fore, when, probably, St. Peter and Paul had been before crowned with martyrdom.

As St. John ftaid a good while in Paleftine, it may be reasonably concluded, that the virgin Marie did not go with him to Ephefus, as (g) Baronius, and fome others have thought, but died, before he went thither. Which was the opinion of (h) Cave, and (i) Bafnage.

IV. St. John having had a long life, many things have been faid of him, fome true, others falfe. Moft of them His Hiftorie have been already taken notice of in several chapters of this from other work. It may not be improper to recollect them here, with fome remarks.

Writers.

1. Apollonius, who wrote against the Montanists, and flourished about the year 211. fays, in a fragment, preferved by Eufebe, "That (k) by the divine power John raised up a dead man to life at Ephefus." Which miracle is also taken notice of by (1) Sozomen, and (m) Nicephorus, and may have been really done. But if we had had a more circumftantial hiftorie of it, and if it had been mentioned by fome other early writers, befide Apollonius, it would have been more credible.

2. There was a book forged with the title of the Travels of Paul and Thecla by a Prefbyter, who was depofed for fo doing, as related by Tertullian. Jerome fays, that he was a Prefbyter in Afia, and that he was convicted before St. John of being the author of it, and for that reason was depofed. Of this matter we have already spoken diftinctly already, and therefore refer to what was then (n) faid.

3. It is alfo related of our Apoftle, that going to bathe at Ephesus, and perceiving, that Cerinthus, or, as others fay, Ebion, was already in the bath, he came out again haftily, and would not make ufe of the bath. The probability of which account was examined (6) formerly.

4. It is faid, that by order of the Emperour Domitian St. John was caft into a caldron of boyling oyl at Rome, and came out again, without being hurt. The (p) truth of which storie likewise has been confidered by us:

5. Polycrates, Bishop of Ephefus in the later part of the second centu rie, fays, that John was Chrift's High-Prieft, wearing on his forehead a golden plate. Which account (g) has been confidered, and the judgements of divers learned men upon it alleged.

6. Eufebe has a ftorie, from a work of Clement of Alexandria, of a young man in a city of Afia, not far from Ephesus, who after having been in

ftructed

(g) A. d. 44. n. xxix. (b)Probable therefore it is, that he dwelt in his own house at Jerufalem, at leaft till the death of the bleffed Virgin." Cave's Life of St. John, §. iv.

(i) Vid. Bafnag. Ann. 46. num. xxxviii.

(k) See ch. 31. num. iv. Vol. iii. p. 16. (1) Sox. 1. 7. cap. 27. p. 750.

(n) See ch. 27. vol. ii. p. 641... 643. and

(m) Niceph. 1. 4. cap. 25.
ch. 29. p. 698. &c.

(0) See ch. 6. vol. i. p. 190. 191. note (B) the fecond edition, and ch. 114. vol. x. p. 108.

(p) See ch. 27. vol. ii. p. 604. note (E)

x. p. 108.

(9) See ch. 114. vol. x. p. 104.

the fecond edition, and ch. 114. vol.

ftructed in the Chriftian Religion took to evil courfes, and became profligate but nevertheless was afterwards brought to repentance by our Apoftle. This account is inferted at large by Eufebe (r) in his Ecclefiaftical Hiftorie. It has been repeated in like manner by Simeon Metaphraftes in his Life of St. John. Chryfoftom (s) has referred to it. It is alfo briefly told in the (t) Pafchal Chronicle. I have already taken some notice of this (u) ftorie. S. Bafnage (x) thinks it to be a fable, or feigned apologue, compofed to convey useful inftruction. Mr. Lampe (y) is favorable to this history. And, perhaps, it may be true, abating fome circumstances. Which are not feldom added to fuch accounts, to ren

der them the more entertaining.

7. Jerome has given an account of St. John's method of preaching, when he was of a great age, and was not able to make a long discourse. This (z) was taken notice of by us in a proper place. Nor is the truth of it, though related by Jerome only, difputed, either by (a) Lampe, or (b) Le Clerc.

8. It is generally supposed, that (c) John is one of those Apostles, who lived a fingle life. It is faid by (d) Tertullian, and Jerome. Which laft affirms, that (e) ecclefiaftical history affures us of it. And he makes it the ground of all the peculiar privileges of this Apostle.

