2. The Apocalypse of St. Paul is mentioned by Au- gustine (Tract. 98 in Ev. Joan.), who asserts that it abounds in fables, and was an invention to which occa- sion was furnished by 2 Cor. xii. 2-4. This appears from
REVELATIONS, SPURIOUS 1074
HE VENUES
Epiphanius (Hares, xxxviii, 2) to have been an anti- Jewish Gnostic production, and to be identical with the 'Avafiarucop of Paul, used only by the anti-Jewish seel of Gnostics called Canutes. It is said by Sozomen (Hist. Eccles. vii. 19) to have been held in great esteem. It was also known to Theophylact and (EcumeniuB (on 2 Cor. xii, l). and to Nicephorus in the 9th century ( Can. iii, 4). Whether this is the same work which Dupin rod ( 'anon I says is still extant among the < lopts is rendered more than doubtful by Fabricius ( < 'od. Apoc. ii. '.i.', i i and Grabe (SpicUeg. i. 85). The Revelation of 8t. Paul, contained in an Oxford MS., is shown by Grabe (loc. cit.) to be a much later work. Theodosius of Al- exandria ('Epwrfifiara irtpi TrpoaoiSiHv) says that the Apocalypse of St. Paul is not a work of the apostle, but of Paul of Samosata, from whom the Paulicians derived their name. The Revelation of St. Paul is one of the spurious works condemned by pope Gelasius, together with the Revelations of St. Thomas and St. Stephen.
3. There was an apocryphal Revelation of St. John extant in the time of Theodosius the Grammarian, the only one of the ancients who mentions it, and who rails
it a pseudepigraphal I k. It was not known what had
become of it, until the identical work was recently pub- lished, from a Vatican as well as a Vienna manuscript, by Birch, in his Auctarium, under the title of "The Apocalypse of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Divine." From the silence of the ancients respect- ing this work, it could scarcely have been written before the 3d or 4th century. Liicke has pointed out other in- ternal marks of a later age, as, for instance, the mention of incense, which he observes first came into use in the Christian Church after the 4th century (although here the author of the spurious book may have taken his idea from Rev. v, 8; viii, 3) ; also of images and rich crosses, which were not in use before the "4th and 5th centu- ries." The name patriarch, applied here to a dignitary in the Church, belongs to the same age. The time in which Theodosius himself lived is not certainly known, but he cannot be placed earlier than the 5th century, which Liicke conceives to be the most probable age of the work itself. Regarding the object and occasion of the work (which is a rather servile imitation of the gen- nine Apocalypse ), in consequence of the absence of dates and of internal characteristics, there are no certain indi- cations. Kirch's text, as well as his manuscripts, abounds in errors; but Thilo has collated two Paris manuscripts for his intended edition (see his Acta Thomce, Proleg. p. lxxxiii). Assemani ( Bibl. Orient. III. i, 282) states that there is an Arabic version among the Vatican MSS.
III. Psi ii.l,:-/,; ,-, I, ill, ins />• ariiif/ E.rtracitntntical Xttmrs. —Of these the following deserve special notice:
1. The Prophecies <>f Hystaspes were in use among the Christians in the 2d century. This was apparently a pagan production, but is cited by Justin Martyr, in his ipology, as agreeing with the Sibylline oracles in predicting the destruction of the world by lire. Cle- rnens Alexandrinus (Strom.vi) and Lactantius (Instit. vii, lot also cite passages from these prophecies, which bear a decidedly Christian character.
2. I'd' ancienl romantic fiction entitled the Shepfo rd of II, mi, is is not without its apocalyptic elements. These, however, are confined to book i. :;, l; but they are destitute of signification or originality. Set Hi r- u \-.
:;. The Apocalypse o/Cerinthus is mentioned by Eu- sebius (Hist. Eccles. hi. 28), and by Theodorel (Fab. II" i,i. ii.:;;. Eusebius describes it as a revelation of an earthly and Bensual kingdom of Christ, according to the heresy of the Chiliasts. of the Revelations of St I homas and St Stephen, we know nothing beyond their condemnation by pop,- Gelasius, except that sixtus of Sienna observes that, according to Serapion. thej were held in high repute by the Manichees; but in the works ol Serapion which we now pos ess there i- no allusion '" ibis. There is, however, an unpublished MS. of Se- rapion in the Hamburg Library, which i- supposed to
contain a more complete copy of his work. See Ce-
l;l\ I III S.
4. The Sibylline Oracles is the title of an apochryphal work, evidently of Christian origin, <>f the early centu- ries of our sera, written as a sort of parody on the famous Roman traditionary books of that name. See Sihyl- i.IM. < IRACLES.
Revenge (F1B(33, >kuki)<tic) means the return of injury for injury, or the infliction of pain on another in consequence of an injury received from him further than the just ends of reparation or punishment require. Re- venge differs materially from resentment, which rises in the mind immediately on being injured; but revenge is a cool and deliberate wickedness, and is often executed years after the offence is given. By some it is consid- ered as a perversion of anger. Anger, it is said, is :( passion given to man for wise and proper purposes, but revenge is the corruption of anger, is unnatural, and therefore ought to be suppressed. It is observable that the proper object of anger is vice; but the object, in general, of revenge, is man. It transfers the hatred due to the vice to the man, to whom it is not due. It is for- bidden by the Scriptures, and is unbecoming the char- acter and spirit of a peaceful follower of Jesus Christ. — Buck, Theol. Diet. s. v. See Asm i:.