You have urged me, Dexter,hyperlink , to follow the example of Tranquillushyperlink in giving a systematic account of ecclesiastical writers, and to do for our writers what he did for the illustrious men of letters among the Gentiles, namely, to briefly set before you all those who have publishedhyperlink any memorable writing on the Holy Scriptures, from the time of our Lord's passion until the fourteenth year of the Emperor Theodosius.hyperlink A similar work has been done by Hermippushyperlink the peripatetic, Antigonus Carystius,hyperlink the learned Satyrus,hyperlink and most learned of all, Aristoxenus the Musician,hyperlink among the Greeks, and among the Latins by Varro,hyperlink Santra,hyperlink Nepos,hyperlink Hyginus,hyperlink and by him through whose example you seek to stimulatehyperlink us,-Tranquillus.
But their situation and mine is not the same, for they, opening the old histories and chronicles could as if gathering from some great meadow, weave somehyperlink small crown at least for their work. As for me, what shall I do, who, having no predecessor, have, as the saying is, the worst possible master, namely myself, and yet I must acknowledge that Eusebius Pamphilus in the ten books of his Church History has been of the utmost assistance, and the works of various among those of whom we are to write, often testify to the dates of their authors. And so I pray the Lord Jesus,hyperlink that what your Cicero, who stood at the summit of Roman eloquence, did not scorn to do, compiling in his Brutus, a catalogue of Latin orators, this I too may accomplish in the enumeration of ecclesiastical writers, and accomplish in a fashion worthy of the exhortation which you made. But if, perchance any of those who are yet writing have been overlooked by me in his volume, they ought to ascribe it to themselves, rather than to me, for among those whom I have not read, I could not, in the first place, know those who concealed their own writings, and, in the second place, what is perhaps well known to others, would be quite unknown to me in this out of the way corner of the earth.hyperlink But surely when they are distinguished by their Celsus, Porphyry, and Julian learn, rabid as they are against Christ, let their followers, they who think the church has had no philosophers or orators or men of learning, learn how many and what sort of men founded, built and adorned it, and cease to accuse our faith of such rustic simplicity, and recognize rather their own ignorance.
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, farewell.hyperlink
List of Writers.