(r) L. 3. cap. 23.

(s) Ad Theodor. Lapf. T. i. p. 31. ed. Bened.

(t) Chr. Pafch. p. 251. D.

(u) See ch. 114. vol. x. p. 107. 108.

9. Another

(x) Apologo quam hiftoriæ videtur effe propior. . . . Ac fane nefcimus, fi vera hiftoria eft, cur Clemens by, fabula, nomen ipfi primum impofuerit. Fabula fuit ratione rei fignit. , veritafque refpectu rei fignificatæ, quæ mentibus proponebatur, nempe eximii paftoris officium, ac vis pœnitentiæ. Non infolens erat antiquis, uti apologis ejufmodi ad informandos mores..... Si cui tamen placet de Joanne Clementis narrationem veram hiftoriam effe, quia fic veteribus vifum, de hac re quidem contendere nolumus. Bafn. ann. 97. num. x.

(y) Prolegom. 1. i. cap. v. num. iii. (z) Vol. x. p. 103.

ix.

(a) Licet enim Hieronymus folus hujus narrationis auctor fit, nihil tamen occurrit, quod non cum more Joannis, ut cum ratione Ecclefiæ ejus temporis apprime convenit. Lamp. Proleg. l. i. cap. v. n.

(b) H. E. ann. 99. num. i.

(c) Vid. Lamp. Proleg. l. i. cap. i. num. xiii.

(d) Joannes Chrifti fpado. De Monog. cap. 17. p. 688.

(e) Talem fuifle eunuchum, quem Jefus amavit plurimum, Evangeliftam Joannera, ecclefiaftice credunt hiftoriæ: qui recubuit fuper pectus Jefu: qui, Petro tardius ambulante, elatus virginitatis alis cucurrit ad Dominum : qui in fecreta divinæ fe nativitatis immergens, aufus eft dicere: In principio erat Verbum, &c. In If. cap. LVI. Tom. 3. p. 410.

Joannes vero notter, quafi aquila, ad fuperna volat, et ad ipfum Patrem pervenit, dicens: In principio erat Verbum, &c. Expofuit virginitas, quod nuptiæ fcire non poterant. Et ut brevi fermone multa comprehendam, doceamque, cujus privilegii fit Joannes, imo in Joanne virginitas: a Domino virgine, mater virgo virgini difcipulo commendatur. Adv. Jovin. I. i. T. P. 2. p. 169. Vid, et ad. Princip. virg. ep. 96. al. 16. ib. p. 780. f.

9. Another thing faid of John, is, that he was banished into Patmos, an island of the Mediterranean Sea, not far from the coaft of Afia. And, if he is the writer of the book of the Revelation, which we do not now difpute, the thing is unquestioned. But I have deferred the confideration of this particular, till now, because learned moderns are not agreed about the time of it.

men of later times.

V. I fhall therefore firft put down the accounts of ancient authors, and then obferve the opinions of learned The time, when he was banished to Patmos. Irenæus fays of the revelation, " that (f) it was feen no long time ago, but almoft in our age, at the end of the reign of Domitian." And though Irenæus does not fay, that St. John was then in Patmos, yet fince he fuppofeth him to be the perfon, who had the revelation, he must have believed him to be then in Patmos, as the book itself fays. ch. i. 9.

Clement, of Alexandria, in his book, entitled, Who is the rich man that may be faved, as cited by Eufebe, fpeaks (g) of "John's returning from Patmos to Ephefus, after the death of the tyrant." By whom, it is probable, he means Domitian.

Tertullian, in his Apology, fpeaks of Domitian, as (h) having banifhed fome Chriftians, and afterwards giving them leave to return home probably intending St. John, and fome others. In another work he fays, "that (i) John having been fent for to Rome, was caft into a veffel of boyling oyl, and then banished into an ifland;" in the time of Domitian, as is most probable.

