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acknowledged, Matt. xvi. 18. But let it be granted likewise that he wrote a second; for it is doubted of. But 'what need I speak of John, who leaned upon the breast ' of Jesus, who has left us one gospel; professing, at the same time, that he was able to write more than even the 'world itself could contain? John xxi. 20. 5. He wrote also the Revelation, in which he is commanded to be silent, ' and not to write the voices of the seven thunders, Rev. x. 4. He has also left an epistle of a very few lines. Grant ' also a second, and a third; for all do not allow these to be genuine however, they do not both together make a hundred lines." Finally, of the epistle to the Hebrews, ' in his Homilies upon it, he gives his opinion in this manner: "That the style of the epistle to the Hebrews has 'not the apostle's rudeness of speech, who has confessed ' himself rude in speech, that is, in language, 2 Cor. xi. 6. 'But this epistle, as to the texture of the style, is elegant 'Greek; as every one will allow, who is able to judge of the differences of styles." Again, he says, "The senti'ments of the epistle are admirable, and not inferior to the ' acknowledged writings of the apostle. This will be 'assented to by every one who reads the writings of the apostle with attention." Afterwards he adds: "If I

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was to speak my opinion, I should say that the sentiments are the apostle's, but the language and composition of some one who committed to writing the apostle's sense, and as it were reduced into commentaries the things spoken by his master. If therefore any church receives this epistle as Paul's, it is to be commended even upon that account; for it is not without reason that the ancients have handed it down as Paul's: but who wrote this epistle, 'God only knows certainly. But the account come down 'to us is various; some saying that Clement, who was bishop of Rome, wrote this epistle; others, that it was Luke, who wrote the Gospel and the Acts.""

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Thus writes Eusebius. Upon this chapter of his we may make two remarks: First, that it is defective. Eusebius has taken here no notice at all of Origen's opinion about the epistles of James and Jude. But perhaps he supposed his readers would understand this omission as an intimation that these epistles were not received by this writer. However, I wish he had been more express, that we might have been in no suspense about his meaning. Secondly, it seems that Eusebius is to be blamed for curtailing the last passage of Origen, taken out of his Homilies upon the epistle to the Hebrews. We should have been

pleased to see Origen's whole argument relating to that. epistle, and the author of it; whereas Eusebius makes a break, and when he had transcribed a part, he says, ' And ' afterwards Origen adds;' or, after some other intervening 6 words, he adds.'

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These two general remarks upon this long passage from Eusebius may suffice for the present. We shall have occasion hereafter to add divers other particular observations upon some parts of it, concerning several books of the New Testament.

V. In the next place I shall take some other passages of Origen, which seem to contain complete catalogues of the books of the New Testament.

One of them is in the thirteenth Homily upon Genesis, where Origen, descanting particularly upon Gen. xxvi. 18 -22, says: Thus Isaac digged again the wells of water which the servants of his father had digged. One servant of his father was Moses, who dug the well of the law; other servants of his father were David and Solomon, and the prophets, and all they who wrote the books of the Old Testament.Isaac therefore again digged new wells; yea, the servants of Isaac digged. The servants of Isaac are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John: his servants also are Peter, James, and Jude, as likewise the apostle Paul; who all dig the wells of the New Testament.' VI. In his seventh Homily upon the book of Joshua, Origen speaks to this purpose: But when our Lord Jesus Christ came, of whom Joshua the son of Nun was but a type, he sent forth the priests, his apostles, bearing

