Difference between revisions of "Hermas"

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== Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament <ref name="term_56168" /> ==
 
<p> (Ἑρμᾶς, &nbsp;Romans 16:14) </p> <p> [[Hermas]] is a Greek name, a contracted form of several names such as Hermagoras, Hermeros, Hermodorus, Hermogenes, etc., common among members of the Imperial household (J. B. Lightfoot, <i> Philippians </i> 4, 1878, p. 176), It is the last of a group of five names (all Greek) of persons, and ‘the brethren with them,’ saluted by St. Paul. Nothing is known of any member of the group. It is conjectured that together they formed a separate ἐκκλησία or ‘church,’ the locality of which we shall suppose to have been Rome or Ephesus, according to our view of the destination of these salutations. Cf. &nbsp;Romans 16:5; &nbsp;Romans 16:15 and perhaps &nbsp;Romans 16:11, and &nbsp;1 Corinthians 16:19 and perhaps &nbsp;Acts 20:20. Possibly these five men were heads of five separate household churches, or leaders or office-bearers in the Church. </p> <p> T. B. Allworthy. </p>
Hermas <ref name="term_43430" />
       
<p> one of the so-called apostolical fathers (q.v.), the supposed author of a tract that has come down to us under the name of '''''Ποιμήν''''' , ''The Shepherd,'' and generally designated by the title ''Pastor Hermae.'' The authorship. of the tract is uncertain, but it is clearly ''Not'' the work of the [[Hermas]] ( '''''῾Ερμᾶς''''' ) mentioned in &nbsp;Romans 16:14, as Origen, Eusebius, and [[Jerome]] believed, and as the tract itself seems to pretend. The author appears to have been a layman of the 2nd century, probably a Roman tradesman "who had lost his wealth through his own sins and the misdeeds of his neglected sons" (Hilgenfeld; Schaff, ''History Of The Church, '''''§''''' '' 121). Others ascribe it to Hermas or Hermes, brother of Pins, bishop of Rome from A.D. 142 to 157. Of the Greek original we have nothing left but fragments, which are given in Fabricius, Cod. Apocryph. N. Test. 3, 378, and in Grabe, Spicileg. 1, 303. M. d'Abbadie claims (1860) to have discovered a third in Ethiopia, which he has transcribed and translated into Latin (Lpz. 1860); but whether the text from which it is taken is correct is a matter for further investigation. The Greek text was at an early period translated into Latin, and, since the beginning of the 15th century, often published (Paris, 1513, fol.; Strasb. 1522, 4to; Basle, 1555 and 1569, fol.; Oxford, 1685, 12mo; with additions by Le Clerc, Amst. 1698, 1724; Paris, 1715, 12mo). It is also inserted in the various collections of the fathers in Cotelier, [[Patres]] cevi apostolici (Paris, 1672, fol.), and in French in Desprez's Bible (Paris, 1715, fol. vol. 4). It is also given in the various editions of the [[Apostolical]] [[Fathers]] (q.v.). Of late years this tract has been the subject of more editing and literary criticism than almost any relic of the early Church. In 1857 Dressel published at [[Leipzig]] a new Latin translation of the [[Pastor]] which he found in a MS. at Rome, and which differs from the other. The edition contains also a Greek text of the '''''Φλοθστᾷ''''' , revised by Tischendorf. This text, it is claimed, was found in a, convent of Mount [[Athos]] by Simonides. Tischendorf considers