(NOTE: The electronic text obtained from The Electronic Bible Society was
not completely corrected. EWTN has corrected all mistakes found.)
CAIUS, PRESBYTER OF ROME
[TRANSLATED BY THE REV. S. D. F. SALMOND, M.A.]
FRAGMENTS OF CAIUS
I.--FROM A DIALOGUE OR DISPUTATION AGAINST PROCLUS.(1)
I. (Preserved in Eusebius' Eccles. Hist., ii. 25.)
AND I can show the trophies of the apostles.(2) For if you choose to go
to the Vatican or to the Ostian Road,(3) you will find the trophies of
those who founded this church.
II. (In the same, iii. 28.)
But Cerinthus, too, through revelations written, as he would have us
believe, by a great apostle, brings before us marvellous things, which he
pretends were shown him by angels; alleging that after the resurrection the
kingdom of Christ is to be on earth, and that the flesh(4) dwelling in
Jerusalem is again to be subject to desires and pleasures. And being an
enemy to the Scriptures of God, wishing to deceive men, he says that there
is to be a space of a thousand years for marriage festivals.
III. (In the same, iii. 31.)
And after this there were four prophetesses, daughters of Philip, at
Hierapolis in Asia. Their tomb is there, and that, too, of their father.(5)
II.--AGAINST THE HERESY OF ARTEMON.(6)
I. (In Eusebius' Eccl. Hist., v. 28.)
For they say that all those of the first age, and the apostles
themselves, both received and taught those things which these men now
maintain; and that the truth of Gospel preaching was preserved until the
times of Victor, who was the thirteenth bishop in Rome from Peter, and that
from his successor Zephyrinus the truth was falsified. And perhaps what
they allege might be credible, did not the Holy Scriptures, in the first
place, contradict them. And then, besides, there are writings of certain
brethren older than the times of Victor, which they wrote against the
heathen in defence of the truth, and against the heresies of their time: I
mean Justin and Miltiades, and Tatian and Clement, and many others, in all
which divinity is ascribed to Christ. For who is ignorant of the books of
Irenaeus and Melito, and the rest, which declare Christ to be God and man?
All the psalms, too, and hymns(7) of brethren, which have been written from
the beginning by the faithful, celebrate Christ the Word of God, ascribing
divinity to Him. Since the doctrine of the Church, then, has been
proclaimed so many years ago, how is it possible that men have preached, up
to the time of Victor, in the manner asserted by these? And how are they
not ashamed to utter these calumnies against Victor, knowing well that
Victor excommunicated Theodotus the tanner,(8) the leader and father of
this God-denying apostasy, who first affirmed that Christ was a mere man?
For if, as they allege, Victor entertained the very opinions which their
blasphemy teaches, how should he have cast off Theodotus, the author of
this heresy?
II. (In Eusebius, as above.)
I shall, at any rate, remind many of the brethren of an affair that
took place in our own time,--an affair which, had it taken place in Sodom,
might, I think, have been a warning even to them. There was a certain
confessor, Natalius,(9) who lived not in distant times, but in our own day.
He was deluded once by Asclepiodotus, and another Theodotus, a banker. And
these were both disciples of Theodotus the tanner, the first who was cut
off from communion on account of this sentiment, or rather senselessness,
by Victor, as I said, the bishop of the time.(1) Now Natalius was persuaded
by them to let himself be chosen(2) bishop of this heresy, on the
understanding that he should receive from them a salary of a hundred and
fifty denarii a month. Connecting himself, therefore, with them, he was on
many occasions admonished by the Lord in visions. For our merciful God and
Lord Jesus Christ was not willing that a witness of His own sufferings
should perish, being without the Church. But as he gave little heed to the
visions, being ensnared by the dignity of presiding among them, and by that
sordid lust of gain which ruins very many, he was at last scourged by holy
angels, and severely beaten through a whole night, so that he rose early in
the morning, anti threw himself, clothed with sackcloth and covered with
ashes, before Zephyrinus the bishop, with great haste and many tears,
rolling beneath the feet not only of the clergy, but even of the laity, and
moving the pity of the compassionate Church of the merciful Christ by his
weeping. And after trying many a prayer, and showing the weals left by the
blows which he had received, he was at length with difficulty admitted to
communion.
III. (In Eusebius, as above)
The sacred Scriptures they have boldly falsified, and the canons of the
ancient faith(3) they have rejected, and Christ they have ignored, not
inquiring what the sacred Scriptures say, but laboriously seeking to
discover what form of syllogism might be contrived to establish their
impiety.(4) And should any one lay before them a word of divine Scripture,
they examine whether it will make a connected or disjoined form of
syllogism;(5) and leaving the Holy Scriptures of God, they study geometry,
as men who are of the earth, and speak of the earth, and are ignorant of
Him who cometh from above. Euclid, indeed, is laboriously measured(6) by
some of them. and Aristotle and Theophrastus are admired; and Galen, (7)
forsooth, is perhaps even worshipped by some of them. But as to those men
who abuse the arts of the unbelievers to establish their own heretical
doctrine, and by the craft of the impious adulterate the simple faith of
the divine Scriptures, what need is there to say that these are not near
the faith? For this reason is it they have boldly laid their hands upon the
divine Scriptures, alleging that they have corrected them. And that I do
not state this against them falsely, any one who pleases may ascertain. For
if any one should choose to collect and compare all their copies together,
he would find many discrepancies among them. The copies of Asclepiades,(8)
at any rate, will be found at variance with those of Theodotus. And many
such copies are to be had, because their disciples were very zealous in
inserting the corrections, as they call them, i.e., the corruptions made by
each of them. And again, the copies of Hermophilus do not agree with these;
anti as for those of Apollonius,(9) they are not consistent even with
themselves. For one may compare those which were formerly prepared by
them(10) with those which have been afterwards corrupted with a special
object, and many discrepancies will be found. And as to the great audacity
implied in this offence, it is not likely that even they themselves can be
ignorant of that. For either they do not believe that the divine Scriptures
were dictated by the Holy Spirit, and are thus infidels; or they think
themselves wiser than the Holy Spirit, and what are they then but
demoniacs? Nor can they deny that the crime is theirs, when the copies have
been written with their own hand; nor(11) did they receive such copies of
the Scriptures from those by whom they were first instructed in the faith,
and they cannot produce copies from which these were transcribed. And some
of them did not even think it worth while to corrupt them; but simply
denying the law and the prophets for the sake of their lawless and impious
doctrine, trader pretexts of grace, they sunk down to the lowest abyss of
perdition.(12)
III.--CANON MURATORIANUS.(1)
(In Muratori, V. C. Antiq. Ital. Med. av., vol. iii. col. 854.)
