Ante-Nicene Christian Library; Translations Of The Writings Of The Fathers Down To A.D. 325, Volume 16: Apocryphal Gospels, Acts, And Revelations

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LMin Form, ...... 177

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CONTENTS

EATERS, ....... 348

THE REVELATION OF MOSES, ...... 454 TM REVELATION OF ESDRAS, ..... 468THE REVELATION OF PAUL, ...... 477 THE REVELATION OF JOΗN, ...... 493

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IXTRODUCTIO X.

UR aim in these translations lias been to givo arcndering os the original as literat as possibio; audio this me have adhered even in casus-and theyare not a sew-in Whicli the Latin or the Greeli is not in strict accordance With grammatical rulo. It Was thought advisable in ali cases to give the reader the means os soringan accurate estimate os the style as weli as the substance os these curious documenta.

under thres heata: α those relating to the history os Joseph and of tho Virgin Mary, previora to tho birili os Christ; φ)Gose relating to the insancy of the Saviour; and H those relating to the history os Pilate. The origines of the traditio

are the ProteVangelium os James, the Gospei os Thomas, and tha Acts of Pilate. AH or most of the othera can be reseraedio these three, as compilations, modifications, or amplifications. There is abundant evidence of the existence of many of these traditions in the second centu , though it cannot be made octinat any of the books were then in existence in thela presentlam. The greater number of the authorities on the subjeci,

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viii INTRODUCTIO

ho mer, Mem to agree in assigning to the fidit laur ωnturies of tho Christian era, tho solio ing fivo books: I. Thoriotevangelium os James; 2. The Gospei os Pseud Matthew; 4. Tho History of Joseph the Carpenter; o. Tho Gospes of Thomas; s. Τhe Gospei os Nicodemus. procein to ove a very bries notico os inch of them.

I. The Protevangelium V Iamra. he name ot Protevangelium mas sint given to it is Postet, Whoso Latin versionmaa publishod in 1552. Τho Jamos is usualty referred in St. James the Less, the Loia's brother; but the tities Vary very much. Origen. in the end of the second contuta, mentions a book ot James, but it is by no means clear that he resera tothe book in question. Justin Martyr, in t O passages, reserato the cave in Which Christ mas bom; and stom the end of the laurili century domn, thera are numerous allusiona in ecclesiasticia initings to statementa made in the Protevangelium. For his edition Tischendori made use of Soenisen MSS., oneos inem belonging to the ninth century. The Greeli is mod os the kiud, and Dee Dom errore and corruptio . There are trans

ΙL ne Gosset os Psevd Matthem he majority of the MSS. attributo this book in Matthe , though the liues Vary much. The letters prefixed, prosessing to M Written in and is S Jerome, exist in severat of the MSS. ; but no one Who is ac- quainted mi in the styla of Jerome's letters mill iniis this ono authentic. There are, hoWeVer, in his moris many allusiona tofome of the legends mentioned in this book. Chaptera i xxiv. mere edited by rillo, chaptera xxv. to tho end are edited sorine firat time by Τlachendori. It is not very clear Whether tho Latin be original, or a direct translation hom the Greela rumost pari it Mems to M origina The Est os epitheta, homever, applied to the trianoes of the Alpha in ch ter xxxi are pretu obviousty mistranslations os Greis technicia tema, .hich it mirat not be dissicula in reproduce. III. sospes es tia Nativi ν of mi. his mota, Which is in substance ine fame as the earlier pari os the preceding, yet

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INTRODUCTION. . ix differs hom it in severat important potnis, indicating a laterdate and a disserent author. It has acquired great celebritysrom hining been transferre t almost ontim to tho maloria Mardiea or Legenda Aurea in tho eud os the thirinenti, cen- turr Mediaevat poetry and sacred art have been very much indebled to ita pages. The originat is in Latin, and is not a direct translation Domine Greeh. In many passages it solioWs Very closely the Vulpate translation

