The _Vision of Hermas_ is a simple rhapsody, unworthy of a moment's
consideration, of which Mosheim justly remarks: "The discourse which he
puts into the mouths of those celestial beings is more insipid and
senseless than what we commonly hear among the meanest of the multitude"
("Eccles. Hist," p. 32). Its date is very doubtful; the Canon of
Muratori puts it in the middle of the second century, saying that it was
written by Hermas, brother to Pius, Bishop of Rome, who died A.D. 142.
(See "Norton's Genuineness of the Gospels," vol. i., pp. 341, 342.) "The
_Epistle to the Philippians_, which is ascribed to Polycarp, Bishop of
Smyrna, who, in the middle of the second century, suffered martyrdom in
a venerable and advanced age, is looked upon by some as genuine; by
others as spurious; and it is no easy matter to determine this question"
("Eccles. Hist," p. 32). "Upon no internal ground can any part of this
Epistle be pronounced genuine; there are potent reasons for considering
it spurious, and there is no evidence of any value whatever supporting
its authenticity" ("Sup. Rel.," p. 283).
The editors of the "Apostolic Fathers" dispute this assertion, and say:
"It is abundantly established by external testimony, and is also
supported by the internal evidence" (p.
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