magnus— The author de Promissis — Eucherius — Facundus — Cerealis — Rusticus — Bede — Gregory — Philastrius — Arnobius, junior — Pope Eusebius. It is evident that if the text of the heavenly vntnesses had been known from the beginning of Christianity, the ancients would have eagerly seized it, inserted it in their creeds, quoted it repeatedly against the heretics, and selected it as the brightest ornament of every book that they wrote upon the * Improved version of the New Testament, IS 1 ^. t Hakl. Coll. MSS. Cod. 4773. J Porson's Letters to Travis, p. 363. By the publication of this volume, the Editor conceives he has rendered an acceptable service to the theological student and the ecclesiastical antiquary; — he has endeavoured to render it more gratifying to the reader, and more con- venient for reference, by arranging the books into chapters, and dividing the chapters into verses. He has only to add, that the lover of old literature will here find the obscure but unquestionable origin of several remarkable relations in the Golden Legend, the Lives of the Saints, and similar subject of the Trinity. In short, if this verse be really genuine, notwith- standing its absence from all the visible Greek MSS. except two, one of which awkwardly translates the verse from the Latin, and the other tran- scribes it from a printed book; notwithstanding its absence from all the versions except the vulgate ; and even from many of the best and oldest MSS. of the vulgate ; notwithstanding the deep and dead silence of all the Greek writers down to the thirteenth, and most of the Latins down to the middle of the eighth century ; if, in spite of all these objections, it be still genuine, no part of Scripture whatsoever can be proved either spurious or genuine ; and Satan has been permitted, for many centuries, miraculously to banish the finest passage in the N. T. from the eyes and memories of almost all the Christian authors, translators, and transcribers.* Sir Isaac Newton observes, " that what the Latins have done to this text (1 John v. 7), the Greeks have done to that of St. Paul (Timothy iii. 16). For by changing o into 8 the abbreviation of 8eoc, they now read, Great is the mystery of Godliness: God manifested in the flesh: whereas all the churches for the first four or five hundred years, and the authors of all the ancient versions, Jerome, as well as the rest, read, ' Great is the mystery of godliness which was manifested in the flesh.' " Sir Isaac gives a list of authors, who, he says, "wrote all of them, in the fourth and fifth centuries for the Deity of the Son, and incarnation of God ; and some of them largely, and in several tracts; and yet," he says, '' I cannot find that they ever allege this text to prove it, excepting that Gregory Nyssenf once urges it, (if the passage crept not into him out of some marginal annotation). In all the times of the hot and lasting Arian controversy, it never came into play ; though now these disputes are over, they that read God made manifest in the flesh, think Sir Isaac says, " one of the most obvious and pertinent texts for the business." There are other interpolations and corruptions of passages in the New Testament, but the Editor perceives that the few observations he has hastily collected and thrown together in this note, have already extended it to undue length, and it must here close. * Porson's Letters to Travis, 8vo, p. 402. ■^ Oiat. xi Contra Eunom. productions, concerning the birth of the Virgin, her marriage with Joseph, on the budding of his rod, the nativity of Jesus, the miracles of his Infancy, his labouring with Joseph at the carpentry trade, and the actions of his followers. Several of the papal pageants for the populace, and the monkish mysteries performed as dramas at Chester, Coventry, New- castle, and in other parts of England, are almost verbatim representations of the stories. Many valuable pictures by the best masters — prints by. the early engravers, particularly of the Italian and German schools — wood cuts in early black letter, and black books — and illumination of missals and monastic MSS. — receive immediate elucidation on referring to the Apocryphal New Testament, and are without explana- tion from any other source. THE EMPEROR CONSTANTINE PRESENTING THE LABORS OF THE COUNCIL OF NICE TO CHRIST FOR HIS BLESSING. [Page 14. .FROM AN EARLY GREEK MANUSCRIPT. "" 5*HE ORDER OF ALL THE BOOKS OF THE APOCRYPHAL NEW TESTAMENT, Their proper Names and Number of Chapters. 11TARY hath Chapters JJ-L p ro tevangelion I. Infancy .... II. Infancy .... Christ and Abgarus The Apostles' Creed Laodiceans . . . Paul and Seneca Paul and Thecla I. Corinthians . II. Corinthians . Barnabas . . . 16 22 4 22 1 1 14 12 23 4 15 Ephesians hath Chapters . 4 Magnesians 4 Trallians 4 Romans 3 Philadelphians 3 Smyrnseans 3 Polycarp 3 y Philippians 4 I. Hernias — Visions ... 4 II. Hernias — Commands . 12 III. Hernias — Similitudes . 10 diversity; PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. Although the Apocryphal, New Testament was pat out without pretension or ostentations announcement, or even solicitude for its fate, yet a large Edition has been sold in a few months. The Public demanding an- other, to this second Edition a small fragment of the Second Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, accidentally omitted, has been added ; it forms the fifth chapter of that Epistle. There is, likewise annexed, a Table of the years wherein all the Books of the New Testament are stated to have been written : to the •' Order of the Books of the Apocryphal New Testa- ment," the authorities from whence they have been taken are affixed ; andj finally, many errors in the numerous scriptural references subjoined in the notes to the Epistles have been corrected. These are the only material vari- ations from the first Edition. It escaped the Editor to notice that the legends of the Koran and the Hin- doo Mythology are considerably connected with this volume. Many of the acts and miracles ascribed to the Indian God, Creeshna, during his incarna- tion, are precisely the same with those attributed to Christ in his infancy, by the Apocryphal Gospels, and so largely particularized by the Bcv. Thomas Maurice in his learned History of Hindostan. Beference to the preceding Preface will leave little doubt that the Apo- cryphal writings formed an interesting portion of the lay, as well as the monkish literature of our forefathers. There is a Translation of the Gospel of Nicodemus almost coeval with the origin of printing in England ; (a) and ancient MSS. of the Gospels of the Infancy are still extant in the Welsh lan- guage under the title of Mabinogi Jesu Grist. Concerning any genuineness of any portion of the work, the Editor has not offered an opinion, nor is it necessary that he should. The brief notice at the head of each Gospel directs the reader to its source, and will assist him to inquire further, and form an opinion for himself. Yet respecting the Epistles, which commence at page 91, and occupy the remaining two-thirds of the volume, the Editor would call attention to Archbishop Wake's testi- (a) It was printed, in quarto, first by JMsnfttm fee HJ3ortie in 1509; next by 3oIjn Sfcot in 1525; by the^same printer subsequently; and several times afterwards. xii PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. xiii mony. The pious and learned Prelate says, that these Epistles («) are a full and perfect collection of "all the genuine writings that remain to us. of the Apostolic Fathers, and carry on the antiquity of the Church from the time of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament to about a hundred and fifty years after Christ; that except the Holy Scriptures, there is nothing remain- ing of the truly genuine Christian antiquity more early ; (b) that they contain all that can with any certainty be depended upon of the most Primitive Fathers, (c) who had not only the advantage of living in the apostolical times, of hearing the Holy Apostles, and conversing with them, but were most of them persons of a very eminent character in the church, too : (d) that we cannot with any reason doubt of what they deliver to us as the Gospel of Christ, but ought to receive it, if not with equal veneration, yet but a little less respect than we do the Sacred Writings of those who were their masters and instructors;" and, ''if," says the Archbishop, (who translated these Epistles), (e) ''it shall be asked how I came to choose the drudgery of a translator, rather than the more ingenious part of publishing somewhat of my own composing, it was, in short, this ; because I hoped that such writ- ings as these would find a more general and unprejudiced acceptance with all sorts of men than anything that could be written by any one now living." As a literary curiosity, the work has attracted much notice ; as throwing a light upon the arts of design and engraving, it has already been useful to the painter, and the collector of pictures and prints ; and, as relating to theology, it has induced various speculations and inquiry. But the Editor has been charged with expressing too little veneration for the councils of the Church. He feels none. It is true that respecting the three hundred Bishops assembled at the council of Nice, the Emperor Con- stantine (/) says, that what was approved by these Bishops could be nothing less than the determination of God himself; since the Holy Spirit residing in such great and worthy souls, unfolded to them the divine will, (g) Yet Sa- binus, the Bishop of Heraclea, affirms, that, "excepting Constan tine himself? and Eusebius Pamphilus, they were a set of- illiterate simple creatures, that understood nothing ; " and Pappus seems to have estimated them very low, for in his Synodicon to that council, he tells us, that having " promiscuously put all the books that were referred to the council for determination, under *.he communion table in a church, they besought the Lord that the inspired writings might get upon the table while the spurious ones remained under- neath, and that it happened accordingly." A commentator (h) on this legend suggests that nothing less than such a sight could sanctify that fiery zeal which breathes throughout an edict published by Constantine, in which he decrees that all the writings of Arius should be burned and that any per- son concealing any writing composed by him, and not immediately producing it, and committing it to the flames, should be punished with death, (i) Let us, with the illustrious Jortin, (k) consider a council called, and presided over (a) Ahp. Wake's Apostolic Fathers, Bagster's Edition, 8vo, 1817, Prelim. Disc, p. 120. (6) Ahp. Wake's Apostolic Fathers, Bagster's Edition, 8vo, Prelim. Disc, p. 120. W p- 126. ( imprisoned, vanity and ambition; by a total ignorance of total indifference about it; by private friend. jority; b 7 a love of dieting anddom7ne^:W,ni? * ^ "^ attending, and a desire to be at home; by the hatred of contention, &c (a) Whosoever lisposed to pay a blind the last in winch the Holy Spirit my be affirmed to have presided" (6 In accommodation to this opinion, the Church of FnoLT u S *n "^ to the foiiowing am °^ Sri^sia* £ .g.on '(c) -When general councils be gathered together, fo asmueh as " Sof airr y men ' ; vhereof an be not *™»* «* *• 3S5 will of God they may err, and sometimes have erred even in fM„„ • of fathers, councils and hierarchies, and the encumbering edi ta °„ 60 d r k.ngs and papal decretals. Charmed bv the loveliness of its primitive slm^ was sometimes assembled and sometimes dissoh fed Brent a rr? f "V? 1 ™ "^ tory of that Council savs, "it would be infinite 1 ' translator of Paul's His- Rome used to divert the'counci, b^rVif b^an £? £j ^ ™ ^ ^ " the proposing of those things which they thought wouH dimin sn thet t » n P^/^^ -* to earth,, instrument of their tempora. authority theirTul^ SU^^Sf"" crease of religion, and love and charity towards their neigh Ws-butfl , ' "" among Christians, and employing all arts and snares ZlZl Anting wars fnahng neu, laws against thepople. Hence Uiey wer no W ' 7 ^^ and the powerful name of religi^they mainlaS the"^ horl ty ^tlt^ * (6) Jortin's Rem. on Eecl. Hist , vol. ii. p. 177. (c) Art xxl PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. X V plicity, every sincere human heart will become a temple for its habitation and every man becomes a priest unto himself. Thus, and thus only, will be established the religion of Him, who, having the same interest with ourselves in the welfare of mankind, left us, for the rule of our happiness, the sum and substance of his code of peace and good will-" Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them. By some persons of the multitude, commonly known by the name of Christians, and who profess to suppose they do God service by calling themselves so, the Editor has been attacked with a malignity and fury that would have graced the age of Mary and Elizabeth, when Catholics put to death Protestants, and Protestants put to death Catholics, for the sake of him who commanded mankind to love one another. To these assailants, he owes no explanation ; to the craft of disingenuous criticism, he offers no reply ; to the bolt of the Bigot, and the shaft of the Shrinemaker, he scarcely con- descends the opposition of a smile. ORDER OF ALL TIIE BOOKS OF THE APOCRYPHAL NEW TESTAMENT. Mary hath .... Protevangelion . . I. Infancy .... II. Infancy . . . Christ and Abgarus ISFicodemus Apostles' Creed in its ancient state .... Apostles' Creed in its present state . . . . Laodiceans Paul and Seneca . . Paul and Thecla I. Corinthians .... II. Corinthians .... Barnabas Ephesians Magnesians . . t . . Trallians Romans Philadelphians .... Smyrnseans Polycarp Philippians I. Ilermas — Visions . . II. Hermas— Commands III. Hermas — Simili- tudes No. of i- hap. Page. 8 17 1G 24 22 33 4 GO o G2 22 G3 1 91 1 93 1 94 14 95 11 99 24 112 5 139 15 145 4 1C6 4 172 3 175 3 178 3 182 3 185 3 189 4 192 4 197 12 212 80 228 In the works of St. Jerome, a Father of the Church, who died A. D. 420. Postellus brought the MS. from the Le- vant, translated it into Latin, and caused it to be printed at Zuricli, in 1552. Received by the Gnostics, a set of Chris- tians in the second Century, and translated into English by Mr. Henry Sikc, Oriental Professor at Cambridge, in 1097. Printed by Professor Cotelerius,in a note to his works of the Apostolic Fathers, from a MS. in the King of France's Library, No. 2279, and Bishop of Coesarea, A.D. 315. Preserved by Eusebius, one of the Coun- cil cf Nice in his Ecclesiastical History, Book I. chap. 13. Published by Professor Grynseus, in the Orthodoxographia, 1555, torn. ii. p. G43. Without the articles of Christfs Descent into Hell and the Communion of iSaints. See it thus handed down in Mr. Justice Bai- ley's Edition of the Book of Common Prayer, 8vo, 1813, p. 9, note. Also in Bingham's Antiquities of the Christian Church, folio, 1726, B. 10, c. 4, s. 12. In the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England. From Ancient MSS. in the Sorbonne and the Library of Ioannes a Viridario at Padua. See also Poole's Annotations on Col. iv. 16, and Harl. MSS. Cod. 1212. Jerome ranks Seneca on account of these Epistles among the holy writers of the Church. They are preserved by Sixtus Senensis, in his Bibliolheque, p. 89, 90. From the Greek MS. in the Bodleian Library, copied by Dr. Mills, and trans- mitted to Dr. Grabe, who edited and printed it in his Spccilegium. These are "The Genuine Epistles of the Apostolic Fathers; being, together with the Holy Scriptures of the N ew Testament a complete collection of the most primitive An- tiquity for about a hundred and fifty years after Christ. Translated and published with a large preliminary discourse relating to the several Treatiscsby the most Reverend Father in God, William, (Wake) Lord Bishop of Lincoln," afterwards Lurd Archbishop of Canterbury. The authorities and proofs adduced by this erudite and honest pre- late will be found in great number in the introduction and discourses to the Edi- tion of the Archbishop's Translation of these Epistles, published in 1817, by Mr. Bagster, Paternoster Row. Note.— Column 1 cohtains the proper names of the Books ; col. 2theNo. of chapters in each ; col. 3 the page whereon each Book commences; col. 4 the authorities for each briefly stated. Mite mi Urn, so'// ti [l\Pf\U^ yippa THE BIRTH OF THE VIRGIN. [Page 19. FROM A GREEK DIPTYCHON OF THE THIRTEENTH OR FOURTEENTH CENTURY. THE Jljwrwijtti leu) Ccstttmcnt The GOSPEL of the BIRTH OF MARY. [In the primitive ages" there was a Gospel extant bearing this name, attri- buted to St. Matthew, and received as genuine and authentic by several of the ancient Christian sects. It is to be found in the works of Jerome, a Father of the Church, who flourished in the fourth century, from whence the present translation is made. His contemporaries, Epipha- nius, Bishop of Salamis, and Austin, also mention a Gospel under this title. The ancient copies differed from Jerome's, for from one of them the learned Faustus, a native of Britain, who became Bishop of Eiez, in Provence, endeavoured to prove that Christ was not the Son of God till after his baptism ; and that he was not of the house of David and tribe of Judah, because, according to the Gospel he cited, the Virgin herself was not of this tribe, but of the tribe of Levi; her father being a priest of the name of Joachim. It was likewise from this Gospel that the sect of the Collyridians, established the worship and offering of raan- chet bread and cracknels, or fine wafers, as sacrifices to Mary, whom they imagined to have been born of a Virgin, as Christ is related in the Canonical Gospel to have been born of her. Epiphanius likewise cites a passage concerning the death of Zacharias, which is not in Jerome's copy, viz. '' That it was the occasion of the death of Zacharias in the temple, that when he had seen a vision, he, through surprise, was willing to disclose it, and his mouth was stopped. That which he saw was at the time of his offering incense, and it was a man standing in the form of an ass. When he was gone out, and had a mind to speak thus to the people, Woeunto you, whom do yeivorship? he who had appeared to him in the temple took away the use of his speech. Afterwards when he recovered it, and was able to speak, he declared this to the Jews, and they slew him. They add (viz. the Gnostics in this book), that on this very account the high-priest was appointed by their lawgiver (by God to Moses), to carry little bells, that whensoever he went into the temple to sacrifice, he, whom they worshipped, hearing the noise of the bells, might have time enough to hide himself, and not be caught in that ugly shape and figure." — The principal part of this Gospel is con- tained in the Protevangelion of James, which follows next in order.] CHAP. I. 1 The parentage of Mary. 7 Joachim, her father, and Anna her mother, go to Jerusalem to the feast of the dedi- cation. 9 Issachar the high priest re- proaches Joachim for being childless. rpHE blessed and ever glorious X Virgin Mary, sprung from the royal race and family of Da- vid, was born in the city of Naza- reth, and educated at Jerusalem, in the temple of the Lord, 2 Her father's name was Joa- chim, and her mother's Anna. The family of her father was of Galilee and the city of Nazareth. The family of her mother was of Bethlehem. 3 Their lives were plain and right in the sight of the Lord, pious and faultless before men. For they divided all their sub- stance into three parts : 4 One of which they devoted 2 17 Mary's parents barren. MARY. An Angel appears, and to the temple and officers of the temple ; another they distributed among strangers, and persons in poor circumstances ; and the third they reserved for them- selves and the uses of their own family. 5 In this manner they lived for about twenty years chastely, in the favour of God, and the esteem of men, without any children. 6 But they vowed, if God should favour them with any is- sue, they would devote it to the service of the Lord ; on which account they went at every feast in the year to the temple of the Lord. 1 7 ^[ And it came to pass, that when the feast of the dedication drew near, Joachim, with some others of his tribe, went up to Jerusalem, and at that time, Is- sachar was high-priest ; 8 Who, when he saw Joachim along with the rest of his neigh- bours, bringing his offering, des- pised both him and his offerings, and asked him, 9 Why he, who had no chil- dren, would presume to appear among those who had ? Adding, that his offerings could never be acceptable to God, who was judged by him unworthy to have children ; the Scripture having said, Cursed is every one who shall not beget a male in Israel. 10. He further said, that he ought first to be free from that curse by begetting some issue, and then come with his offerings into .the presence of God. 11 But Joachim being much confounded with the shame of such reproach, retired to the shepherds, who were with the cattle in their pastures ; 12 For he was not inclined to return home, lest his neighbours, who were present and heard all this from the high-priest, should publicly reproach him in the same manner. CHAP. II. 1 An angel appears to Joachim, 9 and informs him that Anna shall con- ceive and bring forth a daughter, who shall be called Mary, 11 be brought up in the temple, 12 and while yet a virgin, in a way unparalleled, bring forth the Son of GodU 13 gives him a sign, 14 and departs. BUT when he had been there for some time, on a certain day when he was alone, the an- gel of the Lord stood by him with a prodigious light. 2 To whom, being troubled at the appearance, the angel who had appeared to him, endeavour- ing to compose him said : 3 Be not afraid, Joachim, nor troubled at the sight of me, for I am an angel of the Lord sent by him to you, that I might inform you, that your prayers are heard, and your alms ascended in the sight of God. 2 4 For he hath surely seen your shame, and heard you un- justly reproached for not having children : for God is the avenger of sin, and not of nature ; 5 And so when he shuts the womb of any person, he does it for this reason, that he may in a more wonderful manner again open it, and that which is born appear to be not the product of lust, but the gift of God. 6 For the first mother of your nation Sarah, was she not barren even till her eightieth year: And yet even in the end of her old age brought forth Isaac, in whom the promise was made a blessing to all nations. 3 Sam. i 18 3, 7, &c. 2 Acts x. 4. s Gen. xvi. 2, &c and xviii. 10, &c. promises them a child. MARY. ilUUI Concrtccfi. 7 Rachel also, so much in fa- vour with God, and beloved so much by holy Jacob, continued ban-en for a long time, yet after- wards was the mother of Joseph, who was not only governor of Egypt, but delivered many na- tions from perishing with hun- ger. 1 8 Who among the judges was more valiant than Samson, or more holy than Samuel ? And yet both their mothers were barren. 2 9 But if reason will not con- vince you of the truth of my words, that there are frequent conceptions in advanced years, and that those who were barren have brought forth to their great surprise ; therefore Anna your wife shall bring you a daugh- ter, and you shall call her name Mary; 10 She shall, according to your vow, be devoted to the Lord from her infancy, and be filled with the Holy Ghost from her mother's womb ; 3 11 She shall neither eat nor drink anything which is unclean, nor shall her conversation be without among the common peo- ple, but in the temple of the Lord ; that so she may not fall under any slander or suspicion of what is bad. 12 So in the process of her years, as she shall be in a mira- culous manner born of one that was barren, so she shall, while yet a virgin, in a way unparal- leled, bring forth the Son of the most High God, who shall, be called Jesus, and, according to the signification of his name, be the Saviour of all nations. 4 13 And this shall be a sign to you of the things which I de- clare, namely, when you come to the golden gate of Jerusalem, you shall there meet your wife Anna, who being very much troubled that you returned no sooner, shall then rejoice to see you. 14 When the angel had said this he departed from him. CHAP. III. I The angel appears to Anna ; 2 telU her a daughter shall be born unto /ier, 3 devoted to the service of the Lord in the temple, 5, who, being a virgin and not knowing man, shall bring forth the Lord, 6 and gives her a sign therefore. 8 Joachim and Anna meet and rejoice, 10 and praise the Lord. 11 Anna conceives, and brings forth a daughter called Mary. AFTERWARDS the angel appeared to Anna his wife saying : Fear not, neither think that which you see is a spirit. 5 2 For I am that angel who hath offered up your prayers and alms before God, and am now sent to you, that I may inform you, that a daughter will be born unto you, who shall be called Mary, and shall be blessed above all women. 6 3 She shall be, immediately upon her birth, full of the grace of the Lord, and shall continue during the three years of her weaning in her father's house, and afterwards, being devoted to the service of the Lord, shall not depart from the temple, till she arrives to years of discretion. 4 In a word, she shall there serve the Lord night and day in fasting and prayer, 7 shall abstain from every unclean thing, and never know any man ; 5 But, being an unparalleled instance without any pollution or defilement, and a virgin not J Gen. xxx. 1—22, and xli. l,&c. 2 Judgr. xiii. 2. and 1 Sam. 6. &c. 3 Lukei. 15. *Mattb. i. 21. »Matth. xiv. 26. 6 Luke i. 28. 7 Lukcii. 37. 19 Mary born. MARY. Ministered unto by Angels. knowing any man, shall bring forth a son, and a maid shall bring forth the Lord, who both by his grace and name and works, shall be the Saviour of the world. 6 Arise therefore, and go up to Jerusalem, and when you shall come to that which is called the golden gate (because it is gilt with gold), as a sign of what I have told you, you shall meet your husband, for whose safety you have been so much concerned. 7 When therefore you find these things thus accomplished, believe that all the rest which I have told you, shall also un- doubtedly be accomplished. 8 ^[ According therefore to the command of the angel, both of them left the places where they were, and when they came to the place specified in the an- gel's prediction, they met each other. 9 Then, rejoicing at each oth- er's vision, and being fully satis- fied in the promise of a child, they gave due thanks to the Lord, who exalts the humble. 10 After having praised the Lord, they returned home, and lived in a cheerful and assured expectation of the promise of God. 11 Tf So Anna conceived, and brought forth a daughter, and, according to the angel's com- mand, the parents did call her name Mary. CHAP. IV. 1 Mary brought to the temple at three years old. 6 Ascends the stairs of the temple by miracle. 8 Her parents sacrificed and returned home. AND when three years were expired, and the time of her weaning complete, they brought the Virgin to the temple of the Lord with offerings. 2 And there were about the temple, according to the fifteen Psalms of degrees, 1 fifteen stairs to ascend. 3 For the temple being built in a mountain, the altar of burnt- offering, which was without, could not be come near but by stairs ; 4 The parents of the blessed Virgin and infant Mary put her upon one of these stairs ; 5 But while they were putting off their clothes, in which they had travelled, and according to custom putting on some that were more neat and clean, 6 In the mean time the Vir- gin of the Lord in such a man- ner went up all the stairs one after another, without the help of any to lead or lift her, that any one would have judged from hence that she was of perfect age. 7 Thus the Lord did, in the infancy of his Virgin, work this extraordinary work, and evi- dence by this miracle how great she was like to be hereafter. 8 But the parents having of- fered up their sacrifice, accord- ing to the custom of the law, and perfected their vow, left the Virgin with other virgins in the apartments of the temple, who were to be brought up there, and they returned home. CHAP. V. 2 Mary ministered unto by angels. 4 The high-priest orders all virgins of fourteen years old to quit the temple and endeavour to be married. 5 Mary refuses, 6 having vowed her vir- ginity to the Lord. 7 The high-priest commands a meeting of the chief per- sons of Jerusalem, 11 who seek the Lord for counsel in the matter. 13 A voice from the mercy-seat. 15 The Those Psalms are from the 120th to the 134th, including hoth. 20 Her vow of virginity. MARY. TJie high-priest in difficulty. high-priest obeys it by ordering all the unmarried men of the house of David to bring their rods to the altar, 17 that his rod which should flower, and on which the Spirit of God should sit, should betroth the Virgin. BUT the Virgin .of the Lord, as she advanced in years, increased also in perfections, and according to the saying of the Psalmist, her father and mother forsook her, but the Lord took care of her. 2 For she every day had the conversation of angels, and every day received visitors from God, which preserved her from all sorts of evil, and caused her to abound with all good things ; 3 So that when at length she arrived to her fourteenth year, as the wicked could not lay any- thing to her charge worthy of reproof, so all good persons, who were acquainted with her, ad- mired her life and conversation. 4 At that time the high-priest made a public order. That all the virgins who had public set- tlements in the temple, and were come to this age, should return home, and, as they were now of a proper maturity, should, ac- cording to the custom of their country, endeavour to be mar- ried. 5 To which command, though all the other virgins readily yielded obedience, Mary the Virgin of the Lord alone an- swered, that she could not com- ply with it. 6 Assigning these reasons, that both she and her parents had devoted her to the service of the Lord ; and besides, that she had vowed virginity to the Lord, which vow she was resolved never to break through by lying with a man. 7 The high priest being here- by brought into a difficulty, 8 Seeing he durst neither on the one hand dissolve the vow, and disobey the Scripture, which says, Vow and pay, 1 9 Nor on the other hand in- troduce a custom, to which the people were strangers, com- manded, 10 That at the approaching feast all the principal persons both of Jerusalem and the neigh- bouring places should meet to- gether, that he might have their advice, how he had best proceed in so difficult a case. 11 When they were accord- ingly met, they unanimously agreed to seek the Lord, and ask counsel from him on this matter. 2 12 And when they were all engaged in prayer, the high- priest, according to the usual way, went to consult God. 13 And immediately there was a voice from the ark, and the mercy seat, which all present heard, that it must be inquired or sought out by a prophecy of Isaiah to whom the Virgin should be given and be betrothed ; 14 For Isaiah saith, there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a flower shall spring out of its root, 15 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, the Spirit of Counsel and Might, the Spirit of Knowledge and Piety, and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord shall fill him. 16 Then, according to thia prophecy, he appointed, that all 1 Eccles. v. 4, 5, 6; and Psalm Ixxvi. 11. 3 Num. xxvii. 21, compared with Exod. xxviii. 30; Lev. viii. 8; Deut xxxiii. 8 ; Ezra ii. 63 : Nehern. vii. 65. 21 The Virgin betrothed. MARY. Angel Gabriel salutes Mary the men of the house and family of David, who were marriage- able, and not married, should bring their several rods to the altar, 17 And out of whatsoever person's rod after it was brought, a flower should bud forth, and on the top of it the Spirit of the Lord should sit in the appear- ance of a dove, he should be the man to whom the Virgin should be given and be betrothed. CHAP. VI. 1 Joseph draws back Ms rod. 5 The dove pitches on it. Hebetroths Mary and returns to Bethlehem. 7 Mary returns to her parents' house at Galilee. AMONG the rest there was a man named Joseph, of the house and family of David, and a person very far advanced in years, who drew back his rod, when every one besides presented his. 2 So that when nothing ap- peared agreeable to the heavenly voice, the high-priest judged it proper to consult God again, 3 Who answered that he to whom the Virgin was to be be- trothed was the only person of those who were brought together, who had not brought his rod. 4 Joseph therefore was be- trayed. 5 For, when he did bring his rod, and a dove coming from Heaven pitched upon the top of it, every one plainly saw, that the Virgin was to be betrothed to him : 6 Accordingly, the usual cere- monies of betrothing being over, he returned to his own city of Bethlehem, to set his house in order, and make the needful provisions for the marriage. 