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in which he cites passages from the Epistle to the Hebrews; but he does not say that he quoted them as Paul's. And in his works, which are still extant, there are several passages cited from this Epistle, but without direct reference to the source whence they were derived.

ATHENGORAS quotes from several of Paul's Epistles; but, as has been seen to be the custom of the early Fathers, he commonly uses the words, without informing the reader from what author they were borrowed. There is, however, one passage, in which he refers to both the First and Second Epistles to the Corinthians, as being the production of the Apostle Paul. "It is manifest, therefore," says he, "that according to the Apostle, "This corruptible and dissipated must put on corruption, that the dead being raised up, and the separated and even consumed parts being again united, every one may receive justly, the things he hath done in the body, whether they be good or bad.""

CLEMENT of Alexandria abounds in quotations from Paul's Epistles; a few of which will be sufficient for our purpose. "The Apostle, in the Epistle to the Romans, says, "Behold, therefore, the goodness and severity of God."""The blessed Paul, in the first Epistle to the Corinthians, says, 'Brethren, be not children in understanding; howbeit, in malice, be ye children, but in understanding be ye men."" He has also many quotations from the Second to the Corinthians "The Apostle," says he, "calls the common doctrine of the Faith, 'a savour of knowledge,' in the second to the Corinthians." "Hence, also, Paul says, 'Having these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse our hearts from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness, in the fear of God."" "Whereupon, Paul, also writing to the Galatians, says, 'My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.""§

Whereupon the blessed Apostle says, 'I testify in the Lord that ye walk not as other Gentiles walk.' Again, Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.""¶ He quotes part of the first and second chapters of the Epistle to the Philippians expressly; and in another place, he quotes the same Epistle, after this manner: "The Apostle of the Lord also exhorting the Macedonians, says, 'The Lord is at hand, take heed that we be not found empty.'

CLEMENT, also, quotes the Epistle to the Colossians, and the Epistles to the Thessalonians. From the first Epistle to Timothy, he cites this passage, "O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science, falsely so called, which some professing, have erred concerning the faith."* On which he observes, "Heretics, confuted by this saying, reject both Epistles to Timothy." The Epistle to Titus is also quoted several times; and he remarks, in one place, "That Paul had cited Epimenides, the Cretan, in his Epistle to Titus, after this manner, One of themselves, a poet of their own, said, the Cretans are always liars.""† The Epistle to the Hebrews is also distinctly quoted, and is ascribed to Paul as its author. "Wherefore, writing to the Hebrews, who were declining from the faith to the law, Paul says, 'Have ye need that any teach you again, which be the first principles of the oracles of God, and are become such, as have need of milk, and not of strong meat?" "+

TERTULLIAN, frequently and expressly, quotes most of Paul's Epistles. In one place, he says, "I will, therefore, by no means say, God, nor Lord, but I will follow the Apostles; so that if the Father and the Son are mentioned together, I will say, God the Father, and Jesus Christ the Lord. But when I mention Christ only, I will call him God, as the Apostle does, 'Of whom Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever.""]

"Paul, in his first Epistle to the Corinthians, speaks of those who doubted, or denied, the resurrection."

In his Treatise on Monogamy, he computes, that it was about one hundred and sixty years from Paul's writing this Epistle, to the time when he wrote. "In the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, they suppose the Apostle Paul to have forgiven the same fornicator, who, in the first, he declared, ought to be delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh."

"But of this, no more need be said, if it be the same Paul, who, writing to the Galatians, reckons heresy among the works of the flesh; and who directs Titus to reject a man that is a heretic, after the first admonition, knowing that he that is such is subverted and sinneth, being condemned of himself.""

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I pass," says he, "to another Epistle, which we have inscribed to the Ephesians; but the heretics, to the Laodiceans." Again, "According to the true testimony of the church, we suppose this Epistle to have been sent to the Ephesians, and not to the Laodiceans; but Marcion has endeavoured to alter * 1 Tim. vi, 20, 21. † Tit. i, 12. ' ‡ Heb. v, 12. Rom. ix, 5.

this inscription, upon pretence of having made a more diligent search into this matter. But the inscriptions are of no importance, for the Apostle wrote to all, when he wrote to some."

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Speaking of the Christian's hope, he says, "Of which hope and expectation, Paul to the Galatians says, For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.""* He does not say we have obtained it, but he speaks of the hope of the righteousness of God, in the day of judgment, when our reward shall be decided. Of which being in suspense, when he wrote to the Philippians, he said, If by any means, I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead; not as though I had already attained, or were already perfect.'† The Apostle, writing to the Colossians, expressly cautions against philosophy, Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, and not after the instruction of the Spirit."" "And in the Epistle to the Thessalonians, the Apostle adds, 'But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly, that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night."""And in the Second Epistle to the same persons, he writes with greater solicitude: But I beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, nor be troubled.""" And this word, Paul has used in writing to Timothy, 'O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust.'

