Read the book entitled the _Book of Christians_, an interpretation
of the Octateuch. The author,[106] who flourished in the reign of
Justin, dedicates the work to a certain Pamphilus. It begins with
the defence of certain ecclesiastical dogmas by evidence drawn from
the Scriptures. The style is poor, and the arrangement hardly up
to the ordinary standard. He relates much that is incredible from
an historical point of view, so that he may fairly be regarded as
a fabulist rather than a trustworthy authority. The views on which
he lays special stress are: that neither the sky nor the earth is
spherical, but that the former is a kind of vault, and the latter a
rectangular plane, [twice as long as broad], to the ends of which
the ends of the sky are united; that all the stars, with the help
of the angels, are kept in motion; and other things of the same
kind. He also mentions the books of _Genesis_ and _Exodus_, as it
were by way of digression; and enters into a lengthy discussion and
speculations about the Tabernacle. The prophets and apostles are
cursorily treated. He says that the sun is only twice as large as
two “climates”;[107] that the angels do not dwell in heaven, but
above the firmament and mingle with us; that Christ at His Ascension
entered the space between the sky and the firmament, and that only
this is the kingdom of heaven; and similar absurdities. He dedicates
the first six books to a certain Pamphilus, of the remaining six
(there are twelve in all) the seventh to Anastasius, in which he
contends that the heavens are indissoluble; the eighth, on the song
of Hezekiah[108] and the retrogression of the sun, to a certain
Peter. In this book he also states that he has written a commentary
on the _Song of Songs_. The four remaining books have no dedication.