ve I sinned that I should go and be baptized by him?' and it is
almost by compulsion that He is at last induced to accompany them.
It will be seen that this is really an _opposite_ version of
the event to that of Ignatius and the first Gospel, where the
objection comes from _John_ and is overruled by our Lord
Himself [Endnote 81:1].

There is however one quotation, introduced as such, in this same
Epistle, the source of which Eusebius did not know, but which
Origen refers to the 'Preaching of Peter' and Jerome seems to have
found in the Nazarene version of the 'Gospel according to the
Hebrews.' This phrase is attributed to our Lord when He appeared
'to those about Peter and said to them, Handle Me and see that I
am not an incorporeal spirit' ([Greek: psaelaphaesate me, kai
idete, hoti ouk eimi daimonion asomaton]). But for the statement
of Origen that these words occurred in the 'Preaching of Peter'
they might have been referred without much difficulty to Luke
xxiv. 39. The Preaching of Peter seems to have begun with the
Resurrection, and to have been an offshoot rather in the direction
of the Acts than the Gospels [Endnote 81:2]. It would not
therefore follow from the use of it by Ignatius here, that the
other quotations could also be referred to it. And, supposing it
to be taken from the 'Gospel according to the Hebrews,' this would
not annul what has been said above as to the reason for thinking
that Ignatius (or the writer who bears his name) cannot have used
that Gospel systematically and alone.

4.

Is the Epistle which purports to have been written by Polycarp to the
Philippians to be accepted as genuine? It is mentioned in the most
express terms by Irenaeus, who declares himself to have been a
disciple of Polycarp in his early youth, and speaks enthusiastically
of the teaching which he then received. Irenaeus was writing between
the years 180-190 A.D., and Polycarp is generally allowed to have
suffered martyrdom about 167 or 168 [Endnote 82:1]. But the way in
which Irenaeus speaks of the Epistle is such as to imply, not only
that it had been for some time in existence, but also that it had
been copied and disseminated and had attained a somewhat wide
circulation. He is appealing to the Catholic tradition in opposition
to heretical teaching such as that of Valentinus and Marcion, and he
says, 'There is an Epistle written by Polycarp to the Philippians of
great excellence [Greek