7 But the Virgin of the Lord, 1 Luke i. I Mary, with seven other virgins of the same age, who had been 1 weaned at the same time, and 1 who had been appointed to at- tend her by the priest, returned to her parents' house in Galilee. CHAP. VII. 7 The salutation of the Virgin by Ga- briel, who explains to her that she shall conceive, without lying with a man, while a Virgin, 19 by the Holy Ghost coming upon her without the heats of lust. 21 She submits. "VTOW at this time of her first J_\ coming into Galilee, the angel Gabriel was sent to her from God, to declare to her the conception of our Saviour, and the manner and way of her con- ceiving him. 2 Accordingly going into her, he filled the chamber where she was with a prodigious light, and in a most courteous manner sa- luting her, he said, 3 Hail, Mary ! Virgin of the Lord most acceptable ! O Vir- gin full of Grace ! The Lord is with you, you are blessed above all women, you are blessed above all men, that, have been hitherto born. 1 4 But the Virgin, who had before been well acquainted with the countenances of" angels, and to whom such light from heaven was no uncommon thing, 5 Was neither terrified with the vision of the angel, nor astonished at the greatness of the light, but only troubled about the angel's Avords : 6 And began to consider what so extraordinary a salutation should mean, what it did por- tend, or what sort of end it would have. 2 7 To this thought the angel, divinely inspired, replies ; 8 Fear not, Mary, as though 2 Luke i. 29. 22 And tells her she shall < MARY. She is married to Joseph I intended anything inconsistent with your chastity in this salu- tation : 9 For you have found favour with the Lord, because you made virginity your choice. 10 Therefore while you are a Virgin, you shall conceive with- out sin, and bring forth a son. 11 He shall be great, because he shall reign from sea to sea, and from the rivers to the ends of the earth. 1 12 And he shall be called the . Son of the Highest ; for he who is born in a mean state on earth reigns in an exalted one in hea- ven. 13 And the Lord shall give him the throne of his father Da- vid, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of 20 So that which shall be born of you shall be only holy, be- cause it only is conceived with- out sin, and being born, shall be called the Son of God. 21 Then Mary stretching forth her hands, and lifting her eyes to heaven, said, Behold the hand- maid of the Lord! Let it be unto me according to thy word. 2 CHAP. VIII. 1 Joseph returns to Oalilee to marry the Virgin he had betrothed. 4 perceives she is with child, 5 is uneasy, 7 pur- poses to put her away privily, 8 is told by the angel of the Lord it is not the work of man but the Holy Ghost, 12 Harries her, but keeps chaste, 13 re- moves with her to Bethlehem, 15 where she brings forth Christ. JOSEPH therefore went from Judaea to Galilee, with in- his kingdom there shall be no tention to marry the Virgin who end. was betrothed to him : 14 For he is the King of 2 For it was now near three Kings, and Lord of Lords, and j months since she was betrothed his throne is for ever and ever, to him. 15 To this discourse of the 3 At length it plainly ap- angel the Virgin replied not, as peared she was with child, and it though she were unbelieving, but could not be hid from Joseph : willing to know the manner of it. 4 For going to the Virgin in 16 She said, How can that be? a free manner, as one espoused, For seeing, according to my vow, and talking familiarly with her, I have never known any man, he perceived her to be with child, how can I bear a child without 5 And thereupon began to be the addition of a man's seed? uneasy and doubtful, not know- 17 To this the angel replied ing what course it would be best to take : and said, Think not, Mary, that you shall conceive in the ordi- nary way. 18 For, without lying with a man, while a Virgin, you shall conceive; while a Virgin, you shall bring forth ; and while a Virgin shall give suck. 19 For the Holy Ghost shall 6 For being a just man, he was not willing to expose her, nor defame her by the suspicion of being a whore, since he was a pious man. 7 He purposed therefore pri- vately to put an end to their agreement, and as privately to come upon you, and the power , put her away, of the Most High shall over- 8 But while he was meditating shadow you, without any of the these things, 3 behold the angel heats of lust. I of the Lord appeared to him in 1 Luke i. 31, &c. 2 Luke i. 38. 3 Matt. i. 19. 23 Joachims offering THE PROTEVANGELION. his sleep, and said Joseph, son of David, fear not ; 9 Be not willing to entertain any suspicion of the Virgin's being guilty of fornication, or to think any thing amiss of her, neither be afraid to take her to' wife ; 10 For that which is begotten in her and now distresses your mind, is not the work of man, but the Holy Ghost. 11 For she of all women is that only Virgin who shall bring forth the Son of God, and you shall call his name Jesus, that is, Saviour : for he will save his people from their sins. 12 Joseph thereupon, accord- ing to the command of the angel, married the Virgin, and did not know her, but kept her in chas- tity. 13 And now the ninth month from her conception drew near, when Joseph took his wife and what other things were neces- sary to Bethlehem, the city from whence he came. 14 And it came to pass, while they were there, the days were fulfilled for her bringing forth. 15 And she brought forth her first-born son, as the holy Evan- gelists have taught, even our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, lives and. reigns to everlasting Th BTP^T4m?r LI0 ? ; 1 0r ^ An Hist ° rical Account ° f the BIRTH of CHRIST, and the Perpetual VIRGIN MARY his Mother, by JAMES the lesser, Cousin and Brother of the -Lord Jesus, chief Apostle and first Bishop of the Christians in Jerusalem. [This Gospel is ascribed to James. The allusions to it in the ancient Fa- thers are frequent, and their expressions indicate that it had obtained a very general credit in the Christian world. The controversies founded upon it chiefly relate to the age of Joseph at the birth of Christ and to his being a widower with children, before his marriage with he Virgin It seems material to remark, that the legends of the latter ages affirm he virginity of Joseph, notwithstanding Epiphanius, Hilary,°Chrf ™ rStafeft EU SfT 9 v The P h >, ,ac v . t - Occumenius, and ind£d iHTS Latin Fathers till Ambrose, and the Greek Fathers afterwards, main- tain the opinions of Joseph's age and family, founded upon their belief in the authenticity of this book. It is supposed to have been or 'inallv composed in Hebrew. Postellus brought the MS. of this GoTpel from at ft^hSTftr *A int ° £ atin> and Sent h toOporimus, a P printer Divin ' % Bibliander, a Protestant Divine, and the Professor of Sat h V 1 f H .T- ', CaU " e J " t0 be V ri ? ted in W PostelIus asserts mlir il P K ,, *T 3,d M can ? mcal ln the eastern churches, they making no doubt that James was the author of it. It is nevertheless nw ei ' e( VTf, r -7- hal u by l° me 1 of the most learned divin '<* ^ the Pro- testant and Catholic churches.] CHAR I. 1 Joachim, a rich man, 2 offers to the „ Lord, 3 is opposed by Reuben the high- priest,^ because he 'has not begotten issue in Israel, 6 retires into the wil- derness and fasts forty days and forty nights. IN the history of the twelve tribes of Israel we read there was a certain person called Joa- chim, who being very rich, made double 1 offerings to the Lord God, having made this resolu- 24 That is, gave as much more as he was obliged ELIZABETH RECEIVING THE VISIT OF MARY. [Page 35. FROM A GREEK DIPTYCHON OF THE THIRTEENTH OR FOURTEENTH CENTURY. rejected for Ids THE PROTEVANGELION. barrenness. tion : my substance shall be for the benefit of the whole people, and that I may find mercy from the Lord God for the forgiveness of my sins. 2 But at a certain great feast of the Lord, when the children of Israel offered their gifts, and Joachim also offered his, Reuben the high-priest opposed him, say- ing it is not lawful for thee to offer thy gifts, seeing thou hast not begot any issue in Israel. 3 At this Joachim being con- cerned very much, went away to consult the registries of the twelve tribes, to see whether he was the only person who had begot no issue. 4 But upon inquiry he found that all the righteous had raised up seed in Israel : 5 Then he called to mind the patriarch Abraham, How that God in the end of his life had given him his son Isaac; upon which he was exceedingly dis- tressed, and would not be seen by his wife : " 6 But retired into the wilder- ness, and fixed his tent there, and fasted forty days and forty nights, saying to himself, 7 I will not go down either to eat or drink, till the Lord my God shall look down upon me, but prayer shall be my meat and drink. 1 CHAP. II. 1 Anna, the wife of Joachim, mourns her barrenness, 6 is reproached with it by Judith her maid, 9 site under a laurel tree and prays to the Lord. IN the meantime his wife Anna was distressed and perplexed on a double account, and said I will mourn both for my widow- hood and my barrenness. 2 Then drew near a great feast of the Lord, and Judith her maid said, How long will you thus afflict your soul ? The feast of the Lord is now come, when it is unlawful for any one to mourn. 3 Take therefore this hood which was given by one who makes such things, for it is not fit that I, who am a servant, should wear it, but it Avell suits a person of your greater char- acter. 4 But Anna replied, Depart from me, I am not used to such things; besides, the Lord hath greatly humbled me. 5 I fear some ill-designing person hath given thee this, and thou art come to pollute me with my sin. 6 Then Judith her maid an- swered, What evil shall I wish you when you will not hearken to me? 7 I cannot wish you a greater curse than you are under, in that God hath shut up your womb, that you should not be a mother in Israel. 8 At this Anna was exceed- ingly troubled, and having on her wedding garment, went about three o'clock in the afternoon to walk in her garden. 9 And she saw a laurel-tree, and sat under it, and prayed unto the Lord, saying, 10 O God of my fathers, bless me and regard my prayer as thou didst bless the womb of Sarah, and gavest her a son Isaac. 2 CHAP. III. 1 Anna perceiving a sparrow's nest in the laurels bemoans her barrenness. 1 In imitation of the fortv days and nights fast of Moses, recorded Exod. xxiv. 11, xxxiv. 28; Deut.'ix. 9; of Elijah, 1 Kings xix. 8; and Christ's, Matt. iv. 2. 2 Gen. xxi. 2. 25 Angels foretell THE PBOTEVANGELION. Mary's birth. AND as she was looking to- wards heaven she perceived a sparrow's nest in the laurel, 2 And mourning within her- self, she said, Wo is me, who begat me? and what womb did bear me, that I should be thus accursed before the children of Israel, and that they should re- proach and deride me in the temple of my God : Wo is me, to what can I be compared ? 3 I am not comparable to the very beasts of the earth, for even the beasts of the earth are fruit- ful before thee, O Lord! Wo is me, to what can I be com- pared ? 4 I am not comparable to the brute animals, for even the brute animals are fruitful before thee, Lord ! Wo is me, to what am 1 comparable? 5 I cannot be compared to these waters, for even the waters are fruitful before thee, O Lord ! Wo is me, to what can I be compared ? 6 I am not comparable to the waves of the sea ; for these, whe- ther they are calm, or in motion, with the fishes which are in them, praise thee, O Lord ! Wo is me, to what can I be com- pared ? 7 I am not comparable to the very earth, for the earth pro- duces its fruits, and praises thee, Lord ! CHAP. IV. 1 An Angel appears to Anna and tells her she shall conceive ; two angels ap- pear to her on the same errand. 5 Joachim sacrifices. 8 Anna goes to meet him, 9 rejoicing that she shall conceive. THEN an angel of the Lord stood by her and said, Anna, Anna, the Lord hath heard thy prayer ; thou shalt conceive and bring forth, and thy progeny 26 shall be spoken of in all the world. 2 And Anna answered, As the Lord my God liveth, what- ever I bring forth, whether it be male or female, I will devote it to the Lord my God, and it shall minister to him in holy things, during its whole life. 3 And behold there appeared two angels, saying unto her, Be- hold Joachim thy husband is coming with his shepherds. 4 For an angel of the Lord hath also come down to him, and said, The Lord God hath heard thy prayer, make haste and go hence, for behold Anna thy wife shall conceive. 5 And Joachim went down and called his shepherds, saying Bring me hither ten she-lambs without spot or blemish, and they shall be for the Lord my God. 6 And bring me twelve calves without blemish, and the twelve calves shall be for the, and the elders. 7 Bring me also a hundred goats, and the hundred goats shall be for the whole people. 8 And Joachim went down with the shepherds, and Anna stood by the gate and saw Joa- chim coming with the shepherds. 9 And she ran, and hanging about his neck, said, Now I know that the Lord hath greatly blessed me : 10 For behold, I w T ho was a widow am no longer a widow, and I who was barren shall con- ceive. CHAP. V. 1 Joachim abides the first day in his house, but sacrifices on the morrow. 2 consults the plate an the priest's forehead. 3 And is without sin. 6 Anna brings forth a daughter, 9 whom she calls Mary. Her dedication THE PROTEVANGELION. in the temple. ND Joachim abode the' first I walk again on this earth till I day in his house, but on bring thee into the temple of the the morrow he brought his of- ferings and said, 2 If the Lord be propitious to me let the plate which is on the priest's forehead 1 make it ma- nifest. 3 And he consulted the plate which the priest wore, and saw it, and behold sin was not found in him. 4 And Joachim said, Now I know that the Lord is propitious to me, and hath taken away all my sins. 5 And he went down from the temple of the Lord justified, and he went to his own house. 6 And when nine months were fulfilled to Anna, she brought forth, and said to the midwife, What have I brought forth ? 7 And she told her, a girl. 8 Then Anna said, the Lord hath this day magnified my soul ; and she laid her in bed. 9 And when the days of her purification were accomplished, she gave suck to the child, and called her name Mary. CHAP. VI. 1 Mary at nine months old, walks nine steps, 3 Anna keeps her holy, 4 When she is a year old, Joachim makes a great feast. 7 Anna gives her the breast, and sings a song to the Lord. AND the child increased in strength every day, so that when she was nine months old, her mother put her upon the ground to try if she could stand ; and when she had walked nine steps, she came again to her mo- ther's lap. 2 Then her mother caught her up, and said, As the Lord my God liveth, thou shalt not Lord. 3 Accordingly she made her chamber a holy place, and suf- fered nothing uncommon or un- clean to come near her, but in- vited certain undefiled daughters of Israel, and they drew her aside. 4 But when the child was a year old, Joachim made a great feast, and invited the priests, scribes, elders, and all the people of Israel ; 5 And Joachim then made an offering of the girl to the chief priests, and they blessed her, saying, The God of our fathers bless this girl, and give her a name famous and lasting through all generations. And all the people replied, So be it, Amen. 6 Then Joachim a second time offered her to the priests, and they blessed her, saying, O most high God, regard this girl, and bless her with an everlasting blessing. 7 Upon this her mother took her up, and gave her the breast, and sung the following song to the Lord. 2 8 I will sing a new song unto the Lord my God, for he hath visited me, and taken away from me the reproach of mine enemies, and hath given me the fruit of his righteousness, that it may now be told the sons of Reuben, that Anna gives suck. 9 Then she put the child to rest in the room which she had consecrated, and she went out and ministered unto them. 10 And when the feast was ended, they went away rejoicing and praising the God of Israel. 1 Such an instrument God had appointed the high-priest to wear for such discoveries. See Exod. xxviii. 36, &c-, and Spencer de Unm et Thummim. 2 Compare 1 Sam. ii., &c, with Luke i. 46. 27 Joseph throws THE PROTEVANGELIOK away his hatchet. CHAP. VII. 3 Mary being three years old, Joachim causes certain virgins to light each a lamp, and goes with her to the temple. 5 The high-priest places her on the third step of the altar, and she dances with her feet. BUT the girl grew, and when she was two years old, Joa- chim said to Anna, Let us lead her to the temple of the Lord, that we may perform our vow, which we have vowed unto the Lord God, lest he should be an- gry with us, and our offering be unacceptable. 2 But Anna said, Let us wait the third year, lest she should be at a loss to know her father. And Joachim said, Let us then wait. 3 And when the child was three years old, Joachim said, Let us invite the daughters of the Hebrews, who are undefiled, and let them take each a lamp, and let them be lighted, that the child may not turn back again, and her mind be set against the temple of the Lord. 4 And they did thus till they ascended into the temple of the Lord. And the high-priest re- ceived her, and blessed her, and said, Mary, the Lord God hath magnified thy name to all gene- rations, and to the very end of time by thee will the Lord shew his redemption to the children of Israel. 5 And he placed her upon the third step of the altar, and the Lord gave unto her grace, and she danced with her feet, and all the house of Israel loved her. CHAP. VIII. 2 Mary fed in the temple by angels, 3 when twelve years old the priests con- sult what to do with her. 6 The angel of the Lord warns Zacharias to call together all the widowers, each bringing a rod. 7 The people meet by sound of trumpet. 8 Joseph throws away his hatchet, and goes to the meeting, 11a dove comes forth from his rod, and alights on his head. ] 2 He is chosen to betroth the Virgin. 1 3 refuses because he is an old man, 1 5 is compelled, 16 takes her home, and goes to mind his trade of building. AND her parents went away filled with wonder, and praising God, because the girl did not return back to them. 2 But Mary continued in the temple as a dove educated there, and received her food from the hand of an angel. 3 And when she was twelve years of age, the priests met in a council, and said, Behold, Mary is twelve years of age ; what shall we do with her, for fear lest the holy place of the Lord our God should be defiled ? 4 Then replied the priests to Zacharias the high-priest, Do you stand at the altar of the Lord, and enter into the holy place, and make petitions concerning her, and whatsoever the Lord shall manifest unto you, that do. 5 Then the high-priest entered into the Holy of Holies, and taking away with him the breast- plate of judgment 1 made prayers concerning her ; 6 And behold the angel of the Lord came to him, and said, Zacharias, Zacharias, Go forth and call together all the widow- ers among the people, and let every one of them bring his rod, and he by whom the Lord shall shew a sign shall be the husband of Mary. 7 And the criers went out through all Judsea, and the trumpet of the Lord sounded, and all the people ran and met together. See Exol xxviii. 22. &c. 28 Mary' slot to THE PROTEVANGELION. spin the pwple 8 Tf Joseph also, throwing away the hatchet, went out to meet them ; and when they were met, they went to the high-priest, taking every man his rod. 9 After the high-priest had received their rods, he went into the temple to pray ; 10 And when he had finished his prayer, he took the rods, and went forth and distributed them, and there was no miracle attend- ed them. 11 The last rod was taken by Joseph, and behold a dove pro- ceeded out of the rod, and flew upon the head of Joseph. 12 And the high-priest said, Joseph, Thou art the person cho- sen to take the Virgin of the Lord, to keep her for him : 13 But Joseph refused, say- ing, I am an old man, and have children, but she is young, and I fear lest I should appear ridicu- lous in Israel. 14 Then the high-priest re- plied, Joseph, fear the Lord thy God, and remember how God dealt with Dathan, Korah, and Abii'am, how the earth opened and swallowed them up, because of their contradiction. 15 Now therefore, Joseph, fear God, lest the like things should happen in your family. 16 Joseph then being afraid, took her unto his house, and Jo- seph said unto Mary, Behold, I have taken thee from the temple of the Lord, and now I will leave thee in my house ; I must I- go to mind my trade of building. The Lord be with thee. CHAP. IX. 1 The priests desire a new veil for the temple, 3 seven virgins cast lots for making different parts of it, 4 the lot to spin the true purple falls to Mary. 5 Zacharias, the high-priest, becomes dumb. 7 Mary takes a pot to draw water, and hears a voice, 8 trembles and begins to work, 9 an angel appears, and salutes her, and tells her she shall conceive by the Holy Ghost, 17 she submits, 19 visits her cousin Elizabeth, whose child in her womb leaps. AND it came to pass, in a council of the priests, it was said, Let us make a new veil for the temple. 2 And the high-priest said, Call together to me seven unde- filed virgins of the tribe of David. 3 And the servants went and brought them into the temple of the Lord, and the high-priest said unto them Cast lots before me now, who of you shall spin the golden thread, who the blue, who the scarlet, who the fine linen, and who the true purple. 4 Then the high-priest knew Mary, that she was of the tribe of David ; and he called her, and the true purple fell to her lot to spin, and she went away to her own house. 5 But from that time Zacha- rias the high-priest became dumb, and Samuel was placed in his room till Zacharias spoke again. 6 But Mary took the true purple, and did spin it. 7 % And she took a pot, and went out to draw water, and heard a voice saying unto her, Hail thou who art full of grace, 1 the Lord is with thee ; thou art blessed among women. 8 And she looked round to the right and to the left (to see) whence that voice came, and then trembling went into her house, and laying down the water-pot she took the purple, and sat down in her seat to work it. 1 Luke i. 28, &c. 29 Joseph's jealousy. THE PROTEVANGELIOK He is warned. 9 And behold the angel of the Lord stood by her, and said, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour in the sight of God ; 10 Which when she heard, she reasoned with herself what that sort of salutation meant. 11 And the angel said unto her, The Lord is with thee, and thou shalt conceive : 12 To which she replied, "What ! shall I conceive by the living God, and bring forth as all other women do ? 13 But the angel returned answer, Not so, O Mary, but the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee ; 14 "Wherefore that which shall be born of thee shall be holy, and shall be called the Son of the Living God, and thou shalt call his name Jesus ; for he shall save his people from their sins. 15 And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath con- ceived a son in her old age. 16 And this now is the sixth month with her, who was called barren ; for nothing is impossi- ble with God. 17 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord ; let it be unto me according to thy word. 18 ^f And when she had wrought her purple, she carried it to the high-priest, and the I high-priest blessed her, saying, j Mary, the Lord God hath mag- ' nified thy name, and thou shalt be blessed in all the ages of the world. 19 Then Mary, filled with joy, went away to her cousin Eliza- beth, and knocked at the door. 20 Which when Elizabeth heard, she ran and opened to her, and blessed her, and said, Luke ii Whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come unto me? 21 For lo! as soon as the voice of thy salutation reached my ears, that which is in me leaped and blessed thee. 22 But Mary, being ignorant of all those mysterious things which the archangel Gabriel had spoken to her, lifted up her eyes to heaven, and said, Lord ! What am I, that all the genera- tions of the earth should call me blessed ? 23 But perceiving herself daily to grow big, and being afraid, she went home, and hid herself from the children of Israel ; and was fourteen years old when all these things happened. CHAP. X. 1 Joseph returns from building houses, finds the Virgin grown big, being six months' gone with child, 2 is jealous and troubled, 8 reproaches her, 10 she affirms her innocence, 13 he leaves her, 16 determines to dismiss her pri- vately, 17 is warned in a dream that Mary is with child by the Holy Ghost, 20 and glorifies God who hath shewn him such favour. AND when her sixth month was come, Joseph returned from his building houses abroad, which was his trade, and enter- ing into the house, found the Virgin grown big: 2 Then smiting upon his face, he said, With what face can I look up to the Lord my God ? or, what shall I say concerning this young woman ? 3 For I received her a Virgin out of the temple of the Lord my God, and have not preserved her such ! 4 Who has thus deceived me ? Who has committed this evil in my house, and seducing the Vir- gin from me, hath denied her ? 39, Ac. 30 Joseph and Marys THE PROTEVANGELION. chastity proved. 5 Is not the history of Adam exactly accomplished in me? 6 For in the very instant of his glory, the serpent came and found Eve alone, and seduced her. 7 Just after the same manner it has happened to me. 8 Then Joseph arising from the ground, called her, and said, thou who hast been so much favoured by God, why hast thou done this? 9 Why hast thou thus debased thy soul, who wast educated in the Holy of Holies, and received thy food from the hand of an- gels? 10 But she, with a flood of tears, replied, I am innocent, and have known no man. 11 Then said Joseph, How comes it to pass you are with child? 12 Mary answered, As the Lord my God liveth, I know not by what means. 13 ^f Then Joseph was ex- ceedingly afraid, and went away from her, considering what he should do with her ; and he thus reasoned with himself: 1 14 If I conceal her crime, I shall be found guilty by the law of the Lord ; 15 And if I discover her to the children of Israel, I fear, lest she being with child by an angel, I shall be found to betray the life of an innocent person : 16 What therefore shall I do? 1 will privately dismiss her. 17 Then the night was come upon him, when behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said, 18 Be not afraid to take that young woman, for that which is within her is of the Holy Ghost ; 19 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. 20 Then Joseph arose from his sleep, and glorified the God of Israel, who had shown him such favour, and preserved the Virgin. CHAP. XL 3 Annas visits Joseph, perceives the Virgin big with child, 4 informs the high pried that Joseph had privately married her. 8 Joseph and Mary brought to trial on the charge. 17 Joseph drinks the water of the Lord as an ordeal, and receiving no harm, returns home. THEN came Annas the scribe, and said to Joseph, Where- fore have we not seen you since your return? 2 And Joseph replied, Because I was weary after my journey, and rested the first day. 3 But Annas turning about perceived the Virgin big with child. 4 And went away to the priest, and told him, Joseph in w T hom you placed so much con- fidence, is guilty of a notorious crime, in that he hath defiled the Virgin whom he received out of the temple of the Lord, and hath privately married her, not discovering it to the children of Israel. 5 Then said the priest, Hath done this? 6 Annas replied, If you send any of your servants, you will find that she is with child. 7 And the servants went, and found it as he said. 8 Upon this both she and Jo- seph were brought to their trial, and the priest said unto her, Mary, what hast thou done ? 9 Why hast thou debased thy 1 See Matt. i. 18. 31 Joseph's trial THE PROTEVANGELION". and acquittal. soul, and forgot thy God, seeing thou wast brought up in the Holy of Holies, and didst receive thy food from the hands of an- gels, and heardest their songs ? 10 Why hast thou done this ? 11 To which with a flood of tears she answered, As the Lord my God liveth, I am innocent in his sight, seeing I know no man. 12 Then the priest said to Joseph, Why hast thou done this ? 13 And Joseph answered, As the Lord my God liveth, I have not been concerned with her. 14 But the priest said, Lie not, but declare the truth ; thou hast privately married her, and not discovered it to the children of Israel, and humbled thyself under the mighty hand (of God), that thy seed might be blessed. 15 And Joseph was silent. 16 Then said the priest (to Joseph), You must restore to the temple of the Lord the Virgin which you took thence. 17 But he wept bitterly, and the priest added, I will cause you both to drink the water of the Lord, 1 which is for trial, and 60 your iniquity shall be laid open before you. 18 Then the priest took the water, and made Joseph drink, and sent him to a mountainous place. 19 And he returned perfectly well, and all the people won- dered that his guilt was not dis- covered. 20 So the priest said, Since the Lord hath not made your sins evident, neither do I con- demn you. 21 So he sent them away. 22 Then Joseph took Mary, Num. v. 18. and went to his house, rejoicing and praising the God of Israel. CHAP. XII. 1 A decree from Augustus for taxing the Jews. 5 Joseph puts Mary on an ass, to return to Bethlehem, 6 she looks sorrowful, 7 she laughs, 8 Joseph inquires the cause of each, 9 she tells him she sees two persons, one mourn- ing and the other rejoicing, 10 the delivery being near, he takes her from the ass, and places her in a cave. AND it came to pass, that there went forth a decree 5 from the Emperor Augustus, that all the Jews should be taxed, who were of Bethlehem in Judaea: 2 And Joseph said, I will take care that my children be taxed : but what shall I do with this young woman ? 3 To have her taxed as my wife I am ashamed ; and if I tax her as my daughter, all Israel knows she is not my daughter. 4 When the time of the Lord's appointment shall come, let him do as seems good to him. 5 And he saddled the ass, and put her upon it, and Joseph and Simon followed after her, and arrived at Bethlehem within three miles. 6 Then Joseph turning about saw Mary sorrowful, and said within himself, Perhaps she is in pain through that which is within her. 7 But when he turned about again he saw her laughing, and said to her, 8 Mary, how happens it, that I sometimes see sorrow, and sometimes laughter and joy in thy countenance ? 9 And Mary replied to him, I see two people with mine eyes, 2 Luke ii. 1. 32 THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. [Pace M. FKOM A " BOOK OF THE EVANGELISTS." GREEK MANUSCRIPT OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY. Miracles at THE PROTEVANGELION Mary's labom the one weeping and mourning, the other laughing and rejoicing. 10 And he went again across the way, and Mary said to Jo- seph, Take me down from the ass, for that which is in me presses to come forth. 11 But Joseph replied, Whi- ther shall I take thee ? for the place is desert. 12 Then said Mary again to Joseph, take me down, for that which is within me mightily presses me. 13 And Joseph took her down. 14 And he found there a cave, and let her into it. CHAP. XIII. 1 Joseph seeks a Hebrew midwife, 2 perceives the fowls stopping in their flight, 3 the working people at their food not moving, 8 the sheep stand- ing still, 9 the shepherd fixed and immoveable, 10 and kids with their mouths touching the water but not drinking. AND leaving her and his sons in the cave, Joseph went forth to seek a Hebrew midwife in the village of Bethlehem. 2 But as I Avas going (said Jo- seph) I looked up into the air, and I saw the clouds astonished, and the fowls of the air stop- ping in the midst of their flight. 3 And I looked down towards the earth, and saw a table spread, and working people sit- ting around it, but their hands were upon the table, and they did not move to eat. 4 They who had meat in their mouths did not eat. 5 They who lifted their hands up to their heads did not draw them back : 6 And they who lifted them up to their mouths did not put anything in ; 7 But all their faces were fixed upwards. '3 8 And I beheld the sheep dis- persed, and yet the sheep stood still. 9 And the shepherd lifted up his hand to smite them, and his hand continued up. 10. And I looked unto a river, and saw the kids with their mouths close to the water, and touching it, but they did not drink. CHAP. XIV. 1 Joseph finds a midwife. 10 A bright cloud overshadows the cave. 11 A great light in the cave, gradually in- creases until the infant is born. 13 The midwife goes out, and tells Salome that she has seen a virgin bring forth. 17 Salome doubts it. 20 her hand withers, 22 she suppli- cates the Lord, 28 is cured, 30 but warned not to declare what she had seen. T HEIST I beheld a woman com- ing down from the moun- tains, and she said to me, Where art thou going, O man ? 2 And I said to her, I go to inquire for a Hebrew midwife. 3 She replied to me, Where is the woman that is to be de- livered ? • 4 And I answered, In the cave, and she is betrothed to me. 5 Then said the midwife, Is she not thy wife ? 6 Joseph answered, It is Mary, who was educated in the Holy of Holies, in the house of the Lord, and she fell to my lot, and is not my wife, but has con- ceived by the Holy Ghost. 7 The midwife said, Is this true? 8 He answered, Come and see. 9 And the midwife went along with him, and stood in the cave. 10 Then a bright cloud over- shadowed the cave, and the mid- 33 Christ born. THE PROTEVANGELION. Salome's unbelief. wife said, This day my soul is magnified, for mine eyes have seen surprising things, and sal- vation is brought forth to Israel. 