Revelation was put by Nicephorus among the canonical books: for, in his time, the Revelation was received by the christians at Constantinople: however, it is certain, that there have been different opinions about this book; possibly, therefore, some transcriber, agreeably to his 'opinion, struck it out of the article of canonical books, and put it among the apocryphal : another transcriber, after that, offended at seeing it among the apocryphal, struck it out; but yet did not replace it among the canonical, as he should.' So that learned writer.

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4. It may deserve to be remarked, that Enoch, the Patriarchs, the Prayer of Joseph, the Testament of Moses, Abraham, Eldad,' and Modad, Elias,' and some other books of the like kind, are not placed here among the contradicted scriptures of the Old, but of the New Testament; which I think shows that these books were christian writings by their titles they should belong to the Old Testament; nevertheless, they are reckoned among the contradicted books of the New Testament. Very probably, therefore, they were of old time, as well as of late, esteemed by many, christian forgeries.

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5. It is somewhat strange, that the epistles of Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp, and the book of Hermas, should be placed in a different class, below and after such books as had been mentioned in the foregoing article of contradict'ed,' and also after such books as precede in this article of 'apocryphal.' Fabricius thinks, that thereby are not to be understood the epistles, or genuine writings of those apostolical fathers; but their doctrines, or didascaliæ. And so, indeed, this part is expressed in the Stichometry, or Indiculus, prefixed by Cotelerius to the Apostolical Consti

tutions :

versiculorum numeris vix quidpiam sanum occurreret.-Inter apocryphos hoc in libello Apocalypsin numerari, non est quod mireris. Non enim defuere variis temporibus, qui hunc sacrum librum inter canonicos non admitterent, nec a Joanne apostolo editum putarent. Ego vero non existimo Apocalypsin a Nicephoro ad apocryphos ablegatam fuisse. Nam certum est, illius tempore ecclesiam Constantinopolitanam hunc librum inter canonicos admisisse. Sed quispiam fortasse postea in Nicephori Canone Apocalypsin temere ex canonicis expur.xerit, et inter apocryphos locârit. Quæ causa fuisse videtur, ut alius deinceps Apocalypsin in hoc codice ex apocryphis abraderet. Qui tamen eam non inter canonicos reposuit, ut debuerat. Præf, p. 7.

m Cæterum ex eodem Cotelerii indiculo disertissime apparet in hac Nicephori sexouerpia non rejici inter apocrypha epistolas Clementis-neque epistolas Ignatii, neque Polycarpi denique, a totâ antiquitate christianâ pro genuinis habitas, sed dudayaç, sive didackaλiaç sub illorum nomine editas. Cod. Apocr. N. T. p. 144. in notis.

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III. Which, therefore, I shall now also transcribe. It is intitled, Of the sixty books, and those which are not of that number:'1. Genesis; 2. Exodus; 3. Leviticus; 4. Numbers; 5. Deuteronomy; 6. Joshua; 7. Judges, and Ruth; 8. the first book of the Kingdoms; 9. the second 'book of the Kingdoms; 10. the third book of the King'doms; 11. the fourth book of the Kingdoms; 12. the 'Remains, the fifth [that is, if numbered with those just ' mentioned ;] 13. Job; 14. the Psalter; 15. the Proverbs; 16. the Ecclesiastes; 17. the Canticles, the fifth [that is, ' of the books written in verse or metre ;] 18. Ezra; meaning, probably, our Ezra and Nehemiah; 19. Hosea; 20. 'Amos; 21. Micah; 22. Joel; 23. Jonah; 24. Obadiah ; • 25. Nahui; 26. Habakkuk; 27. Zephaniah; 28. Haggai; 29. Zechariah; 30. Malachi; 31. Isaiah; 32. Jeremiah; 33. Ezekiel; 34. Daniel; 35. the Gospel according to 'Matthew, 36. according to Mark, 37. according to Luke, 38. according to John; 39. the Acts of the Apostles; 40. the Epistle of James; 41. of Peter, 42. of Peter; 43. of John, 44. of John, 45. of John; 46. of Jude; 47. of Paul ' to the Romans; 48. to the Corinthians; 49. to the Corinthians; 50. to the Galatians; 51. to the Ephesians; 52. to the Philippians; 53. to the Colossians; 54. to the Thessalonians, 55. to the Thessalonians; 56. to Timothy, 57. to Timothy; 58. to Titus; 59. to Philemon; 60. to the 'Hebrews.

