n, does he not notice the answer which he might have found
in any common source of information, that when the Latin version
(the Greek is wanting here) 'de his qui cum eo sunt' is re-translated
into the original language, [Greek: tois sun auto], the 'anachronism'
altogether disappears?" [21:1] As Dr. Lightfoot does not apparently
attach much weight to my replies, I venture to give my reasons for
not troubling my readers with this argument in words which, I hope,
may find more favour with him. Dr. Donaldson, in his able work on
"Christian Literature and Doctrine," says: "In the ninth chapter
Ignatius is spoken of as a martyr, an example to the Philippians
of patience ... In the thirteenth chapter Polycarp requests information
with regard to 'Ignatius and those with him.' These words occur
only in the Latin translation of the epistle. To get rid of the
difficulty which they present, it has been supposed that the words
'de his qui cum eo sunt' are a wrong rendering of the Greek [Greek:
peri ton met' autou]. And then the words are supposed to mean,
'concerning Ignatius (of whose death I heard, but of which I wish
particulars) and those who _were_ with him.' But even the Greek could
not be forced into such a meaning as this; and, moreover, there is
no reason to impugn the Latin translation, except the peculiar difficulty
presented by a comparison with the ninth chapter." [21:2] Dr. Lightfoot,
however, does impugn it. It is apparently his habit to impugn
translations. He accuses the ancient Latin translator of freely handling
the tenses of a Greek text which the critic himself has never seen.
Here it is Dr. Lightfoot's argument which is "wrecked upon this rock
of grammar."

The next example of the "weightier facts and lines of reasoning" of
apologists which I have ignored is as follows:--

"Again, when he devotes more than forty pages to the discussion
of Papias, why does he not even mention the view maintained by
Dr. Westcott and others (and certainly suggested by a strict
interpretation of Papias' own words), that this father's object, in
his 'Exposition,' was not to construct a new evangelical narrative,
but to interpret and to illustrate by oral tradition one already
lying before him in written documents? This view, if correct,
entirely alters the relation of Papias to the written Gospels; and
its discussion was a matter of essential importance to the main
question at issue." [22: