therefore a very strict inquiry, which I shall attempt with all the brevity and clearness I can; and in order to that, first produce the letter itself, with that of Abgarus to our Saviour, which occasioned it, or to which it is an answer. Both indeed have appeared before now in English, viz. in the English edition of Eusebius, and the present archbishop of Canterbury's prefatory discourse to his Translation of the Apostolic Fathers, (Chap. 9. p. 137.), and elsewhere b; but I judged it notwithstanding needful to insert a translation of them, for the sake of those, who neither having seen these books, nor understanding the Greek language, may have the curiosity of desiring to see any thing which is by so many learned men supposed to be written by Christ himself.

̓Αντίγραφον Επιστολῆς γραφείσης ὑπὸ ̓Αβγάρου τοπάρχου τῷ Ἰησοῦ, καὶ πεμφθείσης αὐτῷ δι' Ανανία ταχυδρόμου εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα.

ΑΒΓΑΡΟΣ τοπάρχης Εδέσσης Ἰησοῦ Σωτῆρι ἀγαθῷ ἀναφανέντι ἐν τόπῳ Ἱεροσολύμων, χαίρειν. Ἤκουσταί μοι τὰ περὶ σοῦ καὶ τῶν σῶν ἰαμάτων, ὡς ἄνευ φαρμάκων καὶ βοτανῶν ὑπὸ σοῦ γινομένων· ὡς γὰρ λόγος, τυφλοὺς ἀναβλέπειν ποιεῖς, χωλούς περιπατεῖν, καὶ λεπροὺς καθαρίζεις, καὶ ἀκάθαρτα πνεύματα καὶ δαίμονας ἐκβάλλεις, καὶ τοὺς ἐν μακρονοσίᾳ βασανιζομένους θεραπεύ εις, καὶ νεκροὺς ἐγείρεις. Καὶ ταῦτα πάντα ἀκούσας περὶ σοῦ κατὰ νοῦν ἐθέμην τὸ ἕτερον τῶν δύο· ἢ ὅτι σὺ εἶ ὁ Θεὸς καὶ και ταβὰς ἀπὸ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ποιεῖς ταῦ

b The common people in England have it in their houses, in many places, fixed in a frame with our Saviour's picture before it; and they generally

A copy of a letter written by king

Abgarus to Jesus, and sent to him by Ananias, his footman, to Jerusalem.

ABGARUS, king of Edessa, to Jesus the good Saviour, who appears at Jerusalem, greeting. I have been informed concerning you and your cures, which are performed without the use of

medicines and herbs. For it is reported, that you cause the blind to see, the lame to walk, do both

cleanse lepers, and cast out un

clean spirits and devils, and restore them to health who have been long diseased, and raisest up the dead: all which when I heard, I was persuaded of one of these two, viz. either that you are God himself descended from heaven, who do these things, or

with much honesty and devotion regard it as the word of God, and the genuine Epistle of Christ.

In discussing the question concerning the genuineness of these epistles, I shall proceed in my usual method, viz. shew

I. What account we have from the ancients.

II. The opinion of the moderns.

III. That which seems most probable upon the whole.

I. As to the accounts we have from the ancients, I observe that these epistles are first mentioned,

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1. By Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. 1. 1. c. 13.

The substance of his account is; "That our Saviour's mi"raculous works drew innumerable persons to him from the "most remote countries, to be healed of their distempers; that Abgarus, a famous king beyond Euphrates, wrote to him, “because he was afflicted with a distemper incurable by human “art; and that whereas our Saviour promised to send one of "his disciples to heal him, this was accordingly done by Thad"dæus, one of the Seventy Apostles, who was sent thither by "Thomas, according to an instruction which he had received "from heaven on that head. For the proof of all this he ap peals to the public registries and records of the city of Edes"sa, where Abgarus then reigned, and in which all the records " of his reign were preserved till the time of his writing, out of "which in the Syriac language he saith he took, and being "translated into Greek he published, the two preceding Epi"stles, and the following history, viz. That when Thaddeus came to Edessa, after Christ's ascension, and had wrought many miracles, and cured many distempers, Abgarus, sup"posing him to be the person whom Christ had promised in "his letter to send, ordered him to be brought to him. As soon as he came, the king perceiving something extraordinary " in his countenance, fell down before him, at which the noble"men who were present were surprised, they perceiving nothing of it. The king then inquired whether he were the 66 person whom Christ promised to send: he answered, that on "account of his faith in Christ he was sent, and assured him "all things should be according to his faith. To which the "king replied, he believed so much in Christ, that he was re“solved, had he not feared the power of the Roman empire, “to have made war against the Jews, and destroyed them for crucifying Christ. Thaddeus informed him of Christ's as❝cension to his Father; to which the king replied, that he be❝lieved on him and his Father both: upon which the apostle "said, I lay my hand on thee in the name of our Lord Jesus "Christ; and the king was instantly cured of his disease. He ❝also cured one Abdus of the gout by the laying on of his "hands, and many others, working also diverse miracles. "After which the king ordered on the morrow all the city to

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"meet together, to hear the apostle preach; which he promised "to do concerning all the heads of the Christian religion. The « king offered him gold and silver, but he refused it, saying, We have left our own, why should we take that which is an"other's? These things were done in the year 340, and trans❝lated out of Syriac."

