Read the treatise of Theodore the Presbyter,[12] in which he
undertakes to prove the genuineness of the works of St. Dionysius.
The following arguments against it are refuted: (1) If they are
genuine, how is it that none of the later Fathers cites them
or quotes any passages from them? (2) How is it that Eusebius
Pamphili,[13] in his list of the writings of the Holy Fathers,
does not mention them? (3) How is it that these treatises describe
in detail rites and customs which only became established in the
Church gradually and after a long time? The great Dionysius, as
is clear from the _Acts_,[14] was contemporary with the Apostles
[whereas most of the institutions described only became established
gradually and in later times]; it is therefore improbable (says the
objector), or rather a clumsy fiction, to assert that Dionysius
could have undertaken to describe institutions which were not fully
developed till long after his death. (4) How is it that a letter of
the divinely-inspired Ignatius[15] is referred to? for Dionysius
flourished in the time of the Apostles, whereas Ignatius suffered
martyrdom during the reign of Trajan, and wrote the letter referred
to shortly before his death. Theodore endeavours to solve these
difficulties and does his best to prove the genuineness of the
treatises.[16]