Page:Ante-Nicene Fathers volume 1.djvu/81



HE authenticity of the following epistle can on no fair grounds be questioned. It is abundantly established by external testimony, and is also supported by the internal evidence. Irenæus says (Adv. Hær. iii. 3): "There is extant an epistle of Polycarp written to the Philippians, most satisfactory, from which those that have a mind to do so may learn the character of his faith," etc. This passage is embodied by Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical History (iv. 14); and in another place the same writer refers to the epistle before us as an undoubted production of Polycarp (Hist. Eccl. iii. 36). Other ancient testimonies might easily be added, but are superfluous, inasmuch as there is a general consent among scholars at the present day that we have in this letter an authentic production of the renowned Bishop of Smyrna.

Of Polycarp's life little is known, but that little is highly interesting. Irenæus was his disciple, and tells us that "Polycarp was instructed by the apostles, and was brought into contact with many who had seen Christ" (Adv. Hær. iii. 3; Euseb. Hist. Eccl. iv. 14). There is also a very graphic account given of Polycarp by Irenæus in his epistle to Florinus, to which the reader is referred. It has been preserved by Eusebius (Hist. Eccl. v. 20).

The epistle before us is not perfect in any of the Greek. which contain it. But the chapters wanting in Greek are contained in an ancient Latin version. While there is no ground for supposing, as some have done, that the whole