11 But on a sudden the cloud became a great light in the cave, so that their eyes could not bear it. 12 But the light gradually decreased, until the infant ap- peared, and sucked the breast of his mother Mary. 13 Then the midwife cried out, and said, How glorious a day is this, wherein mine eyes have seen this extraordinary sight ! 14 And the midwife went out from the cave, and Salome met her. 15 And the midwife said to her, Salome, Salome, I will tell you a most surprising thing which I saw, 16 A virgin hath brought forth, which is a thing contrary to nature. 17 To which Salome replied, As the Lord my God liveth, un- less I receive particular proof of this matter, I will not believe that a virgin hath brought forth. 18 T Then Salome went in, and the midwife said, Mary, shew thyself, for a great contro- versy is risen concerning thee. 19 And Salome received satis- faction. 20 But her hand was with- ered, and she groaned bitterly. 21 And said, Woe to me, be- cause of mine iniquity ; for I have tempted the living God, and my hand is ready to drop .off. 22 Then Salome made her supplication to the Lord, and said, O God of my fathers, re- member me, for I am of the seed of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. 23 Make me not a reproach among the children of Israel, but restore me sound to my parents. 24 For thou well knowest, O Lord, that I have performed many offices of charity in thy name, and have received my re- ward from thee. 25 Upon this an angel of the Lord stood by Salome, and said, The Lord God hath heard thy prayer, reach forth thy hand to the child, and carry him, and by that means thou shalt be re- stored. 26 Salome, filled with exceed- ing joy, went to the child, and said, I will touch him : 27 And she purposed to wor- ship him, for she said, This is a great king which is born in Israel. 28 And straightway Salome was cured. 29 Then the midwife went out of the cave, being approved by God. 30 And lo ! a voice came to Salome, Declare not the strange things which thou hast seen, till the child shall come to Jeru- salem. 31 So Salome also departed, approved by God. CHAP. XV. 1 Wise men come from the east. 3 He- rod alarmed ; 8 desires them if they find the child, to bring him word. 10 They visit the cave, and offer the child their treasure, 11 and being warned in a dream, do not return to Herod, but go home another way. THEN Joseph was preparing to go away, because there arose a great disorder in Bethle- hem by the coming of 1 some wise men from the east, 34 Matt. ii. 1, &c. Tie THE PROTEVAls GELION. Star in the Bad. 2 Who said, Where is the king of the Jews born ? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. 3 When Herod heard this, he was exceedingly troubled, and sent messengers to the wise men, and to the priests, and inquired of them in the town-hall, 4 And said unto them, Where have you it written concerning Christ the king, or where should he be born ? 5 Then they say unto him, In Bethlehem of Judsea; for thus it is written : And thou Bethle- hem in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah, for out of thee shall come a ruler, who shall rule my people Israel. 6 And having sent away the chief priests, he inquired of the wise men in the town-hall, and said unto them, What sign was it ye saw concerning the king that is born ? 7 They answered him, We saw an extraordinary large star shining among the stars of hea- ven, and so out-shined all the other stars, as that they became not visible, and we knew thereby that a great king was born in Israel, and therefore we are come to worship him. 8 Then said Herod to them, Go and make diligent inquiry ; and if ye find the child, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. 9 So the wise men went forth, and behold, the star which they saw in the east went before them, till it came and stood over the cave where the young child was with Mary his mother. 10 Then they brought forth out of their treasures, and offered unto him gold and frankincense, and myrrh. 11 And being warned in a dream by an angel, that they should not return to lien d through Judoca, they departed into their own country by an- other way. CIIAB. XVI. 1 Herod enraged, orders the infants in Bethlehem to be slain. 2 Mi her infant in an ox manger, o Eli- sabeth flees with her son John to tic mountains. G A mountain miracu- lously divides and receives them. 9 Herod incensed at the escape of John. causes Zacharias to be murdered at the altar, 23 the roofs of the temple rent, the body miraculously conveyed, and the blood petrified. 25 Israel mourns for him. 27 Simeon chosen his successor by lot. THEN" Herod 1 perceiving that he was mocked by the wise men, and being very angry, commanded certain men to go and to kill all the children that were in Bethlehem, from two years old and under. 2 But Mary hearing that the children were to be killed, being under much fear, took the child, and wrapped him up in swad- dling clothes, and laid him in an ox-manger, 2 because there was no room for them in the inn. 3 Elizabeth also, hearing that her son John Avas about to be searched for, took him and went up unto the mountains, and looked around for a place to hide him ; 4 And there was no secret place to be found. 5 Then she groaned within herself, and said, O mountain of the Lord, receive the mother with the child. 6 For Elizabeth could not climb up. 1 Matt. ii. 16. 2 Luke ii. 7 is alluded to, though misapplied 33 to 35 Herod's cruelty. THE PROTEVANGELION. Zaclis. murdered. 7 And instantly the mountain was divided and received them. 8 And there appeared to them an angel of the Lord, to pre- serve them. 9 T[ But Herod made search after John, and sent servants to Zacharias, when he was (minis- tering) at the altar, and said unto him, Where hast thou hid thy son ? 10 He replied to them, I am a minister of God, and a servant at the altar ; how should I know where my son is ? 11 So the servants went back, and told Herod the whole ; at which he was incensed, and said, Is not this son of his like to be king in Israel ? 12 He sent therefore again his servants to Zacharias, saying, Tell us the truth, where is thy son, for you know that your life is in my hand. 13 So the servants went and told him all this : 14 But Zacharias replied to them, I am a martyr for God, and if he shed my blood, the Lord will receive my soul. 15 Besides know that ye shed innocent blood. 16 However Zacharias was murdered in the entrance of the temple and altar, and about the partition ; 17 But the children of Israel knew not when he was killed. 18 ^f Then at the hour of sa- lutation the priests went into the temple, but Zacharias did not according to custom meet them and bless them ; 19 Yet they still continued waiting for him to salute them ; 20 And when they found he did not in a long time come, one of them ventured into the holy place where the altar was, and he saw blood lying upon the ground congealed ; 21 When, behold, a voice from heaven said, Zacharias is murdered, and his blood shall not be wiped away, until the revenger of his bleed come. 22 But when he heard this, he was afraid, and went forth and told the priests what he had seen and heard ; and they all Avent in, and saw the fact. 23 Then the roofs of the tem- ple howled, and were rent from the top to the bottom : 24 And they could not find the body, but only blood made hard like stone. 25 And they went away, and told the people, that Zacharias was murdered, and all the tribes of Israel heard thereof, and mourned for him, and lamented three days. 1 1 There is a story both in the Jerusalem and Babylonish Talmud very similar to this. It "is cited by Dr. Lightfoot, Talmud, Hicrosol, in Taannith, fob 69 ; and Talmud, Babyl. in Sankedr., fob 96. " Eabbi Joehanan said. Eighty thousand priests were slain for the blood of Zacharias. Eabbi Judas asked Eabbi Achan, Where did they kill Zacharias ? "Was it in the woman's court, or in the court of Israel? He answered: Keither in the court of Israel, nor in the court of women, but in the court of the priests; and they did not treat his blood in the same manner as they were wont to treat the blood of a ram or a young goat. For of these it is written, He shall pour out his blood, and cover it with dust. But it is written here, The blood is in the midst of her : she set it upon the top of the rock ; she poured it not upon the ground. (Ezek. xxiv. 7.) But why was this? That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance : I have set his blood upon the top of a* rock, that it should not be covered. They com- mitted seven evils that day: they murdered a priest, a prophet, and a 36 Simeon succeeds THE PROTEVANGELION. Zacharias. 26 Then the priests took counsel together concerning a person to succeed him. 27 And Simeon and the other priests cast lots, and the lot fell upon Simeon. 28 For he had been assured by the Holy Spirit, that he should not die, till he had seen Christ come in the flesh. 1 If I James wrote this History in Je- rusalem : and when the disturbance was I retired into a desert place, until the death of Herod. And the disturbance ceased at Jerusalem. That which re- mains is, that I glorify God that he hath given me such wisdom to write unto you who are spiritual, and who love God: to whom (be ascribed) glory and domi- nion for ever and ever, Amen. king; they shed the blood of the innocent: they polluted the court: that day was the Sabbath : and the day of expiation. When therefore Nebuzara- dan came there (viz. Jerusalem), he saw his blood bubbling, and said to them, What meaneth this ? They answered, It is the blood of calves, lambs, and rams, which we have offered upon the altar. He commanded then, that they should bring calves, and lambs, and rams, and said I will try whether this be their blood : accordingly they brought and slew them, but the blood of (Zacharias) still bubbled, but the blood of these did not bubble. Then he said, Declare to me the truth of the matter, or else I will comb your flesh with iron combs. Then said they to him, He was a priest, prophet, and judge, who prophesied to Israel all these calamities which we have suffered from you ; but we arose against him, and slew him. Then, said he, I will ap- pease him : then he took the rabbins and slew them upon his (viz. Zacharias'e) blood, and he was not yet appeased. Next he took the young boys from the schools, and slew them upon his blood, and yet it bubbled. Then lie brought the young priests and slew them in the same place, and yet it still bubbled. So he slew at length ninety-four thousand persons upon his blood, and it did not as yet cease bubbling. Then he drew near to it, and said, O Zacharias, Zacharias, thou hast occasioned the death of the chief of thy countrymen ; shall I slav them all ? then the blood ceased, and did bubble no more." ^ukeii. 26. 37 The first Gospel of the INFANCY of JESUS CHRIST. [Mr. Henry Sike, Professor of Oriental Languages at Cambridge, first trans- lated and published this Gospel in 1697. It was received by the Gnostics, a sect of Christians in the second century , and several of its relations were credited in the following ages by other Christians, viz., Eusebius, Athana- sius, Epiphanius, Chrysostom, &c. Sozomen says, he was told by many, and he credits the relations, of the idols in Egypt falling down on Joseph, and Mary's flight thither with Christ ; and of Christ making a well to wash his clothes in a sycamore tree, from whence balsam aiterwards proceeded. These stories are from this Gospel. Chemnitlui ; out of Stipulensis, who had it from Peter Martyr, Bishop of Alexandria, in the third century, says, that the place in Egypt where Christ was banished is now called Matarea, about ten miles beyond Cairo ; that the inhabitants constantly burn a lamp in remembrance of it ; and that there is a garden of trees yielding a bal- sam, which were planted by Christ when a boy. M. La Crosse cites a synod at Angamala, in the mountains of Malabar, a.d. 1599, which con- demns this Gospel as commonly read by the Nestorians in that country. Ahmed Ibu Idris, a Mahometan divine, says, it was used by some Chris- tians in common with the other four Gospels; and Ocobius de Castro men- tions a Gospel of Thomas, which he says, he saw and had translated to him by an Armenian Archbishop at Amsterdam, that was read in very many churches of Asia and Africa, as the only rule of their faith. Fabri- cius takes it to be this Gospel. It has been supposed, that Mahomet and his coadjutors used it in compiling the Koran. There are several stories believed of Christ proceeding from this Gospel ; as that which Mr. Sike relates out of La Brosse's Persic Lexicon, that Christ practised the trade of a dyer, and his Avorking a miracle with the colours; from whence the Persian dyers honour him as their patron, and call a dye-house the shop of Christ. Sir John Chardin mentions Persian legends concerning Christ's dispute with his schoolmaster about his ABC; and his lengthen- ing the cedar-board which Joseph sawed too short.] CHAP. I. 1 Caiaphas relates, that Jesus when in his cradle, informed his mother, that he was the Son of God. 5 Joseph and Mary going to Bethlehem to be taxed, Mary's time of bringing forth arrives, and she goes into a cave. 8 Joseph fetches in a Hebrew woman, the cave fiUled with great lights. 11 The in- fant born, 17 cures the woman, 19 arrival of the shepherds. THE following accounts we . found in the book of Jo- seph the high-priest, called by some Caiaphas : 2 He relates, that Jesus spake even when he was in the cradle, and said to his mother : 3 Mary, I am Jesus the Son of God, that word which thou didst bring forth according to the de- claration of the angel Gabriel to thee, and my father hath sent me for the salvation of the world. 4 ^f In the three hundred and ninth year of the sera of Alexan- der, Augustus published a decree that all persons should go to be taxed in their own country. 5 Joseph therefore arose, and with Mary his spouse he went to Jerusalem, and then came to Bethlehem, that he and his family might be taxed in the city of his fathers. 6 And when they came by the cave, Mary confessed to Joseph that her time of bringing forth was come, and she could not go on to the city, and said, Let us go into this cave. 7 At that time the sun Avas very near going down. 8 But Joseph hastened away, that he might fetch her a mid- wife ; and when he saw an old Hebrew woman who was of Jeru- Christ bom and I. INFANCY, circumcised in the salem, lie said to her, Pray come hither, good woman, and go into that cave, and you will there see a woman just ready to bring forth. 9 It was after sunset, when the old woman and Joseph with her reached the cave, and they both went into it. 10 And behold, it was all filled with lights, greater than the light of lamps and candles, and greater than the light of the sun itself. 11 The infant was then wrap- ped up in swaddling clothes, and sucking the breasts of his mother St. Mary. 12 When they both saw this light, they were surprised ; the old woman asked St. Mary, Art thou the mother of this child ? 13 St. Mary replied, She was. 14 On which the old woman said, Thou art very different from all other women. 15 St. Mary answered, As there is not any child like to my son, so neither is there any wo- man like to his mother. 16 The old woman answered, and said, my Lady, I am come hither that I may obtain an ev- erlasting reward. 17 Then our Lady, St. Mary, said to her, Lay thine hands upon the infant ; which, when sh3 had done, she became whole. 18 And as she was going forth, she said, From henceforth, all the days of my life, I will attend upon and be a servant of this in- fant. 19 After this, when the shep- herds came, and had made a fire, and they were exceedingly re- joicing, the heavenly host ap- peared to them, praising and adoring the supreme God. 20 And as the shepherds were j engaged in the same employ- ' ment, the cave at that time seemed like a glorious temple, because both the tongues of an- gels and men united to adore and magnify God, on account of the birth of the Lord Christ. 21 But when the old Hebrew woman saw all these evident miracles, she gave praises to God, and said, I thank thee, O God, thou God of Israel, for that mine eyes have seen the birth of the Saviour of the world. CHAP II. 1 The child circumcised in the cave, 2 and the old woman preserving his fore- skin or navel-string in a box of spike- nard, Mary afterwards anoints Christ with it. 5 Christ brought to the tem- ple, 6 shines, 7 angels stand around him adoring. 8 Simeon praises Christ. AND when the time of his cir- cumcision was come, name- ly, the eighth day, on which the law commanded the child to be circumcised, they circumcised him in the cave. 2 And the old Hebrew woman took the foreskin (others say she took the navel-string),"and pre- served it in an alabaster-box of old oil of spikenard. 3 And she had a son who was a druggist, to whom she said, Take heed thou sell not this ala- baster box of spikenard-oint- ment, although thou shouldst be offered three hundred pence for it. 4 Now this is that alabaster- box which Mary the sinner pro- cured, and poured forth the ointment out of it upon the head and the feet of our Lord Jesus Christ, and wiped it off with the hairs of her head. 5 Then after ten days they brought him to Jerusalem, and on the fortieth day from his birth they presented him in the 39 The wise men worship I. INFANCY. Christ's swaddling cloth. temple before the Lord, making the proper offerings for him, ac- cording to the requirement of the law of Moses : namely, that every male which opens the womb shall be called holy unto God. 6 At that time old Simeon saw him shining as a pillar of light, when St. Mary the Virgin, his mother, carried him in her arms, and was filled with the greatest pleasure at the sight. 7 And the angels stood around him, adoring him, as a king's guards stand around him. 8 Then Simeon going near to St. Mary, and stretching forth his hands towards her, said to the Lord Christ, Now, O my Lord, thy servant shall depart in peace, according to thy word ; 9 For mine eyes have seen thy mercy, which thou hast pre- pared for the salvation of all na- tions ; a light to all people, and the glory of thy people Israel. 10 Hannah the prophetess was also present, and drawing near, she gave praises to God, and celebrated the happiness of Mary. CHAP. III. 1 The wise men visit Christ. Mary gives them one of his swaddling clothes. 3 An angel appears to them in the form of a star. 'They return and make a fire, and worship the swaddling cloth, and, put it in the fire, where it remains unconsumed AND it came to pass, when the Lord Jesus was born at Bethlehem, a city of Judaea, in the time of Herod the King ; the wise men came from the East to Jerusalem, according to the prophecy of Zoradascht, 1 and brought with them offer- ings : namely, gold, frankin- cense, and myrrh, and worship- ped him, and offered to him their gifts. 2 Then the Lady Mary took one of his swaddling clothes in which the infant was wrapped, and gave it to them instead of a blessing, which they received from her as a most noble pres- ent. 3 And at the same time there appeared to them an angel in the form of that star which had before been their guide in their journey; the light of which they followed till they returned into their own country. 4 \ On their return their kings and princes came to them inquiring, What they had seen and done ? What sort of journey and return they had ? What company they had on the road ? 5 But they produced the swad- dling cloth which St. Mary had given to them, on account where- of they kept a feast. 6 And having, according to the custom of their country, made a fire, they worshipped it. 7 And casting the swaddling cloth into it, the fire took it, and kept it. 8 And when the fire was put out, they took forth the swad- dling cloth unhurc, as much as if the fire had not touched it. 9 Then they began to kiss it, and put it upon their heads and their eyes, saying, This is cer- tainly an undoubted truth, and it is really surprising that the fire could not burn it, and consume it. 10 Then they took it, and with the greatest respect laid it up among their treasures. CHAP. IV. 1 Herod intends to put Christ to death. 3 An angel warns Joseph to take the child and its mother into Efjypt. 6 Consternation on their arrival. 13 40 1 Zoroaster. An Idol falls. Christ's I. INFANCY, swaddling cloth heals a boy. and had turned into that inn, all the inhabitants of the city- were astonished. 10 And all the magistrates and priests of the idols assem- bled before that idol, and made inquiry there, saying, What means all this consternation, and dread, which has fallen upon all our country ? 11 The idol answered them, The unknown God is come hither, who is truly God; nor is there any one besides him, who is worthy of divine wor- ship ; for he is truly the Son of God. 12 At the fame of him this country trembled, and at his coming it is under the present commotion and consternation ; and we ourselves are affrighted by the greatness of his power. 13 And at the same instant this idol fell down, and at his fall all the inhabitants of Egypt, besides others, ran together. 14 ^f Bat the son of the priest, when his usual disorder came upon him, going into the inn, found there Joseph and St. Mary, whom all the rest had left behind and forsook. 15 And when the Lady St. Mary had washed the swaddling clothes of the Lord Christ, and hanged them out to dry upon a post, the boy possessed with the devil took down one of them, and put it upon his head. 16 And presently the devils began to come out of his mouth, and fly away in the shape of crows and serpents. 17 From that time the boy was healed by the power of the Lord Christ, and he began to sing praises, and give thanks to the Lord who had healed him. 18 When his father saw him restored to his former state of The idols fall down. 15 Mary washes Christ's swaddling clothes, and hangs them to dry on a post. 16 A son of the chief priest puts one on, his head, and being possessed of devils, they leave him. "VTOW Herod, perceiving that J_M the wise men did delay, and not return to him, called together the priests and wise men and said, Tell me in what place the Christ should be born ? 2 And when they replied, in Bethlehem, a city of Judaea, he began to contrive in his own mind the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 But an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in his sleep, and said, Arise, take the child and his mother, and go into Egypt as soon as the cock crows. So he arose, and went. 4 If And as he was consider- ing with himself about his jour- ney, the morning came upon him. 5 In the length of the journey the girts of the saddle broke. 6 And now he drew near to a great city, in which there was an idol, to which the other idols and gods of Egypt brought their offerings and vows. 7 And there was by this idol a priest ministering to it, who, as often as Satan spoke out of that idol, related the things he said to the inhabitants of Egypt, and those countries. 8 This priest had a son three years old, who was possessed with a great multitude of devils, who uttered many strange things, and when the devils seized him, walked about naked with his clothes torn, throwing stones at those whom he saw. 9 Near to that idol was the inn of the city, into which when Joseph and St. Mary were come, Flight into Egypt I. INFANCY. Mary cures a ivoman. health, he said, My son, what has happened to thee, and by what means wert thou cured ? 19 The son answered, When the devils seized me, I went into the inn, and there found a very handsome woman with a boy, whose swaddling clothes she had just before washed, and hanged out upon a post. 20 One of these I took, and put it upon my head, and imme- diately the devils left me, and fled away. 21 At this the father exceed- ingly rejoiced, and said, My son, perhaps this boy is the son of the living God, who made the hea- vens and the earth. 22 For as soon as he came amongst us, the idol was broken, and all the gods fell down, and were destroyed by a greater power. 23 Then was fulfilled the pro- phecy which saith, Out of Egypt I have called my son. CHAP. V. 1 Joseph and Mary leave Egypt. 3 Go to the haunts of robbers, 4 Who, hearing a mighty noise as of a great army, flee away. "JVTOW Joseph and Mary, when _LM they heard that the idol was fallen down and destroyed, were seized with fear and tremb- ling, and said, "When we were in the land of Israel, Herod, in- tending to kill Jesus, slew for that purpose all the infants at Bethlehem, and that neighbour- hood. 2 And there is no doubt but the Egyptians if they come to hear that this idol is broken and fallen down, will burn us with fire. 3 They went therefore hence to the secret places of robbers, who robbed travellers as they pass by, of their carriages and 42 their clothes, and carried them away bound. 4 These thieves upon their coming heard a great noise, such as the noise of a king with a great army and many horses, and the trumpets sounding at his departure from his own city ; at which they were so affrighted as to leave all their booty be- hind them, and fly away in haste. 5 Upon this the prisoners arose, and loosed each other's bonds, and taking each man his bags, they went away, and saw Joseph and Mary coming to- wards them, and inquired, Where is that king, the noise of whose approach the robbers heard, and left us, so that we are now come off safe? 6 Joseph answered, He will come after us. CHAP. VI. 1 Mary looks on a woman in whom Satan had taken up his abode, and she becomes dispossessed. 5 Christ kissed by a bride made dumb by sor- cerers, cures her, 11 miraculously cures a gentlewoman in whom Satan had taken up his abode. 16 A leprous girl cured by the water in which he was washed, and becomes the servant of Mary and Joseph. 20 The lep- rous son of a prince's wife cured in like manner. 37 His mother offers large gifts to Mary, and dismisses her. THEN they w : ent into another city where there was a woman possessed with a devil, and in whom Satan, that cursed rebel, had taken up his abode. 2 One night, when she went to fetch water, she could neither endure her clothes on, nor to be in any house ; but as often as they tied her with chains or cords, she brake them, and went out into desert places, and some- times standing where roads crossed, and in churchyards, would throw stones at men. Christ cures a dumb bride, I. INFANCY. The possessed woman, 3 When St. Mary saw this wo- man, she pitied her ; whereupon Satan presently left her, and fled away in the form of a young man, saying, Wo to me, because of thee, Mary, and thy son. 4 So the woman was delivered from her torment; but consid- ering herself naked, she blushed, and avoided seeing any man, and having put on her clothes, went home, and gave an account of her case to her father and rela- tions, who, as they were the best of the city, entertained St. Mary and Joseph with the greatest re- spect. 5 The next morning having received a sufficient supply of provisions for the road, they went from them, and about the evening of the day arrived at another town, where a marriage was then about to be solemnized ; but by the arts of Satan and the practices of some sorcerers, the bride was become so dumb, that she could not so much as open her mouth. 6 But when this dumb bride saw the Lady St. Mary entering into the town, and carrying the Lord Christ in her arms, she stretched out her hands to the Lord Christ, and took him in her arms, and closely hugging him, very often kissed him, continu- ally moving him and pressing him to her body. 7 Straightway the string of her tongue was loosed, and her ears were opened, and she began to sing praises unto God, who had restored her. 8 So there was great joy among the inhabitants of the town that night, who thought that God and his angels were come down among them. 9 T[ In this place they abode three days, meeting with the greatest respect and most splen- did entertainment. 10 And being then furnished by the people with provisions for the road, they departed and went to another city, in which they were inclined to lodge, because it was a famous place. 11 There was in this city a gentlewoman, who, as she ;went down one day to the river to bathe, behold cursed Satan leaped upon her in the form of a serpent, 12 And folded himself about her belly, and every night lay upon her. 13 This woman seeing the Lady St. Mary, and the Lord Christ the infant in her bosom, asked the Lady St. Mary, that she would give her the child to kiss, and carry in her arms. 11 When she had consented, and as soon as the woman had moved the child, Satan left her, and fled away, nor did the wo- man ever afterwards see him. 15 Hereupon all the neigh- bours praised the Supreme God, and the woman rewarded them with ample beneficence. 16 On the morrow the same woman brought perfumed water to wash the Lord Jesus ; and when she had washed him, she preserved the water. 17 And there was a girl there, whose body was white with a leprosy, who being sprinkled with this water, and washed, was in- stantly cleansed from her le- prosy. 18 The people therefore said Without doubt Joseph and Mary, and that boy are Gods, for they do not look like mortals. 19 And when they were mak- ing ready to go away, the girl, who had been troubled with the leprosy, came and desired they would permit her to go along 43 two leprous persons, and I. INFANCY a newly married man. with them; so they consented, and the girl went with them till they came to a city, in which was the palace of a great king, and whose house was not far from the inn. 20 Here they staid, and when the girl went one day to the prince's wife, and found her in a sorrowful and mournful condi- tion, she asked her the reason of her tears. 21 She replied, Wonder not at my groans, for I am under a great misfortune, of which I dare not tell any one. 22 But, says the girl, if you will entrust me with your private grievance, perhaps I may find you a remedy for it. 23 Thou, therefore, says the prince's wife, shalt keep the se- cret, and not discover it to any one alive ! 24 I have been married to this prince, who rules as king over large dominions, and lived long with him, before he had any child by me. 25 At length I conceived by him, but alas ! I brought forth a leprous son ; which, when he saw, he would not own to be his, but said to me, 26 Either do thou kill him, or send him to some nurse in such a place, that he may be never heard of; and now take care of yourself; I will never see you more. 27 So here I pine, lamenting my wretched and miserable cir- cumstances. Alas, my son ! alas, my husband ! Have I disclosed it to you ? 28 The girl replied, I have found a remedy for your disease, which I promise you, for I also was leprous, but God hath cleans- ed me, even he who is called Jesus, the son of the Lady Mary. 29 The woman inquiring where that God was, whom she spake of, the girl answered He lodges with you here in the same house. 30 But how can this be ? says she ; where is he ? Behold, re- plied the girl, Joseph and Mary ; and the infant who is with them is called Jesus : and it is he who delivered me from my disease and torment. 31 But by what means, says she, were you cleansed from your leprosy ? Will you not tell me that ? 32 Why not? says the girl ; I took the water with which his body had been washed, and poured it upon me, and my le- prosy vanished. 33 The prince's wife then arose and entertained them, pro- viding a great feast for Joseph among a large company of men. 34 And the next day took perfumed water to wash, the Lord Jesus, and afterwards poured the same water upon her son, whom she had brought with her, and her son was instantly cleansed from his leprosy. 35 Then she sang thanks and praises unto God, and said, Blessed is the mother that bare thee, O Jesus ! 36 Dost thou thus cure men of the same nature with thyself, with the water with which thy body is washed ? 37 She then offered very large gifts to the Lady Mary, and sent her away with all imaginable re- spect. CHAP. VII. 1 A man who could not enjoy his wife, freed from his disorder. 5 A young man ivho had been bewitched, and turned into a nude, miraculously cured by Christ being put on his back. 28 and is married to the girl who had been cured of leprosy. A bewitched young man INFANCY. restored to his shape. THEY came afterwards to another city, and had a mind to lodge there. 2 Accordingly they went to a man's house, who was newly married, but by the influence of sorcerers could not enjoy his wife : 3 But they lodging at his house that night, the man was freed of his disorder : 4 And when they were pre- paring early in the morning to go forward on their journey, the new married person hindered them, and provided a noble en- tertainment for them ? 5 But going forward on the morrow, they came to another city, and saw three women going from a certain grave with great weeping. 6 When St. Mary saw them, she spake to the girl who was their companion, saying, Go and inquire of them, what is the matter with them, and what mis- fortune has befallen them ? 7 When the girl asked them, they made her no answer, but asked her again, Who are ye, and where are ye going? For the day is far spent, and the night is at hand. 8 We are travellers, saith the girl, and are seeking for an inn to lodge at. 9 They replied, Go along with us, and lodge with us. 10 They then followed them, and were introduced into a new house, well furnished with all sorts of furniture. 11 It was now winter-time, and the girl went into the par- lour where these women were, and found them weeping and lamenting, as before. 12 By them stood a mule, covered over with silk, and an ebony collar hanging down from his neck, whom they kissed, and were feeding. 