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8 Hoc ergo modo fodit puteos Isaac, quos foderant pueri patris sui. Puer patris sui erat Möyses, qui foderat puteum legis. Pueri patris sui erant David et Salomon, et prophetæ, et si qui alii sunt, qui libros scripserunt Veteris Testamenti. -Fodit ergo Isaac et novos puteos, imo pueri Isaac fodiunt. Pueri sunt Isaac, Matthæus, Marcus, Lucas, et Joannes; pueri ejus sunt Petrus, Jacobus, et Judas; puer ejus est et apostolus Paulus; qui omnes Novi Testamenti puteos fodiunt. Orig. Hom. in Gen. xiii. p. 95. A. Tom. ii. ed. Bened. h Veniens ergo Dominus noster Jesus Christus, cujus ille prior filius Nave designabat adventum, mittit sacerdotes apostolos suos portantes tubas ductiles, prædicationis magnificam cœlestemque doctrinam. Sacerdotali tubâ primâ in evangelio suo Matthæus increpuit. Marcus quoque, Lucas, et Joannes, suis singulis tubis sacerdotalibus cecinerunt. Petrus etiam duabus epistolarum suarum personat tubis; Jacobus quoque et Judas. Addit nihilominus adhuc et Joannes tubâ canere per epistolas suas, et Apocalypsim; et Lucas, apostolorum gesta describens. Novissime autem ille veniens, qui dixit, Puto autem nos Deus novissimos apostolos ostendit ;' et in quatuordecim epistolarum suarum fulminans tubis, muros Jericho, et omnes idololatriæ machinas, et philosophorum dogmata, usque ad fundamenta dejecit. Orig. Hom. in libr. Jes. vii. ib. p. 412. A. B.

Bearing well-beaten trumpets.] Portantes tubas ductiles.' I suppose

well-beaten trumpets, sounding the glorious heavenly doctrine. Matthew sounds first with his priestly trumpet in his gospel; Mark also, and Luke, and John, sounded with their priestly trumpets. Peter likewise sounds aloud with the two trumpets of his epistles; James also and Jude. And John sounds again with his trumpet in his epistles and the Revelation; and Luke also once more, relating the actions of the apostles. Last of all comes he who said, 1 Cor. iv. 9, " For I think that God has set forth us the apostles last:" and sounding with the trumpets of his fourteen epistles, he threw down to the foundations the walls of Jericho, and all the engines of idolatry, and the schemes of the philosophers.'

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These two passages are taken out of the remaining Latin versions of those works of Origen, made by Rufinus; I am of opinion therefore that these catalogues are not to be relied upon. These passages run well enough in the style of Origen: but it was very easy for a translator to thrust in a name or two, or alter a few words, and thereby render the whole agreeable to the sentiments of the times in which he wrote, without making any very remarkable alteration in the style of his author. This last is one of the catalogues given by1 Hody. And indeed Rufinus professes to have made an exact translation of Origen's Homilies upon the book of Joshua; but his word is hardly to be taken in that matter: nor is it impossible that some alterations may have been made in the copies of Rufinus's version since his time. It is somewhat remarkable, that in the fore-cited passage there is a various reading, where m Peter's two epistles are mentioned. And soon after, in the same Homily, when Origen quotes St. John's first epistle, it is in this manner: This is what John sounds in the trumpet of his Origen may allude to Numb. x. 2, 3. And, as some argument of this, I shall transcribe a part of another passage of Origen, to which the learned reader is referred. Ne forte ergo argenteæ tubæ, quoniam argentum in multis locis pro verbo suscipitur, magna vox verbi intelligitur tuba argentea congregans unumquemque in ordine. -Voces autem argentearum et productilium tubarum in diebus lætitiæ Israël, quæ assumuntur in neomeniis ipsorum, erant umbræ futurarum neomeniarum, de quibus dicit apostolus, &c. In Matth. Tract xxx. p. 151. Tom. ii. Basil.

I may also add a passage of Jerom, confirming this interpretation. De hac tubâ et apostolus loquitur [1 Cor. xv. 1 Thess. iv.]; et in Apocalypsi Joannis legimus [viii.]; et in Veteri Testamento tubæ ductiles ex auro, et ære, argentoque, fieri præcipiuntur.-In Matth. xxiv. 31. T. iv. p. 117. Vid. Huet. Origenian. 1. iii. cap. 2. sect. 3. n. i. et v.