2. These Epistles are mentioned by Ephraem Syrus, in Testament. tom. 3.

He was a deacon in this city of Edessa in the latter end of the fourth century. Dr. Grabe has obliged the world with the Greek words out of a manuscript in the Bodleian library, which are as follow:

Καὶ εὐλογημένη ὑμῶν ἡ πόλις Ἔδεσσα καὶ μητὴρ, ἥτις καὶ ἀποφαντικῶς ηὐλόγηται ἐκ στόματος Κυρίου διὰ τῶν αὐτοῦ μαθητῶν, ἡμετέρων δὲ ἀποστόλων· ὁπηνίκα ἀποστείλας Αὔγαρος ὁ ταύτην ἀνεγείρας βασιλεὺς ἠξίου δεξιοῦσθαι τὸν ἐν τῇ ἐπιδημία ἀναφανέντα σωτῆρα τῶν ὅλων καὶ δεσπότην Χριστὸν, λέγων· Ἤκουσα πάντα τὰ ὑπὸ σοῦ διαπραττόμενα· καὶ ὅσα πέπονθας ὑπὸ τῶν ἀθετούντων σε Ἰουδαίων· ἔλθε τοιγαροῦν ἐν ταῦθα καὶ οἴκησόν με. Ἔχω ἐμαυτῷ μικρὰν ταύτην τὴν πόλιν, ἥτις τυχήσοι σοί τε καὶ ἐμοί· καὶ θαυμάσας ὁ Κύριος τὴν πίστιν αὐτοῦ, πέμψας δι ̓ ἀγγέλων αἰωνίον ηὐλόγησε τὴν πόλιν, ἑδράσας αὐτῆς τὰ θεμέλια. Εκείνη οὖν ἡ εὐλογία αὐλισθεῖσα ἐν αὐτῇ κατασκηνώσει, ἄχρις οὗ ἀποκαλυφθῇ ὁ ἅγιος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ Ἰησοῦς ὁ Χριστὸς, ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ Θεὸς ἐκ Θεοῦ.

And blessed be your city and mother Edessa, which was expressly blessed by the mouth of our Lord by his disciples, but our apostles ; for when Abgarus the king, who built that city, thought fit to send and acknowledge Christ the Lord and Saviour of all, in his pilgrimage on earth, saying; I have heard all things which are done by you, and how much you have suffered by the Jews, who contemn you ; wherefore come hither, and take up your residence with me. I have here a little city, which shall be equally yours and mine. Hereupon the Lord, admiring his faith, sent by messengers a blessing to the city, which should abide for ever, establishing its foundations. That blessing therefore shall always abide upon it, till the Holy One be revealed from heaven, even Jesus Christ the Son of God, and God of God.

Spicileg. Patr. tom. 1. p. 1, 2.

I know no others within my time who have mentioned these Epistles; Jerome indeed seems to refer to the history in his Comment on Matthew chap. x. as does Darius Comes in an Epistle to Austin d; and pope Gelasiuse rejects among the spurious and apocryphal books the Epistle under the name of Christ to Abgarus. In the following centuries there is more frequent mention of it. Procopius Cæsariensis, who wrote about the year of Christ DXXX. (whether a Christian or pagan is not certain,) in his history of the Persian warf, relates, "That Abgarus had been long afflicted with the gout, and "finding no relief from his physicians, but hearing of the mira"cles of Christ, sent to him, desired he would come and live “with him; and that upon his receiving an answer from "Christ, he was instantly cured. He adds, that our Saviour " in the end of his letter gave Abgarus assurance that his city "should never be taken by enemies, though he himself ques"tions the truth of this." Euagrius 5, an ecclesiastical writer in the latter end of the sixth century, appeals to this account of Procopius, and confirms the story of the city's never being to be taken, by some instances, "as particularly when Chos"roes king of Persia, not crediting the common rumour, that "this city was impregnable, besieged it, but that he failed in "his attempt by means of a miracle which was wrought by a picture of Christ's face, which himself impressed upon a "handkerchief, and sent to Abgarus at his earnest request.' Cedrenus adds to all the rest h, that Christ sealed his letter with a seal consisting of seven Hebrew letters, the interpretation of which, says he, is in Greek, Oɛoũ leάlev laũμa letov, i. e. The divine miracle of God is seen. Thus much concerning the ancient accounts. I proceed,

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II. To give some account of the sentiments of later writers concerning it. And in collecting these I observe, that the whole story, as well as the Epistles themselves, are generally reckoned by protestants and papists to be spurious and apocryphal. There are indeed some few Romish writers, and

d Edit. Lovan. Epist. 263.

e In Decret. See Part II. of this work. Chap. VI.

f Lib. 2. c. 12. • Hist. Eccl.

4. c. 26.

h Apud Grab. Spicileg. Patr. t. 1. p. 8. The same is in the end of an ancient manuscript copy of this Epistle in the Bodleian library at Oxford.