of the four gospels, another of epistles: but how full this last code was, we cannot now determine with certainty.

It should be observed, that in one place of these epistles of Ignatius there has been supposed to be a reference to the gospel according to the Hebrews: nevertheless, we rather think, that the passage contains only a loose quotation of some words of St. Luke's gospel; as has been at large argued near the end of the chapter of Ignatius.

Ch. VI. The next writer is Polycarp, a disciple of St. John, and appointed bishop of the church of Smyrna by him, if not also by some other apostles joining with him: and it may be supposed, that he had conversed with several, who had seen the Lord. He had the honour to die a martyr for Christ at Smyrna, in the year 148, as some think, or in 166 or 169, as others think. But his epistle to the Philippians, the only thing remaining and certainly known to be his, seems to have been written in 108. In which he quotes to these Philippians themselves the epistle written by Paul to them, and, as I apprehend the two epistles to the Thessalonians, in the same country of Macedonia, saying: For neither I, nor any one like me, can come up to the wisdom of the blessed and renowned Paul, who, when absent, wrote to you letters: into which, if you look, you will be able to edify yourselves in the faith, which has been delivered 'unto you. In another following chapter he speaks again as plainly as here of the apostle Paul's having written to them. No book of the New Testament is quoted by Polycarp expressly, and by name: however here are quotations of passages of the first epistle to the Corinthians, the epistle to the Ephesians, the epistle to the Philippians, and the two epistles to the Thessalo nians. Words of our Lord found in St. Matthew's and St. Luke's gospels, are quoted as spoken by him and beside these, there are references, which may be reckoned undoubted, to the Acts of the apostles, the epistle to the Romans, the first and second to the Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, first and second to Timothy, the first of St. Peter, the first of St. John, and a probable reference to the epistle to the Hebrews. And the many exhortations, delivered in the words of Christ, and his apostles, in a short letter, are a convincing evidence of the respect, which Christians then had for these books, and that they were deeply engraved in their

memories.

Ch. VII. The next chapter has the relation of Polycarp's martyrdom, and general observations upon the testimony of the apostolical fathers. Some of them I here recite again, and

make some additions.

Obs. 1. Barnabas has many more passages out of the Old Testament than the New; which be reckoned owing to the time and character of the writer. Moreover he argues chiefly with Jews.

Obs. 2. Clement has more passages out of the Old Testament, and oftener alludes to it, than to the New but yet he quotes this more than once, and often refers to it.

Obs. 3. Hermas quotes neither the Old nor the New Testament. The reason is, because he only relates his visions, and delivers precepts as received from angels.

Obs. 4. Ignatius has alluded much oftener to the New Testament than to the Old. Obs. 5. Polycarp has alluded above twenty times to texts of the New Testament, or recited the very words of them, and scarce once refers to any one passage of the Old Testament. Obs. 6. In the writings of these apostolical fathers there is all the notice taken of the books of the New Testament, that could be expected. Barnabas, though so early a writer, appears to have been acquainted with the gospel of St. Matthew. Clement writing to the church of Corinth, on occasion of a dissension there, desires them to take into their hands the epistle of the blessed apostle Paul written to them:' and particularly refers them to a part of that epistle, in which he had admonished them against strife and contention. He has likewise, in his epistle, divers clear and undeniable allusions to St. Paul's epistle, sent to the church over which he presided, and in whose name he wrote; not to repeat here other things lately taken notice of.

Quotations there could not be in Hermas, as has been observed again and again. But allusions there are to the books of the New Testament, such as were suitable to his design.

Ignatius, writing to the church of the Ephesians, takes notice of the epistles of Paul sent to them, in which he makes mention of them in Christ Jesus."

Polycarp, writing to the Philippians, refers them to the epistle of the apostle Paul written to them: if not also, as I imagine he does, to the epistle sent to the Thessalonian Christians in

the same province. Not now to insist on his quotations of texts or passages of other books of the New Testament, or his numerous and manifest allusions to them.

Obs. 7. From all which it is apparent, that these early writers have not omitted to take notice of any book of the New Testament, which their design led them to mention: their silence therefore about any other books can be no prejudice to the supposition of their genuineness, if we shall hereafter meet with credible testimonies to them. And we have good reason to believe, that these apostolical fathers were some of the persons from whom succeeding writers received that full and satisfactory evidence, which they appear to have had concerning the several books of the New Testament.

Obs. 8. Ignatius has expressions, denoting two codes or collections, one of gospels, the other of epistles of apostles.

Obs. 9. There are not in any of these apostolical fathers any quotations of apocryphal books concerning the history, or the doctrine of Christ and his apostles. There is indeed one passage of Ignatius, in which some have supposed to be a reference to the gospel according to the Hebrews: but we rather think it a quotation of the gospel of St. Luke. There is also at the end of the Fragment ascribed to Clement, a quotation, supposed to be taken from the gospel according to the Egyptians: but we have no reason to be much concerned about it; that not being a work of Clement, but, probably, of some writer of the third century.

