-#l^^l-^^-^. 10 'f^ (^ I ^ LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. eg- Received September^ ..1880. Accessions No.^ S :2 /;? 9^^/^ ^^ Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation lnttp://www.arcliive.org/details/autlnenticityuncoOOIessricli THE Authenticity, uncorrupted preservation, credibility OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. GODFREY LESS, J,ATE PROFESSOR IN THE UNIVERSITY OF «OTTIN&EN,&C. TRANSLATED FROJJ THE LAST^^mi LONDON : PRINTED FOR F. C. AND J. RIVINGTON, NO. 62, ST. PAUL's church-yard; j. hatchard, no. 190, picCadilly ; deighton, and nicrfolson, cambridge; and cookj, HANWELL, AND PARKER, OXFORD ; Bj Bye and Law, St. John's Square, Clerkenwell. 1804. I 4- :5 Si -2-//' \ . ^ , , TRANSL4TQE^^ PREFACE, The fubject of the work now offered to tlie public in an Englifh tranflation is an examina- tion of the following queftions : Whether the books of the New Tertament were really writ- ten by the perfons to whom they are afcribed ; Whether they have defcended to us perfectly uncorrupted in all effential matters, as they left the hands of their authors; And, laftly. Whether they contain a narration of events \thich did actually take place. liifit this inquiry is of the greateft cortfe- quence, and demands our moft impartial at- tention, v/ill be evident from thefe conlidera- tioils: — That if we cannot anfwer the above queftions in the affirmative, then is the Chrif- tian Religion a cunningly devifed fable: — but, oil the contrary, if in refult of the examina- tion, it fhould be found that the New Tefta- menf is both genuine and autheuticj — then it a 2 will iv TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. will require but few arguments to fliew thait the miracles contained in it, are true, that the writers were infpired perfons, and that our holy faith is a revelation of the will of God. On this fubject the learned author of the following work. Dr. Lefs, had himfelf enter- tained doubts during .many years of his life : for his own private fatisfaction he inftituted a fevere and rigid inquiry : the refult is exhibited to the Public in the prefent treatife; and to himfelf the confequence was a folid, rational^ and fatisfactory conviction. The Original was put into my hands, during my relidence in Germany, by a perfon of diftinguifhed worth: on perufal it appeared to me extremely well calculated, from its concifenefs, peifpicuity, and feverity of examination to produce the fame eiFect on others, and to be of fervice to the Chiiftian caufe ; as I cannot conceive it pofli- ble for any man, who honeftly and impartially feeks after truth, to read it with the attention which the fubject demands, without receiving the fame conviction which the author himfelf obtained. — ^This opinion of the original work iirft led me to form the defign of tianilating )t into my native language. jpew Few are the writers who have expreisly treated on the Authenticity of the books of the New Teftament_, and fewer ftill who have done it in a manner always fatisfactory to the reader. Du Pin is miferably defective: and Jones feems to have been anxious rather to fliew that certain writings are Apocryphal, than to prove that the books of the New Tef- tament are Canonical. Indeed he has paffed over all the Epiftles and the Apocalypfe with- out paying the leaft regard to them. But fince his time Dr. Lardner has employed immenfe labour and profound erudition on the fame fubject: nor do I know any man to whom the Chriftian world has more obligations than to the author of the Credibility of the Gofpel-Hiftory. He appears to have almoft exhaufted his fubject, and to have rendered any fubfequent undertaking of a limilar nature per- fectly unneceffary. Inftead of giving my own opinion on the difference between the prefent treatife and the voluminous work of Lardner, I will lay before the reader the fentiments of the great Michaelis and of the Rev. Herbert Mai-fli, one of the moft accurate Theological fcholars that any age or country has ever pro- fluced. " Tlie bell treatifes" fays Michaelis a 3 ^' upon fi TRANSLATOBS PREFACE. *^ upon this fubject (the authenticity of the New Teftament) are Lardner's Credibility of the Gofpel-Hiftory, and Lefss Truth of the Chriftian Rehgion (the fubject of the following iheets). The former ofthefe works, which ha% been cenfured for its prolixity, contains a very large collection of teftimonies from the Fathera a»d other ancient writers^ and is highly v*? luable to thojfe who would examine the whole feries of evidence for the authenticity of the New Teftament. The works of Lardner have b^en lefs read, than they deferve : ^very one intereiled in this inquiry Ihould poffefs thenv were it only for occafional reference, and thejft are indifpenfible to a clergyman, who cannot remain indifferent on fo important a fubjeGt> and whofe (^uty is not only to believe but to convinced. The latter of thefe works ia more agreeable to read bec^ufe prolixity i& avoided, and it is eafy to overfee the v»hole chain of reafojiing at a fmgle view. Various, teftimonies whi^h Laidner had quoted, are omitted by Lefs, bec;iufe they were not fuf-. ficiently convincing, and he has fupplied what Lardner had omitted. Ever).' reader will re-, mark, in peruftng this treatife, what I haxe^ learnt in frequent conyeriatioii with the author^ 1 that TRANSLATok's PRErACE. VU that it is the refult of a confcientious^ even anxiouily confcientious inquiry, which he had inftituted for his own private conviction. Doubts on which Lardner never thought, he has felt and proved." — ^Thus far Michaelis: and his learned tranflator has borne his tef- timony to the value of the prefent work in a note to the paffage juft quoted : ^' It would be impoffible" fays he ^^ to give an abridgement of it in thefe notes, as the author himfelf is? very concife: but the whole deferves to be tranflated in a feparate work." — To the tef- timony of fuch authorities I will add nothing: that which has obtained the praife of Mi- chaelis, and the recommendation of Marlh^ needs no further panegyric. I have only to fay a few words in refpect to the tranflation. — It is made from the laft edi- tion of the Original printed at Gottingen 1786, and is always, it is hoped, faithful to the fenfe of the author, and generally as literal as the peculiar idioms of the different languages will allow. The whole work of Dr. Lefs, which is called by the general name of Gefchichte der Religion, or Hiftory of Religion, is com- prifed in three volumes. The firft is employed on the hiftory of both natural and revealed Re- a 4 ligion. viii translator's PREFACE. Ijgion. In the fecond the divine origin of Chrif^ tianity is proved at large. And the third is oc- cupied with the examination and refutatioa of objections to tlie Chriftian Religion. As the following treatife is taken from the body of a work of fiich magnitude, which is only divided according to the grand divifions of the fubject, I conceived it necelTary to alter its form by breaking it into the fubdivifions of books, chapters Sic; in order that the con- nection of one part with another might be more readily perceived, and the whole more eafily comprehended. From the fame caufe I have fometimes omitted a word, a fentence, or even a whole paragraph,^ which appeared un- neceffary in the prefent inquiry, and had an evident reference to parts of the work uncon- nected with the fubject of thefe flieets. In the quotations from the Holy Scriptures, Lefs has frequently paraphrafed the paf- fage, from a delire to convey the fenfe without retaining the obfolete phrafeology of the au- thorifed tranflation of his country. It was my wifli to have always adhered literally to our Englifli verfion ; but, as a tianflator, I have been obliged, in order to retain my author's argument, to retain the form in which it is ^oa- translator's preface. ill com'ejedj and have therefore been fometimes compelled to render his paraphrafe word for word, when I could not introduce the com^ mon verfion. . I have ventured in one or two cafes to change .the examples adduced by the author for others more familiar to an Englifh reader ; thefe are fo unimportant that I do not think it neceffary to indicate the particular inftances. However unimportant in point of magni- tude may be the prefent work, yet it contains a large body of information. The fubject mat- ter, which if dilated in the modem fafhion, would fill a folio, is here condenfed into one fmall volume. This concifenefs^ has tended to render the ftyle of the Original extremely inelegant ; and may perhaps have liad a fimilar effect on the Tranflation. To which muft be added, that conceiving perfpicuity in a work of this kind to be a paramount quality, I lia\'e ftudied to make my book rather lucid tlian elegant, and liave been more anxious that the reader fhould be convinced by the foiidity of the argument, than delighted by the beauty of the expreffion. Some time fince I had formed an intention of publiihing in the Englilli language Dr. Lefs s larger PHEPACE. larger work On the Truth of the ChriiHait Religion, and had made no fmall progrefe in the tranflation: that intention I have relin- quilhed for the prefent; whether at any future period I may. renew the defign will depend on caufes which are not imder my direction. CONTENTS, l^ART I. Tlie Authenticity of the New Teftament. BOOK I. Of die internal evidence. CHAP. I. Pa^ The nece^ty of this inquiiy - - i CHAP. II. Qf the Internal traces of authenticity In the New Teftamqnt - . « ^ BOOK II. The externaj, or declfive evidence for the authenticity of the New Teftament, vl?. the pofitive teftlmonies of witnelTes in the three fii'ft centuries. CHAP. I. WLtneffesIn the firft century - - -%f SECT. 1. The origin and ftate of Chriftianlty in the firft century « - - 28 SECT. i/UiN 1 j:-jNTa# Pagt SECT. II. The Apoftolical Fathers 3a z. Barnabas 33 1. Clement of Rome 4-1 3. Hermas 6% 4.. Ignatius 70 5. Polycarp 78 SECT. III. Teftlmonles from works of the firfl: century, which are now loft Sj Papias 84. CHAP. II. Wltneffes In the fecond century - - 89 SECT. I. State of Chriftianity in the fecond and third centuries - - - 90 SECT. II. Witnefles in the fecond century lor I. Juftin Mart}T - loi a. Tatian - • 10? 3. Irenaeus - - 109 4. Athenagoras - - 117 5. Theophilus of Antioch ia» 6. Clement of Alexandria 1*5 7. TertuUian - - izS sfCT. III. Evidences from works of the fecond century, which are now loft. . - 134 Dionyfius - - 135 Tatian - - 136 Hegefippus - - 137 Melito - - - 135 Community at Lyons and Vienne 140 Mlltiades - - I4z Theophilus of Antioch - 143 Pantxnus CONTENTS* \ Page Pantaenus - - 145 Clement of Alexandria r 14-5 CHAP. III. WItnefles in the third century. $|ECT. 1. Evidences of witnefles in the third century r - - - 149 Caius Romanus - 150 Hippolitiis Portuenfis - 15© Ammonius - - 155 Julius Africanus - 154 Qrlgen r - - 155 lECT. II. Information coUefted by Eufebius from the works of the three fir ft centuries i<5x CHAP. IV. A fummary recapitulation of the evidences men- tioned abov^ - - - J 73 CHAP. V. Qf the Revelation of St. John - . ijff SECT. I. The contents of this book - 18^ SECT. I. The interpretation of the book of Revelation - - - ^97 SECT. II. Remarks on its contents - aoi PECT. III. Of our common text of the Revelation 208 SECT. V. The Opinion of Ancient writers on this book .... 210 8ECT. VI. The true value and credit of the book 233 CHAP. 5 CONTENTS, Page CHAP. vr. Conclufions drawn from the above mentioned teftimonies - - - *35 BOOK III.' ^e uneornipted Prefervatlon bf the New Teftament. CHAP. I. Th« books extant at prefent in the New Tefta- ment are the fame Writings which were originally compofed by the authors whofe names they bear - . . »4j This is proved X. From their contents - • - 2^ z, Becaufe an univerfal conniption of thefe writ- ings was impoflible: nor can the lead: veftige of fuch a corruption be found in hiftory - - - _ 44.5 5. From the agreement of the roanufcripts »5j; 4. From the agreement of the old verfions, and quotations found in the ecclefiaftical fa- thers - - - - Jij;^ PART II. The Credibility of the New Teftament. BOOK I. The authors of the New Teftament poffefs in a very high degree all the recjuifite qualities of credible evidences - - 267 Sect. CONTENTS. ^ Page Sect, I. Thty-were immediate witnefle» - a6^ SlCT* II. They were alfo competent witnefles t.jx Sect. hi. They were by no means credulous 273 S£CT. IV. Neither were they Fanatics - a 80 Sect. v. They were, on the contrary, men of integrity - - * - 2^9 Sect. VI. They relate events which happened in their own times - - - 33* Sect. vil. They appeal to notorious proofs 334 Sect. viii. They had nothing to expeft but temporal difadvantages - - 33 J Sect. ix. They fuffered for the truth of their narration every thing, even death. And brought many of their contemporaries to the fure convi£lion of its truth * 34.0 BOOK n. Tlie wonderful eftablifhftient and propagation of Chriftianity is a mdft convincing proof of the entire credibility of the Hiftory of the New Teftament, and of the Religion • which it eftablilhes. CHAP. I. Pefcription of the wonderful propagation of Chrif- tianity .... 3^^ I. Chriftianity CONTENTS, Page X. Chrlillamty fpreads itfclf almoft immediately over the whole world - - 349 I. It prevailed without the afliftance of any tem- poral power - - - 351 3. Through thirteen poor, Inconfiderable, im- leamed, and almoft unknown men - 357. 4. Araidft the moft dangerous iptemal diftur- bances and diftraftions - - 353 5. Under the moft cruel external perfecutions, and the oppofitlon of the whole world 3 54. 6. And although exciting the repugnance of the human heart - - . 359 CHAP. II. That the old world was intolerant t • 36* Sect, i. Of the Egyptians, Grecians, and Romans - - - - 3^3 Sect. II. The Doftrine of Chrlftlanity on this fubjeft - - - - 37X CHAP. III. Parallel between the Propagation of Chriftianity, and of the Religion of Mahomet - 377 A fummary recapitulation, and conclufion of the Crcdibilityof theNewTeftameftt - 393 PART L THE AUTHENTICITY OF. THE NEW TESTAMENT* book: I. Of the Internal Evidence. CHAP* I. The NeceJ/ity of this Inquiry, X HE faith of Chriftians is thus dif-- tinguiflied from all the other religions of the world: it pronounces Jefus to be the Redeemer of men, promifed by God, the only caufe of their falvation, and alTerts his do6lrine to be unde- niably true. Should there, then, never have exifted in the world a perfon, who, in the time of the Roman Empe- rour Auguftus, was born at Bethlehem of Mary, a Jewiih virgin, and known B to 2 The Authenticity of to his coiintrymen by the name of Jefus ; ilioiild this Jefus never have performed any miracles, in order to prove the truth of his do6lrines; Ihould he not have arifen from the dead ; lliould he, laftly, have never uttered any true prophecies', then the Articles of the Chriftian Faith are, without doubt, a forgery. But ihould thefe fa6ls be in- controvertibly true, then it is equally incontrovertible, that the religion of Chriftians is alio true. The Chriftian religion, therefore, is founded on fa8s, and confequently muft be proved in the fame manner as we prove the truth of other hiftorical fubje61;s. Tlie evidences which Chriftians ad- duce for the truth of thefe fa8;s, are contained in the Books of the New Teftament. The authors of thefe books are the witnclTes, on wliofe credit Chriftians believe that hiltory. If, there- fore, the credibility of thefe authors, uud of their writings, can be as ftri^lly proved the New Tejiajnent, 3 proved as the credibility of a Tacitus, Livy, Thuanus, or Burnet, then we Hiuft either give up the gi'eateft, moft beautiful, and moft ufeful part of human knowledge, the whole of hiftory> together with all its various branches, or we muft confefs — that the Books of the New Teltameht, in all natural and not miraculous fubje6ls, are worthy of credit. I acknowledge, that Ihould the cre- dibility of the writers of the New Tfeftament be brought even to the very higheft degree of hiftorical certainty, that the hijlorical truth of the mira- cles they relate would not be thereby proved. An author may be in the higheii degree! worthy of credit, and yet may fometimes be overcome by the weaknels incident to human nature, and relate abfurdities or forged mi- racles as undoubted truths. We be- lieve him in general ; but if he relate palpable abfurdities, found Reafon be- B 2 comes 4 The Authenticity of ' comes an evidence againft him, and her decifion is infinitely more to be depended upon, than the credibility of any author whatever. We believe him in general; but if he relate miracles, then his credit alone isnotfufficientjuftly to challenge our affent. The more uncommoji an event is, fo much more weighty muft be the proofs for it. If it be a real miracle, then it demands a perfe6lly peculiar kind of proof, of which I Ihall fpeak in the Second Vo- lume of this Work, when I treat of the Truth of the Chriftian Religion* According to thefe principles we decide on all hiftorical writings. We acknow- ledge Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, Tacitus, and Livy, to 'be perfe6lly cre- dible authorities. Neverthelefs, when they fpeak of a certain divine vapour, which arofe from the earth, and in- ftilled into men a perfe8; knowledge of all futurity; or of a ring around the uofe, out of which the devil was driven ; or the New Tefuxmmt, , 5 or when they inform us, that the ftatue of Jupiter fpoke and perfpired ; that it rained blood ; that the Emperour Vef- pafian, by a mere touch, gave fight to a blind man; in fuch cafes we claim the privilege of refuiing our belief, or at leaft of entirely paffmg them over as doubtful. There are no other rules enabling u$ to judge of the writings of the New Teftament, than thofe by which we judge of any other hiftorical work. Now we are accuftomed to eftabliHi the credibility of a book in the following manner: — We firft prove the authenti- city of the book itfelf, and then the credibility of its author. Two things belong to the proof of the authenticity; iirft, that the book was really written by the pretended author ; and fecondly, that it is come down to us perfectly uncorrupted as it left the hands of its author. In this maaner we decide on all hiftorical writings; and men are B 3 unani- 6 The Authenticity of unanimoiifly agreed, that it is as un: reafonable to receive an evidence which cannot be proved in this way, as to reje6l that which has endured thefe proofs. A man of accuracy and inte- grity will never attempt tq prove the truth of an event, which is pretended to have happened in the firft century, from what are called the writings of Dionyfius the Areopagite; for the name of Dionyfius, which they bear, is forged, and they were not compofed until the fifth or fixth century. Nor will he, like Whifton, believe any thing on the authority of the larger epiftles of Ignatius. Ignatius did indeed write; epiftles; but whatever exifts in the; larger, that is not found in the fmaller, (and even thefe appear to be not ab- folutely free from all interpolation) is the addition of a more modern hand. Orofius is no credible evidence for the truth of events, which are pretended to have taken place at the birth of Jefus; nor the New Teftament. 7 / nor will a critic affert any thing on the credit of Simeon Metaphraftes. The former did not write until the fifth century; and the latter is extremely credulous and much to be fufpe6led: neither of them therefore deferves to be efteemed a credible evidence. Can, then, the three following propo- fitions be proved: — Firft, that the Nezv Teftament was reallij written by the pre- tended contemporaries of Jefus ; — Se- condly, that it is come down to us un- corrupted ; — and, Thirdly, that the au- thors of it are evidences of credibility ; — ftill we cannot, on their credit alone, prove the truth of the miracles they rebate; — but thus much will be evident, that Jefus did really preach the doc- trine acknowledged by Chriftians; that he was really born at Bethlehem, taught publicly in Judea, in the reign of Ti- berius : — in a word, all the events which are natural, and not miracu- lous, muft be confidered as inconteftibly :& 4 true, B The Authenticity of true, on the authority of thefe evidences alone. CHAP. II. Of the internal Traces of Authenticity in the New Tejtament, WHEN Lord Bolingbroke, ' in his Letters on Hiftory, is pointing out the neceflity of this ftudy to a Theologian, he reproaches the defenders of Chrif- tianity, that they are accuftomed to tranfcribe from each other, and thereby perpetuate the errors which have been inadvertently admitted, or the fallacies which have been purpofely contrived. — *' Abbadie," thefe are his own words, ^* fays, in his famous book, that the Gofpel of St Matthew is cited by Clemens, Biiliop of Rome, a difciple of the apoftles; that Barnabas cites it » Letter v.— vol. ii. p. 349—351. of the 410 edit. 4 in the New Tejiament, Q in his epiftle ; that Ignatius and Po lycarpe receive it; and that the faitie fathers, that give teftimony for Mat- thew, give it likewife for Mark. — If the fathers of the firft century do men- tion fome palTages, that are agreeable to what we read in our Evangelifts, will it follow that thefe fathers had the fame gofpels before them ? To fay fo is a manifeft abufe of Hiftory, and quite inexcufable in writers that knew, or Ihould have known, that thefe fathers made ufe of other gofpels, wherein fuch paffages might be contained, or they might be prefervcd in unwritten tradition. Befides which I could al- moft venture to affirm, that thefe fa- thers of the firft century do not ex- prefsly name the gofpels we have of Mat- thew, Mark, Luke, and John." Thefe alTertions, which in fome refpe^ls are well founded, render.it of the greateft importance to every enlightened Chrif- tian, carefully to examine the evidences of 10 The Authenticity of of the ecclefiaftical writers of the firft centuries on this fubje6t. In this inquir}'^ we are principally concerned with the period of the three lirft centuries, that is, from the times of the apoftles down to Origin. — For he has given us the fir ft perfe6l catalogue of the Scriptures of the New Teftament ; and fmce hiis time thefe catalogues, (or canons), and the evi- dences for each of the books of the Kew Teftament are fo numerous, that it would be perfectly fuperfluous to at- tempt to prove that fmce the fourth century the very fame books of the New Teftament were held by Chriftians to be divine, which we at prefent confefs to be fuch \ Moreover, fubfequent information is inadequate to eftablilli the authenticity of the Scriptures of »» Thefe canons are found according to the order of the centuries, in Gcrb^rdi de Majiricht Canon eccle- fiajiicus Scriptura Sacra.-^The lateft and beft edition of this work is that of Jena, ijz^, in 8vo. th« the New Tejiament. 