he received that to Titus. Here is a remarkable attestation to the number of the gospels, as four only. Tatian was a Syrian; possibly his Harmony was more common_in_that country than any other. This may be the reason why Theodoret found so many copies of it, and why Ephrem the Syrian, as is said, wrote a commentary upon it. A more particular account of this work of Tatian may be seen in the 36th chapter; where is likewise a large account of another Harmony of the four gospels, composed by Ammonius of Alexandria.

Ch. XIV. The sum of the testimony of Hegesippus, a Jew converted to the christian faith, is this: that he has divers things expressed in the style of the gospels, and the Acts, and some other parts of the New Testament. He refers to the history, in the second chapter of St. Matthew, and recites another text of that gospel, as spoken by the Lord. Hegesippus travelled: he was at Corinth, and from thence went to Rome; and he says, that in every city,' among christians, the same doctrine was taught, which the law, 'and_the_prophets, and the Lord, preacheth;' where, by 'the Lord,' he must mean the scriptures of the New Testament, which he looks upon as containing the very doctrine taught and preached by Jesus Christ. Moreover, he had a Hebrew gospel, supposed to be the gospel according to the Hebrews; and he says, there had been books forged by heretics, but they were such only as were called apocryphal, and were not received by catholics as of authority.

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Ch. XV. Melito, bishop of Sardis, in Lydia, says in Eusebius, that when he went into the East, he procured 'an accurate account of the books of the Old Testament;' whence it may be argued, that there was then a volume, or collection of books, called the New Testament, containing the writings of apostles and apostolical men. One of his works, now lost, was entitled, 'Of the Revelation of John; so that he received that book, and probably many others, collected together in a volume, called the New Testament, as the books received by the Jews as of divine authority, were called the Old Testament.

Ch. XVI. The churches of Vienne and Lyons, in Gaul, wrote an epistle to the churches of Asia and Phrygia, containing a relation of the sufferings of their martyrs in the time of Marcus Antoninus. They express themselves in the language of St. Luke and St. John, and the Acts of the Apostles, the epistles to the Romans, the Philippians, and some other epistles of St. Paul, the first of St. Peter, the

first of St. John, and the Revelation; but no book of the New Testament is expressly named: however, a text of St. John's gospel is quoted, as spoken by the Lord.'

Ch. XVII. Irenæus, probably a native of Asia, in his younger days acquainted with Polycarp, who was a disciple of St. John, for a while presbyter of the church_of Lyons, in Gaul, and successor to Pothinus, as bishop, who, at the age of ninety, died in prison, in 177, in the time of the above-mentioned persecution of Marcus Antoninus; beside other things, composed a work against heresies, in five books, in which is a most noble testimony to the scriptures of the New Testament: for he assures us, there were four gospels received by the church, and no more, all which he has often and largely quoted, with the names of the writers; as also the book of the Acts, which he ascribes to Luke; and twelve epistles of St. Paul, most of them with the names of the churches, or persons, to whom they were sent. The epistle to Philemon is not quoted; which may be owing to its brevity, and that he had no particular occasion to make use of it. There is no plain proof that he received the epistle to the Hebrews. He has likewise quoted the first epistle of St. Peter, and the first and second of St. John, and the book of the Revelation, as St. John's, and written in the time of the emperor Domitian; but there are not any clear references to the epistles of St. James, the second of St. Peter, or the epistle of St. Jude. The reason of his not quoting the third epistle of St. John may be allowed to be its brevity. There are in him, likewise, many expressions, testifying his great regard for these scriptures; and it has been shown, that Irenæus quotes not Hermas, nor Clement, nor any other writer, as of authority, or with a like regard, which he manifests for the books above mentioned. At the end of the chapter it is considered upon what ground Irenæus received the writings of St. Mark and St. Luke, who were not apostles.

Ch. XVIII. Athenagoras, whose station in the church is not known, a learned man, and a polite writer, author of an Apology for the christians, addressed, as it seems, to Marcus Antoninus and Commodus, and of a Treatise of the Resurrection, plainly appears to have made use of St. Matthew, and St. John, and several of St. Paul's epistles.

Ch. XIX. Miltiades was author of an Apology for the christians, near the end of the reign of Marcus Antoninus, or at the beginning of the reign of Commodus, and of a Treatise against the Montanists, and also of two Treatises

against the Jews and the Gentiles, now lost; which works, as Eusebius assures us, 6 were monuments of his zeal for 'the divine oracles.'

to us.

Ch. XX. Theophilus, a learned man, of a heathen became a christian, and was afterwards bishop of Antioch; of which church he is sometimes reckoned the sixth, at other times the seventh, bishop. He wrote three books to Autolycus, a learned and studious heathen, still extant; beside which, Eusebius mentions a book against Marcion, another against the heresy of Hermogenes, neither of which has come down We are assured by Eusebius, that in this last-mentioned work Theophilus quoted St. John's Revelation. In the three books of Autolycus, which remain, the beginning of St. John's gospel is expressly quoted, as John's, and a part of sacred scripture. He has likewise quoted texts of St. Matthew's gospel as plainly as if he had named him; he seems also to allude to some things in St. Luke's gospel; and besides, there are sufficiently plain references to the epistles of St. Paul to the Romans, first and second to the Corinthians, the Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, first to Timothy, and to Titus; with divers marks of high respect for the scriptures of the prophets, and the gospels.-Jerom ascribes to the works of Theophilus a good deal of elegance.

e

It ought to be observed by us, that Jerom, in one of his epistles, has quoted, as a work of Theophilus, a kind of Harmony of the four evangelists, or a compendious history of the four gospels in a continued narration. I do not think it to be his, because it is omitted by Eusebius; nor is it mentioned by Jerom in his article of Theophilus, in his Catalogue of Ecclesiastical Writers; or, if it is, he rejects it as not worthy of Theophilus, and not equal in elegance to his other writings. But then, if it is not Theophilus's, it is the work of some other anonymous ancient, who lived before Jerom's time; consequently it deserves to be regarded, as bearing testimony to the four gospels, and the Acts of the Apostles; the history of which, likewise, is there quoted or plainly referred to.

