Bellarmine · De Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis · On the Ecclesiastical Writers
Chapter 3: The First Century: the Apostles and Evangelists, Hermas, Prochorus
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. XII, De Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis, of the New Testament, first century. The Latin source text is public domain; this English rendering is released with the site. Scripture quotations follow Bellarmine's Vulgate citations, rendered in Douay-Rheims wording where he quotes exactly. Click “Show the Latin” for the original (raw OCR of the scan; scanning errors remain — the scan itself is the authority).
On the Ecclesiastical Writers of the New Testament. The first century, from the year of the Lord 1 to 100
St. Peter the Apostle. Year of the Lord 34
We put St. Peter first in the catalogue, and mark him at the year 34, because in that year of the Lord he was living and had begun to rule the Church. For though there is found in Eusebius, Church History book 2 [1], chapter 13, a letter of our Lord Jesus Christ written to Abgar king of Edessa, yet that letter was never admitted by the Church among the canonical Scriptures; among which it would without doubt have been admitted, had it been certain that it was written by the Lord himself. And though the Canticles of the Blessed Virgin Mary, of Zachary and of Simeon are extant, yet they were committed to writing not by them but by St. Luke. Lastly, though among the letters of St. Ignatius the martyr there is found one of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Ignatius himself, yet it is not found in the Greek codices, nor did the old Fathers before St. Bernard mention it; so it is not certain whether it is truly a letter of the Blessed Virgin. As to the order among the sacred writers of the new Testament, since they lived in the same century, we have followed the order the Church follows in placing them, both in the litanies and in the sacrifice of the Mass.
So St. Peter the Apostle, the supreme Pontiff of Christians and Vicar of Jesus Christ, who is a priest for ever, began to preside over the Christian Church in the thirty-third year of the Lord, or by others' account the thirty-fourth, and in the sixty-ninth year, or by others' account the seventieth, was crowned with martyrdom. St. Jerome in the book On Ecclesiastical Writers writes that St. Peter was crucified in the fourteenth year of Nero. But St. Jerome followed the Chronicle of Eusebius. For in truth Nero did not rule fourteen years and eight months, as Eusebius writes, but thirteen years and seven months, as Suetonius, Dio and others write; and since he began to rule on the fourteenth day of October, on the same authors' word, it follows that St. Peter, who died on the twenty-ninth day of June, died not in the fourteenth but in the thirteenth year of Nero.
He wrote two letters. Of the first there was never any doubt; of the second, because of the difference of style, there was some uncertainty among some. But the Church taught that both letters are canonical and St. Peter's, in the Councils of Laodicea, the third of Carthage, Florence and Trent. And the Venerable Bede rightly wonders that there were some who could doubt that that letter was St. Peter's, since the author names himself Simon Peter at the beginning, and affirms that he was with Christ on the holy mount at the transfiguration, and says plainly, This second epistle I write to you. For from this it follows that the author of this letter was either a notable impostor, which no one ever dared to say, or was St. Peter. Why the style of the first and second letters seems different, St. Jerome gives the reason in the letter to Hedibia, question 11: because the Apostle did not always use the same interpreter. St. Jerome adds in the book On Ecclesiastical Writers that many other books were formerly written under the name of St. Peter, which he there lists; but that they were wholly apocryphal, indeed spurious and forged, is clear even from this, that they were never either brought into the catalogue of the holy Scriptures by the Church, or placed in the sacred Bibles, or read in the churches; and at this time not only they themselves, but their names and memory, have vanished.
St. Paul the Apostle
St. Paul the Apostle, called from heaven by Christ himself, and taught the Gospel most fully by heavenly revelation, suddenly made from a persecutor an outstanding preacher, [was crowned with martyrdom] in the same year and on the same day on which St. Peter was crowned with martyrdom; of which Eusebius in the Chronicle, St. Jerome On Ecclesiastical Writers, and all antiquity is witness. [The main verb has dropped from the print; it is supplied from the sense.] He wrote fourteen letters: to the Romans, 1; to the Corinthians, 2; to the Galatians, 1; to the Ephesians, 1; to the Philippians, 1; to the Colossians, 1; to the Thessalonians, 2; to Timothy, 2; to Titus, 1; to Philemon, 1; to the Hebrews, 1. [The scan's list breaks off after Galatians; the rest is the list of the fourteen.]
And of the first thirteen there was never any controversy. The letter to the Hebrews, on the witness of St. Jerome in the book On Ecclesiastical Writers, some attributed to Barnabas, some to Luke, some to Clement of Rome; nor were there lacking old heretics, and more recent ones, who took away the authority of this letter. But that it is both truly canonical and written by St. Paul, the whole Catholic Church is witness, which reads it constantly in the solemnities of the Mass under the name of the blessed Apostle Paul; the Fathers of the councils cited above are witnesses, who put this letter into the number of the divine Scriptures; the old Fathers are witnesses, who bring it everywhere to prove the dogmas of the faith. See, if you please, the whole disputation on this letter in our Controversies, book 1 On the Word of God, chapter 17.
