ii. 2) was acquainted only with the heathen
_Acts of Pilate_, and knew nothing of a Christian work. Tischendorf and
Hofmann, however, find evidence of its existence in Justin's reference
to the [Greek: Hakta Pilatou] (_Apol._ i. 35, 48), and in Tertullian's
mention of the _Acta Pilati_ (_Apol._ 21), and on this evidence
attribute our texts to the first half of the 2nd century. But these
references have been denied by Scholten, Lipsius, and Lightfoot.
Recently Schubert has sought to derive the elements which are found in
the Petrine Gospel, but not in the canonical gospels, from the original
_Acta Pilati_, while Zahn exactly reverses the relation of these two
works. Rendel Harris (1899) advocated the view that the Gospel of
Nicodemus, as we possess it, is merely a prose version of the Gospel of
Nicodemus written originally in Homeric centones as early as the 2nd
century. Lipsius and Dobschutz relegate the book to the 4th century. The
question is not settled yet (see Lipsius in Smith's _Dict. of Christ.
Biography_, ii. 708-709, and Dobschutz in Hastings' _Bible Dictionary_,
iii. 544-547).

_Gospel according to the Hebrews._--This gospel was cited by Ignatius
(_Ad Smyrnaeos_, iii.) according to Jerome (_Viris illus._ 16, and _in
Jes._ lib. xviii.), but this is declared to be untrustworthy by Zahn,
op. cit. i. 921; ii. 701, 702. It was written in Aramaic in Hebrew
letters, according to Jerome (_Adv. Pelag._ iii. 2), and translated by
him into Greek and Latin. Both these translations are lost. A collection
of the Greek and Latin fragments that have survived, mainly in Origen
and Jerome, will be found in Hilgenfeld's _NT extra Canonem receptum_,
Nicholson's _Gospel according to the Hebrews_ (1879), Westcott's
_Introd. to the Gospels_, and Zahn's _Gesch. des NTlichen Kanons_, ii.
642-723; Preuschen, _op. cit_. 3-8. This gospel was regarded by many in
the first centuries as the Hebrew original of the canonical Matthew
(Jerome, _in Matt._ xii. 13; _Adv. Pelag._ iii. 1). With the canonical
gospel it agrees in some of its sayings; in others it is independent. It
circulated among the Nazarenes in Syria, and was composed, according to
Zahn (_op. cit._ ii. 722), between the years 135 and 150. Jerome
identifies it with the _Gospel of the Twelve_ (_Adv. Pelag._ iii. 2),
and states that it was used by the Ebionites (_Comm. in Matt._ xii. 13).
Zahn (_op. cit._ ii. 662, 724) contests both these statements. The
former he traces to a mista