CONTENTS OF BOOK III

The contents of the third book of the History of the Church is as follows :

I. The parts of the world in which the apostles preached Christ.

II. Who was the first ruler of the church οf the Romans.

III. on the letters of the Ρostles.

IV, on the first successors of the aportles.

V. on the last siege of the Jews after Christ.

VI. On the famine that οppressed them.

VII. On the Ρrοphecies οf Crhist.

VIII. On the signs before the war.

IX. On Josephus and the writings which he left.

X. Ηow he quotes the sacred books.

XI. Ηow after James Simeon ruled the church at Jerusalem.

XII. Ηοw vespasian ordered the family of Darivld to be sought out.

XIII. Ηow Abilius was the seeond ruler of the Alexandrians.

XIV. Ηow Anencletus was the second bishop of the Romans.

XV. How, after him, clement was the third.

XVI. On the epistle of Clement. XVII.p On the Ρersecution under Domitian.

XVIII. On John the Apostle and the Apocalypse.

XIX. How domitian commanded the family of David to be destroyed.

XX. On family family of our Saviour.

XXI. How Cerdo was the third to rule the church of the Alexandrians.

XXII. How Ignatius was the second of the Antiochians.

XXIII. Α narrative about John the Apostle.

XXIV. Οn the order of the Gospels.

XXV. Οn the writings acknowledged as sacred and Οn those which are not.

XXVI. Οn Μenander the Sorcerer.

XXVII. Οn the heresy of the Ebionites.

XXVII. On Cerinthus the Heresiarch.

XXIX. On Nicholas and those called after him.

XXX. Οn the apostles who were tested by marriage.

XXXO/ On the death of John and Philip.

XXXII. How Simeon, the bishop in Jerusalem, was martyred.

XXXIII. How Trajan forbade the Christians to be sought out.

XXXIV. How Evarestus was the fourth to rule the church of the Romans.

XXXV. How Justus was the third ruler of the church in jerusalem.

XXXVI. Οn Ignatius and his letters.

XXXVII. On the evangelists who were still flourishing.

XXXVIII. On the letter of Clement and the writings fabely attributed to him.

XXXIX. On the writings of Papias.

BOOK III

I. Such was the condition of things among the Jews, but the holy Apostles and disciples of our Saviour were seattered throughout the whole world. Thomas, as tradition relates, obtained by lot Parthia, Andrew Scythia, John Asia (and he stayed there and died in Ephesus), but Ρeter Seems to have preached to the Jews of the Dispersion in Pontus and Galatia and Bithynia, Cappadocia, and Asia, and at the end he came to Rome and was crueffied head downwards, for so he had demanded to suffer. What need be said of Ρaul, who fulffiled the gospel of Christ from Jerusalem to Illyria and afterward was martyred in Rome under Νerο ? This is stated exactly by Οrigen in the third volume of his commentary on Genesis.

II. Αfter the martyrdom of Paul and Ρeter, Linus was the first appointed to the bishopric of the church of Rome. Ρaul mentions him when writing from Rome to Timothy in the salutation at the end of the Εpistle.

III. Οf Ρeter, one epistle, that which is called his first, is admitted, and the aneient presbyters used this in their οwn writings as unquestioned, but the so-called second Epistle we have not received as canonical, but nevertheless it has appeared useful to many, and has been studied with other seriptures. On the other hand, of the Αcts bearing his name, and the Gospel named according to him and Preaching called his and the so-called Revelation, we have no knowledge at all in Catholic tradition, for no orthodox1 writer of the andent time or of our own has used their testimonies. Αs the narrative proceeds 1 will take pains to infficate suecessively wMhlch of the orthodox writers in eaeh period used any of the doubtful books, and what they said about the canonical and accepted scriptures and what about those which are not such. Νow the above are the books bearing the name of Ρeter, of which I recognize only οne as genuine and admitted by the presbyters of old. Αnd the fourteen letters of Ρaul are obvious and plain, yet it is not right to ignore that some dispute the Epistle to the Hebrews, saying that it was rejected by the church of Rome as not being by Ρaul, and I will expound at the proper time what was sriald about it by our predecessors. Νor have I received his so-called Acts among undisputed books. But since the same Apostle in the salutations at the end οf Romans has mentioned among others Hermas, whose, they say, is the Book of the shepherd, it should be known that this also is rejected by some, and for their sake should not be placed among ¹ aceepted books, but by others it has been judged most valuable, especially to thoSe Who need elementary instruction. For this reason we know that it has been used in public in churehes, and I have found it quoted by some of the most ancient writers. Let this suffiee for the establishment of the divine wrintings which are undisputed, and of those which are not received bv all.

IV. Νοw it would be clear from Paul's own words and from the narrative of Luke in the Acts that Ρaul, in his preaching to the Gentiles, laid the foundations of the churches from Jerusalem round about unto Illyricum. Αnd from the Epistle which we have spoken of as indisputably Peter's, in which he writes to those of the Hebrews in the Dispersion of Pontus and Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, it would be clear from his own words in how many provinces he delivered the word οf the Νew Testament by preaching the Gospel of Christ to those of the eireumcision. But it is not easy to say how many οf these and which of them were genuinely zealous and proved their ability to be the pastors of the churches founded by the Apostles, except by making a list of those mentioned by raul. For there were many thousands of his fellow-workers and, as he called them himself, fellow - soldiers, of whom the most were granted by him memorial past forgetting, for he recounts his testimony to them unceasingly in his own letters, and, moreover, Luke also in the Acts gives a list of those known to him and mentions them by name. Thus Timothy is related to have been the first appointed bishop of the diocese of Ephesus, as was Titus of the ehurehes in Crete. Luke, who was by raee an Antiochian and a physician by profession, was long a companion of Ρaul, and had careful conversation with the other Apostles, and in two books left us examples of the medicine for souls which he had gained from them—the Gospel, which he testifies that he had planned according to the tradition reeeived by him by those who were from the beginning eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, all of whom he says,1 moreover, he had followed from the beginning, and the Acts of the Apostles which he composed no longer on the evidence of hearing but of his own eyes. Αnd they say that Paul was actually accustomed to quote from Luke's Gospel since when writing of some Gospel as his own he used to say, “ According to my ” Of the other followers of Ρaul there is evidence that Crescens was sent by him to Gaul, and Linus, who is mentioned in the seeond Epistle to Timothy as present with him in Rome has already been deelared to have been the first after Ρeter to be appointed to the bishopric of the Chureh in Rome. Of Clement too, who was himself made the third bishop of the chureh of Rome, it is testified by Paul that he worked and strove in company with him. In addition to these Dionysius, one of the ancients, the pastor Of the diocese of the Corinthians, relates that the first bishop of the Chureh at Athens was that member of the Areopagus, the Οther Dionysius, whose original eonversion after Ρaul’s speech to the Athenians in the Areopagus Luke deseribed in the Acts. Now ² as we go on our way the chronological details of the succession of the Apostles will be related, but at present let us go on to the next stage of the narrative.

V. Αfter Νero had held the sovereignty for thirteen years 1 the affairs of Galba and Otho 2 occupied a year and six months, and then Vespasian, who had distinguished himself in the operations against the Jews, was proclaimed Imperator by the army there and appointed Emperor in Judaea itself. Ηe at once set off for Rome and entrusted the war against the Jews to his son Titus. Now after the ascension of our Saviour in addition to their crime against him the Jews at onee contrived numberless plots against his disciples. Stephen was first stoned to death by them and next after him James, the son of Zebedee and brother of John, was beheaded.3 In addition to all, James, who was the first after the ascension οf our Saviour to be appointed to the throne of the bishopric in Jerusalem, paried away in the manner deseribed above and the other Apostles were driven from the land of Judaea by thousands of deadly Ρlots. They went on their way to all the heathen teaching their mesage in the power of Christ for he had said to them, “ Go and make disciples of all the heathen in my ” 4 On the other hand, the ^{3 4} people οf the church in Jerusalem were commanded by an oracle given by revelation before the war to those in the city who were worthy of it to depart and dwell in one οf the cities of Perea which they called Ρella. To it those who believed on Christ migrated from Jerusalem, that when holy men had altogether deserted the royal eapital of the Jews and the Whole land of Judaea, the judgement of God might at last overtake them for all their crimes against the Christ and his Apostles, and all that generation οf the wicked be utterly blotted out from among men. Those who wish can retrace accurately from the history written by Josephus how many evils at that time overwhelmed the whole nation in every place and especially how the inhabitants οf Judaea were driven to the last point of suffering, how many thousands οf youths, women, and children perished by the sword, by famine, and by countless other forms of death ; they ean read how many and what famous Jewish cities were besieged, and Rnally how terrors and worse than terrors were seen by those who fled to Jerusalem as if to a mighty capital; they can study the nature οf the whole war, all the details οf what happened in it, and how at the end the abomination of deSolation spoken of by the prophets was set up in the very temple of God, for all its ancient fame, and it perished utteriy and passed away in flames. But it is neceSSary to point οut how the same writer estimates at three millions the number οf those who in the days of the Feart of the Passover thronged Jerusalem from all Judaea and, to use his own words, were shut up as if in prison. Ιt vas indeed right that on the same day on which they had perpetrated the passion of the Saviour and benefactor of all men and the Chrit of God they sholrid be, as it were shut up in prison and reeeiVe the destruetiOn which pursued them from the sentence of God.