Besides these fourteen letters, another is carried about under the name of blessed Paul, to the Laodiceans; but it (says St. Jerome in the book On Ecclesiastical Writers) is hissed off by all. There are carried about also, under the name of the same blessed Paul, certain short letters to Seneca, which St. Jerome in the same book, under Seneca, does not seem to have despised. But the Catholic Church put neither the letter to the Laodiceans nor the letters to Seneca in the catalogue of the Scriptures, and so judged that they are not blessed Paul's.
St. John the Apostle. 34
St. John, Apostle and Evangelist, beloved of God and men, reached the times of the emperor Trajan, and in the sixty-eighth year after the Lord's passion, which was the hundredth or hundred and first year from the birth of the same our Lord, rested in peace; witnesses Eusebius in the Chronicle, St. Jerome in the book On Ecclesiastical Writers, and others. He wrote the Gospel, the Apocalypse and three letters. The Gospel, of which there was never any doubt, he wrote after the other three Evangelists. And because the holy Apostles studied brevity above all, St. John passed over almost everything that had been written by the others; repeating only those things to which he thought something had to be added. Of the Apocalypse there was formerly some doubt, chiefly among the Greeks, and there is now among the heretics of our time; as also of the second and third letters. But the Catholic Church receives both the Apocalypse and those two letters, like the Gospel and the first letter, into the number of the holy Scriptures under the name of St. John. See our Controversies, book 1 On the Word of God, chapters 18 and 19.
St. Matthew the Apostle. 34
St. Matthew the Apostle was the first of all to write a Gospel, in his native tongue, that is, Hebrew; witness St. Jerome in the book On Ecclesiastical Writers, who also affirms that he saw and copied the Gospel of St. Matthew written in Hebrew; and before Jerome the same was testified by Epiphanius, heresy 29, which is of the Nazarenes, Eusebius book 3, chapter 24, and Irenaeus book 3, chapter 1. Who translated the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew into the Greek tongue, St. Jerome wrote, is unknown. St. Athanasius in the Synopsis writes that the Gospel of St. Matthew was expounded by St. James the brother of the Lord. Whether that exposition was a version into Greek we do not know. Of this sacred book there was never any doubt.
St. James the Apostle. 34
St. James the Apostle wrote one letter, which is one of the seven Catholic letters. And about him, as also about his letter, there is some question. The Greeks in the Menologion keep three Apostles named James: James of Alpheus, on the ninth of October; James the brother of the Lord, on the twenty-third of the same month; and James of Zebedee, on the 30th of April. St. Jerome too, in the book against Helvidius, mentions this opinion which makes three Jameses, two of the number of the twelve Apostles and one outside the number. But the same St. Jerome in the same place rightly refutes this opinion. For James of Alpheus and James the brother of the Lord, who is also called the less in the Gospel, are altogether the same; and the Latin Church knows and keeps only these: James the brother of John, on the 25th of July [“23” printed], and James of Alpheus, the brother of the Lord, on the first of May.
Why he is called the brother of the Lord authors think variously. The heretic Helvidius dared to say he was called the brother of the Lord because he was the son of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Joseph. But this is a manifest heresy. Eusebius, History book 2, chapter 1, and Epiphanius, heresy 78, will have it that he was the son of Joseph by a former wife, and so the brother of Christ in the way in which Joseph is called the father of Christ, that is, reputed, not true. But it is truer that St. Joseph was perpetually a virgin, as his most holy spouse was, and that James was the son of Cleophas, which Cleophas was the brother of St. Joseph. For hence Mary of Cleophas is called the sister of the Lord's mother, John 19, because she was the wife of Cleophas, the brother of Joseph; for it is usual that the wives of two brothers are named sisters. And as Mary of Cleophas was called the sister of Mary the Lord's mother, so James too was called the brother of the Lord, because he was the son of the sister of the Lord's mother.
This opinion I gather partly from Hegesippus, partly from the Gospel. For Hegesippus, in Eusebius, History book 3, chapter 11, in Rufinus's version, says that Simeon was the cousin of the Saviour, because he was the son of Cleophas, the brother of Joseph, the spouse of blessed Mary the mother of the Lord. Further, that St. James the less was the brother of Simon and Joseph and Jude is testified by the Gospel of St. Matthew, chapter 13, and of Mark, chapter 6, where James and Simon and Jude are called brothers of the Lord; and the same is testified by Epiphanius, heresy 78. So if Simon, or Simeon (for it is the same name), was the brother of James, and Simeon's father was Cleophas the brother of Joseph, it certainly follows that the father of James was Cleophas, not Joseph. Nor is it against this opinion that St. James the less is called in the Gospel James of Alpheus; for it may be that the father of St. James had two names, as St. Matthew is called also Levi, and St. Peter is called also Simon; and St. Jerome observes in the book against Helvidius that in the sacred Scriptures many have two names.