IV. The Histoi os Ioseph the Carpenter. ho original lan- mage os this histo is Coptic. Froni the Coptic it Was translated into Arabie. Τho Arabic Was publisliud by Wallin in1722, with a Latin translation and copious notes. Wallina version has been republished by Fabricius, and later in a some-What amended lam by Thilo. Τhis amended sum os Wallin's version is the texi adopted by Τischendor . Chaptera xiv. Xiii. have been publislied in the Sahidio texi by Zoega in I 810 mith a Latin translation, and more correctly by Desaurier in 1835with a French translation. Tischendors employa various arguments in support of his opinion that the work belonga to the laurth centu . It is laund, he says, in both dialecta of the Coptio: the eschatologyot it is not inconsistent With an early date: the serat of thothousand years of chapter xxvi. had becomo part os hereticia opinion aster the thies centuV. The death of ths Virgin Mary in chapter v. is inconsistent With the doctrine of the assumption, Which began to prevati in the fifth centurn

lium os James, the Gospes of Thomas is os undoubted antiqui . It is mentioned by name by Origen, quoted by Irenaeus and the author of tho Philosophumena, Who says that it m used by the Nachashenes, a Gnostic sect of the second centur' Cyril of Jerusalem re 386) attributes the authorshipnot to the aposite, but to a Thomas Who Was one os the three discipies os Manes. This laci, of co se, indicates that Cyrillinem nothing of the antiquiw of the book he Was speising osmis Manichaean origin has been adopted by many Writers,

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INTRODUCTION.

os .hom tho best known ara in recent times R. Simon and Mingaressi. Tho toxι os the fimi Greeli form is obtesned stom a BolognaMs. publishod by Mingaressi With a Latin translation in 1764, a Dresden ris. os the fixteenth century edited by Thilo, a Vienneso fragment edited by tam cius, and a Parisian fragmentiirat brought to light is Coteler in his edition os the Apost licat Constitutions. and translated into Ensisti by Jones. The seconil Grook sorm is publisliud sor the fidit time by

The Latiu sorin is also published sor the si si timo, stom a Vatican MS. There is another Latin texi existing in a palimpsest, which Τischendors assigns to the fifth contuta, and asseris to bemuch nearer the ancient Greeli copy thau any of the other MSS.It seems pretiy clear, Dom the contents of the book, that iis author Was a Gnostic, a Docetist, and a Marcosian; and it Washeld in ostimation by the Nach lienes and the Manichaeans. Ita bearing upon Cliristian an, and to sonte extent Christiandogma, is med known. The Greek of the originat is is no means g d, and the Latin translator has in many cases mistisen the meming of

VIII. Arabie fovet of the Savisura Infancy-Chapterai.-ix. are founded on the Gospeis os Luke and Matthe , andon the Protevangelium os James; chaptera xxxvi to the endare compiled hom the Gospei os Thomas; the rest os the book, ch tera T. to xxxv., is thoroughly Oriental in ita character, remincing ons os the tales of the Arabian Niseis, or of the episodes in the solden Ara os Apuleius. It is evident that the work is a compilation, and that thecompiter Was an Orientes. Various arguments are adduced toprove that the original language of it Was Syriac. It mas lirat publishod, with a Latin translation and copious notes, is Prosessor Sthe of Cambridge in 1697, aftematas is Fabricius, Jones, Schmid, and Thilo. Tischendorsa texi is Siue's Latin version amended by Fleischer.

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INTRODUCTION.

There ars not suffcient data sor fixing With any accura the time M .hich it mas composed or compiled

IX. XIV. The G pel of Meodemvs. he sita documents inserte I under this name are various fornis os imo books-tino in Groeli and one in Latin os the Acts of Pilato; one in Grechand two in Latin os the Descent os Christ to the worid below. Os t eluc MSS., only tWo or three give the seconit pari consecutivoly With the siret, nor does it so appear in the Coptio translation. The titio os Gospei os Nicodemus dous not appear soro the thineenth centu .aust in Martyr montions a book called the Acts of Pilato. and Eusubius ins ritis iis that illi Emporor Maximin aliou odor ordored a book, composuit bu the pagans unitur this titie, to be publislied in a curtain porti in os the empire, and evento be taught in tho sch ls; but notther os these could have

been the work under consideration.

Tiscliendors attributos it to the second contury, Whieli is probably too early, though Without doubi the legend was formed by the end of the second centu . Maury Mem. de la Melete des Antiq. de Franee, t. xx. places it in the beginning of the fifth centu , hom 405 to 420; and Benan rudes d'mst. Alig. p. l77 concurs in this opinion. An able Writer in the Quarterly Aview vol. cxvi. assigns it to 439 ; the author of the articis Pilato, in Smitti's Bole Dietionardi, oves the end of the thiescentury as the probabie date. me author mas probably a Hellenistic Jem converted toChristiani , ori as Tisoliendori and Maury conclude, a Christian imbued with Judaic and Gnostic belless. The originallangvage Was most probably Greeli, though, as in the case os Pseudo-Matthem the History of Joseph the Carpenter, etc., the original language is, in many of the prefaces, stated tohave been Hebrem. Some think that Latin Was the originallan age, on the ground that Pilate mould make his repori tothe Emperor in that, the ossiciat, language. The Latin texi me

have, hoWeVer, is obrio ly a translation, made, moreοVer, is a man to Whom Greek Was not very familiar, as is obvio hom severat instances specified in our notes to the text.