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Ch. VIII. In the history of things in the time of Trajan, whose reign began in 98, and ended in 117, Eusebius says: There were many eminent men, who had the first rank in the ⚫ succession of the apostles; divers of whom travelling abroad performed the office of evangelists, being ambitious to preach Christ, and to deliver the scripture of the divine gospels.' This affords an argument, that at that time and before, the gospels were well known and collected together. They who went forth to preach the salutary doctrine of the kingdom of heaven to those who were yet unacquainted with it, carried the gospels with them, and delivered them to their converts. The gospels therefore must have been collected together, and must have been for some while in use, and in the highest esteem among the disciples of the apostles, and in the churches planted by them. And I presume, that few or none will hesitate to allow, that Eusebius must be understood to speak here of the four gospels, so well known in

his time.

Ch. IX. Papias was well acquainted with Polycarp, and John the elder, as is allowed, and by some is supposed to have been acquainted with John the apostle and evangelist. If it had been certain, that he was conversant with the last-mentioned John, he ought to be reckoned an apostolical man, and should have been placed with those of that character already spoken of. As that is not certain, we place him in the next rank, after those who were disciples of apostles. He expressly bears testimony to the gospels of Matthew and Mark; and he quoted the first epistle of St. Peter, and the first epistle of St. John. He seems also to have a reference to the book of the Acts. There is reason to suppose he received the book of the Revelation.

Ch. X. Justin Martyr, a native of Palestine, a learned man, and a traveller, converted to Christianity about the year 133, flourished chiefly from the year 140 and afterwards, and died a martyr, as is supposed, in 164 or 167. His remaining works are two Apologies, addressed, or inscribed, one to Titus Antoninus the Pious, the other to Marcus Antoninus the Philosopher, and the senate and people of Rome, (but this last is not entire,) and a Dialogue with Trypho a Jew. In which works are many quotations of the four gospels, though he does not name the evangelists. There are also references to the book of the Acts, and to divers of the epistles of the New Testament. The Revelation is expressly quoted, as written by John an apostle of Christ. The gospels he calls memoirs' or commentaries: Memoirs of the apostles: Christ's memoirs: memoirs of the apostles and their companions, who have written the history of all things concerning our Saviour Jesus Christ:' plainly meaning Matthew and John, Mark and Luke.. In his first Apology he says, the memoirs of the apostles, and the writings of the prophets,' were read in the assemblies of public worship, and a discourse was made upon them by the president: whence it appears, that the gospels were well known in the world, and not designedly concealed from any. Whether Justin has referred to any apocryphal scriptures, is considered at the end of the chapter.

Vid. Grabe Spie. T. i. p. 35.

Ch. XI. In the elegant epistle to Diognetus, sometimes called Justin's, but probably not his, there are no books or writers of the New Testament expressly named: but there are texts out of the gospels of Matthew and John, or allusions and references to them, and also to the epistle to the Romans, the first and second to the Corinthians, the epistle to the Philippians, the first and second to Timothy, the first epistle of Peter, and the first of John: all which allusions are so plain, that they must be reckoned undisputed. A text of the first epistle to the Corinthians is thus cited or introduced: the apostle says,' meaning Paul. He also appears to have had a volume of gospels and apostolical epistles, which he joins with the law and the prophets, in this manner: The fear of the law is sung' or celebrated, the grace of the prophets is known, the faith of the gospels is established, and the tradition of the apostles is kept.'

Ch. XII. Dionysius bishop of Corinth, as we learn from Eusebius, wrote seven letters to divers churches, and one to a Christian woman; of which nothing remains, except some fragments; in which, however, we can trace references to the Acts, and some of the epistles. He speaks of the scriptures of the Lord,' which some had endeavoured to corrupt, probably meaning Marcion, whose heresy he designedly opposed in one of his letters.

Ch. XIII. Tatian, a man well skilled in human literature, composed a Harmony of the Gospels, called Diatessaron, or, Of the Four. Theodoret, of the fifth century, found two hundred copies of this work among the catholics, beside those in use among the people of his own sect. Tatian is also said to have corrected the composition of St. Paul's style; which, perhaps, may have been nothing more than some marginal notes and emendations. Jerom speaks likewise of Tatian's rejecting some of St. Paul's epistles, whilst 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 shewn, 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, were monuments of his zeal for the divine oracles.'

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 Autolicus, 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 to us. We are assured by Eusebius, that in this last-mentioned work Theophilus quoted St. John's Revelation. In the three books to Autolicus, 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.

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

a... et contra hæresim Hermogenis liber unus, et alii num elegantiâ et phrasi non videntur congruere. De V. I. breves elegantesque tractatus, ad ædificationem ecclesiæ percap. 25. tinentes. Legi sub nomine ejus in evangelium, et in proverbia See the chapter of Theophilus, vol. i. p. 383. Salomonis commentarios, qui mihi cum superiorum volumi- See before, note

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, shewing 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 shewn 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 interpretations of the divine scripture given in their works,' as Eusebius says.

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, shewing 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 of the epistle of St. James, the second of St. Peter, or the second and third of St. John. He asserts the integrity, and the authority or inspiration of the scriptures received by him, even the law and the prophets, with the evangelie'