1 1 jliie New Teftament. It is j;oQ recent^ and the foregoing centuries were too replete with fpurious and forged works to be capable of inftru8;ing us confi- dently what writings were actually com- pofed by the difciples of Jefus in the firft century. But of fo much greater |Confequence to us is the period of the three firft centuries; and it is a very great error in the defenders of Chrif- tianity, when they, either by contenting themfelves merely with the well-known evidences of Eufebius; or, by produ- cing quotations from the primitive wri- ters, which are perfectly indeterminate; or, by accumulating fuch paflages from them as have only a fimilitude in words and fentiments, bring a fufpicion on the whole proof for the authenticity, and confequently alfo for the divinity, of thefe books. Whoever has been much engaged with the writings of antiquity, its modes pf thinking and manners, will inftantly perceive, 1 2 The Authenticity of perceive, on reading thele books, that they are not the work of an impoftor, but that they were compofed about the firft century of the Roman monarchy; juft as a connoiiTeur in the fine arts will immediately fee whether a painting, a ftatue, or a gem, be the production of antiquity, an original ; or merely a copy, and of a modern age. In the Scriptures of the New Teftament there cannot be difcovered the fmalleft trace of deceit or forgery. On the contrary, the character of the pretended times of their compofition, and of their pre- tended authors, is fo deeply impreiTed on them, that a critic, by a mere peru- fal, will difcover their authenticity. It muft appear remarkable to any one who has ever employed himfelf in diftinguiihing the genuine remains of antiquity from the fpurious, that in thefe writings there cannot be found the fmalleft veftige of a forgery. What are called the Canones and Confiitu- tionc& u the New Tejlament^ tionelApoJioloruniy fpeak of altars, of the ordination of bilhops and priefts, of the fubje6lion of the Holy Ghoft to the Son. The pretended writings of Dionyfius, a Member of the Court of Areopagus, refute Neftorian and An- thropomorphitic errors; ufe the word Cnroroio-ig in the do6;rine of the trinity ; and fpeak of monks, altars, and litur- gies. And, in the fame manner, all interpolated writings contain fomething or other, a cuftom, a fcience, an ex- preffion, which betrays a later age, and does not efcape the eye of the critic^ On the contrary, we cannot meet with any thing in the Scriptures of the New Teftament, which does in the leaft degree contradict the pretended character, time, and connection of their authors. Ar\d not only this: we difcover in them fuch traces of genuinenefs as are indeed ex- tremely ftriking. The writers of the New. Teftament are faid to have been Jews by birth, and J ^ the Authenticity of and of the Jeivijh religion ; and this \i every where vifible. The mode of relating their ftory, fo unaffefted, and mixed with various fuperfluoiis phrafes, and trifling collateral circumftances ; tlienumetou^ allufions to the religious cerenionies of the Jews ; the fubje6t matter inter- ^voven with words, phrafes, and thoughts of the Old Teftament; the numerous parables and a-llegorie^; the variety of Hebraic words, conftru6lions, and phrafes in the Gteek of the! New Tef- tament, betray an author to whom the Jewiih mode of thinking was quite na- tural. They are faid to have lived in the firjl eentury of the Roman monarchy. This alfo is eafily and every where per- ceptible. The exa6l divifion of the Jewiili ftate ; its connection with the PvOmans; the internal tranfa6lions and fermentations which took place in it at the time of the firft Roman Emperors, are not fo properly related by th6 writer the New Tejiament\ \3 writer as prefuppofed as matters of fa6l, which were univerfally known at the time when he wrote. The little un- ijiiportant, foreign events of the firft century, which in the books of the New Teitament, and efpecially in the hifto- rical, are touched on only cafually and very llightly, in fo unftudied and un- affected a manner, evince a writer, to whofe memory thefe fa6ls were ftill quite recent, and who prefuppofed that his contemporaries were as well ac- quainted with them as himfelf I ihall give examples of this in the courfe of the work. They are faid to have been hnme' diate witueffes of theiy^ nari^atives, or to have themfelves feen and heard what they relate. Even this circumftance is. every where clearly difcoverable. They relate with the confidence of men who are convinced that their readers already know that tliey themfelves faw and ex- perienced all, and that their ailertions may 16 The Authenticity of may therefore be confidered as proofs* They relate, without mentioning the eras of their hiftory, or carefully cha- ra6lerifing the perfon of whom they make mention: in Ihort, like men who wrote for readers that were their con- temporaries, that lived at the very time in which their hiftory happened, and knew, or might eafily have known, the perfons themfelves. They are faid to have been all^ ex- cept one, unlearned men. And who does not remark in the writings of St. JMatthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, St. John, St. Peter, St. James, and St. Jude, that they were compofed by perfons who were indeed perfectly certain of the fa^ts they relate ; poflefled alfo of found judgment, and in part of excellent na- tural talents, yet totally devoid of learn- ing, and what is properly called fcience ? We find in their works no profound in- ferences; no refutations which betray fubtilty ; no expreffions or fnnilies taken ^le Kezv Tejiaynent. ^ 17 fekea from the walk^ of fcience ; ho. acquired knowledge of the workL In fevery part the tone of an honeft hif- torian is perceptible, but of one to tvhom it never occurred to argue oil bis narrative as a philofopher. Com- pare their writings with thofe^ of St. Paul. If we even put out of the queftion the Epiftle to the Hebrews, which is replete with Jewiih learning^; yet what profound inferences are drawn in the Epiftle to the Romans'? What a variety of fine knowledge, and how much adroitnefs in defending himfelf with delicacy and fubtilty againft the accufatioiis of his enemies, are be* trayed in the Epiftles to the Corin-- thians? With what acutenefs does he oppofe the do6lrine of the neceffity of circumcifion, and of adherence to the Mofaic law, in the Epiftle to the Galatians*^? The Epiftles to the Ephe- fians, Philippians, Coloffians, and. Tbef- « Particularly ch, v. 9. * ch. iii. — v. c faloniai^ 1 S The Authenticity of falonians, contain a variety of fimilies taken from profane knowledge ; allu- fions to foreign cuftoms; a luxuriance of ideas; pathethic and ftrong refu- tations of accufations^ The Epiftles to Timothy and Titus Ihew in parti- cular a mind which, from experience and philofophic obfervation of the world, had obtained confiderable le- giflative knowledge. And the Epiftle to Philemon has almoft, if I may be allowed to fay it, the ftyle of courtly urbanity. If, therefore, we knew nothing of the real authors of thefe books, and were to form our judgment of them only from what we difcover internally, we Ihould fuppofe that they were writ- ten by native Jews, during the firft century, and by immediate witneffes, and that only one of them was a fcho- « For example, Ephef. li. 10—12. iii. 14—19. iv. 9. 10. V. 3. vi. 10—17. Philip* il. 17. Colofl*. it* 14.— 18. I Their, iv. I}— 18. &c. lar. the New Teji anient, i^ \kr, — This matter deferves a more airi- pie inquiry. The Scriptures of thb New Teftament are Compofed in the Greek language. This agr'ees very adcurately with the accounts we have of their authors, and df thie time and defigh of their com- pofitioh. The Greek language was at that period, in the firft century of the Roman monarchy, and had been, fmce Alexander the Gteat, a kind of uni- Verfal language, juft as the French is. at prefent. It w^as underftood arid fpoken by Greeks, by Romans, and by* Jews. The greater part of the Chrif- tiaris alfo, efpecially of thofe to whom the Epiftles of the New Teftament are addreffed, Would not have compre- hended them fo univerfally in any other language. At Corinth, ThelTalonica, Coloffe, and in Galatia, fcarcely was another language underftood. Befides the Latin and Aramaean tongues, the c 2 Greek 20 The Authenticitij of Greek alfo was underftood at Rome, and by the Jews in Paleftine. The Greek, in which the New Tef- t^ment is written, is not pure and ele- gant Greek, fuch as was written by Plato, Xenophon, Polybius, or Plu- tarch ; but is intermixed with mai^y Hebraic figmjications, phrafes, and conft ructions. It refembles pure claf- fical Greek as much probably as the French or German, written or fpoken by a native Englilhman, which mufl,,be conftantly mixed with feme Anglicilms, refembles the languages of Drefden or of Paris. This is a very ftriking mark of the autlienticity of thefe wri- tings. Had the Greek of the New Teftament been pure, elegant, claffical, it would be evident that the writers were either native Greeks, or fcholars who had ftudicd Greek ; as the writings Qf Philo or Flavins Jofephus betray die fcholar. But , fmce we find it in- termixed with many peculiarities be- longing the New Tejia7n€7it 2 1 longing exclufively to the Hebrew or Chaldee, and Syriac, (the two languages fpoken in common life by the Jews of Paleftine) it is evident, from this He- braic Greek, that the writers w^ere un^ learned, and Jews by birth. The Scriptures of the New Tefta^ ment are compofed in a ftyle, which very evidently betrays that their au- thors were bo7'}i and educated in the Jextnjh religion. We find in thep conftant allufions to offerings, prieits, the temple, articles of drefs, and other parts of the Jewiih divine fervice. The fentiments of the Old Teitament are rather intenvoven into the body of them, than quoted. To make Jefus a fm-offering ; to fprinkle wdth the blood of Jefus ; to be born again ; to be a temple of God: who does not recog- nize the Jew in thefe expreffipns? — When, in the Epiftle to the Romans ^, (be then exifting fufferings and perfe- f Chap. vlii. 36. c 3 cutions 212 The Authenticity of cufions of the Chriftians are defcribea iji the words of the 44th Pfalm — As it i^ written. For thy fake we are killed' all the day long ; we are accoimted as Jheepfor the Jlaughter : when the mur- der of the infants at Bethlehen[i ^ is told alfo in the language of Jeremiah — In llama was there a Toice heard, la- mentation, and xveeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and zvould 7iot be comforted: when the writer of thq Epiftle to the Romans ^ exprefles the common fen- timent, that he taught Chriftianity in no place where another had already taught before him, with a paiTage from the Old Teftament — I Ji rived to preach the gofpel, not where Chrift xvas named —but, as it is written. To whom^ he was not fpoken of, they Jhall fee ; and they that hq.ve not heard, Jhall underftand: what attentive reader will not difcern from fuch conftant and unfolicited t Mat. 11. 17, 18. Chap. xv. 20, ai. accommo- the New Tejiament 23 accommodations of the phrafeology of the Old Teftament, a writer to whom the religious language of the Jews was, as it were, a mother-tongue? The Scriptures of the New Tefta- ment are all, except thofe which bear the name of St. Paul, very evidently written in a ftyk totally devoid of all cultivation, and with the Jimplicity of unlearned men. We do not find in them any profound inferences, acute refutations, ftudied knowledge of the world; or any expreffions or compa«- rifons taken from aftronomy, phyfics, anatomy, poefy, architecture, or indeed from any of the arts or fciences. — On the contrary, the writers rete-te, teach, exhort, exactly as men of found underftanding and good principles, but devoid of any cultivation or learning, would relate, teach, and exhort. Com- mon expreffions of common life ; va- rious repetitions, and circumftances per- fectly fuperfluous ; a want of ItriCt con- c 4 neCtion 24 'The Aiitbcnticitif oj 11661100 and method; a faulty conftruc- tion; thefe conftitute the language of men, whofe intelleftual powers may be found indeed, but eatirely uncultir vated. Not lefs worthy of remark is the accuracy of inany individual cir- cumjiances of their narrative. Jefus, they fay, was born under the Roman Emperour Auguftus; began his mi- ll iftry in the fifteenth year of Tiberius, and was put to death about three yearg And a half afterwards; that on the feaft of the Pallbver, Pilate, a Roman Governour, condemned him to death; that St. Paul defended himfelf before the Roman Governours, Feftus and Felix, before the Jewiih King Agrippa, &c. — An impoftor would not write fo circumjiantially. There are moreover certain hijtori' cal ciixumjlances rcfpefting the poli- tical and religious conftitutions of the world mentioned in the Scriptures of 4 the the Mm Teftament, 25 |Jie New Teftament, which point out inconteftibly the time when they were "Written, Paleftine is divided into three provinces — Jndea, Samaria, and Ga- lilee, This country at that time is fobjeoi; to the Romans, but had been heretofore ruled by its own kings ; thjB Jews have not the abfolute power of life and death; at Jerufalem is a Ro- man Governour. The nation is dif- contented with the Roman Sovereignty ; refufes to pay tribute, and is inclined to revolt. Two religious fe6l3 have the principal fway among them, viz. the Pharifees and the Sadducees; the former, who teach a mechanical reli- gion, deceive and tyrannize over the people, and yet are almoft idolized by them; the latter, who adopt an epicu- rean philofophy, are ftrongly fupported by the principal characters of the na- tion. The temple of Jerufalem is ftill ftanding, and is annually vifited by a great number of the Jews who are fcattered abroad 26 The Authenticity of abroad jn different parts of the world. Thefe, and fimilar circumfta-nces, are rather prefuppofed as univerfally known, than related by the authors of thefe writings ; and they agree moft exactly with the condition of the Jews and the Roman empire in the Jirji century of the Roman monarchy. — More will be faid on this fubje^l hereafter, in the inquiry into the Credibility of thefe writers. BOOK flw New Teftament, %J BOOK 11. ^le external or decifit-e Evidence for ilia Authetiticity of the Nexv Tejiament^ *oiz. the poftive Tefiiinomes of JVitr npjfes in the three frji Centuries. CHAP. I. JVitneJfes in the firft Century, NOTWITHSTANDING what has been faid above, I confefs that it is not abfolutely impoffible but that a man of very great talents and extenfive learn- ing might, as it were, abfolutely for- ge J: hhnfelf; might, for a time, lay afide his natural modes of thinking and manners, and change himfelf into a perfectly different perfon. But the teftimpnies of the oldeft and moft cre- dible writers place it beyond all doubt, that the Books of our New Teftament were written by the pretended author^y St. Matthew, St Mark, St Luke, St John, 28 The Authenticity of John, St Paul, St. Peter, St. James, and St. Jude, and at th^ pretended times. In this proof I ftall quote fuch paf- fages only, wherein thefe writers appeal either by name, or exprefsly to thofe books ; and honeftly confefs the doubts which, to an impartial fearcher after truth, will occur in this inquiry. I Ihall thus hinder the enemies of Chrif- tianity from ufing that argument which Bolingbroke has brought againft it*; and if in this examination nothing be overcharged', but, on the contrary, if the love of truth, and the Jiri8eJ^ fe-. rarity of inquiry, be every where dif- coverable, additional weight, I truft, •will be given to my proof. SECTi I. The Origin and State of Chrifiianity in thefirjl Century, JESUS, the Chrift, was born in the forty-firft year oi tlic government of * Sec above, page 8. the the New Tejiameni. gg the Roman Emperour Auguftus, con- iequently four years earlier than the commonly received computation, or one thoufand eight hundred and eight years before the prefent time ; he taught perfonally during three years and a half in Judea, Samaria, and Galilee ; and at his death left one hundred and fifty followers of his religion, who were all perfons of low birth, and entirely def- titute of that confequence which learn- ing or temporal greatnefs can beftow'*'. About feven weeks after his death, the twelve men^ who had been his moft intimate friends, began to preach his religion in the world. On thefirft day of tlieir preaching, they eftablilhed in Jerufalem a community of Chriitians, confifting of more than three thoufand perfons \ And in lefs than fixty years there exifted numerous and flourilhing communities of Chriftians in Afia, as well in the eaftern parts towards Perfia ^ Aas i. » Aas il. and so The Authenticity of and India, on the Ganges, as in th^ tveftern; in Africa, at Alexandria and other places ; and in Europe, in Ma- cedonia, Greece, nay even at Rome, at that time the metropolis of the world. Thus, at the end of the firft century, that ftnall unknown fountain, the pai'ent community at Jertifalertl, was become a ftream, which had fpread itfelf over every part of the known globe. Thefe Chriftian communities formed and fupported themfelves, notwith- ftanding the oppofition of the whole then exifting world. The Jews arofe againft their members, who taught the abolition of that law which they almojft idolized, and reprefented him whom they had crucified, as the teacher and Saviour of the world. They were theii, as at prefent, difperfed oVer all the regions of the known earth ; and iirhcrever the Chriftians came, there they .found powerful, enraged, and cruel the New Tejlament.^ 31 Cruel enemies. To complete their mi- fery, the Emperour Nero declared him- felf alfo againft them, and put many of them to death by means the riioft ter- rible. Thus opprelTed and perfecuted on all fides, they could neither eonfefs and practice their religion openly, nor eftabliih any external union among themfelves; but every feparate com- munity was necefTitated to endeavour to govern and to fupport itfelf in the beft manner it was able. Even in this infant ftate of Chriftianity, there arofe a formal fchifm among themfelves: the difciples, who had been formerly Jews, inlifted on retaining their paternal law, and mixed with Chriftianity the cere- monies of Judaifm; while the gentile converts conlidered the abolition of the law of Mofes to be an elTential article of the new religion, and would be guided by the doctrine of Jefus Chrift alone"*. » Afl? XV. Rom. yuv, SECT, M The Authenticity of SECT, it* Jht Apoftolkal Fathers. THIS want of external union was fupplied in a certain degree by dif- ferent writings, circulated among them by their teachers, of which the greater part is now loft. Only five works, wliich make pretenfions to that early age, are come down to us ; and thefe bear the names of five men, at that time very celebrated — Barnabas, Cle-^ ment, Hermas, Ignatius, and Polycarp. They are called apoftolkal fathers^ becaufe ■ The moft complete and accurate edition of theft works is that which was edited by John Baptlft Co- telier, under the title— S. S. Pati-um, qui temporlbus Apoftolorum floruerunt, Barnabae, Clementis, Hemue, Ignatii, Polycarpi, opera vera et fuppofititia. Una cum dementis, Ignatii, Polycarpi A6lis atque Mar- tyriisj to which he has added very learned annota- tions and diflirtations. The laft and beft edition is that of Amfterdara, 17*4, » vol. fol. publifhed under the infpcftion of John Lc Clerc. Befides the annota- tions the New Tejiament ^ 33 becaufe they were the immediate dif- ciples of the Apoftles. Their high antiquity, and ftill more their perfed acquaintance with the Apoftles, render them particularly important to us in our prefent inquiry, 1. Barnabas, Barnabas was appointed, in con- jun6lion with St. Paul the moft emi- nent of the firft preachers of Chrif- tianity, to publilh the religion of Chrift among the Gentiles, after they had made many thoufand converts among the Jews and Samaritans ° ; and is not only placed on a perfect equality with him**, but is alfo exprefsly ftiled an "tlohs of the editor, it contains a variety of new and important additions, which are mentioned in the title- *Lt Clerc himfelf has pointed out the advantages of this edition in theBlblioth. ancienne et mod. tom.xxi. part 2. p. a 3 7. feq. An ufeful abridgement of thefc writings is to be found in Rbfler's Library of the Ec- clefiaftical Fathers. o A6lsxiii. 2, 3. P A6ls xiii. a, 3. 46. 47. 1 Corinth, ix. 4—7. D Apoftle. 34 The Authenticity of Apoftle \ He left behind him an epiftle, which, according to Clement of Alexandria', Origen', Eufebius^ and Jerom", was held in the greateft efteem bv the ancients. But whether the work, which we now have under this name *, be the very fame which Barnabas wrote, and the above-mentioned men read, q Afts xlv. 14.— Comp. vcrfe 4. ' Stromata Lib. ii. cap. 20. p. 490." Lib. v. tap. 8. p. 677. cap. 10. p. 683, 84. Potter's Edit. Oxford, 715 fol. In thefe places Clement cites whole paflages from the Epiftle of Barnabas, which are like* wife found in that which we have at prefent. « De principiis Lib. iii. cap. 4. p. 140, and contra CelfumLib. i. cap. 63. p. 378. Charles Dc la Rue, and Charles Vincent De la Rue, have edited at Pai'is all the genuine works of Origen, which are ftill extant, 1733 — 1759. *v. vol. fol. The paflages pointed out above are in torn. i. — For an account of this edit, of Origen, fee Ernefti theol. Biblioth. Vol. vii. p. 371. ^ Hiftor. Eccles. Lib. vi. cap. 13, 14. p. 272. 73. vol. i. edit. Guilielmi Reading, who has edited togc* ther the ccclefiaftical hiftories of Eufebius, Socrates^ Sozomen, Theodoret, Evagrius, Philoftorgius, and Thcodorus— Cambridge, 720, iii. vol. fol. " DeVir. \\\\x&s.cap. 6. V See Coteler. Patr. Apoftolic. vol. i. p. 15.— 66. is the New Teftammt, ^ 35 is here unimportant, fmce it quotes, as we fhall fee hereafter, not a fingle paf- fage of the New Teftament. It con- tains indeed now the fame paffages which Clement and Origen have cited from it. But the unnatural mode of interpretation, (known by the name of niyftical) which prevails in it ; the fa- bles of the Hyaena, &c. which the author beheved; and the alTertion that the world would be deftroyed in its fix thoufandth year, which is direftly con- tradi8;ory to the aflu ranees of the New Teftament, that the time when it ihould take place was perfe6lly unknown, make it certain, that this epiftle was not written by that Barnabas, who was an Apoftle. Neverthelefs, the moft learned in ancient hiftory are agreed, that it was compofed not later than the fe- cond century ^ And we may allow thus much to the teftimonies of the pri- X See Rofler's Library of the Ecclefiaftlcal Fa- thers, i. I. D 2 mitive t56 The Authenticity of mitiv^e writers, that it was written by a Chriftian teacher, of the name of Bar- nabas. The principal defign of this epiftle, is to inculcate the propofition which St. Paul in his writings fo often repeats, and labours lb anxioufly to prove, namely, that Chri/tians are free from all obligation to the law of Mofes. But the author no where refers to this Apoftle. St. Paul had already at that time written all his Epiftles : he com- pofed the laft (the fecond to Timothy) during his fecond imprifonment at Rome, in the yearof Chrift fixty-feven; and Barnabas wrote his in tiie year feventy. They could not have been unknown to him who was the fellow- apoftle and affiltant of St. Paul. This is another argument which tends to prove that this epiftle, even if com- pofed by a certain Barnabas, did not come from the celebrated Apoftle of that nama To the New Tefiament. 