As to his letter, there were not lacking formerly those who doubted its authority, as it is also called into doubt at this time by heretics. But most certainly it is a sacred and canonical letter; on which see what we wrote in book 1 On the Word of God, chapter 18. There is extant under the name of St. James a Protevangelium, but never received by the Church. There is extant also a Liturgy attributed to the same St. James, which however has been so enriched by later men that it is not easy to judge which part of that liturgy has St. James for its author. This most blessed Apostle died crowned with a glorious martyrdom in the seventh year of Nero, as St. Jerome writes in the book On Ecclesiastical Writers.
What Epiphanius writes in heresy 78, that St. James died in the ninety-sixth year of his age, does not seem probable. For the foundation of this number is that false opinion of Epiphanius, that St. Joseph begot James in the fortieth year of his age, and then in his eightieth year, being a widower, took Mary as wife; at which time James would have been forty years old; to which if we add the thirty-three years of the Lord, and the twenty-four by which James survived the Lord's Ascension, as the same Epiphanius says, there will be ninety-six full years of James. But here many things are improbable. For it is not probable that James was the son of Joseph, nor that Joseph at eighty took Mary as wife, nor that James was chosen for the apostleship when he was nearly decrepit, nor that the same James survived only twenty-four years, since by the common opinion he governed the Church of Jerusalem thirty years and died in the seventh year of Nero.
St. Jude the Apostle. 34
St. Jude the brother of James, an Apostle of the twelve, wrote one, and that a short, Letter, which the Church receives as sacred and canonical. See what we wrote in book 1 [“II” printed] On the Word of God, chapter 18. Of the death of this Apostle we have nothing certain.
St. Mark the Evangelist. 44
St. Mark the Evangelist, crowned with martyrdom in the eighth year of Nero, wrote a short Gospel; witness St. Jerome in the book On Ecclesiastical Writers. That St. Mark's Gospel was written at first in Greek is written by St. Jerome in the preface to Damasus, and St. Augustine, On the Agreement of the Evangelists, book 1, chapter 2. But that it was written in Latin is testified by Damasus in the life of St. Peter, which is put at the beginning of the first volume of the Councils; the Syrians also testify it, who write at the end of the Gospel according to Mark that the Gospel of St. Mark was written at Rome and in the Roman tongue. But whatever may be of this, it is clear enough that the old Latin and Vulgate edition both of Matthew and of Mark was translated from the Greek edition.
St. Luke the Evangelist. 44
St. Luke the Evangelist, the companion and follower of St. Paul, lived eighty-four years, having no wife; and he wrote two sacred volumes, the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles; witness Jerome in the book On Ecclesiastical Writers. Nor is there any controversy about these.
The author of the book entitled the Shepherd
Hermas, or Hermes, wrote a book very famous among the ancients, which he entitled the Shepherd. Though this book is said by St. Jerome in the book On Ecclesiastical Writers to be useful, and is quoted under the name of Scripture by St. Irenaeus, book 4, chapter 37 [20], and is brought in as witness by other most ancient writers, like Clement of Alexandria and Origen, yet it was never in the canon of the holy and divine books. For Gelasius in the Roman Council rejected it among the apocryphal writings, and St. Jerome in the Helmeted Prologue; and St. Athanasius in the book On the Decrees of the Nicene Synod, and Eusebius, History book 5 [3], chapter 3, say that this book is not in the canon; the same was written by Tertullian in the book On Modesty. And though this book has many useful things, as St. Jerome writes, yet it has also some harmful ones: like that of one only penance, according to the errors of the Novatians, whom this book seems altogether to favour; as also that of the two geniuses, or two Angels, one good and the other bad, given by God to each man; which error J. Cassian took from this author and put in the thirteenth Conference, chapter 12, and before him Origen, homily 35 on Luke.
Who this Hermas was is no small question. For Origen on Romans 16, Eusebius, History book 3, chapter 3, and St. Jerome in the book On Ecclesiastical Writers say that this is the Hermas whom the Apostle bids be greeted in the letter to the Romans, chapter 16, when he says, Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, and so on. But Damasus, or rather Anastasius the Librarian, in the lives of the Pontiffs which are found at the beginning of the first volume of the Councils, writes that Hermas, or Hermes, the author of the book of the Shepherd, was the brother of St. Pius the Roman Pontiff; and that the book was called the Shepherd because an Angel in the dress of a shepherd had appeared to Hermes and commanded him to write what he had revealed to him. But it does not seem possible that Hermes the brother of Pope Pius is the one whom the Apostle bade be greeted in the letter to the Romans. For between that greeting and the pontificate of Pius there are at least a hundred years; and the one greeted by the Apostle was not a newborn infant, but some grave man known to the Apostle from his good works; so it is not probable that he survived to the times of Pope Pius. Then St. Jerome writes in the place noted that the book of the Shepherd was very well known among the Greeks, almost unknown among the Latins; but if the author of the book had been a Latin, and the brother of the Roman Pontiff, his book ought to have been better known to the Latins than to the Greeks.
