De auctoribus Novi Testamenti.
The Fourfold Gospel
Many attempted to write Gospels, but only four were received into the canon by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, prefigured by Old Testament types.
Many have written Gospels, but some, without the Holy Spirit, have tried harder to arrange a narrative than to weave the fabric of truth from history. That is why the holy fathers, taught by the Holy Spirit, accepted only four into the canon, rejecting the rest: that is, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John — likened to the four rivers of paradise, the four beams of the ark, and the four living creatures in Ezekiel.1
The Four Evangelists
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John each wrote their Gospel in order, with brief notes on their languages and circumstances.
First, Matthew wrote his Gospel in Hebrew. Second, Mark wrote in Greek. Third, Luke — the most learned in Greek of all the evangelists, since he was a physician in Greece — wrote his Gospel to Theophilus the bishop, to whom he also wrote the Acts of the Apostles. Fourth and last, John wrote his Gospel.
Paul's Epistles and the Letter to the Hebrews
Paul wrote fourteen epistles, though the authorship of the letter to the Hebrews was disputed in the tradition.
Paul writes fourteen epistles: ten to churches, four to individuals. As for the last one, to the Hebrews, most say it is not Paul's; some think Barnabas wrote it, and others suspect Clement.
The Catholic Epistles and Revelation
The seven canonical Catholic epistles are listed, and John's Revelation is located to his banishment on Patmos.
There are seven canonical letters: one from James, two from Peter, three from John, and one from Jude. The apostle John wrote the Revelation on the island of Patmos, where he had been banished.
Read the original Latin
Plures evangelia scripserunt, sed quidam sine Spiritu Sancto magis conati sunt ordinare narrationem quam historiae texere veritatem. unde sancti patres, per Spiritum Sanctum docti, quattuor tantum in auctoritatem receperunt, ceteris reprobatis, id est, Matthaei, Marci, Lucae, Ioannis ad similitudinem quattuor fluminum paradisi, et quattuor vectium arcae, et quattuor animalium in Ezechiele. primum Matthaeus evangelium suum scripsit Hebraice. secundus Marcus Graece scripsit. tertius Lucas inter omnes evangelistas Graeci sermonis eruditissimus, quippe ut medicus in Graecia, evangelium scripsit Theophilo episcopo, ad quem etiam Actus apostolorum idem scripsit. quartus et ultimus Ioannes evangelium scripsit. Paulus quattuordecim scribit epistulas, decem ad ecclesias, quattuor ad personas. ultimam autem ad Hebraeos plerique dicunt non esse Pauli, eandemque alii Barnabam scripsisse, alii Clementem suspicantur.
canonicae epistulae septem sunt: una Iacobi, duae Petri, tres Ioannis, una Iudae. Apocalypsim scripsit Ioannes apostolus in Patmos insula, in exsilio relegatus.
Notes
- 1 ↩Rendered 'beams' for vectium (gen. pl. of vex); the precise sense of this rare word is uncertain in this context.
Didascalicon de Studio Legendi (On the Study of Reading) companion
Hugh said begin with small daily portions. Start tomorrow.
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