1. Simon Peter.
2. James, the brother of our Lord.
3. Matthew, surnamed Levi.
4. Jude, the brother of James.
5. Paul, formerly called Saul.
6. Barnabas, surnamed Joseph.
7. Luke, the evangelist.
8. Mark, the evangelist.
9. John, the apostle and evangelist.
10. Hermas.
11. Philo Judaeus.
12. Lucius Annaeus Seneca.
13. Josephus, son of Matthias.
14. Justus of Tiberias.
15. Clemens the bishop.
16. Ignatius the bishop.
17. Polycarp the bishop.
18. Papias the bishop.
19. Quadratus the bishop.
20. Aristides the philosopher.
21. Agrippa Castor.
22. Hegesippus the historian.
23. Justin the philosopher.
24. Melito the bishop.
25. Theophilus the bishop.
26. Apollinaris the bishop.
27. Dionysius the bishop.
27. Pinytus the bishop.
29. Tatian the heresiarch.
30. Phillip the bishop.
31. Musanus.
32. Modestus.
33. Bardesanes the heresiarch.
34. Victor the bishop.
35. Iranaeus the bishop.
36. Pantaenus the philosopher.
37. Rhodo, the disciple of Tatian.
38. Clemens the presbyter.
39. Miltiades.
40. Apollonius.
41. Serapion the bishop.
42. Apollonius the senator.
43. Theophilus another bishop.
44. Baccylus the bishop.
45. Polycrates the bishop.
46. Heraclitus.
47. Maximus.
48. Candidus.
49. Appion.
50. Sextus.
51. Arabianus.
52. Judas.
53. Tertullian the presbyter.
54. Origen, surnamed Adamantius.
55. Ammonius.
56. Ambrose the deacon.
57. Trypho the pupil of Origen.
58. Minucius Felix.
59. Gaius.
60. Berillus the bishop.
61. Hippolytus the bishop.
62. Alexander the bishop.
63. Julius the African.
64. Gemimus the presbyter.
65. Theodorus, surnamed Gregory the bishop.
66. Cornelius the bishop.
67. Cyprian the bishop.
68. Pontius the deacon.
69. Dionysius the bishop.
70. Novatianus the heresiarch.
71. Malchion the presbyter.
72. Archelaus the bishop.
73. Anatolius the bishop.
74. Victorinus the bishop.
75. Pamphilus the presbyter.
76. Pierius the presbyter.
77. Lucianus the presbyter.
78. Phileas the bishop.
79. Arnobius the rhetorician.
80. Firmianus the rhetorician, surnamed Lactantius.
81. Eusebius the bishop.
82. Reticius the bishop.
83. Methodius the bishop.
84. Juvencus the presbyter.
85. Eustathius the bishop.
86. Marcellus the bishop.
87. Athanasius the bishop.
88. Antonius the monk.
89. Basilius the bishop.
90. Theodorus the bishop.
91. Eusebius another bishop.
92. Triphylius the bishop.
93. Donatus the heresiarch.
94. Asterius the philosopher.
95. Lucifer the bishop.
96. Eusebius another bishop.
97. Fortunatianus the bishop.
98. Acacius the bishop.
99. Serapion the bishop.
100. Hilary the bishop.
101. Victorinus the rhetorician.
102. Titus the bishop.
103. Damasus the bishop.
104. Apollinarius the bishop.
105. Gregory the bishop.
106. Pacianus the bishop.
107. Photinus the heresiarch.
108. Phoebadius the bishop.
109. idymus the Blind.
110. Optatus the bishop.
111. Acilius Severus the senator.
112. Cyril the bishop.
113. Euzoius the bishop.
114. Epiphanius the bishop.
115. Ephrem the deacon.
116. Basil another bishop.
117. Gregory another bishop.
118. Lucius the bishop.
119. Diodorus the bishop.
120. Eunomius the heresiarch.
121. Priscillianus the bishop.
122. Latronianus.
123. Tiberianus.
124. Ambrose the bishop.
125. Evagrius the bishop.
126. Ambrose the disciple of Didymus.
127. Maximus, first philosopher, then bishop.
128. Another Gregory, also a bishop.
129. John the presbyter.
130. Gelasius the bishop.
131. Theotimus the bishop.
132. Dexter, son of Pacianus, now praetorian prefect.
133. Amphilochius the bishop.
134. Sophronius.
135. Jerome the presbyter.
Chapter I.
Simon Peterhyperlink the son of John, from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, brother of Andrew the apostle, and himself chief of the apostles, after having been bishop of the church of Antioch and having preached to the Dispersionhyperlink -the believers in circumcision,hyperlink in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia-pushed on to Rome in the second year of Claudius to over-throw Simon Magus,hyperlink and held the sacerdotal chair there for twenty-five years until the last, that is the fourteenth, year of Nero. At his hands he received the crown of martyrdom being nailed to the cross with his head towards the ground and his feet raised on high, asserting that he was unworthy to be crucified in the same manner as his Lord. He wrote two epistles which are called Catholic, the second of which, on account of its difference from the first in style, is considered by many not to be by him. Then too the Gospel according to Mark, who was his disciple and interpreter, is ascribed to him. On the other hand, the books, of which one is entitled his Acts, another his Gospel, a third his Preaching, a fourth his Revelation, a fifth his "Judgment" are rejected as apocryphal.hyperlink
Buried at Rome in the Vatican near the triumphal way he is venerated by the whole world.hyperlink
Chapter II.