Origen, explaining Matt. xx. 23. fays: "James (k) the brother of John, was killed with a fword by Herod. And a Roman Emperour, "as tradition teaches, banished John into the ifland Patmos for the tef"timonie, which he bore to the word of truth. And John himself bears "witness to his banishment, omitting the name of the Emperour, by "whom he was banifhed, faying in the Revelation: I John, who also am your brother and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jefus Chrift, was in the ifle of Patmos, for the word of God, and for the "teftimonie of Jefus Christ. And (1) it seems, that the Revelation was "feen in that ifland."

Victorin, Bishop of Pettaw about 290. again and again fays, that (m) John was banished by Domitian, and in his reign faw the revelation.

(f) See cap. 17. Vol. i. p. 379.

Eufebe,

(3) Επειδὴ γὰςτα τυράννω τελευτήσαντος, ἀπὸ τῆς πατμὲ τῆς νήσει μετῆλθεν εἰς τὴν Epsom. x. λ. Ap. Eufeb. H. E. l. 3. c. 23. p. 92.

(b) Tentaverat et Domitianus, portio Neronis de crudelitate. Sed qua et homo facile ceptum repreffit, reftitutis etiam quos relegaverat. Apol. cap. 5. (i) ... habes Romam, ... ubi Apoftolus Joannes, pofteaquam in oleum igneum demerfus, nihil paffus eft, in infulam relegatur. De Pr. Haer, cap, 36. p. 245.

(k) Comm. in Matt. T. i. p. 417. Huet.

(1) Καὶ ἔοικε τὴν ἀποκάλυψιν ἐν τῇ νήσῳ τεθεωρηκέναι. Ibid. C. (m) See Vol. v. p. 223.

Eufebe, giving an account of Domitian's perfecution, fays: "In (7) this perfecution, as it is faid, John, the Apostle and Evangelift, being ftill living, was banished into the island Patmos for the teftimonie of the word of God."

Epiphanius, as formerly (p) fhewn, fays: "John prophesied in the isle of Patmos, in the reign of Claudius." And in another place, then only referred to, he says: "John wrote his Gofpel in his old age, when he ર was more than ninety years old, after his return from Patmos, which (q) was in the time of Claudius Cæfar."

Jerome, in his book of Illuftrious Men, as (r) formerly cited, fays: "Domitian in the fourteenth year of his reign raifing the fecond persecution after Nero, John was banished into the island Patmos, where he wrote the Revelation." And in another work, alfo cited (s) formerly, he fays again: "John was a Prophet, as he faw the Revelation in the island Patmos, where he was banifhed by Domitian." And I fhall now transcribe below (t) in his own words, without tranflating them, his comment upon Matt. xx. 23. where he speaks of St. John's having been banished into Patmos but does not name the Emperour, by whom he was banished.

Sulpicius Severus fays, "that (u) John, the Apostle and Evangelift, was banifhed by Domitian into the island Patmos: where he had visions, and where he wrote the book of the Revelation."

Arethas, in his Commentarie upon the Revelation, fuppofed to be writ in the fixth centurie, fays, upon the authority of Eufebius, that (x) John was banished into Patmos by Domitian.

Ifidore, of Seville, near the end of the fixth centurie, fays: "Domitian (y) raised a perfecution against the Chriftians. In his time the Apostle John having been banifhed into the ifland Patmos faw the Revelation."

We may now make a remark or two.

1. All thefe teftimonies are of use, whether they name the island, whe e John was banifhed, or the Emperour, by whom he was banished, or not. They all agree, that St. John was fent thither by way of punishment, or restraint, for bearing witness to the truth. Which con

(n) H. E. l. 3. cap. 18.

(9)

futes

(p) Vol. viii. p. 311.

τὴν ἐπὶ κλαυδία γενομένην καισαρος. Haer. 51. num. xii. (r) See Vol. x. p. 100. (s) P. 102. (t) Quæritur, quomodo calicem martyrii filii Zebedæi, Jacobus videlicet et Joannes, biberint: quum fcriptura narret Jacobum tantum Apoftolum ab Herode capite truncatum: Joannes autem propria morte vitam finierit. Sed fi legamus ecclefiafticas hiftorias, in quibus fertur, quod et ipfe propter martyrium fit miffus in ferventis olei dolium, et inde ad fufcipiendam Christi athleta procefferit, ftatimque relegatus in Patmon infulam fit, videbi mus, martyrio animum non defuiffe, et bibiffe Joannem calicem confeffionis. Comm. in Matt. Tom. 4. P. i. p. 92.

