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• before spoken of him, came to his passion in the eighteenth year of Tiberius; at which time in other, even heathen memoirs, we find it written to this purpose: "There was an eclipse of the sun: Bithynia was shaken by an earthquake, and in the city of Nice many houses were over'thrown." All which things agree with what happened at the time of our Saviour's passion. And so writes Phlegon, 'an excellent compiler of the Olympiads, in his thirteenth book, saying: "In the fourth year of the two hundred and 'second olympiad there was a great and extraordinary eclipse of the sun, distinguished among all that had happened before. At the sixth hour the day was turned into • dark night, so that the stars in the heavens were seen, and 'there was an earthquake in Bithynia which overthrew many houses in the city of Nice." So writes the above• named author.'

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Phlegon is twice quoted, after the same manner, in the Paschal Chronicle composed in the seventh century.

Many learned men have supposed that Eusebius here speaks of another, beside Phlegon, who had borne witness to the darkness at the time of our Saviour's crucifixion. They think that Eusebius refers to Thallus, as well as Phlegon. I think that Eusebius speaks of one only. His first expressions are general. He observes that, what is said by prophets and by the evangelists, there are heathen authors who have borne testimony to this darkness. Nevertheless he means one only. And, having given a general account of what was to be found in other memoirs, beside the sacred, he produces distinctly the passage of Phlegon, and concludes," so writes the forenamed man.' I need not enlarge farther. To me it appears exceeding manifest that Eusebius speaks of one writer only, meaning Phlegon the compiler of Olympiads. The two quotations in the Paschal Chronicle, as well as St. Jerom's version, are all to be understood in the like manner.

Before making any remarks upon this passage of Phlegon,

commentariis hæc ad verbum scripta reperimus. 'Solis facta defectio; Bithynia terræ motu concussa; et in urbe Nicæâ ædes plurimæ corruerunt.' Quæ omnia his congruunt, quæ in passione Salvatoris acciderant. Scribit vero super his et Phlego, qui Olympiadarum egregius supputator est, in tertio decimo libro ita dicens: Quarto autem anno ccii. Olympiadis magna et excellens inter omnes, quæ ante eam acciderant, defectio solis facta; dies horâ sextâ in tenebrosam noctem versus, ut stellæ in cœlo visæ sint; terræque motus in Bithyniâ Nicææ urbis multas ædes subverteret. Hæc supradictus vir Euseb. Chr. p. 158.

• Chr. Pasch. p. 219, et 222. et Tillemont, note xxxv. sur J. C.

P J. Scaliger, ut supr. p. 186.

I would take notice of some authors more ancient than Eusebius, who have referred to Phlegon, or are supposed to have referred to him.

Of these, undoubtedly, Tertullian is the most ancient. 'At the same time,' says he,' at noonday there was a great darkness. They thought it to be an eclipse, who did not 'know that this also was foretold concerning Christ. And some have denied it, not knowing the cause of such darkness. And yet you have that remarkable event recorded ' in your archives.'

I think that Tertullian refers not to Phlegon, or any other author, whose testimony could be no other than a private record, but to some public acts of the Romans, and probably those in which was kept registered the Relation of Pontius Pilate, sent to the emperor Tiberius, concerning the crucifixion of our Saviour, and the wonderful circumstances of it.

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Huet understands Tertullian to refer to some public acts: and in like manners Grotius. And Dr. Clarke, in the first edition of his sermons at Mr. Boyle's lecture, where he quoted Phlegon, and in the eighth edition, where he omitted Phlegon, represents the sense of this place of Tertullian after this manner, and in the same words: And divers of the most remarkable circumstances attending our Saviour's 'crucifixion, such as the earthquake, and miraculous darkness, were recorded in the public Roman registers, com'monly appealed to by the first christians, as what could not be denied by the adversaries themselves.'

What Tertullian says here has a great resemblance with what is said by the martyr Lucian, in his Apology, as represented by Rufinus in an addition to Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History, where he says: Look" into your own

Eodem momento dies, medium orbem signante sole, subducta est. Deliquium utique putaverunt, qui id quoque super Christo prædicatum non sciverunt: ratione non deprehensâ negaverunt. Et tamen eum mundi casum relatum in arcanis [al. archivis] vestris habetis. Apol. c. 21. p. 22.

Merito itaque, christianorum causam apud Ethnicos agens in Apologetico, [cap. 21.] Tertullianus miraculi hujus testes citat tabularia ipsorum, et publica instrumenta, sive quæ a rectoribus provinciarum, sive quæ ex instituto Cæsaris Romæ conficiebantur, in quæ diurna referebantur Acta Populi et Senatûs. Huet. Dem. Evang. Prop. 3. sect. viii.

30.

• Exstabant olim et libri, tum privatorum, ut Phlegontis, tum et acta publica, ad quæ Christiani provocabant, quibus constabat de eo sidere, quod post Christum natum apparuit, de terræ motu, et solis deliquio, contra naturam, plenissimo lunæ orbe, circa tempus, quo Christus crucis supplicio affectus est. Grot. de Verit. Rel. Christ. 1. 3. c. xiv.