it, however, only as a retranslation from the Latin into Greek, and places its origin in the Middle Ages. Tischendorf himself discovered, in the ''Codex. Sinaiticus,'' the Greek text of book 1 of the ''Shepherd,'' and the first four chapters of book 2; this is given in the recent edition of Dressel, ''Patres Apost.'' (Lips. 1863); also by Hilgenfeld, who has carefully edited the ''Pastor Hermae'' in his ''Nov. Test. Extra Canuonern Receptum'' (fasc. 3, Lips. 1866). The ''Ante-Nicene [[Christian]] Library,'' vol. 1 (Edinb. 1867), contains a new and good translation of the ''Shepherd,'' following the text of Hilgenfeld, who makes use of the text found in the Sinaitic Codex. </p> <p> The Pastor is written in the form of a dialogue, and is divided into three parts: 1 Visiones; 2. Mandata; 3. Similitudines. Hermas, in his childhood, had been brought up with a young slave. In after life, and when he was married, he met her again, and experienced for her a passion which, however pure in itself, was yet forbidden by the Church under the circumstances. Soon afterwards the young slave died. One day, as Hermas was wandering in the country, thinking of her, he sat down and fell asleep. "During my sleep," says he, "my mind carried me away to a steep path, which I found great difficulty in ascending on account of rocks and streams. Arriving on a piece of table-land, I knelt down to pray; and as I was praying the heavens opened, and I saw the young maiden I was wishing for, who saluted me from the sky, saying, '''''‘''''' Good day, Hermas.' And I, looking at her, answered, '''''‘''''' What art thou doing there?' '''''‘''''' I have been called here,' she answered, '''''‘''''' to denounce thy sins before the Lord.' '''''‘''''' What!' exclaimed I, '''''‘''''' and wilt thou accuse me?' '''''‘''''' No; but listen to me...' etc. The conversation goes on with a blending of severity and tenderness. "Pray to the Lord," says the young girl, as she disappears from his sight; "he will heal thy soul, and will efface the sins of all thy house, as he has done those of all the saints." One cannot help noticing the striking similarity which exists between this Vision and the celebrated passage in the Divina Commedia where [[Beatrice]] appears to Dante. This vision is followed by three others. They are all invitations to penitence, and though in the first it appears as if the invitation was especially directed to Hermas, it clearly applies also to the Church in general. This becomes more evident in the following visions. The Mandata begin also with a vision. An angel appears to Hermas under the form of a shepherd, wearing' a white cloak, and bearing a staff in his hand. This shepherd is the angel of penitence, and gives Hermas twelve precepts, which embrace the rules of Christian morals. They are given under the different headings: </p> <p> '''1.''' ''Defide In Unum Deum;'' </p> <p> '''2.''' ''Defugienda Obt-Rectatione, Et Eleemosynafacienda In Simplicitate;'' </p> <p> '''3.''' ''De Fugiendo Mendacio.;'' </p> <p> '''4.''' ''De Dinittenda Adultera;'' </p> <p> '''5.''' ''De Tristitia Cordis Et Patientia;'' </p> <p> '''6.''' ''De Dgnoscendis Uniuscujusque Hominis Luobus Geziis Et Utriusque Inspirationibus;'' </p> <p> '''7.''' ''De Deo Timendo Et Daemone [[Non]] Timendo;'' </p> <p> '''8.''' ''Declinandum Est A