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Those, which are not of the number of the sixty, are, as follows: 1. the Wisdom of Solomon; 2. the Wisdom of Sirach; 3. Maccabees, 4. Maccabees, 5. Maccabees, 6. Maccabees; 7. Esther; 8. Judith; 9. Tobit.

Such as are apocryphal : 1. Adam; 2. Enoch; 3. Lamech; 4. the Patriarchs; 5. the Prayer of Joseph; 6. 'Eldam and Modam; 7. the Testament of Moses; [Here is ' a void space in the MSS. where, probably, was, or should have been, the Assumption of Moses;] 9. Psalms of Solo'mon; 10. the Revelation of Elias; 11. the Revelation of Isaiah; 12. the Revelation of Zephaniah; 13. the Revelation of Zachary; 14. the Revelation of Ezra; 15. the History of Jacob [or James ;] 16. the Revelation of Peter;

Indiculus ille etiam subjungitur Anastasii Quæstionibus in Codice, 1789. Bibliothecæ Christianissimi Regis. Ita vero se habet. Coteler. Judic. De Constitut. Apostol. • Indiculus MS. Cod. Baroc. 206.

Qui etiam, a Cotelerio ex Cod. Reg. Paris. 1789, editus est. De lx. libris, et quinam extra illos sint. Humf. Hod. De Bib. Text. Orig. 1. iv. p. 649. Col. • Περι των ξ' βιβλίων, και όσα τετων εκτός.

44.

4 Και όσα εξω των 5.

* Και όσα αποκρυφα.

17. the Circuits and Doctrines of the Apostles; 18. the Epistle of Barnabas; 19. the Acts of Paul; 20. the Revelation of Paul; 21." the Doctrine of Clement; 22. the • Doctrine of Ignatius; 23. the Doctrine of Polycarp; 24. 'the Gospel according to Barnabas; 25, the Gospel according to Matthew.'

Upon this catalogue we may make a few remarks, omitting minute particulars; as the order of the books, and other like things.

1. This catalogue, as well as the foregoing, tends to satisfy us, that a superior regard was always shown, by christians in general, to the books of the Jewish canon; for the Old Testament, above all other books, written before or after the coming of Christ, which were not of that number; and that there were no other books received as a part of the canon of the New Testament, beside those which are now generally received by us.

2. The books of this catalogue are of three sorts: first, the sixty,' of the highest authority; secondly, those 'without,' might be also called contradicted,' and probably were reckoned useful, and allowed to be sometimes publicly read in the assemblies of christians; thirdly, books called apocryphal,' to which was paid a less regard than to the former.

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3. With regard to the books of the Old Testament, we cannot but observe, that among the sixty' are placed three books only, which we call Solomon's; the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Canticles: the other two, sometimes ascribed to him, Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus, are placed with those, which were not of the sixty. Again: among the sixty is but one book of Ezra, probably meaning our Ezra and Nehemiah; nor is there here any mention at all of any other historical books of Ezra: but among the apocryphal is a book called the Revelation of Ezra. Once more: the book of Esther is not here placed among the (sixty ;) but among those which were without' the number, only as an useful book.

4. With regard to the books of the New Testament; here are none, beside those, now received by us, as was observed before. But here are not all which we receive; the book of the Revelation is quite omitted; what shall we say to this? It seems to me, that it was not received by the composer of this catalogue; for then it would have been among Η Διδασκαλια ΚληΕυαγγέλιον κατα Βαρνάβα.

L Περιοδοι και διδαχαι των αποτολων.

μεντος.-Ιγνατια διδασκαλία.

λε. Ευαγγελων κατα Ματθαιον.