Omitting then the details of their misfortunes from the sword and otherwise, Ι think it necessary to adduce only their sufferings from famine in order that those who study this work may have some partial knowledge of how the punishment of God follOWed close after them for their crime against the Christ of God.

VI. Come then, take up again the fifth book of the history of Josephus and go through the tragedy of what was then done. “For the ’’he says, “ to remain was equal to destruction, since for the sake of their property they were murdered on the charge of intended desertion. But the madneb of the rebels grew with the famine, and the terror of both blazed more fiercely day by day. No corn was visible anywhere, but they burst into houses and searched them. Then, if they found any, they tormented the inmates for their denying; if not they tortured then for having hidden it too earefully. The bodies of the miserable creatures were evidence whether they had it or not. Those who were still in health seemed to be provided with food, while those who were already wasted away were passed by, and it seemed unreasonable to kill those who would soon die of need. Μany secretly exchanged their property for a single measure or wheat, if they were richer, of barley, if they were poorer. Then, shutting themselves up in the inmost recesses of their houSes, some, in the extremity of their want, would eat the grain unprepared, others would cook it as necessity and fear dietated. No table was set anyWhere, but snatching it from the fire they tore in pieces the still uncooked food. Their living was pitiable, and their appearance worthy of tears ; the strong plundered and the weak wailed. Famine truly surpasses all sufferings, but it destroys nothing so much as shame 1 ; for what is at other times worthy of respect is despised in famine ; women took the food from the very mouths of their husbands, children from their fathers, and, most piteous of all, mothers from their children, and while their deareSt were wasting away before them there WaS no scruple in taking away the last drop of life. Yet they did not escape detection When they thus ate, but everywhere the rioters arose to rob them even of this; for whenever they Saw a house Shut up it was a sign that those within had obtained food and at onee they tore down the doors, ruShed in, and seized the morSelS, almost squeering them out of their throats. Old men were beaten for withholding food, and Women were dragged by the hair for concealing it in their hands. There Was no pity for grey-headed age or for little children, but they picked up babies clinging to crusts and dashed them on the floor. ⁵ To those who had anticipated their entry, and had gulped down their expected prey, they were the more cruel, as though they had been injured by them. For the ffiscovery of food they sought for terrible methods of torture, sewing up their victims and inmpaling them on sharp stakes. Men suffered things terrible even to hear to secure the confession of a single loaf, and to disclose a single pint of hidden barley. But the torturers suKered no hunger (and indeed their cruelty would have been less had it been from neeessity) but there was method in their madness and they prorided sustenanee for themselves for days to come. When some crept out by night as far as the Roman lines to gather wild herbs and grass, they intercepted them when they thought that they had at last escaped the enemy, plundered them of what they were carrying, and for all their many entreaties and invocations of the awful name οf God to give them some share οf what they had brought at their οwn risk, they gave them nothing whatever, and he Who Was robbed was lueky not to be murdered too.” Αfter some οther details he continues: “Νow When all hope of safety was cut off from the Jews by the closing of the exits from the city and famine deepening from house to house and family to family was eating up the people, the rooms were filled with dead women and children and the alley—ways the corpses of old men. Boys and young men, wandering 1 like ghosts through the market—place, were seimd by death and lay each where the blow had stricken him. The sick had no strength to bury sufferers from famine, not of ghosb (and the text seems corrupt). Or it may be “ swllen yet ghost—like ghost—like ’’ their families and the strong heritated for the number of the dead and their own doubtful fate. Many indeed fell in death on those whom they were burying and many went to their graves before the necessity arose. There was no lamentation or wailing at losses, but famine overcame emotion and those who were dying in misery looked with dry eyes on those Who had found rest before them. Deep silence and night pregnant with death encompassed the city. Worse than these were the robbers. Breaking into houses like body-snatchers they robbed the dead, tearing the garments from their bodies, and went out with laughter. They tried the edge of their Swords on the corpses, and to prove the steel ran through some of the fallen who were still alive, but those who begged for the kindliness of a mortal blow they left in contempt to the famine. These all died with eyes fixed on the temple and lert the rebels to life. Αt first orders were giVen to bury the dead at the public expense because of the unbearable stench ; then afterwards when this was impracticable they Were thrown from the walls into the trenches. When Titus, going round the trenches, saw then full of the dead and the thick gore oozing from the rotting bodies, he groaned, and raising his hand called God to witness that this was not his doing.”

Αfter a little more he goes on : “Ι cannot refrain from stating what emotion bids me. Ι think that had the Roman delayed their attack on the scoundrels the city would haVe been engulfed by the earth opening or overwhelmed by a flood or shared the thunderbolts of Sodom, for it had brought forth a generation far more ungodly than those who thus suffered. It was by their madness that the whole people perished.”

In the sixth book he writes thus : “Οf those who perished in the city from the famine the number which fell was countless and their sufferings indescribable. For in each house if there appeared the very shadow οf food there was fighting, and the dearest friends wrestled together for it, snatching the miserable sustenance of life. Νor were even the dying believed to be destitute, but while they were still breathing the robbers searched them, lest any should feign death while having food on his person. others, gaping from lack of food, stumbled and hurried along like mad dogs, beating at the doors like drunken men, and rushing two or three times in a single hour into the same houses from sheer incompetence. Necessity brought all things to men's teeth and they endured eating a collection of scraps unnt for the ffithieSt of brute beasts. Αt the last they abstained not even from belts and shoes and gnawed the hides stripped off their shieldS. Some fed on wisps of old straw, others collected Stubble and sold a tiny portion for four Attic drachmae.1

“But what need is there to Speak of the shamelessness οf the famine towards inanimate things? I purpose to relate a consequenee of it such as has been narrated neither by the Greeks nor by the barbarians, horrible to tell, ineredible to hear. I myself would have gladly omitted the tragedy to avoid ⁶ appearing to posterity to fabricate legend had I not had coulrtless vitneses to it in my own generation. Certainly I should render cold comfort to my country Were I to compromise the account of her sufferings. There was a woman among those who lived beyond Jordan named Mary whose father was Eliezer of the village Bathezor (which means “ House of ”). She was famous for her family and Wealth, and having fled with the rest of the population to Jerusalem was eaught in the Siege. The tyrants seized all her other possessions which she had brought from Peraea and carried into the city, and the guards rushed in daily and seized the iemnants of her property and any food which they perceived. Fierce indignation seized the woman and by her frequent abuseS and curses she tried to irritate the robbers against herSelf. But when no one killed her either in anger or pity and she wearied of finding food for others, and indeed it was now impossible to do so anywhere, famine entered into her heart and marrow, and rage burnt more fiercely than famine. Anger and neceSsity were her councillors: she turned against nature and seized her child, a boy whom She was suckling. ‘Miserable infant,’ she said, ‘amid war, famine, and rebellion for what 1 am I keeping you ? Slavery among the Romans faces us if they give us our liveS ; famine is overtaking slavery; the rebelS are worse than both. Come, be food for me, an avenging fury to the rebels, and the one story still lacking to the sufferings of the Jews to be told to the world.’ With these words she her son, and then cooked him, ate half, and covered ^{7 8} up and kept the rest. Αt that moment the rebels came and smelling the horrible savour, threatened to kill her at onee if they were not given what she had made ready. she told them that rile had kept a good helping for them and uncovered the remains of the child. Αs for them, horror and amazement seized them at once, and they stood transfixed at the sight, but She said, ‘ This was my own child and the deed is mine. Eat, for I myself have eaten. Do not be more squeamish than a woman, or compassionate than a mother. But if you have scruples, and turn away from my sacrifice, What I have eaten was your share, let the rest remain for me.’ Αt they went out trembling, for only thiS made them coWards, and they scarcely yielded eVen thiS food to the mother ; but the Whole eity waS at once ffiled with the horror, and each, holding the tragedy before hiS eyes, shuddered as if it had been his own crime. And the sufferers from the famine sought for death and pronounced those blessed whom it had reached before they heard or saw such awful evils.”

