In point of fact, the traditional argument of the advocates of the miraculous origin of our four gospels goes practically on the hypothesis that only these four gospels were in existence in Justin's time. But Dr. Giles shows that Christendom at this period was flooded with spurious gospels, spurious "revelations," spurious "epistles." He cites from Lucian an account of a contemporary of Justin, one Peregrinus, who murdered his father. "Consigning himself to exile, he took to flight, and wandered about from one country to another. At this time it was that he learnt the wonderful philosophy of the Christians, having kept company with their priests and scribes in Palestine. And what was the end of it? In a short time he showed them to be mere children, for he became a prophet, a leader of their processions, the marshaller of their meetings, and everything in himself alone. "And of their books, he explained and cleared up some, and wrote many himself; and they deemed him a god, made use of him as a legislator, and enrolled him as their patron." ("Hebrew and Christian Records," p. 82.) Irenæus bears the same testimony. "But in addition to these things, they introduce an unspeakable number of apocryphal and spurious writings, which themselves have forged, to the consternation of those that are foolish, and who do not know the writings of the truth." (Hœr. i. 19.) But worse than the composition of imaginary gospels is the falsification of canonical scriptures. "It is obvious," says Origen, "that the difference between the copies is considerable, partly from conclusions of individual scribes, partly from the impious audacity of some in correcting what is written, partly, also, from those who add or remove what seems good to them in the work of correction." (Origen in Matt. xv. 14.) It might be imagined that a gospel that gives to us the only authentic record of Christ's words, written down at an early date under the sanction of James, Christ's immediate successor as the head of his Church and of the other Apostles, would be cherished in Christendom as the holiest of treasures. Instead of that, it was garbled, truncated, vilified, pronounced heretical by a Pope, and finally suppressed. Why was this? This question is the crux of historical Christianity. At present we must content ourselves with a brief analysis of the gospel, and say a few words first about the Ebionites. The word "Ebionite" signifies "poor," and seems to be the Greek rendering of bhikshu or beggar, the word by which Buddha described his followers. The Ebionites were the earliest Christians. They composed the Church of Jerusalem. It fled to Pella, on the Jordan, just before the destruction of the Holy City. Bishop Lightfoot calls them the Essene-Ebionites, because they were plainly in all their rites simple Essenes. The early fathers gave them five distinctive characteristics:-- 1. They held Jesus to be "a man in like sense with all," as we have seen from Hippolytus.