The sun., 1909-02-07

works. namely, The Deeds OF PLATE
and The Descent Of Christ 10 the Under
world. which were united at an early
date. The whole, however. did not re-
ceive the title Gospel Of Nioodemus'
until after the time OF Chsrlemagne.
Prof. Hofmsnn considers the former OF
these two works az Of some importance
for the eluoidation Of the oanonical Cos
pels, but he deems the latter OF very lit
tie interest. In most Of the extant manu-
scripts containing these two compositions
and In close connection with them occur
other writings. namely a. An Epistio
of PLATE TO the Emperor Tiberius, oon-
tanning a report on the Resurrection OF
Christ; (2) another Epistle OF Pontius
PLATE. In which he excuses the injustice
OF his decision by the impossibility OF re-
sisting the prevailing excitement; (s) the
so-called Report Of PLATE on the trial,
execution, death and resurrection OF
Jesus; 20 The Judgment Of PLATE. an
account Of the examination Of Pilate
before. the Emperor. his condemnation
and execution. Others that deserve only
to be named we're entitled The Death
Of PLATE; The Narrative Of Joseph OF
Arimathea; the Avenging Of tho sa-
viour and The Reply Of Tiberius to
PLATE.
There are also a multitude OF apoc-
ryphal Gospels preserved only In frss-
ments, or known only by name. or these
We will only mention first The Gospel
According to the Egyptians, quoted by
Clement of Rome and Clement OF Alex
l.. al hxy nft nj
phanius and jerome; secondly. The Cos
pei According TO the Hebrews, which
according to Jerome was identical with
The Gospel Of the Twelve Apostles and
The Gospel of the Nazsrenes. and was
written in Aramaic and Hebrew oharac-
ters; and. thirdly, The Gospel Of Judas
Iscariot. which according to Ireneus
Epiphanius and Theodoret was used
among the Cainites. a Gnostic sect.
A number Of apocryphal Acts Of the
Apostles originated through the opera
ton of the same causes that produced the
apooryphal Gospels. though the heretical
tendency Of the Acts" 10 generally moro
conspicuous. For this reason they were
as much feared in the early Church as the
apocryphal Gospels; and It appears from
references in Eusebius, Epiphanius and
Augustine that they had great influence.
Prof. Hoffman, mentions sixteen OF these
apocryphal Acts among which We may
name twelve. The Acts Of Peter and
Paul. the oldest testimony for which is
given by Eusebius. with possibly Clement
OF Alexandria; secondly. The Acts Of Paul
and Thekla. known TO Tertullian, as
cribed to q presbyter in Asia, and be-
longing to the first half OF the second
century: The Acts OF Philip. possessing
high antiquity and much used in the
literature Of both branches OF the early
Church; The Acts OF Thomas. also work
OF marked antiquity. and The Acts of
John, likewise very old and greatly
esteemed by Gnostics and Msnicheans.
Turning to the apocryphal Epistles. We
observe that there are letters from the
Virgin Mary to Ignatius. and letters to
Mary which are OF a very late date. Two
letters Of Peter TO James are also known.
II is certain that Paul wrote letter TO
the Laodiceans which is lost; the lost
letter soon found an apocryphal sub
stitute. which was in circulation in
Jerome's time and was published in
many languages. There was a spurious
correspondence between Paul and SEN
eca. Since in the First Epistle to the
Corinthians Paul speaks Of an earlier
letter to the Church Of Corinth (Which
has been LOST. care was taken to substi-
tute another letter to the Corinthians in
place of the lost letter. We note finally that
although the names Of the considerable
number Of apocryphal Apocalypses are
known. the texts or fragments OF texts
Of only few are extant. A remnant Of
a so-called Apocalypse Of Peter" men
toned in the Muritorian Canon. was re-
Gently discovered and published az Paris
in 1892. An Apocalypse Of Paul is
spoken Of by St. Augustine, and fragments
Of an Apocalypse of st. Bartholomew
exist in Coptic manuscript in the Paris
Library.
".
The article on Arianism was originally
written by the late Prof. Philip Schan
and has been revised for the present work
by Prof, David Schley Schaff, Without
following in detail the account Of the rise