Malo Et Facienda Bona;'' </p> <p> '''9.''' ''Postulandum A Deo Assidue Et Sine Haesitatione;'' </p> <p> '''10.''' ''De Animi Tristitia Et Non Contristando Spiritum Dei, Qui In Nobis Est;'' </p> <p> '''11.''' ''Spiritus Et Prophetas Probari [[Ex]] Operibus, Et De Duplici Spiritu;'' </p> <p> '''12.''' ''De Duplici Cupiditate. Dei Mandata Non Esse Impossibilia Et Diabolum Non Meetutendum Credentibus.'' </p> <p> The Similitudines, finally, are a series of parables and allegories. The vine, with its rich fruits and flexible boughs, is used to symbolize the fruitfulness of the Church. The willow is made the emblem of divine law. This latter image is made by Hermas the ground of a most graceful allegory. Similitudines 1 to 4 are short and simple images or descriptions; Simil. 5 to 9 are visions of the approaching completion of the Church, '''''‘''''' and of judgment as well as invitations to penitence on that account; Simil. 10, finally, is a sort of conclusion of the whole. </p> <p> This work was perhaps the most popular book in the Christian Church of the 2nd and 3nd centuries. Yet, while it pleased the masses, it did not always satisfy the teachers. Irenmaus (adv. Haer. 4, 3), [[Clement]] of [[Alexandria]] (Strom. 1, 29), and [[Origen]] (Explan. Epist. ad Romans 16) held it in high estimation. [[Eusebius]] asserts (Hist. Ecclesiastes 3, 3) that many other ecclesiastical writers contested its authenticity. Jerome, after praising Hermas in his Chronicon, accuses him of foolishness (stultitia) in his Comment. in Habakkuk (1, 1), and Tertullian treats him no better, designating the book as apocryphal in De Pudicit. (10). The learned Duguet, in his Conferences ecclesiastiques (1, 7), even claims to find in the Pastor the germ of all heresies which troubled the Church in the 2nd century. Others among modern theologians, and especially Mosheim, have violently attacked the Pastor, and considered Hermas as an impostor. The book "knows little of the Gospel, and less of justifying faith; on the contrary, it talks much of the law of Christ and of repentance, enjoins fasting and voluntary poverty, and teaches the merit, even the supererogatory merit, of good works, and the sin-atoning virtue of martyrdom" (Schaff, 1. c.). See Gratz, Disquisitio in Past. Hermae (Bonn, 1820); Hefele, Patr. Apost. Prolegomena; Hilgenfeld, Apost. Vater (Halle, 1853); Cave, Hist. literaria; Fabricius, Bibl. Graeca, 7, 18; Tillemont, Memoires eccles. vol. 2, May 9th; Dom. Ceillier, Hist. des Auteurs sacrae et eccles. 1, 582; Hosheim, Comment. 1, 208-9; Neander, Ch. Hist. 1, 660, Iase, Ch. Hist. '''''§''''' 39 and Appendix; Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. G '''''É''''' neral '''''É''''' , 24, 371; Schaff, Church History, '''''§''''' 121; Bunsen, [[Christianity]] and Mlci2mkind, 1, 182; E. Gaab, Der Hirt d. Hermas (Basel, 1866, 8vo); Zahn, Der Hirt d. Hermas untersucht (Gotha, 1868, 8vo); Alzog, Patrologie, '''''§''''' 19; Lipsius, in Zeitsch rift J Wissenschftliche Theologie, 1865, heft 3; Hilgenfeld, Delr Hirt d. Hermcas u. sein neuester Bearbeiter, in Zeitsch f. Wiss. Theol. 1869, heft 2; [[Lipsius]] (in same journal, 1869, heft 3), Die Polenzik eines Apologeten (a severe review of Zahn's Hernmas). </p>
== Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible <ref name="term_51478" /> ==
 