That remarkable passage of TERTULLIAN, in which he is supposed to refer to the existing autographs of the Epistles of Paul, although referred to already, may with propriety be here introduced. "Well," says he, "if you be willing to exercise your curiosity profitably, in the business of your salvation, visit the apostolical churches; in which the very chairs of the Apostles still preside, in which their very authentic letters (authenticæ literæ) are recited, sending forth the voice, and representing the countenance, of each one of them. Is Achaia near you? You have Corinth. If you are not far from Macedonia; you have Philippi;-you have Thessalonica. If you can go to Asia, you have Ephesus. But if you are near to Italy, you have Rome, from whence also we may be easily satisfied."

There are three opinions respecting the meaning of this phrase authenticæ literæ authentic letters; the first is, that it signifies the original manuscripts of the Apostles the auto+ Col. ii, 8. 1 Tim. vi, 30.

* Gal. v, 5.
§ 1 Thes. v, 1, 2.

+ Phil. iii, 11, 12.
|| 2 Thes. ii, 1, 2.

graphs which were sent severally to the churches named, to all of which Paul addressed Epistles; the second opinion is, that Tertullian meant to refer his readers to the original Greek of these Epistles, which they had been accustomed to read in a Latin version; and the third is, that this phrase means, well authenticated letters; epistles, which, by application to these churches, could be proved to be genuine writings of the Apostles.

Now, that the first of these is the true sense of Tertullian's words, will, I think, appear very probable, if we consider, that if those autographs were preserved, even with common care, they would have been extant in the time of Tertullian, who reckons only 160 years from the time of Paul's writing to his own time.

And again, unless he meant this, there is no reason why he should direct his readers only to those cities which had received Epistles; for doubtless many other churches, which might be more accessible, had authentic copies in the Greek language. Such copies undoubtedly existed in Africa, where Tertullian lived. They need not, however, have been directed to go to Rome, or Corinth, or Ephesus, or Philippi, or Thessalonica, to see the Epistles of Paul in Greek.

Neither was it necessary to take a journey to these cities to be fully convinced, that the letters which had been received by them were genuine; for the evidence of this fact was not confined to these distinguished places, but was diffused all over the Christian world.

From these considerations, I conclude, that in Tertullian's time, these churches had in their possession, and preserved with care, the identical Epistles sent to them by Paul. This sense is confirmed by what he says, of their being able to hear the voice, and behold the countenance, of the Apostles, and see the very seats on which they had been accustomed to sit when they presided in the church. These seats were still occupied by the bishops, and seemed to preside, as they were venerable from having been once occupied by the Apostles.

Tertullian was acquainted with the Epistle to the Hebrews, for he quotes several passages from the sixth chapter, but he ascribes it to Barnabas, and not to Paul. In this opinion, I believe, he is singular.

ORIGEN quotes Paul's Epistles, as expressly and frequently, as is done by almost any modern writer. To transcribe all the passages cited by him, would be to put down a large portion

of the writings of this Apostle. A few instances will be sufficient.

In one passage, in his work against Celsus, he mentions several of Paul's Epistles together, in the following manner:"Do you, first of all, explain the Epistles of him who says these things, and having diligently read, and attended to the sense of the words there used, particularly in that to the Ephesians; to the Thessalonians; to the Philippians; to the Romans, &c." The Epistle to the Ephesians is elsewhere quoted by Origen, with the inscription which it now bears.

After employing an argument, founded on a passage quoted from the Epistle to the Hebrews, he observes:-"But possibly some one, pressed with this argument, will take refuge in the opinion of those who reject this Epistle, as not written by Paul. In answer to such, we intend to write a distinct discourse, to prove this to be an Epistle of Paul." In his citations of this Epistle, therefore, he constantly ascribes it to Paul, in such expressions as these " Paul, in his Epistle to the Hebrews," "In the Epistle to the Hebrews, the same Paul says."

But Origen not only expresses his own opinion on this subject, but asserts that, by the tradition received by the ancients, it was ascribed to Paul. His words are "For it is not without reason, that the ancients have handed it down to us as Paul's." Now, when we take into view that Origen lived within one hundred years of the time of the Apostles, and that he was a person of most extraordinary learning, and that he had travelled much through different countries, his testimony on this point is of great weight; especially, since his opinion is founded on the testimony of the ancients, by whom he must mean the contemporaries of the Apostles. At the same time, however, he mentions, that some ascribed it to Luke, and others to Clement of Rome.

CYPRIAN often quotes the Epistles of Paul. "According," says he, "to what the blessed Apostle wrote in his Epistle to the Romans, "Every one shall give account of himself to God; therefore, let us not judge one another."* In his First book of Testimonies, he says" In the First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, it is said, 'Moreover, brethren, I would not ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were baptized unto Moses, in the cloud, and in the sea.'t Likewise, in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, it is written, Their minds were blinded until this day.' In like manner, blessed Paul, * Rom. xiv, 12. + 1 Cor. x, 1. 2 Cor. iii, 14, 15.