Ecc. T. iii. P. iii. Origene, art. 29, 30.

Text. Origen. p. 646. col. 29.

ex tribus.' Vid. T. ii. p. 412. Bened.

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Tillem. Mem.

1 Hody, de Biblior. m Duabus.] Gemeticensis:

n Hoc est, quod et

epistle, saying, “ Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world,” 1 John ii. 15.

It is very fit we should be at the pains of examining things more particularly. I shall endeavour therefore to set Origen's opinion of the several books of the New Testament in a full light. Some prolixity, in considering the works of so great a man in the third century, will not be disagreeable.

VII. We transcribed° just now a passage from Eusebius concerning the four gospels, taken out of the first book or tome of Origen's Commentaries upon St. Matthew's gospel. 1. Again, in the sixteenth tome of his Commentaries • four upon the same gospel, he expressly mentions P ovangelists.'

2. In his Commentaries upon St. John he says, 'That as he is one whom many preach, so it is one gospel in virtue which is written by several; for indeed what is written by four is one gospel.' I put down in the margin a few more passages where Origen expressly mentions 'four evangelists' or gospels.' Perhaps this may be of use to us hereafter.

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3. In his Commentaries upon some of the four gospels he often compares the several accounts of the other evangelists. Thus, speaking of John the Baptist's imprisonment and death, he says, • Therefore Matthew now gave this account, and Mark much after the same manner with him; but Luke has omitted a good part of the history which is in them.' A little after: It is observable,' says he, that

Joannes epistolæ suæ personat tubâ, dicens: Nolite diligere mundum, • See num. iv. neque ea quæ in mundo sunt.' Ibid. p. 413. D.

των τεσ

• Τα δε κατα τον τοπον και οἱ λοιποι τρεις ευαγγέλιςαι εξεθεντο, ὧν την προς αλληλες διαφοραν τε προκειμενο καιρε εςι διηγησασθαι, σαρων ευαγγελιτων αναγραψάντων τα κατα τον τοπον. κ. λ. Comm. in Matth. T. i. p. 439. D. E. Huet. ed.

4 Ου συνιέντες, ότι ὡς εἰς ετιν ὁν ευαγγελίζονται πλείονες, οὕτως ἐν εςι τῇ δυναμει το ύπο των πολλων ευαγγελιον αναγεγραμμενον, και το αληθως δια τεσσαρων ἐν εσιν ευαγγελιον. Comm. in Joh. p. 91. C. D. Huet. Tom. ii.

r Παρατηρητεον δε ότι των τεσσαρων ειρηκότων το, εν ύδατι ὁμολογεῖν Ιωαννην εληλυθεναι βαπτίζειν, μονος Ματθαιος τετῳ προσέθηκε το, εις μετανοιαν. Comm. in Joh. p. 124. C. D. Huet. Vid. et p. 127. Ε. Λεγετωσαν γαρ ἡμιν οἱ παραδεχομενοι τα τεσσαρα ευαγγελια. Ib. p. 150. Ε. Vid. et p. 151. Ε. ὡς παντα τον Ιησεν απο των τεσσάρων ευαγγελιων μαθειν. Ib. p. 156. Α. οὕτω νοητεον και επι των τεσσαρων εχειν ευαγγελιων, p. 153. Α. ἡγεμαι δε ειναι φιλοτιμον, και πρεπον τῳ εν Χρισῳ φιλομάθει συναγειν απο των τεσσαρων ευαγγελιων παντα τα περι της Καφαρναεμ αναγεγραμμενα. p. 159. D. • Δια τετο νυν και τετο ανεγραψεν ὁ Ματθαίος, και ὁ Μαρκος δε αυτῳ παραπλησίως· ὁ δε Λεκας τα πολλα της παρα τετοις παρεσιώπησεν ἱςορίας. Comm. in Matth. T. i. p. 439. D. E.

