LENTULUS, EPISTLE OF, the title of a letter professing to describe the per sonal appearance of Christ as witnessed by the writer, who styles himself Publius Lentulns, president of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Manuscript copies of it, differing consider ably in their texts, are found in several libraries of England, France, Italy, and Germany. In substance it is as follows; "There has appeared in our time a man of great virtue named Christ Jesus, who is said by the people to be a prophet of truth, whom his dis ciples call the Son of God; he raises the dead and heals the sick Ile is a man of lofty stature, graceful mien, and venerable countenance, inspiring in those who look on him both love and fear. His hair falls around him, blown by the wind, and is somewhat curly, cterulean, and shining; it is parted in the middle, after the manner of the Naza renes, his forehead is smooth and very calm, his face without wrinkle or blemish, and adorned with a moderate degree of color. His nose and mouth are entirely without fault; his beard, in color like his hair, is abundant and youthful, not long but forked; his eyes are bright and changeable in expression. In reproof he is terrible, in admoni tion, gentle; he is kind, blends cheerfulness with gravity, is never seen to laugh, but often to weep. Thus, tall in stature, having graceful hands and limbs, and grave in
speech, he is in an uncommon degree self-controlled and worthy of admiration among the sons of men." In former centuries this letter was highly valued, and among Roman Catholics many still receive it as genuine. The general opinion of Protestant critics may be given in the words of Dr. Edward Robinson, who thus stuns up his hives tigation of the subject: " In favor of its authenticity we have only the purport of the inscription. There is no external evidence whatever. Against its authenticity we have the great discrepancies and contradictions of the inscription; the fact that no such offi cial person as Lentulus existed at the time and place specified, nor for many years before and after; the utter silence of history in respect to the existence of such a letter; the foreign and later idioms of its style; the contradiction between the contents of the epistle and established historical facts; and the probability of its having been produced at some time not earlier than the 11th century."