(1) As
early as the sixteenth century, however, the strongest doubts were
expressed regarding the authenticity of any of the epistles ascribed
to Ignatius. The Magdeburg Centuriators first attacked them, and
Calvin declared (p. 260) them to be spurious,[^1] an opinion fully
shared by Chemnitz, Dallaeus, and others; and similar doubts,
more or less definite, were expressed throughout the seventeenth
century,(2) and onward to comparatively recent times,(3) although
the means of forming a judgment were not then so complete as now.
That the epistles were interpolated there was no doubt. Fuller
examination and more comprehensive knowledge of the subject have
confirmed earlier doubts, and a large mass of critics recognise
that the authenticity of none of these epistles can be established,
and that they can only be considered later and spurious
compositions.(4)" [62:1]
In the first note (1) on p. 259 I referred to Bunsen, Bleek, Boehringer,
Cureton, Ewald, Lipsius, Milman, Ritschl, and Weiss, and Dr. Lightfoot
proceeds to analyse my statements as follows: and I at once put his
explanation and my text in parallel columns, italicising parts of both
to call more immediate attention to the point:
THE TRUTH. | DR.
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