I think, then, that the authors are different, and their books different, though they bore almost the same name. For besides what has been said, the one whom the Apostle bids be greeted is called Hermas; the brother of Pius is called Hermes. Then the book said to be written by the brother of the Pontiff chiefly contained the Lord's command through an Angel that Easter be kept on a Sunday; but in the book of the Shepherd which is cited by the ancients, and which is still extant, no mention is made of keeping Easter on a Sunday. So it is probable that the book of Hermes, the brother of the Pontiff, soon perished, and that only that more famous one remains which Hermas, the disciple of the Apostles, wrote. This is confirmed also from the fact that St. Irenaeus, book 4, chapter 37 [20], quoting that book, says: “Well then does the Scripture say, first of all believe that God is one.” For Irenaeus would not call simply Scripture the book of an author of his own time, who had not been an Apostle or a hearer of the Apostles.
Prochorus, one of the first seven Deacons
That Prochorus was one of the first seven Deacons St. Luke testifies in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 6. But the narrative extant under his name in the Library of the Holy Fathers seems wholly made up. For what is read in it, that St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, when Asia fell to him by lot, took it most grievously, groaned vehemently, threw himself at the feet of the other Apostles, and was rebuked for it by St. Peter, is altogether unworthy of so great an Apostle. What is written in the same narrative, that after St. John came out unharmed from the pot of boiling oil, a church was built in his honour by the faithful who were there, is incredible; for who would have dared it before the eyes of the raging Domitian? Lastly, what is said in the same narrative, that the Gospel was written by St. John on the island of Patmos, is against the common opinion, which holds that the Gospel was written by St. John long after the exile in Patmos, in his last age. See St. Athanasius at the end of the Synopsis, where he says that the Gospel was preached by St. John in Patmos, but published at Ephesus after his return from exile; with whom agree Eusebius, History book 3, chapter 24, Epiphanius in heresy 51, Jerome in the book On Ecclesiastical Writers, Victorinus and Primasius in their exposition of the Apocalypse, Bede, Rupert and others at the beginning of their exposition of John. Perhaps this narrative of Prochorus about the deeds of St. John is that book which under the name of the Circuit of John is counted among the apocrypha by St. Athanasius in the Synopsis.
Show the Latin (Vives edition, OCR)
DE SCRIPTORIBUS ECCLESIASTICIS TESTAMENTI NOVI. S.E CULUM PRIMUM AB ANNO DOM. 1. AD 100. De S. Petro Apostolo. Ayino Dom. 34. Sanctum Petrum in catalogo primum po¬ nimus, et signamus anno 34. Quia illo anno Domini vivebat, et Ecclesiam regere coepe¬ rat. Quamvis enim exstet apud Eusebium lib. ii. hist. Eccles. cap. 13. Epistola Domini nostri Jesu Christi scripta ad Abagarum re¬ gem Edessae : tamen ea epistola nunquam fuit admissa ab Ecclesia inter Scripturas ca¬ nonicas, inter quas sine dubio admissa fuis¬ set, si ab ipso Domino scriptam fuisse con¬ staret. Quamvis etiam exstent Cantica B. Virgi¬ nis Mariae, Zacchariae, et Simeonis , ea ta¬ men non ab ipsis, sed a sancto Luca scri¬ ptis mandata fuerunt. Denique quamvis inter epistolas sancti Ignatii martyris inveniatur una B. Virginis Mariae ad ipsum Ignatium, ea tamen, non habetur in Graecis codicibus, neque ejus meminerunt veteres Patres ante Sanctum Bernardum : proinde non constat an sit vere Beatae Virginis epistola. Quod autem attinet ad ordinem inter scri¬ ptores sacros Testamenti novi, quoniam eo¬ dem vixerunt saeculo, sequuti sumus ordi¬ nem quem Ecclesia secutur in illis collo¬ candis, tum in litaniis, tum in sacrificio Missae. Ergo Sanctus Petrus Apostolus, et Chri¬ stianorum summus Pontifex , et Vicarius Jesu Christi, qui est sacerdos in aeternum, anno Domini tricesimo tertio, vel secundum alios tricesimo quarto, Ecclesiae Christianae praesidere ccepit, et anno