* See the first edition, p. 325; and the eighth edition, p. 357.

" Solem vobis ipsum horum produco testem; qui cum hoc fieri per impios

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annals; there you will find that in the time of Pilate, when Christ suffered, the sun was obscured, and the light of the day was interrupted with darkness.'

For the present I pass by Africanus. The author therefore that next offers himself to our consideration is Origen, who, in his books against Celsus, says: But of the eclipse, 'which happened in the time of Tiberius, in whose reign Jesus was crucified, and of the great earthquakes which 'were at that time, Phlegon writes in the thirteenth, or, as 'I think, the fourteenth book of his Chronicle.'

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Afterwards in the same work: But" Celsus thinks both the earthquake and the darkness to be only fictitious wonders. To which we have already answered according to our ability,' says Origen, alleging Phlegon, who relates 'that such things happened at the time of our Saviour's 'passion.'

In the first of these two passages, Origen refers to the book, but does not quote the words of Phlegon. This second reference is not more distinct nor more accurate.

There is another long passage of Origen in his Commentaries upon St. Matthew's Gospel, which it may be expected I should transcribe here and I shall do so. But,

:

X

videret in terris, lumen suum meridie abscondit in cœlo. Requirite in annalibus vestris; invenietis, temporibus Pilati, Christo patiente, fugato sole, interruptum tenebris diem. Euseb. H. E. 1. 9. c. 6. ex versione Rufin.

V

Περι δε της επι Τιβερις Καισαρος εκλείψεως, 8 βασιλευοντος και ο Ιησες εοικεν εςαυρωσθαι, και περι των μεγάλων τοτε γενομένων σεισμων της γης, ανέγραψε και Φλεγων εν τω τρισκαιδεκατῳ η τῳ τεσσαρεσκαιδεκατῳ, οιμαι, των Xpovikov. Contr. Cels. 1. 2. p. 80. Cant. al. sect. 33.

W

* Οιεται δε τερατειαν ειναι και τον σεισμον και το σκοτος· περι ὧν κατα δυνα τον, εν τοις ανωτέρω απελογησαμεθα, παραθέμενοι τον Φλεγοντα, ἱςορήσαντα, κατα τον χρονον τε παθες τε σωτηρος τοιαυτα απηντηκεναι. Ib. 1. 2. p. 96. al. sect. 59.

* Matt. xxvii. 45. Ad hunc textum quidam calumniantur evangelicam veritatem, dicentes, quomodo secundum textum potest esse verum quod dicitur, quia factæ sunt tenebræ super omnem terram a sextâ horâ, usque ad nonam, quod factum nulla refert historia? Et dicunt, quia, sicut solet fieri in solis defectione, sic facta est tunc defectio solis. Defectio autem solis, quæ secundum consuetudinem temporum ita currentium fieri solet, non in alio tempore fit, nisi in conventu solis et lunæ-in tempore autem, quo passus est Christus, manifestum est, quoniam conventus non erat lunæ ad solem, quoniam tempus erat paschale, quod consuetudinis est agere, quando luna solis plenitudinem habet, et in totâ est nocte. Quomodo ergo poterat fieri defectio solis, cum luna esset plena, et plenitudinem solis haberet ?-Pone, quia extra consuetudinem facta est illa defectio solis in tempore non antiquo, sub principatu Romanorum, ita ut tenebræ fierent super omnem terram usque ad horam nonam; quomodo hoc factum tam mirabile nemo Græcorum, nemo Barbarorum factum conscripsit in tempore illo, maxime qui Chronica conscripserunt, et notaverunt, sicuti aliquid novum factum est aliquando, sed soli hoc scripserunt vestri auctores? Et Phlegon quidem in Chronicis suis scripsit,

considering that we have it only in a Latin translation, which is obscure, I suppose I may be excused from attempting to translate it at length.

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The substance of what Origen says may be reduced to a few observations. He proposeth an objection of unbelievers against the evangelical history. They said that an eclipse of the sun never happens at full moon, as the darkness mentioned by the evangelists did: and that if there 'had been an eclipse, or other darkness, over all the earth, 'lasting three hours, from six till nine, it would have been ' mentioned by many authors, and especially by writers of chronicles. Origen allows that if the evangelists had men⚫tioned such a thing in all those circumstances, and had said 'it was general all over the world, it would be reasonable 'to expect to find the mention of it in many writers, both • Greeks and barbarians. But he says the evangelists speak only of a darkness in the land of Judea; nor do they call 'it an eclipse. Other extraordinary things, which are relat'ed by the evangelists to have happened at the time of our 'Saviour's sufferings, he says, were at Jerusalem, or near it. There" the veil of the temple was rent," there “the earth quaked and the rocks were rent," there, or near it," the graves were opened." So likewise it is to be understood, 'that at Jerusalem, or near it, or over the whole land of Ju• dea, was "darkness from the sixth to the ninth hour.” Finally, Origen observes and allows that Phlegon did not

