Apologists. second century. It is contained in the SYRIAC and OLD LATIN versions, completed, it would appear, some time before the close of the century. It is distinctly recognised also in the Canon of the MURATORIAN FRAGMENT (probably not later than 4. The Apologists, writing for unbelievers, naturally avoided direct quotations from the sacred writers, which would carry no weight of authority with those they addressed. Their testimony therefore is indirect. THE EPISTLE To DioGNETUs, c. 4, has the expression, “The observance (Taparijpmoriv) of months and of days,’ derived apparently from Gal. iv. Io, ‘Ye observe (raparmpéto 6e) days and months etc.” In another passage, cc. 8, 9, the writer reproduces many of the thoughts of the Epistles to the Galatians and Romans. JUSTIN MARTYR seems certainly to have known this epistle". In the Dial. c. Tryph. cc. 95, 96, he quotes consecutively the two passages, ‘Cursed is every one that continueth not, etc.” (Deut. xxvii. 26), and “Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree' (Deut. xxi. 23), and applies them as they are applied in Gal. iii. Io, 13. Moreover, he introduces the first in language closely resembling that of St Paul, ‘Every race of men will be found under a curse (Jr.) Karápav) according to the law of Moses’; and cites both passages exactly as St Paul cites them, though they differ both from the Hebrew and the Lxx*. Again in the Apol. I. 53, Justin applies Isaiah liv. 1, ‘Rejoice, thou barren, etc.’ exactly as St Paul applies it in Gal. iv. 27. See the notes on iii. Io, 13, 28, iv. 27. MELITO in a passage in the ‘Oration to Antoninus,” lately discovered in a Syriac translation", uses language closely resembling Gal. iv. 8, 9. ATHENAGoRAs, Suppl. c. 16, speaks of sinking down ‘to the weak and beggarly elements,’ quoting from Gal. iv. 9. 5. The evidence of Heretical writers, while it is more direct, Heretical is also more important, as showing how widely the epistle was writers. received. Most of the references quoted below seem to belong to the first half of the century. THE OPHITEs appear to have made great use of this epistle. Several direct quotations from it were found in their writings; e.g. Gal. iv. 26, see Hippol. Haeres. v. 7, p. 106; Gal. iv. 27, see Hippol. v. 8, p. 114; Gal. iii. 28, vi. 15, see Hippol. v. 7, P. 99. JUSTIN, the Gnostic, alludes to Gal. v. 17: Hippol. v. 26, p. 155. THE WALENTINIANs made use of it, Iren. i. 3. 5. A comment on Gal. vi. 14 is given by Irenaeus from their writings, apparently from the works of Ptolemaeus'. MARCION included it in his Canon and attached great importance to it. See p. 36, note 1. Comp. also the note on iii. 19. TATIAN recognised it, quoting vi. 8 in support of his ascetic views: Hieron. Comm. ad Gal. ad loc.” 6. Neither is the testimony of Adversaries of the second Adversa. century wanting to the authenticity of this epistle. o: St Celsus, writing against the Christians, says contemptuously, “Men who differ so widely among themselves and inveigh against each other most shamefully in their quarrels, may all be heard using the words (Aeyóvrov rá) “The world is crucified unto me and I unto the world.”’ (Gal. vi. 14.) ‘This is the only sentence,’ adds Origen, “that Celsus seems to have recollected from Paul' (Orig. c. Cels. v. 64). THE EBIONITE AUTHOR of THE CLEMENTINE Homilies, writing in a spirit of bitter hostility to St Paul, who is covertly attacked in the person of Simon Magus, represents St Peter addressing Simon thus, ‘Thou hast confronted and withstood me (ivavrios dv6éarnkós plot). If thou hadst not been an adversary, thou wouldest not have calumniated and reviled my preaching...If thou callest me condemned (kareyvoopévov), thou accusest God p. 9); but this may be accidental, as fin., and comp. Westcott Canon, p. Apocry phal Acts. Irenaeus, Clement, and Tertullian. who revealed Christ to me': Hom. xvii. 19. See Gal. ii. 11, to which the allusion is obvious, and from which even the expressions are taken. Again, where Simon is accused of ‘allegorizing the words of the law to suit his own purpose' (ii. 22), we can hardly mistake the reference to Gal. iv. 21 sq. In a third passage also St Peter maintaining the observance (rapatípngw) complains that “One who had learnt from the tradition of Moses, blaming the people for their sins, contemptuously called them sons of new-moons and sabbaths’ (xix. 22): comp. Gal. iv. Io. Other resemblances, noted in Lagarde's edition (p. 31), are less striking: viii. 4 to Gal. i. 6; xviii. 21 to Gal. i. 8; viii. 18 (8' dyyáAov vépos opio 6m) to Gal. iii. 19; ix. 1 to Gal. iv. 8. See more on this subject in the dissertation on ‘St Paul and the Three' at the end of this volume. 7. Of Apocryphal Acts relating to St Paul one extant work at least seems to date from the second century: Acts of PAUL AND THECLA § 40 (apparently the work referred to by Tertullian, de Baptism. § 17). The sentence, ‘For he that wrought with thee unto the Gospel wrought with me also unto baptism,' is moulded on Gal. ii. 8. 8. Owing to the nature of the earliest Christian writings, the testimony hitherto brought forward has been for the most part indirect. As soon as a strictly Theological literature springs up in the Church, we find the epistle at once quoted distinctly and by name. This is the case with the writers of the close of the second century, IRENAEUS, CLEMENT of ALEXANDRIA and TERTULLIAN. From their position as representatives of widely separate branches of the Church, and their manner of quotation, which shows that the writings thus cited were recognised and authoritative, the importance of their testimony is much greater than might be inferred from their comparatively late date". * In compiling this account of the lung, and especially of Westcott's Hisexternal evidence in favour of the epi- tory of the Canon. I have however stle I have made use of Lardner's Cre- gone over the ground independently, dibility, of Kirchhofer's Quellensalum- and added to the references. CHARACTER AND CONTENTS OF THE EPISTLE. IN discussing the relation of this epistle to the contemporaneous letters, I have dwelt on those features which it shares in common with them. It remains to point out some characteristics which are peculiarly its own. 1. The Epistle to the Galatians is especially distinguished Unity of among St Paul's letters by its unity of purpose'. The Galatian * apostasy in its double aspect, as a denial of his own authority and a repudiation of the doctrine of grace, is never lost sight of from beginning to end. The opening salutation broaches this twofold subject. The name ‘Paul’ has no sooner passed from his lips, than he at once launches into it. The long historical explanation which succeeds is instinct with this motive in all its details. The body of the letter, the doctrinal argument, is wholly occupied with it. The practical exhortations which follow all or nearly all flow from it, either as cautions against a rebound to the opposite extreme, or as suggesting the true rule of life of which the Galatians were following the counterfeit. Lastly, in the postscript he again brings it prominently forward. The two closing sentences reflect the twofold aspect of the one purpose, which has run through the letter. “Henceforth let no man trouble me. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.' Thus his last * Ewald Paulus, p. 55, "Kein ande- keines ergiesst sich wie dieses in einem res sendschreibenist so sehr wie dieses mächtig stürmischen aber unaufhaltaus einem gedanken entsprungen, und samen und ununterbrochenen strome." Contrast to the allied cpistles. Its sustained severity. words echo his first: “Paul an Apostle not from men'; “God |