to whom Bartholomew, one of the Apostles, had CHAP. II. preached, and given on his departure (kaтAMeiya) the writing of Matthew in Hebrew letters'.'... The whole picture may not be original; but the several parts harmonize exactly together, and the general effect is that of reality and truth.

§ 4. The Athenian Apologists.

and occasion

Apology.

At the same time at which the first Evan- The place gelists were extending the knowledge of Chris- of the first tianity, the first Apologists were busy in confirming its authority. While Asia and Rome had each their proper task to do in the building of the Church, it was reserved for the country. men of Socrates to undertake the formal defence of its claims before the rulers of the world. The occasion of this new work arose out of the celebration of the Eleusinian mysteries-those immemorial rites which seem to have contained all that was deepest and truest in the old religion. During his first stay at Athens, Hadrian suffered himself to be initiated; and probably because the Emperor was thus pledged to the

1 Euseb. H. E. v. 10. Cf. Heinichen, l. c. et add. Pantænus was at the head of the Catechetical School of Alexandria in the time of Commodus (Euseb. v. 9); and his journey to India probably preceded his appointment to that office. 2 Euseb. H. E. iii. 37.

A.D. 123-126.

CHAP. II. support of the national faith, the enemies of the Christians set on foot a persecution against

them. On this, or perhaps not until his second C. A.D. 130. visit to the city, Quadratus, 'a disciple of the Apostles',' offered to him his Apology, which is said to have procured the well-known rescript to Minucius in favour of the Christians 2.

The character of the Apo

This Apology of Quadratus was generally logy of Quad- current in the time of Eusebius, who himself

ratus.

possessed a copy of it; and one may see in it,' he says, 'clear proofs both of the intellect of the man and of his apostolic orthodoxy3. The single passage which he has preserved shows that

1 Hieron. de Virr. Ill. xix. It is disputed whether the Apologist was identical with the Bishop of the same name, who is said to have 'brought the Christians of Athens again together who had been scattered by persecution, and to have rekindled their faith' (Euseb. H. E. iv. 23). The narrative of Eusebius leaves the matter in uncertainty. (Cf. iii. 37; iv. 3, with iv. 23). Jerome identifies them (1. c.; Ep. ad Magn. 84), and Cave supports his view (Hist. Litt. i. an. 123). Cf. Routh, Rell. Sacræ, i. 72 sq.

2 Cf. Routh, 1. c. The details of the history are very obscure. If Jerome speaks with strict accuracy when he says, 'Quadratus.... Adriano principi Eleusina sacra invisenti librum pro nostra religione tradidit,' the Apology must be placed at the time of Hadrian's first visit; otherwise it seems more likely that it should be referred to the second. Pearson (ap. Routh, p. 78) fixes the date on the authority of Eusebius (?) at 127. The rescript to Minucius is found in Just. Mart. Ap. i. ad f.

3 Η. Ε. iv. 3: ἐξ οὗ [συγγράμματος] κατιδεῖν ἐστὶ λαμπρὰ τεκμήρια τῆς τε τοῦ ἀνδρὸς διανοίας καὶ τῆς ἀποστολικῆς ὀρθοτομίας.

Quadratus insisted rightly on the historic worth CHAP. II. of Christianity. The works of our Saviour,' he argues, 'were ever present; for they were real: those who were healed:-those who were raised from the dead :—who were not only seen at the moment when the miracles were wrought, but also [were seen continually, like other men] being ever present; and that not only while the Saviour sojourned on earth, but also after his departure for a considerable time, so that some of them survived even to our times'.'

of Aristides.

