HERMAS, about A.D. 100.――In the _Shepherd_ or _Pastor_, ascribed to this writer, there are several allusions which are supposed to refer to this book, and which resemble it so much as to make it probable that the author was acquainted with it. Dr. Lardner thus expresses the result of his examination of this point: “_It is probable_ that Hermas had read the book of Revelation, and imitated it. He has many things resembling it” (vol. ii. pp. 69‒72). There is no _direct_ testimony, however, in this writer that is of importance.
IGNATIUS.――He was bishop of Antioch, and flourished A.D. 70‒107. In the latter year he suffered martyrdom, in the time of Trajan. Little, however, can { xxx} be derived from him in regard to the Apocalypse. He was a contemporary of John, and it is not a little remarkable that he has not more directly alluded to him. In the course of a forced and hurried journey to Rome, the scene of his martyrdom, he wrote several epistles to the Ephesians, Magnesians, Trallians, Romans, Philadelphians, Smyrneans, and to Polycarp. There has been much controversy respecting the authenticity of these epistles, and it is generally admitted that those which we now possess have been greatly corrupted. There is no direct mention of the Apocalypse in these epistles, and Michaelis makes this one of the strong grounds of his disbelief of its genuineness. His argument is, that the silence of Ignatius shows, either that he did not know of the existence of this book, or did not recognize it as a part of the sacred Scriptures. Little, however, can be ever inferred from the mere _silence_ of an author; for there may have been many reasons why, though the book may have been in existence, and recognized as the writing of John, Ignatius did not refer to it. The whole matter of the residence of John at Ephesus, of his banishment to Patmos, and of his death, is unnoticed by him. There are, however, two or three _allusions_ in the epistles of Ignatius which have been supposed to refer to the Apocalypse, or to prove that he was familiar with that work――though it must be admitted that the language is so general, that it furnishes no certain proof that he designed to quote it. They are these: Epis. to the Romans――“In the patience of Jesus Christ,” comp. Rev. i. 9; and Epis. to the Ephesians――“Stones of the temple of the Father prepared for the building of God,” comp. Rev. xxi. 2‒19. To these Mr. John Collyer Knight, of the British Museum, in a recent publication (_Two New Arguments in Vindication of the Genuineness and Authenticity of the Revelation of St. John_, London, 1842), has added a third: Epis. to the Philadelphians――“If they do not speak concerning Jesus Christ, they are but _sepulchral pillars_, and _upon them are written only the names of men_.” Comp. Rev. iii. 12, “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God; and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God.” It must be admitted, however, that this coincidence of language does not furnish any certain proof that Ignatius had seen the Apocalypse, though this is such language as he _might_ have used if he had seen it. There was no known necessity, however, for his referring to this book if he was acquainted with it, and nothing can be inferred from his silence.