VII. Such was the reward of the iniquity of the Jews and of their impiety against the ChriSt of God, but it is worth appending to it the infallible foreeast of our saviour in which he prophetically expounded these very — “ woe unto them that are with child and give suek in those days, but pray that your ffight be not in the winter nor on a sabbath day, for there Shall then be great affliction such as was not from the beginning of the world until now, nor shall be.” Αnd the historian, estimating the whole of those who were destroyed, says that 1.100.000 perished by famine and tlle sword, and that the rest of the rebels and bandits were pointed out by one another after the capture of the city and killed. The tallest of the youths, and those distinguished for physical beauty, were kept for a triumph, and of the remaining population those above seventeen years old Were sent as prisoners to hard labour in Egypt, but more were distributed throughout the provinces to be destroyed in the theatres by the sword and by wild beasts. Those below seventeen years old were sold into slavery and these alone were 90.000.

These things happened in this Way in the second year of the reign of Vespasian in accordance with the prophetic utterances of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who foreseeing them by divine power as though already present, shed tears at them and mourned according to the writing of the saered evangelist, who appends his actual words. For once he said to Jerusalem herself, “ If thou hadst known, even thou, in this day the thing which belong to thy peaee : but now they are hid from thine eyes, for the days will come upon thee When thine enemy Shall cart a trench around thee and compass thee round and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee and thy children even with the ground.” at another time, as if concerning the ”For there shall be great distress On the earth and wrath upon this people, and they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and be sold into slavery to all the Gentiles, and Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” And again, “ Αnd when ye Jemsalem surrounded by armies then know that her desolation is at ” If anyone compare the words of our Saviour with the other narratives of the historian concerning the whole war, how can he avoid surprise and a confession οf the truly divine and supematurally wonderful character both of the foreknowledge knowledge and of the foretelling οf our Saviour?

There is no necessity to add to the narratives of what happened to the whole nation after the passion of the Saviour and those words in which the multitude of the Jews begged off from death the robber and murderer and besought that the author of Life should be taken from them ; but it would be right to add a possible connnnation οf the kindliness οf beneficent Providence. For forty whole years it suspended their dertruction, after their crime against the Christ, and during all of them many ofthe apostles and disciples, and James himself, who is called the Lord's brother, the first bishop of the city, still survived in this world. By their dwelling in Jerusalem, they afforded, as it were, a strong proteetion to the place; for the govemment of God had still patience, if haply they might at last by repenting of their deeds, be able to obtain pardon and salvation; and in addition to such great long—suffering it wonderful tokens from God οf what would happen to them if they did not repent. These things have been thought worthy of mention by the historian already quoted, and there is nothing better than to append them for the readers of this work.

VIII. Take, then, and read what is related in the sixth book of the Jervish War. “ Now at that time impostors and lying prophets perverted the miserable people, but they gaVe neither attention nor credence to the clear marvels which foretold approaching desolation, but as though they had been thunderstruck and had neither eyes nor soul, they neglected the declarations of God. Αt One time a star stood over the city like a sword, and a comet which lasted for a year. Αt another tlme, before the insurrection, and the disturbance which led to the war, when the people were assembled for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, on the eighth of April, at the ninth hour of the night, a light shone on the alter and on the temple so brightly that it seemed to be full day, and this lasted for half an hour. TO the inexperienced this seemed a good sign, but was at once interpreted by the seribes before the events which actually followed. Αnd at thc same feast a cow, which had been led by the —priest for the sacrifice, gave birth to a lamb in the middle of the tempIe, And the eastern gate of the inner building, which was of bronze and very massive and was closed at evening time with difficulty by twenty men, and rested on beams bound with iron and had bars sunk deep, was seen at night at the sixth hour to have opened of itself. Αnd after the feast, not many days later, on the twenty—first of May, a demonic phantom of increffible size, and what will be related would have seemed a fairy-tale had it not been told by those who saw it, and been attended by suffering worthy of the portent. For before sunset there appeared in the air over the whole country chariots and armed troops coursing through the clouds and surrounding the cities. Αnd at the feast called Pentecost the priests passed into the temple at night, as was their custom, for their services, and said that they first perceived movement and noise and after that a sudden cry, ‘ We go hence’ But what was terrible a man of the people named Jesus, the son οf Ananias, a countryman, four years before the war, when the city was in complete peaee and prosperity, came to the feast when it was the custom for all to make booths for God, and began suddenly to cry οut opposite the temple, ‘ Α voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem and the temple, a voice against bridegrooms and brides, a voice against all the people.’ With this cry night and day he through all the narrow streets. But some οf the notables οf the people were annoyed at the ill omen, seized the man and abused him with many stripes. But he uttered no word in his own behalf, nor in private to those present, but went οn with the same cry as before. But the rulers thought that the man's action was inspired by some demon, as it indeed was, and brought him to the Roman govemor 1 ; there, though he was flayed to the bone with scourges, he uttered no plea and shed no tear, but taising his ⁹ voice with all his power, answered to every blow, ‘Woe, woe to Jerusalem.’”

The same writer has a still more remarkable account in Which he alleges that an oracle was found in “ sacred seript ” to the effect that at that time one from their country should rule the world and he himself considered that this was fulfilled by Vespasian. Yet he did not reign over the whole world, but only such part as was subject to the Romans, and it would be more justly referred to Christ, to whom it was said by the Father, “ Αk of me and Ι will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the ends οf the earth for thy possession.” was of his holy apostles at that Very time that “ the sound went forth into all tbe earth and their words unto the end of the earth.”

IX. In addition to all this, it is right not to ignore ¹⁰ the date and Origin οf the Josephus who collected so mueh material in the work just dealt with. Ηe himself gives this information and says, “ was a son of Mathhisas, a priest of Jerusalem, and at the beginning he fought againrt the Romans and was forced to take part in the later events.” was the most famous Jew of that time, not only among his fellow countrymen but also among the Romans, so that he was honoured by the erection of a statue in the city of Rome, and the inclusion of the work composed by him in its library Ηe compiled the whole ancient history of the Jews in twenty volumes, 1 and the history of the Roman War 2 in his own time in seven; he testifies that he committed this not only to Greek but also to his native language, and he is for other reasons worthy of credenee. Two other books of his, worthy of notice, are extant, entitled Οn the ancientness of the Jervs, 3 in which he controverts Apion the Scribe, who had composed a treatise against the Jews, and other who had tried to calumniate the ancertral customs of the Jewish nation. Ιn the first of these he gives the number of the canonical scriptures of the –called Old Testament, and showed as follows which are undisputed among the Hebrews as belonging to ancicnt tradition.

X. “ We have no myriads of discordant and contradictory books, but only two and twenty, containing the narrative of all time, which have been justly believed to be divine. Οf thee five are those of ^{11 12 13} Moses and contain the Law and the tradition of human history until his deatll. This period covers almost three thousand years. From the death of Moses to Artaxerxes who succeeded Xerxes, king of the Persians, the prophets after Moses wrote the aecount of the events contemporary with them in thirteen books. 1 The remaining four books contain hymns to God and precepts for the life of men. From the time of Artaxerxes to our own the details have been written, 2 but are not considered worthy οf equal credence with the rest because there has not been an aceurate succession of prophetS. Αnd facts show plainly how we approach our own literature, for though so long a time has elapsed no one has dared to make additions, omissions, or changes, but it is innate in Jews from their very birth to regard them as the decreeS of God, to abide in them and, if it need be, to die for them ” This quotation from the author may be usefully appended.