37 To him who reads this epiftle with- out any intention of producing tefti- monies from it in fupport of the Scrip- tures of the New Teftament, fcarcely any will be perceptible. What might be produced with the greateft ap- pearance of probability, are two paf- fages which have been generally brought forward as an evidence for the Gofpel of St. Matthew^. Barnabas is fpeak- ing in the feventh chapter of the fuf- ferings of Chrift, and delivers this as one of his fayings : — They who will fee me and obtain my kingdom, muji receive me xoith many fufferings and affli6iions \ And in the fourth chapter he intro- duces — Many are called, but few chofen, as the declaration of certain divine Scriptures, For he makes ufe of a phrafe whix^h was commonly em- y See Lflr^fw^r's Credibility, vol. H. p. 14, 15, of the edition of his works, publifhed in 17S8. ^|.— Cotel. p. 24. D 3 ployed 38 The Authen ticity of ployed by the Jews when they quoted their facred books, It is written, — Let lis beware^ fays he*, lefi it Jhould happen to us, as it is written, There are many called, few chofen, Thele paflages, it is true, exift in the fame, or in very fimilar words in the Gofpel of St. IMatthew. But our au- thor does not point out, by a fingle word, by whom thofe expreffions were written, or where they are to be found. The firft paiTage does not even prove th^t the declaration of Chrift alluded to, had been taken from any written information. He might, with equal probability, have received it from the oral narration of the Apoftles. And with refpe6l to the fecond, I find no trace, that Barnabas means here ex- prefsly the Gofpel of St. Matthew. If • Alraoft the five firft chapters arc wanting in the original. In the old Latin verfion the paflage ftands thus, p. 60:— Adtendamus ergo, ne forte, /f«/ f^^P' fum eft, Multi vocati, pauci elefti, inveniamur. a perfon, the New TefiamenL 39 a perfon, for example, Ihould read in Plutarch — "We find it related, that the letter of Marcellus, on being re- ceived at Rome, did not alleviate the forrow of the Romans, but rather in- ftilled more terror into them^;" he would conclude from this paflage — • " that in the time of Plutarch, credible documents concerning the affairs of the Romans fomewhere exifted ;' — but he would not be inclined to prove from it, that Livy had written a Roman hiftory. If we caft our eyes on the catalogue of fcriptural paiTages, which the Apof- tolical Fathers are faid to have quoted, *» This paflage is aftually found in the above men- tioned author, in his life of Marcellus, Vitar. Parall. vol. ii. p. 273. edit. London. 729. in v. vol. 4to. He is fpeaking of a letter, in which the Proconful comforts the Romans after a fevere defeat which they had fuf- feredfrom Hannibal, in this manner:— " For he him- felf was on his march to drive; Hannibal out of the country.— KafTaura ynvt (continues Plutarch) Ai^io? ^vjo-iv oLVCcyvua-^tvra, ra y^a|W^aTa /x>j T>35 Avwij? x^i> to me incontrovertible f that It muft be afcribcd to the year 96.. — Credibility, vol. ii. p. 23—28. correCl 1 the New TeJlmnenU 47 correct nor perfect. Only a fnigle ma- nufcript of it is come down to us. In this fome leaves are wanting; and this defed appears to be in that very part which regards the information on the fcriptural books. For in all probabi- lity that is wanting which Eufebius, in the above-mentioned paflage", and Ire- naeus Adv. haeres', have quoted from it. — Eufebius fays, that Clement in this epiftle, had adopted many fentiments pf the Epiftle to the Hebrews, and even tranfcribed fome paffages. The former are found indeed in the epiftle, which ftill exifts, but not the latter: unlefs we fuppofe that the words of Eufebius are not to be taken in their moft literal meaning,. But Irenaeus, in proof of the antiquity of the then pre- vailing do6lrine, appeals to this epiftle of Clement '' In it," thefe are his words, " he delivers the do6lrine which >lie had very lately received from the • B^ ui. ch. j8, 4» Lib. iii, cap. 3. § 3- p. x 75- Apoftles; 48 The Authenticity of Apoftles; viz. that there is one Almighty God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth; who formed man, brought in the de^ luge, called Abraham, condu8;ed the Jewiih people out of Egypt, fpake to Mofes, gave the law and fent the pro- phets; who has prepared fire for the devil and his angels; that this God is de^ clared by the Church to be the Father of Jefus Chrift, every one who choofes may fee himfelf from this epiftle^."* ^ The Five Books agalnft Herefies, by Irenaus, arc extant at prefent, except a few fragments preferved by Greek ecclefiaftical writers, only in an antient Latin verfion. In the paflage quoted above, the tranflator ufes the word Scriptura — *' Ex ipfa Scriplura, qui velint, difcere poflunt." — Probably, therefore, the word in the original was y^a^n But the tranflator in the re6lion juft preceding, which Eufebius has preferved in. the Greek, having rendered the fame word by Eptjile, ought alfo to have tranflated it in the fame manner here ; Ko^»»G»oi5. he tranflates— Scripfit, quae eft Romac, ec- clefia, potentifFimas literas Corinthiis.— This remark proves how void of foundation is the accufation which is made by the enemies of Chriftianity, that Irenaeua in this place pronounces the epiftle of Clement to be (Scriptura) a divine Scripture. All the New Ttjlameni. 49 Ail this alio is wanting in the epiftle which has defcended to us. Irenaeus does not indeed pofi lively aflert, (as Mill on jMatth. xxv. 41. appears to adopt) that Clement had taken that do6trine from the apoftolical writings ; he only fays, that he had received it from the Apoftles. Neverthelefs, his information ftill proves, that as mrly as ' the firjl century the xery fame fyjlem, in refpecl to the above- men^ tio?ied points, was adopted by the Chrif- tians, which we find in our preftnt Scriptures of the New Teftament. — Perhaps Clement had been more co- pious on this fubje6i;, which IrenoBus has only quoted in the form of extracts. If this be the cafe, the lofs is of ftill greater moment. Clement in this epiftle appeals by name to an Epiftle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, in which he fpeaks of fa6lions among them; one of which declared Peter, another ApoUos, and a E third 50 The Authenticity of third Paul for their head'. In order to recommend unity and univerfal love to the Corinthians, he ufes afimilitude, *' Confider," fays he', " our bodies. The head is nothing without the feet^ fo neither the feet without the head. Even the moft inconfiderable members are very necelTary and ufeful to the whole body. They all harmonife with, and are fubjeO: to, one another, for the prefervation of the whole." St. Paul ufes * the very fame fimilitude for the very fame purpofe. — In the forty-fixth chap. (p. 69) he exhorts them to unity «" Ch. xItu. p. 70.—** Look, into the Epiftle of St* Paul the Apoftle. What has he there written to you in the very beginning, in the beginning of Chriftianity ?" (Thus I render the words, iv a^;^yJ'Eyay7'£^^oy, which phrafe is commonly ufed in this fenfe by the ecclefiaftical writers. This muft not therefore be under flood of a Gofpel written by St. Paul ; which is alfo evident from the context.) — " Through the inftigation of the Spirit, he admonifties you concerning himfeif and Pe- ter and Apollos, becaufe that even then you did form parties.*' • Ch. xxxvii. p. 57. < I Corinth, xii. 12— >z5. a and the New Teftame7it, ^ 51 and love, " becaufe they would other- wile lacerate the members of Chrift, and tear them from one another; and tvoiild rage againft their own bodies, and moft fenfelefsly forget, that we are members one of another.'' St. Paul alfo, 1 Cor. xii. 27. has employed the fame argument. — He makes " a repre- fentation of charity, which is taken almoft entirely from 1 Cor. xiiL "Charity covers a multitude of fms. It undertakes all work, it bears all with patience. In charity there is no mean- nefs, no pride. — Charity does all things with unity. Through charity the chofen of God are made perfe6l." — ^Thus much then is unquejilonable from the evidence of Clement, that the Firjl Epijtle to the Corinthians, was actually written by the Apoftle Paul, in thefirji century. In the thirty-fixth chapter"^, Cle- ment makes the very fame comparifon « Ch. xlix. p. 73. "ff page 55, 56. Eg between 52 The Authenticity of between Chrilt and the angels; and ufes the very fame arguments to prove his divinity, as are found in the Epiftle to the Hebrews, chap. i. 3 — 13. The whole paflage deferves to be fubmitted to the reader, that he may himfelf judge of its concordance with the above-mentioned part of the Epiftle to the Hebrews. — Clement had before laid of Jefus, That he alone was the High Prieft, through whom God would lead us to the enjoyment of immortal wif- dom; ''who," he continues, "is the brightnefs of his Majefty, {^x-G7xvyxall it be forgiven unto you. As you do, fo iliall it be done unto you. A^ you give, fo Ihall it be given unto you. As you judge, fo ihall you be judged ; ^s you ihew kindnefs, fo ihall kindneis be ihewn unto you. With what mea- fure you mete, with the lame it iliall )>Q meafurecj unto you." Similar com- piands of Jefus actually exift in Matt, vii. 1. and J^uke vi. 3^ — ^'^' But Cle- ment does not once aifirm in this paflTage, that he derived them from any xvrit- ten information. He, and alfo the Co- rinthians to whom he wrote, might have received thena oralis/ from the Apoftles. r—In the fame manner he reminds theni^ X Page 20. y Chap. 46. p. 70. of the New Teji anient, of another precept of Jefus.^ " Re- member the words of Jefus, who faid, Woe to that man ; it were better for him, that he had never been born, than that he Ihould offend one of my ele6l. It were better for him that a millflone ihould be fattened to him, and that he ihould be drowned in the fea, than he ihould offend one of my 4ittle ones." This agrees almoil ver- batim with tlie difcourfe of Jefus, in Matthew xviii. 6. Mark ix. 42. Luke xvii. 1, % — But it does not therefore follow, that the paiTages were taken from the{e fcriptures. Clement might have known them from 07^al informa* tion ; or other lives of Jefus might exiit from which he feleSled them ; for St Luke in his Gofpel, i. 1. a6lually declares, that in his time many fuch lives of Jefus were read among the Chriftians. From this caufe Lardner ^ alfo is in doubt, whether he could call * Credibility, vol. ii« p, 3i«-33. E 4 thefe 56 The Authenticity of thefe palTages teftimonies for the hif* torical truth of the books of our New Teftciment Whatever beficles is ufually quoted from the epiftle of Clement for the Authenticity of the New Teftament, is of infinitely lefs value. Some of thefe fentences agree with our New Tefta- ment only in common-place maxims, or indeed only in a word or two. — " Let us come up," fays Clement*, *' to the glorious and venerable rule of our holy calling." This, it is pretended, is a quotation from the paiTage, 2 Tim. i. 9. " Who hath called us with an holy calling." — '' Nothing," fays he in another placed '' is impoffible w^th God, but to lye;" which is pretended to be taken from Heb. vi. 18. where fomething fimilar is faid of Gqd. We might in this manner prove that Se- peca, Plutarch, nay even Socrates and fiato, had quoted the New Tefta- f Chap. y[\u p. iij ^ Chap, xjfvii. p. 41, ment, the New Teft anient, SJ ment — Others, indeed, have a greater refemblance in thought and expreffion; but they are not therefore of necej/ity taken from our New Teftament. Cle- ment might have learnt them through perfonal intercourfe with the Apoftles, or have borrowed them from the books of the Old Teftament '', or from other Chriftian writings ^ which then exifted. Dr. Mill, c For inftance, In the 30th chap. p. 45, he quotes a palTage, yet without naming its author. — " For God,"*' fays he, *''refill:eth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble." — This fentence is found indeed in James iv. 6. ; but Itftands alfo in Proverbs iii. 34. ^ The author of what is called the fecond epiftle. Is fpeaking of the wicked, chap. iv. p. 93. and then adds—" Concerning thefe the Lord has faid, Though ye fhould be joined unto me, even in my very bofom, and keep not my commandments, I would rejeft you, and fay unto you. Depart from me, I know you not, whence you are, you workers of iniquity." — This paffage is evidently fimilar to that in Matt. vii. 23. Neverthelefs, it is not taken thence, but from an afO' (rjphal hook. In the fame manner Clement, when he quotes the difcourfes or aftlons of Chrift, may have taken them from fome other hiftory that was extant |\'hen he wrote. For the other hiftorians of the life of 58 The Authenticity of Dn ]\lill, in the Prolegomena to his edition of the New Teftament, Num. 140, draws the following inference from this epiftle of Clement: — That Clement had read our firft three Gof- pels, the Acts of the Apoftles, the Epiftle to the Romans, the two Epiftles to the Corinthians, the Epiftle to tlie Hebrews, the Epiftle of St. James, and the firft Epiftle of St. Peter. From fuch conclufions the moft convenient opportunities are afforded to unbe- Jievers, of bringing into difcredit the whole body of evidence for the truth of Chriftianity. I dare not attempt to prove from this ancient document more than — tliat our jirfi Epijlle to the Co- in nth ians is authentic. In reading this venerable work of a teacher, who was an intimate friend of the Apoftle Paul, who was alfo well of Jefus might have been equally credible men, as thofc whole memoirs are contained in the New Teftament, al» though they did not write, like the latter, from divine icfpiratlou. acquainted the Nexv Tejlament, 69 acquainted with the other Apoftles, and had undouhtedly a perfe6b knowledge of all their do6trines and writings ; who even himfelf prefided, at the time of the Apoftles, as bifliop, over a community to which St. Paul had written one of his longeft epiftles, many difficulties have very forcibly occurred to me. I will here point them out; perhaps they may excite others to examine this im- portant document with more accuracy. • — Firft : in this lliort epiftle, which oc- cupies about forty fmall o6lavo pages, Clement quotes almoft fifty palTages from the Old Teftament, fometimes wo)^d for word, and fometimes bi/ name. It was therefore by no means contrary to the faihion of thofe days to quote many fcriptural paflages by way of proof. IVh]/ then does he ap- peal to the Scriptures of the New Tef- tament fo fehlom ^verbally, and only in a Jingle Injlance by name ? They were all at that time compofed, the Reve- lation ^0 The Authenticity of lation of St John perhaps excepted. For Clement wrote his epiftle after the death of the Apoftles Paul and Peter*. • — Secondly ; in the xxiv — xxvi. and in the 1. chap. p. 39 — 4-2, and p. 74, 7o, he attempts to prove the refurreftion of the dead, and quotes for that purpofe many pafiages from the Old Teftament, all of which in facl prove nothiag. JVhence is it then, that he quotes not a Jingle one among the great number of Jar clearer parages in the New Tejiamenty particularlij in the Jirjl Epijilc of St. Paul to the Corin- thians ? What could be more decifive to the Corinthians, to whom he wrote, than the determination of the Apoftle, who had v.-rought fo many miracles among them, and of whofe divine in- fpiration they had no doubt ? Having frequently made thefe dif- ficulties the fubje6l of my confidera- tion, it appears to me that much may e Chap. V. p. 9, 10. be the Nexo Tejlament ^ 6 1 be faid to Icffen, if not entirely to re- move, their force. — As to the firft, I anfwer, That Clement very rarely makes his quotations from the Old Tefta- ment by name ; but almoft conftantly only according to their contents. Nor was it very cuftomary for the ancient writers to quote by Jiame, as may be feen for inftance in the Epiftle to the Hebrews, in which the au- thor quotes generally according to the contents only, or with an inde- terminate phrafe, " one in a certain place teftifiedV Moreover, Clement prefumed that the contents of the New Teftament were already known to the Chriitians at Corinth. But this he could not prefume in -refpect of the Old Teftament, which was generally un- known to the heathen converts. — ^^With regard to the fecond difficulty, it ap- pears to me that the immediate obje61: of Clement was not fo much to prove ^ Chap. i. il, the 6^ The Authenticity/ of the truth of this do6lrine of Chrii- tianity, as to Ihew its harmony with the do6lrine of the Old Teftament For this reafon he quotes, however ill- applied, paflTages of the Old Teftament exclufively, and in fuch profufion. The do6lrine itfelf he prefuppofes to be true, and to be believed. The be- ginning of the 47th chap. — " Receive the Epiftle of the Holy Paul; what has he there written to you ?" rendered all further quotations of particular paf- fages of this epiftle unneceffary. 3. Hermas. WE have an ancient writing under the title of Paftor^, or Shepherd, which bears the name of Hermas, whom St Paul, Romans xvi. 14. enumerates among thofe to whom he particularly fends falutation. It contains, as we have it at prefent, three books. In the iirft, which has the title Vijiofies, t It (lands in Cotelerius, voL t. p. 75—>ia6. are the New Tejlament. ^ 63 are four vifions. The Church of God appears to him four times, in the form of an old woman, gives him various doctrines, (which are very common- place, and not always juft) and parti- cularly informs him, that the Chriftians had much tribulation to expeO:, but that they might overcome it by patience and prayer. — After fome time appears a venerable man, in the habit of a Ihepherd, and dictates to him as be writes, twelve commands, which con- tain a kind of catechetical inftru6lion in morality, very incomplete, and in part bad and unchriftian. Thefe are the contents of the fecond book, which is therefore called Mandata. — Again, this venerable man di8;ates to him certain types, comparifons, and narratives, in which are veiled certain moral truths^ and the future fortunes of the church. Thefe compofe the third book, which on this account is entitled Similitu- dines, — The work was written origi- nally 64f The Authenticity of nally in Greek. But we have now only an ancient Latin verfion*', except a few fragments preferved in the Greek fathers, and which may be feen in Cotelerius. If we were to form our judgment of the author from the book itfelf, we Ihould fuppofe it to have been written by one jvho was a Jew by bij^th, and who lived in the jirfi centurxj. The rigid adherence to fafts, and high idea of their meritorioufnefs^; the figura- tive and allegorical kind of reprefen- tation""; the quoting of the hook Heldam €t ModaP; and the Hebrew name given h Whoever defires to be further informed concerning the opinions of learned men on thefe writings of the apoftolic^l period, may confuit the firft vol. of Le Nourry Apparatus ad bibliothecam maximam Patrufn et antiquorum Scriptorum eccles. Lugduni edit, m which every thing that belongs to the fubjeft is treated with great accuracy and copioufnefs. The account of the Pallor is to be found, p. 47 — 70. i See Slmilitud. V. ^ See the Vifiones and the Similltudincs. * Vifio. ii. §. 3. p. 77. — << The Lord is nigh to them that the New Tejtament, 65 given "" to the angel, or, as others ex- plain it, to the frightful bealt which appeared to him ; thefe evidently be- tray a writer, who was educated .in tlie Jewifli mode of thinking. — And that it w^as compofed in the firft century, is probable from the firft book. In this the old woman foretells the fortunes of the church, and indeed in a very ipyfterious manner. But all her pro- phecies are fo general and indetermi- nate, that nothing more can be learnt from them than that, " the Chriftians were to be greatly perfeeuted." Now had the author lived later, in the fe- tiiatturn unto him, at it is written in the book of Hel- dam and ModaV who prophefied to the people in the •ivildernefs." Thefe are the words of the author hlm- felf. The hlftory to which he alludes, is found in Numb. xi. 26, 27. But the Hebrew name>; of thefe prophets are Eldad and Medad. In the Synopf. Scrlp- turae S. which is known under the name of Atha- nafius, there is a book Heldam and Modal mentioned among the apotryphal writings of the Old Teftanient, m The name in the work itfelf is Hegrin, ]"'"1^^rT. See Vifio. iv. §. a. p. 83. & Not. Oxonienf. in loc. F coud, 66 The Authenticity of cond, or even third century for in- itance, he would certainly have made his prophetefs to give a more de- terminate and complete delcription of thofe perfecutions ; of the tyrants who ihould command them ; of the cruelties, and modes of torment and death which fhould hereafter be made uie of; and fubjefe of the like nature. — ^The author, it may be added, who in the whole compofition appears to have been a good, though an ill-informed man, calls himfelf Hermas, and affures his reader, that he wrote it at Rome ", and at the time when Clement was Bifhop of that church*. We perceive, therefore, even without external evi- dence, that it is extremely probable that this work came from the apofto- lical Hermas. And this is corroborated n ViCo. i. ^. I. p*^7. where they may be feenjall at one view. H X(p i7i^uv uvscyKuioroiTovf on; /-laAtra ^st roi- F 7. ^ftua-tv^ 68 The Authenticitii 6f very well with the work which we have at prefent Its ftyle is entirely adapted to the fenfes- The Similitudiaes in which the writer clothes his inftru6lion, are nothing more than a colle6lion of fimilies, taken from common obje6ts, for inftance, from a vine, a green tree, or a flock. This is the cafe alfo witlt the Mandata and Vifiones. And thus we in modern times compofe books of inftru6lion for children ; but indeed with this difference, that it is written in a rough and unpoliihed ftyle. The whole plan of the book is, if I may ufe the exprelTion, dramatic; as if adapted to children and beginners. The author does not teach, but relates. The firft book is the narrative of his conferences with a venerable matron; and the other two contain the relation of his converfation with a Ihepherd. ^uuaiv^ Offuyuyixfifi xixptrat oOfv n^n xan t» ixxXt}- drtat^j tcr^iv avro h^nixoffkiviAitot* Hist. £ccl. Lib. III. cap. iii. p. 90. Thefe. the New Tejlament. 