sum of what he says upon ver. 39, 40, is, that Christ is the judge, and the dispenser of all rewards; but the first places in his heavenly kingdom will not be disposed of by affection and favour, but shall be given to the most

virtuous.

15. Upon Mark xi. 15-17, he argues, that Christ twice drove the buyers and sellers out of the temple. But some, it seems, thought that this was done by our Lord but once only; and at the time mentioned by St. John at the beginning of his gospel.

16. The evangelist John is here called the Divine.

S

17. The composer of this work seems not to have had, in his copies, our conclusion of St. Mark's gospel; for he explains the beginning of the sixteenth chapter of St. Mark's gospel to the end of the eighth verse, and no farther; there ends his commentary: nevertheless, he was acquainted with the remainder. And in his remarks upon the first verse of the 16th chapter, he says: In some copies of Mark's gospel it is said: "Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene;" and what follows. But that seemed to be contrary to what is said by Matthew, ch. xxviii. 1: therefore, some had supposed Mark's gospel to have been interpolated: but he thinks there is no necessity for admitting that supposition; and he proposes a method of reconciling the difference.'

Somewhat like this may be seen in an Oration of Gregory Nyssen upon Christ's Resurrection, and likewise in a Harmony of the Evangelists ascribed to Severus, who was bishop of Antioch" in 513, and afterwards; which has been published by Montfauçon.

modi primatus paratus est, qui per illustriora opera primis sedibus capessendis præ cæteris idoneos se reddiderunt, &c. p. 397. D. E.

-Sunt tamen qui dicant, tres evangelistas, dum Christi ad Hierosolymorum civitatem, ejusdemque in templum ingressum describunt, accuratà temporis ratione missa, rem ipsam tantum prosecutos esse: Johannem vero, qui historiam illam cæteris diligentius enarrat, satis aperte insinuare, Christum Dominum ea primo ascensu patrasse, quæ reliqui paullo ante mortem contigisse commemorant, &c. p. 398. F. G.

Ut Johannes theologus loquitur. p. 376. G.

• At quia in quibusdam evangelii Marci exemplaribus habetur: Surgens autem Jesus mane primâ Sabbati, apparuit primo Mariæ Magdalenæ,' &c. Hoc autem illi adversari videtur quod legitur apud Matthæum. Hic enim vespere Sabbati' Dominum resurrexisse scribit. Propterea comperti sunt, qui hunc Marci locum a falsariis vitiatum existiment. Verum, ne ad hic confugere videamur, ad quod cuivis confugere proclive est, Marci contextum uno duntaxat commate ab eà quam offert difficultate vindicare possumus. p. De Chr. Resurr. Orat. 2. p. 411. Tom. 3.

414. A. B.

u Vid. Cav. in Severo, H. L. T. i. p. 499.

▾ Severi, Archiep. Antiocheni Concordantia Evangelistarum circa ea

They who are curious may consult Mill, Bengelius, Wetstein, Wolfius, and others, upon this point.

18. I have selected out of this Commentary a few only, of many observations, that deserve notice. Upon the whole, it is a good performance; and we may hence perceive, that there were some, before our times, who read the scriptures with care and understanding.

19. My readers, I hope, will not omit to recollect, that beside the testimony to the four gospels, we have seen in this work quotations of the Acts, of several epistles of the apostle Paul, and of the first epistle of Peter. I would here add, that the epistle to the Hebrews is quoted in this Commentary; and the epistle of James.

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20. This writer, like many other of the ancients, asserts free-will in strong terms.

CHAP. CXXIII.

INNOCENT I. BISHOP OF ROME.

1. INNOCENT the First succeeded Anastasius, in the year 402. The seventh and last degree, or article of a letter of his to Exuperius bishop of Tholouse, contains a catalogue of the books of the Old and New Testament, which are in the canon.

a

2. The scriptures of the New Testament are these; four books of the gospels; fourteen epistles of the apostle Paul; three epistles of John; two epistles of Peter; an epistle of Jude; an epistle of James; the Acts of the Apostles; the Apocalypse of John.' After which, mention is made of some other writings, which ought to be rejected and condemned.

quæ in sepulcro Domini contigerunt. Item de Sabbatis, et de varietate Exemplarium S. Marci evangelistæ. Ap. Montt. Bibl. Coislin. p. 68–75. Vid. in specie, p. 74. ▾ P. 372. D.

* Vid. supra, p. 584. not. ".