1. . . . those things at which he was present he placed thus.(2) The
third book of the Gospel, that according to Luke, the well-known physician
Luke wrote in his own name(3) in order after the ascension of Christ, and
when Paul had associated him with himself(4) as one studious of right.(5)
Nor did he himself see the Lord in the flesh; and he, according as he was
able to accomplish it, began(6) his narrative with the nativity of John.
The fourth Gospel is that of John, one of the disciples. When his fellow-
disciples and bishops entreated him, he said, "Fast ye now with me for the
space of three days, and let us recount to each other whatever may be
revealed to each of us." On the same night it was revealed to Andrew, one
of the apostles, that John should narrate all things in his own name as
they called them to mind.(7) And hence, although different points s are
taught us in the several books of the Gospels, there is no difference as
regards the faith of believers, inasmuch as in all of them all things are
related under one imperial Spirit,(9) which concern the Lord's nativity,
His passion, His resurrection, His conversation with His disciples, and His
twofold advent,--the first in the humiliation of rejection, which is now
past, and the second in the glory of royal power, which is yet in the
future. What marvel is it, then, that John brings forward these several
things(10) so constantly in his epistles also, saying in his own person,
"What we have seen with our eyes, and heard with our ears, and our hands
have handled, that have we written."(11) For thus he professes himself to
be not only the eye-witness, but also the hearer; and besides that, the
historian of all the wondrous facts concerning the Lord in their order.
2. Moreover, the Acts of all the Apostles are comprised by Luke in one
book, and addressed to the most excellent Theophilus, because these
different events took place when he was present himself; and he shows this
clearly--i.e., that the principle on which he wrote was, to give only what
fell under his own notice--by the omission (12) of the passion of Peter,
and also of the journey of Paul, when he went from the city--Rome--to
Spain.
3. As to the epistles(13) of Paul, again, to those who will understand
the matter, they indicate of themselves what they are, and from what place
or with what object they were directed. He wrote first of all, and at
considerable length, to the Corinthians, to check the schism of heresy; and
then to the Galatians, to forbid circumcision; and then to the Romans on
the rule of the OId Testament Scriptures, and also to show them that Christ
is the first object(14) in these;--which it is needful for us to discuss
severally,(15) as the blessed Apostle Paul, following the rule of his
predecessor John, writes to no more than seven churches by name, in this
order: the first to the Corinthians, the second to the Ephesians, the third
to the Philippians, the fourth to the Colossians, the fifth to the
Galatians, the sixth to the Thessalonians, the seventh to the Romans.
Moreover, though he writes twice to the Corinthians and Thessalonians for
their correction, it is yet shown--i.e., by this sevenfold writing--that
there is one Church spread abroad through the whole world. And John too,
indeed, in the Apocalypse, although he writes only to seven churches, yet
addresses all. He wrote, besides these, one to Philemon, and one to Titus,
and two to Timothy, in simple personal affection and love indeed; but yet
these are hallowed in the esteem of the Catholic Church, and in the
regulation of ecclesiastical discipline. There are also in circulation one
to the Laodiceans, and another to the Alexandrians, forged under the name
of Paul, and addressed against the heresy of Marcion; and there are also
several others which cannot be received into the Catholic Church, for it is
not suitable for gall to be mingled with honey.
4. The Epistle of Jude, indeed,(16) and two belonging to the above-
named John--or bearing the name of John--are reckoned among the Catholic
epistles.(17) And the book of Wisdom, written by the friends of Solomon in
his honour. We receive also the Apocalypse of John and that of Peter,
though some amongst us will not have this latter read in the Church. The
Pastor, moreover, did Hermas write very recently in our times in the city
of Rome, while his brother bishop Plus sat in the chair of the Church of
Rome. And therefore it also ought to be read; but it cannot be made
public(1) in the Church to the people, nor placed among the prophets, as
their number is complete, nor among the apostles to the end of time. Of the
writings of Arsinous, called also Valentinus, or of Miltiades, we receive
nothing at all. Those are rejected too who wrote the new Book of Psalms for
Marcion, together with Basilides and the founder of the Asian
Cataphrygians.(2)
Taken from "The Early Church Fathers and Other Works" originally published
by Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. in English in Edinburgh, Scotland beginning in
1867. (ANF 5, Roberts and Donaldson). The digital version is by The
Electronic Bible Society, P.O. Box 701356, Dallas, TX 75370, 214-407-WORD.
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