69 Thefe converfations are throughout dramatic. A fplendid tower is erected by a variety of artifts, and compofed of ftones of every fpecies. Hermas walks into the country ; here his in- ftru6tor points out now a vine, now a tree juft ihooting forth its leaves; and, at every profpecl, takes occa- fion to inftruft him. — The writer of this book is fometimes reprefented as an enthuliaft who fancied that he faw a variety of vifions, and heard revelations. We might with equal juftice, on account of the fairy tales in her Magazine for children, call Beau- mont a fanatic. This form in which Hermas has compofed his book, did not certainly afford him any opportunity to quote paffages from the Bible, as proofs in his fyftem of inftruQ;ion. Many fimi- lar thoughts and expreffions have* been produced, of which Lardner ' has col- r Credibility, vol. ii. p. 52—65. , V 3 le6led t6 The Authentkity of le6led a great numbet. But although this work ia nearly as large ad all the other writings of the apoftolical fathers taken together, yet we cannot difcover in it any where a fmgle fcriptural book cited exprefsly, and by name. 4. Ignatius. IGNATIUS was Bifllop of Antioch; at the command of the Emperour Trajan, becaufe he could not be prer vailed on to renounce Chriftianity, he was conduced to Rome in the year of Chrift, 106, in order to fight with wild beafts exhibited at the public games; he remained conftant, and was lorn to pi'^ce^ l^y lions in the amphitheatre. Hi^ ie\M3n genuine epiftles ' ftand in Cotelefius, vol. ii. p. 11—42, and in Yvtf^o edit, immediately after the epif- _, « Bciitid.s tl^e Original,. fwhith it written in the Greek language, there is extant alfo an ancient Latin vcrfion, which is^found inCotelcriu*,^. ]a4*— 131. ties the New Teftament. 71 ties of Clement, p. 1 — 73. Thefe are tolerably well purified ' from modern interpolations. I fay tolerably \^'ell, for even the fmaller edition appears in certain places, to be ftill fufpicious. — In all thefe epiftles, only a fingle book of the New Teftament is exprefsly named by him, which is St. Paul's Epiftle to the Ephejians. Among the advantages belonging to the Ephefians, which Ignatius notices in his epiftle to this community", he diftinguiihes this in particular, that they had received the knowledge of the myjlery of the holy Paul. "You are," fays he, "fellow- partners in the myftery of the holy Paul — who in his whole Epiftle, makes honourable mention of you, as true t See Jacob I Uflerll differtationes de Ignatu Epif- tolis, in Cotelerius, vol. ii. p. 199. feq. but particu- larly, Joannis Pearfonii Vindiciae Ignatianae, ibid, p. 251. fq. and Joan. Clerici. difT. delgnatli Eplftolis j ibid, p. 5pi. fq. and Prof. Schroeckh's Ecclefiaftical JiHlory,vol. Ii. p. 337. of the Original. « §. xii. p. 4.9. - F 4 members 72 The Authenticity of members of Jefus Chrift^" St. Paul names the important dofeine to the publication of which he was peculiarly called, that is, the do6trine of the equal participation of the grace of God through Jefus by the Heathens and Jews, the Myftery, the heretofore un- known do6lrine, jwurnf »oi/ \ On this account Ignatius calls the Ephelians Fellow-partners in the myftery of Paul, (ITauXou (Tu^^uraO and reminds them of the praifes which the Apoftle had fre- quently beftowed on them in his Epif- tle; that he might thereby excite in them a noble ambition. — We have therefore in this paflage an exprefs evidence J or the Epijtle ej St. Paul to the Ephefians. For the luppofition of the author of the "Letter coi^cerning * Ilav'Kov avfjifjiv^ai rov ryiec-ftivot;,— 3< iv vecff^ ETTiro^'j iiyr,yi.cvvn vfjiuv iv X^ir^ Ircrof . That fxptfxo- »ii;i»» sometimes means to male honourable mention of one is well known j fhould a proof of this be required, I refer the reader to Lardncr, Credibility, vol. ii. p. 70. " Rom. xvi. 25, 26. Ephef. iii. 3—9. thcv the New Tefiament, 73 the perfons to whom St. Paul wrote what is called the Epiftle to the Ephe- fians^," that inftead of /ai/»ihaov£U£» muft be read (Auvifxovivu), is a conje6lure which not only contradi6ts (as Lardner has obferved on the cited paffage) all ma- nufcripts, but deftroys alfo the whole connection of the twelfth fe6lion. In the epiftle to the Philadelphians", he gives them as it were an account of the fources from which he had drawn his faith. " I flee to the Gofpel, as to the body of Chrift ; and to the Apof- tles, as to the prefbytery of the church. Let us 8,lfo refpefl the Prophets; for they likewife publifhed to men, that they Ihould ground their hope on the Gofpel and on Jefus, and expe6l his coming*." Every one will acknowledge that y See ^enfon's Hiftory of the firft planting of the Chriftian religion. * §. V. p. 48, 45. * TlfO(7>iyovruv on toty [x-n tv roiq ap;(;aio»?» (or, ac- cording to a different readuig, ao^^^jnoii;) Ivcui ev tu ivatyyiT^Mf a M(;. But it Is by no means uncommon to ufe this word in the plural number, although only a fingle epiftle is meant. Comp. Cotelcrii not. in loc— Lardner fuppofes that Polycarp in this place intended not only the Epiftle to the Phllippians, but alfo both the Epiftles of St. Paul to the Theffalonians. Credi- bility, vol. ii. p. 91. 2. '§. xi. p. 159. «§.xli. p. 159. iracundiam tkeNewfeJiamenL Si iracundiam veflram. Now fihce the palTage, as here quoted, does not exill in any part of the Old Teftament, but is found exclufively in the Epiftle of St Paul to the Ephefians, iv. 26, this fentence may therefore be ccnfidered as an evidence, that the Epijile to the Ephefians was already efteemed at that time as a divine Scripture, This epiftl6 of Polycarp is through- Out moral, and contains a variety of ethical maxims, delivered almoil in the fame words which we find in the Scrip- tures of our New Teftament. — " Re- membet*" fays he*, " what the Lord talight, Judge not, that ye be not judged; forgive, and ye fliall be for- given ; be merciful, that ye may ob- tain mercy; with the fame meafure that ye mete, it Ihall be meafured to you again.'* Further, ^'BleiTed are the poor, and they that are perfecuted for righteoufnefs fake, for theirs is the * §. ii. p. i^St H^» G kingdom 1j2 The Authenticity of kingdom of God." Paffages of fimi- lar import are found in St. Matthew, V. 3. 7. 10. vii. 1, 2. St. Luke, vi. 20. 37, 38.— "We muft all ftand before the judgment feat of Chrift, in order that every one may give an account of ^Jimfelf^" This alfo is found in the fame words, Rom. xiv. 10. 1^. — He warns them * againft covetoufnefs with the very fame arguments and expref- iions as are found in 1 Tim. vi. 7. 10. '* The love of money is the root of all evil. Let us therefore well confider, that as we brought nothing into the world, fo can we carry with us nothing out"— In this work of Polycarp we meet befides with many fentiments in exa6tly the fame drefs in which they exill in the firft Epiftle of St Peter; which has alfo been remarked by Eu" febius*,^ That I may not be too prolij^ •^ §. vi. p. 1 50. "» §. vf\ p. 147. '**- » Hift. Eccl. Lib. XV. cap. xir. p. 169. Tlc^v theNewTeJiament, 8^3 prolix, I ^ill mention only the paflages below ''.^ — From thefe paffages alone, we cannot indeed conclude, that he has taken them from the undermen- tioned books of the New Teftament^; but when joined with the numerous ahd clear evidences which wili be pro- duced in the following pages, they greatly corroborate the proof of the Authenticity of the New Teftament. SECT* III. Tejlimonies from Works of the firjl Century^ which are now lojl. TO thefe evidences of the apofto* Ikal fathers, we are enabled to add y Compare §. i* p. 144. with 1 Pet. 1. 8.— §. \u p. 145. with 1 Pet. i. 21.— §. 11. latter part, with z Ptt* iii. 9.^ And, §. v. p. 149, with x Pet* ii, 11. ■ See above, p, 38, g2 yet 84 The Authenticity of yet fome others from the firft century. The writings themfelves are indeed, to the great lols of Chriftianity, no longer extant; but the following evidences from them have been preferved in part by Eufebius. Papias, Billiop of Hierapolis. was, according to Eufebius*, a man of very moderate underftanding, but who em- ployed fo much the greater care in examining into the do6lrines and hif- tory of Jefus and of his Apoftles, from their immediate acquaintance and dif- ciples. He had collected confiderable information, particularly from Ariftion, and John the Prelbyter, [whom fome * Hift. Ecclef. III. cap. xxxix. p. 135. 38. In this place, Eufebius treats amply of the hiftofy and writings of Papias. The decifion which he makes in P* '37» c^o^'^a — — cr/x»xpo? ui to» vow?, u^ etv tx t*>» ttvrov hoyuv rtKfxnfaixivoy tt'rrnv ^utttrcth muft not be confidered as a contradiftion of the paflage in Lib. III. cap. xxxvi. p. 130. For the opinion which 18 found there, TlocTriaq, — — — ayn^ rot irxvret ot» [/.aXirec \ctyibiTuroq xa» rrii y^o-^tj? i»^»3f*wr, is the interpolation of ft Scholi^. See Valefius in loc. conceives! / the New Tejiament 85 conceived to be the author of the Apocalyple] which information he de- livered to pofterity, under the title, Aoywv xu^iaxwv «^»})'»}o-if, An Explication of the words of the Lord. But of this work nothing now remains, except the extracts which are preferved iA Eufebius. The information, properly belonging to the New Teftament, which was con- tained in that book, is given us by Eufebius **, in the following words :— "' Mark, the interpreter of Peter, faith- ^ fully wrote what the latter had taught. * He has not indeed placed the dif- * courfes and actions of Chrift in their * proper chronological order ; for he * was neither a hearer of the Lord him- * felf, nor one of his immediate fol- lowers; but, as I have already men- ' tioned, became afterwards acquainted * with Peter, who taught according to * the wants of his hearers, but withoi^t »» Page 137, 138. G 3 ' any $6 The Authenticity of * any view of giving a hiftory of our ' Lord's difcourfes. Mark however * committed no miftake in writing fome * things as they occurred to his memory. * For he was anxious to omit nothing * which he had heard, and to add 'nothing falfe to his account' "This is Papias' information concerning St. Mark. And of St. Matthew he writes, * Matthew wrote his Gofpel in the * Hebrew language, and every one in- * terpreted it as well as he could.' ** The fame Papias makes ufe alfo of certain evidences from the firft Epiftle of St. John, and the firft Epiftle of St Peter. He relates likewife anotiier ftory of a woman, accufed before the Lord of many crimes ; which hiftory is found in the Gofpel according to tlie Hebrews ^" — This paflage depofes an irrefragable « M«pKO( fjitv ip/^rvif T»jj IliT^ou -yiro/iiii'Of, la-cti tfivn* piLonvaiVt aHfh$6jf syfu-^tvt a fAivroi Ta|c> rcc viro rou Xg»rov n ^l^6l>T«, V "/rfa^ljtnm.* art ya| *jxo«jo£V ravra. yt-iv ovy fropTjTat ra Hxviot irsfi rov Map«ou* W£p» ^ Toy MarOajoy retvr Eipvtreci* MarSato^ fxtv ovp *Ej?piatT^» ^ocXiKTU rx P^oyix a-vveypx^ctro* xpiJt,rivsvff§, ^ avra «5 t^wotro Ixafo?* x£xp>}Ton ^ avrof yi.»^* TVf»a»f awo T*)? luoLivov Vfrtpuq £7rtroX»}f> Jtat tjjj Il£Tpoy ojkoiaq* s>i7tQnroti ^e xat aX^viv treptav n'cpfr- yvvetiKo;, iiti nraXKetiq ct[ji.ufrtoi,ig hx^^vt^na-vi tvt r^v xvf loy, r,9 TO xaS' 'Ej^patoy? EuayyiXjov 7r«pj£X«»» 4 Gofpel 88 The Authenticity of Gofpel of the Hebrews, or as it is like- wile named, of the Nazarines''. In cafe Papias had advanced in his book ftill further evidences of a fimilar nature, and we have reafon to fuppofe that he did fo, Eufebius would have rendered great fervice to pofterity if he had extra6led them.' But it is much to be lamented that he often excerpts the old writers not fo completely as fcholars muft defire. In the Thirty- fixth Chapter of the Third Book of his Eccl. I lift. (p. 133,) in which he continues his account of the Chriftian teachers in the reign of Trajan, he fays tliat many of them left their na- tive country, and exercifed the office of Evangelifts, zealoufly announcing Chrift to thofe who had yet heard nothing of the preaching of faith, ancj delivering to them the fcripture of the i §ec FabrlcJi Cod, apocr. N. T. I. 355, divine the New Tejlament, 89 divine Gofpels*. Eufebius, a man of an integrity univerfally acknowledged, aflures us, that he drew his informa- tion from the documents of antiquity which he found in the library at Cae- farea. We are therefore certain, that as early as the beginning of the fecoiid century^ th^fou}^ Go/pels, w^hnh were received in Eufebius's time, i. e. the Go/pels of St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke and St. John, were univerfally know7i among the Chri/iians; and not only efteemed as genuine writings of the men above-mentioned ; but alfo as of divine infpir'ation. CHAP, II. JVitneffes in the Second Century. IN the fecond century the evidences for the Scriptures of the New Tefta- ment • Kat y»^ ^)) flrXtifoj rm Tore ixa^vtruvt c^o^porsfa fi>,oo'u»c», x«» rr,y ruv 0nw» iuayy!X»«« 2 tianity the New Tejiamen t. 9 1 tlanity received its origin, at that time prevailed a mixture of opinions, for the moft part falfe, but which bore the venerable name of Philofophy, and foad been for a long time embraced by many even at Alexandria, which city, iince the Ptolomies, was become the chief feat of learning. This Oriental Philofophy (we will admit the honour- able appellation for the fake of bre- vity) was diitinguilhed from the Gre- cian, principally in three points, viz. in the do6lrine of fpirits ; the maia^- taining of two original-beings ; and in morality. — In the do6lrine of fpirita thefe philofophers had not only regular genealogies of fpirits, which they c^led -^ns; but had alfo invented a pari- ticular fcience, Theurgy, or a col- ledion of rules, to call up fpirits and compel them to fatisfy the defires of men. Again, in order to folve that great problem of the underftanding, The origin of evil, they adopted two equally eternal S2 The Authcnticiti^f eternal and powerful original-beings, one good, the other bad. From the bad was derived all matter, conle- quentl}^ the bodies of men, which were therefore the feat of every fm. And from this principle flowed the whole of that gloomy, morofe, melancholy fyftem of morals adopted by the philofophers of the Eaft; which placed true virtue in the rejection of all the pleafures of fenfe, and in the fevere treatment, mortiiication, and torture of the body^. Thefe • *" See — I. The information contained in Xeno" ^hon, Plato, Ariftotle, and Diogenes Laertius Prcoem. vitar. philol'. §. viii. — z. The fragments of Zoroafter in Eufebii Praeparat. evangel. — 3, The doflrlnes of th e Bramins.— 4. The refutations in St. Paul.— And 5. The doftrines of the Gnoftics and Manicbeans. Compare Moftiemil Inilit. H. E. majores, fee. i. 136. 339. with Diflcrt. de caufis fuppofltorum librorum inter Chriftian. fee. i. et ii. vol. i. dlflert. in H. E. ■p. 213 feq. But the learned and ingenious man, who every where perceived ^^/«f/, which his philofophical head had created, appears abfolutely to err, when he fuppofc?, that in the Kafl exifted a peculiar feft, which l^ad brought rU tbofc^tcncts ipto a regular fyftem. If the New Ttjlament, 93 Thefe opinions were likewife not un- common among the Jews, as may be colle6ied from the refutations of them in the New Teftament, and from the writings of Jofephus. The Pharifees laid a great ftrefs on Theurgy; and through the exercife of this vifionary art, they obtained a great part of their confequence among the people. The EiTenes in particular adopted the whole fyftem. This oriental philofophy infinuated itfelf by degrees alfo among the fol- lowers of the Grecian lyftems. Of thefe none had been fo generally re- ceived as that of Plato, which was in moit parts excellent. But it became gradually much changed and corrupted not only through ignorance, mifun- derftanding, and innovation ; but alfo by being intermixed, particularly by is more probable that there exifted a variety of fefts, which occafionally adopted different doftrines. Plotinu* 54» The Authen ticitif of Plotinus of Alexandria 5 a Platonift af tiie third century, with the oriental fyftems. Thus arofe the New-piatonic philolbphy ; a mixture of the platonic, but very much corrupted, and of the oriental philofophy: and this became the principal fource from which were derived the perverfions, mutilations, and moft abominable corruptions of genuine Chriftianity. For until the fecond century, the Chriftians always perlifted in the found expofition of the New Teftament. To this period they continued free, if we except the joylefs morality of the Effenes, from the diftra6:ions of pfeudo- C Plotinus, a difclple of Ammonias Saccas, tra- Telled into Perfia, purpofely to learn the doftrines of the Indians and Perfians. He was the mafter of the celebrated philofophcr and enemy of Chriftianity, Porphyry j who alfo edited his works. Moftieim too much indulges his wit here alfo, as has been re- marked and proved by Semlcr, Walch, and others. Prof. Meiners has treated this fubjeft very amply in his * Confiderations on the New-Platonic Philofophy.' Leipiigt 1782, Svo, philofophy ; the New Tejiament, ^5 philofophy ; and maintained among themfelves genuine apoftolical Chrif- tianity. But fcarcely had fome of the fcholars of the heathen world (for in- itance Clement of Alexandria) acknow- ledged Chriftianity, when the pfeudo- philofophy of the Eafterns and New- platonifts, broke in like a rapid tor- rent, and left behind univerfal defo- lation. Until this time the doftrines of the Chriftian religion had been preached without exception, and with the greateft publicity to all who would hear them, and, as the founder of Chriftianity expreifed himfelf in his charge to the Apoftles ^ *^ from the lioufei tops," But now, in refemblance of the heathen myfteries, certain ceremonies and dodrines began to be concealed, and thus Chriftianity aflumed its myf- teries as well as heathenifm. Belides, a variety of heathen ceremonies were adopted in the divine fervice, and *' Matthew x. hence §6 7'he Authenticity of hence Chriftianity became gradually a ceremonial religion. Since Origen (in the third century) this fyftem of religion, which commands in a parti* cular manner the ftri6;ert adherence to truth, was perverted fo much, that it was declared a duty of charity to forge miracles, and in lliort, every thing elfe, if by thele means converts might be made to their religion ; nay, this was carried to fuch a pitch of fliamelefs effrontery, that thefe infa- mous forgeries were named, pious de- ceits, piae fraudes. The zealous fup- porters of the new-platonic philofophy intermixed their fyftem, even that part of it which is called platonic love, with Chriftianity. Socrates and Plato de- fended the moft intimate union of men with beautiful boys, in fuch a manner, that they made a diftinftion between corporeal and fpiritual love ; and af- ferted, that the wife man feels only the latter in refpe6t to the beauty of the boy, the New Tejiament, 97 boy, in order to condu8; him to virtue. Hence arofe in the third century that moft infamous cuftom for perfons of the oppofite fexes, without being united in the bonds of marriage, to live with one another in the clofeft intimacy; in order, as they pretended, to eftabhih a mere union of fouls for the pur- pofes of virtue. But the mo<^ inju- rious efFeQ;s, and the almoft mortal blow which Chriftianity received from that pfeudo-philofophy of the eafterns, and more efpecially of the new-pla- tonifts, was the utter neglect, mutila- tion, and fubverlion of morals ; toge- ther with the myftical mode of inter- preting the New Teftament. The fimple and perfpicuous fyftem of mo- rality which Chriftianity taught, was too light for thefe pretended philofo- phers ; it afforded too little matter for their fancies and fpeculations. It became therefore negle6led, and fmce ^he third century the whole importance H wa* 98 The Authenticity of was made to confift in the theory of Chriftianity, or rather, of the oriental- platonic Chriftianity. But the matter did not reft even here ; the religion be- came burthened with the above men- tioned theurgy, and corporeal morti- fication ; and through the aiTiftance of niyftical and ridiculous interpretations, every error and every impurity which the pafllons or caprice of men defired, were introduced into the New Tefta- ment. In this manner that eafy, beau- tiful, immediately and univerfally ac- tive, chearful, and philanthropic re- ligious-fyftem of the New Teftament, became during the fecond and more particularly the third century, a gloomy, harfh, mifanthropic fyftem of whims, fancies, monkery, deceit, and hierar- chical tyranny. To thefe dreadful calamities from within were added alfo from without inceflant perfecutions, which were of- ten general, and fometimes extremely bloody the New Tejiament. gg bloody and cruel. Even the worthy Trajan, and yet the more excellent Marcus Antoninus, tortured and put to death many of their moft faithful fub- je&s only becaufe they were not ido- laters, but chofe to live according to thofe laws of Chriftianity, which even the heathens themfelves acknowledged to be irreproachable and exo41ent\ But the moft horrible of all thefe per- fecutions began to rage againft the Chriitians about the year 249. The Emperor Decius proceeded fo far as to attempt to exterminate Chriftianity by the roots. By his orders the Chriitians were not only put to death, but were alfo affli6led with the moft exquiiite tortures. A Chriftian, for inftance, had his whole body fmeared with honey, and then, his hands tied behind his back, expofed quite naked to the me- ridian fun, where myriads of infects J Let the reader confult, for inftance, Plinii E-pift. 97. Lib. X. H ^ affailed 100 The Authenticity of aflailed him, and confumed his body by infenfible degrees ''. Neverthelefs, this religion was con- tinually extending itfelf in all the parts of the then known world. In Gaul there already exifted flouriftiing communi- ties at Lyons and Vienne; in Ger- many; in Britain ; in Africa, and every where the number of the Chriftians fo increafed, that even in the beginning of the fecond century the heathens complained that the temples of the gods were quite deferted ; and towards the end of the third, the court and army of the heathen Empcrours were filled with perfons of this perfuafion. — This extenfive propagation of Chrif- tianity was undoubtedly the confe- quence of the continually increafmg promulgation of the Scriptures of the New Teftamcnt. As early as the be- ginning of the fecond century were k See Schroeckh's Ecclefiaftlcal Hlft. IV. 190. of Uie original. made the New Tejiament. 1 or^^ made Latin and Syriac verfions. Learned men, (particularly Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and his fcholar Pierius), were anxious to have accurate tranfcripts of the original ; and opulent men, (efpecially Pamphilus), caufed at a great expence many exa6t copies of it to be taken and difperfed ^ — We will now hear the individual w'tnefles themfelves, 1. Juftin Martyr. JUSTIN, furnamed the Martyr, be- fore his converfion to the Chriftian faith, had carefully ftudied the Stoic, Peripatetic, Pythagorean, and Platonic fyftems of philofophy ; and muft there- fore be confidered, on account of his learning and antiquity, as a witnefs of the greateft importance™. It is ne- ceflary 1 See Prof, Schroeckh's Ecclefiaftlcal Hi ft. Part i.— iv. and C. R. Walch, On the ufe of the Holy Scrip- ture among the ancient Chriftians— Leipzig, i779,8vo, m Concerning the circumftancea of his life, principles, K 3 and 102 The Authenticity of ceflfary to read only his ^ Addrefs to the Gentiles,' (xoyoq n^oq 'EXA^jva?, pag. 1 — 3), 'The Exhortation to the Gen- tiles,' (Xo'yo? TTCcpoLivniKoi; tt^o^ *EXA>iv«f, p. 6 — S6), and the work 'On the only God,' (TTfpi fAovscp^iaq, p. 36 — 452), in order to be convinced of his extcniive reading in the beft writings of anti- quity. Thefe works of Juftin prove inconteftibly that the firft followers of Chriftianity were not by any means fuch as its enemies alTert, univerfally and writings, the mofl: accurate and ample informa- tion is to be found in the Preface to the Benedi«5line Edit, of his works, Haag, 1742, fol. Befides the genuine and fpurious works of Juftin, this edition con- tains alfo—Tati^n's Oration againft the Gentiles, p, 141 — 276. — Athenagoras's Apology for the Chrlfl:ians, p. 277—313. — And, his Treatife on the Refurreftlon of the Dead, p. 314 — 336. — Xhe three books of Theophilus of Antioch to Autolycus, p. 337 — 400. —The Satire of Hermas op the Heathen Philofophers^ p. 401 — 406. — And the fragments of the loft writings of Juftin, Tatian, and Athenagora3 5 together with the A6ls of the Martyrdom of Juftin, p. 585 and fol. —His firft Apology is a well written defence of the Chriftians againft the calumniatioj^is of the Gentiles. 