<p> <strong> HERMAS </strong> . A [[Christian]] at Rome, saluted in &nbsp; Romans 16:14 . The name is a common one, especially among slaves. [[Origen]] identifies this Hermas with the celebrated author of <em> The [[Shepherd]] </em> , a book considered by many in the 2nd cent. to be on a level with Scripture. For the disputed date of the book, which professes to record visions seen in the episcopate of [[Clement]] ( <em> c </em> <em> [Note: circa, about.] </em> . a.d. 90 100), but which is said in the <em> Muratorian [[Fragment]] </em> ( <em> c </em> <em> [Note: circa, about.] </em> . 180 200?) to have been written in the episcopate of [[Pius]] (not before a.d. 139), see Salmon’s <em> Introd. to the NT </em> , Lect. xxvi. But Origen’s identification is very improbable, the dates being scarcely compatible, and the name so common. </p> <p> A. J. Maclean. </p>
== References ==
       
== Fausset's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_35768" /> ==
<p> One at Rome to whom Paul sends greeting (&nbsp;Romans 16:14). A Greek name. Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Origen attribute to him "The Shepherd," supposed by some to have been written in the episcopacy of Clement I; others deny Hermas of Romans 16 to be the author. Its author appears from internal evidence to have been married and to have had children, and to have been a lay mystic. Originally in Greek, but now only in a Latin version entire. An inferior kind of Pilgrim's [[Progress]] in three parts: the first has four visions, the second 12 spiritual precepts, the third ten similitudes shadowing forth each some truth. Each man, according to it, has a bad and a good angel, who endeavour to influence him for evil and good respectively. </p>
       
== Smith's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_72967" /> ==
<p> '''Her'mas.''' ''(Mercury).'' The name of a Christian resident at Rome. To whom St. Paul sends greetings. In his [[Epistle]] to the Romans. &nbsp;Romans 16:14. According to tradition, he was one of the seventy disciples, and afterward, bishop of Dalmatia. (A.D. 55). Irenaeus, Tertullian and Origen agree in attributing to him the work called ''The Shepherd'' . It was never received into the canon, but yet. Was generally cited with respect. Only second to that which was paid. to the authoritative books of the New Testament. </p>
       
== Morrish Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_66445" /> ==
<p> A Christian to whom Paul sent salutations in his epistle to the Romans. &nbsp;Romans 16:14 . Some have judged him to be one of the [[Apostolic]] Fathers, and the writer of a treatise called [["The Shepherd Of]]  HERMAS,"which was highly esteemed in the early church. It is a sort of allegory, and has been compared to Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. Parts of it are very trivial, and some scarcely decent. It is found attached to the Greek manuscript of the N.T., known as the Codex Sinaiticus, and exists in several ancient Latin copies. </p>
       
== American Tract Society Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_16318" /> ==
<p> A Christian at Rome, &nbsp;Romans 16:14; supposed by some to have been the writer of the ancient work called "The Shepherd of Hermas"a singular mixture of truth and piety with folly and superstition. </p>
       
== Holman Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_40675" /> ==
&nbsp;Romans 16:14[[Apostolic Fathers]]
       
== Easton's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_31860" /> ==
&nbsp;Romans 16&nbsp;14
       
== Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature <ref name="term_15875" /> ==
<p> Her´mas, one of the [[Christians]] at Rome to whom Paul addressed special salutations in his Epistle . Of his history and station in life nothing is known. By several writers, ancient and modern, he has been reputed to be the author of a work entitled The Shepherd of Hermas, which, from its high antiquity and the supposed connection of the writer with St. Paul, has been usually classed with the epistles of the so-called Apostolic Fathers. It was originally written in Greek, but we possess it only in a Latin version (as old as the time of Tertullian), a few fragments excepted, which are found as quotations in other ancient authors. It has been divided by modern editors (for in the manuscript copies there is no such division) into three books; the first consisting of four visions, the second of twelve commands, and the third of ten similitudes. It is called 'The Shepherd,' because the Angel of Repentance, at whose dictation Hermas professes that he wrote the second and third books, appeared in the garb of a shepherd. It is doubtful whether the author really believed that he saw the visions he describes, or merely adopted the fiction to render his work more attractive. Impartial judges will probably agree with Mosheim, that 'The Shepherd' contains such a mixture of folly and superstition with piety, of egregious nonsense with momentous truth, as to render it a matter of astonishment that men of learning should ever have thought of giving it a place among the inspired writings. </p>
       
== Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature <ref name="term_43421" /> ==
<p> ( '''''῾Ερμᾶς''''' , from '''''῾Ερμῆς''''' , the Greek god of gain, or ''Mercury),'' the name of a person to whom Paul sends greeting in his Epistle to the Romans (16:14), and consequently then resident in Rome and a Christian (A.D. 55); and yet the origin of the name, like that of the other four mentioned in the same verse, is Greek. However, in those days. even a Jew, like Paul himself, might acquire Roman citizenship. Ireneeus, Tertullian, and Origen agree in making him identical with the author of ''"The Shepherd"'' of the following article, but this is greatly disputed. He is celebrated as a saint in the Roman calendar on May 9. '''''—''''' Smith, s.v. </p>
       