The editio prinreps of the Latin texi is Without place or date,

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xsi INTRODUCTION. and it has been re-odited by Jones, Biris, Fabrielus, Thilo, and otherae Tho Greeli texi os Pari L, and os a portion os Pari II., Was fimi publisbed by Birch, and aster arci in a much improvin form, With tho addition os copious notes and proleg mena. by Thilo. Tho latior part os his protegomena containsa suli account of the Ensisti. French, Italian, and Germantranslatio . For his edition Tischendors consulted thiri nine ancioni documenis, os Whicli a suli account is gi ven in his pro-

XV. The Leiter of Pontius Pilate.-Τhe texi is sormed Dom&ur authorities, none os them ancienti A translation os the Greeli texi os the fame letter Will be Mund at p. 264. XVL, XVII. The Repori os Pilate. he fidit os these documenta mas fidit published by Fabricius with a Latin translation ; the second by Birch, and then by Thilo. Tischendors has made use os five MSS., the earliest os the twelsth centuo. It does not seem possibio to assim the date. XVIII. The Paradosis of Piliae. It has been meli remarhed by the author os the article in the Quarte ly Reriem a veresereed is, that the early church looked on Pilato mith nounsavour te eye; that he is favo ably shown in the cata-combs ; that the early sathera interpreted him as a figure os the early church, and held iam to be militem a Christ sileath; that the creeds do not condemn his, and tho Coptio Church has even made iam a saint. He remacts also that Danto finda punishmenta sor Cataphas and Annas, but nos sor Pilate. me texi mas fini edited by Blach, and astematas is Thilo. Tischendori mines uae ot five Mas., os Which the earllast belangsto the tweuth centur XIX. The μαα of Pilate. his is published sor the finitimo is Tischendors trem a Latin Ma. os the laurinentii cen-

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INTRODUCTION. xiii

This portion os the volume, extending hom page 256 to page 454, presenta us With documents Written in a style consider- ly different stom that of the Apocryphal Gospela properlyso callest There me have mithout stini the signf that the Jem destred; hero me besn to have some simpses of the wisdom Whicli the Greeis fought alter, along With a considerable stare os

Quidquid G eia mendax Audet in historia.

have lem es miracle, more os elaborate discoursae me Apocryphia Gospela mere suiled to the vilia stitieula, hom

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INTRODUCTION. Heh, as Jeromo said, the ch oh originared; tho Ameryphia

Acts appeal moro to the Aeademis. Wo havs in ancient litorature, especialty Greeli literature, a long series os sabulous histories attiached to tho names of men ho mado themselvos samous either in aris or armae Thistaste sor the mareelious hecame generia aster the expeditionos Alexander: and stom that time dom me have numerous examples os it in the lives Os Alexander, os Pythagoras, os Apollonius os Tyana, os Homer, os Virigit, and othurs Without number: and we an know bow much sabulous mattor is aptio gathur mund the namus os popular heroes even in modern

times.

It is not to he wondered at. thon. that mund tho namesos Christ and His apostles, Who had brought about socialchanges greater than those effected by the exploiis os any hero os old, there should gather. as the result of tho moniteringame os simple-miniled men, a gro th os the romantic and the

os whicli the documents sollowing are portions. They existalso in a Latin forni in tho ten books os the Acts of the Apostles, compiled Probably in the stath century, and salselyattributed to Abdias, the fini bishop os Babylon, by Whom it

shali noπ ove a bries account of each of tho thirtaen documents Which malae up this part of the Volume. I. The Aeta os Petem and Hul. his book mas fini pub-tishod in a completo lam is nilo in 183 7 and 1838. Aportion os it hin atready been translated into Latin is inosamous Greeli scholar Constantino Lascaria in 1490, and halbeen made uae os in the celebratin controversy M to the situ tion os the laland Melita, upon which St. Paul shipWreched. For hiis edition Tischendori collatad sta Mas., the oldest of theend of the ninth centur Some portions at least os ino book are os in early date. The Domine ροιο τadis story, p. 275, is reseraed in is Origen, and othera aster him. A book called tho Acts of Peter is condemned in the decree os Pope Gelasius.