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the Apoftles, Evangelifts, and apoftolical men. His intention in this place is not to mention what writings were confidered as divine; but to afcertain the three following points :1. What writings were received by the ancients as genuine works of the Apoftles, Evangelifts, and apoftolical men: -2. Of what writings the authenticity had been called in queftion:-And 3. Those which were entirely rejected, as fpurious.

On these points the opinion of the three first centuries was as follows:

Ι. Ὁμολογεμεναι γραφαι (ανωμολογημέναι; ΟΙ, αληθείς και απλαςοι) writings which were univerfally received as the genuine works of the perfons whofe names they

bear.

In this clafs Eufebius reckons, 1. The four Gospels; 2. The Acts of the Apoftles; 3. The Epiftles of St. Paul; 4. The firft Epiftle of St. John; 5. The first Epiftle of St. Peter. The Revelation

Revelation of St. John might also perhaps be placed in this clafs, because fome think its authenticity incontrovertible, yet the majority leave the matter undetermined'.

ΙΙ. Αντιλεγομέναι, writings on whofe authenticity the ancients were not unanimous; which some held to be suppofititious'.

According to Eufebius, even these have the majority of voices among the ancients in their favour. He expressly calls them, γνώριμα όμως τοις πολλοις (writings acknowledged by moft to be genuine), and παρα πλείσοις των εκκλησιαςικών γιγνωσκομένα (received by the majority). A few doubted of their authenticity; and therefore Eufebius ranks them under the contefted, TIλεγομενα, Οι νόθα.

See above, p. 166.

He names these writings alfo vobas reapai, fpurious writings; that is, according to the opinion of fome. These volas do not, therefore, compose a dif tinct clafs, as is the general fuppofition.

In this clafs he enumerates, of the writings of the New Teftament, 1. The Epiftle of St. James; 2. The Epiftle of St. Jude; 3. The fecond Epiftle of St. Peter; 4. The fecond and third Epiftles of St. John. The Revelation of St. John, he adds, is alfo by fome placed in this class.

And, of other writings, the Acts of St. Paul; The Shepherd of Hermas; The Revelation of St. Peter; the Epiftle of Barnabas; The Doctrines of the Apoftles; and the Gofpel according to

the Hebrews.

III. Ατοπα και δυσσεβη, (abfurd and impious); Writings which had been univerfally rejected as evidently spurious.

In this clafs he includes the Gofpels of Peter, of Thomas, and of Matthias;

For in early times fome believed that this work was not compofed by John the apostle, but by a pref.. byter of the fame name, or by fome other perfon. See the following 5th chapter of this book.

the

the Acts of Andrew, of John, and of other Apoftles. Thefe writings, fays he, contain evident errors, are written in a ftyle entirely different from that of the Apostles, and have not been thought worthy of being mentioned by any one of the ancients.

CHAP.

CHAP. IV.

A fummary Recapitulation of the Evidences mentioned above.

I WILL now reduce into order the depofitions of the witneffes, who have been already separately examined, and enable the reader to perceive at one view what has been the opinion of men during the two first centuries and half on each individual book of the New Teftament.

1. The Gospel by St. Matthew IS pronounced to be a genuine work of the Evangelift whose name it bears, 1. by Papias, 87*; 2. by many ancient writers of the first century, confulted

The figures after the names of the different witnesses enumerated in this chapter, refer to the pages of this work, where their evidences may be found.

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