Essays on the work entitled "Supernatural Religion" Part 26

[159:1] The view that Papias took _written_ Gospels as the basis of his interpretations is maintained by no one more strongly than by Hilgenfeld in his recent works; _Papias von Hierapolis_ (_Zeitschrift_, 1875) p.

238 sq; _Einleitung in das Neue Testament_ (1875), pp. 53 sq, 454 sq.

But it seems to me that he is not carrying out this view to its logical conclusion, when he still interprets [Greek: biblia] of Evangelical narratives, and talks of Papias as holding these written records in little esteem.

[160:1] _Haer._ Praef. 1; see also i. 3. 6: 'Not only do they attempt to make their demonstrations from the Evangelical and Apostolic [writings]

by perverting the interpretations and falsifying the expositions [Greek: exegeseis], but also from the law and the prophets; as ... being able to wrest what is ambiguous into many [senses] by their exposition' [Greek: dia tes exegeseos].

[161:1] Clem. Alex. _Strom._ vii. 17, p. 898.

[161:2] Compare also the language of Hippolytus respecting the books of the Naa.s.senes; _Haer._ v. 7, 'These are the heads of very numerous discourses ([Greek: pollon panu logon]), which they say that James,'

etc.

[161:3] This same epithet 'foreign' ([Greek: allotrios]) is applied several times in the Ignatian Epistles to the Gnostic teaching which the writer is combating; _Rom._ inscr., _Trall._ 6, _Philad._ 3.

[161:4] Reasons are given by Dr Westcott in the fourth edition of his _History of the Canon_ p. 288.

[Footnote 5] _Strom._ iv. 12, p. 599.

[162:1] The following pa.s.sage in _Supernatural Religion_ is highly instructive, as showing the inconsistencies involved in the author's view (I. p. 485): 'It is not possible that he [Papias] could have found it better to inquire "what John or Matthew, or what any other of the disciples of the Lord ... say," if he had known of Gospels such as ours,' ['and believed them to have been' inserted in the Complete Edition] 'actually written by them, deliberately telling him what they had to say. The work of Matthew which he mentions being, however, a mere collection of discourses of Jesus, he might naturally inquire what the Apostle himself said of the history of the Master.' Here the author practically concedes the point for which I am contending, and which elsewhere he resists; for he states that Papias as a sane man must, and as a matter of fact did, prefer _a book_ to oral tradition. In other words, he allows that when Papias disparages books (meaning Evangelical records, such as the St Matthew of Papias was on _any_ showing), he cannot intend all books of this cla.s.s, but only such as our author himself arbitrarily determines that he shall mean. This point is not at all affected by the question whether the St Matthew of Papias did or did not contain doings, as well as sayings, of Christ. The only escape from these perplexities lies in supposing that a wholly different cla.s.s of books is intended, as I have explained in the text.

[163:1] _S.R._ I. p. 445. It is not likely that our author would appreciate the bearing of these references to St Mark, because, as I pointed out in my first article [see above, p. 8], he mistranslated [Greek: ouden hemarte] 'did no wrong,' instead of 'made no mistake,'

thus obscuring the testimony of Papias to the perfect accuracy of the result of St Mark's conscientious labours. The translation is altered in the last edition, but the new rendering, 'committed no error in thus writing,' is ambiguous, though not incorrect.

[165:1] I. p. 456.

[165:2] I. p. 460. [So too ed. 6; but struck out in the Complete Edition.]

[166:1] I. p. 459.

[167:1] I. p. 460. [So also ed. 6; the word 'ever' disappears in the Complete Edition.]

[167:2] I. p. 447. This criticism is given above, p. 143 sq.

[167:3] I. p. 447.

[168:1] The manner in which Eusebius will tear a part of a pa.s.sage from its context is well ill.u.s.trated by his quotation from Irenaeus, ii. 22.