8 unlearned the New Teflament, 103 unlearned and fimple men. Juftin was much better acquainted with the works and opinions of Plato, Ariltotle, and Pythagoras, and with the writings of Orpheus, Homer, ^fchylus, So- phocles, and Euripides, than moil of thofe who are pleafed to affert that the heathen authors are the only fources of all wifdom, but the follow ^ers of Jefus univerfally mean and fmiple men. Befides the Revelation of St Jofm ", Juftin has not quoted in any part of his works from a fmgle writer of the n Dlalogus cum Tryphone, cap. Ixxxi. page 179, Kflti ira,^ vif/Av avvjp ti?, u ovofACC luxw/i^t hq rcJi wjro^ohuv rov Xprot/j tv Atroy.u'^v^n yivafxivn avru, X»Ai<» trr} 'rroiyicruv tv Iifovcroi}\.v)fji, tovj ra ifASTijow Xoir^ Tni-Evcrutraq srfou^jjTEfcrE, xcti ^(.ira, ravTx rrjf xaGo?;ix»3v X.UI — — uiaviocv 6[/,o^viJi.u^oy afji,a. iravrut uvxfetaiv yivnarta^ai y.ai xpjcrt** * A man from among us, whofe name was John, and an Apoftle of Chrift, has prophefied in his Revelation, that they who believe in our Chrift, fhall live a thoufand years in Jerufalem ; and after that fliall follow the univerfal and eternal refurreftion and judgment/ H 4 New 1 04 The Authenticity of New Teftament by name. But he ap- peals often and exprelsly to the Gof- pels, which were compofed by the Apoftles and their aiTiltants, as to thofe books from which the Chriftians derived their tenets. — In his firft apo- logy (prefented to the Emperour An- toninus the Pious) he gives this reafon for the celebration of the Lord's Sup- per among the Chriftians °: " for the Apoftles in the memoirs which are named Gofpels, have thus aflured us, that Jefus ordered them to do it; That he took bread, gave thanks, and *> Apolog I. cap. Ixvi. page 83.— See alfo Dialog, cum Tfyphone Judaeo, cap. ciii. p. 199. Ev roif ecTrofAVTiiAoveVfjixe-i rwv uttotoXuv ytypccrrra.it Trtpoce^Gw^ (namely aotroivu^) ecvrt^ (Chrift) xat •a-ttpa^wj' y^x^* Toy EiTTEJv ayrw, wpocrxvv>jcroj' /xoi, xat a.iroy.^iia.a^xi avru rot Xp($*oy> vfretyt o'rrtcra (/,ov ffwravoc' Kvfiov toy ©so)» a-ov wpocrxyvijo'stj xa» ctvru [jlovu Xarpsuat »?•""* And in the fame place : £» rciq a7ro/x»r?/>tom//ixaT05» wa^tXGsTWj tt ^vvacr QVt to Trom^toy rauro; then the New Tejiament. 1 05 then faid, This do in remembrance of me : This is my body : That in like manner he took the cup, and after lie had given thanks, faid, This is my blood." And in his advice concerning the behaviour of the Chriftians at their Sunday meetings, he mentions even, " that the memoirs of the Apoftles, or the writings of the Prophets, are publicly read ; and when the reader has ended, the prefident of the community exhorts them to the imitation of fuch excellent things ^" An evident proof, that as early as the beginning of the fecond century the Gofpels were not only generally known among the Chriftians, but were re- vered, even as the Scriptures of the p Apologia I. cap. Ixvii. p. 83. K ^l£yof^6v)J vifAe^oif j? TW» xu>>at Tovruv /*»• Old 1 06 The Authenticity of Old Teftament, that is, as divint books. The view with which Juftin com- poled his works did not allow him to ufe the Scriptures of the New Tef- tament by way of proof. We find, lieverthelefs, where opportunities oc- cur, a variety of pafiages, and thefe (Quoted with the addition that they were to be found in the Chrijliaii Scriptures, Thus, in the ' Firit Apo- logy,' in which he fpeaks of the ex- cellent laws of Jefus, and the virtuous actions of the Chriftians ''j of their hope of a future refurre^lion'', and of their cuftomary mode of Baptifm and of Supper of the Lord', — and like- wife in the ' Dialogue with Trypho', when he treats of the prophecies which Jefus had pronounced ^, of John S Apolog. I. cap. XV — ^xvll. p. 52—54. ' Apolog. I. cap. xix. p. 55. » Apolog. I. cap. Ixi— Ixvii. p. 79—84. » Dialog, cum Tryph. cap, xxxv. p. 132. cap.lxxvl. p. 137. cap. cvii. p. 201. the the New Tefl anient. 1 07 the Baptift", of the morality which Jefus taught"^, of Mary the mother of Jefus *, and of the infults offered to the dying Saviour ^, — many paffages are quoted from St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John, word for word. And the whole ^ Dialogue with Trypho' is, in particular, a repetition of the hiftory of the life of Jefus, ar'it ap- pears at prefent in our Gofpels. In this work Juftin compares the circum- ftances in the life of Jefus with tlie characters attributed to the Meffiah in the Old Teftament, and concludes, from their having been exaftly ful- filled in him, that he was the MelTiah promifed by God. n Dialog, cum Tryph. cap. xHx. p. 145. cap. li. p. 147. cap. IxxxvIIi. p. 186. ■* Dialog, cum Tryph. cap. xclll. p. 190. 3t Dialog, cum Tryph. cap. c. p. 196, y Dialog, cum Tryph. cap. ci. p. 196. e. Tatian. 1 08 The Authenticity of 2. Tatian. TATIAN, the father of the Encra- tites, Ihews himfelf in his ' Oration againft the Gentiles^', to have been a man, who, from his travels, had be- come intimately acquainted with the world; and from reading, familiar with the beft writers and with the hiftory of the Gentiles. In this Oration he in- forms the Gentiles how little reafon they had to boaft of their philofo- phers and of their wifdom ; and prefles them with very pointed reproofs drawn from their own writings, laws, actions, and manners. In a work of this kind we can eafily fuppofe, that the author had no opportunity of quoting the Scriptures of the New Teftament ; and we therefore find, in two pajjages ex- » See above, p. loi, note «.— The Preface there noticed, gives ample information concerning his life, writings, and opinions. cepted, the New Tejtament, 1 09 cepted*, that they are never once mentioned. — But this witnefs had de- poled fo much the more in favour of their authenticity in his other writings, which are now loft, except a few frag- ments preferved by different authors. — I Ihall produce him again, at the conclufion of this century, amon^ the remaining witnefles, whofe teftimonies are known to us only through the in- formation of others. 3. IrencBus, IRENiEUS, Bifhop of Lyons, had not only lived very near the times of the Apoftles, but had enjoyed familiar intercourfe with one of their imme- * Cap. xlil. p. £55. and cap. xlx. p. a6i. In the firft paflage he afferts, that the foul Is xa6' ictvrn* CTKoro^t x«i ofStv it avrvi (portivov ; (how this is to be underftood is explained by the editor, in the Preface, Part. 11. cap. xi. §. iii. p. 49.— 51.)— and then adds, xa» rovro ertv apa to si^DfAsvov' h a-Kortct t« ipuq ov xara^afA^avn (John i. 5).— In the other paf- fage he quotes John i. 3. with thefe words, ^^vra V9r* uvToVi nm ^tfgtg uvtqv yiyQisv ovh f y* diate 1 10 The Authenticity of diate dilciples and friends ^ In his ^-^^ books Agtiinft Herefies, he deli- vers very ample and clear teftimonies for the hiftorical truth of the Scrip- tures of the New Teftament. — He quotes all the Evangeiyis often, and by name ; relates the caufe and delign of their writings; and declares that there were only four Gofpels, viz. thofe of St. iMatthew, St. iMark, St. Luke, and St. John, which were ac- counted genuine and divine books*". In * In the above-mentioned edition of his Works by MafTuet, very copious information is given con- cerning \\\s life, opinions, and writings, in the pre- fixed Diflertationes praev. ad Irenaeum. — He left many works, which are named by Eufebius and Jerom. But of thefe, if we except a few fragments, nothing is now remaining befides his Libri quinque adverfus hasrefes. Even thelc have net come down to us in the Greek original, but are extant only in an ancient Latin verfion.— The authenticity of this work has been amply proved by C. R. Walch j fee Roflcr's Eccltfiaftical Father*, v. 264—270. « The moft particulai* paflliges.are. Lib. III. cap. i. p, 174. and cap. ii, p. 150—152. That he makes ufe the Nexv Tejiament 111 In oppofition to the Valentinians, he proves by many paflages from the Gof- pels of St. Matthew ^ St. Mark^ St Luke^, and St. John^, and alfo from the Ads of the Apoftles by St. Luke^ that there is but one God the creator and preferver of all things. — To the writings of St. Paul he appeals yet more frequently. He proves his te- nets againft the heretics moft commonly from St. Paul's Epiftle to the Romans, the two Epiftles to the Corinthians, the Epiftles to the Galatians, Ephe- fians, Philippians, and Coloffians, the two Epiftles to the Theflalonians, thofe ufe of fuch ftrange arguments, from the four winds, ice, by way of proof, is of no confequence to us in the prefent inquiry. It is fufficlent, that he ex- prefsly afferts that in his time no other Gofpels, but the four aboue-mentioned^ were received among Chriftians. ^ L. cit. cap. ix. p. 184, 185, « L. cit. cap. X. p. 185—88. f Ibid. % L. cit. cap. xi, p. 188 — 90. ^ L. cit. cap. xil, p. J93— -98. to 112 The Authenticity of to Timothy, and the Epiftle to Titus. He afferts in many places that thefe twelve Epijiks were the genuine and divine works of aS'^^. Paul ' ; makes nume- rous and fometimes long extracts from them, evidently proving to every reader, that they are the very fame which we at this time poflefs in the New Teftament\ In like manner he teftifies alfo the authenticity of the Jii^Ji Epiftle of St. Feter^; the frji and fecond Epif- ties of St, John^\ and the Revela- tion of the fame Apoftle ". He » For, In his quotations he makes life of the fol- lowing phrafes : — * Paul has this in his Epiftle to the Romans,' Lib. III. cap. xvl. p. 205. — * Paul fhews this in his firft — or — fecond Epiftle to the Cormthians,"* Lib. III. cap. vii. p. 182. Lib. IV. cap.xxvii. p. 264, He ufes thefe or fimilar forms of quotation for every one of the above mentioned epiftles, ^ Lardner has collefted proofs thereof In his * Cre- dibility of the G. H.' vol. ii. p. 157—169. J He quotes this epiftle alfo, with the fame Intro- duftory phrafe-r* Peter fays in his epiftle.' — Lib. IV, cap. Ix. p. 238. » See Lib. III. cap. xvl. p. 206, and ibid. p. 207. * See particularly, Lib. V. c;ip. xxvi.— iinem libri, p. 323 the New Tejiament 1 1 3 He aflerts that thefe writings were divine, and the Aire foundation of the Chriftian faith °. What his opinion of th€ other books of the Ne^t Tefta- iti6nt was, we cannot, from his file nee, determine. He appears to have con- fidered the Epiftle to the Hebrews as neither the work of St. Paul, nr. £t divine book p. — This is a proof, that the firft Chriftians were not fo cre- dulous as modern infidels repreferif them. Had they received all at ran- dom, without examination, then cer- tainly they would not have reje6led ^o univerfally the apocryphal writings, and hefitated to acknowledge the authen- ticity of fome of the books of the New Teftament. p. 323—337, whfere he proves the Deftru6tibn of the Roman Monarchy, the Wkkednefs of AritlchrTft, and' th^ millenniary kingdom about to take place before the uiiiverfal judgment, from the Revelation of St. John. « See Lib. III. cap. i. p. 174.. Lib. It. cap, jfi'^Hi. p. 156. P See Lardher^s Credibility of the G. H. vol.' u. p.* 164—166, I In 1 1 4- The Authenticity of In his time coUeftions "^ of the evan- gelical and apoftolical writings were already in the hands of many Chrif- tians. They were diligently ftudied; and in order that thofe who w^ere not opulent might not be deceived by any corrupted copies, he advifed them to apply to the teachers of the church. — *' All the divine fcriptures," fays he', ^* both prophecies and gofpels are open and clear, and may be confulted by all." — And in another place ', " That man will eafily convince himfelf of this, \ Sec Lib. I. cap. iii. p. 17. and Lardner, 1. cit. p. 170,171. ' Lib. II. cap. xxvli. p. 155. • Lib. IV. cap. xxxii. p. 270. From the firft view it would appear to follow from this paflage, that the copies of the facrcd books were at that time exclu- fivcly in the hands of the teachers. In fa^ it aflerts only thus much, that they poffefled the copies moji to be depcttdsd on j for the paflage referred to in the note immediately preceding, together with many other rea- fons, will not permit us to doubt, that the generality of Chriftians alfo, poflefled them in abundance. See Walch On the \Jk of the Holy Scriptures. the New Tejtament. 1 15 (viz. that the Old and New Tefta- ments came from one and the fame God) who diligently ftudies the divine fcriptures which are in the pofleffion of the preibyters of the church." Beiides the evangelical and apof- tohcal works above mentioned, Irp- naeus acknowledges no other to be divine. He appeals indeed often, and with high panegyric, to the writings of Clement of Rome, Polycarp, Papias, Hermas, and Juftin Martyr, but he never betrays any fuch veneration for them, as he Ihews for the writings of the Evangelifts and Apoftles^ Here then we have an extraordina- rily important evidence for the hifto- rical truth of the greateft part of the books of the New Teftament : — it is the evidence of a man who lived fo near the times of the Apoltles, who t See Lardner, Credibility, vol. ii. p. 173—1785 who has examined with much folidity the paiTages in which thefe writings are quoted. I 2 had 116 The Autlienticity of had enjoyed an intimate intercourfe with one of their immediate difciples; and was therefore as capable of in- yeftigating accurately the truth of thofe writings, as we are of proving the hif- torical truth of a work attributed to Grotius or Selden: — it is the evi- dence of a man who was well read in all tjhe works refpe6ling Chriftianity, both of the orthodox and heretics; who Jumfelf doubted of the truth of fome books of the New Teftament, and qonfequently mtifl be confidered in this point as totally exempt from cre- dulity. — This witnefe, thus qualified, ajppeals in the face of heretics to thofe writings, as to works which defceiided incontefiihly from the Apojiles and JEvangeliftis, We fhould, undoubt- edly, without hefitation pronounce every other book, refting only on a fmgle evidence of fuch weight, to be genuine. Why then fhould not the teftimony of this wijtnefs have its full force the New TeJla7neHt, 1 1 7 force on the Scriptures of the New Teftameiit? 4. Athenagoras. ATHENAGORAS, a philofopher and a native of Athens, is the moll poliihed and elegant author of Chrif- tian antiquity; and in refpe6; of -^lyle, excels even Origen. His two works, the Apology or Petition for the Chrif- tians, (vp£(rC£*a TTifi Xp^ • . committeth 1 24 The Authenticity of committeth adultery \" — In the fame book, chap. xiv. p. 389, * But tlie Gofpel fays'", " Love your enemies, and pray for them that defpitefully ufe you. For if you only love them that love you, what merit have you ? Even robbers alfo, and tax-gatherers do this." — In the Second Book, chap. xxii. p. 365, he quotes the paflage in 1 John i. V, 3. with the following introduction : ' Tliis is taught us by the holy fcriptures, and by all thofe conducted by the Spirit, among whom John faysV &c. — With the title of the * Divine Doctrines,' he quotes paiTages from Rom. xiii. 7, 8, .1 Tim. ii. 1, 2'.— And in the Third Book, chap. xii. p. 388, he fays ^ the commands of the prophets and evan- gelical writers are throughout concor- »► See St. Mat. v. 28. 32. %' * To 3'h Et-ayysXiey Xiyct. « Lib. III. Cap. xiv. p. 389. Eti — — wXiti* yil».»i 6f iO( Xoyo;. ^ # 5 dant, the New Tejiament, 125 dunt, becaufe they have all fpoken as infpired by the *very fame fpirit ot God^' We may apply to this author our previous obfervations on Juftin Martyr, Tatian, and Athenagoras. Frequent quotations from the writings of Homer, Hefiod, Plato, Euripides, Aratus, &-^. difcovered that Theophilus was like- wife a man of learning and cultivated talents. 6, Clement of Akxandiia. CLEMENT, wlio was a teacher and preibyter at Alexandria, deferves even on this account the efteem of pofte- rity — under his iaftru6lion was formed Origen, the moft learned of all the fathers of the church. In his writings which are yet preferved^, he quotes all ^ Atet TO Toi^ *arr«5 ir*ivyt{tro(po^V(; hi 'Jtvtmxri % Namely,— in the Gohortatio ai gentes^ p. i— ^5« •—In the Padagogus, p; 96 — ■514,— In the eight books, named 1 £6 Tlie Authen ticitT/ of all the books of the New Tejlament (except the fecond Epijile of St. Peter, the feco7id and third Epijiles of St, Johriy the Epijile of St. James, and the Epijtle to Philemoji), fo often by name, and fo amply, that were I to extract all the citations, they would fill a volume ^ — To obtain a funda- mental knowledge of the Chriftian re- ligion this author had travelled into Greece, Italy, Egypt, and Afia *; he named Stromata, (that Is, Various Difcouifes), p. 934. —and in the diflertatlon, S^uis dives falveiur? p. 935 —961. of the Edition of Bifliop Potter, Oxford 715. fol. See Le Nourry Adparatus ad Bibliothecam maximam patrum, torn. i. p. 624.. feq. where the reader will meet with the mod ample information con- cerning the writings of the Alexandrian Clement, Even in thefe works we find very evident proofs of the great injury which Chriftianity has fuffered from its connexion with the nevv-platonic phllofophy. See above, p. 95. ^ Laidner has collefted fome examples on every book ; Credibility of the G. H. vol. il, p. •210—330. i In the Stromata, Lib. i. p. 32a. he fays that his book was a fhort (ketch of the difcourfes which he held with confiderable perfons in the above-mentioned countries. was the New Tejiament, 127 was well acquainted with the writings of the earlier Chriftian teachers, Bar^ nabas, Hermas, Clement, &c. " ; he had examined the apocryphal books which then exifted among the Chrif- tians, and compared them with the genuine works of the facred writers'. — All thefe circumftances evince that he did not give his aflent to the holy fcriptures until he had accurately k He cites them often, and with great efteem ; but he never pronounces thera to be di'vine Scriptures, as has been (hewn by Lardner, 1. cit. p. 231—234, * He frequently quotes paflages from the Gofpel according to the Hebrews j the Gofpel according to the Egyptians j the Preaching of Peter j the Revela- tion of Peter j the Traditions of Matthias. But he diftlnguifhes them clearly enough from the genuine writings of the Evangelifts and Apoftles. See Lard- ner 1. cit. p. 234.— 24.2.— And even if w(e fhould grant that he confidered the writings of Barnabas, Hermas, and Clement of Rome, and the Sybllline verfes to be divine, yet this would not tend to invalidate the proof for the divinity of the Scriptures of the New Teftament. For we ufe the teftimonies of the ccclefiaftlcal Fathers not in order to prove, that thefe Scriptures are of divine original j but, that they are genuine writings of thz.EvangeliJfs and Apojllet, examined t^ The AufhpifkitT/ of ^Xiaiffttfed them; and therefore afford ccyflfiderable weight 16^ his evidence f(yt their authenticity. 7. TertuUian, TERTULLIAN, a prefbyter at Car- thage, is the moft ancient of all th^ Latin fathers whofe works are now extant. His melancholy turn of mind, and the evil cuftoms which began to prevail among Chriftiar^s, induced him to embrace the fanatical doftrines of the Montanifts. But his Montanifm can by no means weaken his evidence for the hiftorical truth of the New Teftament; unlefs we conceive that a fanatic muft neceflarily lofe all his or- gans of fenfe. Generally fpeaking, his tenets have no farther influence on his writings, than to occalion his preaching a too fevei^e fyftem of mo- rality; and to ihew that he revered Montanus a^d his prophetefles Prif- cilla and Maxifiailk as infpired per- fons, the New Tejiament isg fons, through whom the fpirit of God had fpokefl.~We have a great variety o£ his writings which dilplay much facred and prophane learning. But his ftyle is extremely tedious, obfcure, replete with Latin words of his own forma- tion, entirely inharmonious, and not rarely bombaftic. Cave aflerts, in op- pofition to LaQ;antius "", that " it is lofty and mafculine, and carries a kind of majeftic eloquence along with it, that gives a pleafant relifli to the ju- dicious and inquilitive reader." But the decifions of this author on ftyle and eloquence are as injudicious, as his hiltorical information is unqueftionable. That TertuUian was a man of ta- lents, and well read m the claflTic works of antiquity, is undoubted ". But he had read, like many grammarians and modern editors, with the aid of m Hiftor. iiterax,. S^riptor. ecclefiafti.CQr. n I quote here the edition of his works by NIco- laus Rigaltius, P^ris, i64j[..f^. K the 1 30 The Authenticity of the memory alone, but without tafte or underftanding. La6tantius is of the feme opinion, '' Tertullianus fuit omni genere literarum peritus, fed in elo- quendo parum facilis et minus comptus, et multum obfcurus fuit" His works are filled with quotations by name, and long extracts from the writings of the New Teftament — In the Apology for the Chriftians, which he delivered to the heathen magiftracy at Carthage, he appeals, among other things, to the ftri6b obedience and re- verence of the Chriftians towards the Roman Emperours. *' How can you fuppofe,'' fays he% " that we have no regard for the welfare of the Empe- rours? Behold only 'the word of God, our Scriptures, which we by no means keep fecret, but whicli are even in the hands of our enemies. Thefe com- mand us to pray even for our enemies. The following precept * Apoiogeticus, p. 30. alfo the New Tejiament. 131 alfo is found there exprefsly, Pray for kings, princes, and powers, that all things may proceed peaceably with you." — Againft Praxeas he quotes his proofs principally, as he expreffes hinir felf, from the New Teftament, from the Gofpels, and Apoftles. " If I ihould not fettle this difpute from the Scriptures of the Old Teftament, I will take my proofs from the New Tejtament. For I perceive both in the Gofpels and the Apojiles, that God is as well vifible as invifible^" — He mentions a Latin tranflation of thofe writings, but which did not always accurately exprefs the meaning of the original text^. — He treats copioufly of the four Gofpels, of St. Matthew, of St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John, in a work againft Marcion'; and proves p Adverfus Praxeam, p. 646. — de Novo Teflamento fumam confirmationem In E'vangeliis et in Apof^ tolis vifibilem et invifibilem Deum deprehendo. q De Monogamla, p. 684. f Adverfus Marclonem, Lib. iv. p. 502, 503. K 2 their 1 32 The Authenticity of their authenticity from numerous and credible evidences lince the times of the Apofties. He quotes, by name, every Jingle book (the Epiftle of St. James, the fecond Epiftle of St. Pe- ter, and the fecond and third Epif- tles of St John, alone excepted) with the title of divine fcriptures^ and fo often, that, to prove it in this place by extracts from his works', would be perfectly fuperfluous. I will mention only a fmgle paflage more, which will ferve to ihew how cautioufly men a6ted at that time in examining the genuine apoftoHcal writings. In his work Againft Herefies, De prsefcriptione haeretico- • The reader will find examples In Lardner's Cre- dibility of the G. H. vol. ii. p. 256— 277.