== International Standard Bible Encyclopedia <ref name="term_4420" /> ==
<p> ''''' hûr´mas ''''' ( Ἑρμᾶς , <i> ''''' Hermás ''''' </i> ): An abbreviated form of several names, e.g. Hermagoras, Hermeros, Hermodorus, Hermogenes, etc.; the name of a Roman Christian to whom Paul sent greetings (&nbsp; Romans 16:14 ). Origen and some later writers have identified him with the author of The [[Pastor]] of Hermas, but without sufficient reason. According to the [[Canon]] of Muratori, the author of The Pastor wrote when his brother Pius was bishop of Rome (140-55 ad). He speaks of himself, however, as a contemporary of Clement of Rome (chapter 4) (circa 100 ad). The name Hermas is very common, and Origen's identification is purely conjectural. </p>
       
== The Nuttall Encyclopedia <ref name="term_74690" /> ==
<p> One of the Apostolic [[Fathers]] of the Church; wrote a work in Greek called the "Shepherd of Hermas," extant in Latin, and treating of Christian duties. </p>
       
==References ==
<references>
<references>
 
<ref name="term_43430"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/cyclopedia-of-biblical-theological-and-ecclesiastical-literature/hermas+(2) Hermas from Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature]</ref>
<ref name="term_56168"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hastings-dictionary-of-the-new-testament/hermas Hermas from Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament]</ref>
       
<ref name="term_51478"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hastings-dictionary-of-the-bible/hermas Hermas from Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible]</ref>
       
<ref name="term_35768"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/fausset-s-bible-dictionary/hermas Hermas from Fausset's Bible Dictionary]</ref>
       
<ref name="term_72967"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/smith-s-bible-dictionary/hermas Hermas from Smith's Bible Dictionary]</ref>
       
<ref name="term_66445"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/morrish-bible-dictionary/hermas Hermas from Morrish Bible Dictionary]</ref>
       
<ref name="term_16318"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/american-tract-society-bible-dictionary/hermas Hermas from American Tract Society Bible Dictionary]</ref>
       
<ref name="term_40675"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/holman-bible-dictionary/hermas Hermas from Holman Bible Dictionary]</ref>
       
<ref name="term_31860"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/easton-s-bible-dictionary/hermas Hermas from Easton's Bible Dictionary]</ref>
       
<ref name="term_15875"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/kitto-s-popular-cyclopedia-of-biblial-literature/hermas Hermas from Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature]</ref>
       
<ref name="term_43421"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/cyclopedia-of-biblical-theological-and-ecclesiastical-literature/hermas Hermas from Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature]</ref>
       
<ref name="term_4420"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/international-standard-bible-encyclopedia/hermas Hermas from International Standard Bible Encyclopedia]</ref>
       
<ref name="term_74690"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/the-nuttall-encyclopedia/hermas Hermas from The Nuttall Encyclopedia]</ref>
       
</references>
</references>

Revision as of 09:42, 15 October 2021

Hermas [1]