(u) See Vol. xi. p. 11.

coronam

(*) Εξόρισον δὲ αὐτὸν γενέσθαι ἐν τάτμῳ τῇ νήσῳ ὑπὸ τομετιανό, ευσέβιος ὁ παμε φίλει ἐν τῷ χρονικῷ αυτο βιβλίῳ παρατίθεται. Andr. in Apoc, ap. Oecum, Tom 2. f. 654. D.

(y) Vol. xi. p. 377.

futes the opinion of Lightfoot," that (z) John travelling in the ministrie "of the gospel, up and down, from Afia weftward, comes into the ifle "Patmos, in the Icarian fea, an ifland about thirty miles compass. And "there on the Lord's day he has these vifions, and an angel interprets to "him all he faw."

2. All these writers, who mention the time of the Revelation, and of the banishment, fay, it was in the time of Domitian, and that he was the Emperour, by whom St. John was banished: except Epiphanius, who fays, it was in the time of Claudius. As he is fingular, it fhould feem, that he cannot be of any great weight against so many others.

Nevertheless, as fome learned men, particularly Grotius, have paid great regard to Epiphanius in this point; it is fit, we should confider, what they fay.

Says Grotius in a tract, entitled A Comment upon divers texts of the New Teftament, relating to Antichrift; particularly, upon the tenth verfe of the xvii. chapter of the Revelation: "John (a) began to be il"luminated with divine vifions in the ifland Patmos, in the time of Clau"dius. Which was the opinion of the most ancient Chriftians. See "Epiphanius in the Herefie of the Alogians. Claudius, as we learn from "A&s xviii. 2. commanded all Jews to depart from Rome. Under the "name of Jews, Chriftians alfo were comprehended, as has been obferv"ed by many learned men. And it cannot be doubted, but many Go"vernours of the Roman provinces followed that example. So there"fore John was driven from Ephefus."

That argument was long ago examined by (b) David Blondel, who fays, . It is not true, that the most ancient writers faid, that St. John was fent into Patmos by Claudius. It is Epiphanius only, who fays fo. He is altogether fingular. There are no ancients, either before or after him, who have faid this. 2. As Epiphanius is fingular, he ought not to be regarded. 3. There was no perfecution of the Chriftians in the reign of Claudius. There is no proof from any ancient monuments, that Chriftians, as fuch, fuffered banishment under that Emperour. It is allowed, that (c) Nero was the firft Roman Emperour, who perfecut

ed

(x) Harmonie of the N. T. Vol. i, p. 341. (a) Cœpit autem Joannes in Patmo effe, et Dei vifus illuminari Claudii temporibus, quæ vetuftiffimorum Chriftianorum eft fententia, non Domitiani, ut volunt alii. Vide Epiphanium in Hærefi Alogorum. Claudius Judæos, fub quorum nomine tunc et Chriftiani cenfebantur, ut multis viris doctis obfervatum eft, Roma pepulerat, Act. xviii. 2. Quod exemplum non dubium eft, quin imitati fint multi Præfides Romanorum provinciarum. Ita Ephefo expulfus Joannes, Grot. Commentatio ad loca quædam N. T, que de Antichrifto agunt, aut agere putantur. Opp. Tom. 3.

(b) Des Sibylles. 1. 2. ch. iii. p. 145.,.. 148. à Charenten. 1649.

(e) Confulite commentarios veftros. Illic reperietis, primum Neronem in hanc fectam, cum maxime Romæ orientem, Cæfariano gladio ferociffe. Sed tali dedicatore damnationis noftræ etiam gloriamur. Tertull. Ap. cap. v.

Nerone imperante... Qui dignus exftitit, qui perfecutionem in Chriftianos primus inciperet. Sulp. Sev. Hift. Sacr. 1. 2. cap. 39.

Nam primus Romæ Chriftianos fuppliciis et mortibus affecit. P, Orof, l. 7. cap. 7.

Vid, et Eufeb, H. E, 1. 2. cap. 25. p. 67.