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in principatu Tiberii Cæsaris factum, sed non significavit in lunâ plenâ hoc factum. Vide ergo, ne fortis est objectio hæc, et potens movere omnem hominem sapientem, qui nec illis dicentibus, nec istis scribentibus consentit, sed omnino cum ratione et judicio audit.-Dicimus ergo, quod Matthæus et Marcus non dixerunt, defectionem solis tunc factam fuisse, sed neque Lucas, secundum pleraque exemplaria, habentia sic: Et erat hora fere sexta, et tenebræ • factæ sunt super omnem terram usque ad horam nonam, et obscuratus est sol.' -Arbitror ergo, sicut cætera signa, quæ facta sunt in passionem ipsius, in Jerusalem facta sunt: sic et tenebræ tantummodo super omnem terram Judæam usque ad horam nonam. Quæ autem dico, in Jerusalem tantummodo hæc facta sunt: quod velum templi scissum est, quod terra contremuit, quod petræ diruptæ sunt, quod monumenta aperta sunt. Nec enim extra Judæam petræ diruptæ sunt, aut monumenta aperta sunt alia, nisi ea tantum, quæ in Jerusalem erant, aut forte in terrâ Judæâ. Nec alia terra tremuit tunc, nisi terra Jerusalem. Nec enim refertur alicubi, quod omne elementum terræ tremuerit in tempore illo, ut sentirent, verbi gratiâ, et qui in Ethiopiâ erant, et in Indià, et in Scythiâ. Quod si factum fuisset, sine dubio inveniretur in historiis aliquibus eorum, qui in Chronicis scripserunt nova aliqua facta. Sicut ergo quod dicitur, 'terra contremuit,' refertur ad terram Jerusalem, aut, si latius voluerit quis extendere, ad terram Judæam; sic et tenebræ factæ sunt ab horâ sextâ usque ad nonam super omnem terram,' intellige, quod super omnem terram Judæam sunt factæ, aut certe super Jerusalem tantum. Origen. in Matt. Tr. 35. p. 922, 923. Tom. 3. Bened.

say that the eclipse mentioned by him happened at the time ' of a full moon.'

Tillemont, arguing upon this testimony of Phlegon, observes: Nevertheless, he did not say that this obscurity, ' which he took for an eclipse, happened at full moon, when it is impossible to happen, according to the ordinary course of nature. For which reason Origen says very wisely, that we must not too positively maintain against heathen people that Phlegon spoke of the darkness which happened at the death of Jesus Christ.'

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We are now coming to a main point.

I suppose my readers to be well acquainted with the gospels, and to know that it is there related that " from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour,” Matt. xxvii. 45; or," when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour," Mark xv. 33; or, "and it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth [or land] until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened," Luke xxiii. 44, 45,

1. In the first place, then, it appears to me very plain that the evangelists, by the earth, or the land, mean Judea. So the original word is sometimes used, as Luke iv. 25; Matt. xxiv. 30. So it was understood in these texts by that great critic Origen, as we have seen. So likewise says that eminent man2 G. J. Vossius, and diversa other learned moderns of very good judgment. And Beza, for preventing ambiguity, useth the word region, or country, instead of land, or earth; and upon Mark xv. 33, has a good note,

b

C

y Il ne marquoit pas néanmoins que cette obscurité, qu'il prenoit pour une eclipse, fûst arrivée dans la pleine lune, ou il est impossible selon l'ordre de la nature qu'il en arrive jamais. C'est pourquoi Origène remarque fort sagement, qu'il ne faut pas s'opiniâtrer à soutenir contre les Payens, que Phlégon a parlé de ce qui est arrivé à la mort de J. C. Note 35. sur N. S. J. C. p. 449. M. E. * Putamus autem, per universam terram solam signari Judæam. Quod et Erasmus arbitratur in cap. xxvii. Matt. G. Voss. Harm. Ev. 1. 2. cap. x.

a Matt. xxvii. 45. "Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land [of Judea] until the ninth hour." Whitby. Sur tout le païs.

Le Clerc.

Apparemment sur la Judée, comme Luc. iv. 25; Matt. xxiv. 30. L'Enfant. See also Basnage ann. 33. n. cxviii.

b c

-Super universam regionem.' Пarav rηv yny, i. e. xwpav. Vulgata, et Erasmus, universam terram, quasi omnes mundi plagæ fuerint obscuratæ. Bez. ad Matt. xxvii. 45.

• Quæritur autem a multis, an de Judæâ duntaxat, an vero potius de universo orbe terrarum, hæc sint accipienda. Quod posterius videtur amplecti Tertullianus Ap. c. xxi. hoc solis deliquium vocans mundi casum,' quem Romani in suis archivis habeant. Sed ego iis potius assentior, qui de Hierosolymis et totâ vicinâ regione hoc dictum accipiunt. Nam in Archivis annotari justius etiam prodigium illud potuit, quoniam fuit Judææ peculiare.