sexagesimo nono, Tom. XII. vel secundum alios septuagesimo, martyrio coronatus est. Sanctus Hieronymus in lib. de script. Ec¬ cles. scribit Sanctum Petrum crucifixum fuisse anno quarto decimo Neronis. Sed Sanctus Hieronymus Eusebii Chronicum se¬ cutus est. Vere enim Nero non imperavit annis quatuordecim, et mensibus octo, ut Eusebius scribit : sed annis tredecim , et mensibus septem , ut scribunt Suetonius , Dio , et alii : et quoniam imperare ccepit a die quarta decima octobris, iisdem auctori¬ bus ; inde fit, ut Sanctus Petrus, qui die vi¬ cesimo nono Junii obiit, non anno quarto decimo, sed tertio decimo Neronis obierit. Scripsit epistolas duas ; ac de priore nulla unquam dubitatio fuit : de posteriore, pro¬ pter stylidiversitatem nonnulla apud aliquos ambiguitas fuit. Sed Ecclesia utramque epi¬ stolam, et canonicam, et S. Petri esse do¬ cuit, in Concilio Laodiceno, Carthaginiensi tertio, Florentino, et Tridentino : et merito Beda Venerabilis admiratur, fuisse aliquos, qui epistolam illam S. Petri fuisse dubitare potuerint, cum auctor Simonem Petrum se initio nominet, et affirmet, se in monte san¬ cto cum Christo fuisse in transfiguratione, et diserte dicat : Hanc secundam vobis scribo epistolam. Hinc enim .sequitur, ut auctor hujus epistolae, vel fuerit insignis impostor, quod nemo unquam dicere ausus est, vel fuerit sanctus Petrus. Cur autem diversus esse videatur stylus prioris et posterioris epistolae, rationem red¬ dit Sanctus Hieronymus in epistola ad Hedi- biam , quaest. 11, quoniam Apostolus non semper eodem interprete utebatur. Addit Sanctus Hieronymus in lib. de script. eccles. multos alios libros olim sub nomine Sancti Petri scriptos fuisse; quos ipse ibidem enumerat ; sed omnino apocry- 23 354 DE SCRIPTORIBUS ECCLESIASTICIS phos, imo spurios, et supposititios fuisse vel ex eo constat, quod nunquam ab Ecclesia, vel in catalogum sanctarum Scripturarum redacti, vel in Bibliis sacris repositi, vel in templis recitati sint : et hoc tempore non ipsi solum, sed eorum nomina, et memoria evanuerint. De S. Paulo Apostolo. Sanctus Paulus Apostolus, ad ipso Christo de ccelo vocatus, et per coelestem revelatio¬ nem Evangelicam plenissime edoctus , re¬ pente. de persecutore praedicator eximius factus, eodem anno et die quo Sanctus Pe¬ trus martyrio coronatus est : cujus rei Euse- bius in chronico , Sanctus Hieronymus de script. Ecclesiasticis, et omnis antiquitas te¬ stis est. Scripsit epistolas quatuordecim : Ad Romanos, 1 Ad Corinthios, 2 Ad Galatas, 1 Ad Ephesios, 1 Ad Philippenses, 1 Ad Colossenses, 1 Ad Thessalonicenses, 2 Ad Timotheum, 2 Ad Titum, 1 Ad Philemonem, 1 Ad Hebraeos, I Et quidem de primis tredecim nulla un¬ quam controversia fuit. Epistolam ad He¬ braeos, teste Sancto Hieronymo in lifc. de script. Eccles. alii tribu ebdnt Barnabae, alii Lucae, alii Clementi Romano : nec defuerunt Haeretici veteres, et recentiores qui huic epistolae auctoritatem detraherent. Caeterum esse eam et vere canonicam, et S. Paulo scriptam, testis est Ecclesia Catholica uni¬ versa, quae illam legit assidue inter Missa¬ rum solemnia sub nomine beati Pauli Apo¬ stoli : testes sunt Patres Conciliorum supra citatorum, qui hanc epistolam in numerum divinarum Scripturarum posuerunt : testes veteres Patres, qui eam ad probanda dogma¬ ta fidei passim adducunt. Yide, si placet, de hac epistola integram disputationem in con¬ troversiis nostris lib. i. de Verbo Dei c. 17. Praeter has epistolas quatuordecim, fertur et alia sub nomine B. Pauli ad Laodicenses; sed ea (inquit S. Hieronymus in lib. de scri¬ ptor. Eccles.) ab omnibus exploditur. Feruntur quoque sub ejusdem B. Pauli nomine epistolae quaedam breves ad Sene¬ cam : quas Sanctus Hieronymus in eodem libro, in Seneca, non videtur contempsisse. Sed Ecclesia Catholica neque epistolam ad Laodicenses, neque epistolas ad Senecam in catalogo Scripturarum posuit, ac per hoc B. Pauli eas non esse censuit. De S. Joanne Apostolo. 