5 In the treatise on the Resurrection there are no arguments derived from Scripture.
In the 17th year of the reign of Marcus Aurelius, between the 7th March, 177-178, a fierce persecution was, it is said,(1) commenced against the Christians in Gaul, and more especially at Vienne and Lyons, during the course of which the aged Bishop Pothinus, the predecessor of Irenæus, suffered martyrdom for the faith. The two communities some time after addressed an Epistle to their brethren in Asia and Phrygia, and also to Eleutherus, Bishop of Rome,(2) relating the events which had occurred, and the noble testimony which had been borne to Christ by the numerous martyrs who had been cruelly put to death. The Epistle has in great part been preserved by Eusebius,(3) and critics generally agree in dating it about a.d. 177,(4) although it was most probably not written until the following year.(5)
No writing of the New Testament is mentioned in this Epistle,(6) but it is asserted that there are "unequivocal coincidences of language"(7) with the Gospel of Luke, and others of its books. The passage which is referred to as
showing knowledge of our Synoptic, is as follows. The letter speaks of one of the sufferers, a certain Vettius Epagathus, whose life was so austere that, although a young man, "he was thought worthy of the testimony [------] borne by the elder [------] Zacharias. He had walked, of a truth, in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless, and was untiring in every kind office towards his neighbour; having much zeal for God and being fervent in spirit."(1) This is compared with the description of Zacharias and Elizabeth in Luke i. 6: "And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless."(2) A little further on in the Epistle it is said of the same person: "Having in himself the advocate [------], the spirit [------], more abundantly than Zacharias," &c.(3) which again is referred to Luke i. 67, "And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying," &c.(4)
A few words must be said regarding the phrase [------], "the testimony of the presbyter Zacharias." This, of course, may either be rendered: "the testimony borne to Zacharias," that is to say, borne by others to his holy life; or, "the