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Methodius. A. D. 290. 201
body, " are to be caught up tog-etlier to meet the Lord."
This may be allowed to be a difKcult text; but I am apt to
think that many will consider this paraphrase as an example
of the wrong and injudicious interpretations of our author,
which I spoke of formerly ; nor do 1 intend to add any
more.
XIII. We perceive from the remains of Methodius that
he received the four gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, St.
Paul's epistles, and the epistle to the Hebrews, as one of
them. We have no plain evidence how many of the seven
catholic epistles he received: undoubtedly he owned the
first of St. Peter and first of St. John, there never having"
been any doubt concerning the genuineness of these. His
opinion about the rest Ave are not acquainted with. He
likewise quotes the Revelation frequently as a book of
sacred scripture, written by John; whom it is likely he
supposed to be John the apostle and evangelist. We have
seen in him clear proofs that the scriptures of the New
Testament, generally received by christians, were well
known, mucli used, and highly esteemed : being books of
authority, and appealed to in all points of dispute and controversy.
I have not observed in this Greek Avriter, of
the third century, any quotations of christian apocryphal
writings: nor do the works of this author afford any the
least ground to suppose that there were any Avritings of
ancient christian authors that were esteemed sacred and of
authority, beside those Avhich are now generally received as
such by us; namely, the Avritings of apostles and evangelists.