34. Sanctus Joannes Apostolus et Evangelista, dilectus Deo, et hominibus, usque ad Traja¬ ni imperatoris tempora pervenit, et sexage¬ simo octavo post passionem Domini anno, qui erat annus a nativitate ejusdem Domini nostri, centesimus, vel centesimus primus, in pace quievit : testes Eusebius in Chron., Sanctus Hieronymus in lib. de Script. Eccl. et alii. Scripsit Evangelium, Apocalypsim, et epi¬ stolas tres : et quidem Evangelium, de quo nulla fuit unquam dubitatio, scripsit post alios tres Evangelistas. Et quoniam Sancti Apostoli brevitati studebant maxime, ideo Sanctus Joannes fere omnia praetermisit, quae ab aliis scripta fuerant : ea siquidem sola repetit, quibus aliquid addendum esse existimavit. De Apocalypsi dubitatio aliqua fuit olim, apud Greecos praecipue, et nunc est apud Haereticos nostri temporis : quemadmodum etiam de secunda et tertia epistola. Sed Ec¬ clesia Catholica tum Apocalypsim tum epi¬ stolas illas duas, ut Evangelium, et episto¬ lam primam, in numerum sanctarum Scri¬ pturarum sub nomine Sancti Joannis reci¬ pit. Vide controversias nostras lib. i. de Verbo Dei, cap. 18 et 19. De Sancto Matthaeo Apostolo. 34. Sanctus Matthaeus Apostolus primus om¬ nium Evangelium scripsit lingua patria, id est, hebraica : testis est Sanctus Hierony¬ mus in lib. de script. Eccles. qui etiam vi¬ disse et descripsisse affirmat Evangelium Sancti Matthaei lingua hebraica scriptum ; et ante Hieronymum id ipsum testati sunt Epiplianius haeresi 29, quae est Nazaraeorum, Eusebius lib. m. cap. 24. et Irenaeus lib. m. cap. 1. Quis in linguam Graecam transtulerit he- braicum Matthaei Evangelium, ignorari scri¬ psit Sanctus Hieronymus. Sanctus Athana- sius in synopsi scribit, a Sancto Jacobo fra- AB ANNO DOM. i. AD. 100. tre Domini fuisse expositum Evangelium Sancti Matthaei. Utrum illa expositio fuerit versio in Grae¬ cum, non scimus. De hoc sacro libro nulla fuit unquam du¬ bitatio. De Sancto Jacobo apostolo. 34. Sanctus J acobus Apostolus epistolam unam scripsit, quae de septem Catholicis est. Ac de ipso, ut etiam de ejus epistola, nonnulla quaestio est. Graeci in monologio tres Jacobos Aposto¬ los celebrant, Jacobum Alphaei, die nono Octobris; Jacobum, fratrem Domini, die vi¬ cesimo tertio ejusdem mensis; et Jacobum Zebedaei, die 30 Aprilis. Sanctus quoque Hieronymus in libro con¬ tra Helvidium meminit hujus opinionis, quae tres Jacobos facit, duos ex numero duode¬ cim Apostolorum, et unum extra numerum. Sed recte idem Sanctus Hieron. eodem loco hanc opinionem refellit : nam idem omnino est Jacobus Alphaei, et Jacobus frater Domi¬ ni, qui et minor dicitur in Evangelio : et quos tantum novit, et celebrat Ecclesia La¬ tina, Jacobum fratrem Joannis, die 23 Ju¬ lii, et Jacobum Alphaei fratrem Domini, die primo Maii. Cur autem dicatur frater Domini, varie sentiunt auctores. Helvidius Haereticus au¬ sus est dicere, dictum esse fratrem Domini, quod esset filius B. Virginis Mariae ex Jo- seph. Sed haec haeresis est manifesta. Euse- bius lib. ii. Hist. cap. i . et Epiphanius haeresi 78. volunt eum fuisse filium Joseph de priore uxore, ac per hoc fratrem Christi eo modo, quo dicitur Joseph pater Christi, videlicet putatitius, non verus. Sed verius est, Sanctum Joseph fuisse perpetuo Virginem, ut erat ejus sanctissima conjux, et Jacobum fuisse filium Cleophae, qui Cleophas fuit frater Sancti Josephi : hinc enim Maria Cleophae dicitur soror matris Domini, Joan. xix. quia erat uxor Cleopha fratris Joseph, usitatum enim est, ut conju¬ ges duorum fratrum sorores nominentur, et quemadmodum Maria Cleophae dicebatur soror Mariae matris Domini : sic etiam Jaco¬ bus dicebatur frater Domini, quia erat filius sororis matris Domini. Hanc sententiam colligo partim ex Hege- sippo, partim ex Evangelio : Hesesippus enim apud Eusebiumlib. m. Hist. cap. 11. ooo ex versione Ruffini, dicit, Simeonem fuisse consobrinum fratrem Salvatoris, quia erat filius Cleophae fratris Josephi sponsi B. Ma¬ riae matris Domini. Porro Sanctum Jacobum minorem fuisse fratrem Simonis, et Joseph, et Judae, testa¬ tur Evangelium Sancti Matthaei, cap. xm et Marci cap. vi. ubi dicuntur fratres Domini Jacobus et Simon, et Judas : et hoc idem te¬ statur Epiphanius haeresi 78, quare si Simon, sive Simeon (idem enim est nomen) erat frater Jacobi, et Simeonis pater erat Cleo¬ phas frater Josephi ; certe sequitur, ut pater Jacobi fuerit Cleophas, non Joseph. Neque huic sententiae repugnat, quod Sanctus Jacobus minor dicatur in Evangelio, Jacobus