Another work which is not without merit was produced by him on The Supremacy of Reason, which some entitled Maccabees 3 because it contains the conflicts of those Hebrews mentioned in the so-called books of the Maccabees, who strove valiantly for the worship of God. Αt the end of the twentieth book οf the Antiquities the same writer announces that he had planned to compose four books on the aneestral belief of the Jews concerning God and his nature and ^{14 15 16} concerning the Laws, why they allow some aetions and forbid others. Ηe also mentions in his οwn treatises that he had produced other works. Moreover, it is right to mention the words which he appends to the end οf the Antiquities to confirm our quotation οf the passages taken from him. Accusing of false statements Justus of Tiberias, who had undertaken to write a similar account of the same period, and bringing many οther charges against him, he continues as follows : “ I had no such fear as you with regard to my own writing, but I gave the books to the Emperors themselves while the events were still almost before their eyes. For I was conscious of having kept the tradition of the truth and I did not fail in my expectation of obtaining their testimony to that effect. I also gave the narrative to many others, of whom some had actually taken part in the war, such as King Agrippa and some of his relations. For the Emperor Titus Was pleased that from these book alone should information be given the public as to the events, and, writing with his own hand, he ordered the books to be published, and King Agrippa wrote sixty-two letters testifying that they were handing on the ” of these letters he appends two, but let this suffice οn the subject of Josephus and let us proceed.

XI. Αfter the martyrdom of James and the capture of Jemsalem which immeffidlately followed, the story goes that those οf the Apostles and of the disciples οf the Lord who were still alive came together from every place with those who were, humanly speaking, οf the family οf the Lord, for many of them were then still alive, and they all took counsel together as to whom they οught to adjudge worthy to succeed James, and all unanimously decided that Simeon the son οf Clopas, whom the scripture οf the Gospel also mentions, was worthy of the throne of the diocese there. He was, so it is said, a cousin οf the Saviour, for Hegesippus relates that Clopas was the brother of Joseph,

(XII.) and in addition that Vespasian, after the capture of Jerusalem, ordered a seareh to be made for all who were of the family of David, that there might be left among the Jews no one of the royal family and, for this reason, a very great persecution was again infficted οn the Jews.

XIII. when Vespasian had reigned for ten years, his son Titus succeeded him as emperor, 1 and in the second year of his reign, Linus, bishop οf the church οf the Romans, after holding his office for twelve years, handed it οn to Anencletus. Αfter Titus had reigned for two years and as many months Domitian, his brother, suceeeded him. 2

XIV. Νow in the fourth year of Domitian, Annianus, the hrst of the see of Alexandria, died after completing twenty-two years, and Abilius succeeded him as the second.

XV. Αnd in the twelfth year of the same reign, Clement sueeeeded Anencletus after he had been bishop of the church of the Romans for twelve years. The apostle states that he had been his –worker in his epistle to the Philippians saying, “ With Clement and ^{17 18} my other fellow-workers whose names are in book οf Life.”

XVI. There is one recognized epistle of Clement, Ιong and wonderful, Which he drew up for the church of the Corinthians in the name of the church of the Romans when there had been dissension in Corinth. We have ascertained that this letter was pubhely read in the common assembly in many churches both in the days of old and in our own time ; and that the affairs οf Corinth were disturbed by dissension in his day is adequately testffied to by Hegesippus.

XVII. When Domitian had given many proofs of his great cruelty and had put to death without any reasonable trial no small number of men distinguished at Rome by family and career, and had punished without a cause myriads of other notable men by banishment and confiscation of their property, he finally showed himself the successor of Nero's campaign of hostility to God. Ηe was the second to promote persecution against uS, though his father, Vespasian, had planned no evil against us.

XVIII. Αt this time, the story goes, the Apostle and Evangelist John was still alive, and was condemned to live in the island of Patmos for his witness to the divine word. Αt any rate Irenaeus, Writing about the number of the name ascribed to the anti-Christ the so-called Apocalypse of John, states this about John in so many words in the fifth book against Heresies. “But if it had been neceSSary to announce his name plainly at the present time, it would have been spoken by him who saw the apocablypse. For it was not seen long ago but almost in our own time, at the end of the reign of Domitian.”

The teaching of our faith shone so brilliantly in the days described that even writers foreign to our belief did not hesitate to commit to their narratives the persecutions and the martyrdoms in it, and they even indicated the time accurately, relating that in the fifeenth year 1 of Domitian, Flavia Domitilla, who was the niece of Flavius Clemens, one of the consuls at Rome at that time, was banished with many others to the island of Pontia as testimony to Christ.

ΧΙΧ. The samc Domitian gave orders for the execution of those of the family of David and an ancient story goes that some hererics accused the grandsons of Judas (who is said to have been the brother, according to the flesh, of the Saviour) saying that they were of the family of David and related to the Christ himself. Hegesippus this exactly as follows.

XX. “ Now there still survived of the family of the Lord grandsons of Judas, who was said to have been his brother according to the flesh, and they were delated as being of the family of David. These tlle officer 2 brought to Domitian Caesar, for, like Herod, he was afraid of the coming of the Christ. Ηe asked them if they were of the house of David and they admitted it. Then he asked them how much property they had, or how ¹⁹ much money they controlled. and they said that all they possessed was nine thousand denarii
them, the half belonging to each, and they stated that they did not possess this in money but that it was the valuation of only thirty-nine plethra
of ground on which they paid taxes and lived on it by their own ” They then showed him their hands, adducing as testimony of their labour the hardness of their bodies, and the tough skin which had been embossed on their hands from their incessant work. They were asked concerning the Christ and his kingdom, its nature, origin, and time of appearance, and explained that it was neither of the world nor earthly, but heavenly and angelic, and it would be at the end of the world, when he would come in glory to judge the living and the dead and to reward every man according to his deeds. At this Domitian did not condemn them at all, but despised them as simple folk, released them, and decreed an end to the persecution against the church. But when they were released they were the leaders of the churches, both for their testimony and for their relation to the Lord, and remained alive in the peace which ensued until Trajan. Hegesippus tells this ; moreover, Tertullian also has made similar mention of Domitian. “ Domitian also once tried to do the same as he, for he was a Nero in cruelty, but, Ι helieve, inasmuch as he had some sense, he stopped at once and recalled those whom he had banished.”

Αfter Domitian had reigned fifteen years, Nerva succeeded. 1 The sentences οf Domitian were annulled, and the Roman Senate decreed the return οf those who had been unjustly banished and the restoration of their property. Those who committed the story οf those times to writing relate it. Αt that time, too, the story of the ancient Christians relates that the Apostle John, after his banishment to the island, took up his abode at Ephesus.

XXI. After Νerva had reigned a little more than a year he was suceeeded by Trajan,2 in whose first year Abilius, after leading the diocese οf Alexandria for thirteen years, was sueceeded by Cerdo ; he was the third in charge οf that see after the first, Annianus. Αt this time Clement was still governing the Romans and he, also, occupied the third Ρlace in the list οf bishops in Rome after Ρaul and Ρeter ; Linus was the first and after him Anencletus.

XXII. Moreover, at the time mentioned, Ignatius was famous as the second bishop at Antioch where Evodius had been the first. Likewise at this time, Simeon was second after the brother οf our Saviour to hold the ministry of the church in Jerusalem.

XXIII. Αt this time that very disciple whom Jesus loved, John, at οnce Apostle and Evangelist, still remained alive in Asia and administered the churches there, for after the death of Domitian, he had returned from his banishment οn the island. Αnd that he remained alive until this time may fully be confirmed by two witnesses, and these ought to be trustworthy for they represent the orthodoxy of the ²² church, no less persons than Irenaeus and Clement οf Alexandria. The former of these writes in οne Ρlace in the second οf his books Against the Hereises, as follows : “ Αnd all the presbyters who had been associated in Asia with John, the disciple of the Lord, bear witness to his tradition, for he remained with them until the timesk of ” Αnd in the third book οf the same work he makes the same statement as follows : “ Νοw the church at Εphesus was founded by Ρaul, but Johu stayed there until the times οf Trajan, and it is a true witness of the tradition οf the Apostles.”

