Coroll. If in the Apostles' times, while they were yet alive, there were so many spurious and fuppofititious pieces published, it is not strange, if we find a much greater number after their deaths, as the Chriftian Religion spread farther; of which in the following Chapter.

CHA P. III.

A large Catalogue of all the loft Apocryphal Books, which are mentioned by the Writers of the first four Centuries, with the Places, where they are mentioned.

HAVI

AVING given some account of the Apocryphal books under the Apostles' names during their life, I proceed now to give some account, of the vast number of fuch books, that were in the world foon afterwards.

Papias of Hierapolis, who was one of St. John's disciples, an intimate of Polycarp, and called a person of antiquity by Irenæus, who himself lived in the second century, tells us, in the Preface of his Commentary on our Saviour's fayings, that the books he had read concerning Chrift were not jo profitable to him, as the converfation of thofe, who had been inti..ate with the Apoftles; which, as he never would have said concerning any inspired books, fhews he had met with several, which he did not look upon as such o.

Hegefippus (contemporary with Juftin Martyr about the year of Chrift 150, called by Gobarus f ágxã avng nai áñosoAuxòs) in his Commentaries has a Difcourfe concerning the Apocryphal books, several of which, he says, were made by the Hereticks of his timeɛ.

Irenæus obferves, that the Gnofticks had in his time an innumerable multitude of spurious and Apocryphal books, which they had forged to delude the more weak and ignorant sort of perfons, filled with the most impious and blasphemous affertions. After these times, Origen, Jerome, Epiphanius', Ambrofem, and others, tell us of great numbers of these books, made ufe of by the Hereticks of their times. Philaftrius, in his catalogue of Herefies, names one Hærefis Apocrypha", viz. of such, who opposed other books to the truly Canonical ones.

Of these books fome are quite loft, and not so much as the name, or the least part of them remaining. Of others there are fome few fragments remaining in the writings of the Fathers, but without any exprefs intimation, out of what books they were taken. Of others there are undoubted fragments, with the names of the books, from whence they were cited. Others perhaps are ftill extant.

For the better managing my defign, I fhall confider them under the general divifion of books which are loft, and books which are yet extant; and, according to my propofal, treat firft concerning those which are loft, or not extant. And as it is neceffary to my defign, fo I hope it will not be unserviceable, to present the Reader with as large and full a collection of these, as I have been able to make, from the writers of the four first centuries after the birth of Chrift: my collection proceeds no farther for these three reafons, viz.

1. Because by the end of the fourth century, or thereabouts, there will appear to be almost an univerfal agreement concerning the Canon, and what books fhould be received into it.

2. Because the writers of the fucceeding centuries are, upon many accounts, very improper evidences in this matter.

3. Because the books mentioned afterwards under the names of the Apostles, &c. have either very flender, or indeed no pretences at all, to Canonical authority. Such are many of those

h Adv. Hæref. 1. 1. c. 17.

i Homil. in Luc. i. 1.

* Præf. in Matth.

Adv. Hæref. fæpe.

Comment. in Luc. i. 1.

n Hæref. 87.

mentioned

mentioned in Mr. Toland's catalogue, under the pompous titles of St. Matthew, Mark, &c.

For these reasons I have spared myself the needless labour of reading, or fearching into the writers of the fifth, and following centuries; and fhall now proceed to the catalogue itself.

A Catalogue of Books not extant now, formerly published under the Names of our Saviour, his Apostles, their Companions, &c. with the Places, where they are mentioned by any of the Writers of the first four Centuries after Chrift.

N. B. The reader is not to think it strange, when he finds the fame book mentioned in this Catalogue more than once; my design being to produce every place, where there is any mention of them.

A

In the First Century.

FTER the most diligent search into the supposed writers of the first century, I cannot find, that any one of them has mentioned fo much as one Apocryphal writing by name. Barnabas, Hermas, Clemens Romanus, Ignatius, Polycarp, in the pieces now extant under their names, never, in any one place, cite by name any Apocryphal Gofpel. It must indeed be confeffed, there are feveral paffages in their writings,. which, as they are not in our Gofpels, feem to be taken out of fome others but these are all fome fayings of our Saviour, which, with whatever others are to be found of the fame fort, shall be produced, and critically examined, in the second part of this work.

