erefore appropriate motley and dangerous
material. Such Christians, highly educated and correctly trained too,
were still to be found, not only in the third century, but even later.
But the authors do not seem to have been free from a bias, inasmuch as
they did not favour the Catholic, that is, the Alexandrian apologetic
theology which was in process of formation.

4. The description of the Pseudo-Clementine writings, naturally derived
from their very form, as "edifying, didactic romances for the refutation
of paganism", is not inconsistent with the idea, that the authors, at
the same time, did their utmost to oppose heretical phenomena,
especially the Marcionite church and Apelles, together with heresy and
heathenism in general, as represented by Simon Magus.

5. The objectionable materials which the authors made use of were
edifying for them, because of the position assigned therein to Peter,
because of the ascetic and mysterious elements they contained, and the
opposition offered to Simon, etc. The offensive features, so far as they
were still contained in these sources, had already become unintelligible
and harmless. They were partly conserved as such and partly removed.

6. The authors are to be sought for perhaps in Rome, perhaps in Syria,
perhaps in both places, certainly not in Alexandria.

7. The main ideas are: (1) The monarchy of God. (2) the syzygies (weak
and strong). (3) Prophecy (the true Prophet). (4) Stoical rationalism,
belief in providence, good works. [Greek: Philanthropia], etc.--Mosaism.
The Homilies are completely saturated with stoicism, both in their
ethical and metaphysical systems, and are opposed to Platonism, though
Plato is quoted in Hom. XV. 8, as [Greek: Hellenon sophistia] (a wise
man of the Greeks). In addition to these ideas we have also a strong
hierarchical tendency. The material which the authors made use of was in
great part derived from syncretistic Jewish Christian tradition, in
other words, those histories of the Apostles were here utilised which
Epiphanius reports to have been used by the Ebionites (see above). It is
not probable, however, that these writings in their original form were
in the hands of the narrators; the likelihood is that they made use of
them in revised forms.

8. It must be reserved for an accurate investigation to ascertain
whether those modified versions which betray clear marks of Hellenic
origin, were made within syncretistic Judaism itself, or wheth