Clement indicates the same time, and in the treatise to which he gave the title Who is the rich man that is saved, adds a narrative most acceptable to those who enjoy hearing what is fine and edifying. Take and read here what he wrote. “ Listen to a story which is not a story but a true tradition οf John the Apostle Ρreserved in memory. For after the death of the tyrant he passed from the island of Ρatmos to Εphesus, and used also to go, when he was asked, to the neighbouring districts of the heathen,1 in some places to appoint bishops, in others to reconcile whole churches, and in others to ordain some οne of those pointed out by the spirit. Ηe came to one οf the cities which were near by (and some tell cven its name),2 and gave rest in general to the brethren ; then, while looking before them all at the bishop who had been appointed, he saw a young man οf strong body, beautiful appearance, and wann heart. ῾I commend this ᾿ he siad, ^{23 24} to you with all diligence in the face of the church, and with Christ as my witness.’ received him, and promised everything, and the same conversations and protestations were used. John then returned to Ephesus and the presbyter1 took to his house the young man entrusted to him, brought him up, looked after him, and finally baptized him. Αfter this he relaxed his great care and watchfulness, because he had set upon him the seal of the Lord as the perfect safeguard. But some idle and dissolute youths, familiar with evil, corrupted him in his presature freedom. First they led him on by expensive feasts, then they started out at night for robbery and took him with them, then they urged him to greater crimes. Ηe gradually became accustomed to this, and like an unbroken and powerful horse starting from the straight way and tearing at the bit, rushed all the more to the precipice becaue οf his natural vigour. Finally he renounced salvation from God; and now he planned nothing small, but, having perpetrated some great crime, since he was ruised once for all, accepted the same lot as the others. Ηe collected them and formed a band of brigands and was himself a born chief, excelling in violence, in murder, and in cruelty. Time went on and some necessity arose to summon John. When he had arranged the rest of his mission John said, ‘Come now, bishop, pay me back the deposit which Christ and I left with you, with the church, over which you preride, as witness.’ The bishop was at first amazed, thinking that he was being blackmailed for money which he had not received. Ηe could neither show his faitjfi;mess in ²⁵ what he had never had, nor could he fail John. But when John said, ‘I ask back the young man and the soul οf the brother,’ the οld man deeply and shedding tears, said, ‘ He has died.’ ‘ Ηow and with what death ? ’ ‘ Ηe has died to God,’ he said, ‘ for he turned out wicked abandoned and finally a brigand, and now instead of the church he has taken to the mountains with an armed band of men like himself.’ Then the rent his gannents and beat his head with great lamentation. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘it was a fine guardian whom I left for the soul of our brother. But let me have a horse and some one to show me the way. ’ So he rode, just as he was, straight from the church. when he came to the place he was was by the sentinel of the brigands and neither fled nor made excuses, but ealled out, ‘This is why I am come ; take me to your leader.’ The leader waited for him, armed as he was, but when he recognized John οn his approach, he turned and fled in shame. But John pursued with all his might, forgetting his age and calling οut, ‘Why do you run away from me, child, your own father, unarmed and old ? Ρity me, child, do not fear me ! You have still hope οf life. I will aecount to Christ for you. Ιf it must be, I will willingly suffer your death, as the Lord suffered for us ; for your life, I will give my own. Stay, believe; Christ sent ’ when he heard this he nrst stood looking down, then he tore off his weapons, then he began to tremble and to weep bitterly. Ηe embraced the old man when he came up, pleading for himself with lamentations as best he could, baptized a second time in his tears, but his right hand he kept back. But John assured him by pledges and protestations that he had found forgiveness for him with the Saviour, led him back, prayed and kneeled and kissed that right hand as though cleansed by his repentance. Ηe brought him to the church, he prayed with many supplications, he joined with him in the struggle of continouns fasting, he worked on his mind by varied addresses and did not leave him, so they say, until he had restored him to the church, and thus gave a great example of true repentance and a great testimony of regeneration, the trophy of a visible ” These remarks of Clement may be quoted both for the Sake of the narrative and the edification of those who shall read them.

XXIV. But come, let us indicate the undoubted writings οf this Apostle. 1 Let the Gospel according to him be first recognized, for it is read in all the churches under heaven. Moreover, that it was reasonable for the aneients to reckon it in the fourth place after the other three may be explained thus. Those inspired and venerable ancients, I mean Christ's Apostles, had completely purified their life and adorned their souls with every virtue, yet were but simple men in speech. Though they were indeed bold in the divine and wonder-working power given them by the saviour, they had neither the knowledge or the desire to represent the teachings of the Master in persuasive or artiStic language, but they used only the proof of the spirit of God which worked with them, and the wonder-working power of Christ which was consummated through them. Thus they announced the knowledge οf the Kingdom of Ηeaven ²⁶ to all the world and cared but little for attention to their style. Αnd this they did inasmuch as they were serving a greater, superhuman ministry. Thus Ρaul, the most powerful of all in the preparation of argument and the Strongest thinker, committed to writing no more than short epistles, though he had ten thousand ineffable thngs to say, seeing that he had touched the vision of the third heaven, had been caught up to the divine paradise itself, and was there granted the hearing ineffable words. Νor were the other pupils of our Saviour without experience of the same things, —the twelve Apostles and the seventy disciples and ten thousand others in addition to them. Yet nevertheless of all those who had been with the Lord only Matthewand John have left theirrecollections, and tradition says that they took to writing perforce. Matthew had first preached to Hebrews, and when he was on the point of going to others he transmitted in writing in his native language the Gospel according to himself, and thus supplied by writhing the Ιack of his own presence to those from whom he was sent, and Mark and Luke had already published the Gospels according to them, but John, it is said, used all the time a message which was not written down, and at last took to writing for the following cause. The three gospels which had been written down before were distributed to all including himself ; it is said that he welcomed them and testified to their truth but said that there was only lacking to the narrative the account of what waS done by Christ at first and at the beginning of the preaehing. The story is surely true. It is at least possible to see that the three evanglists related only what the Saviour did during one year after John the Baptist had been put in prison and that they stated this at the beginning or their nauative. Αt any rate, after the forty ’ fast, and the temptation which followed Matthew fixes the time described in his own writing by saying that “ hearing that John had been betrayed, he retreated ’’ from Judaea “ into ” Similarly Mark says, “ and after John was betrayed Jesus came into ” Αnd Luke, too, makes a similar observation before beginning the acts οf Jcsus saying that Ηerod added to the evil deeds which he had done by “ shutting up John in ” ney say accordingly that for this reason the apostle John was asked to relate in his own gospel the period Ρassed over in silence by the former evangelists and the things done during it by the Saviour (that is to say, the events before the imprisonment of the Baptist), and that he indicated this at one time by saying, “ this beginning οf miracles did ” at another by mentioning the Baptists in the the of the acts of Jesus as at that time still baptizing at Aenon near salem, and that he makes this plain by saying, “ for John was not yet cast into prison. ” Thus John in the course of his gospel relates what Christ did before the Baptist had been thrown into prison, but the other three evangelists narrate the events after the imprisonment of the Baptist. If this be understood the gospels no longer appear to disagree, becauswe that according to John contains the first of the acts οf Christ and the others the narrative of what he did at the end of the poriod, and it will seem probable that John passed over the genealogy οf our Saviour according to the flesh, because it had been already written out by Matthew and Luke, and began with the description of his divinity since this had been reserved for him by the Divine Spirit as for one greater than they.

The above must suffice us concerning the writing of the Gospel according to John, and the cause for that according to Μark has been explained above. Luke himself at the beginning of his treatise prefixed an account οf the cause for which he had made his compilation, explaining that while many others had somewhat rashly attempted to make a narrative of the things οf which he had himself full knowledge, 1 he felt obliged to release us from the doubtful propositions of the others and related in his own gospel the accurate account of the things οf which he had shimself firmly learnt the truth from his profitable intercourse and life with Ρaul and his conversation with the other apostles. This must suffice us for the present, but at the proper time we will endeavour to explain by citation from the ancients what has been said on the point by others.

Of the writings of John in addition to the gospel the first of his epistles has been accepted without controversy by ancients and moderns alike but the οther two are disputed, and as to the Revelation there have been many advocates of either opinion up to the present. This, too, shall be similarly illustrated by quotations from the ancients at the proper time.