James,hyperlink who is called the brother of the Lord,hyperlink surnamed the Just, the son of Joseph by another wife, as some think, but, as appears to me, the son of Mary sister of the mother of our Lord of whom John makes mention in his book,hyperlink after our Lord's passion at once ordained by the apostles bishop of Jerusalem, wrote a single epistle, which is reckoned among the seven Catholic Epistles and even this is claimed by some to have been published by some one else under his name, and gradually, as time went on, to have gained authority. Hegesippus who lived near the apostolic age, in the fifth book of his Commentaries, writing of James. says "After the apostles, James the brother of the Lord surnamed the Just was made head of the Church at Jerusalem. Many indeed are called James. This one was holy from his mother's womb. He drank neither wine nor strong drink, ate no flesh, never shaved or anointed himself with ointment or bathed. He alone halt the privilege of entering the Holy of Holies, since indeed he did not use woolen vestments but linen and went alone into the temple and prayed in behalf of the people, insomuch that his knees were reputed to have acquired the hardness of camels' knees." He says also many other things, too numerous to mention. Josephus also in the 20th book of his Antiquities, and Clement in the 7th of his Outlines mention that on the death of Fetus who reigned over Judea, Albinus was sent by Nero as his successor. Before he had reached his province, Ananias the high priest, the youthful son of Ananus of the priestly class taking advantage of the state of anarchy, assembled a council and publicly tried to force James to deny that Christ is the son of God. When he refused Ananius ordered him to be stoned. Cast down from a pinnacle of the temple, his legs broken, but still half alive, raising his hands to heaven he said, "Lord forgive them for they know not what they do." Then struck on the head by the club of a fuller such a club as fullers are accustomed to wring out garmentshyperlink with-he died. This same Josephus records the tradition that this James was of so great sanctity and reputation among the people that the downfall of Jerusalem was believed to be on account of his death. He it is of whom the apostle Paul writes to the Galatians that "No one else of the apostles did I see except James the brother of the Lord," and shortly after the event the Acts of the apostles bear witness to the matter. The Gospel also which is called the Gospel according to the Hebrews,hyperlink and which I have recently translated into Greek and Latin and which also Origenhyperlink often makes use of, after the account of the resurrection of the Saviour says, "but the Lord, after he had given his grave clothes to the servant of the priest, appeared to James(for James had. sworn that he would not eat bread from that hour in which he drank the cup of the Lord until he should see him rising again from among those that sleep)" and again, a little later, it says "`Bring a table and bread,' said the Lord." And immediately it is added, "He brought bread and blessed and brake and gave to James the Just and said to him, `my brother eat thy bread, for the son of man is risen from among those that sleep.'" And so he ruled the church of Jerusalem thirty years, that is until the seventh year of Nero, and was buried near the temple from which he had been cast down. His tombstone with its inscription was well known until the siege of Titus and the end of Hadrian's reign. Some of our writers think he was buried in Mount Olivet, but they are mistaken.
Chapter III.
Matthew,hyperlink also called Levi, apostle and aforetimes publican, composed a gospel of Christ at first published in Judea in Hebrewhyperlink for the sake of those of the circumcision who believed, but this was afterwards translated into Greek though by what author is uncertain. The Hebrew itself has been preserved until the present day in the library. at Caesarea which Pamphilus so diligently gathered. I have also had the opportunity of having the volume described to me bythe Nazareneshyperlink of Beroea,hyperlink a city of Syria,who use it. In this it is to be noted that wherever the Evangelist, whether on his own account or in the person of our Lord the Saviour quotes the testimony of the Old Testament he does not follow the authority of the translators of the Septuagint but the Hebrew. Wherefore these two forms exist "Out of Egypt have I called my son," and "for he shall be called a Nazarene."
Chapter IV.
Judehyperlink the brother of James, left a short epistle which is reckoned among the seven catholic epistles, and because in ithyperlink he quotes from the apocryphal book of Enoch it is rejected by many. Nevertheless by age and use it has gained authority and is reckoned among the Holy Scriptures.
Chapter V.
