bcedaifu wrote:C. V. Waite, page 457 wrote:
AUTHORITIES.
Many references are made to authorities, ancient and modern. The object has been to make this not only a reliable history, but a work of reference for those who may wish to pursue the subject further.
Authorities? where are they? unconvincing in my view, we are obliged to accept his word that the original documents are found in the library of Congress, in the capital, Washington D.C.
Which sources from that library are written in Greek? Which of those sources, in Greek, represent faithful duplicates of original texts? I appreciate that he sought, in the late nineteenth century, to compel his readers to think a bit about the origins of earliest Christianity.
Why don't you look them up? The US Library of Congress is just a library like any other library, only especially well stocked with books (besides reference works previously published, it was considered prestigious to submit one's own literary works to the Library).
Two years of the time were spent in the Library of Congress, which is peculiarly rich in the department of Biblical Literature. It contains the writings of all the earlier fathers, in the original, and an immense collection of the works of later writers. (Preface, pg. iii)
Here are the citations on the first few pages. I've added formatting to make it easier to identify the authors and works cited. Works of that period were notorious for giving the scantiest of description of the sources (often just the author's family name and/or a single word from the title) because they assumed that a gentleman reader would just know which sources were being referred to.
(1.) [(Heinrich) Ewald,]
Yahrbucher, 1848, 1849.
(2.) See [(Jo. Albertus,)] Fabricius,
Codex Apocryphus, Hamb. 1703, vol. 1 p. 372. Also
History of the Canon, by [(Brooke Foss)] Westcott, 3d Ed. Lond. 1870, p. 282.
Tertullian adv. Marcion, bk. 4, ch. 2,
Ante-Nicene Christian Library, vol. 7, p. 180.
The language of Tertullian is, "Denique, ut cum auctoribus contulit, et convenit de regula fidei, dexteras miscuere," &c. Tertull.
Op., tom. 1, p. 251. [probably the 1851 edition of Franz Oehler but I couldn't find a searchable online version of this edition that referenced the quoted text on "p. 251." It was re-issued several times, e.g., Quinti Septimii Florentis Tertulliani quae supersunt omnia 1853, 1854; etc]
(1.) Irenaeus v. Haer. bk. 3, ch. 1,
Ante-Nic[(ene Christian Library)]. vol. 5, p. 259.
(2.) [(Samuel) Davidson,]
Canon[(of the Bible)], [(1877,)] p. 121.
(3.) Iren. v. Haer. 2. 22, Ante-Nic. vol. 5, p. 196.
[Eusebius.,] Eccles. Hist. bk. 3, ch. 3.
[Justin,] Dialogue with Trypho, ch. 106.
The [alternative] translation [of above], as given in the
Ante-Nicene Christian Library, vol. 2, p. -233, is as follows: "And when it is said that he changed the name of one of the apostles to Peter, and when it is written in the memoirs of Him that this so happened, as well as that he changed the names of other two brothers," &c.
(1.) Dr. [(Nathaniel)] Lardner's
Works, [(there were editions of either 10 or 11 volumes in 1788, 1815, 1827, 1838)], vol. 4, p. 636; Theodoret, Fab. Haer. 2. 2; Euseb. Ecc. Hist. 6. 12;
Lost and Hostile Gospels by S[(abine]. Baring-Gould, p. 245.
Theodoret there says, the Nazarenes held that Christ was a just man, and they used the Gospel of Peter. He speaks as of his own day; A.D. 430.
(1.) [(Brooke Foss) Westcott,]
Hist, of the Canon, p. 103.
(2.) [(Carl August) Credner,]
Geschic(h)t(e des). N(eu). T(estamentlichen). Kan(on). [(1860)] p. 22.
All the sources cited are par for the course (or a little out of date) for the time of writing (1881) and English translations (except for 4th century authors and later) are generally from The Ante Nicene Christian Library series (24 volumes published in Edinburgh, Scotland in the mid 19th century), although most folks are more familiar with them as reprinted in the 10 volume Ante Nicene Fathers series published in Buffalo, NY, USA.
Your unfamiliarity with these sources does not constitute a fault on the author's part.
DCH