་

the sixty. But still it will be asked, How shall we account for the total omission of it? To which I answer, It may be accounted for one of these two ways. Either the author quite omitted it, thinking it better so to do, and be quite silent, than to put it in any class out of the sixty, which would have been offensive to some: or else the author himself did at first place it among some of the books, without the sixty; and some transcriber afterwards struck it out, not enduring to see it debased by an improper situation.

5. Among apocryphal books, and the very last of them, is the Gospel according to Matthew;' concerning which little or nothing beside conjectures can be said; but thereby cannot be meant our gospel of Matthew, which is among the sixty possibly this article has been, by some means or other, curtailed. The gospel according to the Hebrews may have been here mentioned, and said to have been esteemed by some the original, by others a translation of the gospel according to Matthew.

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IV. I shall take no farther notice of Stichometries, except adding, that there is another published by Cotelerius in his Judgment upon the epistle of Barnabas: he says, it is mutilated and corrupted. I put down that part which relates to the New Testament, and is thus: The four gospels; Matthew, Mark, Luke, John; the epistle of Paul to the Romans, the first to the Corinthians, the second to the "Corinthians, to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, the first to Timothy, the second to Timothy, to Titus, to the Colos'sians, to Philemon; the first of Peter, the second of Peter; 'the epistle of James; the first of John, the second of John, 'the third of John; the epistle of Jude; the epistle of Barnabas; the Revelation of John; the Acts of the Apostles; 'the Shepherd; the Acts of Paul; the Revelation of • Peter.'

Every one perceives, that this Catalogue is much mutilated, there being wanting several books, which were always universally received; as the epistle to the Philippians, and the two epistles to the Thessalonians; as well as the epistle to the Hebrews, which also was generally received: and it may be reckoned probable, that all these were originally in this catalogue, or Stichometry. What use can be made of the latter part of the catalogue, I must refer to every reader's own consideration.

Vid. Patr. Apost. Tom. i.

CHAP. CXLVIII.

COSMAS OF ALEXANDRIA.

1. His time, and works. II. Scriptures of the Old Testament received by him. III. Books of the New Testament received by him. IV. General titles and divisions of the books of scripture, and marks of respect for them. V. Two general observations concerning the canon of scripture. VI. Select passages.

1. COSMAS, of Alexandria in Egypt, called Indopleustes, or Indicopleustes, on account of a voyage which he made to the Indies; at first a merchant, afterwards monk and author, lived in the time of the emperor Justinian, and is computed to have flourished about the year 535. He wrote several things, particularly the Christian Topography, or the Opinion of Christians concerning the World, in twelve books, still extant, and some while ago published to great advantage by Dom Bernard de Montfauçon. In that work, Cosmas, contrary to the sentiment of all astronomers in general, denies the earth to be spherical; and endeavours to prove his opinion from reason, scripture, and christian writers, who lived before him.

I cannot avoid taking notice of this writer, his testimony to the scriptures being very considerable; and if I do not confine myself to that, I shall, nevertheless, for the sake of brevity, omit divers things, not unworthy of observation; for, as Montfaucon says, the digressions are as valuable as the work itself.

II. 1. And, in the first place, I observe, that Cosmas's canon of the Old Testament was that of the Jews: he has once quoted Baruch, scribe or secretary of the prophet Jeremiah; Ecclesiasticus; and the Maccabees; but not as of authority. The books quoted by him, as of authority, and expressly mentioned, are the Pentateuch; the book of

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Vid. Cav. H. L. T. i. p. 515. et Montf. Præf. in Cosm. Topogr. cap. i. b Cosma Indicopleustæ Christianorum Opinio de Mundo, sive Topographia Christiana. Ap. B. Montf. Nov. Collection. PP. T. ii. p. 113, &c. Paris. 1706. • Ut vero digressionibus gaudet scriptor noster, multa præclara ultro citroque refert. Vereque dici potest, esse To TuрɛрYOV KOELTTOV TY Eye. Præf. ib. Topogr. Chr. 1. ii. p. 137. 'L. ii. p. 145. C.

cap. ii. fin.

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L. iii. p. 382. D

8 L. v. p. 238, 239.