THE THREE BOOKS OF THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS ON THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. TRANSLATED, WITH NOTES, BY THE REV. W. B. FLOWER, B.A., LATE SCHOLAR OF MAGDALENE COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, AND ENGLISH LONDON: JOSEPH MASTERS, ALDERSGATE STREET, AND NEW BOND STREET. MDCCCLX. 110.0.146. TO THE REV. JOHN KEBLE, M.A., ONE OF THE FIRST AND ABLEST OF THE RESTORERS OF Patristic Studies, THIS VOLUME IS, BY HIS KIND PERMISSION, GRATEFULLY DEDICATED. NOTICE OF THEOPHILUS. THE materials for any notice of the life of Theophilus are exceedingly scanty. He himself tells us in the course of this work that he was induced to throw aside his idolatry and superstition, being convinced of the truth of the Christian religion by the careful study of Holy Scripture. He was elevated to the episcopate in 168, being the sixth in succession in the see of Antioch. (1, Euodius; 2, Ignatius; 3, Hero; 4, Cornelius; 5, Eros; 6, Theophilus.) He appears to have been not only diligent in the duties of the episcopate, but also most constant in the study and explanation of Holy Writ. Various works, (and amongst them a harmony of the Gospels,) are mentioned; and himself also alludes in this treatise to other of his writings. It is much to be regretted that all we have remaining are the three books addressed to Autolycus; for their elegant style and facility of argument show that herein the Church has suffered loss. This differs from most apologetic writings, which may be divided into two |