XXV. Αt this point it seems reasonable to summarize the writings of the Νew Testament which have been quoted. Ιn the first place should be put the holy tetrad of the Gospels. To them follows the writing οf the Αcts of the Apostles. Αfter this should be reckoned the Epsitles of Ρaul. Following them the Epistle of John called the first, and in the same way should be recognized the Epistle of Ρeter. In addition to these should be put, if it Seem desirable, the Revelation of John, the arguments concerning which we will expound at the proper time. These belong to the Recognized Books. Of the Disputed Books which are nevertheless known to most are the Epistle called of James, that of Jude, the second Epistle of Ρeter, and the so-called second and third Εpistles of John which may be the work οf the evangelist or of some other with the same name. Among the books which are not genuine must be reckoned the Acts of Ρaul, the work entitled the Shepherd, the Apocalypse or Ρeter, and in addition to them the letter called of Barnabas and the so-called Teachings of the Apostles. Αnd in addition, as I said, the Revelation of John, if this view prevaial. For, as I said, some reject it, but others count it among the Recognized Books. Some have also counted the Gospel according to the Hebrews in which those of the Hebrews who have aceepted Christ take a special pleasure. These would all belong to the disputed books, but we have nevertheleSs been obliged to make a list of them, distinguishing between those writings which, according to the tradition of the Church, are true, genuine, and recognized, and those which differ from them in that they are not canonical but disputed, yet neverthelss are known to most of the writers οf the Chureh, in order that we might know them and the writings which put forward by heretics under the name of the apostles containing gospels such as those οf Ρeter, and Thomas, and Matthias, and some others besides, or Acts such as those of Andrew and John and the other apostles. To none of these has any who belonged to the succession of the orthodox ever thought it right to refer in his writings. Moreover the type of phraseology differs from apostolic style, and the opinion and tendeney of their contents is widely dissonant from true orthodoxy and clearly shows that they are the forgeries οf heretics. They ought, therefore, to be reckoned not even among spurious books but shunned as altogether wicked and impious.

XXVI. Let us now continue the narrative. Menander succeeded Simon Magus and showed himself as a weapon of the devil's power not inferior to his predecessor. He, too, was a Samaritan, progressed to the highest point οf sorcery not less than his master, and abounded in greater wonders. Ηe said of himself that he was the saviour who had been sent from above for the salvation of men from invisible aeons 1 and taught that no one, not even οf the angels who made the world, could survive unless they were first rescued through the magic art which was transmitted by him and through the bapiam ²⁷ which he delivered, for those who were vouchsafed it would obtain a share of eternal immortality in this life itself, no longer mortal but remaining here, destined to everlasting and ageless immortality. This point can also be easily studied from the writings of Irenaeus. Justin, too, in the same way after mentioning Simon continues his account of him by saying, “ We also know that a certian Menander, who abo was a samaritan from the village of Caparat taea, became a disciple of Simon and being similarly srimulated by the demons appeared in Antioch and deceived many by magical arts. He persuaded those who followed him that they would not die, and there are still some of his followers who believe this.”

It was assuredly at the instigation of the devil that the name οf Christian was adopted by such sorcerers to calumniate by magic the great mystery of religion and through them to destroy the teaching of the Chureh on the immortality οf the soul and the resurrection of the dead. Those who termed these Saviours fell from the true hope.

XXVII. But others the wiched demon, when he could not aliienate them from God's plan in Christ, made his own, when he found them by a different snare. The first Christians gave these the suitablename of Ebionites because they had poor and mean opinions concerning Christ. They held him to be a plain and ordinary man who had achieved righteousness merely by the progress of his characcter and had been born naturally from Mary and her busband. They insisted on the complete observation of the Law, and did not think that they would be saved by faith in Christ alone and by a life in accordance with it. But there were others besides these who have the same name. These escaped the absurd folly of the first mentioned, and did not deny that the Lord was born of a Virgin and the Ηoly Spirit, but nevertheless agreed with them in not confessing his pre-existence as God, being the Logos and Wisdom. Thus they shared in the impiety of the former class, especially in that they were equally zealous to insist on the literal observance of the Law. They thought that the letters ofthe Apostle 1 ought to be wholly rejecgted and called him an apostate from the Law. They used only the Gospel called according to the Hebrews and made little account of the rest. Like the former they used to observe the sabbath and the rest of the Jewish ceremonial, but on Sundays celebrated rites like ours in commemoration of the Saviour's resurrection. wherefore from these practices they have obtained their name, for the name οf Ebionites indicates the poverty of their intelligence, for this name meanS “ poor ’’ in Hebrew.2

XXVIII. We have received the tradrtion that at the time under discussion Cerinthus founded another heresy. Gaius, whose words 1 have quoted before, in the inquiry attributed to him writes as follows about Cerinthus. “ Moreover, Cerinthus, who through revelations attributed to the writing of a great apostle, lyingly introduees portents to us as though shown him by angels, and says that after the resurrection the kingdom of Christ will be on earth and that ^{28 29} humanity living in Jerusalem will again be the slave of lust and pleasure. Ηe is the enemy οf the scriptures of God and in his desire to deceive says that the marriage feast 1 will last a thousand. years. ” Dionysius, too, who held the bishopric of the diocese of Alexandria in οur time, in the second book of his Promises makes some remarks about the Apocalypse οf John as though from ancient οn and refers to the same Cerintus in these words, “ Cerintus too, who founded the Cerinthian heresy named after him, wished to attaeh a name worthy of credit to his οwn invention, for the doctrine of his teaching was this, that the kingdom οf Christ would be οn earth, and being fond of his body and very camal he dreamt of a future according to his own desires, given up the the indulgence of the flesh, that is, eating and drinking and marrying, and to those things which seem a euphemism for these things, feasts and sacrifices and the slaughter of victums.”

Dionysius said this and Irenaeus in his first book Agianst Heresies quoted some οf his more abominable errors, and in the third book has committed to writing a narrative, which deserves not to be forgotten, stating how aecorffing to the traffidltion of Polycarp, the apostle John once went into a bath-house to wash, but when he knew that Cerinthus was within leapt out of the place and Red from the door, for he did not endure to be even under the same roof with him, and enjoined οn those who were with him to do the same, saying, “ Let us flee, lest the bath-house ³⁰ fall in, for Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is within.”

XXIX. Αt this time, too, there existed for a short time the heresy of the Nicolaïtans of which the of John also makes mention. These elaimed Nicolas, one of the deacons in the company of Stephen who were appointed by the Apostles for the serviee of the poor. Clement or Αlexandria in the third book of the Stromata gives the following account of him. “ Ηe had, they say, a beautiful wife ; but after the ascension of the saviour he was accused of jealousy by the apostles, and brought her forward and commanded her to be mated to anyone who wished. They say that this aetion was in consequenee of the injunction ‘ it is necessary to abuse the ’ and that by following up what had been done and said with simplicity and without perversion those who follow his heresy lead a life of unrestrained license. But Ι have learned that Nicolas had nothing to do with any other woman beside her whom he married, and that of his children the daughters reaehed old age as virgins, and that the son remained uncorrupted. Since this is the case it is clear that the exposure of the wife of whom he was jealous in the midst of the disciples was the abandonment of passion, and that teaching the abuse of the flesh was continence from the pleasures which he had sought. For I think that according to the command οf the Saviour he did not whish to serve two masters — pleasure and the Lord. They also say that this was the teaching of Matthias, to slight the flesh and abuse it, yielding nothing to it for pleasure, but to make the soul grow through faith and knowledge.” Let this suffice concerning the attempts made during this period to triumph against the truth which were, nevertheless, extinguished for ever more quickly than it takes to tell.

XXX. Clement, whose words we cited recently in the context οf the previous quotation, enumerates, on aeeount of those who reject marriage, those of the Apostles who were married, saying, “ Or will they disapprove even of the Apostles ? For Ρeter and Philip begat children, and Philip even gave his daughters to husbands, while Ρaul himself does not hesitate in one of his letters to address 1 his wife whom he did not take about with him in order to facilitate his ” Since we have made these quotations there is no harm in adducing another memorable narrative of Clement whleh he wrote down in the seventh book of the Stromata, and narrates as follows: “ They say that the blessed Ρeter when he saw his own wife led out to death rejoiced at her ealrmg and at her return home, and called out to her in true warning and comfort, addressing her by her name, ‘ Remember the ’ Such was the marriage of the blessed and the perfeet disposition of those dearest to ” Let this, cognate to the present subject, suffice for the moment.

