power named Jesus Christ, who is called by the Gentiles (peoples) the prophet of truth, whom his disciples call the Son of God: raising the dead and healing diseases, a man in stature middling tall, and comely, having a reverend countenance, which they that look upon may love and fear; having hair of the hue of an unripe hazel-nut and smooth almost down to his ears, but from the ears in curling locks somewhat darker and more shining, waving over (from) his shoulders; having a parting at the middle of the head according to the fashion of the Nazareans; a brow smooth and very calm, with a face without wrinkle or any blemish, which a moderate colour (red) makes beautiful; with the nose and mouth no fault at all can be found; having a full beard of the colour of his hair, not long, but a little forked at the chin; having an expression simple and mature, the eyes grey, glancing (?) (various) and clear; in rebuke terrible, in admonition kind and lovable, cheerful yet keeping gravity; sometimes he hath wept, but never laughed; in stature of body tall and straight, with hands and arms fair to look upon; in talk grave, reserved and modest [so that he was rightly called by the prophet] fairer than the children of men.
This follows the traditional portraits closely, and was no doubt written in presence of one. The Greeks, it may be added, had similar minute descriptions of the apostles and the Virgin—just as they had of the heroes of Troy.
I shall excuse myself from transcribing the letters of the Virgin to Ignatius and to the people of Messina and proceed to the forged Pauline Epistles. The most important of these we have already seen, viz. the ‘Third Epistle to the Corinthians’, in the Acts of Paul.
The Muratorian fragment mentions two of these: ‘There is current also one to the Laodiceans, and another to the Alexandrians forged (plural) in favour of Marcion’s heresy.’ The statement is obscure, and has given rise to all sorts of guesses. We have an Epistle to the Laodiceans, but it is entirely colourless in doctrine. That to the Alexandrians is gone. We also know that Marcion cited the Epistle to the Ephesians as ‘to the Laodiceans’, but this does not help; the Muratorian writer knows Ephesians. Very possibly the word forged applies only to the second letter, and should be in the singular number. If so, the fragment may refer to our Epistle to the Laodiceans, which is quite old.
EPISTLE TO THE LAODICEANS
It exists only in Latin: the oldest copy is in the Fulda MS. written for Victor of Capua in 546. It is mentioned by various writers from the fourth century onwards, notably by Gregory the Great, to whose influence may ultimately be due the frequent occurrence of it in Bibles written in England; for it is commoner in English MSS. than in others. As will be seen, it is wholly uninteresting, and was merely written to justify or explain St. Paul’s mention of the letter from Laodicea in Col. iv. 16.
