The Ignatian Epistles Entirely Spurious | Page 2

being carried to Syria--Psyria and Syria, two islands in the Aegaean Sea--The errors of transcribers of the postscript--The true meaning of the postscript--What has led to the mistake as to the claims of the Ignatian Epistles--The continued popularity of these Epistles among High Churchmen.

CHAPTER III.
THE DATE OF THE MARTYRDOM OF POLYCARP.
Dr. Lightfoot's strange reasoning on this subject--The testimony of Eusebius, Jerome, and others--Eusebius and Jerome highly competent witnesses--Dr. D?llinger's estimate of Jerome--The basis on which Dr. Lightfoot rests the whole weight of his chronological argument--Aristides and his _Sacred Discourses_--Statius Quadratus, the consuls and proconsuls--Ummidius Quadratus--Polycarp martyred in the reign of Marcus Aurelius--His visit to Rome in the time of Anicetus--Put to death when there was only one emperor-- Age of Polycarp at the time of his martyrdom--The importance of the chronological argument.

CHAPTER IV.
THE TESTIMONY OF IRENAEUS AND THE GENESIS OF PRELACY.
The testimony of Irenaeus quite misunderstood--Refers to the dying words of one of the martyrs of Lyons--The internal evidence against the genuineness of the Ignatian Epistles--The contrast between the Epistle of Polycarp and the Ignatian Epistles as exhibited by Dr. Lightfoot himself--Additional points of contrast--Dr. Lightfoot quite mistaken as to the origin of Prelacy--It did not originate in the East, or Asia Minor, but in Rome--The argument from the cases of Timothy and Titus untenable-- Jerome's account of the origin of Prelacy--James not the first bishop of Jerusalem--In the early part of the second century the Churches of Rome, Corinth, and Smyrna were Presbyterian--Irenaeus conceals the origin of Prelacy--Coins the doctrine of the apostolical succession--The succession cannot be determined even in Rome--Testimony of Stillingfleet--In what sense Polycarp may have been constituted a bishop by the apostles.

CHAPTER V.
THE FORGERY OF THE IGNATIAN EPISTLES.
We have no positive historical information as to the origin of the Ignatian Epistles--First saw the light in the early part of the third century--Such forgeries then common--What was then thought by many as to pious frauds--Callistus of Rome probably concerned in the fabrication of the Ignatian Epistle--His remarkable history--The Epistle to the Romans first forged--It embodies the credentials of the rest--Montanism stimulated the desire for martyrdom--The prevalence of this mania early in the third century--The Ignatian Epistles present it in its most outrageous form--The Epistle to the Romans must have been very popular at Rome--Doubtful whether Ignatius was martyred at Rome--The Ignatian Epistles intended to advance the claims of Prelacy--Well fitted to do so at the time of their appearance--The account of Callistus given by Hippolytus--The Ignatian letters point to Callistus as their author--Cannot have been written in the beginning of the second century--Their doctrine that of the Papacy.
APPENDIX I.--Letter of Dr. Cureton. II.--The Ignatian Epistle to the Romans.
[ENDNOTES]

THE IGNATIAN EPISTLES ENTIRELY SPURIOUS.

CHAPTER I.
PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS.
The question of the genuineness of the Epistles attributed to Ignatius of Antioch has continued to awaken interest ever since the period of the Reformation. That great religious revolution gave an immense impetus to the critical spirit; and when brought under the light of its examination, not a few documents, the claims of which had long passed unchallenged, were summarily pronounced spurious. Eusebius, writing in the fourth century, names only seven letters as attributed to Ignatius; but long before the days of Luther, more than double that number were in circulation. Many of these were speedily condemned by the critics of the sixteenth century. Even the seven recognised by Eusebius were regarded with grave suspicion; and Calvin--who then stood at the head of Protestant theologians--did not hesitate to denounce the whole of them as forgeries. The work, long employed as a text-book in Cambridge and Oxford, was the Institutes of the Reformer of Geneva; [Endnote 2:1] and as his views on this subject are there proclaimed very emphatically, [2:2] we may presume that the entire body of the Ignatian literature was at that time viewed with distrust by the leaders of thought in the English universities. But when the doctrine of the Divine Right of Episcopacy began to be promulgated, the seven letters rose in the estimation of the advocates of the hierarchy; and an extreme desire was manifested to establish their pretensions. So great was the importance attached to their evidence, that in 1644--in the very midst of the din and confusion of the civil war between Charles I. and his Parliament--the pious and erudite Archbishop Ussher presented the literary world with a new edition of these memorials. Two years later the renowned Isaac Vossius produced a kindred publication. Some time afterwards, Daill��, a learned French Protestant minister, attacked them with great ability; and proved, to the satisfaction of many readers, that they are utterly unworthy of credit. Pearson, subsequently Bishop of Chester, now entered the arena, and in a work of much talent and research--the fruit of six years' labour--attempted to restore their reputation. This vindication was not permitted to pass without