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The works of Nathaniel Lardner - The Christian Researcher - Home

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l)l)ROTHEUS. 161<br />

a nmvtyr under Julian In the year 363, when lie was 107<br />

years <strong>of</strong> age.<br />

Cave'' has divers just observations upon this piece and its<br />

author : he thinks the Synopsis to be the Mork <strong>of</strong> an anonymous<br />

author in the sixth century. Frederick Spanheim<br />

computed' the author to have lived in the same age. Cave<br />

>vas <strong>of</strong> opinion, that they who called this Dorotheus presbyter,<br />

instead <strong>of</strong> bishop <strong>of</strong> Tyre, confounded him with Dorotlieus<br />

presbyter <strong>of</strong> Antioch. And may 1 not rather say, (if 1 too<br />

may propose a conjecture,) that possibly this Dorotheus is a<br />

mere fictitious person called bishop <strong>of</strong> the church <strong>of</strong> Tyre<br />

for no other reason but because Dorotheus, <strong>of</strong> whom we<br />

spoke before, is said by Eusebius'' to have been overseer <strong>of</strong><br />

the purple dye-house at Tyre?<br />

Tillemont argues, that' there could be no bishop <strong>of</strong> Tyre<br />

at the beginning <strong>of</strong> the fourth century named Dorotheus ;<br />

if there had he would have been mentioned by Eusebius or<br />

Jerom.<br />

Fabricius may be consulted for the editions <strong>of</strong> this work.<br />

As for the work itself, though it has been too <strong>of</strong>ten quoted,<br />

it is now generally allowed by learned men to be fabulous,<br />

and <strong>of</strong> little or no value. For preventing such quotations<br />

<strong>of</strong> it for time to come, and that my readers may be the better<br />

satisfied about its real character, 1 shall place divers censures<br />

upon it in the margin. One is that" <strong>of</strong> the author <strong>of</strong><br />

the Collection <strong>of</strong> the Bibliotheca Patrum Maxima, which I<br />

make use <strong>of</strong>; another is taken" out <strong>of</strong> Bellarmine's book <strong>of</strong><br />

•'<br />

1. Ex hoc fragmento perspicere licet, hunc Dorothei, ut pree se fert,<br />

exscriptorem, scripsisse Probo et Philoxeno Coss. hoc est, anuo Christi 525.<br />

2. Admodum probabile est, hunc anonyraum fuisse ipsius Synopsis Dorotheaiiae<br />

conditorem. Cav. ib. p. 170. ' Quod vero habet Epiphaniu-,<br />

Haer. h. quae est Alogorum, et ex eo Pseudo-Dorotheus in Synopsi de Ixx.<br />

discipulis, secuU minimum vi. scriptor, hinc Nicephorus, et alii, fuisse Marcmn<br />

unum ex iis qui a Christo adlecti fuerunt, magis dubium, imo falsum. Spanh.<br />

De Hist. Evang. Scriptor. cap. 12. 0pp. T. ii. p. 275.<br />

''<br />

Kai TifiTjirai yi nrirpoTrtj ti]Q Kara Tvpov aXu lya (3a(pi]g. Eus. H. E.<br />

p. 284. C. ' Mais il est encore plus d.thcile de s'lmagioer, que<br />

s'll y avoit ete en ce temps la un Dorothee tel que le depeint <strong>The</strong>ophane,<br />

Eusebe n'en eut ricn ecrit, ni S. Jerome mesme, qui le doit reverer coinme<br />

un pere de I'eglise, et comme ua martyr, &c. TiUem. Not. 8. sur S. Doro-<br />

thee. lb. p, 342. "• Bib. Gr. T. vi. p. 145, 14C.<br />

" Dorotheus—E.xtat hie sub ejus nomine Synopsis,—sed plane fabulosa,<br />

nulliusque apud eruditos auctoritatis. Vid. Ind. Alphabet, in Bib. P. P. Max.<br />

° At hujus Dorothei nullam mentionem mveni apud Eusebium, S. Hieron.<br />

vel Gennadiura, aut etiam Joan. Trithemium, qui scripserunt de viris lUustribus.<br />

Ipsa vero Synopsis plena est fabuhs. Consulat lector quae iste auctor scripsit<br />

in vita Isaiae, Hieremiae, Elisaei.—Praeterea consulat quae scribit in vita Jacobi<br />

Alphaei, et dementis, et in summa sciat, ab isto numerari inter 72, discipulos<br />

Christi omnes, qui ab apostolo Paulo numerantur, etiamsi ethnici fuennt vel<br />

VOI. III. M<br />

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