XXXI. The time and manner of the death of Ρaul and οf Ρeter, and the plaee where their corpses were laid after their departure from this life, have been already described by us. The date of the death οf ³¹ John has also been already 1 mentioned, and the place of his body is shown by a letter of Polycrates (he was bishop of the diocese of Ephesus) which he wrote to Vietor, bishop of Rome. In this he mentions both John, Philip the apostle, 2 and Philip's daughters as follows: “ For great luminaries sleep in Asia, and they will rise again at the last day of the advent of the Lord, when he shall come with glory from heaven and call back all the saints, such as was Philip, one of the twelve apostles, who sleeps at Hierapolis with his two daughters who grew old as virgins and his third daughter 3 who lived in the ΗοΙy Spirit and rests in Ephesus. Αnd there is also John, who leaned on the Lord's breast, who was a priest wearing the mitre,4 and martyr and and he sleeps at ” So far concerning their deaths. Αnd in the dialogue of Gaius, which we mentioned a little earlier, Proclus, with whom he was disputing, speaks thus about the death of Philip and his daughters and agrees with what has been stated. “ Αfter him the four daughters of Philip who were prophetesses were at Hierapolis in Αsia. Their grave is there and so is their ” so he says. Αnd Luke in the Acts of the Apostles mentions the daughters of Philip who were then living with their father at Caesarea in Judaea and were vouchsafed the gift of prophecy. Ηe says as ^{32 33 34} follows: “ We came to Caesarea and entered into the house οf Philip the Evangelist, one of the seven, and remained with him. Αnd he had four daughters who were prophetesses.”

We have now described the facts which have come to our knowledge concerning the Apostles and their times, the sacred writings which they have left us, those books which are disputed yet nevertheless are used openly by many in most churches, and those which are altogether fictitious and foreign to our historic orthodoxy. Let us now continue the narrative.

XXXII. Αfter Νero and Domitian tradition says that under the Emperor whose times we are now describing persecution was raised against us sporadically, in some cities, from pupular risings. We have learnt that in it Symeon, the son οf Clopas, whom we showed to have been the second hishop of the church at Jerusalem, ended his life in martyrdom. The witness for this is that same Hegesippus, of whom we have already quoted several passages. Αfter speaking of certain hereties he goes on to explain how Symeon was at this time accused by them and for many days was tortured in various manners for being a Christain, to the great astonishment of the judge and those with him, until he suffered an end like that of the Lord. But there is nothing better than to listen to the historian who tells these facts as follows. “ some οf these (that is to say the heretics) accused simon the son of Clopas of being deseended from David and a Christian and thus he suffered martyrdom, being a hundred and twenty years old, when Trajan was emperor and Atticus was ” The Same Writer says that his aecusers also soffered arrest for being of the royal house of the Jews when search was made at that time for those of that family. Αnd οne would reasonably say that Symeon was one of the eyewitnesses and actual hearers of the Lord on the evidence of the length of his life and the referenee in the Gospels to Μary the wife of Clopas whose son the narrative has already shown him to be.

The same writer says that other grandsons of one of the so-called brethren of the saviour named Judas survived to the same reign after they had given in the time of Domitian the testimony already recorded of them in behalf of the faith in Christ. Ηe writes thus: “ They came therefore and presided over every chureh as witnesses belonging to the Lord's family, and when there was complete peace in every cherch they survived until the reign of the Emperor Trajan, until the time when the son of the Lord's uncle, 2 the aforesaid Simon the son of Clopas, was similarly accused by the sects on the same charge before Atticus the Consular. Ηe was tortured for many days and gave hiS witness, so that all, even the consular, were extremely surprised how, at the age of one hundred and twenty, he endured, and he was eommanded to be ” Besides this the Same writer, explaining the events ³⁵ of these times, adds that until then the church remained a pure and uncorrupted virgin, for those who attempted to corrupt the healthful rule of the Saviour's preaching, if they existed at all, lurked in obscure darlness. But when the sacred band of the Apostles and the generation of those to whom it had been vouchsafed to hear with their own ears the divine wisdom had reached the several ends of their lives, then the federation of godless error took its beginning through the deceit of false teachers who, seeing that none of the Apostles still remained, barefacedly tried against the preaching of the truth the counter-proclamation οf “ knowledge falsely so-called.”

XXXIII. The persecution which at that time was extended against us in many places was so great that Plinius secundus, one of the most distinguished governors, was disturbed at the number of the martyrs, and reported to the Emperor the number of those being put to death for the faith, and in the same document mentioned that he understood them to do nothing wicked or illegal except that they rose at dawn to sing to Christ as though a God, and that they themselves forbade adultery, murder and similar terrible crimes, and that they did eVerything in obedienee to the law. In answer to this Trajan issued a decree to the effect that the tribe of Christians should not be sought for but punished when it was met with. By this means the imminent threat of persecution was extinguished to some extent, but none the less opportunities remained to those who wished to harm us. sometimes the populace, sometimes even the loeal authorities contrived plots against us, so that with no pen persecution partial attacks broke out in various provinces and many of the faithful endured martyrdom in various ways. The narrative has been taken from the Latin apology of Tertullian mentioned above of which the translation is as follows: “ Υet we found that this attempt against us was also prevented, for the governor of the province, Pliny secundus, after eondemning certain Christians and depriving them of their rank, was troubled at their number and, not knowing what to do in the future, eommunieated with the Emperor Trajan. saying that beyond their unwillingness to offer sacrifice to idols, he had found nothing wicked in them. Ηe also mentioned this that the Christians arose at dawn and sang a hymn to Christ as a God, and in order to preserve their teaching 1 forbade murder, adultery, covetousness, robbery, and suchlike. To this Trajan sent a rescript that the tribe of Christians should not be sought out but punished if met ” such were the events at that time.

XXXIV. In the third year of the afore-mentioned emperor, Clement handed over the ministry of the bishops of Rome to Evarestos and departed this life, having been in charge of the teaching of the diving word for nine years.

XXXV. Μoreover, when Symeon suffered martyrdom in the manner already deseribed a certian Jew named Justus, who was one of the many thousands of the circumcision who by that time had belived on ³⁶ Christ, succeeded to the throne of the bishopric of Jerusalem.

XXXVI. Αt this time there flourished in Asia Polycarp, the companion of the Apostles, who had been appointed to the bishopric of the church in Smyrna by The eyewitnesses and ministers of the Lord. Distinguished men at the same time were Papias, who was himself bishop of the diocese of Hierapolis, and Ignatius, still a name of note to most men, the second after Ρeter to succeed to the bishopric of Antioch. The story goes that he was sent from Syria to Rome to be eaten by beasts in testimony to Christ. Ηe was taken through Asia under most careful guard, and strengthened by his speech and exhortation the diocese of eaeh city in which he stayed. Ηe particularly warned them to be on their guard against the heresies which then for the first time were beginning to obtain, and exhorted them to hold fast to the tradition of the Apostles, to which he thought necessary, for safety's sake, to give the form of written testimony. Thus while he was in Smyrna where Polycarp was, he wrote one letter to the church at Ephesus, mentioning their pastor Onesimus, and another to the church at Mangnessia on the Meander (and here, too, he mentioned the bishop Damas), and another to the church in Tralles, of which he relates that Polybius was then the ruler. In addition to these he also wrote to the churcb at Rome, and to it he extended the request that they should not deprive him of the hope for which he longed by begging him off from his martyrdom. It is worth while appending a short extract from this in support οf what has been said. Ηe writes as follows: “ From Syria to Rome I am fighting with wild beasts, by land and sea, by night and day, bound to ten ‘ leopards ’ (that is, a company οf soldiers), and they become worse for kind treatment. Νow I become the more a disciple for their ill deeds, ‘ but not by this am I justified. ’ I long for the beasts that are prepared for me ; and I pray that they may be found prompt for me ; I will even entice them to devour me promptly ; not as has happened to some whom they have not touched from fear ; even if they be unwilling of themselves, I will force them to it. Grant me this favour. I know what is expcdient for me ; now I am beginning to be a disciple. May I envy nothing of things seen οr unseen that 1 may attain to Jesus christ. Let there come οn me fire, and cross, and struggles with wild beasts, cutting, and tearing asunder, rackings of bones, mangling of limbs, crushing οf my whole nody, cruel tortures οf the devil, may I but attain to Jesus Christ.”

This he put into words from the city mentioned to the churehes named. When he had already passed beyond Smyrna he also again conversed in writing from Troas with those in Philadelphia and with the church of the Smyrnaeans, and especially with Polycarp who was then the head of this church. Ηe knew well that Polycarp was an apostolic man and like a true and good shepherd commends the flock at Antioch to him, asking him to be zealous in his care for it. Ηe also wrote to the Smyranaeans quoting words from I know not what source and discoursing thus about Christ: “ For I know and believe that he was in the flesh even after the Resurrection. Αnd when he came to those with Ρeter he said to them: ‘ Take, handle me and see that Ι am not a phantom without a body. ’ Αnd they immediately touched him and believed.”