13 But when the girl said, How handsome, ladies, that mule is ! they replied with tears, and said, This mule, which you see, was our brother, born of this same mother as we : 14 For when our father died, and left us a very large estate, and we had only this brother, and we endeavoured to procure him a suitable match, and thought he should be married as other men, some giddy and jeal- ous woman bewitched him with- out our knowledge. 15 And we, one night, a little before day, while the doors of the house were all fast shut, saw this our brother was changed in- to a mule, such as you now see him to be : 16 And we, in the melancholy condition in which you see us, having no father to comfort us, have applied to all the wise men, magicians, and diviners in the world, but they have been of no service to us. 17 As often therefore as we find ourselves oppressed with grief, we rise and go with this our mother to our father's tomb, where, when we have cried suf- ficiently we return home. 18 When the girl had heard this, she said, Take courage, and cease your fears, for you have a remedy for your afflictions near at hand, even among you and in the midst of your house, 19 For I :was also leprous; but when I saw this woman, and this little infant with her, whose name is Jesus, I sprinkled my body with the water with which his mother had washed him, and I was presently made well. 20 And I am certain that he is also capable of relieving you 45 A bewitched young man I. INFANCY. restored and married. under your distress. Wherefore, arise, go to my mistress, Mary, and when you have brought her into your own parlour, disclose to her the secret, at the same time, earnestly beseeching her to compassionate your case. 21 As soon as the women had heard the girl's discourse, they hastened away to the Lady St. Mary, introduced themselves to her, and sitting down before her, they wept. 22 And said, our Lady St. Mary, pity your handmaids, for we have no head of our family, no one older than us ; no father, or brother to go in and out be- fore us. 23 But this mule, which you see, was our brother, which some woman by witchcraft have brought into this condition which you see : we therefore entreat you to compassionate us. 24 Hereupon St. Mary was grieved at their case, and taking the Lord Jesus, put him upon the back of the mule. 25 And said to her son, Jesus Christ, restore (or heal) according to thy extraordinary power this mule, and grant him to have again the shape of a man and a rational creature, as he had formerly. 26 This was scarce said by the Lady St. Mary, but the mule immediately passed into a hu- man form, and became a young man without any deformity. 27 Then he and his mother and the sisters worshipped the Lady St. Mary, and lifting the child upon their heads, they kissed him, and said, Blessed is thy mother, O Jesus, O Saviour of the world ! Blessed are the eyes which are so happy as to see thee. 28 Then both the sisters told 46 their mother, saying, Of a truth our brother is restored to his for- mer shape by the help of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the kind- ness of that girl, who told us of Mary and her son. 29 And inasmuch as our bro- ther is unmarried, it is fit that we marry him to this girl their servant. 30 When they had consulted Mary in this matter, and she had given her consent, they made a splendid wedding for this girl. 31 And so their sorrow being turned into gladness, and their mourning into mirth, they began to rejoice, and to make merry, and sing, being dressed in their richest attire, with bracelets. 32 Afterwards they glorified and praised God, saying, O Jesus son of David who changest sorrow into gladness, and mourn- ing into mirth ! 33 After this Joseph and Mary tarried there ten days, then went away, having received great re- spect from those people ; 34 Who, when they took their leave of them, and returned home, cried, 35 But especially the girl. CHAP. VIII. 1 Joseph and Mary pass through a country infested by robbers, 3 Titus, a humane thief, offers Dumachus, his comrade, forty groats to let Joseph and Mary pass unmolested. 6 Jesus pro- phesies that the thieves, Dumachus and Titus, shall be crucified with him, and that Titus shall go before him into Paradise. 10 Christ causes a well to spring from a sycamore tree, and Mary washes his coat in it. 11 A balsam grows there from his sweat. They go to Memphis, where Christ works more miracles. Return to Ju- dcea. 15 being warned, depart for Nazareth. N their journey from hence they came into a desert coun- I The two thieves. I. INFANCY. The sick healed. try, and were told it was infested ' with robbers ; so Joseph and St. Mary prepared to pass through it in the night. 2 And as they were going along, behold they saw two rob- bers asleep in the road, and with them a great number of robbers, who were their confederates, also asleep. 3 The names of these two were Titus and Dumachus ; and Titus said to Dumachus, I beseech thee let those persons go along quietly, that our company may not per- ceive anything of them : 4 But Dumachus refusing, Ti- tus again said, I "will give thee forty groats, and as a pledge take my girdle, which he gave him before he had done speaking, that he might not open his mouth, or make a noise. 5 When the Lady St. Mary saw the kindness which this rob- ber did shew them, she said to him, The Lord God will receive thee to his right hand, and grant thee pardon of thy sins. 6 Then the Lord Jesus an- swered, and said to his mother, When thirty years are expired, O mother, the Jews will crucify me at Jerusalem ; 7 And these two thieves shall be with me at the same time upon the cross, Titus on my right hand, and Dumachus on my left, and from that time Titus shall go be- fore me into paradise : 8 And when she had said, God forbid this should be thy lot, O my son, they went on to a city in which were several idols ; which, as soon as they came near to it, was turned into hills of sand. 9 T Hence they went to that sycamore tree, which is now called Matarea ; 10 And in Matarea the Lord Jesus caused a well to spring forth, in which St. Mary washed his coat ; 11 And a balsam is produced, or grows, in that country from the sweat which ran down there from the Lord Jesus. 12 Thence they proceeded to Memphis, and saw Pharaoh, and abode three years in Egypt. 13 And the Lord Jesus did very many miracles in Egypt, which are neither to be found in the Gospel of the Infancy nor in the Gospel of Perfection. 14 \ At the end of three years he returned out of Egypt, and when he came near to Judaea, Joseph was afraid to enter ; 15 For hearing that Herod was dead, and that Archelaus his son reigned in his stead, he was afraid ; 16 And when he went to Ju- daea, an angel of God appeared to him, and said, O Joseph, go into the city Nazareth, ancl abide there. 17 It'is strange indeed that he, who is the Lord of all countries, should be thus carried backward and forward through so many countries. CHAP. IX. 2 Two sick children cured by water wherein Christ was washed. WHEN they came afterwards into the city Bethlehem, they found there several very desperate distempers, which be- came so troublesome to children by seeing them, that most of them died. 2 There was there a woman who had a sick son, whom she brought, when he was at the point of death, to the Lady St. Mary, who saw her when she was washing Jesus Christ. 3 Then said the woman, my 47 Christ's water cures. I. INFANCY. Caleb's miraculous cures. Lady Mary, look down upon this my son, who is afflicted with most dreadful pains. 4. St. Mary hearing her, said, Take a little of that water with which I have washed my son, and sprinkle it upon him. 5 Then she took a little of that water, as St. Mary had com- manded, and sprinkled it upon her son, who being wearied with his violent pains, had fallen asleep ; and after he had slept a little, awaked perfectly well and recovered. 6 The mother being abundant- ly glad of this success, went again to St. Mary, and St. Mary said to her, Give praise to God, who hath cured this thy son. 7 There was in the same place another woman, a neighbour of her, whose son was now cured. 8 This woman's son was af- flicted with the same disease, and his eyes were now almost quite shut, and she was lamenting for him day and night. 9 The mother of the child which was cured, said to her, Why do you not bring your son to St. Mary, as I brought my son to her, when he was in the agonies of death ; and he was cured by that water, with which the body of her son Jesus was washed ? 10 When the woman heard her say this, she also went, and having procured the same water, washed her son with it, where- upon his body and his eyes were instantly restored to their former state. 11 And when she brought her son to St. Mary, and opened his case to her, she commanded her to give thanks to God for the recovery of her son's health, and tell no one what had happened. 48 CHAP. X. 1 Two wives of one man, each have a son sick. 2 One of them, named Mary, and whose son's name was Caleb, presents the Virgin with a handsome carpet, and Caleb is cured; but the son of the other wife dies, 4' 'which oc- casions a difference between the women. 5 The other wife puts Caleb into a hot oven, and he is miraculously preserved ; 9 she afterwards throws him into a, well, and he is again preserved; 11 his mother appeals to the Virgin against the other wife, 12, whose downfall the Virgin prophesies, 13 and who accord- ingly falls into the well, 14 therein ful- filling a saying of old. THERE were in the same city two wives of one man, who had each a son sick. One of them was called Mary and her son's name was Caleb. 2 She arose, and taking her son, went to the Lady St. Mary, the mother of Jesus, and offered her a very handsome carpet, say- ing, O my Lady Mary accept this carpet of me, and instead of it give me a small swaddling cloth. 3 To this Mary agreed, and when the mother of Caleb was gone, she made a coat for her son of the swaddling cloth, put it on him, and his disease was cured ; but the son of the other wife died. 4 ^f Hereupon there arose be- tween them, a difference in doing the business of the family by turns, each her week. 5 And when the turn of Mary the mother of Caleb came, and she was heating the oven to bake bread, and went away to fetch the meal, she left her son Caleb by the oven ; 6 Whom, the other wife, her rival, seeing to be by himself, took and cast him into the oven, which was very hot, and then went away. 7 Mary on her return saw her son Caleb lying in the middle of Uti fus; iif >2» THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. [Pnpe H. FKOM A " BOOK OF THE EVANGELISTS." GREEK MANUSCRIPT OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY. Caleb's life twice saved. I. INFANCY. In/ant Bartholomew cured. the oven laughing, and the oven quite as cold as though it had not been before heated, and knew that her rival the other wife had thrown him into the fire. 8 When she took him out, she brought him to the Lady St. Mary, and told her the story, to whom she replied, Be quiet, I am concerned lest thou shouldest make this matter known. 9 After this her rival, the other wife, as she was drawing water at the well, and saw Caleb playing by the well, and that no one was near, took him, and threw him into the well. 10 And when some men came to fetch water from the well, they saw the boy sitting on the superficies of the water, and drew him out with ropes, and were exceedingly surprised at the child, and praised God. 11 Then came the mother and took him and carried him to the Lady St. Mary, lamenting and saying, O my Lady, see what my rival hath done to my son, and how she hath cast him into the well, and I do not question but one time or other she will be the occasion of his death. 12 St. Mary replied to her, God will vindicate your injured cause. 13 Accordingly a few days after, when the other wife came to the well to draw water, her foot was entangled in the rope, so that she fell headlong into the well, and they who ran to her as- sistance, found her skull broken, and bones bruised. 14 So she came to a bad end, and in her was fulfilled that say- ing of the author, They digged a well, and made it deep, but fell themselves into the pit which they prepared. CHAP. XL 1 Bartholomew, when a child and sick, miraculously restored by being laid on Christ's bed. ANOTHER woman in that city had likewise two sons sick. 2 And when one was dead, the other, who lay at the point of death, she took in her arms to the Lady St. Mary, and in a flood of tears addressed herself to her, saying, 3 O my Lady, help and re- lieve me; for I had two sons, the one I have just now buried, the other I see is just at the point of death, behold how I (earnest- ly) seek favour from God, and pray to him. 4 Then she said, O Lord, thou art gracious, and merciful, and kind ; thou hast given me two sons ; one of them thou hast taken to thyself, O spare me this other. 5 St. Mary then perceiving the greatness of her sorrow, pit- ied her and said, Do thou place thy son in my son's bed, and cover him with his clothes. 6 And when she had placed him in the bed wherein Christ lay, at the moment when his eyes were just closed by death ; as soon as ever the smell of the garments of the Lord Jesus Christ reached the boy, his eyes were opened, and calling with a loud voice to his mother, he asked for bread, and when he had received it, he sucked it. 7 Then his mother said, O Lady Mary, now I am assured that the powers of God do dwell in you, so that thy son can cure children who are of the same sort as himself, as soon as they touch his garments. 8 This boy who was thus 49 Leprous woman healed. I. INFANCY. Leprous princess cured by cured, is the same who in the Gospel is called Bartholomew. CHAR XII. 1 A leprovs woman healed by Christ's washing water. 7 A princess healed by it and restored to her husband. AGAIN there was a leprous woman who went to the Lady St. Mary, the mother of Jesus, and said, O my Lady, help me. 2 St. Mary replied, what help dost thou desire ? Is it gold or silver, or that thy body be cured of its leprosy ? 3 Who, says the woman, can grant me this ? 4 St. Mary replied to her, "Wait a little till I have washed my son Jesus, and put him to bed. 5 The woman waited, as she ■was commanded ; and Mary when she had put Jesus in bed, giving her the water with which she had washed his body, said, Take some of the water, and pour it upon thy body ; 6 Which when she had done, she instantly became clean, and praised God, and gave thanks to him. 7 T[ Then she went away, after she had abode with her three days : 8 And going into the city, she saw a certain prince, who had married another prince's daughter ; 9 But when he came to see her, he perceived between her eyes the signs of leprosy like a star, and thereupon declared the marriage dissolved and void. 10 When the woman saw these persons in this condition, exceedingly sorrowful, and shed- ding abundance of tears, she in- quired of them the reason of their crying. 50 11 They replied, Inquire not into our circumstances ; for we are not able to declare our mis- fortunes to any person whatso- ever. 12 But still she pressed and desired them to communicate their case to her, intimating, that perhaps she might be able to direct them to a remedy. 13 So when they shewed the young woman to her, and the signs of the leprosy, which ap- peared between her eyes, 14 She said, I also, whom ye see in this place, was afflicted with the same distemper, and going on some business to Beth- lehem, I went into a certain cave, and saw a woman named Mary, who had a son called Jesus. 15. She seeing me to be lep- rous, was concerned for me, and gave me some water with which she had washed her son's body ; with that I sprinkled my body, and became clean. 16 Then said these women, Will you, Mistress, go along with us, and shew the Lady St. Mary to us ? 17 To which she consent- ing, they arose and went to the Lady St. Mary, taking with them very noble presents. 18 And when they came in and offered their presents to her, they showed the leprous young woman what they brought with them to her. 19 Then said St. Mary, The mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ rest upon you ; 20 And giving them a little of that water with which she had washed the body of Jesus Christ, she bade them wash the diseased person with it ; which when they had done, she was presently cured ; 21 So they, and all who were Christ's washing water. I. INFANCY. Girl whose blood g resent, praised God ; and being lied with joy, they went back to their own city, and gave praise to God on that account. 22 Then the prince hearing that his wife was cured, took her home and made a second marriage, giv- ing thanks unto God for the re- covery of his wife's health. CHAP. XIII. 1 A girl, whose blood Satan sucked, re- ceives one of Christ's swaddling clothes from the Virgin. 14 Satan comes like a dragon, and she shews it to him; flames and burning coals proceed from it and fall upon him; 19 he is mira- culously discomfited, and leaves the girl. THERE was also a girl, who was afflicted by Satan ; 2 For that cursed spirit did fre- quently appear to her in the shape of a dragon, and was inclined to swallow her up, and had so sucked out all her blood, that she looked like a dead carcase. 3 As often as she came to her- self, with her hands wringed about her head she would cry out, and say, "Wo, Wo is me, that there is no one to be found who can deliv- er me from that impious dra- gon ! 4 Her father and mother, and all who were about her and saw her, mourned and wept over her ; 5 And all who were present would especially be under sorrow and in tears, when they heard her bewailing, and saying, My brethren and friends, is there no one who can deliver me from this murderer ? 6 Then the prince's daughter, who had been cured of her lepro- sy, hearing the complaint of that girl, went upon the top of her castle, and saw her with her hands twisted about her head, pouring out a flood of tears, and all the people that were about her in sor- row. 7 Then she asked the husband of the possessed person, Whether his wife's mother was alive ? He told her, That her father and mo- ther were both alive. 8 Then she ordered her mother to be sent to her: to whom, when she saw her coming, she said, Is this possessed girl thy daughter ? She moaning and bewailing said, Yes, madam, I bore her. 9 The prince's daughter an- swered, Disclose the secret of her case to me, for I confess to you that I was leprous, but the Lady Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, healed me. 10 And if you desire your daughter to be restored to her for- mer state, take her to Bethlehem, and inquire for Mary the mother of Jesus, and doubt not but your daughter will be cured ; for I do not question but you will come home with great joy at your daughter's recovery. 11 As soon as ever she had done speaking, she arose and went with her daughter to the place ap- pointed, and to Mary, and told her the case of her daughter. 12 When St. Mary had heard her story, she gave her a little of the water with which she had washed the body of her son Jesus, and bade her pour it upon the body of her daughter. 13 Likewise she gave her one of the swaddling cloths of the Lord Jesus, and said, Take this swaddling cloth and shew it to thine enemy as often as thou seest him ; and she sent them away in peace. 14 1 After they had left that city and returned home, and the time was come in which Satan was wont to seize her, in the same moment this cursed spirit appear- 51 Sitan sucked, cured. I. INFANCY. Jesus struck by Judas. ed to her in the shape of a huge dragon, and the girl seeing him was afraid. 15 The mother said to her, Be not afraid daughter; let him alone till he come nearer to thee ! then shew him the swaddling cloth, which the Lady Mary gave us, and we shall see the event. 16 Satan then coming like a dreadful dragon, the body of the girl trembled for fear. 17 But as soon as she had put the swaddling cloth upon her head, and about her eyes, and shewed it to him, presently there issued forth from the swaddling cloth flames and burning coals, and fell upon the dragon. 18 Oh ! how great a miracle was this, which was done : as soon as the dragon saw the swad- dling cloth of the Lord Jesus, fire went forth and was scattered upon his head and eyes ; so that he cried out with a loud voice, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou son of Mary, Whither shall I flee from thee ? 19 So he drew back much af- frighted, and left the girl. 20 And she was delivered from this trouble, and sang praises and thanks to God, and with her all who were present at the working of the miracle. CHAP. XIV. 1 Judas when a boy possessed by Safan, and brought by his parents to Jesus to be cured, whom he tries to bile, 7 but failing, strikes Jesus and makes him cry out. Whereupon Satan goes from Jesus in the shape of a dog. ANOTHER woman likewise lived there, whose son was possessed by Satan. 2 This boy, named Judas, as often as Satan seized him, was in- clined to bite all that were pre- sent ; and if he found no one else 52 near him, he would bite his own hands and other parts. 3 But the mother of this miser- able boy, hearing of St. Mary and her son Jesus, arose presently, and taking her son in her arms, brought him to the Lady Mary. 4 In the meantime, James and Joses had taken away the infant, the Lord Jesus, to play at a pro- per season with other children ; and when they went forth, they sat down and the Lord Jesus with them. 5 Then Judas, who was pos- sessed, came and sat down at the right hand of Jesus. 6 When Satan was acting upon him as usual, he went about to bite the Lord Jesus. 7 And because he could not do it, he struck Jesus on the right side, so that he cried out. 8 And in the same moment Satan went out of the boy, and ran away like a mad dog. 9 This same boy who struck Jesus, and out of whom Satan went in the form of a dog, wa3 Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him to the Jews. 10 And that same side, on which Judas struck him, the Jews pierced with a spear. CHAP. XV. 1 Jesus and other boys play together, and make clay figures of animals. 4 Jesus causes them to walk, 6 also makes clay birds, which he causes to fly, and eat and drink. 7 The chil- dren's parents alarmed, and take Jesus for a sorcerer. 8 He goes to a dyer's shop, and throws all the cloths into the furnaca, and works a miracle therewith. 15 Whereupon the Jens praise God. AND when the Lord Jesus was seven years of age, he was on a certain day with other boys his companions about the same age. 2 Who when they were at play, Animates clay figures. I. INFANCY. Christ miraculously alters thou hast come, and spoiled them all. 13 The Lord Jesus replied, I will change the colour of every cloth to what colour thou de- sirest ; 14 And then he presently be- gan to take the cloths out of the furnace, and they were all dyed of those same colours which the dyer desired. 15 And when the Jews saw this surprising miracle, they praised God. made clay into several shapes, namely, asses, oxen, birds, and other figures, 3 Each boasting of his work, and endeavouring to exceed the rest. 4 Then the Lord Jesus said to the boys, I will command these figures which I have made to walk. 5 And immediately they moved, and when he commanded them to return, they returned. 6 He had also made the figures of birds and sparrows, which, when he commanded to fly, did fly, and when he commanded to stand still, did stand still; and if he gave them meat and drink, they did eat and drink. 7 When at length the boys went away, and related these things to their parents, their fa- thers said to them, Take heed, children, for the future, of his company, for he is a sorcerer; shun and avoid him, and from henceforth never play with him. 8 ^[ On a certain day also, when the Lord Jesus was playing with the boys, and running about, he passed by a dyer's shop, whose name was Salem. 9 And there were in his shop many pieces of cloth belonging to the people of that city, which they designed to dye of several colours. 10 Then the Lord Jesus going into the dyer's shop, took all the cloths, and threw them into the furnace. 11 When Salem came home, and saw the cloths spoiled, he began to make a great noise, and to chide the Lord Jesus, saying, 12 What hast thou done to me, O thou Son of Mary ? Thou hast injured both me and my neighbours; they all desired their cloths of a proper colour ; but CHAP. XVI. 1 Christ miraculously widens or contracts the gates, milk-pails, sieves, or boxes, not properly made by Joseph, 4 he not being skilful at his carpenter's trade. 5 The King of Jerusalem gives Joseph an order for a throne. 6 Joseph works on it for two years in the king's palace, and makes it two spans too short. The king being angry with him, 10 Jesas comforts him, 13 commands him to pull one side of the throne, while he pulls the other, and brings it to its proper dimensions. 14 Whereupon the by- standers praise God. AND Joseph, wheresoever he went in the city, took the Lord Jesus with him, where he was sent for to work to make gates, or milk-pails, or sieves, or boxes ; the Lord Jesus was with him wheresoever he went. 2 And as often as Joseph had anything in his work, to make longer or shorter, or wider, or narrower, the Lord Jesus would stretch his hand towards it. 3 And presently it became as Joseph would have it. 4 So that he had no need to finish anything with his own hands, for he was not very skil- ful at his carpenter's trade. 5 |On a certain time the King of Jerusalem sent for him, and said, I would have thee make me a throne of the same dimen- 53 Joseph's bad carpentry. INFANCY Christ's miracles at play. sions with that place in which I commonly sit. 6 Joseph obeyed, and forth- with began the work, and con- tinued two years in the king's palace before he finished it. 7 And when he came to fix it in its place, he found it wanted two spans on each side of the appointed measure. 8 Which, when the king saw, he was very angry with Joseph ; 9 And Joseph afraid of the king's anger, went to bed without his supper, taking not any thing to eat. 10 Then the Lord Jesus asked him, What he was afraid of? 11 Joseph replied, Because I have lost my labour in the work which I have been about these two years. 12 Jesus said to him, Fear not, neither be cast down ; 13 Do thou lay hold on one side of the throne, and I will the other, and we will bring it to its just dimensions. 14 And when Joseph had done as the Lord Jesus said, and each of them had with strength drawn his side, the throne obeyed, and was brought to the proper dimen- sions of the place : 15 Which miracle when they who stood by saw, they were astonished, aud praised God. 16 The throne was made of the same wood, which was in being in Solomon's time, namely, wood adorned with various shapes and figures. CHAP. XVII. 1 Jesus plays with boys at hide and seek. 3 Some women put his playfellows in a furnace, 7 where they are transformed by Jesus into kids. 10 Jesus caZ/s them to go and play, and they are restored to their former shape. ON another day the Lord Jesus going out into the 54 street, and seeing some boys who were met to play, joined himself to their company : 2 But when they saw him, they hid themselves, and left him to seek for them : 3 The Lord Jesus came to the gate of a certain house, and asked some women who were standing there, Where the boys were gone ? 4 And when they answered, That there was no one there ; the Lord Jesus said, Who are those whom ye see in the furnace ? 5 They answered, They were kids of three years old. 6 Then Jesus cried out aloud, and said, Come out hither, O ye kids, to your shepherd ; 7 And presently the boys came forth like kids, and leaped about him ; which when the wo- men saw, they were exceedingly amazed, and trembled. 8 Then they immediately wor- shipped the Lord Jesus, and be- seeched him, saying, O our Lord Jesus, son of Mary, thou art truly that good shepherd of Is- rael ! have mercy on thy hand- maids, who stand before thee, who do not doubt, but that thou, O Lord, art come to save, and not to destroy. 9 After that, when the Lord Jesus said, the children of Israel are like Ethiopians among the people; the women said, Thou, Lord, knowest all things, nor is any thing concealed from thee ; but now we entreat thee, and be- seech of thy mercy that thou wouldst restore those boys to their former state. 10 Then Jesus said, Come hi- ther O boys, that we may go and play; and immediately, in the presence of these women, the kids were changed and returned into the shape of boys. Boy poisoned I. INFANCY. by a serpent. CHAP. XVIII. 1 Jesus becomes the king of his playfel- lows, and they crown him with flowers, 4 miraculously causes a serpent who had bitten Simon the Cananite, then a boy, to suck out all the poison again ; 16 the serpent bursts, and Christ re- stores the boy to health- IN the month Adar Jesus ga- thered together the boys, and ranked them as though he had been a king. 2 For they spread their gar- ments on the ground for him to sit on ; and having made a crown of flowers, put it upon his head, and stood on his right and left as the guards of a king. 3 And if any one happened to pass by, they took him by force, and said, Come hither, and worship the king, that you may have a prosperous journey. 4 | In the mean time, while these things were doing, there came certain men, carrying a boy upon a couch ; 5 For this boy having gone with his companions to the mountain to gather wood, and having found there a partridge's nest, and put his hand in to take out the eggs, was stung by a poisonous serpent, which leaped out of the nest ; so that he was forced to cry out for the help of his companions : who, when they came, found him lying upon the earth like a dead person. 6 After which his neighbours came and carried him back into the city. 7 But when they came to the place where the Lord Jesus was sitting like a king, and the other boys stood around him like his ministers, the boys made haste to meet him, who was bitten by the serpent, and said to his neigh- bours, Come and pay your re- spects to the king ; 8 But when, by reason of their sorrow, they refused to come, the boys drew them, and forced them against their wills to come. 9 And when they came to the Lord Jesus, he inquired, On what account they carried that boy? 10 And when they answered, that a serpent had bitten him, the Lord Jesus said to the boys, Let us go and kill that serpent. 11 But when the parents of the boy desired to be excused, because their son lay at the point of death ; the boys made answer, and said, Did not ye hear what the king said ? Let us go and kill the serpent ; and will not ye obey him ? 12 So they brought the couch back again, whether they would or not. 13 And when they were come to the nest, the Lord Jesus said to the boys, Is this the serpent's lurking place? They said, It was. 14 Then the Lord Jesus call- ing the serpent, it presently came forth and submitted to him ; to whom he said, Go and suck out all the poison which thou hast infused into that boy ; 15 So the serpent crept to the boy, and took away all its poison again. 16 Then the Lord Jesus cursed the serpent so that it imme- diately burst asunder, and died. 17 And he touched the boy with his hand to restore him to his former health ; 18 And when he began to cry, the Lord Jesus said, Cease cry- ing, for hereafter thou shalt be my disciple ; 19 And this is that Simon the Canaanite, who is mentioned in the Gospel. 55 Christ at play. I. INFANCY. Makes a dead boy speak. CHAP. XIX. 1 James being bitten by a viper, Jesus bloivs on the wound and cures him. 4. Jesus charged with throwing a boy from the roof of a house, 10 miracu- lously causes the dead boy to acquit him, 12 fetches water for his mother, breaks the pitcher and miraculously gathers the water in his mantle and brings it home, 16 makes fish-pools on the sabbath, 20 causes a boy to die uho broke them down, 22 another boy run against him, whom he also causes to die. ON another day Joseph sent his son James to gather wood and the Lord Jesus went with him ; 2 And when they came to the place where the wood was, and James began to gather it, be- hold, a venomous viper bit him, so that he began to cry, and make a noise. 3 The Lord Jesus seeing him in this condition, came to him, and blowed upon the place where the viper had bit him, and it was instantly well. 4 ^[ On a certain day the Lord Jesus was with some boys, who were playing on the house- top, and one of the boys fell down, and presently died. 5 Upon which the other boys all running away, the Lord Jesus was left alone on the house-top. 6 And the boy's relations came to him and said to the Lord Jesus, Thou didst throw our son down from the house- top. 7 But he denying it, they cried out, Our son is dead, and this is he who killed him. 8 The Lord Jesus replied to them, Do not charge me with a crime, of which you are not able to convict me, but let us go ask the boy himself, who will bring the truth to light. 56 9 Then the Lord Jesus going down stood over the head of the dead boy, and said with a loud voice, Zeinunus, Zeinunus, who threw thee down from the house- top? 10 Then the dead boy answered, thou didst not throw me down, but such a one did. 11 And when the Lord Jesus bade those who stood by to take notice of his words, all who were present praised God on account of that miracle. 12 ^[ On a certain time the Lady St. Mary had commanded the Lord Jesus to fetch her some water out of the well ; 13 And when he had gone to fetch the water, the pitcher, when it was brought up full, brake. 