Page:A General Survey of the History of the Canon of the New Testament (7th edition, 1896).djvu/92

 24  early traditions which fixed upon him as the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and of the Acts of the Apostles. Subsequently he is charged with a twofold office: he appears as the mediator between the followers of St Paul and St Peter, and as the lawgiver of the Church. Thus his testimony becomes of singular value, as that of a man to whom the first Christian society assigned its organization and its catholicity.

The first Greek Epistle alone can be confidently pronounced genuine. The relation of this to our Canonical Books is full of interest. In its style, in its doctrine, and in its theory of Church government, it confirms the genuineness of disputed books of the New Testament.

The language of the Epistle of St Peter has been supposed to be inconsistent with the distinctive characteristics of the Apostle. Now, according to the most probable accounts, Clement was a follower of St Peter; and the tone of his Epistle agrees with that of his master in exhibiting the influence of St Paul. This influence extends to