THE WRITINGS
OF
THE EARLY CHRISTIANS
OF
THE SECOND CENTURY;
NAMELY,
ATHENAGORAS, TATIAN, THEOPHILUS, HERMIAS, PAPIAS,
ARISTIDES, QUADRATUS, &c.

COLLECTED TOGETHER AND FIRST TRANSLATED COMPLETE
BY
THE REV. DR. GILES,
LATE FELLOW OF CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE, OXFORD.

LONDON:
JOHN RUSSELL SMITH, 36, SOHO SQUARE.
MDCCCLVII.

THE second century of the Christian era, though abounding in deviations from the simplicity of primitive faith and practice, yet presents a more inviting field of inquiry to the student of Christian literature, which may in fact be said then to begin. It is not surprising that for seventy years from the crucifixion, whilst the first disciples were busy in teaching, few would think of writing about what occupied so momentous a place in the course of their daily life. But, when the first progress of the new religion had been made, the Christian society naturally turned their attention to write as well as to teach; a literature then begun to grow which was destined to occupy in the end quite as much of the world s attention as the classics of Greece and Home. Still, it must not be supposed that the Christian writings of the second century are very numerous. With the exception of Justin Martyr, the Sibylline Books, the Uncanonical Gospels, Acts, and Epistles, and the Legends of Early Martyrs, all the writings which belong to the second century are comprised in this volume.