— Or, the truth of the aflertion may be feen ftill more clearly from the lift of fcriptural paflages quoted by Ter- tullian, which is contained in the above-mentioned edition, p. 766— 795.— And we cannot difcover the leaft trace that he had received any other book as divine, or as z genuine writing of the Evangelijis and j^pojiles. See Lardner, p. 284., 285, rum. the New Teftammt, 133 rum *, he fpeaks with great confidence of the authenticity of the apoftoli- cal writings which were adopted as fuch by orthodox Chriftians. He ap- peals to the evidence of communi- ties which the Apoftles had perfonally eftabliihed, at Corinth, at Philippi, at Theflalonica, atEphefus, and at Rome; whofe members, on account of their intimate intercourfe with the Apoftles, could aflert with the greateft degree of certainty what writings a6t:ually ema- nated from them. " Age jam, qui voles curiofitatem melius exercere in negotio falutis tuag, percurre eccleiias apqftolicas, apud quas ipfae adhuc ca- thedrae apoftolorum fuis locis praefi- dent; apud quas ipfae authenticae li- terae eorum (their genuine works) re- citantur. — — Proxima eft tibi Achaia? habes Corinthum. Si non longe es a Macedonia; habes Philippos, habes- « Cap. jDcxvi. p* 445. JL^dner has very well cleared up this obfcure paflage : Credibility, vol. ii. p. 266— 1€9. K 3 Theffa- l'^^ 77te Authenticity of Theifalonicenfes. Si potes in Afiam tendere; habes Ephelum. Si autem Italiae adjaces; habes Romam; unde nobis quoque auftoritas praefto eft, " SFXT. III. Evidences from Works of the Second Century, which are now loft, THE enemies of our religion com- plain often and loudly of the lofs of thofe writings againftCbriftianity, which were compofed by its ancient oppo- nents; and fome of them accufe the Chriftians, in language by no means doubtful, of having been the caufe of the deltru6lion of thefe works. But they do not take into confideration, that bf the writings alfo of the ancient friends and defenders of Chriftianity many more have been loft than have been preferved. And that, together with thefe writings, many important evidences for the Authenticity of the New the New TeJlamenU 1 ^S New Teftament have alfo periftied. We have already" regretted this lofs when we treated above of the hiftory of the firft century. In the fecond this deficiency is ftill greater and more to be lamented. 1. Concerning Dionyfius, Bilhop of Corinth, Eufebius gives us the follow ing information ^ : — He \vrote feven epiftles to different Chriftian commu- nities, and another to a Chriftian matron : in the epiftle to the commu- nity at Athens he exhorted men to believe and to a6t according to the Gofpel : in the epiftle to the Nicome- dians he defended the true canon (or, as others tranllate it, the rule of truth, TO) Ttif aX7i9ci»? Traptrara* xa^ov*), in Op- pofition to the herefy of Marcion: in tlie epiftle to the church at Amaftris he had inferted expofitions of the Di- « Book il. chap, i . w Eufebii. Hlft. Eccl. Lib. IV. cap. xxiii. p. 184 —187. edit. Reading. K 4 vine 1 36 The Authenticity of vine Scriptures.' — All thefe epiftles are tiOw loft; and with them much impor- tant information, and many weighty evidences for the Authenticity of the New Teftament 2. In the work of Tatian, which ftill remains", we find (on account of the particular purpofe for which it was compofed), few allufions to the apof- tolical writings. — But of thefe he had treated fo much the more amply in hia Harmony, or Ata T«r(ra/3«v, a Gofpel compofed from the four Gofpels taken together. This work was well known to Eufebius^; and although the author might have inferted his heretical prin- ciples even here, yet the lofs of this work is greatly to be lamented as well for many other caufes as on account of its great antiquity ^ — Irenaeus"", and Clement of Alexandria ^, allude to X See above, p. loS. y Hift.Ecclef. Lib. IV. cap. xxix. p. 193, 194. « See Valellus in Eufebium, 1. cit. » Lib. III. cap. xxiii. §. riii. p. ^^^. ed. MalTueti. t> Stromal, Lib. III. p. 547. Potted. Other the Nem Tefiatmnt, 1 37 other writings of this author, in which he attempted to prove fome of his he- terodox tenets by jquotations from the foi/i Epijik of St. Paul to the Corm- tkiam. 3. Hegefippus, a convert from Ju- daifm, compofed five books of Eccle- fiaftical Hiftory, in which he gave an account of the apoftolical preaching ^ But of this work we have nothing re- maining except a few fragments pre" ferved by Eufebius and Photius. Al- though the hiftorian might not have entirely laid afide that credulity and inclination for the fabulous, which was peculiar to the Jews of his time (and that this was the cafe is plain from the extracts in the above-mentioned authors), neverthelefs, the lofs of his work is much to be lamented; becaufe there undoubtedly exifted in it much material information for a hiftory of the fcriptural writings, which he muft « Eufebius Hift. Ecdef. Lib. IV. cap. viii. p. 150. have 1 38 The Authenticity of iiave collected in his intercourfe with many confiderable teachers of Chrif- tianity. However, we difcover from the fragments, that he was very well acquainted with the Scriptures of the New Teftament. For he quotes them often, although not by name; and his manner of writing is invariably in that peculiarity of ftyle belonging to thefe books'. 4. Melito, Biihop of Sardis, has rendered himfelf remarkable in eccle- fiaftical hiftory, particularly by his ex- amination of the Sacred Books of the Old Teftament*. He compofed va- rious writings, of which we fcarcely know more than the titles, as they are ;given to us in Eufebius^ His books, ^ See Lardner's Credibility. e He travelled into Paleftine, on purpofe to obtain information on the true Canon of the Old Teftament - Eufebius has preferved his catalogue, H.E. Lib. IV. cap. xxvi. p. 190, 191. <■ Hift. l^cclef. Lib. IV. cap. xxvi.' p. 188, 189. On the New Tejiame7it. 1 39 On the Condud of Chriftians ; Of the Prophets ; Of the Church ; On the Lord's Day; Of Obedience to the Gof- pel (jri^i uVaxorj? -srirfw?) ; On the Con- ception and Birth of Chrift (ws^i xlio-fwf xa* yiVKTiiaq Xf irou) ; On the Revelation of St. John ; and On the Incarnation of God (wfp» cKTWjiAaTou 0£ou) ; con- tained probably more particular in- formation concerning the apoftolical writings. — From the few fragments of his works we can produce him only as an evidence for the high antiquity of the Revelatioji of St, John.; yet even this is of dubious import, as we have no information concerning the contents of his treatife on this fubje6t ^. 5. Of S The epiftle of Melito to a perfon of the name of Onefimus, who was the caufe of his journey into Pa- leftine, begins thus, (Eufebius 1; cit. p. 191). * As you have often, from your love towards the divine doftrine, required of me that I fhould coUeft from the Law and the Prophets thofe paflages which concern the Jledeemer and our common faith j and as you were defirou$ 1 40 The Authenticity of 5. Of the terrible perfecutions which the Chriftians in Gaul fufFered in the time of the Emperour Marcus Anto- j>inus, we find a very affe6ting relation ill the epiftle which the communities at Vienne and Lyons, in France, fent on this account to the Chriftians in Afia. Eufebius has preferved a great part of it in his Ecclefiaftical Hiftory''. The fufferings of the Chriftians, the patience, cheerfulnefs, and fteadfail behaviour of the martyrs, are de- fcribed by fentiments and expreffions which are taken from the Scriptures of the New Teftament. — '* Then was the faying of the Lord fulfilled, The time will come when whofoever killeth you defirous of knowing accurately the old fcriptures, their number, and the order in which they were compofed, — — I have therefore inquired after the hooh of the Old Tejlament^ &c.-^Thls paflage appears to prove, that at that time exifted alfo a fecond colleElion of facred hooks, under the nanie of the Neiv TeJlament.'^See Lardner, 1. cit. p. 148. ^ Lib. V. cap. i— iv. p. 198. fq, will the New Tejiament, 141 mil think that he doth God fervice,'' John xvL 2. — " They (viz. the mar- tyrs) prayed for their executioners, as did the holy Stephen, Lord, lay not this Jin to their charge.'' A6ls vii. 50. — " They endeavoured to follow the example of Chrift, Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal to God:' Phil. ii. 6. — " He (a martyr of the name of Vettius Epa- gathus) was a true difciple of Chrift, following the Lamb whit her foever it goes:' Rev. xiv. 4. — When we refleft that this epiftle was written by a com- munity in which Irenseus (who has depofed fuch ample evidence for the Scriptures of the New Teftament, p. 109.) was at that time a Prelbyter, W6 may without hefitation ufe thefe paiTages as proofs of the antiquity of the Gofpel of St. John, of the AEts of the Apojlles by St. Luke, of the Epif- ties to the Romans and Philippiaiis, and of the Revelation of St. Joh?i; 6 although US' The Authenticity of although thefe books are not quoted by name. 6. Miltiades, one of the Apologifta for Chriftianity, was, according to the information of Eufebius', well Ikilled in the Divine Scriptures and Chriftian theology. He had given convincing proofs of his erudition in a book which he wrote againft the Montanifts with this title, wj/)t Tou jtA»i $etv ziypo(pnT'nu ly iKfoca-et XaXetv, ' That it does not be- come prophets to fpeak in ecftacy;' and in his works againft the Jews and Gentiles ^ — "He has alfo left us," fays Eufcbius, " as well in his writings againft the Gentiles, as in thofe againft the Jews, monuments of his zeal for the divine books." — Without doubt, therefore, he had copioufly ufed the i Hift. Ecclef. Lib. V. cap. xvii. p. 231, 233. ^ See Eufebius, 1. cit. — In the firft work, he had undoubtedly made mention of the frji EpiJlU to the Corinthians. Compare the remark of Valefms in loc. cit. authorities the New Tejiament, 143 authorities of the Scriptures of the Old and New Teftament. 7. I have produced Theophilus of Antioch above (p. 122.) as an evi- dence for the authenticity of the Gof- pels of St. Matthew and St. John, of the Epiftle to the Romans, and alfo of the firft Epiftle to Timothy. — Did the work which he wrote againft Her- mogenes, -cj^o^ mv aipsa-iv Epf^oyevov^y ftill exift, we might like wife prove from him the antiquity of the Revelatio7i of St JohiiK 8. Pantaenus, whom Eufebius", ap- parently by miftake, mentions as pre- fident of the catechetical fchool at Alexandria, was, as this author in- forms us, fuch a faithful and learned 1 See Eufebius, Hift. Ecclef. Lib. IV. cap. xxiv. p. 487, — ^who fays, that Theophilus in the above- mentioned book had taken fome of his proofs from the Revelation of St. John, ev w ex. t>55 cfjenKcscT^v^iu^ iuotvvov xs^pvirai ixa,prvfiuiq> » Hift. Ecclef. Lib. V. cap. x. p. zz2, 223/. — See Lardncr's Credibility, vol. ii. p. 203. fupporter 144 The Authenticity of fupporter of Chriftianity, that he would have inftru6led pofterity as ufefuUy by his writings, as he did his contempo- raries by his fermons. — He preached the Gofpel in India", and is faid to have found there the Gofpel of St. Matthew in the Hebrew language *. Whether this information, which Eu- febius gives in a doubtful manner, be true or not, neverthelefs it proves thus ° The old ecclefiaftical hiftorians mean frequently by this name Arabia Felix j fee Michaelis Intr. to the N. T. vol. iii. p. 124. of the learned Mr. Marfh's Tranf. j but here it is India properly fo called, India on the Ganges. Chriltianity was preached there in the firft century by the Apoftle St. Thomas- This is aflcrted — i. By the ancient writers confulted by Eu- febius, Hi ft. ecclef. iii. 1. v. 10. — a. By the moft learned hiftorians of the Eaft, AfTeman bibl. orient. torn. III. par. i. p. 611, and par. ii. p. 25. r— And 3. By thofe Chriftian fefts, which have exifted from the moft early antiquity in India, particularly on the coafts of Malabar, who have an ancient tradition to the fame purpofe, and therefore call themfelves St. Thoinas*s Chriftians.— La Croze, 38. « Eufebius 1. cit. cvda A070? \v^t%t «fTo» — "^t* xxra MaTdatoy tvayy^iofy x. t- A. much^ * the NavTeJiament, 145 tnuch, that the Gofpel of St. Matthew was ah'eady known in the earlieft ages. — According to Jerom's relation p, he compofed alio certain commentaries on the Bible. 9. The work of Clement of Alex- andria, in which he principally confi- dered the Holy Scriptures of the Chrif- tians, his Hypotupofes, is alfo loft, except a few fragments. It contained explications of many books both of the Old and New Teftament, efpecially of the Epiftles of St. Paul, and of the Catholic Epiftles \ — Eufebius has pre- ferred the following information from it' — That the Epiftle to the Hebrews was written by St. Paul in the Hebrew language, and tranflated into Greek by St. Luke his companion; that the Gof- P Hvjjus multi- in I'anflam fcrlpturam extant Commentarii. De vir. illuftr. cap. xxxvi. q Eufebius. Hift. Ecclef. Lib. VI. cap. xiv. p. 173. ft Photius, Biblioth. Codice cix. p. 287. edit. Andf.. Schotti. Rothomagi, 1653, folio. » Loc. cit. L pels 1 46 The Authenticity of pels which contain the Genealogies (viz. of St, Matthew and St. Luke) were compofed before the others ; th^it St. i\Iark wrote his Gofpel at the re- queft of St. Peter's difciples at Rome, and that St. Peter was fo far from re- jecting it, that, at the inftigation of the Holy Ghoft, he imparted a divine confequence to it'' ; arid that St. John had i Loc. cit. Comp. Lib. II. cap. xv. pag. ^4, TvovTct h TO v^a)(j^cy (viz. that St. Mark had com- pofed in writing the fpeeches of St. Peter, at the re- queft of the Romans) cpaa-i to» AtcotoT^ov (St. Peter) awo3taXy-4/a»T05 ccvr^ r$v TLvevfAaToi; viaBrivcct m ruv at^^uv flr§o6y/xta, y.v^u(rcn th th» y^a^yjv (the Gofpel of St. Mark) nq £»T£v|nr rcciq ty.KMa-iaiq. — The fen- tence uTroKxXv-^avro^ avru rov UvsvixxTtx; has been always referred by tranflators to the preceding words j but if it be conftrued with thofe which follow, every difficulty will vanifh. — " Peter, having difcovered what had been done, and being inftigated by the Holy Ghoft, granted the defire of thofe men, (the Romans) and gave his fanftion to the Gofpel of St. Mark, that it Ihould be read in the Chriftlan communities."" Lard- ner torments himfelf with the difficulty of this paf^ fagej Credibility, vol. 11. p. 215. But amidft all his obfer\'ations he has not itfleftcd that the Ilrufture of the words the NetvTeJlament, 147 htld written ■evixjixot.riy.ov t\)oe,yUXiOVj a Gof- pel which treated efpecially of the divine nature of Clirift, the others being principally employed on his hu- man. Toi/ . . . Iwavi/rjj/ bo-kocIov cruKtJoi/Ta, Eufebius and Jerom would have per- formed ftill greater fervice to pofterity, had they made longer and more com- plete extracts from thofe writings of confiderable teachers which exifted in their times. Both of them notice various teachers of the fecond century who had written commentaries on the fcriptural books. But as they are filent on their contents, we can nei- tl>er determine what information thefe wcMrds in Eufebius does not by any means neceffitate the connexion of octtohuXv-^. x. t. A. with yyoyra— A-TToroAoy: as if the Holy Ghoft had revealed to St. Pster, that the Romans had petitioned St. Mark to coropofe his Gofpel, and that he had granted their fcqueft. L 2 writers 148 77^6 Authenticity of writers gave, nor on what books of the Bible they had employed their labours ^ CHAP. t We can make no ufe of the fpurious writings of this century for our prefent purpofe. — i. The Afts of Paul and of Thecla attribute indeed many of the fame fentiments to the Apoftle St. Paul, as exift in the books of our New Teftament. But it is uncertain whether this be the fame work which is mentioned by the Ecclefiaftical Fathers. (Lardner's Credibility, vol. ii. p. 310). — I. The Sibylline Oracles were forged in all probability about the fecond century. They alfo relate (In prophecy, as they pretend) ahnoft every fmgle event of the evangelical hiftory. But they do not mention either exprefsly, or by name, any of the writings of the New Tt^zmtnt. Lardner, 1. cit. p. 313. feq.— 3. The Teftaments of the Twelve Pa- triarchs fpeak often in the language of the New Tef- tament. But it is moft uncertain, whether this writing be of that early antiquity which many fcho- lars imagine. Origen quotes a work under this title. But how can it be proved that the work> which we ftill pofTefs, is the very fame? Lardner, 1. cit. p. 324. feq. — ^4. The Recognitions of Clement, (fee Cote- lerii Patres Apoftol. vol. i. p. 483. feq.) which con* tain Difputations of the Apoftle St. Peter with Simon Magus, and mention other difcourfes, and a variety of miracles by the fame Apoftle ;— 5. The Clemen- tine Homilies, which are ahnoft of the very fame tenovu". the New TefiamenL \A9 CHAP. III. JVitneJfes in the Third Century. SECT. I. Evidences of JVitneJfes in the Third Century. BEFORE I introduce the complete catalogues, which Origen and Eufebius have left us, of thofe writings which the Chriftians of the firft century held as genuine works of the Evangelifts and Apoftles, and venerated as divine tenour, and in all probability are the ground-work from which, after many additions and improvements, arofe the work mentioned above, in No. 4. (Cotelerius, 1, cit. p. 603. feq.) J — And, 6. The Clementine Epi- tome, a compilation out of the Recognitions and Homilies, (Cotelerius, 1. cit. p. 755. ftq.) — -.-: thefe three works, to which the venerable name of Clement has been forged, contain merely fimilar expreffions and fentiments, but not a fmgle quotation, either exprefsly, or by name, from the books of our New Teftament, Extrafts from the above-mentioned writings ihay be feen ii^ Lardner, 1. cit. p. 342. feq, 1. 3 books, 150 The Authenticity of books, I will curforily mention fome other witnefies who lived in the be- ginning of the third century, but whofe writings have not deicended to us. \. Caiiis Romanus. CAIUS, who was a Prefbyter of the church of Rome, and a moft learned man, quotes in his Dialogue wjth Pro- culus, a follower of IMontaiitls, all the EpiJiHes which we have at prefent under the name of St. Paul, as genuine rcorks of this Apofile, except the Epif- tle to the Hebrews, which he has omitted to enumerate among the reft. —We find this information in an ex- traO: which Eufebius has preferved from this work which no longer exifts ", 2. Hippolytus Portuenjis, From f he fragments which we ftill poffefs of the worlds '^ of Hippolytus Portuenfis, « Hift. Ecclef. Lib. VI. ch. xx. p. 285. w Joh. Albert Fabrf^his has collcfted tlicfe frafg- mcnts, the New TeJiamenL 15 \ Portuenfis, we are led to believe that he was a learned man; and the con- cifenefs, folidity, and force with which he wrote, clearly prove that he far excelled all the writers of his time. In fupport of this I Ihall quote a fmgle paffage ''j which, if not an adequate teftimony for the authenticity of our four Gofpels, will at leaft demonftrate the truth of the hiftory related in them. Hippolytus is proving that Jefus was both perfect man, and perfe6l God. " His humanity," fays he, "may be eafily perceived, by the circum- ftances of his feeling hunger and fa- tigue and thirft ; by his fearfully fleeing, and anxioufly praying; by his lleeping on a pillow ; his imploring for the re- tnoval of tlie cup of forrow ; his ments, and publifhed them together with the other works attributed to hira, at Hamburg, 1716, 2 vol, folio. » It has been preferved by Theodoret, Sec Fabricii Hippolyt. vol. i. P.J268. L Af fweating 1 52 The Authenticity of fweating from fear of death, and hia being ftrengthened by an angel ; by his being betrayed by Judas, mocked by Caiaphas and Herod, fcourged by Pi^ late, infulted by the foldiers, and cru- cified by the Jews; his commending with a loud voice his fpirit to the Fa- ther ; his bending his head and giving up the ghoft; having his fide pierced by a fpear, being laid, wrapped up in fine linen, in the grave, and raifed up on the third day by the Father. His divinity may be eafily difcovered, fince he was worfhipped by angels, vifited by fliepherds, expe6led by Simeon; he received the teftimony of Anna, was vifited by the Magi, and announced by a ftar; he changed water into wine at the marriage feaft, calmed the ftormy fea, walked upon the water, gave fight to one born blind, raifed La- zarus to life, who had been dead four days, and performed many other mi- racles, forgiving fins, and imparting iniraculoua the Nm Teftmtiekt. 15S miraculous powers to his Apoftles."— As early as the tiIne^ of Eulebius this writer was fo little known, that men were even ignorant of what place he was Biftiop^ And fcholars of the prefent day, after having examined all the documents of antiquity, remain ftill uncertain whether we poflels any "writings which can be fafely attributed to him*. We do not even know whe- ther he lived in Italy or in Arabia; whether he was a divine or a ftatef- ITian % S. Afjwionius, Ammonius (whom Eufebius and Je- rom fuppofe to have been the cele- y I'7rwo^y1ro?, sTf^a^— ^^osrw? exK^ijcrta;* Hlft, Eccl. Lib. VI. cap. xx. p. 284. * See Mill's Prolegomena in N. T. Num. 655. et Fabricius Praefat. in J-Iippol. a Some believe that he was Bifhop of Porto, in Italy } others, of Portus Romanus, in Arabia Felix. See Fabricius 1. cit. — Heumann afferts, that he was not » fpiritual, but a temporal tvtc-HQVo^* brated V5A The Authenticity ckf brated Alexandrian philofopher Am* monius Saccas), compofed a Harmony of the Four Gofpels, in which he ha^l lifed the Gofpel of St. Matthew as a foundation \ That which we pofTefs at prefent under his name is, if not entirely forged, at leaft very much mutilated ^ I therefore reckon this work among the loft writings of anti- quity; and would proceed direftly ta the catalogues of Origen, but have yet to remark that 4. Julius Africajius, WHO flourilhed in the beginning of this century, has afforded an evidence for the authenticity of the Gofpels of St, Matthew and St. Luke, in the epiftle to Ariftidcs, in which he endea- b Eufebius Hlft. Eccl. Lib. VI. c. 19. p. ^t^. Ejufd. epiftola ad Carpianum, which Is prefixed to his Harmony. HIeronymus, De Vir. Iliuftr. cap. Iv. « See Wetftein Prolegom. ad N. T. Tom. I. p. 65. iJfqu. Comp. Lardner's Credibility, Vol. II. p.4»3> And the followin|^ pages. vours the New Teftamunt, ) 65 votirs to remove the ftpparent contra-» di^on in the genealogy of Chiift as delivered by thefe Evangelifis ^, 5. Origen. ORIGEN, the moft learned and laborious of all the fathers, who was in fuch high eftimation even among the heathen philofopherSj that they dedicated their writings to him, and tranfmitted them to him for his re- vifal ^ has particularly diftinguiihed liimfelf by his labours on the biblical writings. He not only compofed a celebrated critical work on the Old Teftament, but wrote alio a threefold expofition of the books of the whole Bible ; Schoha, or lliort notes ; — Tomes, or extenfive commentaries, in which he employed all his learning, critical, facred, and prophane; — and *■ See the extra6l from the above mentioned eplftlc in Eufebius Hift. Ecd. Lib. I, cap. vii. p. 2.1 — 25. ^ Eufebius Hift. Eccl. Lib. VI. cap. xix. p. 479» Traas, 156 The Authovticttt/ of Tra6ls, or homilies to the people ^ Of theie only a fmall portion is come down to us, and that for the moft part in Latin tranllations made by Jerom or Rufinus ; the reft have been deftroyed by the ravages of time. He is the firft who has given us a perfeB catalogue of thofe books, which Chriftians unanimoufly, or at leaft the major part of them have confidered as genuine writings of the Apoftles, and as works of divine infpiration. — In his thirteenth Homily, upon Genefis ^, be difcovers in the fervants of Ifaac, who dug cifterns, a type of the fcriptural writers. '* His fervants," fays he, " are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John : His fervants alfo are Peter, James, Jude, and the Apoftle Paul : who all ' Hieronymuj, Prolcgom. in Ezechiel,— He fuperin- tended alfo a very accurate edition of the whole New Teftament, Hieronymus in Matth. xxlv. 36. Origenes in Joan. i. Comp. Ernefti De Orlgene Intcrpr.' gr, auct— in the Opufc. Theol. p. 306, feq. % Operum Tom. IL pr.'