Alphaei : potest enim fieri, ut pater Sancti Jacobi fuerit binomius, quemadmo¬ dum Sanctus Matthaeus dicitur etiam Levi, et Sanctus Petrus dicitur etiam Simon ; et observat Sanctus Hieronymus in lib. contra Helvidium, in sacris Scripturis, multos esse binomios. Quod attinet ad epistolam ejus, non de¬ fuerunt olim, qui de ejus auctoritate dubi¬ tarent, ut etiam hoc tempore ab Haereticis in dubium revocatur. Sed certissime epistola sacra et canonica est ; de qua re vide quae scripsimus libro primo de Verbo Dei cap. 18. Exstat nomine Sancti Jacobi Protoevan- gelium, sed ab Ecclesia nunquam receptum. Exstat etiam Liturgia eidem Sancto Ja¬ cobo attributa, quae tamen a posterioribus ita locupletata est, ut non sit facile dijudi¬ care, quae pars ejus liturgiee Sanctum Jaco¬ bum habeat auctorem. Obiit hic Beatissimus Apostolus glorioso martyrio coronatus anno septimo Neronis, ut scribit Sanctus Hieronymus in lib. de script. Eccles. Quod autem Epiphanius scribit haeresi 78. obiisse Sanctum Jacobum anno aetatis suae nonagesimo sexto : non videtur probabile. Fundamentum enim hujus numeri est opinio illa 'falsa Epiphanii, quod Sanctus Joseph anno quadragesimo aetatis suae genuerit Ja¬ cobum, deinde anno octogesimo viduus exi- stens, acceperit Mariam conjugem ; quo tem¬ pore fuisset Jacobus annorum quadraginta, quibus si addamus triginta tres annos Do¬ mini, et viginti quatuor quibus post Ascen¬ sionem Domini Jacobus supervixit, ut idem Epiphanius dicit, fient anni Jacobi nonaginta sex completi. Sed hic multa sunt improbabilia ; nam 356 DE SCRIPTORIBUS ECCLESIASTICIS nec probabile est, Jacobum filium fuisse Jo- seph : nec Joseph annorum octoginta acce¬ pisse Mariam in conjugem, nec Jacobum electum esse ad Apostolatum, cum esset pe¬ ne decrepitus : nec eumdem Jacobum su¬ pervixisse solum annis viginti quatuor, cum ex communi opinione gubernaverit Eccle¬ siam Hierosolymitanam annis triginta, et obierit anno septimo Neronis. De S. Juda Apostolo. 34. Sanctus Judas frater Jacobi, Apostolus ex duodecim, unam eamque brevem scripsit Epistolam, quam Ecclesia, ut sacram et ca¬ nonicam recipit. Vide quse scripsimus lib. n. de Verbo Dei, cap. 18. De obitu hujus Apostoli nihil habe¬ mus certi. De S. Marco Evangelista. 44. Sanctus Marcus Evangelista martyrio co¬ ronatus anno octavo Neronis, breve scripsit Evangelium : testis Sanctus Hieronymus in lib. de Script. Eccles. GraBce scriptum initio S. Marci Evangelium, scribunt Sanctus Hie¬ ronymus in prcefatione ad Damasum, et Sanctus Augustinus lib. i. cap. 2. de con¬ sensu Evangelistarum. Latine autem scri¬ ptum, testatur Damasus in vita Sancti Petri, quse ponitur ad initium primi tomi Concilio¬ rum : testantur etiam Syri, qui ad finem Evangelii secundum Marcum scribunt, Evan¬ gelium Sancti Marci Romse, et lingua Ro¬ mana scriptum. Sed quicquid de hac re sit, satis constat, Latinam veterem et vulgatam editionem tam Matthsei quam Marci ex Grseca editione translatam. De S. Luca Evangelista. 44. Sanctus Lucas Evangelista, Sancti Pauli comes et sectator, vixit annos octoginta quatuor, uxorem non habens : scripsitque duo sacra volumina, Evangelium, et Acta Apostolorum : testis Hieronymus in lib. de script. Eccles. Neque de bis ulla controver¬ sia est. De auctore libri , qui Pastor inscribitur . Hermam sive Hermes librum scripsit apud veteres valde celebrem, quem inscripsit, Pastorem. Is liber quamvis a Sancto Hiero¬ nymo in lib. de script. Eccles. utilis esse di¬ catur, et nomine Scripturae a Sancto Irenaeo lib. iv. cap. 37. citetur; et ab aliis antiquis¬ simis scriptoribus, ut Clemente Alexandri¬ no, et Origene, in testimonium adducatur, tamen numquam fuit in canone sanctorum et divinorum librorum : nam Gelasius in Concilio Romano inter apocrypha scripta il¬ lum rejecit, et Sanctus Hieronymus in pro¬ logo Galeato : et Sanctus Athanasius in libro de decretis Nicaenae Synodi, et Eusebius lib. v. Hist. cap. 3. dicunt hunc librum non esse in canone ; quod idem scripsit Tertullianus in lib. de Pudicitia. Quamvis autem hic liber multa utilia ha¬ beat, ut Sanctus Hieronymus scribit : habet tamen etiam aliqua noxia, ut de unica poe¬ nitentia secundum errores Novatianorum, quibus hic liber omnino