one of the so-called apostolical fathers (q.v.), the supposed author of a tract that has come down to us under the name of Ποιμήν , The Shepherd, and generally designated by the title Pastor Hermae. The authorship. of the tract is uncertain, but it is clearly Not the work of the Hermas ( ῾Ερμᾶς ) mentioned in  Romans 16:14, as Origen, Eusebius, and Jerome believed, and as the tract itself seems to pretend. The author appears to have been a layman of the 2nd century, probably a Roman tradesman "who had lost his wealth through his own sins and the misdeeds of his neglected sons" (Hilgenfeld; Schaff, History Of The Church, § 121). Others ascribe it to Hermas or Hermes, brother of Pins, bishop of Rome from A.D. 142 to 157. Of the Greek original we have nothing left but fragments, which are given in Fabricius, Cod. Apocryph. N. Test. 3, 378, and in Grabe, Spicileg. 1, 303. M. d'Abbadie claims (1860) to have discovered a third in Ethiopia, which he has transcribed and translated into Latin (Lpz. 1860); but whether the text from which it is taken is correct is a matter for further investigation. The Greek text was at an early period translated into Latin, and, since the beginning of the 15th century, often published (Paris, 1513, fol.; Strasb. 1522, 4to; Basle, 1555 and 1569, fol.; Oxford, 1685, 12mo; with additions by Le Clerc, Amst. 1698, 1724; Paris, 1715, 12mo). It is also inserted in the various collections of the fathers in Cotelier, Patres cevi apostolici (Paris, 1672, fol.), and in French in Desprez's Bible (Paris, 1715, fol. vol. 4). It is also given in the various editions of the Apostolical Fathers (q.v.). Of late years this tract has been the subject of more editing and literary criticism than almost any relic of the early Church. In 1857 Dressel published at Leipzig a new Latin translation of the Pastor which he found in a MS. at Rome, and which differs from the other. The edition contains also a Greek text of the Φλοθστᾷ , revised by Tischendorf. This text, it is claimed, was found in a, convent of Mount Athos by Simonides. Tischendorf considers it, however, only as a retranslation from the Latin into Greek, and places its origin in the Middle Ages. Tischendorf himself discovered, in the Codex. Sinaiticus, the Greek text of book 1 of the Shepherd, and the first four chapters of book 2; this is given in the recent edition of Dressel, Patres Apost. (Lips. 1863); also by Hilgenfeld, who has carefully edited the Pastor Hermae in his Nov. Test. Extra Canuonern Receptum (fasc. 3, Lips. 1866). The Ante-Nicene Christian Library, vol. 1 (Edinb. 1867), contains a new and good translation of the Shepherd, following the text of Hilgenfeld, who makes use of the text found in the Sinaitic Codex.

The Pastor is written in the form of a dialogue, and is divided into three parts: 1 Visiones; 2. Mandata; 3. Similitudines. Hermas, in his childhood, had been brought up with a young slave. In after life, and when he was married, he met her again, and experienced for her a passion which, however pure in itself, was yet forbidden by the Church under the circumstances. Soon afterwards the young slave died. One day, as Hermas was wandering in the country, thinking of her, he sat down and fell asleep. "During my sleep," says he, "my mind carried me away to a steep path, which I found great difficulty in ascending on account of rocks and streams. Arriving on a piece of table-land, I knelt down to pray; and as I was praying the heavens opened, and I saw the young maiden I was wishing for, who saluted me from the sky, saying, ‘ Good day, Hermas.' And I, looking at her, answered, ‘ What art thou doing there?' ‘ I have been called here,' she answered, ‘ to denounce thy sins before the Lord.' ‘ What!' exclaimed I, ‘ and wilt thou accuse me?' ‘ No; but listen to me...' etc. The conversation goes on with a blending of severity and tenderness. "Pray to the Lord," says the young girl, as she disappears from his sight; "he will heal thy soul, and will efface the sins of all thy house, as he has done those of all the saints." One cannot help noticing the striking similarity which exists between this Vision and the celebrated passage in the Divina Commedia where Beatrice appears to Dante. This vision is followed by three others. They are all invitations to penitence, and though in the first it appears as if the invitation was especially directed to Hermas, it clearly applies also to the Church in general. This becomes more evident in the following visions. The Mandata begin also with a vision. An angel appears to Hermas under the form of a shepherd, wearing' a white cloak, and bearing a staff in his hand. This shepherd is the angel of penitence, and gives Hermas twelve precepts, which embrace the rules of Christian morals. They are given under the different headings:

1. Defide In Unum Deum;

2. Defugienda Obt-Rectatione, Et Eleemosynafacienda In Simplicitate;

3. De Fugiendo Mendacio.;

4. De Dinittenda Adultera;

5. De Tristitia Cordis Et Patientia;

6. De Dgnoscendis Uniuscujusque Hominis Luobus Geziis Et Utriusque Inspirationibus;

7. De Deo Timendo Et Daemone Non Timendo;

8. Declinandum Est A Malo Et Facienda Bona;

9. Postulandum A Deo Assidue Et Sine Haesitatione;

10. De Animi Tristitia Et Non Contristando Spiritum Dei, Qui In Nobis Est;

11. Spiritus Et Prophetas Probari Ex Operibus, Et De Duplici Spiritu;

12. De Duplici Cupiditate. Dei Mandata Non Esse Impossibilia Et Diabolum Non Meetutendum Credentibus.

The Similitudines, finally, are a series of parables and allegories. The vine, with its rich fruits and flexible boughs, is used to symbolize the fruitfulness of the Church. The willow is made the emblem of divine law. This latter image is made by Hermas the ground of a most graceful allegory. Similitudines 1 to 4 are short and simple images or descriptions; Simil. 5 to 9 are visions of the approaching completion of the Church, ‘ and of judgment as well as invitations to penitence on that account; Simil. 10, finally, is a sort of conclusion of the whole.

This work was perhaps the most popular book in the Christian Church of the 2nd and 3nd centuries. Yet, while it pleased the masses, it did not always satisfy the teachers. Irenmaus (adv. Haer. 4, 3), Clement of Alexandria (Strom. 1, 29), and Origen (Explan. Epist. ad Romans 16) held it in high estimation. Eusebius asserts (Hist. Ecclesiastes 3, 3) that many other ecclesiastical writers contested its authenticity. Jerome, after praising Hermas in his Chronicon, accuses him of foolishness (stultitia) in his Comment. in Habakkuk (1, 1), and Tertullian treats him no better, designating the book as apocryphal in De Pudicit. (10). The learned Duguet, in his Conferences ecclesiastiques (1, 7), even claims to find in the Pastor the germ of all heresies which troubled the Church in the 2nd century. Others among modern theologians, and especially Mosheim, have violently attacked the Pastor, and considered Hermas as an impostor. The book "knows little of the Gospel, and less of justifying faith; on the contrary, it talks much of the law of Christ and of repentance, enjoins fasting and voluntary poverty, and teaches the merit, even the supererogatory merit, of good works, and the sin-atoning virtue of martyrdom" (Schaff, 1. c.). See Gratz, Disquisitio in Past. Hermae (Bonn, 1820); Hefele, Patr. Apost. Prolegomena; Hilgenfeld, Apost. Vater (Halle, 1853); Cave, Hist. literaria; Fabricius, Bibl. Graeca, 7, 18; Tillemont, Memoires eccles. vol. 2, May 9th; Dom. Ceillier, Hist. des Auteurs sacrae et eccles. 1, 582; Hosheim, Comment. 1, 208-9; Neander, Ch. Hist. 1, 660, Iase, Ch. Hist. § 39 and Appendix; Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. G É neral É , 24, 371; Schaff, Church History, § 121; Bunsen, Christianity and Mlci2mkind, 1, 182; E. Gaab, Der Hirt d. Hermas (Basel, 1866, 8vo); Zahn, Der Hirt d. Hermas untersucht (Gotha, 1868, 8vo); Alzog, Patrologie, § 19; Lipsius, in Zeitsch rift J Wissenschftliche Theologie, 1865, heft 3; Hilgenfeld, Delr Hirt d. Hermcas u. sein neuester Bearbeiter, in Zeitsch f. Wiss. Theol. 1869, heft 2; Lipsius (in same journal, 1869, heft 3), Die Polenzik eines Apologeten (a severe review of Zahn's Hernmas).

References

  1. ↑ Hermas from Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
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