Introduction
The Sibylline Oracles in their existing form are a chaotic medley. They consist of 12 books (or 14) of various authorship, date, and religious conception. The final arrangement, thought to be due to an unknown editor of the 6th century (Alexandre), does not determine identity of authorship, time, or religious belief; many of the books are merely arbitrary groupings of unrelated fragments.
These oracles were anonymous in origin and as such were apt to modification and enlargement at pleasure by Hellenistic Jews and by Christians for missionary purposes. So common was the invention of such oracles in early Christian times that Celsus called Christians Σιβυλλισται (sibyl-mongers or believers in sibyls). The preservation of the entire collection that has come down to us is due to Christian writers.
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