5:--'A quadragesimo autem et quinquagesimo anno declinat jam in aetatem seniorem, quam habens Dominus noster docebat, sicut Evangelium [et omnes seniores testantur, qui in Asia apud Joannem discipulum Domini convenerunt] id ipsum [tradidisse eis Joannem. Permansit autem c.u.m eis usque ad Trajani tempora]. Quidam autem eorum non solum Joannem, sed et alios Apostolos viderunt, et haec eadem ab ipsis audierunt et testantur de hujusmodi relatione.' Eusebius gives only the part which I have enclosed in brackets: _H.E._ iii. 23.

[169:1] I. p. 474.

[169:2] [I. p. 475. So also ed. 6; modified in the Complete Edition.]

[171:1] I. p. 465.

[171:2] _Introduction to the New Testament_, I. p. 109 sq (Eng.

Transl.), where there is more to the same effect.

[171:3] _Einleitung in das Neue Testament_, p. 456 sq. 'An eine blosse Aufzeichnung der Reden Jesu hat er nicht einmal gedacht.... Nicht eine blosse Redensammlung, sondern ein vollstandiges Evangelium la.s.st schon Papias den Matthaus hebraisch geschrieben haben.' See also pp. 54 sq, 454 sq.

[172:1] I. p. 470 sq, 'That Irenaeus did not derive his information solely from Papias maybe inferred,' etc.... 'The evidence furnished by Pantaenus in certainly independent of Papias.'

[172:2] _Einleitung_ pp. 54 sq, 456 sq.

[172:3] Photius _Bibl._ 228.

[173:1] I. p. 464. [And so all later editions.]

[174:1] _De Conj. erud. grat._ 24 (p. 538); _de Profug._ 11 (p. 555).

Elsewhere he says that all things which are written in the sacred books (of Moses) are oracles ([Greek: chresmoi]) p.r.o.nounced ([Greek: chresthentes]) through him; and he proceeds to distinguish different kinds of [Greek: logia] (_Vit. Moys._ iii. 23, p. 163).

[174:2] Clem. Rom. 53 [Greek: enkekuphate eis ta _logia_ tou [Theou].]

Elsewhere (-- 45) he uses the expression [Greek: enkuptein eis tas graphas].

[174:3] Polyc. _Phil._ 7.

[174:4] Iren. _Haer._ i. 8. 1.

[174:5] Clem. Alex. _Coh. ad Gent._ p. 84 (ed. Potter), _Strom._ i. p.

392.

[175:1] _De Princ_. iv. 11 (I. p. 168, Delarue), _in Matth._ x. -- 6 (III. p. 447).

[175:2] _Hom._ xi. 5 (II. p. 96); _ib._ xii. 1 (p. 97).

[175:3] See p. 163.

[176:1] I. p. 466.

[176:2] Our author has not mentioned the various reading [Greek: logon]

for [Greek: logion] here, though Hilgenfeld speaks of it as the reading of the 'best editions.' If it were correct, it would upset his argument; but the most recent critical editor, Laemmer, has adopted [Greek: logion].

[177:1] Iren. _Haer._ v. 20. 2; Dion. Cor. in Euseb. _H.E._ iv. 23.

[177:2] _Ep. Barn._ 4, 5. The bearing of this fact on the testimony of Papias is pointed out in an able and scholarly article on _Supernatural Religion_ in the April [1875] number of the _Dublin Review_, p. 403.

[177:3] [The Essay on the Epistle of Barnabas was never written; see the Preface to this Reprint.]

[178:1] See above, p. 34 sq.

[178:2] [See above, pp. 36 sq, 46 sq.]

[179:1] [Preface to _S.R._ ed. 6, pp. xi--xxiii.]

[179:2] [The pa.s.sage quoted occurs above, p. 38 'Eusebius therefore proposes--however precise.']

[179:3] Preface to _S.R._ ed. 6, p. xv.

[180:1] [See above, p. 44 sq.]

[180:2] Preface to ed. 6, p. xxi.