ul have been added by transcribers, and
are also calculated to mislead. Thus, the Epistle to the Galatians is
said to have been "written from Rome," though it is now generally
acknowledged that Paul was not in the capital of the Empire until long
after that letter was dictated. The first Epistle to Timothy is dated
"from Laodicea, which is the chiefest city of Phrygia Pacatiana;" but it
is well known that Phrygia was not divided into Phrygia Prima, or
Pacatiana, and Phrygia Secunda until the fourth century. [181:4] It is
stated at the end of another epistle that it was "written to Titus
ordained the first Bishop of the Church of the Cretians;" but, as the
letter itself demonstrates, Paul did not intend that Titus should remain
permanently in Crete, [182:1] and it can be shewn that, for centuries
afterwards, such a dignitary as "the Bishop of the Church of the
Cretians" was utterly unknown.

The seven letters written by James, Peter, Jude, and John, are called
General or Catholic epistles. The Epistle of James was addressed "to the
twelve tribes scattered abroad" probably in A.D. 61, and its author
survived its publication perhaps little more than twelve months. [182:2]
Peter, as we have seen, appears to have written his two epistles only a
short time before his martyrdom. [182:3] The Epistle of Jude is the
production of a later period, as it contains quotations from the Second
Epistle of Peter. [182:4] The exact dates of the Epistles of John cannot
now be discovered, but they supply internal proof that they must have
been written towards the close of the first century. [182:5]

According to some, the Apocalypse, or Revelation of John, was drawn up
before the destruction of Jerusalem, and in the time of the Emperor
Nero; but the arguments in support of so early an origin are very
unsatisfactory. Ancient writers [182:6] attest that it was written in
the reign of Domitian towards the close of the first century, and the
truth of this statement is established by various collateral evidences.

The divine authority of the four Gospels and of the Acts of the Apostles
was, from their first appearance, universally acknowledged in the
ancient Church. [182:7] These books were publicly read in the religious
assemblies of the primitive Christians, and were placed on a level with
the Old Testament Scriptures. [182:8] The epistles of Paul occupied an
equally honourable position. [182:9] In the second and third centuries
the Epistle t