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| Introductory Note to the Fragments of Papias
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Introductory Note to the Fragments of
Papias
[a.d. 70–155.] It seems unjust to the holy man
of whose comparatively large contributions to early Christian literature
such mere relics have been preserved, to set them forth in these
versions, unaccompanied by the copious annotations of Dr. Routh. If even
such crumbs from his table are not by any means without a practical
value, with reference to the Canon and other matters, we may well credit
the testimony (though disputed) of Eusebius, that he was a learned man,
and well versed in the Holy Scripture.1729
| 1729 See Lardner, ii. p. 119. | All who name poor
Papias are sure to do so with the apologetic qualification of that
historian, that he was of slender capacity. Nobody who attributes to him
the millenarian fancies, of which he was but a narrator, as if these were
the characteristics rather than the blemishes of his works, can fail to
accept this estimate of our author. But more may be said when we come to
the great name of Irenæus, who seems to make himself responsible for
them.1730
Papias has the credit of association with Polycarp, in
the friendship of St. John himself, and of “others who had seen the
Lord.” He is said to have been bishop of Hierapolis, in Phrygia,
and to have died about the same time that Polycarp suffered; but even
this is questioned. So little do we know of one whose lost books, could
they be recovered, might reverse the received judgment, and establish his
claim to the disputed tribute which makes him, like Apollos, “an
eloquent man, and mighty in the Scriptures.”
The following is the original Introductory Notice:—
The
principal information in regard to Papias is given in the extracts made
among the fragments from the works of Irenæus and Eusebius. He was
bishop of the Church in Hierapolis, a city of Phrygia, in the first half
of the second century. Later writers affirm that he suffered martyrdom
about a.d. 163; some saying
that Rome, others that Pergamus, was the scene of his death. He was a
hearer of the Apostle John, and was on terms of intimate intercourse with
many who had known the Lord and His apostles. From these he gathered the
floating traditions in regard to the sayings of our Lord, and wove them
into a production divided into five books. This work does not seem to
have been confined to an exposition of the sayings of Christ, but to have
contained much historical information.
Eusebius1731
| 1731 Hist. Eccl., iii. 39. | speaks of
Papias as a man most learned in all things, and well acquainted with the
Scriptures. In another passage1732
he describes him as of small
capacity. The fragments of Papias are translated from the text given in
Routh’s Reliquiæ Sacræ, vol. i.1733
| 1733 [Where the fragments with learned
annotations and elucidations fill forty-four pages.] | E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
|