A second Apology for the Faith,'-'a ra- The Apology tionale of Christian doctrine'-was addressed to Hadrian by Aristides, a man of the greatest eloquence,' who likewise was an Athenian, and probably wrote on the same occasion as Quadratus 2. Eusebius and Jerome speak of the book

1 The original cannot be quoted too often: Toû dè Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν τὰ ἔργα ἀεὶ παρῆν· ἀληθῆ γὰρ ἦν· οἱ θεραπευ θέντες· οἱ ἀναστάντες ἐκ νεκρῶν· οἳ οὐκ ὤφθησαν μόνον θερα πευόμενοι καὶ ἀνιστάμενοι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀεὶ πάροντες οὐδ ̓ ἐπιδη μοῦντος μόνον τοῦ Σωτῆρος, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπαλλαγέντος ἦσαν ἐπὶ χρόνον ἱκανὸν, ὥστε καὶ εἰς τοὺς ἡμετέρους χρόνους τινὲς αὐτῶν ἀφίκοντο (Euseb. Η. Ε. iv. 3). The repetition of ὁ Σωτὴρ absolutely is remarkable; in the New Testament, and in the Apostolic Fathers, it occurs only as a title. The usage of Quadratus clearly belongs to a later date. It appears again in the Letter to Diognetus (c. 9), and very frequently in the fragment on the Resurrection appended to Justin's works (cc. 2, 4, 6, 7, &c.)

2 Hieron. de Virr. Ill. xx. Volumen nostri dogmatis rationem continens. Fragm. Martyrol., ap. Routh, p. 76.

CHAP. II. as still current in their time, but they do not appear to have read it. Jerome, however, adds that in the opinion of scholars it was a proof of the writer's ability;' and this falls in with what he elsewhere says of its character, that it was constructed out of philosophic elements1. Aristides, in fact, like Justin, was a philosopher; and did not lay aside his former dress when he became a Christian 2.

Both witness

to the Catho

lic doctrine.

Nothing, it will be seen, can be drawn directly from these scanty notices in support of the Canon; but the position of the men gives importance even to the most general views of their doctrine. They represent the teaching of Gentile3 Christendom in their generation, and witness to its soundness. Quadratus is said to have been eminently conspicuous for the gift of Aristides philosophus, vir eloquentissimus. . . . If there were sufficient reason for the supposition that Quadratus himself suffered martyrdom in the time of Hadrian, the Apology of Aristides might be supposed to have been called forth at that time.

1 Hieron. 1. c. apud philologos ingenii ejus indicium est; ad Magn. Ep. 84 (Routh, p. 76). Apologeticum pro Christianis obtulit contextum philosophorum sententiis, quem imitatus postea Justinus, et ipse philosophus.

2 Hieron. 1. c. Dorner (i. 180) says the same of Quadratus, but I cannot tell on what authority. Probably the names were interchanged.

3 Yet Grabe's conjecture with regard to the rule attributed to Quadratus in a Martyrology ' ut nulla esca a Christianis repudiaretur, quæ rationalis et humana est,' seems very plausible. Routh, p. 79.

prophecy1; and yet he appealed with marked CHAP. II. emphasis, not to any subjective evidence, but to the reality of Christ's works. Aristides investigated Christianity in the spirit of a philosopher; and yet he was as conspicuous for faith as for wisdom 2. Their works were not only able, but in the opinion of competent judges they were orthodox.

§ 5. The Letter to Diognetus.

Diognetus.

In addition to the meagre fragments just The letter to reviewed, one short work-the so-called Letter to Diognetus-has been preserved entire, or nearly so, to witness to the character of the earliest apologetic literature3. It differs, however, from the Apologies in this, that it was written in the first instance to satisfy an inquirer, and not to conciliate an enemy. It is anonymous, resembling in form a speech much more than a letter, and there are no adequate means of determining its authorship. For a long time it was attributed to Justin Martyr; but it is equally Not written

1 Euseb. H. E. iii. 37; v. 17.

2 Hieron. ad Magn. 1. c.: fide vir sapientiaque admirabilis. Another very remarkable testimony to the character of his teaching is found in the Martyrolog. Rom. (ap. Routh, p. 80). Quod Christus Jesus solus esset Deus præsente ipso Imperatore luculentissime peroravit.

3 Like the Epistles of Clement it is at present found only in one ancient MS. Cf. Otto, Just. Mart. ii., proleg. xiv. xx. sqq. Stephens may have had access to another.

by Justin, but