14 But Jesus spreading his mantle gathered up the water again, and brought it in that to his mother. 15 Who, being astonished at this wonderful thing, laid up this, and all the other things which she had seen, in her memory. 16 f Again on another day the Lord Jesus was with some boys by a river and they drew water out of the river by little channels, and made little fish- pools. 17 But the Lord Jesus had made twelve sparrows, and placed them about his pool on each side, three on a side. 18 But it was the Sabbath day, and the son of Hanani a Jew came by, and saw them making these things, and said, Do ye thus make figures of clay on the Sab- bath? And he ran to them, and broke down their fish-pools. 19 But when the Lord Jesus clapped his hands over the spar- rows which he had made, they fled away chirping. 20 At length the son of Hanani THE PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE. [Pa S e 40. FKOM A GREEK PAINTING IN DISTEMPER ON WOOD. Gathers spilt water. I. INFANCY. Kills a playfellow. coming to the fish-pool of Jesus to destroy it, the water vanished away, and the Lord Jesus said to him, 21 In like manner as this water has vanished, so shall thy life vanish ; and presently the boy died. 22 ^[ Another time, when the Lord Jesus was coming home in the evening with Joseph, he met a boy, who ran so hard against him, that he threw him down ; 23 To whom the Lord Jesus said, As thou hast thrown me down, so shalt thou fall, nor ever rise. 24 And that moment the boy fell down and died. CHAP. XX. 4 Sent to school to Zaccheus to learn his letters, and teaches Zaccheus. 13 Sent to another schoolmaster. 14 re/uses to tell his letters, and the schoolmaster going to whip him Ais hand withers and he dies. THERE was also at Jerusalem one named Zaccheus, who was a schoolmaster. 2 And he said to Joseph, Jo- seph, why dost thou not send Jesus to me, that he may learn his letters? 3 Joseph agreed, and told St. Mary; 4 So they brought him to that master ; who, as soon as he saw him, wrote out an alphabet for him. 5 And he bade him say Aleph ; and when he had said Aleph, the master bade him pronounce Beth. 6 Then the Lord Jesus said to him, Tell me first the meaning of the letter Aleph, and then I will pronounce Beth. 7 And when the master threat- ened to whip him, the Lord Jesus explained to him the meaning of the letters Aleph and Beth ; 8 Also which were the straight figures of the letters, which the oblique, and what letters had dou- ble figures ; which had points, and which had none ; why one letter went before another ; and many other things he began to tell him, and explain, of which the master himself had never heard, nor read in any book. 9 The Lord Jesus farther said to the master, Take notice how I say to thee ; then he began clearly and distinctly to say Aleph, Beth, Gimel, Daleth, and. so on to the end of the alphabet. 10 At this the master was so surprised, that he said, I believe this boy was born before Noah ; 11 And turning to Joseph, he said, Thou hast brought a boy to me to be taught, who is more learned than any master. 12 He said also unto St. Mary, This your son has no need of any learning. 13 ^[ They brought him then to a more learned master, who, when he saw him, said, say Aleph. 14 And when he had said Aleph, the master bade him pronounce Beth ; to which the Lord Jesus replied, Tell me first the meaning of the letter Aleph, and then I will pronounce Beth. 15 But this master, when he lift up his hand to whip him, had his hand presently withered, and he died. 16 Then said Joseph to St. Mary, henceforth we will not allow him to go out of the house ; for every one who displeases him is killed. CHAP. XXI. 1 Disputes miraculously ivith the doctors in the temple, 7 on law, 9 on astronomy, 12 on physics and metaphysics, 21 is worshipped by a philosopher, 28 and fetched home by his mother. 57 Kills his schoolmasters. I. INFANCY. Disputes with the doctor. AND when he was twelve years old, they brought him to Jerusalem to the feast ; and when the feast was over, they returned. 2 But the Lord Jesus con- tinued behind in the temple among the doctors and elders, and learned men of Israel ; to whom he proposed several ques- tions of learning, and also gave them answers : 3 For he said to them, Whose son is the Messiah? They an- swered, the son of David : 4 Why then, said he, does he in the spirit call him Lord ? when he saith, The Lord said to my Lord, sit thou at my right hand, till I have made thine enemies thy footstool. 5 Then a certain principal Rabbi asked him, Hast thou read books? 6 Jesus answered, he had read both books, and the things which were contained in books. 7 And he explained to them the books of the law, and pre- cepts, and statutes: and the mys- teries which are contained in the books of the prophets ; things which the mind of no creature could reach. 8 Then said that Rabbi, I never yet have seen or heard of such knowledge ! What do you think that boy will be ! 9 ^[ When a certain astrono- mer, who was present, asked the Lord Jesus, Whether he had studied astronomy ? 10 The Lord Jesus replied, and told him the number of the spheres and heavenly bodies, as also their triangular, square, and sextile aspect; their progressive and retrograde motion ; their size and several prognostications ; and other things which the reason of man had never discovered. 11 f There was also among 58 them a philosopher well skilled in physic and natural philos- ophy, who asked the Lord Jesus, Whether he had studied physic? 12 He replied, and explained to him physics and metaphysics. 13 Also those things which were above and below the power of nature ; 14 The powers also of the body, its humours, and their ef- fects. 15 Also the number of its members, and bones, veins, ar- teries, and nerves ; 16 The several constitutions of body, hot and dry, cold and moist, and the tendencies of them ; 17 How the soul operated upon the body ; 18 What its various sensa- tions and faculties were ; 19 The faculty of sjeaking, anger, desire ; 20 And lastly the manner of its composition and dissolution; and other things, which the un- derstanding of no creature had ever reached. 21 Then that philosopher arose, and worshipped the Lord Jesus, and said, O Lord Jesus, from henceforth I will be thy disciple and servant. 22 ^[ While they were dis- coursing on these and such like things, the Lady St. Mary came in, having been three days walk- ing about with Joseph, seeking for him. 23 And when she saw him sitting among the doctors, and in his turn proposing questions to them, and giving answers, she said to him, My son, why hast thou done thus by us ? Behold I and thy father have been at much pains in seeking thee. 24 He replied, Why did ye seek me ? Did ye not know that and confounds them. I. INFANCY. Is baptized. I ought to be employed in my father's house ? 25 But they understood not the words which he said to them. 26 Then the doctors asked Mary, Whether this was her son ? And when she said, He was, they said, O happy Mary, who hast borne such a son. 27 Then he returned with them to Nazareth, and obeyed them in all things. 28 And his mother kept all these things in her mind ; 29 And the Lord Jesus grew in stature and wisdom, and fa- vour with God and man. CHAP. XXII. 1 Conceals his miracles, 2 studies the law and is baptized. "VTOW from this time Jesus J_\ began to conceal his mir- acles and secret works, 2 And he gave himself to the study of the law, till he arrived to the end of his thirtieth year ; 3 At which time the Father publicly owned him at Jordan, sending down this voice from heaven, This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased ; 4 The Holy Ghost being also present in the form of a dove. 5 This is he whom we wor- ship with all reverence, because he gave us our life and being, and brought us from our mother's womb. 6 Who, for our sakes, took a human body, and hath redeemed us, so that he might so embrace I us with everlasting mercy, and ! shew his free, large, bountiful grace and goodness to us. 7 To him be glory and praise, i and power, and dominion, from ! henceforth and for evermore, ; Amen. j | fl The end of the whole Oospel of the I Infancy, by the assistance of the Su- ! preme God, according to what we \ found in the original. 59 Christ enlivens clay II. INFANCY. birds, kills a boy, THOMAS'S GOSPEL of the INFANCY of JESUS CHRIST. [The original in Greek, from which this translation is made, will be found printed by Cotelerius, in his notes on the constitutions of the Apostles, from a MS. in the French King's Library, No. 2279 — It is attributed to Thomas, and conjectured to have been originally connected with the Gospel of Mary.] ^[ An Account of the Actions I Saviour Jesus Christ in his In- and Miracles of our Lord and | fancy. CHAP. I. 2 Jesus miraculously clears the water after rain. 4 plays with clay sparrows, which he animates on the sabbath day. I THOMAS, an Israelite, judg- ed it necessary to make known to our brethren among the Gentiles, the actions and miracles of Christ in his child- hood, which our Lord and God Jesus Christ wrought after his birth in Bethlehem in our coun- try, at which I myself was as- tonished ; the beginning of which was as followeth. 2 ^[ When the child Jesus was five years of age and there had been a shower of rain, which was now over, Jesus was play- ing with other Hebrew boys by a running stream ; and the wa- ter running over the banks, stood in little lakes ; 3 But the water instantly be- came clear and useful again ; he having smote them only by his word, they readily obeyed him. 4 Then he took from the bank of the stream some soft clay, 60 and formed out of it twelve sparrows ; and there were other boys playing with him. 5 But a certain Jew seeing the things which he was doing, namely, his forming clay into the figures of sparrows on the sabbath day, went presently away, and told his father Jo- seph, and said, 6 Behold, thy boy is playing by the river side, and has taken clay, and formed it into twelve sparrows, and profaneth the sab- bath. 7 Then Joseph came to the place where he was, and when he saw him, called to him, and said, Why doest thou that which it is not lawful to do on the sab- bath day? 8 Then Jesus clapping toge- ther the palms of his hands, called to the sparrows, and said to them : Go, fly away ; and while ye live remember me. 9 So the sparrows fled away, making a noise. 10 The Jews seeing this, were astonished, and went away, and told their chief persons what a and is reproved by Joseph. II. INFANCY. Sent to school. strange miracle they had seen wrought by Jesus. CHAP. II. 2 Causes a boy to wither who broke down his fish pools, 6 partly restores him, 7 kills another boy, 16 causes blindness to fall on his accusers, 18 for which Joseph pulls him by the ear. BESIDES this, the son of Anna the scribe was stand- ing there with Joseph, and took a bough of a willow tree, and scattered the waters which Jesus had gathered into lakes. 2 But the boy Jesus seeing what he had done, became an- gry, and said to him, Thou fool, what harm did the lake do thee, that thou shouldest scatter the water ? 3 Behold, now thou shalt wither as a tree, and shalt not bring forth either leaves, or branches, or fruit. 4 And immediately he be- came withered all over. 5 Then Jesus went away home. But the parents of the boy who was withered, lament- ing the misfortune of his youth, took and carried him to Joseph, accusing him, and said, Why dost thou keep a son who is guilty of such actions ? 6 Then Jesus at the request of all who were present did heal him, leaving only some small member to continue withered, that they might take warning. 7 ^[ Another time Jesus went forth into the street, and a boy running by, rushed upon his shoulder ; 8 At which Jesus being an- gry, said to him, thou shalt go no farther. 9 And he instantly fell down dead: 10 Which when some persons saw, they said, Where was this boy born, that everything which he says presently cometh to pass? 11 Then the parents of the dead boy going to Joseph com- plained, saying, You are not fit to live with us, in our city, having such a boy as that : 12 Either teach him that he bless and not curse, or else de- part hence with him, for he kills our children. 13 Tf Then Joseph calling the boy Jesus by himself, instructed him saying, Why doest thou such things to injure the people so, that they hate us and prose- cute us ? 14 But Jesus replied, I know that what thou sayest is not of thyself, but for thy sake I will say nothing ; 15 But they who have said these things to thee, shall suffer everlasting punishment. 16 And immediately they who had accused him became blind. 17 And all they who saw it were exceedingly afraid and confounded, and said concerning him, Whatsoever he saith, whe- ther good or bad, immediately cometh to pass : and they were amazed. 18 And when they saw this action of Christ, Joseph arose, and plucked him by the ear, at which the boy was angry, and said to him, Be easy ; 19 For if they seek for us, they shall not find us : thou hast done very imprudently. 20 Dost thou not know that I am thine? Trouble me no more. CHAP. III. 1 Astonishes his schoolmaster by his learning. A CERTAIN schoolmaster named Zacchseus, standing in a certain place, heard Jesug 61 Adventure at CHRIST AND ABGARUS. a dyer's. speaking these things to his father. 2 And he was much surprised, that being a child, he should speak such things ; and after a few days he came to Joseph, and said, 3 Thou hast a wise and sensi- ble child, send him to me, that he may learn to read. 4 When he sat down to teach the letters to Jesus, he began with the first letter Aleph ; 5 But Jesus pronounced the second letter Mpeth (Beth) Cghi- mel (Gimel), and said over all the letters to him to the end. 6 Then opening a book, he taught his master the prophets : but he was ashamed, and was at a loss to conceive how he came to know the letters. 7 And he arose and went home, wonderfully surprised at so strange a thing. CHAP. IV. 1 Fragment of an adventure at a dyer's. AS Jesus was passing by a cer- tain shop, he saw a young man dipping (or dyeing) some cloths and stockings in a fur- nace, of a sad colour, doing them according to every person's particular order ; 2 The boy Jesus going to the young man who was doing this, took also some of the cloths. ****** \ Here endeth the Fragment of Thomas's Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ THE EPISTLES of JESUS CHRIST and ABGARUS KING of EDESSA. [The first writer who makes any mention of the Epistles that passed between Jesus Christ and Abgarus, is Eusebius, Bishop of Csesarea, in Palestine, who flourished in the early part of the fourth century. For their genu- ineness, he appeals to the public registers and records of the City of Edessa in Mesopotamia, -where Abgarus reigned, and where he affirms that he found them written, in the Syriac language. He published a Greek translation of them, in his Ecclesiastical History. 1 The learned world have been much divided on this subject ; but, notwithstanding that the erudite Grabe, with Archbishop Cave, Dr. Parker, and other divines, has strenuously contended for their admission into the canon of Scripture, they are deemed apocryphal. The Eev. Jeremiah Jones observes, that the common people in England have this Epistle in their houses, in many places, fixed in a frame, with the picture of Christ before it; and that they generally, with much honesty and devotion, regard it as the word of God, and the genuine Epistle of Christ.] CHAP. I. A copy of a letter written by King Ab- garus to Jesus, and sent to him by Ananias, his footman, to Jerusalem, 5 inviting him to Edessa. ABGARUS, king of Edessa, to Jesus the good Saviour, 2 I have "been informed con- cerning you and yc&r cures, which are performed without the use of medicines and herbs. 3 For it is reported, that you cause the blind to see, the lame to walk, do both cleanse lepers, who appears at Jerusalem, greet- 1 and cast out unclean spirits and ing. [ devils, and restore them to health 1 L. i. c 13, 62 Jesus' letter NICODEMUS. to Abgarus. who have been long diseased, and raisest up the dead ; 4 All which when I heard, I was persuaded of one of these two, viz : either that you are God himself descended from heaven, who do these things, or the son of God. 5 On this account therefore I have wrote to you, earnestly to desire you would take the trouble of a journey hither, and cure a disease which I am under. 6 For I hear the Jews ridicule you, and intend you mischief. 7 My city is indeed small, but neat, and large enough for us both. CHAP. II. The answer of Jesus hy Ananias the footman to Abgarus the king, 3 de- clining to visit Edessa. ABGARUS, you are happy, forasmuch as you have be- lieved on me, whom ye have not seen. 2 For it is written concerning me, that those who have seen me should not believe on me, that they who have not seen might be- lieve and live. 3 As to that part of your letter, which relates to my giving you a visit, I must inform you, that I must fulfil all the ends of my mission in this country, and after that be received up again to him who sent me. 4 But after my ascension I will send one of my disciples, who will cure your disease, and give life to you, and all that are with you. The GOSPEL of NICODEMUS, formerly called the ACTS of PONTIUS PILATE. [Although this Gospel is, by some among the learned, supposed to have been really written by Nicodemus, who became a disciple of Jesus Christ, and conversed with him; others conjecture that it was a forgery towards the close of the third century by some zealous believer, who observing that there had been appeals made by the Christians of the former age, to the Acts of Pilate, but that such Acts could not be produced, imagined it would be of service to Christianity to fabricate and publish this Gospel ; as it would both confirm the Christians under persecution, and convince the Heathens of the truth of the Christian religion. The Rev. Jeremiah Jones says, that such pious frauds were very common among Christians even in the first three centuries ; and that a forgery of this nature, with the view above mentioned, seems natural and probable. The same author, in noticing that Eusebius, in his Ecclesiastical history, charges the Pagans with having forged and published a book, called "The Acts of Pilate," takes occasion to observe, that the internal evidence of this Gospel shows it was not the work of any Heathen ; but that if in the latter end of the third century we find it in use among Christians (as it was then certainly in some churches) and about the same time find a forger^of the Heathens under the same title, it seems exceedingly pro- bable that some Christians, at that time, should publish such a piece as this, in order partly to confront the spurious one of the Pagans, and partly to support those appeals which had been made by former Christians to the Acts of Pilate ; and Mr. Jones says, he thinks so more particularly as we have innumerable instances of forgeries by the faith- ful in the primitive ages, grounded on le*s plausible reasons. Whether it be canonical or not, it is of very great antiquity, and is appealed to by several of the ancient Christians. The present translation is made from the Gospel published by Grynasus in the Orthodoxographa, vol. i. torn. ii. p. 643.] 63 Christ accused by the NICODEMUS. Jews before Pilate. The Gospel of Nicodemus the I mon him to appear before your disciple, concerning the Sufferings tribunal, and hear him yourself. and Resurrection of our Master and Saviour Jesus Christ. CHAP. I. 1 Christ accused to Pilate by the Jetvs of healing on the sabbath, 9 sum- moned before Pilate by a messenger who docs him honour, 20 worshipped by the standards bowing down to him. NNAS A : 8 Then Pilate called; i messenger Summas, and Datam, Ga- maliel, Judas, Levi, Nepthalim, Alexander, Cyrus, and other Jews, went to Pilate about Jesus, accusing J him with many bad crimes. 2 And said, We are assured that Jesus is the son of Joseph the and said to him, By what means will Christ be brought hither ? 9 Then went the messenger forth, and knowing Christ, wor- shipped him ; and having spread the cloak which he had in his hand upon the ground, he said, Caiaphas, and j Lord, walk upon this, and go in, for the governor calls thee. 10 "When the Jews perceived what the messenger had done they exclaimed (against him) to Pilate, and said, Why did you not give him his summons by a bea- dle, and not by a messenger ? — For the messenger, when he saw carpenter/and born of Mary, and i him, worshipped him, and spread that he declares himself the Son j the cloak which he had in his of God, and a king ; 2 and not only hand upon the ground before him, so, but attempts the dissolution of j and said to him, Lord, the go- the sabbath, 3 and the laws of our ! vernor calls thee, fathers. 11 Then Pilate called the mes- 3 Pilate replied ; What is it which he declares ? and what is it which he attempts dissolving ? 4 The Jews told him,We have a law which forbids doing cures on the sabbath day ; 4 but he cures both the lame and the deaf, those afflicted with the palsy, the blind, and lepers, and demoniacs, on that day by wicked methods. 5 Pilate replied, How can he do this by wicked methods? They answered, He is a conjurer, and senger, and said, Why hast thou done thus ? 12 The messenger replied, When thou sentest me from Je- rusalem to Alexander, I saw Je- sus sitting in a mean figure upon a she-ass, and the children of the Hebrews cried out, Hosannah, holding boughs of trees in their hands. 13 Others spread their garments in the way, and said, Save us, thou who art in heaven; blessed is he casts out devils by the prince of who cometh in the name of the the devils f and so all things J Lord. 7 become subject to him. 14 Then the Jews cried out, 6 Then said Pilate, Casting out ' against the messenger, and said, devils seems not to be the work [ The children of th# Hebrews of an unclean spirit, but to pro- ceed from the power of God. 7 The Jews replied to Pilate, We entreat your highness to sum- made their acclamations in the Hebrew language ; and how couldst thou, who art a Greek, understand the Hebrew ? 1 Matt. xiii. 55, and John vi. 42 3 Matt. xii. 2. &c; Luke xiii. 14 vi. 24, and xi. 5. 6 Matt, iv 9, &c. 64 2 John v. 17, 18. Mark xv. 2. John, v. 18. 4 Exod. xx. 8, &c. 5 Matt. 34, and xii. 24, &c. 7 Matt. xxi. .8, v. PNI MARY OFFERING IN THE TEMPLE. [Pare 40. HM \ GREEK DIPTYCHON OF THE THIRTEENTH OR FOURTEENTH CENTURY. Christ worshipped by NICODEMUS. the standards. 15 The messenger answered them and said, I asked one of the Jews and said, What is this which the children do cry out in the Hebrew language ? 16 And he explained it to me, saying, they cry out Hosannah, which being interpreted, is, O, Lord, save me; or, O Lord, save. 17 Pilate then said to them, Why do you yourselves testify to the words spoken by the chil- dren, namely, by your silence ? In what has the messenger done amiss ? And they were silent. 18 Then the governor said unto the messenger, Go forth and endeavour by any means to bring him in. 19 But the messenger went forth, and did as before ; and said, Lord, come in, for the gov- ernor calleth thee. 20 And as Jesus was going in by the ensigns, who carried the standards, the tops of them bowed down and worshipped Jesus. 21 Whereupon the Jews ex- claimed more vehemently against the ensigns. 22 But Pilate said to the Jews, I know it is not pleasing to you that the tops of the stan- dards did of themselves bow and worship Jesus ; but why do ye exclaim against the ensigns, as if they had bowed and wor- shipped ? 23 They replied to Pilate, We saw the ensigns themselves bowing and worshipping Jesus. 24 Then the governor called the ensigns and said unto them, Why did you do thus ? 25 The ensigns said to Pilate, We are all Pagans and worship the gods in temples ; and how should we think anything about worshipping him ? We only 5 held the standards in our hands and they bowed themselves and worshipped him. 26 Then said Pilate to the rulers of the synagogue, Do ye yourselves choose some strong men, and let them hold the stan- dards, and we shall see whether they will then bend of them- 27 So the elders of the Jews sought out twelve of the most strong and able old men, and made them hold the standards and they stood in the presence of the governor. 28 Then Pilate said to the messenger, Take Jesus out, and by some means bring him in again. And Jesus and the mes- senger went out of the hall. 29 And Pilate called the en- signs who before had borne the standards, and swore to them, that if they had not borne the standards in that manner when Jesus before entered in, he would cut off their heads. 30 Then the governor com- manded Jesus to come in again. 31 And the messenger did as he had done before, and very much entreated Jesus that he would go upon his cloak, and walk on it, and he did walk upon it, and went in. 32 And when Jesus Avent in, the standards bowed themselves as before, and worshipped him. CHAP. II. 2 Is compassionated by Pilate's wife, 7 charged with being bom in fornication. 12 Testimony to the betrothing of his parents. Hatred of the Jews to him. "VTOW when Pilate saw this, _LM he was afraid, and was about to rise from his seat. 2 But while he thought to rise, his own wife who stood at a distance, sent to him, saying, 65 Charged with being NICODEMUS. born in fornication. Have thou nothing to do with that just man ; for I have suf- fered much concerning him in a vision this night. 1 3 "When the Jews heard this they said to Pilate, Did we not say unto thee, He is a conjuror? Behold, he hath caused thy wife to dream. 4 Pilate then calling Jesus, said, thou hast heard what they testify against thee, and makest no answer? 5 Jesus replied, If they had not a power of speaking, they could not have spoke ; but be- cause every one has the com- mand of his own tongue, to speak both good and bad, let him look to it. 6 But the elders of the Jews answered, and said to Jesus, What shall we look to ? 7 In the first place, we know this concerning thee, that thou wast born through fornication ; secondly, that upon the account of thy birth the infants were slain in Bethlehem ; thirdly, that thy father and mother Mary fled into Egypt, because they could not trust their own people. 8 Some of the Jews who stood by spake more favourably, We cannot say that he was born through fornication ; but we know that his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, and so he was not born through fornication. 9 Then said Pilate to the Jews who affirmed him to be born through fornication, This your account is not true, seeing there was a betrothment, as they testify who are of your own nation. 10 Annas and Caiaphas spake to Pilate, All this multitude of people is to be regarded, who cry out, that he was born through fornication, and is a conjuror; but they who deny him to be born through fornication, are his proselytes and disciples. 1 1 Pilate answered Annas and Caiaphas, Who are the proselytes? They answered, They are those who are the children of Pagans, and are not become Jews, but followers of him. 12 Then replied Eleazer, and Asterius, and Antonius, and James, Caras and Samuel, Isaac and Phinees, Crispus and Agrip- pa, Annas and Judas, We are not proselytes, but children of Jews, and speak the truth, and were present when Mary was be- trothed. 13 Then Pilate addressing him- self to the twelve men who spake this, said to them, I conjure you by the life of Csesar, that ye faith- fully declare whether he was born through fornication, and those things be true which ye have related. 14 They answered Pilate, We have a law, whereby we are forbid to swear, it being a sin : Let them swear by the life of Csesar that it is not as we have said, and we will be contented to be put to death. 15 Then said Annas and Caia- phas to Pilate, Those twelve men will not believe that we know him to be basely born, and to be a conjuror, although he pretends that he is the son of God, and a king : 2 which we are so far from believing, that we tremble to hear. 16 Then Pilate commanded every one to go out except the twelve men who said he was not born through fornication, and Jesus to withdraw to a distance, and said to them, Why have the Jews a mind to kill Jesus ? Matt, xxvii. 19. GO 2 John v, 17, 18 ; Mark xv. 2. Christ disputes NICODEMUS. with Pilate. 17 They answered him, They are angry because he wrought cures on the sabbath day. Pilate said, Will they kill him for a good work ?* They say unto him, Yes, Sir. CHAP. III. 1 Is exonerated by Pilate. 11 Disputes with Pilate concerning Truth. THEN Pilate, filled with an- ger, went out of the hall, and said to the Jews, I call the whole world to witness that I find no fault in that man. 2 2 The Jews replied to Pilate, If he had not been a wicked per- son, we had not brought him be- fore thee. 3 Pilate said to them, Do ye take him and try him by your law. 4 Then the Jews said, It is not lawful for us to put any one to death. 5 Pilate said to the Jews, The command, therefore thou shalt not kill, 3 belongs to you, but not to me. 6 And he went again into the hall, and called Jesus by himself, and said to him, Art thou the king of the Jews ? 7 And Jesus answering, said to Pilate, Dost thou speak this of thyself, or did the Jews tell it thee concerning me ? 8 Pilate answering, said to Jesus, Am I a Jew ? The whole nation and rulers of the Jews have delivered thee up to me. What hast thou done ? 9 Jesus answering, said, My kingdom is not of this world : if my kingdom were of this world then would my servants fight and I should not have been de- livered to the Jews ; but now my kingdom is not from hence. 10 Pilate said, Art thou a king then ? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king : to this end was I born, and for this end came I into the world ; and for this purpose I came, that I should bear witness to the truth ; and every one who is of the truth, heareth my voice. 11 Pilate saith to him, What is truth ? 12 Jesus said, Truth is from heaven. 13 Pilate said, Therefore truth is not on earth. 14 Jesus said to Pilate, Be- lieve that truth is on earth among those, who when they have the power of judgment, are governed by truth, and form right judgment. CHAP. IV. 1 Pilate finds no fault in Jesus. 16 The Jews demand his crucifixion. THEN Pilate left Jesus in the hall, and went out to the Jews, and said, I find not any one fault in Jesus. 2 The Jews say unto him, But he said, I can destroy the temple of God, and in three days build it up again. 3 Pilate saith unto them,What sort of temple is that of which he " eth? 4 The Jews say unto him, That which Solomon was forty- six years in building,* he said he would destroy, and in three days build up. 5 Pilate said to them again, I am innocent from the blood of that man; do ye look to it. 5 1 Johnx. 32. 2 John xviii. 31, &c. 3 Exod. xx. 13. * John ii. 19. 5 Matt, xxvii. 24. 67 Pilate inclines to Christ. NICODEMIJS. The Jews demand his death. 6 The Jews say to him, His blood be upon us and our chil- dren. Then Pilate calling to- gether the elders and scribes, priests and Levites, saith to them privately, Do not act thus; I have found nothing in your charge (against him) concerning his curing sick persons, and breaking the sabbath, worthy of death. 7 The Priests and Levites re- plied to Pilate, By the life of Caesar, if any one be a blasphe- mer, he is worthy of death ; L but this man hath blasphemed against the Lord. 8 Then the governor again commanded the Jews to depart out of the hall ; and calling Jesus, said to him, What shall I do with thee? 9 Jesus answered him, Do ac- cording as it is written. 10 Pilate said to him, How is it written ? 11 Jesus saith to him, Moses and the prophets have prophesied concerning my suffering and re- surrection. 12 The Jews hearing this, were provoked, and said to Pi- late, Why wilt thou any longer hear the blasphemy of that man ? 13 Pilate saith to them, If these words seem to you blas- phemy, do ye take him, bring him to your court, and try him according to your law. 14 The Jews reply to Pilate, Our law saith, he shall be obliged to receive nine and thirty stripes, but if after this manner he shall blaspheme against the Lord, he shall be stoned. 15 Pilate saith unto them, If that speech of his was blasphemy, do ye try him according to your law. 16 The Jews say to Pilate, Our law commands us not to put any one to death : 2 we desire that he may be crucified, because he de- serves the death of the cross. 17 Pilate saith to them, It is not fit he should be crucified : let him be only whipped and sent away. 3 18 But when the governor looked upon the people that were present and the Jews, he saw many of the Jews in tears, and said to the chief priests of the Jews, All the people do not de- sire his death. 19 The elders cf the Jews an- swered to Pilate, We and all the people came hither for this very purpose, that he should die. 20 Pilate saith to them, Why should he die ? 21 They said to him, Because he declares himself to be the Son of God, and a King. CHAP. V. 1 Nicodemus speaks in defence of Christ, and relates his miracles. 12 Another Jew, 26 with Veronica, 34 Centurio, and others, testify of other miracles. BUT Nicodemus, a certain Jew, stood before the gov- ernor, and said, I entreat thee, O righteous judge, that thou wouldst favour me with the li- berty of speaking a few words. 2 Pilate said to him, Speak on. 3 Nicodemus said, I spake to the elders of the Jews, and the scribes, and priests and Levites, and all the multitude of the Jews, in their assembly ; What is it ye would do with this man ? 