favere videtur : ut etiam illud de duobus geniis, sive de duobus Angelis, uno bono et altero malo, singulis hominibus a Deo tributis ; quem errorem ex hoc auctore accepit J. Cassianus, eumque posuit in tertia decima collatione cap. 12. et ante eum Origenes hom. 35. in Lucam. Quis autem iste Hermam fuerit, non parva quaestio est. Nam Origenes in cap. 16. ad Romanos, Eusebius lib. ni. hist. cap. 3. et Sanctus Hieronymus in lib. de script. Eccl. dicunt, hunc esse illum Hermam, quem sa¬ lutari jubet Apostolus in epist. ad Romanos cap. xvi. cum ait, Salutate Asyncritum , Plegonthem , Hermam , etc. Damasus autem, sive potius A nastasius bibliothecarius in vitis Pontificum, quae habentur ad initium primi tomi Conciliorum, scribit, Hermam, sive Hermetem, auctorem libri Pastoris, fuisse fratrem Sancti Pii Romani Pontificis, et li¬ brum appellatum esse Pastorem, quoniam Angelus in habitu Pastoris Hermeti appa¬ ruerat, et ut ea scriberet, quaj illi revelave¬ rat, j asserat. Non videtur autem fieri posse ut Hermes frater Pii Pontificis ille sit, quem Apostolus salutari jusserat in epist. ad Romanos: nam inter illam salutationem, et Pontificatum Pii, intercedunt, ut minimum, anni centum, et qui salutabatur ab Apostolo, non erat in¬ fans recens natus, sed vir aliquis gravis, no¬ tus Apostolo ex operibus bonis : proinde non est probabile, illum supervixisse usque ad tempora Pii Pontificis. Deinde scribit S. Hieronymus loco notato, librum Pastoris apud Greecos fuisse notissi- AB ANNO DOM. i. AD 100. 357 mum, apud Latinos pene ignotum ; at si auctor libri fuisset homo Latinus, et Romani Pontificis frater, debuisset liber ipsius notior Latinis esse, quam Graecis. Existimo igitur diversos esse auctores, et diversos eorum libros, quamvis idem fere nomen gererent : nam praeter ea quae dicta sunt, is qui ab Apostolo salutari jubetur, vocatur Hermam ; frater Pii dicitur Her¬ mes : deinde liber, qui scriptus dicitur a fratre Pontificis, praecipue continebat man¬ datum Domini per Angelum, ut Pascha die Dominico celebraretur : at in libro Pastoris, qui a veteribus citatur, et qui adhuc exstat, nulla mentio fit Paschatis celebrandi die Dominico. Quare probabile est, librum Her- metis, fratris Pontificis, cito interiisse : et solum reliquum esse illum celebriorem, quem scripsit Hermam discipulus Apostolorum. Quod etiam confirmatur ex eo, quod S. Irenaeus lib. iv. cap. 37. citans eum librum, dicit, « Bene ergo Scriptura dicit, primo om¬ nium crede, quoniam unus est Deus. » Neque enim Irenaeus Scripturam absolute vocaret librum auctoris sui temporis, et qui Aposto¬ lus vel Apostolorum auditor non fuisset. De Prochoro , uno exprimis septem Diaconibus. Prochorum fuisse unum ex primis septem Diaconibus testatur S. Lucas in Actis Apo¬ stolorum cap. VI. Sed narratio, qua; sub ejus nomine exstat in bibliotheca S. Patrum, videtur omnino conficta. Nam quod in ea legitur, Sanctum Joannem Apostolum, et Evangelistam, cum ei sorte obtigisset Asia, gravissime id tulisse, ac vehementer inge¬ muisse, seque ad pedes aliorum Apostolorum abjecisse, atque propterea a Sancto Petro fuisse reprehensum, indignum omnino est tanto Apostolo. Quod in eadem narratione scribitur, post- eaquam S. Joannes ex olla ferventis olei illaesus exivit, a fidelibus, qui illic aderant, Ecclesiam in ejus honorem fuisse constru¬ ctam, incredibile est. Qui enim id auderent in oculis saevientis Domitiani ? Quod denique in eadem narratione dicitur, Evangelium a S. Joanne in insula Patmo fuisse conscriptum, repugnat communi sen¬ tentiae, quae habet, Evangelium a sancto Joanne scriptum fuisse diu post exilium Pat¬ mos, in ultima sua aetate. Yide sanctum Athanasium in synopsi ex¬ trema, ubi dicit, Evangelium praedicatum quidem a Sancto Joanne in Patmo, sed edi¬ tum Ephesi post reditum ab exilio. Cui con¬ sentiunt Eusebius lib. m. Hist. cap. 24., Epiphaniusin haeresi quinquagesima prima, Hieronymus in lib. de script. Eccles., Victo- rinus et Primasius in expositione Apoc., Beda, Rupertus et alii initio expositionis in Joannem. Fortasse haec Prochori narratio de rebus gestis S. Joannis, est liber ille, qui sub no¬ mine Circuitus Joannis, inter apocrypha re¬ censetur a S. Athanasio in synopsi.