^Tf.'' 'edit. De la Rue. the New Tejiament. \67 ilig the wells of the New Teftament." — In the fame manner lie allegorifes^ the hiftory of Jollma, in his feventh Homily on this book*. "When oux* Lord Jefus Chrift came, of \vhom that fon of Nave was a type, he fent forth the priefts, his Apoftles, with trumpets, from which they founded the heavenly do6lrine. Matthew founds firft with his prieftly trumpet in his Gofpel. Mark alfo, and Luke and John founded each his own trumpet. In like man- ner Peter founds aloud with the two trumpets of his Epiftles ; as does James alfo and Jude. John founds again with his trumpet, in his Epiftles and in the Revelation; and Luke in his A6ls of the Apoftles. Laft of all appeared he who faid of himfelf, ' and laft of all God appointed me an Apof- tie,' and thundered with the trumpets h Concerning this pernicious and abfurd njode of interpretation, fee above, p. 97. -i Oper. Tom. II. p. 412. of 158 Hie Authenticity &f of his fourteen Epiftles fo powerfully that the walls of Jericho, and all the machines of fuperftition, and the doc- trines of the philosophers fell to the ground." The pafTages here quoted are extant at prefent only in the Latin verfion. Eufebius has been at the pains to col- lect in a particular chapter ^ the ca- talogue of the books of the New Tef- tament from the works of Origen. From his Commentary upon the Gof- pel of St. Matthew he copies the fol- lowing paflage, which determines what hiftories of the life of Jefus were uni- verfally received among the Chriftians. *' I have learned by tradition (the evi- dences of antiquity) concerning the four Gofpels, which are exclufively received without difpute by the whole church of God under heaven, That k Cap. XXV. Lib. VI. p. 289—292. The title of this Chapter Is, owo;? Tfe* it^\a^,Xi:'j y^oc!i!;*wK'*'Ii ijamely, OiIgcQ. - .... .^ • the the New TefiammU 159 the iirft was written by St. Matthew— who compofed it in the Hebrew lan- guage for the ufe of the proielytes from Judaifm; — the fecond by St Mark, — the third by St. Luke, — and the laft by St. John." — Concerning the Epiftles of the Apoftles, the hiftorian gives us from the ' Commentaries upon St John's Gofpel,' and the ' Homilies on the Epiftle to the Hebrews,' the following information : " St. Paul did not write to all the communities which he himfelf had eftablillied, and the Epiftles which he did write are not long. St. Peter has left one Epiftle, univerfally acknowledged ; the fecond alfo ought not to be entirely excluded frpm the number of his works, becaufe the matter is ftill doubtful. St. John has written a Gofpel, the Revelation, and a ihort Epiftle. The fecond and third Epiftles ought not to be entirely reje6led, fipce they w^ere coniidered by various people as genuine works of St 1 60 The Authe7iticity of St John. The Epiftle to the Hebrews could not well come from St. Paul, becaule the Greek in which it is writ- ten is more elegant than that of the other Epiftles of this Apoftle. In all probability the fubje8: matter was fur- nifhed by St. Paul, but the conftruc* tion of the words is the work of fome other perfon who recorded the thoughts of the Apoftle, and illuftrated them with various remarks." — This is Ori* gen's review of the writings of the New Teftament ; I will infert below the whole paiTage of Eufebius, from which I have here only extracted cer- tain parts *. Whoever defires to re- ceive ^ Loc. cit. p. 250, 29 J. IV Jt ru TFfivru rb>v n? to xaret MarQaiov lyayytXtofj rov ixxX»jo-»ar»)to» (pv^arruv xavqvat ixova nffera^ec nhvxi (vetyyiMcc (xu^Tv^tTetif uh WW? y^atpur u<; m 'rra^ulovn fjLa^uv irtfi rup v'rro T» »pa)»» jx>iX»jcr»a ra ®t«* In ir^urot /xik yiy^ctit- TflU TO xaTa TO won TiKmr^Vy vft^ov $t ecrros-oXot Iriaa X^trtf Mocr^xuvt ix^t^uxoroc avro toi; ct^o Itf^(c'iV/xtf 7r»r«v^«aii yfa^ftacTM i^/?«Vxoj? o^yvTiTay/xiroK* viv- the New Tejiament. 161 ceive further information of this teacher's evidences for the New Tef- tament, TipQV ^1 TO Kara Mfltpxoy, u<; n£T|o? v^vtyviffxro avrcf '7ro«>jcr«vTa> ov xa» viov tv fn )titOoX»x»} swifo^ij ot* •rovrav ufj^ohoyr^at (potffy.uvt acTra^sTa* v/xa? i tf hcc&v'huvi a-vviy.XeKrini x^^ Ma^xo^^ o inoq (/.a' acci TfiTov 'yo xaT« Aoyx35 ^ia^JjxJJ? H 7§a,u/AaToj eeX^cc wvtfftaTOf ^at;^o(' e 'TmrTwi^uKuq to £t;«77£?i»oy avro 'IjpouaaAtj/x, xai xyxXo; /!*£%§» ra lA^y^tJis, oy^s wacrat? Eypa-vJ/ef, «»? i3'»3'a|ti' 6xxX>j5-tat5* a^Aa xai «»; £yp«i|/£v, oXtyov? 5-»p^oy? ETrsrsk^E* IlETpo? OS £^oyaviJitvviv xaTaXEXoiTTEP* Efw ^'e xat hiinpocvt «jM.^»^aAX£Tat ya§. T» J'tt 'tte^i tow avaTTEcrovTog TvEytjy iWi To r>50O5 Toy Io90-», luxvve } o$ EyayyEAto-v Iv xa- TxXi'Xoi'/revt 0[/,o}^oyuv ^yvacrSat TocrayTcc ttohjo-ejp, u •VC£ xac/xo? p^wgvgo-ai e^vvxro' typx-^t ^s xxl m* uvoKx>^v-^iVf xE^EyQEj? cTiWTrijixat xaj jwvj yex-^xi t«5 rwv ETTTa /3govT«y ^uvxq' xaTaAEXot-TTE ^£ xa» £ir»roA»3» wavy oXiywy r»X«>* «rw ^e Kxh hvrt^xv xa» TptT^v* «9r£* « wavTE? }i» «x £to-» rt%wv xi^^trspxi iy.xrov' £Ti ^rgo; nrovraiq TTt^t T>3? wpo; E^^atoy; ETTtfo^^? £" Ta»? ek ayT»iy o/x»Ajat{ rotVT» ^««A<5t/A|5a»a»* ot» o ;i(;;apaxT5i§ t>j? 16^ Tht Authentkity df ment, may confalt Lardner's Credi- bility, in which this article is treated with moft particular attention. StCT. II. Information colleBed by Eufebiusfrom the JVorks of the Three Firjl Ceii- furies. HAD the writers of the two firft centuries pofleffed the fame anxious tare e%e» to sv "hoyu ihumyiov re A7roroA», o^o^oyvta-OLvroi Ikvrov i^iuTr.v sivcci ru Xoyuj tout' fr» TJi (p^oKTsi' 7)5crat ay* 9ra?uy re »r oti rcc vo-n^jLco'ia, tj){ e9r»ro^'5; dafjM.(Z£ri£;( Efb Jiat ou hvrecac TUf A^iKUV oixoM' yoviAtvup y^a.(x.(xotTU)ij y.cn T»7o a» av(x)/xEv» t'iro T« ^»^ao-xa^«* ei tk a» ExxAijcria «%£* Tai/'TijJ' the New Tejiamenf. 1 63 care for pofferity which Origen evinced, we fhould havd been able to prove the authenticity of the books of the New Teftament with greater eafe and more fatisfa8:ion. Yet Eufebius has, in a certain degree, fupplied the lofs. This father of ecclefiaftical-hiitory ai- fures us that he had read the works of Chriitian antiquity with great dili- gence, and efpecially with the view of afcertaining what writings had been received fince the origin of Chriftianity as genuine works of the Evangeliils and Apoftles. He imparts the refult of this inquiry in feveral particular chapters of his Ecclefiaftical Hiftor}^ —In the Third book"" he treats of the Epiftles of the Apoftles; refpe-ding which, he had found in the works of THTu' e yu^ ny.fi ot a^p(^aiot av^^st; w; HavXa 'Trae^a- otduy.otci' TK ^£ yoa-^a<; r-/>v s^jroArjfj to [xev a>.»]9e? " Cap, ili« i\r» and xxlv. p. 89 — 92, and 115— 118. M 2 the 164 The Authenticitif of the firft and fecond centuries the fol- lowing information : * That the firft Epiftle of St. Peter has always been iiniverfally received as divine : but that called his fecond Epiftle, although not received as divine, i\>^ia.hy.oi ; has neverthelefs been carefully ftudied as an ufeful work; that the fourteen Epiftles, which go under the name of St. Paul, have been univerfally re- vered as divine fcriptures, except that fome have doubted concerning the Epiftle to the Hebrews, becaufe the Romiih church did not confider it to be the work of St. Paul". That St. Luke, a phyfician, has left us two books, divinely infpired, namely, a Gofpel, and the A6ls of the Apoftles ; and that many of the ancients were of opinion that St. Paul means this Gof- pel whenever he fpeaks of fome Gofpel of the Nexv Tcftament, l6s of his (St. Pauls) own. That the Gofpels were written in the following order of time; St Matthew's firlt of all, for the Hebrews, and in the He- brew language; then St. Mark's, whieh was compofed at the requeft of the Chriftians at Rome ; afterwards that of St. Luke, who was induced to under- take it from the fpurious gofpels w-hich were at that time in circulation ; and that laft of all St. John had per u fed the three preceding and confirmed them ; yet, as they related only the actions of Chrift which took place after the imprifonment of John the Baptift, he therefore had thought ii neceflary to write his Gofpel, and fup- ply in it what was wanting in the others: and that he in particular had received the matter concerning the Divinity of Chrift from the Holy Ghoft. That befides this Gofpel, the firft Epiltle, which bears the name of St. John, has been univerfally afcribed M 3 to 155 The Authentic! ij/ of' to him both by ancients and moderns ; that the fecond and third Epiftles were reje6i:ed bylbme; and that the majo- rity were perfc6ily in doubt concerning The Revelation °.' Eufebius has given the moft perfe8; account of this fubje6t in the twenty- fifth chapter of the third book^; in which he collegia and lays before the reader the refult of the information contained in detached parts of the preceding books. In this he delivers not his own pri- vate opinion, but the opinion of the church, £>£xA»](riarj Tra^a^wo-i?, the fum <* 'H TTgoTEfa rcov inriroy^uv vct^ce, re to»; i>vv y.ca TOi? tri u^')(oi.voiq ava.ixp^'KDtroq uyLohoyr^tai' avTi^syovrai ^ at AoiTrat Jto t»)? ^' airona/Kv^itix; i££Ta» h ^o|a. Loc. cit. p. ii8. But concerning the Revelation, E'ven yet (that is, not- withftanding all preceding inquiries) the majority are in doubt, (know not, whether to hold it genuine or fpurious.) P The commencement of the chapter is as follows: Pf the New Teftament l-O/ of what he had found in the writings of the primitive Chriftians. The cited palTage contains confequently the opi- nion of the whole Chriftian church during the thr^e iirft centuries ; and a proper infight into its meaning is of great importance to us. — Eufebius unites the voOat y^oc^xi (thofe writings which were actually fpurious, or thought fuch) with the ayr iXzy o[xei/oci (the doubt- ful). After having fppken of the ciUTiMyoixeixt, he immediately adds, si/ rot; ifO%ig xcct' x«TaTfrap^9w ruu ITauAa ^^ among the fpurious are to be reck- oned the Adus of Paul, the Shepherd,' See. Whence it appears to me clear, that he fpeaks in this paiTage of the authenticity of the books, whether they are genuine or fpurious, and not of their divine infpiration. — Again, he calls the ofMoXoyafMHoci y^acpxi (univCI- fally received b^^oks) alfo, aA«6«f xki ATTA^foi, genuine and not forged; and M 4 oppofes 168 The AiiihenticHy> of oppofes them to thole which weF€ fahely attributed to the Apollles, raif places the Revelation of St. John alfd under the voGa or ai^TtXiyoixipx^ for this reafon, becaufe the majority of the ancients doubted whether they ftiould confider it as the writing of St. John the Apoftle, or of fome other perlbn, confequently as genuine or fpurious. — Laftly, he alfp claffes the Shepherd of Hermas, the Revelation of Peter, the A6:s of Paul, and the Epiftle of Bar- nabas, under the vo9a (or, ui^nXiyofxiuK)^ Now among the ancients none ever thought thefe books divine \ but tlieir authenticity indeed has been called in queftion. Thefe arguments evince, if I mif- take not, that Eufebius fpeaks here of the authenticity, not of the divine in- fpiration of thofe writings which ex- ifted in his time under the names of \ See above, p. 48, xu)te ^. the the New Tejlament, 1 69 the Apoftles, Evangelifts, and apof- tolical men. His intention in this place is not to mention what writings were coniidered as divine; but to af- certain the three following points : — 1. What writings were received by the ancients as genuine works of the Apof- tles, Evangelifts, and apofiolical men: — 2. Of what writings the authenticity had been called in queftion: — And 3. Thofe which were entirely rejefted, as fpurious. On thefe points the opinion of the three firft centuries was as follows : or, (i7.nhti xat mrXxfoi) writings which were univerfalii/ received as the genuine works of the perfons whole names they bear. In this clafs Eufebius reckons, 1. The four Gofpels ; 2. The Afts of the Apoftles; 3. The Epifties of St. Paul; 4. The firft Epiftle of St. John ; 5. The firft Epiftle of St. Peter. The Revelation i7Q The Authenticity/ of Revelation of St. John might alfo per* haps be placed in this clals, becaufe Jbme think its authenticity incontro- vertible, yet the majority leave the matter undetermined '. II. AyTiKiyo^i]txi, writings on whofe authenticity the ancients were not una' nimous; which fome held to be fup- pofititious *. According to Eufebius, even thefe have the 7najftr:ift/ of voices among the ancients in their favour. He exprefsly calls them, yvu^ifAOi o^xccg TQiq TToXXoig (writings acknowledged /^j/ ;;/ti- XiyofAEVoty or i/o9a. ' See above, p. i66. « He names thefe writings alfo vo^eci y^atfpuh Tpn- rious writings j that is, according to the opinion of ib^iJie. Thefe i.o6a» do not, therefore, compofe a dif- tincl cUfs, as is the general fuppofition. " ■ ■' in. the New Tejlament. Vft^ In this clafs he enumerates, of the writings of the New Teftament, 1. The Epiftle of St James; 2. The Epif- tie of St Jude; 3. The fecond Epiftle of St Peter ; 4. The fecond and third Epiftles of St John. The Revelation of St John, he adds, is alfo by fome placed in this clafs *. And, of other writings, the A6ls of St Paul; The Shepherd of Hermas; The Revelation of St Peter; the Epif- tle of Barnabas ; The Doctrines of the Apoftles ; and the Gofpel according to the Hebrews. III. AroTra jca» J'ucrfl'ffrj, (abfurd and impious) ; Writings which had been unrcerfally rejeBed as evidently fpU" Tious, In this clafs he includes the Gofpels pf Peter, of Thomas, and of Matthias ; * For in early times fome believed that this work was not compofed by John the apoftle, but by a pref- byter of the fame name, or by fome other perfon. See the following 5th chapter of this book. the 1 72 The Authenticity of the Afe of Andrew, of John, and of other x^poftles. Thefe writings, fays he, contain evident errors, are written in a ftyle entirely different from that of the Apoftles, and have not been thought worthy of being mentioned by any one of the ancients. CHAP. the New Tejiament, 17^ CHAP. IV. A fummary Recapitulation of the Evidences mentioned above. I WILL now reduce into order the depofitions of the witnelTes, who have been already feparately examined, and enable the reader to perceive at one view what has been the opinion of men during the two jirjl centuries and half on each individual book of the New Teftament. I. The Gofpel by St. Matthew IS pronounced to be a genuine work of the Evangelift whofe name it bears, 1. by Papias, 87*; S. by many ancient writers of the firft century, confulted * The figures after the names of the different witneffcs enumerated in this chapter, refer to the pages of this work, where their evidences may be found. by 1 74 The Auth€7iiicity of by Eufebius, 89 ; 3. by Juftin Martyr^ 105; 4. Tatian, 136; 5. Irenaeus, 110; 6. Athenagoriis, 117; 7. Theophilus of Antioch, 123; 8. Clement of Alex- andria, 125; 9. TertuUian, 13^; 10. Ammonius 153; 11. Julius Africanus, 154; 11. Origen, 155; and by all the primitive writers, without exception, whom Eufebius had read, I69. And this may be inferred alfo, yet only with a degree of probability , from the writings of Barnabas, 57', Clement of Rome, 53', Ignatius, 78; and Po- lycarp, 81". u Lardner has collccled together the evidences of the later wltnefTes in his Supplement to the firft book of the fecond part of the Gcfpel Hiftory, vol. i. p. 95 —102. of the firft edition. — He has treated of them more copioufly in the work which has been fo often mentioned, his Credibility of the Gofpel Hiftory.— In the Supplement he has generally confined himfelf to thofe vjfitnefles who determine alfo the time when the different books of Holy "Writ were compofed. The reader will therefore find more witnefles enumc« rated in my Catalogue than in hij. II. The the New Tejiameni, 17^ . II. The Gofpel by St Mark IS declared to be a genuine writing of the Evangelift, to whom it is afcribed, by 1. Papias, 87; 9>. many ancient writers of the firft ceiYtury, confulted by Eufebius, 89; 3. J uftin Martyr, 105^ 4. Tatiati, l36 ; '5? Iffelia^trs;' 1 10 ; 6. Clement of Alexandi^'^,; 1^5; 7. Ter- tullian, 132^ ; • 8. Arriiiidniti^, 153 ; 9. Origen, \55] and try' all the ancients whom Eufebius had read, I69. '^"; Clement of Rome, 53; and Igna- tius, 7% wer6, probably, "ctf the fame opinion'''. III. TheGofpel'M&'AE^x^H^^ ties by St. ' Luke, AllE adopted as the undeniable works of St. Luke, the companion and difciple of St Paul, by, 1. the ancient writers of the firft century, confulted w For the later witnefTes, fee Lardner's Supplement, vol. i. p. 173 — 180. of the flrft edition. by 176 The Authenticity of by Eufebius, 89; 2. Juftin Martyr, 105; 3. Tatian, 136; 4. Irenseus, 110; 5. Clement of Alexandria, 125; 6. Ter- tullian, 132; 7* Ammonius, 153; 8. Julius Africanus, \5^; 9. Origan, \55; and by all the ancient writers quoted by Eulebius, I69. Clement of Rome, 53 \ Ignatius, 78;. Polycarp, 81; and the Communities at Lyons and Vienne, 141, may alfo, perhaps, be reckoned among the num- ber of witnefles *. IV. Th^ Go/pel by St, John IS, with great unanimity and par* ticular refped, confidered as the ge- nuine writing of this Apoftle by, 1. the ancient writers of the firft century, confulted by Eufebius, 89; 2. by Juftin Martyr, 105; 3. Tatian, 109. 136; 4. Irenaeus, 110; 5. Theophilus of An- « For the later witnefles, fee Lardner's Supplement, rvjl. i. p. 118— 1»7. firft edition, tioch, the New Tejiament 1 77 tioch, 125; 6, Clement of Alexan- dria, 125; 7. Tertullian, 132; 8. Am- monius, 153; 9. Origen, 155; and by all the Fathers cited by Eufebius, I69. To thefe might be added the Com- munities at Lyons and Vienne, 14 P. V. The Epijile of St. Paul to the Romans IS declared to be authentic by, 1. Irenaeus, 111; 2. Theophilus of An- tioch, 123; 3. Clement of Alexandria, 125; 4 Tertullian, 132; 5. Caius, 150; Y Ibid. p. 38s— 390 —The Alogi, a fe£t that cxlfted in the fecond century, are faid to have rejefted it. But we have tio information concerning thefe Alogi that can be depended on : for, properly fpeak- ing, we have none elfe befides the later and uncertain accounts of Phllaftrius and Epiphanius. And were the cafe otherwife, ftiil what can the teftimony, or rather the bare aflertion of anonymous perfons avail, when oppofed to the unanimous, confiderate, and weighty evidences of all the ancients, both learned and un- learned. See Walch's Hiilory of Hereticks, vol. i. p. 569, fq. of the original; and Profeflbr Schroeckh's Ecclef. Hlft. vol. iii. p. 175. feq. of the original. N 6. Origen, i 78 The Autheiiticity of 6, Origen, 155; and by all the An- cients noticed by Eufebius, I69. It would appear that this is alfo tef- tified by Ignatius, 78 ; Polycarp, 82 ; and the Communities at Lyons and Vienne, 141. VI. The firfi Epifile of St. Paul to the Corinthians IS confidered as genuine by, 1. Cle- ment of Rome, 5 1 ; 2. Polycarp, 80 ; 3. Tatian, 137; 4.1renaeus, 111; 5. Athe- nagoras, 119; ^» Clement of Alex- andria, 125; 7. Tertulhan, 132; 8. 'Caius, 150; 9. Origen, 155 ; and by all the Ancients found in Eufebius, 169. To the clafs of probable witnelTes belongs Ignatius, 78. VII. The Second Epifile of St. Paul to the Corinthians HAS the exprefs teftimony of Ire- nseus, 111; Clement of Alexandria, 125; the New TeJiamenL 197 125; Tertullian, 132; Caius, 150; Origen, 155; and of all the eccle- fiaftical fathers to whom Eufebius ap- peals, 169. yill. The Epiftle of St Paul to the Galatians IS declared to be authentic by Ire- neeus, 111; Clement of Alexandria, 125; Tertullian, 132; Caius, 150; Origen, 155; and by all the Ancients found in Eufebius, \6g, IX. The Epiftle of St. Paul to the Ephejians HAS the teftimony of Ignatius, 71 ; Polycarp, 8 1 ; Irenseus, 111; Clement of Alexandria, 125; Tertullian, 132; Caius, 150; Origen, 155; and of all .the primitive writers found in Eufe* bius, 169. K 2 X, The i 80 The Authenticity of X. The Epijile of St, Paul to the Philippiam HAS the evidence of Polycarp, 79 ; Irenaeus, 111; Clement of Alexandria, 1^5; Tertullian, 132; Caius, 150; Origen, \55; and of all the Ancients noticed by Eufebius, 16^. And alfo, as appears probable, of the Communities at Lyons and Vi- enne, 141. XL The Epijile of St. Paul to the ColoJJians IS attefted by Irenaeus, 111; Cle- ment of Alexandria, 125; Tertullian, 132; Caius, 150; Origen, 155; and by all the ecclefiaftical fathers con- fulted by Eufebius, 1^9. XII. The Firji Epijile of St. Paul to the Thejfalonians IS exprefsly pronounced by Ire- nseuSjlll ; Clement of Alexandria, 125; Tertullian, the New Tejiament 1 8 1 Tertullian, 132; Caius, 150; Origen, 155; and by all the Ancients men- tioned by Eulebius, I69 ; Probably alfo by Polycarp, 78: XIII. The Second Epijile of St Paul to the Thejfalonians, by Irenseus, 111; Clement of Alex- andria, 125; Tertullian, 132; Caius, 150; Origen, 155; and by all the An- cients found in Eufebius, I69 ; Perhaps by Polycarp, 78 : XIV. The Firji Epijile of St. Paul to Tiinothi/^ by Irenseus, 111; Theophilus of An- tioch, 123; Clemept of Alexandria, 125; Tertullian, 132; Caius, 150; Origen, 155; and by all the primitive writers noticed by Eufebius, 1 69 ; And, with fome degree of probi^- bijity, by Polycarp, 82 : N 3 XV. The 1 82 The Authenticity of XV. The Second EpiJIe of St. Paul to Timothy, by Irenaeus, HI; Clement of Alex- andria, 125; TertuUian, 132; Caius, 150; Origen, 155; and by all the Fa- thers found in Eufebius, 169: XVI. The Epiftle of St. Paul to Titus, by Irenaeus, 111; Clement Of Alexandria, 125; Tertullian, 132; Caius, 150; Origen, 155; and by all the Ancients mentioned by Eufe- bius, 169 — to be genuine works of this Apoftle. XVII. The Epijlle of St. Paul to Philemon IS but rarely mentioned by the ec- clefiaftical fathers in their writings, on account of its brevity and peculiar contents. Neverthelefs, Irenaeus, 109; Caius, 150; Origen, 155; and all the Ancients the New Tejl anient, 183 Ancients cited by Eulebius, I69; have pronounced it authentic. Which is alfo teftified, apparently, by Tertullian, 128. XVIII. The Firji Epijile of St. Peter IS attefted by Papias, 87; Irenaeus, 112; Clement of Alexandria, 125; Teftullian, 132; Origen, 155; and by all the Ancients found in Eufebius, 169. To thefe may be added, perhaps, Po- lycarp, 82. XIX. The Second Epijile of St. Peter HAS the evidence of Origen, 155, who neverthelefs fpeaks in fome de- gree doubtfully; and of the greater part of the Ancients confulted by Eu- febius, 170'. « See Lardner's Supplement, vol. lii. p. 215— 224* ift ed. and Michaelis' Introdu6lion to the N. T. vol. iv. p. 346—356. of the learned Mr. Marfh's tranflation. n4 XX. The 184 The Authenticity of XX. TheFirJi Epijlle of St. John IS declared genuine by Papias, 87 : Irenaeus, 112; Clement of Alexandria, 125; Tertullian, 132; Origen, \55; and by all the Ancients found in Eu* febius, 169. XXI. XXII. The Second and Third Epijlles of^t, John. ORIGEN, 155; and many of the Ancients, I69, doubted of the authen- ticity of the fecond and third Epiftles of St. John. But the majority of voices, 170, pronounced them genuine works of this Apoftle *. XXIII. The Epijlle of St. Paul to the Hebrews HAS the exprefs teftimony of Cle- ment of Alexandria, 125; Tertullian, • For the three Epiftles of St. John, fee Lardner's Supplement, vol. iii. p. 263 — 267. ift edit. And for the two laft, Michaelis' Tntroduc. to the N. T. voL iv. p. 44-z-'iH-5* ^^ ^^* Marih's tranAation. 