As an illustration of the difficulty of interpreta- tion in this book we may take the conception of Antichrist, mentioned only by name in the Epistles of St. John. Here an ancient Babylonian myth, which has passed through various stages and has left traces in the OT, and which is referred to in 2 Th 3, is taken over by the Apocalyptist. The beast in Rev 13 and 17 is somehow Antichrist, though he may also stand for Nero and Doniitian. Can we say that the term ' beast ' is a ' metaphor ' standing for a Roman Emperor? The value we attach to the Apocalypse is dependent on whether we think it substantially a divine vision vouch- safed to the Seer of Patmos or a mere interesting congeries of symbols. But a question of termino- logy shades off indistinctly into one of theology and interpretation.
For Antichrist see W. Bousset, The Antichi-ist Legend, Eng. tr.,1896; H. B. Swete, 'Antichrist in the Province of Asia,' in Apocalypse of St. John-, pp. Ixxviii-xciii ; A. E. Brooke, Johannine EpUlles, pp. 69-79.
11. Is EARLY Christian literature to A.D. 100.— i. Agrapha.— (a) Oxyrhynchus Logion 5 (No. 30 in HDB v., art. 'Agrapha'): lyeipov t6i/ Xieov K&KeT ivp-qiTus ixe, crxt<'oi' t6 ^uXov Kayii iKet clp.1, ' Raise the stone and you will find me, cleave the wood and there am I.' The metaphor means that we shall find our Lord in the ordinary occupations of daily life. (6) Saying quoted in Clem. Alex. Strom, 'i. 28. 177 (No. 58 in HDB) : yifeaSe Bi i6Kiy.oi. Tpaire^iTat, ra fi^v aTrodoKipui^ovTfS, rd 5^ Ka\i>v Kari- XovT€s, ' Show yourselves approved money-changers,
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rejectin<r some but keeping what is good ' {Tpare^T-rjt in the I^T only in Mt 25-''). Origen, in Jnhnnn. xix. 7, also quotes 56Ki^oi Tpairc^lraL ytveffQ^ ; and it is quoted elsewhere. Cf. the other 0.\yrliyii- chus Logion (3) (No. 28 in HDB), ' and I foiind all men drunken and none was athirst among them. And my soul is pained for the sons of men because they are blind in their heart and see not, poor and they know not their poverty.' In another fragment we have: 'Jesus saith, Who are they that draw us into the Kingdom, if the Kingdom be in heaven ? Verily I say unto j'ou. The birds of the heaven, and every creature that is under the earth and in the earth and the iishes of the sea, these are they that draw you' (see Grenfell- Hunt, Sayings of Our Lord, 1897, and jSew Sayings of Jesus, 1904).
2. 1 Clement. — v'iii. ; iav wffiv al afiapriai vfiCiv airb TT)% yTJs ^ojs rov ovpavou, Kal iav SjaLv iruppiTepai KOKKov, Kai fji.€\avwTepaL ffaKKov, * if your sins reach from earth to heaven and are redder tlian scarlet and blacker than sackcloth . . .' (a reminiscence of Is 1'*). XXX. : ivSuja/xeffa ttjv oixivoiap, ' let us clothe ourselves with concord.' xxxiii. : ^v Ipyon ayaBol^ Trdfres ^KO(T/ir}0tjaav ol dlKaioi, * All righteous men have been adorned with good works.' xxxvii. : Christians are compared to soldiers ; the metaphor is sustained throughout the chapter. Ivii. : Kap-ipav- Tes TO. ydpara ttjs KapdLas vfiivv, ' bending the knees of your hearts.' ^Sovrai tt]S ^avruiv ddoij toOs Kapnovs, ' they shall eat the fruits of their way.'
3. Odes of Solomon. — These are full of beautiful and striking metaphors, of which the following are instances, i. 4 : ' Thy fruits are full grown and perfect, they are full of thy salvation.' iv. 9 : ' distil thy dews upon us and open thy rich fountains that pour forth to us milk and honey.' ix. 8 : ' An ever- lasting crown for ever is truth. Blessed are they who set it on their heads.' xi. 5, 7 : ' And I was established upon the rock of truth . . . and I drank and was inebriated with the living water' (cf. 1 Co 10' : ' the rock was Christ,' above), xiii. 2 : ' Love His holiness and clothe yourself therewith.' xvii. 13 : ' And I sowed ray fruits in hearts, and transformed them into myself.' xxii. 4, 5 : ' He who gave me authority over bonds that I might loose them ; He that overthrew by my hands the dragon with seven heads' (Titus or Pompey [?] ; cf. Ps 74", Ezk 29'). XXV. 8 : ' And I was clothed with the covering of thy Spirit, and thou didst remove from me my raiment of skin ' (here and in xxi. 2 the reference is to Gn 3-'). xxxi. 2: ' error went astray and perished at His hand : and folly found no path to walk in, and was submerged by the truth of the Lord' (here, as elsewhere in Jewish and early Christian literature, qualities are personified).
See J. H. Bernard, Odes of Solomm (TS viii. 3 [19121); J. Rendel Harris, Odes of Solojtwn'^, 1911, An Early Christian Psalter (abridged translation of Odes), 1909.
4. Didache. — i. 1 : 65oi 5vo etal, fiia tt)s i*w^?, Kal Ilia rov davdrov, ' the way of life and the way of death ' (cf. Christianity as ' the way,' Ac 9-, 2 P 2-). i. 6 : Idpojrdrw i] 4\€'qfiO(x(rvq aov eh rds X^^P^^ a-ov, ' Let thine alms sweat into thine hands.' vi. 2 : el ix^v yap ^vvaffat, (3a<rrdaaL 6\ov rhv i^vybv rov Kvplov, ' if thou art able to bear the whole yoke of the Lord.' xii. 5 : xP"^rifnropos, ' making trade of Christ.' xvi, 3 : Kai arpa^ijo'ovTat rd Tpd^ara els "KvKovs, 'and the sheep shall be turned into wolves.'