› Vid. p. 377. A. et p. 379. G. H. Qui vero recipiantur in canone sanctarum scripturarum, brevis adnexus ostendit-Item Novi Testamenti: evangeliorum libri quatuor, apostoli Pauli epistolæ 14, epistolæ Joannis tres, epistolæ Petri duæ, epistola Judæ, epistola Jacobi, Actus Apostolorum, Apocalypsis Joannis. Cætera autem-non solum repudianda, verum etiam noveris esse damnanda. Innoc. ad Exuper. Ep. Tholos. ap. Labb. Conc. T. ii. p. 1256.

3. It should be observed, that many of Innocent's letters are suspected to be supposititious; this in particular, and especially the last decree or article in it for it is not very easy to conceive what reason there should be for Innocent to send a catalogue of books of scripture to Exuperius: and it may not be amiss to take notice that this letter of Innocent is not represented to be written, as in council, but only upon his own authority.

4. Nevertheless, after all, we cannot forbear to observe, with some satisfaction, that this catalogue of scripture is exactly the same with our own.

CHAP. CXXIV.

PAULINUS, BISHOP OF NOLA, IN ITALY.

I. His time. II. His testimony to the scriptures.

I. PONTIUS MEROPIUS PAULINUS, or PAULINUS NOLANUS, placed by Cave at the year 393, was born about 353 ordained presbyter in 393; bishop of Nola in Campania in 409, as some think; or, as Pagi argues, and with great appearance of probability, in 403. He died in 431, in the 78th year of his age.

II. I observe in him a few things:

1. His works, in prose, abound with texts of scripture, quoted or alluded to.

c

2. As Paulinus quotes Ps. ciii. or civ. ver. 18, agreeably to Jerom's version, I place the quotation below, with a critical remark of Jerom upon that text.

b Vid. Cav. H. L. T. i. p. 379. Basnag. Hist. de l'Eglise, l. viii. c. 8. n. vi. p. 439. Beaus. Hist. de Manich. T. i. p. 359.

a Vid. Cav. H. L. T. i. Fabric. ad Gennad. cap. 48. Pagi ann. 431. n. 53. Basnag. ann. 394. n. 10, 11. 432. n. 5. Paulin. Vit. ad Calc. opp. edit. Paris. 1685. Du Pin, T. iii. p. 146. Tillem. Mem. T. xiv.

b Ann. 403. n. 10-13. Vid. eund. A. 431. n. 53.

Montes' enim, inquit, excelsi cervis, et petra refugium herinaceis.' Ad Amand. Ep. 9. [al. 22.] n. 4. p. 45. Paris. 1685. 4to.

Petra refugium herinaceis.'] Pro quo in Hebræo positum est Sphannim,' et omnes youpon voce simili transtulerunt exceptis Septuaginta, qui lepores' interpretati sunt. Sciendum autem, animal esse non majus hericio, habens similitudem muris et ursi. Unde in Palæstinâ aperoμvc dicitur; et magna est in istis regionibus hujus generis abundantia; semperque in caver

3. Paulinus often quotes the Canticles: I place below. two of his quotations of that book.

4. He quotes the book of Ecclesiasticus with great respect, as written by Solomon.

5. In a letter, supposed to be written in the year 400, to Amandus, then presbyter, and afterwards bishop of Bourdeaux, and successor to Delphinus, Paulinus speaks after this manner: He says, that John outran Peter, and came first to the sepulchre, because he was the youngest: he also says, it had been handed down by tradition, that John survived all the other apostles, and wrote the last of the four evangelists, and so as to confirm their most certain histories; but though he was last in time, he was first in point of sublimity; he there also speaks of John as writer of the Revelation; and as he proceeds, he observes, that b in the beginning of St. John's gospel all heretics are confuted, particularly Arius, Sabellius, Photinus, Marcion, and

the Manichees.

6. Paulinus often quotes the book of the Acts, Ad Sunn. et Fret. Ep.

nis petrarum, et terræ foveis habitare consueverunt. 135. T. ii. p. 658.

6

e

-quâ et in Canticis Canticorum voce blanditur: Columba,' inquit, 'mea, perfecta mea, quoniam caput meum repletum est rore, et crines mei gut'tis noctis.' [cap. v. 2.] Ad Sever. Ep. 23. [al. 3, et 4.] n. 33. p. 143.Hæc oscula sponso suo jam tunc parabat ecclesia, quando cantabat: Osculetur me ab osculis oris sui.' [cap. i. 2.] Ib. n. 37. p. 146.

f Nam in Ecclesiastico per Salomonem loquitur divina sapientia: 'Quia multi periclitati sunt auri causâ, et facta est in facie illius perditio ipsorum." [cap. xxxi. 6.] Ad Milit. Ep. 25. [al. 39.] p. 168.