Paul,hyperlink formerly called Saul, an apostle outside the number of the twelve apostles, was of the tribe of Benjamin and the town of Giscalishyperlink in Judea. When this was taken by the Romans he removed with his parents to Tarsus in Cilicia. Sent by them to Jerusalem to study law he was educated by Gamaliel a most learned man whom Luke mentions. But after he had been present at the death of the martyr Stephen and had received letters from the high priest of the temple for the persecution of those who believed in Christ, he proceeded to Damascus, where constrained to faith by a revelation, as it is written in the Acts of the apostles, he was transformed from a persecutor into an elect vessel. As Sergius Paulus Proconsul of Cyprus was the first to believe on his preaching, he took his name from him because he had subdued him to faith in Christ, and having been joined by Barnabas, after traversing many cities, he returned to Jerusalem and was ordained apostle to the Gentiles by Peter, James and John. And because a full account of his life is given in the Acts of the Apostles, I only say this, that the twenty-fifth year after our Lord's passion, that is the second of Nero, at the time when Fetus Procurator of Judea succeeded Felix, he was sent bound to Rome, and remaining for two years in free custody, disputed daily with the Jews concerning the advent of Christ. It ought to be said that at the first defence, the power of Nero having not yet been confirmed, nor his wickedness broken forth to such a degree as the histories relate concerning him, Paul was dismissed by Nero, that the gospel of Christ might be preached also in the West. As he himself writes in the second epistle to Timothy, at the time when he was about to be put to death dictating his epistle as he did while in chains; "At my first defence no one took my part, but all forsook me: may it not be laid to their account. But the Lord stood byhyperlink me and strengthened me; that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and that all the Gentiles might hear, and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion"hyperlink -clearly indicating Nero as lion on account of his cruelty. And directly following he says "The Lord delivered me from the month of the lion" and again shortly "The Lord delivered mehyperlink from every evil work and saved me unto his heavenly kingdom,"hyperlink for indeed he felt within himself that his martyrdom was near at hand, for in the same epistle he announced "for I am already being offered and the time of my departure is at hand."hyperlink He then, in the fourteenth year of Nero on the same day with Peter, was beheaded at Rome for Christ's sake and was buried in the Ostian way, the twenty-seventh year after our Lord's passion. He wrote nine epistles to seven churches: To the Romans one, To the Corinthians two, To the Galatians one, To the Ephesians one, To the Philippians one, To the Colossians one, To the Thessalonians two; and besides these to his disciples, To Timothy two, To Titus one, To Philemon one. The epistle which is called the Epistle to the Hebrews is not considered his, on account of its difference from the others in style and language, but it is reckoned, either according to Tertullian to be the work of Barnabas, or according to others, to be by Luke the Evangelist or Clement afterwards bishop of the church at Rome, who, they say, arranged and adorned the ideas of Paul in his own language, though to be sure, since Paul was writing to Hebrews and was indisrepute among them he may have omittedhis name from the salvation on this account.He being a Hebrew wrote Hebrew, that ishis own tongue and most fluently while the things which were eloquently written in Hebrew were more eloquently turned into Greekhyperlink and this is the reason why it seems todiffer from other epistles of Paul. Some read one also tohyperlink the Laodiceans but it is rejected by everyone.
Footnotes
1 Dexter. Compare chapters 132 and 106.
2 Tranquillus. C. Suetonius Tranquillus (about a.d. 100). De illustribus grammaticis; De claris rhetoribus.
3 Published or handed down "Prodiderunt." Some mss. read "tradiderunt," and Jerome usually employs "Edo" for publish.
4 Fourteenth year of the Emperor Theodosius. a.d. 492.
5 Hermippus of Smyrna. (3rd century b.c.) Lives of distinguished men.
6 Antigonus. Antigonus of Carystus (Reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus?).
7 Satyrus. A Peripatetic (Reign of Ptolemy Philopator) "wrote a collection of biographies."
8 Aristoxenus the musician. A Peripatetic, pupil of Aristotle, wrote lives of various Philosophers.
9 Varro. M. Terentius Varro the "most learned of the Romans" (died b.c. 28) published among other things a series of "portraits of seven hundred remarkable personages" (Ramsay in Smith's Dictionary).
