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Paley, William, 1743-1805

"Evidence of Christianity"

About twenty years after Athanasius, Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem,
set forth a catalogue of the books of Scripture, publicly read at that
time in the church of Jerusalem, exactly the same as ours, except that
the "Revelation" is omitted. (Lardner, Cred. vol. ii. p. 270.)
IV. And fifteen years after Cyril, the council of Laodicea delivered an
authoritative catalogue of canonical Scripture, like Cyril's, the same
as ours with the omission of the "Revelation."
V. Catalogues now became frequent. Within thirty years after the last
date, that is, from the year 363 to near the conclusion of the fourth
century, we have catalogues by Epiphanius, (Lardner, Cred. vol. ii. p.
368.) by Gregory Nazianzen, by Philaster, bishop of Breseia in Italy,
(Lardner, Cred. vol. ix. p. 132 & 373.) by Amphilochius, bishop of
Iconium; all, as they are sometimes called, clean catalogues (that is,
they admit no books into the number beside what we now receive); and
all, for every purpose of historic evidence, the same as
ours. (Epiphanius omits the Acts of the Apostles. This must have been an
accidental mistake, either in him or in some copyist of his work; for
he elsewhere expressly refers to this book, and ascribes it to Luke.


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