4 He is a man who hath wrought many useful and glo- rious miracles, such as no man on earth ever wrought before, Leviticus xxiv. 16. 68 8 Exodus xx. 13. 8 Luke xxiii. 16. Nicodemus speaks. NICODEMUS. A Jew cured by CJirist rose up, and desired leave of the governor to hear him a few words. 13 And the governor said, Speak what thou hast a mind. 14 And he said, I lay for thirty-eight years by the sheep- pool at Jerusalem, labouring under a great infirmity, and waiting for a cure which should be wrought by the coming of an angel, who at a certain time trou- bled the water ; and whosoever first after the troubling of the water stepped in, was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. 15 And when Jesus saw me languishing there, he said to me, Wilt thou be made whole ? And I answered, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool. 16 And he said unto me, Rise, take up thy bed and walk. And I was immediately made whole, and took up my bed and walked. 6 17 The Jews then said to Pi- late, Our Lord Governor, pray ask him what day it was on which he was cured of his infirmity. 18 The infirm person replied, It was on the sabbath. 19 The Jews said to Pilate, Did we not say that he wrought his cures on the sabbath, and cast out devils by the prince of devils? 20 Then another certain 7 Jew came forth, and said, I was blind, could hear sounds, but could not see any one ; and as Jesus was going along, I heard the multi- tude passing by, and I asked what was there ? 21 They told me that Jesus was passing by : then I cried out, saying, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. And he nor will ever work. 1 Let him go, and do him no harm ; if he cometh from God, his miracles, (his miraculous cures) will con- tinue; but if from men, they will come to nought. 2 5 Thus Moses, when he was sent by God into Egypt, wrought the miracles which God com- manded him, before Pharaoh king of Egypt ; and though the magicians of that country, Jan- nes and Jambres, 3 wrought by their magic the same miracles which Moses did, yet they could not work all which he did ;* 6 And the miracles which the magicians wrought, were not of God, as ye know, O Scribes and Pharisees ; but they who wrought them perished, and all who be- lieved them. 5 7 And now let this man go ; because the very miracles for which ye accuse him, are from God; and he is not worthy of death. 8 The Jews then said to Nico- demus, Art thou become his disciple, and making speeches in his favour? 9 Nicodemus said to them, Is the governor become his disciple also, and does he make speeches for him ? Did not Caesar place him in that high post ? 10 When the Jews heard this they trembled, and gnashed their teeth at Nicodemus, and said to him, Mayest thou receive his doctrine for truth, and have thy lot with Christ! 11 Nicodemus replied, Amen ; I will receive his doctrine, and my lot with him, as ye have said. '12 Tf Then another certain Jew 1 John iii. 2. 2 Acts v. 38. 3 These are mentioned also as the names of the magicians, 2 Tim. iii. 8. * Exod. viii. 18, &c. 6 Acts v. 35. An allusion to Gamaliel's speech. e John v. 1, 2, &c. 7 Mark x. 46. 69 with Veronica and others, NIC0DEMU3. testify of his miracles. stood still, and commanded that | I should be brought to him, and said to me, What wilt thou ? 22 I said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. 23 He said to me, Receive thy sight : and presently I saw, and followed him, rejoicing and giving thanks. 24 Another Jew also came forth, and said, 1 I was a leper, and he cured me by his word only, saying, I will, be thou clean ; and presently I was cleansed from my leprosy. 25 And another Jew came forth, and said, I was crooked, and he made me straight by his word. 3 26 Tf And a certain woman named Veronica, said, 3 I was afflicted with an issue of blood twelve years, and I touched the hem of his garments, and present- ly the issue of my blood stopped. 27 The Jews then said, We have a law, that a woman shall not be allowed as an evidence. 28 And, after other things, another Jew said, *I saw Jesus invited to a wedding with his disciples, and there was a want of wine in Cana of Galilee ; 29 And when the wine was all drank, he commanded the servants that they should fill six pots which were there with water, and they filled them up to the brim, and he blessed them, and turned the water into wine, and all the people drank, being surprised at this miracle. 30 And another Jew stood forth, and said, 5 I saw Jesus teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum; and there was in the synagogue a certain man who had a devil ; and he cried out, saying, let me alone ; what have we to do with thee, Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us ? I know that thou art the Holy One of God. 31 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, unclean spirit, and come out of the man; and presently he came out of him, and did not at all hurt him. 32 The following things were also said by a Pharisee ; I saw that a great company came to Jesus from Galilee and Judsea, and the sea-coast, and many countries about Jordan, and many infirm persons came to him, and he healed them all. 6 33 And I heard the unclean spirits crying out, and saying, 7 Thou art the Son of God. And I Jesus strictly charged them, | that they should not make him known. 34 ^[ After this another per- son, whose name was Centurio, said, 8 I saw Jesus in Capernaum, and I entreated him, saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy. 35 And Jesus said to me, I will come and cure him. 36 But I said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant shall be healed. 37 And Jesus said unto me, Go thy way ; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And my servant was healed from that same hour. 1 Matt. viii. 11, &c. 2 Luke xiii. 11. * Matt. ix. 20, &c. See concerning this woman called Veronica, on -whom this miracle was performed, and the statue which she erected to the honour of Christ, in Euseb. Hist. Eccl. 1. 7, c. 18. 4 John ii. 1, &c. 5 Luke iv. 33, &c. 6 Matt. v. 23. 7 Mark iii. 11. 8 Matt. viii. 5, &c. 70 Christ s miracles witnessed. NICODEMUS. His death demanded. ' 38 Then a certain nobleman said, I had a son in Capernaum, who lay at the point of death ; and when I heard that Jesus was come into Galilee, I went and besought him that he would come down to my house, and heal my son, for he was at the point of death. 39 He said to me, Go thy way, thy son liveth. 40 And my son was cured from that hour. 41 Besides these, also many others of the Jews, both men and women, cried out and said, He is truly the Son of God, who cures all diseases only by his word, and to whom the devils are altogether subject. 42 Some of them farther said, This power can proceed from none but God. 43 Pilate said to the Jews, Why are not the devils subject to your doctors ? 44 Some of them said, The power of subjecting devils can- not proceed but from God. 45 But others said to Pilate, That he had l raised Lazarus from the dead, after he had been four days in his grave. 46 The governor hearing this, trembling said to the multitude of the Jews, What will it profit you to shed innocent blood ? CHAP. VI. 1 Pilate dismayed by the turbulence of the Jews, 5 who demand Barabbas to be released, and (Jurist to be crucified, 9 Pilate warmly expostulates with them, 20 washes his hands of Christ's blood, 23 and sentences him to be whipped and crucified. THEN Pilate having called together Nicodemus, and the fifteen men who said that Jesus was not born through for- nication, said to them, What shall I do, seeing there is like to be a tumult among the people. 2 2 They said unto him, We know not ; let them look to it who raise the tumult. 3 Pilate then called the multi- tude again, and said to them, Ye know that ye have a custom, that I should release to you one pri- soner at the feast of the passover ; 4 I have a noted prisoner, a murderer, who is called Barab- bas, and Jesus who is called Christ, in whom I find nothing that deserves death; which of them therefore have you a mind that I should release to you ? 3 5 They all cry out, and say, Eelease to us Barabbas. 6 Pilate saith to them, What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ ? 7 They all answer, Let him be crucified. 8 Again they cry out and say to Pilate, You are not the friend of Csesar, if you release this man ?* for he hath declared that he is the Son of God, and a king. But are you inclined that he should be king, and not Csesar ? 9 Then Pilate filled with an- ger said to them, Your nation hath always been seditious, and you are always against those who have been serviceable to you ? 10 The Jews replied, Who are those who have been serviceable to us? 11 Pilate answered them, Your God who delivered you from the hard bondage of the Egyptians, and brought you over the Red Sea as though it had been dry land, and fed you in the wilder- ness with manna and the flesh of I Johnxi.l7.&c. 2 Matt, xxvii. 24. 4 John xix.12. 3 Matt, xxvii. 21. 71 by the Jews, and NICODEMUS. ordered by Pilate. quails, and brought water out of the rock, and gave you a law from heaven : 12 Ye provoked him all ways, and desired for yourselves a mol- ten calf, and worshipped it, and sacrificed to it, and said, These are Thy Gods, O Israel, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt ! 13 On account of which your God was inclined to destroy you ; but Moses interceded for you, and your God heard him, and forgave your iniquity. 14 Afterwards ye were enraged against, and would have killed your prophets, Moses and Aaron, when they fled to the tabernacle, and ye were always murmuring against God and his prophets. 15 And arising from his judg- ment seat, he would have gone out ; but the Jews all cried out, We acknowledge Caesar to be king, and not Jesus. 16 Whereas this person, as soon as he was born, the wise men came and offered gifts unto him ; which when Herod heard, he was exceedingly troubled, and would have killed him. 17 When his father knew this, he fled with him and his mother Mary into Egypt. Herod, when he heard he was born, would have slain him ; and accordingly sent and slew all the children which were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under. 1 18 When Pilate heard this account, he was afraid ; and com- manding silence among the peo- ple, who made a noise, he said to Jesus, Art thou therefore a king ? 19 All the Jews replied to Pi- late, he is the very person whom Herod sought to have slain. 20 Then Pilate taking water, washed his hands before the peo- ple and said, I am innocent of the blood of this just person; look ye to it? 21 The Jews answered and said, His blood be upon us and our children. 22 Then Pilate commanded Jesus to be brought before him, and spake to him in the follow- ing words : 23 Thy own nation hath charged thee as making thyself a king ; wherefore I, Pilate, sen- tence thee to be whipped accord- ing to the laws of former gover- nors; and that thou be first bound, then hanged upon a cross in that place where thou art now a prisoner ; and also two crimi- nals with thee, whose names are Dimas and Gestas. CHAP. VII. 1 Manner of Christ's crucifixion with the two thieves. THEN Jesus went out of the hall, and the two thieves with him. 2 And when they came to the place which is called Golgotha, 3 they stript him of his raiment, and girt him about with a linen cloth, and put a crown of thorns upon his head, and put a reed in his hand. 3 And in like manner did they to the two thieves who were cru- cified with him, Dimas on his right hand and Gestas on his left. 4 But Jesus said, My Father, forgive them ; For they know not what they do. 5 And they divided his gar- ments, and upon his vesture they cast lots. 6 The people in the mean time stood by, and the chief priests 1 Matt. ii. 72 2 Matt, xxvii. 24, &c. "Matt, xxvii. 33. m6 MTU- z t z < Christ's crucifixion NICODEMUS. attended by miracles, and elders of the Jews mocked him, saying, he saved others, let him now save himself if he can ; if he be the son of God, let him now come down from the cross. 7 The soldiers also mocked him, and taking vinegar and gall offered it to him to drink, and said to him, If thou art king of the Jews deliver thyself. 8 Then Longinus, a certain sol- dier, taking a spear, 1 pierced his side, and presently there came forth blood and water. 9 And Pilate wrote the title upon the cross in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek letters, viz. This is the king of the Jews. 2 10 But one of the two thieves who were crucified with Jesus, whose name was Gestas, said to Jesus, If thou art the Christ,deli- ver thyself and us. 11 But the thief who was cru- cified on his right hand, whose name was Dimas, answering, re- buked him, and said, Dost not thou fear God, who art condemned to this punishment ? We indeed receive rightly and justly the demerit of our actions ; but this Jesus, what evil hath he done ? 12 After this groaning, he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy king- dom. 13 Jesus answering, said to him, Verily I say unto thee, that this day thou shalt be with me in Paradise. CHAP. VIII. 1 Miraculous appearance at his death. 10 The Jews say the eclipse was natural. 12 Joseph of Arimathaza embalms Christ's body and buries it. AND it was about the sixth hour, 3 and darkness was upon the face of the whole earth until the ninth hour. 2 And while the sun was eclipsed, behold the vail of the temple was rent from the top to the bottom ; and the rocks also were rent, and the graves opened, and many bodies of saints, which slept, arose. 3 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Hely, Hely, lama zabac- thani t which being interpreted, is, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me ? 4 And after these things, Jesus said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit ; and having said this, he gave up the ghost. 5 But when the centurion saw that Jesus thus crying out gave up the ghost, he glorified God, and said, Of a truth this was a just man. 6 And all the people who stood by, were exceedingly troubled at the sight; and reflecting upon what had passed, smote upon their breasts, and then returned to the city of Jerusalem. 7 The centurion went to the governor, and related to him all that had passed ; 8 And when he had heard all these things, he was exceeding sorrowful ; 9 And calling the Jews toge- ther, said to them, Have ye seen the miracle of the sun's eclij>se, and the other things which came to pass, while Jesus was dying ? 10 Which when the Jews heard, they answered to the governor, The eclipse of the sun happened according to its usual custom. 11 But all those who were the acquaintance of Christ, stood at a distance, as did the women who had followed Jesus from Galilee, observing all these things. 1 John xix. 34. 2 John xix. 19. s Matt, xxvii. 45, &c. 73 and his body buried by NICODEMUS. Joseph of Arimathoza. 12 And 1 behold a certain man of Arimathiea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus, '; but not openly so, for fear of the Jews, came to the governor, and entreated the governor that he would give him leave to take away the body of Jesus from the 13 And the governor gave him 14 And Nicodemus came, bringing with him a mixture of myrrh and aloes about a hundred pound weight ; and they took down Jesus from the cross with tears, and bound him with linen cloths with spices, according to the custom of burying among the Jews, 15 And placed him in a new tomb, which Joseph had built, aud caused to be cut out of a rock, im which never any man had been put ; and they rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre. CHAP. IX. 1 The Jews avgry with Nlcodemus ; 5 and with Joseph of Arimathoza, 7 whom they imprison. WHEN the unjust Jews heard that Joseph had begged and buried the body of Jesus, they sought after Nicodernus ; and those fifteen men who had testified before the Governor, that Jesus was not born through fornication, and other good per- sons who had shewn any good actions towards him. 2 But when they all concealed themselves through fear of the Jews Nicodemus alone shewed himself to them, and said, How can such persons as these enter into the synagogue ? 3 The Jews answered him, But how durst thou enter into the synagogue who wast a con- federate with Christ? Let thy lot be along with him in the other world. 4 Nicodemus answered, Amen ; so may it be, that I may have my lot with him in his kingdom. 5 In like manner Joseph, when he came to the Jew T s, said to them Why are ye angry with me for desiring the body of Jesus of Pi- late ? Behold, I have put him in my tomb, and wrapped him up in clean linen, and put a stone at the door of the sepulchre : 6 I have acted rightly towards him ; but ye have acted unjustly aginst that just person, in cruci- fying him, giving him vinegar to drink, crowning him with thorns, tearing his body with whips, and prayed down the guilt of his blood upon you. 7 The Jews at the hearing of this were disquieted, and trou- bled ; and they seized Joseph , and commanded him to be put in custody before the sabbath, and kept there till the sabbath was over. 8 And they said to him, Make confession ; for at this time it is not lawful to do thee any harm, till the first day of the week come. But we know that thou wilt not be thought worthy of a burial ; but we will give thy flesh to the birds of the air, and the beasts of the earth. 9 Joseph answered, That speech is like the speech of proud Goliath, who reproached the liv- ing God in speaking against Da- vid. But ye scribes and doctors- know that God saith by the pro- phet, Vengeance is mine, and I 1 John xix. 38. 74 Joseph of A. imprisoned. NICODEMUS. Christ rises again will repay to you l evil equal to that which ye have threatened to rue. 10 The God whom you have hanged upon the cross, is able to deliver me out of your hands. All your wickedness will return upon you. 11 For the governor, when he washed his hands, said, I am clear from the blood of this just person. But ye answered and cried out, His blood be upon us and our children. According as ye have said, may ye perish for ever. 12 The elders of the Jews hear- ing these words, were exceedingly enraged ; and seizing Joseph, they put him into a chamber where there was no window ; they fastened the door, and put a seal upon the lock ; 13 And Annas and Caiaphas placed a guard upon it, and took counsel with the priests and Le- vites, that they should all meet after the sabbath, and they con- trived to what death they should put Joseph. 14 When they had done this, the rulers, Annas and Caiaphas, ordered Joseph to be brought forth. *|[ In this place there is a portion of the Gospel lost or omitted, which cannot be supplied. CHAP. X. 1 Joseph's escape. 2 The soldiers relate Christ' s resurrection. 18 Christ is seen preaching in Galilee. 21 The Jews re- pent of their cruelty to him. WHEN all the assembly heard this, they admired and were astonished, because they found the same seal upon the lock of the chamber, and could not find Joseph. 2 Then Annas and Caiaphas went forth, and while they were all admiring at Joseph's being gone, behold one of the soldiers, who kept the sepulchre of Jesus, spake in the assembly. 3 That Vhile they were guard- ing the sepulchre of Jesus, there was an earthquake ; and we saw an angel of God roll away the stone of the sepulchre and 3 sit upon it ; 4 And his countenance was like lightning and his garment like snow ; and we became through fear like persons dead. 5 And we heard an angel say- ing to the women at the sepul- chre of Jesus, Do not fear; I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified ; he is risen as he foretold. 6 Come and see the place where he was laid ; and go pre- sently, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead, and he will go before you into Galilee ; there ye shall see him as he told you. 7 Then the Jews called toge- ther all the soldiers who kept the sepulchre of Jesus, and said to them, Who are those women, to whom the angel spoke? Why did ye not seize them ? 8 The soldiers answered and said, We know not whom the wo- men were ; besides we became as dead persons through fear, and how could we seize those women ? 9 The Jews said to them, As the Lord liveth we do not believe you. 10 The soldiers answering said to the Jews, when ye saw and heard Jesus working so many miracles, and did not believe him, how should ye believe us? Ye well said, As the Lord liveth, for the Lord truly does live. Deut. xxxii. 35 ; Heb. x. 40. 2 Matt, xxviii. 11, 12, &c. 3 Matt, xxviii. 1, 2, &c. 75 and preaches in Galilee. NICODEMUS. Tlie Jews repent. 11 We have heard that ye shut up Joseph, who buried the body of Jesus, in a chamber, under a lock which was sealed ; and when ye opened it, found him not there. 12 Do ye then produce Joseph whom ye put under guard in the chamber, and we will produce Jesus whom we guarded in the sepulchre. 13 The Jews answered and said, We will produce Joseph, do ye produce Jesus. But Jo- seph is in his own city of Ari- mathsea. 14 The soldiers replied, If Jo- seph be in Arimathsea, and Jesus in Galilee, we heard the angel in- form the women. 15 The Jews hearing this, were afraid, and said among them- selves, If by any means these things should become public, then every body will believe in Jesus. 16 Then they gathered a large sum of money, and gave it to the soldiers, saying, Do ye tell the people that the disciples of Jesus came in the night when ye were asleep and stole away the body of Jesus ; and if Pilate the gover- nor should hear of this, we will satisfy him and secure you. 17 The soldiers accordingly took the money, and said as they were instructed by the Jews ; and their report was spread abroad among all the people. 18 i But a certain priest Phi- nees, Ada a schoolmaster, and a Levite, named Ageus, they three came from Galilee to Jerusalem, and told the chief priests and all who were in the synagogues, say- ing, 19 We have seen Jesus, whom ye crucified, talking with his eleven disciples, and sitting in the 1 Matt. xxviii. 16, 76 midst of them in Mount Olivet, and saying to them, 1 20 Go forth into the whole world, preach the Gospel to all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost ; and whoso- ever shall believe and be baptiz- ed, shall be saved. 21 And when he had said these things to his disciples, we saw him ascending up to heaven. 22 When the chief priests, and elders, and Levites heard these things, they said to these three men, Give glory to the God of Israel, and make confession to him, whether those things are true, which ye say ye have seen and heard. 23 They answering said, As the Lord of our lathers liveth, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, ac- cording as we heard Jesus talk- ing with his disciples, and accord- ing as we saw him ascending up to heaven, so we have related the truth to you. 24 And the three men farther answered, and said, adding these words, If we should not own the words which we heard Jesus speak, and that we saw him as- cending into heaven, we should be guilty of sin. 25 Then the chief priests im- mediately rose up, and holding the book of the law in their hands, conjured these men, say- ing, Ye shall no more hereafter declare those things which ye have spoke concerning Jesus. 26 And they gave them a large sum of money, and sent other persons along with them, who should conduct them to their own country, that they might not by any means make any stay at Jerusalem. and Mark xvi. 16. Joseph of Arimathcea NICODEMUS. invited by the Jews 27 Then the Jews did assem- ble all together, and having ex- pressed the most lamentable concern, said, What is this ex- traordinary thing which is come to pass in Jerusalem ? 28 But Annas and Caiaphas comforted them, saying, Why should we believe the soldiers who guarded the sepulchre of Jesus, in telling us, that an angel rolled away the stone from the door of the sepulchre ? 29 Perhaps his own disciples told them this, and gave them money that they should say so, and they themselves took away the body of Jesus. 30 Besides, consider this, that there is no credit to be given to foreigners, 1 because they also took a large sum of us, and they have declared to us according to the instructions which we gave them. They must either be faithful to us, or to the disciples of Jesus. CHAP. XI. 1 Nicodemus counsels the Jews. 6 Joseph found. 11 Invited by the Jeivs to return. 19 Relates the man- ner of his miraculous THEN" Nicodemus arose, and said, Ye say right, O sons of Israel, ye have heard what those three men have sworn by the Law of God, who said, We have seen Jesus speaking with his disciples upon Mount Olivet, and we saw him ascending up to heaven. 2 And the scripture teacheth us that the blessed prophet Eli- jah was taken up to heaven; and Elisha being asked by the sons of the prophets, Where is our father Elijah ? He said to them, that he is taken up to heaven. 3 And the sons of the prophets said to him, Perhaps the spirit hath carried him into one of the mountains of Israel, there per- haps we shall find him. And they besought Elisha, and he walked about with them three days, and they could not find him. 4 And now hear me, O sons of Israel, and let us send men into the mountains of Israel, lest perhaps the spirit hath carried away Jesus, and there perhaps we shall find him, and be satisfied. 5 And the counsel of Nicode- mus pleased all the people ; and they sent forth men who sought for Jesus, but could not find him: and they returning, said, We went all about, but could not find Jesus, but we have found Joseph in his city of Arimathea. 6 The rulers hearing this, and all the people, were glad, and praised the God of Israel, be- cause Joseph was found, whom they had shut up in a chamber, and could not find. 7 And when they had formed a large assembly, the chief priests said, By what means shall we bring Joseph to us to speak with him? 8 And taking a piece of pa- per, they wrote to him, and said, Peace be with thee, and all thy family. We know that we have offended against God and thee. Be pleased to give a visit to us your fathers, for we were per- fectly surprised at your escape from prison. 9 We know that it was mali- cious counsel which we took against thee, and that the Lord took care of thee, and the Lord himself delivered thee from our designs. Peace be unto thee, Jo- seph, who art honourable among all the people. 10 And they chose seven of Heathens. 77 to relate the NICODEMUS. manTier of his escape. Joseph's friends, and said to them, When ye come to Joseph, salute him in peace, and give him this letter. 11 Accordingly, when the men came to Joseph, they did salute him in peace, and gave him the letter. 12 And when Joseph had read it, he said, Blessed be the Lord God, who didst deliver me from the Israelites, that they could not shed my blood. Blessed be God, who has protected me un- der thy wings. 13 And Joseph kissed them, and took them into his house. And on the morrow, Joseph mounted his ass, and went along with them to Jerusalem. 14 And when all the Jews heard these things, they went out to meet him, and cried out, saying, Peace attend thy coming hither, father Joseph. 15 To which he answered, Prosperity from the Lord attend all the people. 16 And they all kissed him; and Nicodemus took him to his house, having prepared a large entertainment. 17 But on the morrow, being a preparation-day, Annas, and Caiaphas, and Nicodemus, said to Joseph, Make confession to the God of Israel, and answer to us all those questions which we shall ask thee ; 18 For we have been very much troubled, that thou didst bury the body of Jesus; and that when we had locked thee in a chamber, we could not find thee; and we have been afraid ever since, till this time of thy appear- ing among us. Tell us therefore before God, all that came to pass. 19 Then Joseph answering, said, Ye did indeed put me un- 78 der confinement, on the day of preparation, till the morning. 20 But while I was standing at prayer in the middle of the night, the house was surrounded with four angels ; and I saw Jesus as the brightness of the sun, and fell down upon the earth for fear. 21 But Jesus laying hold on my hand, lifted me from the ground, and the dew was then sprinkled upon me ; but he, wiping my face, kissed me, and said unto me, Fear not, Joseph ; look upon me, for it is I. 22 Then I looked upon him, and said, Rabboni Elias ! Ee answered me, I am not Elias, but Jesus of Nazareth, whose body thou didst bury. 23 I said to him, Shew me the tomb in which I laid thee. 24 Then Jesus, taking me by the hand, led me unto the place where I laid him, and shewed me the linen clothes, and napkin which I put round his head. Then I knew that it was Jesus, and worshipped him, and said, Blessed be he who cometh in the name of the Lord. 25 Jesus again taking me by the hand, led me to Arimathsea to my own house, and said to me, Peace be to thee ; but go not out of thy house till the fortieth day ; but I must go to my disciples. CHAP. XII. 1 The Jews astonished and confounded. 17 Simeon's (wo sons, Char in us and Lenthius, risefrom the dead at Chrisfs crucifixion. 19 Joseph proposes to gel them to relate the mysteries of their re- surrection. 21 They are sought and found, 22 brought to the synagogue, 23 privately sworn to secrecy, 25 and un- dertake to write what they had seen. HEN the chief priests and Levites heard all these w The Jews dismayed. NICODEMUS. Charinus and Lenthius, things, they were astonished, and 1 fell down with their faces on the | ground as dead men, and crying out to one another, said, What is this extraordinary sign which is come to pass in Jerusalem ? We know the father and mother of Jesus. 2 And a certain Levite said, I know many of his relations, reli- gious persons, who are wont to offer sacrifices and burnt-offer- ings to the God of Israel, in the temple, with prayers. 3 And when the high priest Simeon took him up in his arms, he said to him, *Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word ; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people : a light to enlighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. 4 Simeon in like manner blessed Mary the mother of Jesus, and said to her, I declare to thee con- cerning that child ; He is appoint- ed for the fall and rising again of many, and for a sign which shall be spoken against. 5 Yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also, and the thoughts of many hearts shall | be revealed. 6 Then said all the Jews, Let j us send to those three men, who I said they saw him talking with his disciples in Mount Olivet. 7 After this, they asked them what they had seen ; who answer- ed with one accord, In the pre- sence of the God of Israel we affirm, that we plainly saw Jesus talking with his disciples in j Mount Olivet, and ascending up i to heaven. 8 Then Annas and Caiaphas | took them into separate places, j and examined them separately ; who unanimously confessed the truth, and said, they had seen Jesus. 9 Then Annas and Caiaphas said " Our law saith, By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established." 2 10 But what have we said? The blessed Enoch pleased God, and was translated by the word of God ; and the burying-place of the blessed Moses is known. 11 But Jesus was delivered to Pilate, whipped, crowned with thorns, spit upon, pierced with a spear, crucified, died upon the cross, and was buried, and his bo- dy the honorable Joseph buried in a new sepulchre, and he testi- fies that he saw him alive. 12 And besides these men have declared, that they saw him talking with his disciples in Mount Olivet, and ascending up to heaven. 13 ^[ Then Joseph rising up, said to Annas and Caiaphas, Ye may be justly under a great sur- prise, that you have been told, that Jesus is alive, -and gone up to heaven. 14 It is indeed a thing really surprising, that he should not only himself arise from the dead, but also raise others from their graves, who have been seen by many in Jerusalem. 3 15 And now hear me a little : We all knew the blessed Simeon, the high-priest, who took Jesus when an infant into his arms in the temple. 16 This same Simeon had two sons of his own, and we were all present at their death and fu- neral. 17 Go therefore and see their tombs, for these are open, and 1 Luke, ii. 29. 2 Deut. xvii. 6. 3 Matt, xxvii. 53. 79 who rose teith Christ, NICODEMUS. relate his descent to hell they are risen : and behold, they are in the city of Ariinathcea, spending their time together in offices of devotion. 18 Some, indeed, have heard the sound of their voices in pray- er, but they will not discourse with any one, but they continue as mute as dead men. 19 But come, let us go to them, and behave ourselves towards them with all due respect and caution. And if we can bring them to swear, perhaps they will tell us some of the mysteries of their resurrection. 20 When the Jews heard this, they were exceedingly rejoiced. 21 Then Annas and Caiaphas, Nicodemus, Joseph, and Gama- liel, went to Arimathsea, but did not find them in their graves ; but walking about the city, they found them on their bended knees at their devotions : 22 Then saluting them with all respect and deference to God, they brought them to the syna- gogue at Jerusalem : and having shut the gates, they took the book of the law of the Lord, 23 And putting it in their hands, swore them by God Adonai, and the God of Israel, who spake to our fathers by the law and the prophets, saying, If ye believe him who raised you from the dead, to be Jesus, tell us what ye have seen, and how ye were raised from the dead. 24 Charinus and Lenthius, the i two sons of Simeon, trembled ; when they heard these things, j and were disturbed, and groaned ; j and at the same time looking up to heaven, they made the sign \ of the cross with their fingers on | their tongues, 25 And immediately they ' spake, and said, Give each of us some paper, and we will write down for you all those things which we have seen. And they each sat down and wrote, saying, CHAP. XIII. 1 The narrative of Charinus and Len- thius commences. 