Subvenit itaque nobis, et de evangelio adolescentis apostoli beata velocitas illa, quà Petrum affectu currendi parem, sed majoris ævi pondere tardiorem, ad sepulcrum Domini præcucurrit; ut resurrectionem corporis prior inspiceret, qui solus in pectore recumbebat. Unde geminos in alveum cordis sui traxerat fontes, quos in orbem idem postea revelationis et evangelii præco diffuditIdem, ultra omnium tempora apostolorum ætate productâ, postremus evangelii scriptor fuisse memoratur; ut sicut de ipso vas electionis ait: [Gal. ii.] quasi columna firmamentum adjiceret fundamentis ecclesiæ, priores evangelii scriptores consonâ auctoritate confirmans; ultimus auctor libri tempore, sed primus in capite sacramenti. Quippe qui solus e quatuor fluminibus ex ipso summo divini capitis fonte decurrens de nube sublimi sonat: In principio erat verbum.' Transcendit Möysen--Iste et evangelistis cæteris, vel ab humano Salvatoris ortu, vel a typico legis sacrificio, vel a prophetico præcursoris Baptistæ præconio evangelium resurrectionis exorsis, altius volans, penetravit et cœlos. Ad Amand. Ep. 21. [al. 24.] n. 1, 2. p. 114.

Joannes igitur, beatus Dominici pectoris cubator,-inebriatus Spiritu Sancto, ab ipso intimo et infinito omnium principiorum principio evangelii fecit exordium. Quo uno omnia diaboli, quæ in hæreticis latrant, ora clauduntur. Ibid. n. 4. p. 115.

sicut illi in Actibus Apostolorum, qui, beati Petri prædicatione compuncti, crediderunt in eum quem crucifixerant. Ad Aug. Ep. 50. [al. 43.] n. 5. p. 295.

and all St. Paul's epistles, particularly that to the Hebrews.

7. He celebrates St. Luke as a physician for soul and body; whence it may be concluded, he supposed him to be spoken of in Col. iv. 14. At the same time he ascribes to St. Luke two books; undoubtedly meaning his gospel, and the Acts of the Apostles.

8. He often quotes the epistle of St. James, the first epistle of St. Peter, and the first epistle of St. John; but I do not recollect any quotations in him of the second epistle of St. Peter, or the epistle of St. Jude, or the second and third of St. John: though it may be reckoned highly probable, that they were all received by him.

m

9. He often quotes or refers to the book of the Revelation, which is ascribed by him to the apostle John, in the passage above cited, and elsewhere.

10. He either read, or at least understood, the apostle's exhortation in 1 Cor. ix. 24, in this manner : 'So run," that ye may all obtain.'

11. I put also in the margino his translation of that expression, 1 Cor. ix. 27, "I keep under my body."

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• ButP

12. He quotes 1 Pet. ii. 23, after this manner: yielded [or committed] himself,' unto death, to him that judgeth unjustly.'

13. In a letter written to St. Augustine, in 410, or soon after, he asks of him the solution of divers questions, taken out of the Psalms, the apostle, and the gospel; those from the apostle are taken out of the epistle to the Ephesians, to the Romans, and other epistles of St. Paul.

* Itidem apostolus [Eph. vi.] spiritualiter exprimens arma cœlestia,-gladium Spiritus dicit verbum Dei, de quo ad Hebræos ait: Vivus est sermo Dei, et efficax.' [Hebr. iv. 12.] Ad Aug. Ep. 50. n. 17. p. 302.

1 Hic medicus Lucas prius arte, deinde loquelâ.
Bis medicus Lucas. Ut quondam corporis ægros
Terrenâ curabat ope, et nunc mentibus ægris
Composuit gemino vitæ medicamina libro.

P. 153. D. S. Felice Natal. 9. ver. 424. &c.

m Poteras, Roma, intentatas tibi illas in Apocalypsi minas non timere, si talia semper ederent munera senatores tui. Ad. Pamm. Ep. 13. [al. 37.] n. 15. p. 75. Quæ causa dicendi apostolo fuit: Sic currite, ut apprehendatis omnes.' Quod in agone terreno contra est, ubi non potest lucta nisi dispari luctantium sorte finiri, ut unius gloria alterius ignominia sit. Ad. Sever. Ep. 24. [al. 2.] n. 15. p. 161. Conf. Theodoret. in loc.

• Lividum facio corpus meum, et in servitutem redigo. Ad Aug. Ep. 50. n. 13. p. 299. P Ad Aug. Ep. 50. [al 43.] n. 7. p. 296.

See S. Paulin. Art. 49. Tillem. Mem. T. 14.

Hæc interim de Psalmis. Nunc et de apostolo quodcumque proponam. Dicit ad Ephesios. Ad Aug. Ep. 50. n. 9. p. 297. Restat ut aliquid et de evangelicis locis suggeram beatitudini tuæ. İb. n. 14. p. 299.