Ch. XXI. Pantrenus, a man in great reputation for learning, was president of the catechetical school at Alexandria :

d et contra hæresim Hermogenis liber unus, et alii breves elegantesque tractatus, ad ædificationem ecclesiæ pertinentes. Legi sub nomine ejus in evangelium, et in proverbia Salomonis commentarios, qui mihi cum superiorum voluminum elegantiâ et phrasi non videntur congruere. De V. I. cap. 25. e See the chapter of Theophilus, vol. ii. p. 203.

f See before, noted.

VOL. V.

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'for,' as Eusebius says, in his account of this person,

'there

' had been from ancient time erected among them a school of sacred learning, which remains to this day and we ' have understood, that it has been wont to be furnished with men eminent for their eloquence, and the study of 'divine things;' and what follows; for I choose rather to refer my readers to the chapter itself, than transcribe any more here.

Ch. XXII. Clement, a presbyter, was president of the catechetical school of Alexandria, and is supposed to have been immediate successor of Pantænus before mentioned; a very learned man, and as Eusebius's expression is, an 'excellent master of the christian philosophy.' He is one of those, who have borne a noble testimony to the scriptures of the New Testament, in their writings: the sum of which is: He assures us, that there were four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; and has taken notice of their order, and particularly of the place and occasion of writing St. Mark's gospel. He likewise often quotes the Acts of the Apostles, written by St. Luke. He receives and quotes, frequently and expressly, the fourteen epistles of St. Paul, excepting only that to Philemon, which he has no where mentioned, that we know of; which omission may be well supposed owing to no other reason, but the brevity of the epistle, and his having no occasion to quote it. He also quotes the first epistle of Peter, and the first of St. John, and seems to have known of another, if not two other epistles of that apostle, though they are not quoted. He also receives and quotes the epistle of St. Jude, and the book of the Revelation as St. John's. But we have not found in him any quotations of the epistle of St. James, or the second of St. Peter, nor any evidences that these were received by him.

He expresseth the profoundest respect for the scriptures ; of which he speaks with these several divisions, showing that there were collections of the gospels, and apostolical epistles: There is a harmony,' he says, between the law and the prophets, the apostles and the gospel; one God is preached by the law, the prophets, and the gospel: we 'should do those things, which the apostle and the gospel 'command; there are two ways spoken of by the gospel, and the apostles, and by all the prophets.'

As Clement quotes many books, we have particularly considered, whether he quotes any, beside those already mentioned, as sacred and of authority: and we have carefully observed his quotations, both of such writers as are

called Ecclesiastical, Barnabas, Clement of Rome, and Hermas; and likewise of such writings as are called apocryphal, the gospels according to the Hebrews and according to the Egyptians, the Preaching of Peter, and some others; and we are of opinion, it has been shown that there is no good reason to think, that Clement received as scripture, in the highest sense of that word, any christian writings beside those now commonly received by us.

Ch. XXIII. Polycrates was bishop of Ephesus. In the little that remains of him are references to the gospels of St. Matthew, and St. John, and the Acts: and he speaks of the holy scriptures' as the rule of faith.

Ch. XXIV. Heraclitus, and several other writers, near the end of the second century.

Heraclitus, in the reign of Commodus and Severus, wrote a Commentary upon the apostle, meaning Paul, but we do not know upon how many of his epistles. Beside him, here are five other writers expressly named; Maximus, Candidus, Appion, Sextus, and Arabianus, who had published works against heretics, or in defence of some doctrine of the christian religion; whose right faith appeared by the inter'pretations of the divine scripture given in their works,' as Eusebius says.

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Ch. XXV. Hermias, whose character is not known, has left a short and elegant discourse in the Greek language, entitled, A Derision of the Gentile Philosophers; in which he expressly quotes the blessed apostle Paul's [first] epistle to the Corinthians.

Ch. XXVI. Serapion, computed the eighth bishop of the church of Antioch, wrote divers treatises and letters, particularly a letter to the church of Rhossus in Cilicia, concerning the gospel according to Peter;' of which letter a valuable fragment remains, showing the falsities of that pretended gospel, and expressing great regard for Peter and the other apostles of Christ, and their genuine writings.

Ch. XXVII. Tertullian, a learned man, presbyter of Carthage in Africa, afterwards a Montanist, flourished in the latter part of the second, or in the beginning of the third century. He receives and quotes often the four gospels, the Acts of the Apostles written by Luke, the importance of which book he takes particular notice of. He received thirteen epistles of the apostle Paul: that to the Hebrews he ascribes to Barnabas. He likewise quotes the first epistle of St. Peter, the first of St. John, the epistle of St. Jude, and the book of the Revelation as written by John the apostle. But there appear not in him any quotations