3 A great light in hell. 7 Simeon arrives, and announces the coming of Christ. OLORD Jesus and Father, who art God, also the resur- rection and life of the dead, give us leave to declare thy mysteries, which we saw after death, belong- ing to thy cross ; for we are sworn by thy name. 2 For thou hast forbid thy servants to declare the secret things, which were wrought by thy divine power in hell. 3 T[ When we were placed with our fathers in the depth of hell, in the blackness of dark- ness, on a sudden there appeared the colour of the sun like gold, and a substantial purple -colour- ed light enlightening the place. 4 Presently upon this, Adam, the father of all mankind, with all the patriarchs and prophets, rejoiced and said, That light is the author of everlasting light, who hath promised to translate us to everlasting light. 5 Then Isaiah the prophet cried out, and said, 1 This is the light of the Father, and the Son of God, according to my prophe- cy, when I was alive upon earth. 6 The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim beyond Jordan, a people who walked in darkness, saw a great light ; and to them who dwelled in the re- gion of the shadow of death, light is arisen. And now he is 80 Isai. xi. 1 : Matt iv. 16. ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST. [Page 119. FROM A TRIPTYCHON BY AN ITALIAN PAINTER OF THE THIR- TEENTH OR FOURTEENTH CENTURY. who rose with Christ, NICODEMUS. relates his descent to hell. come, and hath enlightened us who sat in death. 7 And while we were all re- joicing in the light which shone upon us, our father Simeon came among us, and congratulating all the company, said, Glorify the Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God. 8 Whom I took up in my arms when an infant in the tem- ple, and being moved by the Holy Ghost, said to him, and acknowledged, 1 That now mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to enlighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel. 9 All the saints who were in the depth of hell, hearing this, rejoiced the more. 10 Afterwards there came forth one like a little hermit, and was asked by every one, Who art thou ? 11 To which he replied, I am the voice of one crying in the Avilderness, John the Baptist, and the prophet of the Most High, who went before his coming to prepare his way, to give the knowledge of salvation to his people for the forgiveness of sins. 12 And I John, when I saw Jesus coming to me, being moved by the Holy Ghost, I said, Be- hold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. 13 And I baptized him in the river Jordan, and saw the Holy Ghost descending upon him in the form of a dove, and heard a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 14 And now while I was going before him, I came down hither to acquaint you, that the Son of God Avill next visit us, and, as the day-spring from on high, will come to us, who are in dark- ness and the shadow of death. CHAP. XIV. 1 Adorn causes Seth to relate what he heard from Michael the archangel, when he sent him to Paradise to en- treat God to anoint his head in his sickness. BUT when the first man our father Adam heard these things, that Jesus was baptized in Jordan, 2 he called out to his son, Seth, and said, 2 Declare to your sons, the patriarchs and prophets, all those things, which thou didst hear from Michael, the archangel, when I sent thee to the gates of Paradise, to entreat God that he would anoint my head when I was sick. 3 Then Seth, coming near to the patriarchs and prophets, said, I Seth, when I was pray- ing to God at the gates of Para- dise, beheld the angel of the Lord, Michael appear unto me saying, I am sent unto thee from the Lord ; I am appointed to preside over human bodies. 4 I tell thee Seth, do not pray to God in tears, and entreat him for the oil of the tree of mercy wherewith to anoint thy father ', Adam for his head-ache ; i 5 Because thou canst not by | any means obtain it till the last | day and times, namely, till five thousand and five hundred years be past. 6 Then will Christ, the most merciful Son of God, come on earth to raise again the human body of Adam, and at the same time to raise the bodies of the 1 Luke ii. 29. 3 Malt. iii. 13. 81 Sedan and the Pr NICODEMUS. of hell quarrel. dead, and when he cometh he will be baptized in Jordan : 7 Then with the oil of his mercy he will anoint all those who believe on him ; and the oil of his mercy will continue to future generations, for those who shall be born of the water and the Holy Ghost unto eternal life. 8 And when at that time the most merciful Son of God, Christ Jesus, shall come down on earth, he will introduce our father Adam into Paradise, to the tree of mercy. 9 When all the patriarchs and prophets heard all these things from Seth, they rejoiced more. CHAP. XV. 1 Quarrel between Satan and the prince oj hell concerning the expected arrival of Christ in hell. WHILE all the saints were rejoicing, behold Satan the prince and captain of death, said to the prince of hell, 1 2 Prepare to receive Jesus of Nazareth himself, who boasted that he was the Son of God, and yet was a man afraid of death, and said, 2 My soul is sorrowful even to death. 3 Besides he did many inju- ries to me and to many others ; for those whom I made blind and lame and those also whom I tormented with several devils, he cured by his word ; yea, and those whom I brought dead to thee, he by force takes away from thee. 4 To this the prince of hell replied to Satan, Who is that so- powerful prince, and yet a man who is afraid of death ? 5 For all the potentates of the earth are subject to my power, whom thou broughtest to subjection by thy power. 6 But if he be so powerful in his human nature, I affirm to thee for truth, that he is almighty in his divine nature, and no man can resist his power. 7 When therefore he said he was afraid of death, he designed to ensnare thee, and unhappy it will be to thee for everlasting ages. 8 Then Satan replying, said to the prince of hell, Why didst thou express a doubt, and wast afraid to receive that Jesus of Nazareth, both thy adversary and mine? 9 As for me, I tempted him and stirred up my old people the Jews with zeal and anger against him ? 10 I sharpened the spear for his suffering ; I mixed the gall and vinegar, and commanded that he should drink it ; I pre- pared the cross to crucify him, and the nails to pierce through his hands and feet; and now his death is near at hand, I will bring him hither, subject both to thee and me. 11 Then the prince of hell an- swering, said, Thou saidst to me just now, that he took away the dead from me by force. 12 They who have been kept here till they should live again upon earth, were taken away hence, not by their own power, but by prayers made to God, and their almighty God took them from me. 13 Who then is that Jesus of Nazareth that by his word hath taken away the dead from me without prayer to God? 14 Perhans it is the same who 1 St. Jerome affirms that the soul of Christ went to hell. 2 Matt. xxvi. 38. 82 Christ arrives at hell, NICODEMUS. and Satan is expelled. took away from me Lazarus, after he had been four days dead, aud did both stink and was rotten, and of whom I had possession as a dead person, yet he brought him to life again by his power. 15 Satan answering, replied to the prince of hell, It is the very same person, Jesus of Nazareth. 1(3 Which wheu the prince of hell heard, he said to him, I ad- jure thee by the powers which belong to thee and me, that thou bring him not to me. 17 For when I heard of the power of his word, I trembled for fear, and all my impious company were at the same time disturbed ; 18 And we were not able to detain Lazarus, 1 but he gave him- self a shake, and with all the signs of malice, he immediately went away from us ; and the very earth, in which the dead body of Lazarus was lodged, presently turned him out alive. 19 And I know now that he is Almighty God who could per- form such things, who is mighty in his dominion, and mighty in his human nature, who is the Saviour of mankind. 20 Bring not therefore this person hither, for he will set at liberty all those whom I hold in prison under unbelief, and bound with the fetters of their sins, and will conduct them to everlasting life. CHAP. XVI. 1 Christ 1 s arrival at hell-gates; the con- fusion thereupon. 10 He descends into hell. AND while Satan and the prince of hell were dis- coursing thus to each other, on a sudden there was a voice as of thunder and the rushing of winds, saying, 2 Lift up your gates, ye princes; and be ye lift up, everlasting gates, and the King of Glory shall come in. 2 When the prince of hell heard this, he said to Satan, De- part from me, and begone out of my habitations ; if thou art a powerful warrior, fight with the King of Glory. But what hast thou to do with him ? 3 And he cast him forth from his habitations. 4 And the prince said to his impious officers, Shut the brass gates of cruelty, and make them fast with iron bars, and fight courageously, lest we be taken captives. 5 But when all the company of the saints heard this they spake with a loud voice of anger to the prince of hell : 6 Open thy gates that the King of Glory may come in. 7 And the divine prophet Da- vid, cried out saying, "Did not I when on earth truly prophesy and say, O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men. 8 For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder. He hath taken them because of their iniquity, and because of their unrighteousness they are afflicted. 9 After this another prophet,* namely, holy Isaiah, spake in like manner to all the saints, did not I rightly prophesy to you when I was alive on earth ? 10 The dead men shall live, and they shall rise again who are. in their graves, and they shall rejoice who are in earth ; for the dew which is from the Lord shall bring deliverance to them. John xi. 2 Psalni xxiv. 7, &c. 3 Psalm cvii. 15, &:. 'Isaiah xxvi. 19. 83 Hell greatly disturbed on KECODEMUS. Christ's going thither- 11 And I said in another place, O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting '? 12 "When all the saints heard these things spoken by Isaiah, they said to the prince of hell, 1 Open now thy gates, and take away thine iron bars ; for thou wilt now be bound, and have no power. 13 Then there was a great voice, as of the sound of thunder saying, Lift up your gates, O princes ; and be ye lifted up, ye gates of hell, and the King of Glory will enter in. 14 The prince of hell perceiv- ing the same voice repeated, cried out as though he had been ignor- ant, Who is that King of Glory ? 15 David replied to the prince of hell, and said, I understand the words of that voice, because I spake them by his spirit. And now, as I have above said, I say unto thee, the Lord strong and powerful, the Lord mighty in battle : he is the King of Glory, and he is the Lord in heaven and in earth ; 16 He hath looked down to hear the groans of the prisoners, and to set loose those that are appointed to death. 1 17 And now, thou filthy and stinking prince of hell, open thy gates, that the King of Glory may enter in ; for he is the Lord of heaven and earth. 18 While David was saying this, the mighty Lord appeared in the form of a man, and en- lightened those places which had I ever before been in darkness, 19 And broke asunder the fet- J ters which before could not be broken ; and with his invincible power visited those who sate in ' I the deep darkness by iniquity, and the shadow of death by sin. 3 CHAP. XVII. 1 Death and the devils in great horror at Christ's coming. 13 He tramples on death, seizes the prince of hell, and takes Adam with him to heaven. IMPIOUS Death and her cruel officers hearing these things, were seized with fear in their se- veral kingdoms, when they saw the clearness of the light, 2 And Christ, himself on a sudden appearing in their habi- tations; they cried out therefore, and said, We are bound by thee ; thou seemest to intend our con- fusion before the Lord. 3 Who art thou, who hast no sign of corruption, but that bright appearance which is a full proof of thy greatness, of which yet thou seemest to take no notice ? 4 Who art thou, so powerful and so weak, so great and so lit- tle, a mean and yet a soldier of the first rank, who can com- mand in the form of a servant as a common soldier? 5 The King of Glory, dead and alive, though once slain upon the cross ? 6 Who layest dead in the grave, and art come down alive to us, and in thy death all the creatures trembled, and all the stars were moved, and now hast thou thy liberty among the dead, and givest disturbance to our legions ? 7 Who art thou, who dost re- lease the captives that were held in chains by original sin, and bringest them into their former liberty ? 8 Who art thou, who dost 1 Psalm xxiv. 7, &c. 84 2 Psalm cii. 19, 20. 'Luke i. 79. Christ gives Beelzebub NICODEMUS. dominion over Satan. spread so glorious and divine a light over those who were made blind by the darkness of sin ? 9 In like manner all the le- gions of devils were seized with the like horror, and with the most submissive fear cried out, and said, 10 Whence comes it, O thou Jesus Christ, that thou art a man so powerful and glorious in majesty, so bright as to have no spot, and so pure as to have no crime ? For that lower world of earth, which was ever till now subject to us, and from whence we received tribute, nev- er sent us such a dead man be- fore, never sent such presents as these to the princes of hell. 11 Who therefore art thou, who with such courage enterest among our abodes, and art not only not afraid to threaten us with the greatest punishments, but also endeavourest to rescue all others from the chains in which we hold them ? 12 Perhaps thou art that Jesus, of whom Satan just now spoke to our prince, that by the death of the cross thou wert about to receive the power of death. ,13 Then the King of Glory trampliug upon death, seized, the prince of hell, deprived him of all his power, and took our earthly father Adam with him to his glory. CHAP. XVIII. 1 Beelzebub, prince of hell, vehemently upbraids Satan for persecuting Christ and bringing him to hell. 4. Christ gives Beelzebub dominion over Sitan for ever, as a recompense for taking away Adam and his sons. THEN the prince of hell took Satan, and with great in- dignation said to him, O thou prince of destruction, author of Beelzebub's defeat and banish- ment, the scorn of God's angels and loathed by all righteous persons ! What inclined thee to act thus ? 2 Thou wouldst crucify the King of Glory, and by his de- struction, hast made us promises of very large advantages, but as a fool wert ignorant of what thou wast about. 3 For behold now that Jesus of Nazareth, with the brightness of his glorious divinity, puts to flight all the horrid powers of darkness and death ; 4 He has broke down our pri- sons from top to bottom, dis- missed all the captives, released all who were bound, and all who were wont formerly to groan under the weight of their tor- ments have now insulted us, and we are like to be defeated by their prayers. 5 Our impious dominions are subdued, and no part of man- kind is now left in our subjec- tion, but on the other hand, they all boldly defy us ; 6 Though, before, the dead never durst behave themselves insolently towards us, nor, being prisoners, could ever on any oc- casion be merry. 7 T[ O Satan, thou prince of all the wicked, father of the im- pious and abandoned, why wouldest thou attempt this ex- ploit, seeing our prisoners were hitherto always without the least hopes of salvation and life ? 8 But now there is not one of them does ever groan, nor is there the least appearance of a tear in any of their faces. 9 O prince Satan, thou great keeper of the infernal regions, all thy advantages which thou didst acquire by the forbidden tree, and the loss of Paradise, 85 Leaves hell and takes NICODEMUS. the saints with him. thou hast now lost by the wood of the cross ; 10 And thy happiness all then expired, when thou didst crucify Jesus Christ the King of Glory. 11 Thou hast acted against thine own interest and mine, as thou wilt presently perceive by those large torments and infinite punishments which thou art about to suffer. 12 O Satan, prince of all evil, author of death, and source of all pride, thou shouldest first have inquired into the evil crimes of Jesus of Nazareth, and then thou wouldest have found that he was guilty of no fault worthy of death. 13 Why didst thou venture, without either reason or justice, to crucify him, and hast brought down to our regions a person in- nocent and righteous, and there- by hast lost all the sinners, im- pious and unrighteous persons in the whole world ? 14 While the prince of hell was thus speaking to Satan, the King of Glory said to Beelze- bub, the prince of hell, Satan, the prince shall be subject to j thy dominion for ever, in the j room of Adam and his right- eous sons, who are mine. CHAP. XIX. 1 Christ takes Adam by the hand, the rest of the saints join hands, and they all ascend with him to Paradise. THEN Jesus stretched forth his hand, and said, Come to me, all ye my saints, who were created in my image, who were condemned by the tree of | forbidden fruit, and by the devil i and death ; 2 Live now by the wood of my cross; the devil, the prince of this world, is overcome, and death is conquered. 3 Then presently all the saints were joined together under the hand of the most high God ; and the Lord Jesus laid hold on Adam's hand and said to him, Peace be to thee, and all thy righteous posterity, which is mine. 4 Then Adam, casting him- self at the feet of Jesus, ad- dressed himself to him, with tears, in humble language, and a loud voice, saying, 1 5 I will extol thee, O Lord, for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. 6 O Lord thou hast brought up my soul from the grave; thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. 7 Sing unto the Lord, all ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. For his anger endureth but for a moment ; in his favour is life. 8 In like manner all the saints, prostrate at the feet of Jesus, said with one voice, Thou art come, O Redeemer of the world, and hast actually accomplished all things, which thou didst fore- tell by the law and thy holy prophets. 9 Thou hast redeemed the liv- ing by thy cross, and art come down to us, that by the death of the cross thou mightest de- liver us from hell, and by thy power from death. 10 O, Lord, as thou hast put the ensigns of thy glory in hea- ven, and hast set up the sign of Psalm xxx. 1, &c. 86 Adam converses NICODEMUS. with Enoch, &i thy redemption, even thy cross on earth ! so, Lord, set the sign of the victory of thy cross in hell, that death may have do- minion no longer. 11 Then the Lord stretching forth his hand, made the sign of the cross upon Adam, and upon all his saints. 12 And taking hold of Adam by his right hand, he ascended from hell, and all the saints of God followed him. 13 Then the royal prophet David boldly cried, and said, 1 O sing unto the Lord a new song, for he hath done marvel- lous things ; his right hand and his holy arm have gotten him the victory. 11 The Lord hath made known his salvation, his right- eousness hath he openly shewn in the sight of the heathen. 15 And the whole multitude of saints answered, saying, 2 This honour have all his saints, Amen, Praise ye the Lord. 16 Afterwards, the prophet Habakkuk :) cried out, and said, Thou wentest forth for the sal- vation of thy people, even for the salvation of thy people. 17 And all the saints said, 4 Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord ; for the Lord hath enlightened us. This is our God for ever and ever ; he shall reign over us to everlasting ages, Amen. 18 In like manner all the prophets spake the sacred things of his praise, and followed the Lord. CHAP. XX. 1 Christ delivers Adam to Michael the archangel. 3. They meet Enoch and Elijah in heaven, 5 and also the blessed thief, who relates how he came to Paradise. THEN the Lord holding Adam by the hand, delivered him to Michael the archangel; and he led them into Paradise, filled with mercy and glory ; 2 And two very ancient men met them, and were asked by the saints, Who are ye, who have not yet been with us in hell, and have had your bodies placed in Paradise ? 3 One of them answering, said, I am Enoch, who was trans- lated by the word of God : 5 and this man who is with me, is Elijah the Tishbite, Avho was translated in a fiery chariot. 6 4 Here we have hitherto been, and have not tasted death, but are now about to return at the coming of Antichrist, being armed with divine signs and miracles, to engage with him in battle, and to be slain by him at Jerusalem, and to be taken up alive again into the clouds, after three days and a half. 7 5 Tf And while the holy Enoch and Elias were relating this, behold there came another man in a miserable figure carry- ing the sign of the cross upon his shoulders. 6 And when all the saints saw him, they said to him, Who art thou? For thy countenance is like a thief's; and why dost thou carry a cross upon thy shoulders ? 7 To which he answering, said, Ye say right, for I was a thief, who committed all sorts of wick- edness upon earth. 8 And the Jews crucified me with Jesus ; and I observed the surprising things which hap- Psalm xcviii. 1, &c. 6 Gen. v. 24. 2 Psalm cxlix. 2. 3 Hab. iii 6 Kings ii. 11. 13. 4 Matt, xxiii. 7 Eev- xi. 11. 87 thief 's story, NICODEMUS. how he came to Paradise. pened in the creation at the cru- cifixion of the Lord Jesus. 9 And I believed him to be the Creator of all things, and the Almighty King ; and I prayed to him, saying, Lord, remember me, when thou comest into thy kingdom. 10 He presently regarded my supplication, and said to me, Verily I say unto thee, this day thou shalt be with me in Para- dise. 1 11 And he gave me this sign of the cross saying, Carry this, and go to Paradise ; and if the angel who is the guard of Para- dise will not admit thee, shew him the sign of the cross, and say unto him : Jesus Christ who is now crucified, hath sent me hither to thee. 12 When I did this, and told the angel who is the guard of Paradise all these things, and he heard them, he presently opened the gates, introduced me, and placed me on the right-hand in Paradise, 13 Saying, Stay here a little time, till Adam, the father of all mankind, shall enter in, with all his sons, who are the holy and righteous servants of Jesus Christ, who was crucified. 14 When they heard all this account from the thief, all the j patriarchs said with one voice, Blessed be thou, O Almighty God, the Father of everlasting goodness, and the Father of mer- cies, who hast shewn such favour to those who were sinners against him, and hast brought them to the mercy of Paradise, and hast placed them amidst thy large and spiritual provisions, in a spiritual and holy life. Amen. CHAP. XXI. 1 Charinus and Lenthius being only allowed three days to remain on earth, 7 deliver in their narratives, which miraculously correspond ; they vanish, 13 and Pilate records these transac- THESE are the divine and sacred mysteries which we saw and heard. I, Charinus and Lenthius are not allowed to de- clare the other mysteries of God, as the archangel Michael ordered us, 2 Saying, ye shall go with my brethren to Jerusalem, and shall continue in prayers, declaring and glorifying the resurrection of Jesus Christ, seeing he hath raised you from the dead at the same time with himself. 3 And ye shall not talk with any man, but sit as dumb per- sons till the time come when the Lord will allow you to relate the mysteries of his divinity. 4 The archangel Michael far- ther commanded us to go beyond Jordan, to an excellent and fat country, where there are many who rose from the dead along with us for the proof of the resur- rection of Christ. 5 For we have only three days allowed us from the dead, who arose to celebrate the passover of our Lord with our parents, and to bear our testimony for Christ the Lord, and we have been baptized in the holy river of Jordan. And now they are not seen by any one. 6 This is as much as God al- lowed us to relate to you ; give ye therefore praise and honour to him, and repent, and he will have mercy upon you. Peace be to you from the Lord God Jesus 1 Luke xxiii. 43. THE BAPTISM OF CHRIST IN THE JORDAN. [Page 59. FROM A "COOK OF THE EVANGELISTS." GREEK MANUSCRIPT OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY. Charinus and Lenthius NICODEMUS. conclude their visit. Christ, and the Saviour of us all. Amen, Amen, Amen. 7 And after they had made an end of writing and had wrote in two distinct pieces of paper, Cha- rinus gave what he wrote into the hands of Annas, and Caiaphas, and Gamaliel. 8 Lenthius likewise gave what he wrote into the hands of Mco- demus and Joseph ; and immedi- ately they were changed into exceeding white forms and were seen no more. 9 But what they had wrote was found perfectly to agree, the one not containing one letter more or less than the other. 10 When all the assembly of the Jews heard all these surpris- ing relations of Charinus and Lenthius, they said to each other, Truly all these things were wrought by God, and blessed be the Lord Jesus for ever and ever, Amen. 11 And they went about with great concern, and fear, and trem- bling, and smote upon their breasts and went away every one to his home. 12 But immediately all these things which were related by the Jews in their synagogues con- cerning Jesus, were presently told by Joseph and Nicodemus to the governor. 13 And Pilate wrote down all these transactions, and placed all these accounts in the public re- cords of his hall. CHAP. XXII. 1 Pilate goes to the temple ; calls together the rulers, and scribes, and doctors. 2 Commands the gates to be shut ; orders the book of the Scripture ; and causes the Jews to relate what they really knew concerning Christ. 14 They declare that they crucified Christ in ignorance, and that they now know him to be the Son of God, according to the testimony of the Scriptures; which, after they put him to death, they are examined. AFTER these things Pilate went to the temple of the Jews, and called together all the rulers and scribes, and doctors of the law, and went with them into a chapel of the temple. 2 And commanding that all the gates should be shut, said to them, I have heard that ye have a cer- tain large book in this temple ; I desire you therefore, that it may be brought before me. 3 And when the great book, carried by four ministers of the temple, and adorned with gold and precious stones, was brought, Pilate said to them all, I adjure you by the God of your Fathers, who made and commanded this temple to be built, that ye conceal not the truth from me. 4 Ye know all the things which are written in that book ; tell me therefore now, if ye in the Scrip- tures have found any thing of that Jesus whom ye crucified, and at what time of the world he ought to have come : shew it me. 5 Then having sworn Annas and Caiaphas, they commanded all the rest who were with them to go out of the chapel. 6 And they shut the gates of the temple and of the chapel, and said to Pilate, Thou hast made us to swear, O judge, by the build- ing of this temple, to declare to thee that which is true and right. 7 After we had crucified Jesus, not knowing that he was the Son of God, but supposing he wrought his miracles by some magical arts, we summoned a large assembly in this temple. 8 And when we were delibe- rating among one another about 89 The Jews repent and NICODEMUS. acknowledge Christ. the miracles which Jesus had I wrought, we found many wit- nesses of our own country, who declared that they had seen him alive after his death, and that they heard him discoursing with his disciples, and saw him ascend- ing unto the height of the heavens, and entering into them ; 9 And we saw two witnesses, whose bodies Jesus raised from the dead, who told us of many strange things which Jesus did among the dead, of which we have a written account in our hands. 10 And it is our custom annually to open this holy book before an assembly, and to search there for the counsel of God. 11 And we found in the first of the seventy books, where Michael the archangel is speak- ing to the third son of Adam the first man, an account that after five thousand five hundred years, Christ the most beloved Son of God was come on earth, 12 And we further consider- ed, that perhaps he was the very God of Israel who spoke to Moses, Thou shalt make the ark of the testimony ; two cubits and a half shall be the length there- of, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. 1 13 By these five cubits and a half for the building of the ark of the Old Testament, we per- ceived and knew that in five thousand years and a half (one thousand) years, Jesus Christ was to come in the ark or taber- nacle of a body ; 14 And so our scriptures tes- tify that he is the son of God, and the Lord and King of Israel. 15 And because after his suf- fering, our chief priests were sur- prised at the signs which were wrought by his means, we opened that book to search all the gene- rations down to the generation of Joseph and Mary the mother of Jesus, supposing him to be of the seed of David ; 16 And we found the account of the creation, and at what time he made the heaven and the earth and the first man Adam, and that from thence to the flood, were two thousand, two hundred and twelve years. 17 And from the flood to Abraham, nine hundred and twelve. And from Abraham to Moses, four hundred and thirty. And from Moses to David the king, five hundred and ten. 18 And from David to the Babylonish captivity, five hun- dred years. And from the Baby- lonish captivity to the incarna- tion of Christ, four hundred years. 19 The sum of all which amounts to five thousand and half (a thousand). 20 And so it appears, that Jesus whom we crucified, is Jesus Christ the Son of God, and true and Almighty God. Amen. In the name of the Holy Trinity, thus end the Acts of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which the Empe- ror Theodosius the Great found at Jerusalem, in the hall of Pontius Pilate among the public records; the things ivere acted in the nineteenth year of Tibe- rius Cossar, Emperor of the Romans, and in the seventeenth year of the government of Herod the son of Herod king of Gali- lee, on the eighth of the calends of April, which is the twenty- 90 Exod. xxv. 10. THE APOSTLES' CREED. third day of the month of March, in the ccud Olympiad, when Joseph and Caiaphas were Ru- lers of the Jews; being a His- tory written in Hebrew by Ni- codemus, of what happened after our Saviour's crucifixion. The APOSTLES' CREED. [It is affirmed by Ambrose, " tbat the twelve Apostles, as skilful artificers assembled together, and made a key by their common advice, that is, the Creed ; by which the darkness of the devil is disclosed, that the light of Christ may appear." 1 Others fable that every Apostle inserted an article, by which the creed is divided into twelve articles ; and a ser- mon, fathered upon St. Austin, and quoted by the Lord Chancellor King, fabricates that each particular article was thus inserted by each particular Apostle : — " Peter.— 1. I believe in God the Father Almighty ; " John. — 2. Maker of heaven and earth ; *' James. — 3. And in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord ; " Andrew. — 4. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Vir- gin Mary; "Philip- — 5. Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried ; " Thomas. — 6. He descended into hell, the third day he rose again from the dead ; " Bartholomew. — 7. He ascended into heaven, sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty ; '' Matthew. — 8. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead; " James, the son of Alpheus.—9. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy Catholic Church ; " Simon Zelotes. — 10. The communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins ; u Jude the brother of James. — 11. The resurrection of the body ; " Matthias. — 12. Life everlasting. Amen." 2 Archbishop Wake says : " With respect to the Apostles being the authors of this Creed, it'is not my intention to enter on any particular examination of this matter, which has been so fully handled, not only by the late critics of the Church of Eome, Natalia Alexander, 3 Du Pin, 4 1 Arab. Opera, torn. ill. Serm. 38, p. 265. 2 Kind's Hist. Apost. Creed, 8vo, p. 26. » Nat . AleS-; §i ; vu i. }., p . 490, & c . 4 Du Pin, Bibiioth. Ec- cles., vol, i., p. 25. 