132; the New Tejlament, 1 85 1 32 ; and of all the primitive writers, noticed by Eufebius, 1 69, To thefe may be added Clement of Rome, 51 ; and Juftin Martyr, 10 L XXIV. The Epijile of St. James IS attefted by the major part of the Ancients whom Eufebius quotes I7O; to which the concordant teftimony of the old Syriac Verfion adds confidera- ble weight \ XXV. The Epiftle of St. Jude IS afferted to be genuine by Clement of Alexandria, 125; Tertullian 132; Origen, 155 ; and by the greater part of the Ancients noticed by Eufe- bius, 170'. * See Michaelis"' Introduc, to the N. T. vol. iv. p. 308— 314.. of Mr. Marfh's tranflation ; and Lard - iier's Supp. vol. iii. p. 85 — 91. ift edit. e Compare Lardner's Supplement, vol. iii. p. 347 —384. with Michaelis' Introduc. vol. Iv. p. 374 — 395. of Mr, Marih's tranflatipn. CHAP. 1 S6 The Authenticity of CHAP. V. Of the Revelation of St. John, THE Revelation of St. John, as it is called, is fo much diftinguilhed from all the other writings of the New Tef- tament, both by its contents and ftyle, that we muft feparate it from them, and inveftigate its authenticity in a particular inquiry. SECT. 1. The Contents of this Book. THE whole book is entirely occu- pied with the defcription of three vi- fions which were Ihewn to the author. Firft ; there appears to him, whilft in a trance (^tysvofAny iv z^viv^uTiY One, in human form, furrounded with feven * Chap. i. 10. Comp. chap. iv. a. candlefticks, the New Tejimnenf. 1 87 candleftickSj clad in a long robe, and girt with a golden girdle ; his head and hair were white as wool, or as fnow, and his eyes like flames of fire ; his feet like molten metal, and his voice like the noife of a rapid torrent ; in his right hand he held feven ftars, from his mouth went a Iharp two-edged fword, and his countenance Ihone like the fun in its meridian fplendor. This Being dictates to him Epiftles to the prefidents of the feven Chriftian com- munities in Afia. Thefe feven epif- tles contain many forcible exhortations to zeal in virtue or brotherly-love, and powerful confolations, efpecially for the martyrs to this virtue. But they are compofed almoft entirely from paf- fages of the Old Teftament and the Gofpels. Afterwards, (fecond vifion) '^ the author falls into another trance ; and fees the Almighty on a majeftic throne, c Chap, iv — xix. holding 1 88 The Atithenticify of hording in his hands a book with feven feals ; and Chrift, in the form of a Lamb with feven horns and feven eyes, who is alone capable of taking this book from the hands of God, and of opening its feals ^ — He opens the firft feal, and the Conqueror appears ^ : he opens the fecond, and War comes on the earth ^: the third, and Fa- mine difplays itfelf ' : the fourth is opened, and immediately come forth Death and the Grave ^ After open- ing the fifth feal, thofe who had been innocently flain call for revenge ^ : when the fixth is opened, frightful ap- pearances are feen, and all things tremble " But thefe plagues are only the forerunners of the terrible cala- mity which fucceeds on the opening of the feven th feal. Wherefore, be- f Chap. Iv. V. k Chap. vl. 7, 8. g Chap. vi. I, 2. i Chap. vi. 9, 10. k Chap. vi. 3, 4; ■ Chap. vi. x»— 17. i Chap. vi. 5, 6. fore the New Tejiament. 1 89 fore this circumftance takes place, the fervants of God, who are deftined to efcape this dreadful calamity, are marked by an angel on the forehead ; an hundred and forty-four thoufand, twelve thoufand from each of the twelve tribes of Ifrael. The writer now beheld an innumerable multitude out of 6very nation ftanding before the throne and the Lamb, in white garments, with palms in their hands, and crying with a loud voice, " Sal- vation to our God who fitteth on the throne! and unto the Lamb !'* Thefe were come out of great tribulation, and had waihed and purified their garments in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they ftand before the throne of God, ferve him day and night ix\ his temple, and He who litteth on the throne covereth them as with a pavil- lion ; they no more hunger nor thirft ; neither the fun nor any other heat in- commodes them ; they are paftured by the ISO The Authenticity of the Lamb, who condu6ls them to the fountains of life, and God wipes away all tears from their eyes. After this Epifode " follows — the opening of the feventh feal. And, lo ! •Seven angels with feven trumpets appear'. The lighs of the fe,ints re- found before the throne of God; im- mediately thefe feven angfels make themfelves ready. The firft founds; and inftantly hail and fire mixed with blood, fall on the earth. The other angels found fucceffively ; — ^^and a great mountain as it were burning with fire is cafi: into the lea, the third part of the fea becomes bitter, and a third part of the creatures therein die : a ftar, named Wormwood, falls from -heaven P; the third part of the fun, of the moon, and of the ftars is dark- ened'^: a ftar falls from heaven, and to him is given the key of the bottom- n Chap, vii, P Chap. viii. lo, ii. *> Chap, viii— xiv. ^ Chap. viii. 12. ieft the New Tejiament. 1 9 1 lefs pit, which he opens ^ ; the four angels, which were bound by the river Euphrates, are loofed ' : a woman> clothed with the fun, and having the moon under her feet, is in travail, and as delivered, &c. — At laft the feventh trumpet founds; and now are made various great and terrible preparations (in the long epifode, Chap, x — xiv). An angel commands St. John to write down every thing he beheld ; another .gives him a book to fwallow, &c. A woman in particular appears, clothed 'with the fun, and having the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve ftars. She is in tra- vail. And, behold! a great red dra- gon, with feven heads and ten horns, 'and feven crowns upon his heads; who fe tail drew away the third part of the ftars of heaven, and caft them on the earth. It placed itfelf before the woman in order to devour her child. t Chap, ix. I, 2. s Chap. ix. 14.. But 192 The Authenticity of But fhe brought forth a fon who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. The woman then fled into the wilder- nefs. But in heaven commences a war. Michael and his angels fought againft the dragon, who is Satan, and his angels. Michael conquers, and the dragon is caft on the earth. Now two frightful beafts arofe againft the woman, her fon, and their followers. The firft, extremely hideous, was like a leopard, his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion. The other had two horns as of a lamb ; his number was fix hundred three fcore and fix, &c. Afterwards the author faw a white cloud, and upon it fat He, in human form*, with a golden crown on his head, and a iharp fickle in his hand ". There arifes a great commotion in heaven. And then appear t See above, p. i86. 'J Chap. xlv. 14., and following verfcs. Seven the New Tejiamenf. igs Seven angels with feven vials full of the wrath of God"^, which are poured- Otlt fucceffively ; almbft in the fame ihanner and with the fame effects as happened before, when the feven trum- pfet^ wfere founded. After all the feven had been poured out, there appeared a woman, fitting ori a beaft ; clothed ifl purple dhd fcarlet, and adorned T^ith gold, precious ftones, and pearls; in her hand fhe held a golden cup full of abominations, and the filthinfefs of Mf fornications; and upon her forO- Afiead was her name thus written, * Myf- * teryl Babylon the Great, the mother ' of harlots, and abominatiohs of th^ * earth!' Babylon the Great i^ de- ftroyed ; on which event heaven r^- founds with fongs of praife. And now He, who with his heavenly armies had caufed the deftru6tion of Babylon, re- turns to heaven. — This^fe6tion is almdft entirely compofed of images and ex.- "^ Chap.xv— xix. o preffions 194- The Authenticity of preffions from Ifaiah, Jeremiah, Eze- kiel, and Daniel. Again (third vifio.n'^), an angel came down from heaven, who had the key of the bottomlefs pit, and a great chain. He laid hold on the dragon, who is Satan, and bound him. Thus bound, he caft him into the bottomlefs pit, where he was to remain a thoufand years; and after, that be loofed again for a Ihort time. Thrones appear; and they to whom a power of judg- ment is committed, feated themfelves thereon. The fouls of thofe who had been flain on account of the doctrine of Jefus revived, and ruled with Chrift a thoufand years. But the reft of the dead did not live again until the thou- fand years had expired. This was the firft refurrc8;tion. After the expira- tion of the thoufand years, Satan will be loofed; from his imprifonment, and « Chap. xx.«»end of the book. feducc the New Tejiament. 195 feduCe the nations which are in the four €nds of the earth. — Then he beheld a white throne, and He fat thereon from whofe look earth and heaven fled. The dead, great and fmall> (land before the throne ; books are opened, ac- cording to which they are to be judged. One book, in particular, is opened^, the book of life ; and whoever was not found written therein was caft into the lake of fire, together with Death and the Grave. — Now appeared to him a new heaven, and a new earth. And he beheld the holy city, the new Jeru- falem, come down out of heaven from God : its wall was of jafper ; the city itfelf, pure gold ; each of its twelve foundations was a precious ftone, jalV per, fapphire, &c. ; each of its twelve gates a pearl ^ ; and the ftreets of gold. y Chap. XX. 14, and following verfes, * Mapyap»T*j? means In the Chaldee not only a pearly but likewife a precious Jione ; fee Buxtorf lex. talmud. in v. But here it is exprefsiy diftiaguifhed from the precious ftones, ^^9a; Tt/x,»&;, chap. xxi. 21. comp. ver. 19, 20, 2 But 1 96 The Authenticity/ of But no temple was there; for God and the Lamb are its temple*. — The groundwork of the imagery here alfo is taken chiefly from Ifaiah and Eze- kiel ; but the poetical drefs in which it is clad, the precious ftones, pearls, &c. is the author's own production. The book concludes with this af- fertion, " I teftify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man Ihall add unto thefe things, God Ihall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book : and if any man ihall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God fliall take away his p^rt out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. He which teftifieth thefe things faith. Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even fo, Come Lord Jefus." a Chap, xxu tt, and following rerfes. SECT. the New Tejiament f97 SECT. II. The Interpretation of the Book of Revelation. NEVER did a book exift on whofe contents fuch different opinions have been formed. In the earlier times of Chriftianity, when its followers were perfecuted by the Roman Emperours, the Revelation was confidered as a prophecy of the fpeedy deftruftion of Gentile Rome. Irenaeus^ thought that the number * fix hundred three fcore and fix/^' indicated AATEINOS. How it wa« underftood after Chrif- tianity ilfelf had afcended the impe- rial throne in the perfon of Conftan- tine, is unknown. But when the Ro- milh Bifhops had erected the horrid *» Adverf. haref. v. a 6. 30* € See above, p. 19a, o 3 fyftem t9§ llie Authenticity of fyftem of papal t3Tanny'', anc} tor-» minted and murdered all that pppoled it, ^ In the fixth century the bifhops of Rome made pretenfions to the fovereignty over the whole world, as a right bellowed upon them by God, from being, as they aflerted, the fucceflbrs. of St. Peter, and the vicars of Chrift. In the eighth, from the grants of Pepin ^nd Charlemagne, they became temporal lords. In the ninth, they placed themfelves on an equality with princes and emperoui-s, and in forae cafes claimed the fuperiority j now it was that they publifhed, if they did not forge, the Decretales, and Donatio Conftantini Magni. The eleventh century brought this infamous ufurpation to its maturity^ Hildebrand, a blackfmith's fon, who, on being raifed to the papal fee, took the name of Gregory the Seventh, fummoned the em- perour Henry the Fourth to appear at Rome under the penalty of ecclefiaftical cenfures j and on his not ap.» pearing, pronoimced him excommunicated, and re- leafed all his fubjefts from their oath of fidelity. The emperour was at length obliged to comply ; but ■vfras not received again into the pale of the Church until he had ftood bar^bot and without nourifhment during three days in the caftle of Canoffaj, where the pope then refided, and had humbly prayed for favour. Laftly, fince the thirteenth century, they exercifed fovcreign authority over all the monarchs of the Weft : pope Innocent the Third depofed the emperour Otto the Fourth, and eorapelkd John, king of England, to ^piftk^ tilt Nexv Teftament. 1 99 it, Joachim, an abbot in Calabria, during the thirteenth century, pointed the book againft the Pope. The Fran- cilcans, on being oppreffed by the papal fee, followed him. Many of the Protellants eagerly embraced this opi- nion : and fince that time it is become the ruling fentiment among this clafs of Chriftians. On the other hand, the Romifh church has retaliated, apd dif- covered in it Luther, Calviq, or fome one or other of the reformers : nor have there been wanting men, who have fancied that they perceived al- lulions even to Mahomet. Innumera- ble are the individual interpretations which have been given in modern times. The afflicted Proteftants in Hungary £^nd Bohemia, during the per- fecutions which were excited againft them in the feventeenth century, per-: make his kingdom tributary to the Romifh fee. See Mornaei Myftcriura Iniquitatis j and Cyprian, Hiftory ^f Popery, o 4 ceived 200 The Authenticity of ceived many prophecies therein which afforded them much confolation. Some imagine it to be a perfe6l hiftory of the Chrifti9^r\ church, from its, qom- mencement even to t)i,e eii^ of th^ world. — Many learned men^ and aippng thefe Luther and Calvin, have never attempted an expofition, becaufe they confidered it a fruitleis, labour. Others. >-♦■■- . . . . ^ Jaftly, (Wetftein and D'Aubitz in par* ticular) have explained it as indicating the deftruftion of the Jewilh ftate and divine-fervice. And if any interpret tation has the flighteft degree of light and probabijity, it is this ^ SECT, e J, will here prefent the reader with the heads of this interpretation j— j. Cbrifi, takes ibe book.nuithJen;e^ fealsfrom the hand of God, chap, iy. v j i. e. he is cony miflioned by God to deftroy the ftate and divine worship of the Jews. z. Set and aniipllfication,. Agreeably to, this, book, feal, feven feals, trumpets, feven trum- pets, &c. have in themfelves no particular meaning, but are all nothing njQre th*OLtl)e,poejLical drefs of the principal images. delivered 202 The Authenticity of delivered in the common language of men : there exifts nothing of divinq revelations fliewn in a trance through figures, except in the palTage of the A6l;s of the Apoftles, x. 3 — 7 ; and even here the explanation is immedi- ately fubjoined^ The Prophets of the Old Teftament indeed have delivered their doctrines frequently in vifions; their writings often contain thofe of a fimilar nature. But entire and mere vifion like this, without any fubjoined explanation, exifts in no book what- ever of the bible, except in the Apo- calypfe. 2. The author is a perfon called John; but whether the Apoftle of that name or not, he does not inform us. — The writer calls himfelf repeatedly John, not only in the preface of the book^ but frequently alfo in other ' In the 8 th and following vcrfcs. S Chap* i, u places the New Tejiament. 1203 places ^ where it might have been by lio means expected. He profefles himfelf a fervant of Jefus Chrift *, and a teacher of his rehgion^; and alTerts that he had been on the ifland of Patmos on account of the confeffion of the do6lrine of Jefus \ But whe- ther to preach it there, or baniihed for having preached it, he does not dif- clofe. And here, in a trance, he faw thefe vifions. But he never fufFers even a lingle word to efcape him by which we might be enabled to difcover that he was the Apoftle of the fame name. He never, like the Evangelift, calls himfelf ' the difciple whom Jefus loved, who leaned on his bofom at fupper™. ' Not a trace of the Apof- ^le's favourite figures and expreflions, h Ghap. i. 4. 9. xxli. S. % Chap. i. 4. k Chap. i. a. i Chap. il. 9. P Forinftancc, Johnxui, tight, 204 The Authenticity of Light, Life, &c. is to be found here. — On the contrary, the frequent mea- tiou of his name is at perfect variance with the cuftoni of the Apoftle, who never names himfelf either in his Gofpel or Epiftks. S The book contains many fine paf- fage& — Notwithftanding its impenetra- ble obfcurity, we meet with fome noble paiTages, diftinguilhed both for their matter and compofition. Befides what has been faid above concerning the feven epiftles to the Chriftian commu- nities, we may add, that however ig- norant;, we are to what the deftru6lion in chap. vi. 121 — 17- alludes, the painting is very fublime. Animated and aife^;- ing is the defcription of the blifs of the heroic workers of virtue, chap, vii, 9 — 17: and majeftic is the account of the redemption of the human race through J ef us, chap. xii. 7 — 12. 4. It is inexplicable, at leaft at pre- fent— Of what it treats ; whether it be the New Teji anient. £05 be a narration or a prophecy; whether it relate to near circumftances, or remote ; whether it coniift of one whole, or of many unconnected parts; whether all of it, or nothing be al- ready fulfilled ; what may be the mean- ing of the myfterious numbers, * a time, and times, and half a time "^ '; of the iignificant number, 'fix hundred, three fcore and ^lyL"" -^^ the thoufand years ^, &c. ; of the frightful beafts and monfters'; in a word, of the entire contents — is moft indeterminate and obfcure. After the inquiries and af- fertions of many centuries, we can af- certain of its meaning — abfolutely nothing. We become confufed and difgufted when we dive into expofitions fo numerous, various, and contradic- tory. And the Revelation, after all that the learned and unlearned, fa* » Chap. xii. 14. • Cap. xlii. i8. P Chap. XX. 4, and following verfes. 4 See above, p. 192. oatics^ S!06 The Authenticity of natics and men of found underftand- ing, have faid and dreamt concerning it, ftill remains — a fealed book. This is the opinion of all, who, from modeft diftruft of their own penetration, have confulted, I will not fay all the inter- preters of this book — for that is ab- folutely impolTible — but even a mode- rate part of them. The late profeflbr Brucker, for inftance, fays in one of his works, ' that he had read a very con- fiderable number of the expofitors of this figurative and myftical book, and found incredible contradictions and confufion/ 5. Many things in it appear to be erroneous and unchriftian. — For how ihall we harmonize that joy and tri- umph with which the horrid punifli- ment of their enemies was viewed and publifhed by the faints, with the mild, conciliatory, charitable, and enemy- loving fpirit, which exifts in the whole New Teftament, and paiticularly in the the New Tejiament 207 the writings of St. John, which breathe, as it were, nothing but forgivenefs and benevolence? — Again, the writer of this book offers at two different times to adore an angel, in the moft exa6i fenfe of the word, to adore as God. And that not only in the vifion"", but alfo' in the ufual, natural condition of the mind. It is highly improbable that any thing of this kind would be done by a Jew, and yet more impro- bable by a Chriftian, but abfolutely impoffible by an Apoftle, nay, by him, who was the moft intimate friend of Jefus! — We will pafs over the error, as it appears to be, which is met with, chap. xx. 8, where the town or kingdom Magog*, (from Ezekiel xxxviii. 2,) is fuppofed to be a man; becaufe critics are ftill in doubt as to T Chap. xlx. 9, 10. * Chap. xxii. 8, 9. t Magog, a city, ojc a kingd The Authetiticity of tolical narrations," {^nfiyna-etsy confc- quently notapoftolical writings). There- fore he — either did not know of the Apocali^pfe^ — or did not receive it as an apoJloUcal and divine fcripture \ , Caius*, an orihodox and very learned, prefbyter of the church of Rome, in the fecond century, aiTerted even that Cerinthus, in order to eftablifh the coarfe doclrine of the Millennium, had falfely attributed it to the Apoftle St. John. " Caius in his Difputation fays," (thefe are the words of Eufebius, E. H. III. 28, for of the writings of Caius none are now extant) '^ Cerintlius, by the help of revelations which he in- a This is acknowledged by Dr. Storr, a very learned and acute defender of the authenticity and diyinlty of this bode, in his * New Apology for the Revelation of St. John,' p. 176 of the Oiiginal.— The teftlmony of Andrew, Bi/hop of Caefarea, in the. fixth century, of whom we know little or nothing, cannot be pro- 'Suced as a proof in oppofition to Eufebius: it is moreover obfcure. See Dr, Storr, p, 175. » Seeabave^ p. 15c, fmuated the New Tejlamenf,' 213 finuated to have been written by a great Apoftle **, impofes upon us a variety of wonderful relations, vfhich he pretends were ihewn to him by angels ''^ and aiferts, that after the re^ furre8;ion, Chrift's palace iliall be on earth "^j and that the fleih (men with carnal bodies) ihall dwell again at Je- rufalem, and indulge in plealures and fenfual appetites. This enemy of the divine fcriptures fays alfo, in order to deceive, (GjAwv irx&.voi.y) that a thoufand years ihall be fpent in nuptial feafts^" — The great Apoftle, by whom the revelations are pretended to have been ^ A»* 0i,fC(iV.cO