10 Santra. Santra the Grammarian?
11 Nepos. Cornelius Nepos friend of Cicero wrote Lives of Illustrious men.
12 Hyginus. Caius Julius Hyginus, freedman of Augustus and friend of Ovid.
13 Seek to stimulate 30 31 a [H e 21] and the mass of mss. also Fabricius; stimulate. A.T. Migne. Her.
14 Some A H 25 31 e 21. Fabricius; No T a? Migne Her.
15 The Lord Jesus A H T 25 31 e; The Lord Jesus Christ a; Our Lord Jesus Christ Bamb. Bern; My Lord Jesus Christ Norimb.
16 Out of the way corner of the earth i.e., Bethlehem.
17 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ farewell T 25 31 a 21; do. omitting Christ A; omit all H e.
18 Died 65-6 or 67.
19 Dispersion. The technical "Dispersion"-the Jews out of Judea. Cf. Peter 1. 1. See Westcott in Smith's Dict. of Bible.
20 Circumcision a paraphrase for "Hebrews" in Eusebius and Rufinus.
21 Simon Magus. That Peter met Simon Magus in Rome is a post-apostolic legend. Compare the Clementine literature.
22 Apocryphal. For literature on apocryphal works see Ante-Nic. Fath. ed. Coxe (N. Y. Chr. Lit. Co.,) vol. 9 pp. 95 sq. The Acts, Gospel, Preaching and Revelation are mentioned by Eusebius. The Judgment was added by Jerome.
This last has been much discussed of late in connection with the recently discovered Teaching of the Twelve. The identification of the Teaching with the Judgment is credited to Dr. von Gebhardt (Salmon in Smith and Wace Dict. v. 4 (1887) pp. 810-11). The recent literature of it is immense. Compare Schaff, Oldest Church Manual, and literature in Ante-Nic. Fath. vol. 9 pp. 83-86.
23 The textual variations on the chapter are numerous enough but none of them are sustained by the better mss. e.g. "First Simon Peter" "Simon Peter the Apostle" "Peter the Apostle" ..."Called canonical" ..."are considered apocryphal" ..."the whole city."
24 Died 62 or 63 (according to Josephus and Jerome) or 69 (Hegesippus).
25 Brother of the Lord. Gal. 1, 19.
26 in his book Joh. 19, 25.
27 garments A H 25 30 e 21; wet garments T e 29.
28 Gospel according to the Hebrews. Compare Lipsius Gospels apocr, in Smith and Wace, Dict. v. 2 pp. 709-12.
29 Origen. H 31 a e 1021; Adamantius A T 25.
30 Died after 62.
31 Gospel ...in Hebrew. Jerome seems to regard the Gospel according to the Hebrews mentioned by him above as the original Hebrew Text of Matthew. cf. Lightfoot, Ignatius v. 2. p. 295.
32 Nazarenes=Nasaraei. See Smith and Wace s.v.
33 Beroea some mss. read Veria and so Herding. The modern Aleppo.
34 Died after 62.
35 in it H 31 a e 10 21; omit A T 25 30.
36 Died 67?, probably after 64 at least.
37 Giscalis, supposed thus to have originated at Giscalis and to have gone from there to Tarsus, but this is not generally accepted.
38 The Lord stood by all mss. and eds; God. Her.
39 lion. 2 Tim. 4. 16-17.
40 from the mouth of the lion, and again shortly "The Lord delivered me" (substantially) A H 25 30 31 a e etc.; omit T. Her. There are slight variations; God H 21 Bamb Bern. Norimb.; I was delivered Val. Cypr. Tam. Par 1512 etc.
41 The Lord ...kingdom 2 Tim. 4. 18.
42 for I ...at hand 2 Tim. 4. 6.
43 into H 31 a e. and many others; in A T 25 30.
44 also to A H T 25 30 a e Norimb, Bamb.; also 3l; omit, Her. who seems to have omitted on some evidence possibly Bern.