It may not, however, be improper here to obferve, that there are two or three paffages, from whence fome have concluded, that befide thofe Epiftles we now have of St. Paul's, he wrote others, now loft. For inftance, from those words, I Cor. v. 9. I wrote to you, in an Epistle, not to company with fornicators; they conclude, he had fent the Corinthians an Epiftle before that, which is now called the firft. And Mr. Gregory of Oxford * tells us, he saw a third Epistle of St.

* Preface to his works, p. 11.

Paul

Paul to the Corinthians, in the Armenian tongue, beginning, Paul a fervant of Jefus Chrift; but this, and the other inftances, I defign particularly to examine hereafter.

In the SECOND CENTURY the following Apocryphal Books are mentioned.

By HEGÉSIPPUS.

The Gofpel according to the Hebrews. Lib. Commentar. apud Eufeb. Hift. Eccl. lib. 4. c. 22.

BY IRENEUS.

The Gofpel written by Judas Iscariot. Adverf. Hæref. lib. I. c. 35.

The Gospel of Truth, made ufe of by the Valentinians. Id. lib. 3. c. II.

By HERACLEON.

The Preaching of Peter. Apud Origen. lib. 14. Comment. in Joan. iv. 22.

By SERAPION, Bishop of Antioch.

The Gospel of Peter. Lib. de Evang. Pet. apud Eufeb. Hift. Eccl. l. 6. c. 12.

Dr. Cave faith, Serapion has cited the Acts of Peter; but I believe he is mistaken in this matter, there being nothing of it in Eufebius.

By APOLLONIUS.

A Catholick Epistle of Themifon the Montanift, forged in imitation of the Apoftles. Lib. cont. Cataphryg. apud Eufeb. Hift. Eccl. 1. 5. c. 18.

By CLEMENS ALEXANDRINUS.

The Gospel according to the Hebrews. Stromat. l. 2. p.

380.

. Hiftor. Liter. in Petrus, p. 5.

The

The Gospel according to the Egyptians. Lib. 3. p. 452,

465. See alfo p. 445.

The Traditions of Matthias. Lib. 2. p. 380. Lib. 7. p. 748. See alfo Lib. 3. p. 436..

The Preaching of Peter, or, according to fome, of Paul and Peter, as one book. Lib. 1. p. 357. l. 2. p. 390. l. 6. p. 635, 636, et 678.

The Revelation of Peter. Lib. Hypotopof. apud Eufeb• Hift. Eccl. lib. 6. c. 14.

By THEODOTUS BYZANTIUS.

The Preaching of Peter. Excerpt. feu Eclog. p. 809. printed after the end of Clemens Alexandrinus's Works.

The Revelation of Peter. Ibid. p. 806, 807.

By TERTULLIAN.

The Acts of Paul and Thecla. Lib. de Baptifm. c. 17. About twenty-three years fince, our learned countryman, Dr. Mills, caused the Martyrdom of Thecla to be copied out of the Greek manuscript in the Bodleian Library, and presented it to Dr. Grabe, who has fince published it in his Spicileg. Patr. Secul. I. and endeavours to prove it to be the fame with this Book mentioned by Tertullian. How right his conjecture is, will appear when we come to examine the Book itself. The Gospel of Valentinus. Lib. de Præfcript. adv. Haretic. c. 49.

The Gospel of Marcion. Lib. 4. adv. Marcion. c. 2, 4,

et 6.

The Gospel of Peter. Ibid. c. 5.

By CAIUS, a Prefbyter of Rome.

The Revelation of Cerinthus, pretending to be Apoftolical. Lib. Difput. apud Eufeb. Hift. Eccl. l. 3. c. 28.

In the THIRD CENTURY, the following Apocryphal Books are mentioned.

By ORIGEN.

The Gospel according to the Egyptians. Homil. in Luc. i. I.

The