Wesley Corpus

7. You charge him, thirdly, with 'treating the spurious books, published under the names of the Sibyl and Hystespes, with the same reverence as the prophetic Scriptures' (page 33). His words are: 'By the power of evil spirits it was made death to read the books of Hystaspes, or of the Sibyl, or of the Prophets.' Well; how does this prove that he treated those books with the same reverence as the prophetic Scriptures 'But it is certain,' you say, 'that from this example and authority of Justin they were held in the highest veneration by the Fathers and rulers of the Church through all succeeding ages' (ibid.). I do not conceive it is certain. I wait your proof, first of the fact, next of the reason you assign for it. The fact itself, that 'these books were held in the highest veneration by the Fathers and rulers through all succeeding ages,' is in no wise proved by that single quotation from Clemens Alexandrinus, wherein he urges the heathens with the testimonies of their own authors, of the Sibyl and of Hystaspes (page 34). We cannot infer from hence that he himself held them 'in the highest veneration'; much less that all the Fathers did. And as to the reason you assign for that veneration--the example and authority of Justin--you cite no writer of any kind, good or bad. So he that will believe it may. But some, you tell us, 'impute the forging these books to Justin.' Be pleased to tell us likewise who those are, and what grounds they allege for that imputation. Till then, it can be of no signification. 8. You charge him, fourthly, 'with believing that silly story concerning the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, with saying that he himself when at Alexandria saw the remains of the cells in which the translators were shut up, and with making a considerable mistake in the chronology relating thereto' (page 37). And if all this be allowed, and, over and above, that he 'frequently cites apocryphal books and cites the Scriptures by memory,' what have you gained toward the proof of your grand conclusion--that 'he was either too great a fool or too great a knave to be believed touching a plain matter of fact'