91 THE APOSTLES' CREED. &c, but yet more especially by Archbishop Usher, 1 Gerard Vossius, 2 Suicer, 3 Spanhemius, 4 Tentzelius, 5 and Sam. Basnage, 6 among the Pro- testants. It shall suffice to say, that as it is not likely, that had any such thing as this been done by the Apostles, St. Luke would have passed it by, without taking the least notice of it : so the diversity of Creeds in the ancient Church, and that not only in expression, but in some whole Articles too, sufficiently shows, that the Creed which we call by that name, was not composed by the twelve Apostles, much less in the same form in which it now is." 7 Mr. Justice Bailey says: " It is not to be understood that this Creed was framed by the Apostles, or indeed that it existed as a Creed in their time ;" 8 and after giving the Creed as it existed in the year 600, and which is here copied from his Common Prayer Book, he says, " how long this form had existed before the year 600 is not exactly known. The additions were probably made in opposition to particular heresies and errors.'' The most important "addition," since the year of Christ 600, is that which affirms, that Christ descended into hell. This has been proved not only to have been an invention after the Apostles' time, but even after the time of Eusebius. Bishop Pearson says, 9 that the descent into hell was not in the ancient creeds or rules of faith. '' It is not to be found in the rules of faith delivered by Irenseus, 10 by Origen, 11 or by Tertul- lian. 12 It is not expressed in those creeds which were made by the councils as larger explications of the Apostles' Creed ; not in the Nicene, or Constantinopolitan ; not in those of Ephesus, or Chalcedon ; not in those confessions made at Sardica, Antioch, Selucia, Sirniium, &c. It is not mentioned in several confessions of faith delivered by particular persons ; not in that of Eusebius Caesariensis, presented to the council of Nice ; 13 not in that of Marcellus, bishop of Ancyra, delivered to Pope Julius ; M not in that of Arius and Euzoius, presented to Constantine ; 15 not in that of Acacius, bishop of Csesarea, delivered into the synod of Selucia ; 16 not in that of Eustalhius, Theophilus, and Sylvanus, sent to Liberius ; 17 there is no mention of it in the creed of St. Basil ; 18 in the creed of Epiphanus, 19 Gelasius, Damascus, Macarius, &c. It is not in the creed expounded by St. Cyril, though some have produced that creed to prove it. It is not in the creed expounded by St. Augustine f° not in that other, 21 attributed to St. Augustine in another place ; not in that expounded by Maximus Taurinensis ; nor in that so often inter- preted by Petrus Chrysologus ; nor in that of the church of Antioch, delivered by Cassianus; 22 neither is it to be seen in the MS. creeds set forth by the learned Archbishop of Armagh. It is affirmed by Ruffinus, that in his time it was neither in the Roman nor the Oriental Creeds." 23 1 Diatrib. de Symb. 2 Voss. Dissert, de tribus Symbolis. 3 Suicer. The- Baur. Eccles. torn. ii. Voce cvpflolov, p. 1086, &c. * Spanhem, Introd. ad Hist. Eccles., \ ii., c 3. 5 Ernest. Tentzel. Exercit. select. Exercit. I. 6 Sam. Basnage Exercit. Hist. Crit. ad Ann. XLIV. num. 17, 18. 7 Wake's Apost. Fathers, 8vo, p. 103. 8 Mr. Justice Bailey's Common Praver, 1813, p. 9. 9 Pearson on the Creed, fol. 1676, p. 225. _ 10 Lib. 1, c. 2. n Lib. de Prin- cip. in Prooem. 12 Advers. Praxeam., c. ii., Virgin, veland., c. 1. — De Prse- pcript. advers. Hseres., c. 13. 13 Theodoret, 1. 1, c. 2. u Epiphan. He. es. 72. 15 Socrat. 1. 1, c. 19. 16 Ibid. 1. 2, c. 40. " Ibid. 1. 4, c. 12. 18 Tract, de Fide in Ascet. 19 In Anchorat., c. 120. 20 De Fide et Symbolo. 21 De Symbolo ad Catechumenos. 22 De Incarnat., lib. 6. 23 Exposit. in Symbol., Apost., I 20. 92 THE APOSTLES' CREED. As it stood An. Bom, 600. Copied from Mr. Justice Bailey's Edition of the book of Common Prayer. '' Before the year 600, it was no more than this."— Me. Justice Bailey. p. 9 n. 1 I Believe in God the Fa- ther Almighty: 2 And in Jesus Christ his on- ly begotten Son, our Lord ; 3 Who was born of the Holy Ghost and Virgin Mary, 4 And was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and was buried ; 5 And the third day rose again from the dead. 6 Ascended into heaven, sit- teth on the right hand of the Father ; 7 Whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead ; 8 And in the Holy Ghost : 9 The Holy Church; _ 10 The remission of sins ; 11 And the resurrection of the flesh, Amen. As it stands in the booh of Common Prayer of the United Church of Eng- land and Ireland as by law estab- lished. 1 I Believe in God the Fa- ther Almighty, maker of heaven and earth : 2 And in Jesus Christ his on- ly Son, our Lord : 3 Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, 4 Suffered under Pontius Pi- late, was crucified, dead and buried ; 5 He descended into hell ; 6 The third day he rose again from the dead ; 7 He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty ; 8 From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. 9 f[ I believe in the Holy Ghost ; 10 The holy Catholic Church ; the communion of saints ; 11 The forgiveness of sins ; 12 The resurrection of the body ; and the life everlasting, Amen. 93 THE EPISTLE of PAUL the APOSTLE to the LAODI- CEANS. [This Epistle has been highly esteemed by several learned men of the church of Rome and others. The Quakers have printed a translation vid plead for it, as the reader may see, by consulting Poole's Annotations on Col. vi. 16. Sixtus Senensis mentions two MiSiS-, the one in the Sorbonne Library at Paris, which is a very ancient copy, and the other in the Li- brary of Joannes a Viridario, at Padua, which he transcribed and pub- lished, and which is the authority for the following translation. There is a very old translation of this Epistle in the British Museum, among the Harleian MSS., Cod. 1212.] 1 He salutes the brethren. 3 exhorts them to persevere in good works, 4 and not to be moved by vain speaking. 6 Rejoices in his bonds, 10 desires them to live in the fear of the Lord. PAUL an Apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, to the brethren which are at Laodicea. 2 Grace be to you, and Peace, from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. 3 I thank Christ in every prayer of mine, that ye may continue and persevere in good works looking for that which is promised in the day of judg- ment. 4 Let not the vain speeches of any trouble you who pervert the truth, that they may draw you aside from the truth of the Gospel which I have preached. 5 And now may God grant, that my converts may attain to a perfect knowledge of the truth of the Gospel, be beneficent, and doing good works which ac- company salvation. 6 And now my bonds, which I suffer in Christ, are manifest, in which I rejoice and am glad. 7 For I know that this shall turn to my salvation for ever, which shall be through your prayer, and the supply of the Holy Spirit. 8 Whether I live or die ; (for) 94 to me to live shall be a life to Christ, to die will be joy. 9 And our Lord will grant us his mercy, that ye may have the same love, and be like- minded. 10 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have heard of the coming of the Lord, so think and act in fear, and it shall be to you life eternal ; 11 For it is God who worketh in you ; 12 And do all things without sin. 13 And what is best, my be- loved, rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ, and avoid all filthy lucre. 14 Let all your requests be made known to God, and be steady in the doctrine of Christ. 15 And whatsoever things are sound and true, and of* good re- port, and chaste, and just, and lovely, these things do. 16 Those things which ye have heard, and received, think on these things, and peace shall be with you. 17 All the saints salute you. 18 The grace of our Lord Je- sus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. 19 Cause this Epistle to be read to the Colossians, and the Epistle of the Colossians to be read among you. The EPISTLES of PAUL the APOSTLE to SENECA, with SENECA'S to PAUL. [Several very learned writers have entertained a favourable opinion of these Epistles. They are undoubtedly of high antiquity. Salmeron cites them to prove that Seneca was one of Caesar's household, referred to bv Paul, Philip- iv. 22, as saluting the brethren at Philippi. In Jerome'"s enumeration of illustrious men, he places Seneca, on account of these Epistles, amongst the ecclesiastical and holy writers of the Christian Church. Sixtus Senensis has published them in his Bibliotheque, pp. 89, 90 ; and it is from thence that the present translation is made. Bar- onius, Bellarmine, Dr. Cave, Spanheim, and others, contend that they are not genuine.] CHAP. I. Ann^us Seneca to Paul Greeting. which I could immediately have wrote an answer, had the young SUPPOSE, Paul, you have man Deen at home, whom I in- : tended to have sent to you : 2 For you know when, and by whom, at what seasons, and to whom I must deliver every thing JL been informed of that conver- sation, which passed yesterday between me and my Lucilius, concerning hypocrisy and other subjects; tor there were some of[ w ^ llc " I send your disciples in company with us; 2 For wher> we were retired into the Sallustian gardens, through which they were also passing, and would have gone another way, by our persuasion they joined company with us. 3 I desire you to believe, that we much wish for your conversa- tion: 4 We were much delighted with your book of many Epistles, which you have wrote to some cities and chief towns of pro- vinces, and contain wonderful instructions for moral conduct: 5 Such sentiments, as I sup- pose you were not the author of, but only the instrument of con- veying, though sometimes both the author and the instrument. 6 For such is the sublimity of those doctrines, and their gran- deur, that I suppose the age of a man is scarce sufficient to be instructed and perfected in the knowledge of them. I wish your welfare, my brother. Farewell. CHAP. II. Paul to Seneca Greeting. I RECEIVED your letter yes- terday with pleasure : to 3 I desire therefore you would not charge me with negligence, if I wait for a proper person. 4 I reckon myself very happy in having the judgment of so valuable a person, that you are delighted with my Epistles : 5 For you would not be es- teemed a censor, a philosopher, or be the tutor of so great a prince, and a master of every thing, if you were not sincere. I wish you a lasting prosperity. CHAP. III. Ann^us Seneca to Paul Greeting. I HAVE completed some vo- lumes, and divided them into their proper parts. 2 I am determined to read them to Csesar, and if any favour- able opportunity happens, you also shall be present, when they are read ; 3 But if that cannot be, I will appoint and give you notice of a day, when we will together read over the performance. 4 I had determined, if I could with safety, first to have your opi- nion of it, before I published it to Csesar, that you might be con- vinced of my affection to you. Farewell, dearest Paul. 95 PAUL TO SENECA. CHAP. IV. Paul to Seneca Greeting. AS often as I read your letters, I imagine you present with me ; nor indeed do I think any other, than that you are always with us. 2 As soon therefore as you be- gin to come, we shall presently see each other. I wish you all prosperity. CHAP. V. Ann^eus Seneca to Paul Greeting. WE are very much concerned at your too long absence from us. 2 What is it, or what affairs are they, which obstruct your coming ? 3 If you fear the anger of Csesar, because you have abon- doned your former religion, and made proselytes also of others, you have this to plead, that your acting thus proceeded not from inconstancy, but judgment. Farewell. CHAP. VI. Paul io Seneca and Lucilius Greeting. CONCERNING those things about which ye wrote to me it is not proper for me to mention anything in writing with pen and ink : the one of which leaves marks, and the other evidently declares things. 2 Especially since I know that there are near you, as well as me, those who will understand my meaning. 3 Deference is to be paid to all men, and so much the more, as they are more likely to take occa- sions of quarrelling. 4 And if we show a submissive temper, we shall overcome effec- tually in all points, if so be they are, who are capable of seeing and acknowledging themselves to have been in the wrong. Fare- well. CHAP. VII. Ajrar.a;us Seneca to Paul Greeting. I PROFESS myself extremely pleased with the reading your letters to the Galatians, Corin- thians, and people of Achaia. 2 For the Holy Ghost has in them by you delivered those sentiments which are very lofty, sublime, deserving of all respect, and beyond your own invention. 3 I could wish therefore, that when you are writing things so extraordinary, there might not be wanting an elegancy of speech agreeable to their majesty. 4 And I must own my bro- ther, that I may not at once dis- honestly conceal anything from you, and be unfaithful to my own conscience, that the emperor is extremely pleased with the senti- ments of your Epistles ; 5 For when he heard the be- ginning of them read, he declar- ed, That he was surprised to find such notions in a person, who had not had a regular education. 6 To which I replied, That the Gods sometimes made use of mean (innocent) persons to speak by, and gave him an instance of this in a mean countryman, named Vatienus, who, when he was in the country of Reate, had two men appeared to him, called Castor and Pollux, and received a revelation from the gods. Fare- well. CHAP. VIII. Paul to Seneca Greeting. ALTHOUGH I know the em- peror is both an admirer and favourer of our (religion), yet give me leave to advise you against your suffering any injury, (by shewing favour to us.) r^feff ~'Si flB Hi • ---■ m r % ^* 131? B tjttllk THE LAST JUDGMENT. FROM A PERSIAN MINIATURE OF THE EIGHTH CENTURY. PAUL AND SENECA. 2 I think indeed you ventured upon a very dangerous attempt, when you would declare (to the emperor) that which is so very contrary to his religion, and way of worship ; seeing he is a wor- shipper of the heathen gods. 3 I know not what you parti- cularly had in view, when you told him of this ; but I suppose you did it out of too great re- spect for me. 4 But I desire that for the fu- ture you would not do so ; for you had need be careful, lest by shewing your affection for me, you should offend your master : 5 His anger indeed will do us no harm, if he continue a hea- then; nor will his not being angry be of any service to us : 6 And if the empress act wor- thy of her character, she will not be angry ; but if she acts as a woman, she will be affronted. Farewell. CHAP. IX. Ann^tjs Seneca to Paul Greeting, I KNOW that my letter, where- in I acquainted you, that I had read to the Emperor your Epistles, does not so much affect you as the nature of the things (contained in them), 2 Which do so powerfully di- vert men's minds from their for- mer manners and practices, that I have always been surprised, and have been fully convinced of it by many arguments here- tofore. 3 Let us therefore begin afresh ; and if any thing hereto- fore has been imprudently acted, do you forgive. 4 I have sent you a book de copia verborum. Farewell, dear- est Paul. 7 CHAP. X. Paul to Seneca Greeting. AS often as I write to you, and place my name before yours, I do a thing both dis- agreeable to myself, and con- trary to our religion : 2 For I ought, as I have often declared, to become all things to all men, and to have that regard to your quality, which the Roman law has honoured all senators with ; namely, to put my name last in the (inscription of the) Epistle, that I may not at length with uneasiness and shame be obliged to do that which it was always my inclination to do. Farewell, most respected master. Dated the fifth of the calends of July, in the fourth consulship of Nero, and Messala. CHAP. XL Ann-EUS Seneca to Paul Greeting. ALL happiness to you, my dearest Paul. 2 If a person so great, and every way agreeable as you are, become not only a common, but a most intimate friend to me, how happy will be the case of Seneca ! 3 You therefore, who are so eminent, and so far exalted above all, even the greatest, do not think yourself unfit to be first named in the inscription of an Epistle ; 4 Lest I should suspect you intend not so much to try me, as to banter me ; for you know yourself to be a Roman citizen. 5 And I could wish to be in that circumstance or station which you are, and that you were in the same that I am. Farewell, dearest Paul. Dated the xth of the calends of April, in the consulship of Aprianus and Capito. 97 PAUL AND SENECA. CHAP. XII. Axxjevs Seneca to Paul Greeting. ALL happiness to you,my dear- est Pau 1. Do you not sup- pose I am extremely concerned and grieved that your innocence should bring you into sufferings ? 2 And that all the people should suppose you (Christians) so criminal, and imagine all the misfortunes that happen to the city, to be caused by you ? 3 But let us bear the charge with a patient temper, appeal- ing (for our innocence) to the court (above), which is the only one our hard fortune will allow us to address to, till at length our misfortunes shall end in un- alterable happiness. 4 Former ages have produced (tyrants) Alexander the son of Philip, and Dionysius ; ours also has produced Caius Caesar ; whose inclinations were their only laws. 5 As to the frequent burnings of the city of Rome, the cause is manifest ; and if a person in my mean circumstances might be allowed to speak, and one might declare these dark things with- out danger, every one should see the whole of the matter. 6 The Christians and Jews are indeed commonly punished for the crime of burning the city ; but that impious miscreant, who delights in murders and butcheries, and disguises his vil- lanies with lies, is appointed to, or reserved till, his proper time. 7 And as the life of every ex- cellent person is now sacrificed instead of that one person (who is the author of the mischief), so this one shall be sacrificed for many, and he shall be devoted to be burnt with fire instead of all. 8 One hundred and thirty-two houses, and four whole squares (or islands) were burnt down in six days : the seventh put an end to the burning. I wish you all happiness. 9 Dated the fifth of the calends of _ April, in the consulship of Frigius and Bassus. CHAP. XIII. Ann^eus Seneca to Paxil Greeting. ALL happiness to you, my dearest Paul. 2 You have wrote many vo- lumes in an allegorical and mys- tical style, and therefore such mighty matters and business being committed to you, require not to be set off with any rhe- torical flourishes of speech, but only_with some proper elegance. 3 I remember you often say, that many by affecting such a style do injury to their subjects, and lose the force of the matters they treat of. 4 But in this I desire you to regard me, namely, to have re- spect to true Latin, and to choose just words, that so you may the better manage the noble trust which is reposed in you. 5 Farewell. Dated v th of the names of July, Leo and Savinus consuls. CHAP. XIV. Paul to Seneca Greeting. YOUR serious consideration requited with these discov- eries, which the Divine Being has granted but to few. 2 I am thereby assured that I sow the most strong seed in a fertile soil, not anything mate- rial, which is subject to corrup- tion, but the durable word of God, which shall increase and bring forth fruit to eternity. PAUL AND THECLA. 3 That which by your wis- dom you have attained to, shall abide without decay for ever. 4 'Believe that you ought to avoid the superstitions of Jews and Gentiles. 5 The things which you have in some measure arrived to, pru- dently make known to the em- peror, his family, and to faithful friends ; 6 And" though your sentiments will seem disagreeable, and not be comprehended by them, see- ing most of them will not regard your discourses, yet the Word of God once infused into them, will at length make them become new men, aspiring towards God. 7 Farewell Seneca, who art most dear to us. Dated on the Calends of August, in the con- sulship of Leo and Savinus. The ACTS of PAUL and THECLA. [Tertullian says that this piece was forged by a Presbyter of Asia, who being convicted, "confessed that he did it out of respect of Paul," and Pope Gelasius, in his Decree against apocryphal books, inserted it among them. Notwithstanding this, a large part of the history was credited, and looked upon as genuine among the primitive Christians. Cyprian, Eusebius, Epiphanius, Austin, Gregory Nazianzen, Chrysostom, and Severus Sulpitius, who all lived within the fourth century, mention Thecla, or refer to her history. Basil of Seleucia wrote her acts, suffer- ings, and victories, inverse; and Euagrius Scholasticus, an ecclesiasti- cal historian, about 590, relates that '' after the Emperor Zeno had abdicated his empire, and Basilik had taken possession of it, he had a vision of the holy and excellent martyr Thecla, who promised him the restoration of his empire; for which, when it was brought about, he erected and dedicated a most noble and sumptuous temple to this famous martyr Thecla, at Seleucia, a city of Isauria, and bestowed upon it very noble endowments, which (says the author) are preserved even till this day." Hist. Eccl., lib. 3, cap. 8.— Cardinal Baronius, Locrinus, Archbishop Wake, and others; and also the learned Grabe, who edited the Septuagint, and revived the Acts of Paul and Thecla, consider them as having been written in the Apostolic age ; as containing nothing superstitious, or disagreeing from, the opinions and belief of those times; and, in short, as a genuine and authentic history. Again, it is said, that this is not the original book of the early Christians; but however that may be, it is published from the Greek MS. in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, which Dr. Mills copied and transmitted to Dr. Grabe.] The Martyrdom of the holy and glorious first Martyr and Apos- tle Thecla. CHAP. I. 1 Demas and Hermogenes become PauPs companions. 4 Paul visits Onesi- phorus. 8 Invited by Demas and Hermogenes. 11 Preaches to the household of Onesiphorus. 12 His sermon. WHEN Paul went up to Ico- nium, after his flight from Antioch, Demas and Hermoge- nes became his companions, who were then full of hypocrisy. 2 But Paul looking only at the goodness of God, did them no harm, but loved them greatly. 3 Accordingly he endeavoured to make agreeable to them, all 9 ( J Paul' s companions PAUL AND THECLA. and preachings. the oracles and doctrines of Christ, and the design of the Gospel of God's well-beloved Son, instructing them in the knowledge of Christ, as it was revealed to him. 4 ^f And a certain man named Onesiphorus, hearing that Paul was come to Iconium, went out speedily to meet him, together with his wife Lectra, and his sons Simmia and Zeno, to invite him to their house. 5 For Titus had given them a description of Paul's person- age, they as yet not knowing him in person, but only being acquainted with his character. 6 They went in the king's highway to Lystra, and stood there waiting for him, comparing all who passed by, with that de- scription which Titus had given them. 7 At length they saw a man coming (namely Paul), of a low stature, bald (or shaved) on the head, crooked thighs, handsome legs, hollow-eyed ; had a crooked nose ; full of grace ; for some- times he appeared as a man, sometimes he had the counte- nance of an angel. And Paul saw Onesiphorus, and was glad. 8 ^[ And Onesiphorus said : Hail, thou servant of the blessed God. Paul replied, The grace of God be with thee and thy family. 9 But Demas and Hermoge- nes were moved with envy, and, under a show of great religion, Demas said, And are not we also servants of the blessed God ? Why didst thou not salute us ? 10 Onesiphorus replied, Be- cause I have not perceived in you the fruits of righteousness ; nevertheless, if ye are of that sort, ye shall be welcome to my house also. 100 11 Then Paul went into the house of Onesiphorus, and there was great joy among the family on that account : and they em- ployed themselves in prayer, breaking of bread, and hearing Paul preach the word of God concerning temperance and the resurrection, in the following manner : 12 Tf Blessed are the pure in heart ; for they shall see God. 13 Blessed are they who keep their flesh undefiled (or pure) ; for they shalJ. be the temple of God. 14 Blessed are the temperate (or chaste) ; for God will reveal himself to them. 15 Tf Blessed are they who abandon their secular enjoy- ments ; for they shall be accept- ed of God. 16 Blessed are they who have wives, as though they had them not; for they shall be made angels of God.^ 17 Blessed are they who trem- ble at the word of God ; for they shall be comforted. 18 Blessed are they who keep their baptism pure; for they shall find peace with the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 19 Tf Blessed are they who pursue the wisdom (or doctrine) of Jesus Christ ; for they shall be called the sons of the Most High. 20 Blessed are they who ob- serve the instructions of Jesus Christ; for they shall dwell in eternal light. 21 ' Blessed are they, who for the love of Christ abandon the glories of the world ; for they shall judge angels, and be placed at the right hand of Christ, and shall not suffer the bitterness of the last judgment. 22 ^[ Blessed are the bodies and Thecla admires PAUL AND THECLA. FauVs preaaHrig. souls of virgins ; for they are ac- ceptable to God, and shall not lose the reward of their virginity ; for the word of their (heavenly) Father shall prove effectual to their salvation in the day of his Son, and they shall enjoy rest for evermore. CHAP. II. 1 Thecla listens anxiously to Paul's preaching. 5 Thamyris, her admirer, concerts with Theoclia her mother to dissuade her, 12 in vain. 14 Demas and Hermogenes vilify Paul to Thamyris. WHILE Paul was preach- ing this sermon in the church which was in the house of Onesiphorus, a certain virgin, named Thecla (whose mother's name was Theoclia, and who was betrothed to a man named Tha- myris) sat at a certain window in her house. 2 From whence, by the advan- tage of a window in the house where Paul was, she both night and day heard Paul's sermons concerning God, concerning cha- rity, concerning faith in Christ, and concerning prayer ; 3 Nor would she depart from the window, till with exceeding joy she was subdued to the doc- trines of faith. 4 At length, when she saw many women and virgins going in to Paul, she earnestly desired that she might bethought worthy to appear in his presence, and hear the word of Christ ; for she had not yet seen Paul's person, but only heard his sermons, and that alone. 5 ^[ But when she would not be prevailed upon to depart from the window, her mother sent to Thamyris, who came with the greatest pleasure, as hoping now to marry her. Accordingly he said to Theoclia, Where is my Thecla? 6 Theoclia replied, Thamyris, I have something very strange to tell you ; for Thecla, for the space of three days, will not move from the window not so much as to eat or drink, but is so intent in hearing the artful and delusive discourses of a certain foreigner, that I perfectly admire, Tha- myris, that a young woman of her known modesty, will suffer herself to be so prevailed upon. 7 For that man has disturbed the whole city of Iconium, and even your Thecla, among others, All the women and young men flock to him to receive his doc- trine ; who, besides all the rest, tells them that there is but one God, who alone is to be worship- ped, and that we ought to live in chastity. 8 1 Notwithstanding this, my daughter Thecla, like a spider's web fastened to the window, is captivated by the discourses of Paul, and attends upon them with prodigious eagerness, and vast delight ; and thus, by attend- ing on what he says, the young woman is seduced. Now then do you go, and speak to her, for she is betrothed to you. 9 Accordingly Thamyris went, and having saluted her, and tak- ing care not to surprise her, he said, Thecla, my spouse, why sit- test thou in this melancholy pos- ture ? What strange impressions are made upon thee? Turn to Thamyris, and blush. 10 Her mother also spake to her after the same manner, and said, Child, why dost thou sit so melancholy, and, like one asto- nished, makest no reply ? 11 Then they wept exceeding- ly, Thamyris, that he had lost 101 Demaj andift'enmogehes- PAUL AND THECLA. betray Paul. his spouse ; Theoclia, that she had lost her daughter ; and the maids, that they had lost their mistress ; and there was an universal mourning in the family. 12 But all these things made no impression upon Thecla, so as to incline her so much as to turn to them, and take notice of them ; for she still regarded the discourses of Paul. 13 Then Thamyris ran forth into the street to observe who they were who went into Paul, and came out from him; and he saw two men engaged in a very warm dispute, and said to them; 14 T[ Sirs, what business have you here? and who is that man within, belonging to you, who deludes the minds of men, both young men and virgins, per- suading them, that they ought not to many, but continue as they are ? 15 1 promise to give you a con- siderable sum, if you will give me a just account of him ; for I am the chief person of this city. 16 Demas and Hermogenes re- plied, We cannot so exactly tell who, he is; but this we know, that he deprives young men of their (intended) wives, and vir- gins of their (intended) hus- bands, by teaching, There can be no future resurrection, unless ye continue in chastity, and do not defile your flesh. CHAP. III. 1 They betray Paul. 7 Thamyris arrests him with officers. THEN said Thamyris, Come along with me to my house, and refresh yourselves. So they went to a very splendid entertain- ment, where there was wine in 102 abundance, and very rich provi- sion. 2 They were brought to a table richly spread, and made to drink plentifully by Thamyris, on ac- count of the love he had for The- cla and his desire to marry her. 3 Then Thamyris said, I desire ye would inform me what the doctrines of this Paul are, that I may understand them ; for I am under no small concern about Thecla, seeing she so delights in that stranger's discourses, that I am in danger of losing my in- tended wife. 4 1 Then Demas and Hermo- genes answered both together, and said, Let him be brought be- fore the governor Castellius, as one who endeavours to persuade the people into the new religion of the Christians, and he, accord- ing to the order of Csesar, will put him to death, by which means you will obtain your wife ; 5 While Ve at the same time will teach her, that the resurrec- tion which he speaks of is already come, and consists in our having children ; and that we then arose again, when we came to the knowledge of God. 6 Thamyris having this ac- count from them, was filled with hot resentment : 7 And rising early in the morn- ing he went to the house of One- siphorus, attended by the magis- trates, the jailor, and a great mul- titude of people with staves, and said to Paul ; 8 Thou hast perverted the city of Iconium, and among the rest, Thecla, who is betrothed to me, so that now she will not marry me. Thou shalt therefore go with us to the governor Castel- lius. 9 And all the multitude cried out, Away with this impostor Paul imprisoned, PAUL AND THECLA. Thecla visits him. (magician), for he has perverted the minds of our wives, and all the people hearken to him. CHAP. IV. 1 Paul accused be/ore the governor by Thorny r is. 5 Defends himself. 9 Is committed to -prison, 10 and visited by Thecla. rnHEIST Thamyris standing be- X fore the governor's judg- ment-seat, spake with a loud voice in the following manner. 2 O governor, I know not whence this man cometh ; but he is one who teaches that matri- mony is unlawful. Command him therefore to declare before you for what reason he publishes such doctrines. 3 While he was saying thus, Demas and Hermogenes (whis- pered to Thamyris, and) said ; Say that he is a Christian, and he will presently be put to death. 4 But the governor was more deliberate, and calling to' Paul, he said, Who art thou ? What dost thou teach ? They seem to lay gross crimes to thy charge. 5 Paul then spake with a loud voice, saying, As I am now called to give an account, O governor, of my doctrines, I desire your audience. 6 That God, who is a God of vengeance, and who stands in need of nothing but the salva- tion of his creatures, has sent me to reclaim them from their wickedness and corruptions, from all (sinful) pleasures, and from death ; and to persuade them to sin no more. 7 On this account, God sent his Son Jesus Christ, whom I preach, and in whom I instruct men to place their hopes as that person who only had such com- passion on the deluded world, that it might not, governor, be condemned, but have faith, the fear of God, the knowledge of religion, and the love of truth. 8 So that if I only teach those things which I have re- ceived by revelation from God, where is my crime ? 9 When the governor heard this, he ordered Paul to be bound, and to be put in prison, till he should be more at leisure to hear him more fully. 10 But in the night, Thecla taking off her ear-rings, gave them to the turnkey of the pri- son, who then opened the doors to her, and let her in ; 11 And when she made a pre- sent of a silver looking-glass to the jailor, was allowed to go into the room where Paul was ; then she sat down at his feet, and heard from him the great things of God. 12 And' as she perceived Paul not to be afraid of suffering, but that by divine assistance he be- haved himself with courage, her faith so far increased that she kissed his chains. CHAP. V. 1 Thecla sought and found by her rela- tions. 4 Brought with Paul before the governor. 9 Ordered to be burnt, and Paul to be uhipt. 15 Thecla miraculously saved. AT length Thecla was missed, and sought for by the family and by Thamyris in every street, as though she had been lost, but one of the porter's fellow-ser- vants told them, that she had gone out in the night-time. 2 Then they examined the porter, and he told them, that she was gone to the prison to the strange man. 3 They went therefore accord- ing to his direction, and there 103