ページの画像
PDF
ePub

Apolo

gists.

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 170 A.D.).

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 (aparnpnow) of months and of days,' derived apparently from Gal. iv. 10, 'Ye observe (maparηpeîobe) 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. 10, 13. Moreover, he introduces the first in language closely resembling that of St Paul, Every race of men will be found under a curse (vò κaтáρav) 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. 1. 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. 10, 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.

1 Inc. 5 of the Orat. ad Graecos, often ascribed to Justin and generally assigned to the second century, there are two indirect quotations from this epistle, iv. 12 and v. 20, 21. A recension of this treatise however, discovered of late years in a Syriac translation (Cureton's Spicil. Syr. p. 61), bears the name of Ambrose, by whom probably is meant the friend and pupil of Origen.

2 In Deut. xxvii. 26, ds oùк èμμ. ¿v πᾶσιν τοῖς γεγραμμένοις ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ

τοῦ νόμου τοῦ π. αὐτά, for the Lxx (which is nearer to the Hebrew) wâs ỏ ἄνθρωπος ὅστις οὐκ ἐμμ. ἐν πᾶσιν τοῖς λόγοις τοῦ ν. τούτου τοῦ π. αὐτούς: in Deut. xxi. 23, 'Emiкатáρатоs πâs, where the LXX, following the Hebrew, has Κεκατηραμένος ὑπὸ Θεοῦ πᾶς.

3 Cureton's Spicil. Syr. p. 49, Spicil. Solesm. II. p. I. The authorship however is doubted; see Otto Apol. Christ. Ix. p. 460. A close parallel to Gal. iv. 8 appears also in 'the doctrine of Addæus' (Cureton's Anc. Syr. Doc.

ATHENAGORAS, Suppl. c. 16, speaks of sinking down 'to the weak and beggarly elements,' quoting from Gal. iv. 9.

writers.

5. The evidence of Heretical writers, while it is more direct, Heretical is also more important, as showing how widely the epistle was 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 VALENTINIANS made use of it, Iren. i. 3. 5. A comment on Gal. vi. 14 is given by Irenæus from their writings, apparently from the works of Ptolemæus'.

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 Adversacentury wanting to the authenticity of this epistle.

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 (λeyóvτwv тó) “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 (evavríos ávéστηkás μο). If thou hadst not been an adversary, thou wouldest not have calumniated and reviled my preaching...If thou callest me condemned (kateyvwoμévov), thou accusest God

p. 9); but this may be accidental, as there is no other recognition of St Paul in the work. In another document of the same collection (p. 56) there is seemingly a reference to Gal. vi. 17. See also Clem. Hom. IX. I.

See the Latin of Iren. i. 8.

5 ad

fin., and comp. Westcott Canon, p.
304 (ed. 4).

To this list should be added Theo-
dotus, Exc. ap. Clem. Alex. c. 53, p.
982 (Potter), where Gal. iii. 19, 20 is
quoted: but the date and authorship
of these excerpts are uncertain.

ries of St

Paul.

Apocryphal Acts.

Irenæus, Clement, and Ter

tullian.

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 (aparýρnov) 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 (di' ayyéλov vóμos wpioon) to Gal. iii. 19; ix. I 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, IRENEUS, 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'.

1 In compiling this account of the external evidence in favour of the epistle I have made use of Lardner's Credibility, of Kirchhofer's Quellensamm

lung, and especially of Westcott's History of the Canon. I have however gone over the ground independently, and added to the references.

4.

CHARACTER AND CONTENTS OF THE EPISTLE.

IN discussing the relation of this epistle to the contem

poraneous 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 purpose. 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

1 Ewald Paulus, p. 55, 'Kein anderes sendschreiben ist so sehr wie dieses aus einem gedanken entsprungen, und

keines ergiesst sich wie dieses in einem
mächtig stürmischen aber unaufhalt-
samen und ununterbrochenen strome.'

Contrast to the allied epistles.

Its sustained severity.

words echo his first: 'Paul an Apostle not from men'; 'God who called you in the grace of Christ.'

In this respect it contrasts strongly with the two letters to Corinth with which it possesses so many features in common. Like the First Epistle to the Corinthians, it was written with an immediate purpose to correct actual errors. But the difference is striking. The factions at Corinth were manifold, the irregularities were irregularities of detail not founded on any one broad principle of error, and the epistle necessarily reflects this varied character. Like the Second Epistle to the Corinthians again, it is a complete reflection of the Apostle's inner life. Yet the contrast is not less marked than before. In the one epistle he pours out his feelings without restraint, recurring to his own experiences, his own sorrows, freely and without any definite purpose. In the other the mention of himself is always subordinated to the purpose of the letter; however tumultuous may be the workings of his soul, they are all forced into this one channel. He never speaks of himself but to enforce the authority of his office or the liberty of the Gospel. 2. The sustained severity of this epistle is an equally characteristic feature with its unity of purpose. The Galatians are not addressed as the 'saints in Christ,' 'the faithful brethren.' The Apostle has no congratulations, no word of praise, for this apostate Church. Even on the Corinthians, in spite of all their shortcomings, he could lavish expressions of commendation and love. But the case is different here. The charity which 'hopeth against hope' seems to be strained to the utmost. For this once only the pervading type of his epistles is abandoned in the omission of the opening thanksgiving. The argument is interrupted every now and then by an outburst of indignant remonstrance. He is dealing with a thoughtless half-barbarous people. They have erred like children, and must be chastised like children. Rebuke may prevail where reason will be powerless.

The body of the letter seems to have been written by an amanuensis, but the final sentences were in the Apostle's own

« 前へ次へ »