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Παρατηρητεον μεντοι ότι τες πεντε άρτες και τες δυο ιχθυας οἱ μαθηται

in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the disciples say, they have five loaves and two fishes, without signifying whether they were wheaten or barley loaves: John only has said they were barley loaves.' Matt. xiv. 17; Mark vi. 38; Luke ix. 13; John vi. 9. So with relation to the history of Christ's bearing his cross, and its being borne also by Simon the Cyrenian, he compares" our four evangelists by name.

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4. In another place says he, There being then these like expressions in all four, let us, as we are able, explain the meaning, and observe the lesser differences between them; beginning with Matthew, who likewise, as tradition says, wrote first, and delivered his gospel to the Hebrews, that is, the believers who were of the circumcision.'

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VIII. The Acts of the Apostles are often expressly quoted by Origen, and ascribed to Luke, as we have seen already. However, I put down in the margin a passage or two Origen wrote Commentaries upon this book, or at least published Homilies upon it. A fragment of his fourth Homily upon the Acts is still extant in Greek. Origen speaks of the Acts of the Apostles as an uncontested book: But,' says he,' suppose some one would reject the epistle to the Hebrews, as not being Paul's; what will he say to Stephen's discourses concerning the prophets slain by the Jewish people? or to what Paul writes to the Thessalonians? or to words of our Lord himself to the like purpose?' I have transcribed this from a piece in Latin; but there is exactly the same argument in Origen's a Greek epistle to Africanus: where having quoted the epistle to

λεγεσιν εχειν παρα τῳ Ματθαιῳ, και τῳ Μαρκῳ, και τῳ Λεκα, εθ' ότι πυρινοι, εθ' ότι κρίθινοι ησαν ὑποσημειωσαμενοι· ὁ δε Ιωαννης μονος κριθινές ειπεν Eival Tas ares. Ibid. p. 235. C. D.

" Αλλ' ὁ μεν, ἱν' οὕτως ονομασω, κατα τον Ιωαννην Ιησες, ἑαυτῷ βαςάζει τον ταυρον, και βαςαζων αυτον εξηλθεν, ὁ δε κατα τον Ματθαιον, και Μαρκον, και Λεκαν, εχ ἑαυτῷ αυτον αἱρει, Σιμων γαρ ὁ Κυρηναίος αυτον βαςάζει. [Conf. Joh. xix. 17. Matt. xxvii. 32. Marc. xv. 21. Luc. xxiii. 26.] Comm. in Matth. T. i. p. 287. E. 288. A.

Έχοντες τοινυν τας όμοιας λεξεις των τεσσαρων φερε κατα το δυνατον ιδωμεν ιδια τον νεν έκατης και τας διαφορας, αρξαμενοι από το Ματθαις, ὡς και παραδέδοται πρωτος λοιπων τοις Εβραιοις εκδεδωκεναι το ευαγγελιον, τοις εκ περιτομης πιςεύ8σιν. In Joh. p. 123. C. w See num. iv. Joh. Τ. ii. p. 23. D. ὡς ὁ Contr. Cels. l. vi. p. 282. * Και παλιν εκ της εις τας Пpažeis dμiλias d. Philoca. cap. 7. p. 32. Cant. et apud Huet. T. ii. p. 422. Sed pone aliquem abdicare epistolam ad Hebræos, quasi non Pauli, nec non et secretum abjicere Esaiæ; sed quid faciat in sermones Stephani, vel Pauli ad Thessalonicenses de prophetis interfectis prolatos, vel ipsius Domini nostri? In Matth. Tract. xxvi. Tom. ii. p. 128. fin. Basil. 1571.

* Και εν ταις Πραξεσιν ὁ Λεκας. Comm. in Λεκας εν ταις πράξεσι των Αποςόλων εγραψεν. Cant. p. 638. C. Benedict.

a Ad Afric. sect. 9.