INTRODUCTION TO THE AMERICAN* EDIT 1 H
Second century: Justin Martyr (<1. 167) conies next iu the order of time, and makes much use of the four Got* pels, but in a very free and loose way. Irena-us of Lyons (d. 202) is the most important witness of the second cen- tury, and his great work against the Gnostic heresies is re- plete with Scripture knowledge, but exists for the most part only in Latin version.*
Third century : Clemens Alexandrians (d. 220), and still more the great Origcn (184-254). Next to them II ip- polytus (disciple of Ircnaeus, about 220), Gregory Thamua- turgus (disciple of Origcn, 243), Dionysius Alexandriuus (265), and Methodius (d. 311).
In the fourth and fifth centuries : Kuscbius the historian (d. 340, much used by Tischendorf and Tregelles), Athana- sius (d. 373), Basilius Magnus (d. 379), Gregory Nazian- zen (d. 389), Gregory Nyssen (d. 371), Ephracm Syrus (d. 373), Cyril of Jerusalem (d. 386), Didymus of Alexan- dria (d. 395), Chrysostom (d. 407), Epiphanius (d. 403), Theodore of Mopsuestia (d. 428), Cyril of Alexandria (d. 444), and Thcodorct (d. 458).
B. Latin Fatker*.
Second century : Tcrtullian (about 200), very important for the Old Latin Version.
Third century: Cyprian (d. 258), Novatian (fl. 251), Lactantius (306).
- He testifies, e.g., to the last twelve verses of Mark, and to
the existence of two readings of the mystic numl>cr in Rev. xiii. 18: the one is 666, which lie found in the liest copies, and ex- plains to mean fjaMiion (while several modern exegetes make it out to mean, in Hebrew letters, Neron Cmar); the other 616, which is the numerical value of Nero (without the final n) Omar,
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