Quæ

damiæ refpondentis. colloquia cum audiffet Egetes, credens eas ibi effe, difcefferit.

which Iphidamia replied. Which discourses when Egetes heard, believing them to be really theirs, he went away a

II. The fame St. Auftin, difputing with Felix against the Manichees, urges against him :

Habetis hoc etiam in fcripturis Apocryphis, quas Canon quidem catholicus non admittit, vobis autem tanto gratiores funt, quanto a Catholico Canone fecluduntur. Aliquid etiam inde commemorem, cujus ego auctoritate non teneor, fed tu convinceris. In Actibus confcriptis a Lentitio, quos tanquam actus Apoftolorum fcribit, habes ita pofitum: Etenim fpeciofa figmenta & oftentatio fimulata, & coactio vifibilium, non quidem ex propria natura procedunt, fed ex eo homine qui per fe ipfum deterior factus eft per feductionem.

This you have also in the Apocryphal writings, which are not admitted into the Canon of the Church, but are indeed fo much the more ef teemed by you, as they are excluded the Canon of the Church. I fhall cite a paffage thence, not that I regard its authority, but for your conviction. In the Acts wrote by Lentitius, which he writes as the Acts of the Apostles, you find the following words:"The fpecious appearances "and delufive pomp, and the "influence of the things that

are feen, do not proceed "from nature, but from that 66 man, who through his own "fault became worse by "temptation."

III. The fame Father in his treatife of Faith, or the Trinity of the Unity, produces the fame paffage with no variation; only that the author's name is there written Leontius, and not Lentitius, as in the place laft cited: His words are, In actibus

a

Something of this is referred to in the Life of Andrew. See Abdias's Hift. Apoft. in vit. And,

c. 39.

bAct. cum Felic. Manich. lib. 2. c. 6.

etiam confcriptis a Leontio, quos ipfi accipiunt, fic fcriptum eft ; Etenim fpeciofa figmenta &c. Whence it is evident, that these two names denote the same person; not that he was antiently known by both these names, but through the ignorance or inadvertency of latter fcribes, when they found the name Leucius contractedly wrote thus, L. or Lus. according to the old way in manufcripts, they fubftituted either Leucius, Lentitius, or Leontius, according to their own fancy.

IV. Jerome, or whoever was the author of that famous Epiftle to Chromatius and Heliodorus under his name among his works, ascribes not only the book of the Nativity of Mary, but that called, The Acts or Paffions of the Apostles, to Leuthon, as it is in my edition, or as it is in others, Seleucus, who was the fame as Leucius, as has been often observed; fee Cafaubon, Fabritius, and others; and fo Dr. Mill affures us, the manuscript copies ftill have the name Leucius, and neither Leuthon nor Seleucus: fo that I may now fet down the words of the Epiftle under Jerome's name.

Sed factum eft, ut a Manichæi difcipulo, nomine Leucio, qui etiam Gefta Apoftolorum falfo fermone concripfit, hic liber editus, &c.

But it is certain that this book was published, &c. by a difciple of Manichæus, whose name was Leucius, who also wrote a false account, intitled, The Acts of the Apostles.

Hence it is evident there were certain Acts under the Apostles' names wrote by Leucius. It remains now, that we more particularly make enquiry what those Acts were.

To me it seems certain, they were the very fame with those Apocryphal Acts which are so often mentioned by the antient writers, as forged under the names of John, Andrew, and Thomas, and perhaps two or three more. I shall make good my affertion by these following reasons :

1. From the express testimony of Photius, that most accurate and judicious critick, who had read the books, and afferts, that they manifefted Leucius Charinus to be their authora.

μεναι

ai

Ανεγνώσθη βιβλίον, αἱ λεγότῶν ̓Αποσόλων περίο δοι, ἐν αἷς περιείχοντο πράξεις Πέτρε, Ιωάννα, ̓Ανδρέα, Θωμᾶ, Παύλο. Γράφει δὲ αὐτὰς, ὡς δηλοῖ τὸ αὐτὸ βιβλίον, Λεύχιος Χαρίνος.

I read the book which is called the Alts of the Apofles, among which are contained the Acts of Peter, John, Andrew, Thomas, Paul; the writer of which, as appears plainly from the book, was

Leucius Charinus.

2. From the Decree of Pope Innocent, in which feveral books under these Apoftles' names are joined together, as wrote by this fame Leucius; Catera quæ fub nomine Petri & Joannis, quæ a quodam Leucio fcripta funt, &c. As to the other books under the name of John, which were written by one Leucius, &c. See the paffage at large above, Numb. XXV.

3. St. Auftin, who fays the Manichees made their citations out of the Acts of the Apoftles written by Leucius, in the places just now cited; in another book fays, they made their citations out of fome Apocryphal pieces under the names of Andrew and John.

4. They were received by feveral hereticks, who agreed in many of the fame impious principles. This is evident by the table which I have composed of this agreement in Chap. V. of this part, and the authors there cited, who mention the Acts of Andrew and John together, as received by the Manichees, Encratites, Apoftolicks or Apotacticks, and Orige

nians.

These therefore appearing fo evidently to be the fame, I fhall in the next place produce the places where they are mentioned, viz.

1. By Eufebius a.

By Athanafius b.