Ιrenaeus also knew of his martyrdom and quotes his letters saying thus : “ Αs one of the Christians said when he was condemned to the beaSts as testimony for God, ‘ Ι am the wheat of God and Ι am ground by the teeth of beasts that I may be found pure bread.’”

Ρolycarp, too, mentions these same things in the letter to the Philippians bearing his name and says: “ Νow I beseech you all to obey the word of righteousness, and to practise all the endurance which you also saw before your eyes, not only in the blessed Ignatius, and Zosimus, and Rufus, but also in others among yourselves, and in Pual himself, and in the other Apostles; being persuaded that all of these ‘ ran not in vain, ’ but in faith and righteousness, and that they are with the Lord in the ‘ place whieh is their ’ with whom they also suffered. For they did not ‘ love this present world ’ but him who died on our behalf, and was raised by God for our ” Αnd he continues later, “ Both you and Ignatius wrote to me that if anyone was going to Syria he shovld also take your letters Ι will do this if Ι have a convenient opportunity, either myself or the man whom Ι am sending as a representative for you and me. We send you, as you asked, the letters of Ιgnatius, which were sent to us by him, and others which we had by us These are subjoined to this letter, and you will be able to benefit greatly from them. For they contian faith, patience, and all the edification which pertains to our Lord.” such is the story concerning Ignatius, and Ηeros succeeded to the bishopric of Antioch after him.

XXXVII. Among those who were famous at this time was also Quadratus, of whom traffition says that he shared vith the daughters of Philip the ffistinc- tion of a prophetic gift. Αnd many others besides them were well known at this time and take the first rank in the Apostolic succession. These pious foundations οf the churches laid by the Apostles. They spread the preaching and scattered the saving seeds of the kingdom of Heaven, sowing them broad- cast through the whole world. Many of those then disciples, smitten in the soul by the divine Logos with an ardent passion for the love of wisdom,1 first fulfilled the Saviour's command and distributed their property to the needy, then, starting on their ourney, took up the work of evangelists and were zealous to preach to all who had not yet heard the word of the faith, and to transmit the writhing of the divine Gospels. Αs soon as they had no more than laid the foundations of the faith in some strange place, they appointed others as shepherds and had been just brought in, but they themselves passed on again to other lands and peoples, helped by the grace and co-operation of God, seeing that ³⁷ many strange miracles οf the divine spirit were at that time still being wrought by them, So that whole crowds of men at the first hearing eagerly received in their souls the religion of the Creator οf the universe.

It is impossible for us to give the number and the names of all who first succeeded the Apostles, and were shepherds or evangelists in the churches throughout the world. It was, therefore, natural for us to recorded by name the memory only of those of whom the tradition still surviveS to our time by their treatises on the Apostolic teaching.

XXXVIII. such writings, of course, were the letters of Ignatius of which we gave the list, and the Εpistle of Clement which is recognized by all, which he wrote in the name of the church of the Romans to that οf the Corinthians. In this he has many thoughts parallel to the Εpistle to the Ηebrews, and aetuahy makes some verbal quotations from it showing elearly that it was not a recent production, and for this reason, too, it has seemed natural to include it among the οther writings of the Apostle. For Ρaul had Spoken in writing to the Ηebrews in their native language, and some say that the evangelist Luke, others that this same Clement translated the writing. Αnd the truth οf this would be supported by the similarity of style preserved by the Epistle of Clement and that to the Hebrewss, and by the little difference between the thoughts in both writings.

It must be known that there is also a second ³⁸ letter ascribed to Clement, but we have not the same knowledge of its recognition as we have οf the former, for we do not even know if the primitive writers used it. some have also quite recently put forward other verbose and long treatises, purporting to be Clement's, containing dialogues with Ρeter and Apion, 1 but there is absolutely no mention of them among the ancient writers nor do they Ρreserve the purc type οf apostolic orthodoxy.

XXXIX. Thus the recognized writing of Clement is well known and the works of Ignatius and Polycarp have been spoken οf, and of Papias five treatises are extant which have also the title of “ Interpretation οf the oracles of the ” These are also mentioned by Irenaeus as though his οnly writing, for he says in οne place, “ “To these things also Ρapias, the hearer of John, who was a comanion of Ροlycarp and one of the ancients, 2 bears witness in writing in the fourth of his books, for five books were composed by ” so says Irenaeus. Yet Ρapias himself, according to the preface of his treatises, makes plain that he had in no way been a hearer and eyewitness of the sacred Αpostles, but teaches that he had received the articles of the faith from those who had known them, for he speaks as follows : “ Αnd I shall not hesitate to append to the interpretations all that I ever learnt well from the presbyters and remember well, for of their truth I am conndent. For unlike most I did not rejoice in them who say much, but in them who teach the truth, nor in ³⁹ them who recount the commandments οf others, but in them who repeated those given to the faith by the Lord and derived from truth itself; but if ever anyone came who had followed 1 the presbyters, I inquired into the words of the presbyters, what Andrew or Ρeter οr Philip or Thomas or James or John or Matthew, or any other οf the Lord's disciples, had said, and what Aristion and the Presbyter John, the Ιord’s disciples, were saying. For I did not suppose that information from books would help me so much as the word of a living and surviving voice.”

It is here worth nothing that he twiee counts the name of John, and reckons the first John with Ρeter and James and Matthew and the other Αpostles, clearly the the evangelist, but by changing his statement Ρlaces the seeond with the others outside the number of the Αpostles, putting Αristion Before him and clearly calling him a presbyter. This confirms the truth οf the story of those who have said that there were twp of the same name in Αsia, and that there are two tombs at Εphesus both still called John's. This calls for attention: for it is probable that the second (unless anyone prefer the fonner) saw the revelation which passes under the name οf John The Papias whom we are now treating confesses that he had received the words of the Αpostles from their followers, but says that he had aetually heard Αristion and the presbyter John. Ηe often quotes them by name and gives ^{40 41} their traditions in his writings. Let this suffice to good purpose. But it is worth while to add to the words of Papias already given other sayings οf his, in which he tells certain marvels and other details which apparently reached him by tradition. It has already been mentioned that Philip the Αpostle lived at Ηierapolis with his daughters, but it must now be shown how Ρapias was with them and reeeived a wonderful story from the daughters of Ρhilip; for he relates the resurrection of a corpse in his time and in another Ρlace another miraele conneeted with Justus surnamed Barsabas, for he drank poiSon but by the Lord's graee suffered no harm. Of this Justus the Αcts relates that the sacred Apostles set him up and prayed over him together with Matthias after the ascension of the Lord for the choice of one to fill up their number in place of the traitor Judas, “and they set forth two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was called Justus, and Matthias ; and they prayed and said." The same adduees other accounts, as though they came to him from unwritten tradition, and some strange parables and teachings of the saviour, and some other more mythical accountS. Αmong them he says that there will be a millennium after the resurrection of the dead, when the kingdom of Christ will be set up in material form on this earth. I suppose that he got these notions by a perverse ⁴² reading οf the apostolic aceounts, not realiring that they had spoken mystically and symbolically. For he was a man of very little intelligence, as is clear from his books. But he is responsible for the fact that so many Christian writers after him held the same opinion, relying on his antiquity, for inrtance Irenaeus and whoever else appears to have held the same views.

In the same writing he also quotes other interpretations of the words οf the Lord given by the Aristion mentioned above and traditions of John the presbyter. To them we may dismiss the studious; but we are now obliged to append to the words already quoted from him a tradtion about the Mark who wrote the Gospel, which he expounds as follows. “ Αnd the Presbyter used to say tffihls, Mark became Ρeter’s interpreter and wrote accurately all that he remembered, not, indeed, in order, of the things said or done by the Lord. For he had not heard the Lord, nor had he followed him, but later on, as I said, followed Ρeter, who used to give teaching as necessity demanded but not making, as it were, an auangement of the Lord's oracles, so that Mark did nothing wrong in thus writing down single Ρoints as he remembered them. For to one tHhIng he gave attention, to leave out nothing of what he had heard and to make no false statements in them.' " This is related by Ρapias about Mark, and about Matthew this was said, “ Matthew collected the oracles in the Ηebrew language, and eaeh interpreted them as best he could.”

The same writer used quotations from the rirrt Epistle οf John, and likewise also from that or Ρeter, and has expounded another Story about a woman who was accused before the Lord of many sins, which the Gospel according to the Ηebrews contains. Let this suffice us in addition to the extracts made.