Origen, another of the witnesses of Mr. Talmage, said that the sun, moon and stars were living crea- tures, endowed with reason and free will, and occa- sionally inclined to sin. That they had free will, he proved by quoting from Job; that they were rational creatures, he inferred from the fact that they moved. The sun, moon and stars, according to him, were "subject to vanity," and he believed that they prayed to God through his only begotten son. These intelligent witnesses believed that the blight- ing of vines and fruit trees, and the disease and de- struction that came upon animals and men, were all the work of demons; but that when they had entered into men, the sign of the cross would drive them out. They derided the idea that the earth is round, and one of them said: "About the antipodes also, one "can neither hear nor speak without laughter. It is "asserted as something serious that we should be- "lieve that there are men who have their feet oppo- "site to ours. The ravings of Anaxagoras are more "tolerable, who said that snow was black." Concerning these early fathers, Professor Davidson, as quoted by Mr. Keeler, uses the following lan- guage: "Of the three fathers who contributed "most to the growth of the canon, Irenæus was 271 "credulous and blundering; Tertullian passionate "and one-sided; and Clement of Alexandria, im- "bued with the treasures of Greek wisdom, was "mainly occupied with ecclesiastical ethics. Their "assertions show both ignorance and exaggeration." These early fathers relied upon by Mr. Talmage, quoted from books now regarded as apocryphal-- books that have been thrown away by the church and are no longer considered as of the slightest authority. Upon this subject I again quote Mr. Keeler: "Clement quoted the 'Gospel according to "'the Hebrews,' which is now thrown away by the "church; he also quoted from the Sibylline books "and the Pentateuch in the same sentence. Origen "frequently cited the Gospel of the Hebrews. Jerome "did the same, and Clement believed in the 'Gospel "'according to the Egyptians.' The Shepherd of "Hermas, a book in high repute in the early church, "and one which distinctly claims to have been "inspired, was quoted by Irenæus as Scripture. "Clement of Alexandria said it was a divine revela- "tion. Origen said it was divinely inspired, and "quoted it as Holy Scripture at the same time that "he cited the Psalms and Epistles of Paul. Jerome "quoted the 'Wisdom of Jesus, the Son of Sirach,' 272