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The Apology of Aristides: Texts and Studies 1 (1891) Prefatory matter.


TEXTS AND STUDIES

CONTRIBUTIONS TO
BIBLICAL AND PATRISTIC LITERATURE

EDITED BY
J. ARMITAGE ROBINSON B.D.
FELLOW OF CHRIST'S COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE

VOL. I.

THE APOLOGY OF ARISTIDES
THE PASSION OF S. PERPETUA
THE LORD'S PRAYER IN THE EARLY CHURCH
THE FRAGMENTS OF HERACLEON

CAMBRIDGE
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS 1891


[Photograph of manuscript folio]


TEXTS AND STUDIES

CONTRIBUTIONS TO
BIBLICAL AND PATRISTIC LITERATURE

EDITED BY
J. ARMITAGE ROBINSON M.A.
FELLOW OF CHRIST'S COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE

VOL. I.

No. 1. THE APOLOGY OF ARISTIDES

CAMBRIDGE
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
1891


London: C. J. CLAY AND SONS, 
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE, 
AVE MARIA LANE.

[Arms omitted]

Cambridge: DEIGHTON, BELL AND CO.
Leipzig: F. A. BROCKHAUS. 
New York: MACMILLAN AND CO.


THE APOLOGY OF ARISTIDES
ON BEHALF OF THE CHRISTIANS
FROM A SYRIAC MS. PRESERVED ON MOUNT SINAI EDITED
WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND TRANSLATION BY
J. RENDEL HARRIS M.A.
FORMERLY FELLOW OF CLARE COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE
AND NOW PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL LANGUAGES IN
HAVERFORD COLLEGE PENNSYLVANIA

WITH AN APPENDIX CONTAINING THE MAIN PORTION OF
THE ORIGINAL GREEK TEXT
BY
J. ARMITAGE ROBINSON M.A.
FELLOW AND ASSISTANT TUTOR OF CHRIST'S COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE

CAMBRIDGE AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
1891
[All Rights reserved]


Cambridge :
PRINTED BY C. J. CLAY, M.A. AND SONS, 
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.


PREFACE.

THE first part of this tract contains the Syriac text of the lost Apology of Aristides, accompanied by such comments and elucidations as I have been able to give to the subject. It is my first venture in Syriac, and I am thankful to my learned friends who have from time to time assisted me with suggestions and criticisms for the elimination of some of the more glaring errors. Amongst them I may mention especially Professor Bensly, of Cambridge, and Professor Isaac A. Hall, of New York. In the attempt to give the Armenian fragments of the Apology, in such a form as may make them accessible for critical use, I have had the valuable aid of Mr Conybeare, of Oxford, who placed at my disposal the results of his own work at Edschmiazin.

When the pages were almost through the printer's hands, my friend Mr J. A. Robinson, of Christ's College, by one of those happy accidents, as we call them, upon which progress depends, discovered that substantially the whole of the Greek text was extant, and had been incorporated in that charming half-Greek and half-Oriental story, the Lives of Barlaam and Joasaph. Of course this means that, for the greater part of the Apology of Aristides, we have copies and versions in good number (Greek, Latin, Ethiopic, Arabic, Old French, etc.). This opens quite a new field before the student of Christian Apologetics. Need I say how gladly I make way for him in the Appendix, which will really be the text itself; and that I say in the language of the Acts of St Perpetua : "Hic ordinem totum Apologiae iam hinc ipse narrabit...manu sua et suo sensu."

J. RENDEL HARRIS.


NOTE.

WITH the aid of the photographs taken by Prof. Harris the Syriac text has been carefully revised by Prof. Bensly, who has taken special pains with the reproduction of the punctuation of the MS. There seems occasionally to be some deviation from the ordinary system in the use of the diacritical points : but as it is impossible to tell from the photographs to what date the punctuation belongs, it has seemed better to reproduce it without attempting to mend it.

The English translation was in the first instance made by Prof. Harris : but the discovery of the Greek made it necessary that it should undergo a complete revision, in order that scholars who do not read Syriac might be able to form a better estimate of the relation of the Syriac to the Greek, than could be given by a translation made without any reference to the latter. Moreover in several places the Greek cast new light upon the Syriac where it was obscure before. The task of revision would have been entirely beyond my power, but for the kind patience of Prof. Bensly, who allowed me to read the whole piece through with him. At his suggestion too I have added, within brackets, a few notes in addition to those made by Prof. Harris.

The Facsimile of a page of the Syriac MS. has been made from one of Prof. Harris's photographs. It corresponds with [Syr] 5 — [Syr] 9 of this edition.

J.A. R.


TABLE OF CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION 1-34

Description of the Syriac MS 3
Aristides and Eusebius 6
Celsus and Aristides 19
The Symbol of the Faith in the time of Aristides 23
The Armenian Fragment of the Apology 26
An additional Armenian Fragment of Aristides 33

TRANSLATION OF THE SYRIAC VERSION 35-51

NOTES ON THE SYRIAC VERSION 52-64

APPENDIX 65-118

The original Greek of the Apology of Aristides 67
The Greek text of 'Barlaam and Josaphat' 80
The bearing of the Apology on the Canon 82
The Apology and the Didaché 84
The Apology and the Preaching of Peter 86
The Greek text" edited from three MSS 100
Index of Greek words 113
Index of subject matter 117

THE SYRIAC TEXT OF THE APOLOGY [Syriac]


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This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, Ipswich, UK, 2003.  All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts