The Gospels in the Second Century
by
William Sanday
Part 2 out of 7
which he quotes, in order to introduce a more distinctly Christian
interpretation; the coincidences between Justin and other
Christian writers show that the text of the LXX had been thus
modified in a Christian sense, generally through a closer
comparison with and nearer return to the Hebrew, before his time.
The instances of free quotation are not perhaps quite fully given
in the above list, but it will be seen that though they form a
marked phenomenon, still more marked is the amount of exactness.
Any long, not Messianic, passage, it appears to be the rule with
Justin to quote exactly. Among the passages quoted freely there
seem to be none of greater length than four verses.
The exactness is especially remarkable in the plain historical
narratives of the Pentateuch and the Psalms, though it is also
evident that Justin had the MS. before him, and referred to it
frequently throughout the quotations from the latter part of
Isaiah. Through following the arrangement of Credner we have
failed to notice the cases of combination; these however are
collected by Dr. Westcott (On the Canon, p. 156). The most
remarkable instance is in Apol. i. 52, where six different
passages from three separate writers are interwoven together and
assigned bodily to Zechariah. There are several more examples of
mistaken ascription.
* * * * *
The great advantage of collecting the quotations from the Old
Testament is that we are enabled to do so in regard to the very
same writers among whom our enquiry is to lie. We can thus form a
general idea of their idiosyncracies, and we know what to expect
when we come to examine a different class of quotations. There is,
however, the element of uncertainty of which I have spoken above.
We cannot be quite clear what text the writer had before him. This
difficulty also exists, though to a less degree, when we come to
consider quotations from the New Testament in writers of an early
date whom we know to have used our present Gospels as canonical.
The text of these Gospels is so comparatively fixed, and we have
such abundant materials for its reconstruction, that we can
generally say at once whether the writer is quoting from it freely
or not. We have thus a certain gain, though at the cost of the
drawback that we can no longer draw an inference as to the
practice of individuals, but merely attain to a general conclusion
as to the habits of mind current in the age. This too will be
subject to a deduction for the individual bent and peculiarities
of the writer. We must therefore, on the whole, attach less
importance to the examples under this section than under that
preceding.
I chose two writers to be the subject of this examination almost,
I may say, at random, and chiefly because I had more convenient
access to their works at the time. The first of these is Irenaeus,
that is to say the portions still extant in the Greek of his
Treatise against Heresies, [Endnote 49:1] and the second
Epiphanius.
Irenaeus is described by Dr. Tregelles 'as a close and careful
quoter in general from the New Testament' [Endnote 49:2]. He may
therefore be taken to represent a comparatively high standard of
accuracy. In the following table the quotations which are merely
allusive are included in brackets:--
_Exact._ | _Slightly | _Variant._ | _Remarks._
| variant._ | |
I. Praef. Matt. 10.26.| | |
I.3.2,Matt. 5.18. | | |quoted from
| | | Gnostics
I.3, 3, Mark 5.31. | | |Gnostics.
| |I.3.5, Luke 14.27. |Valentinians.
|I.3.5, Mark 10. | |the same.
I.3.5, Matt. 10.34. | 21 (v.l.) | |the same.
I.3.5, Luke 3.17. | | |the same.
I.4.3, Matt. 10.8. | | |
[I.6.1, Matt. 5. | | |
13, 14, al.] | |I.7.4, Matt. 8.9.} |}the same.
| | Luke 7.8. } |}
| |I.8.2, Matt. 27.46.|Valentinians.
I.8.2. Matt. 26.38. | | |the same.
|I.8.2, Matt. | |the same.
| 26.39. | |
| |I.8.2, John 12.27. |the same.
| |I.8.3, Luke |the same.
| | 9.57,58. |
| |I.8.3, Luke |the same.
| | 9.61,62. |
|I.8.3, Luke | |the same.
| 9.60. | |
|I.8.3, Luke 19.5.| |the same.
| |I.8.4, Luke 15,4. |the same.
|[I.8.4, Luke | |the same.
| 15.8, al.]| |
|I.8.4, Luke 2.28.| |the same.
[I.8.4., Luke | | |the same.
6.36, al.] | | |
I.8.4, Luke 7.35 | | |the same.
(v.l.) | | |
I.8.5, John 1.1,2. | | |the same.
I.8.5, John 1.3 | | |the same.
(v.l.) | | |
I.8.5, John 1.4. | | |the same.
(v.l.) | | |
| |I.8.5, John 1.5. |the same.
I.8.5, John 1.14. | |I.8.5, John 1.14. |[the same
| | | verse rep-
| | | eated dif-
| | | ferently.]
| |[I.14.1. Matt. |Marcus.
| | 18.10,al.] |
|[I.16.1, Luke | |Marcosians.
| 15.8,al.]| |
| |[I.16.3, Matt. |the same.
| | 12,43,al.] |
|I.20.2, Luke | |the same.
| 2.49. | |
| |I.20.2, Mark 10.18.|['memoriter'-
| | | Stieren; but
| | | comp. Clem.
| | | Hom. and
| | | and Justin.]
|I.20.2, Matt. | |Marcosians.
| 21.23.| |
| |I.20.2, Luke 19.42.|the same.
I.20.2, Matt. | | |the same.
11.28 (? om.).| | |
| |I.20.3, Luke 10.21.|the same;
| | (Matt. 11.25 | [v.l., comp.
| | 25.) | Marcion,
| | | Clem. Hom.,
| | | Justin, &c.]
| |I.21.2, Luke 12.50.|Marcosians.
|I.21.2, Mark | |Marcosians.
| 10.36. | |
III.11.8, John | | |
1.1-3 (?). | | |
III.11.8, Matt. | | |
1.1,18 (v.l.)| | |
|III.11.8, Mark | |omissions.
| 1.1,2. | |
III.22.2, John 4.6. | | |
III.22.2, Matt. 26.38.| | |
|IV.26.1, } Matt. | |
|IV.40.3, } 13.38.| |
|IV.40.3, Matt. | |
| 13.25. | |
V.17.4, Matt. 3.10. | | |
| |V.36.2, John 14.2 |
| | (or obl.) |
| |Fragm. 14, Matt. |
| | 15.17. |
On the whole these quotations of Irenaeus seem fairly to deserve
the praise given to them by Dr. Tregelles. Most of the free
quotations, it will be seen, belong not so much to Irenaeus
himself, as to the writers he is criticising. In some places (e.g.
iv. 6. 1, which is found in the Latin only) he expressly notes a
difference of text. In this very place, however, he shows that he
is quoting from memory, as he speaks of a parallel passage in St.
Mark which does not exist. Elsewhere there can be little doubt
that either he or the writer before him quoted loosely from
memory. Thus Luke xii. 50 is given as [Greek: allo baptisma echo
baptisthaenai kai panu epeigomai eis auto] for [Greek: baptisma de
echo baptisthaenai kai pos sunechomai heos hotou telesthae]. The
quotation from Matt. viii. 9 is represented as [Greek: kai gar ego
hupo taen emautou exousian echo stratiotas kai doulous kai ho ean
prostaxo poiousi], which is evidently free; those from Matt.
xviii. 10, xxvii. 46, Luke ix. 57, 58, 61, 62, xiv. 27, xix. 42,
John i. 5, 14 (where however there appears to be some confusion in
the text of Irenaeus), xiv. 2, also seem to be best explained as
made from memory.
The list given below, of quotations from the Gospels in the
Panarium or 'Treatise against Heresies' of Epiphanius [Endnote
52:1], is not intended to be exhaustive. It has been made from the
shorter index of Petavius, and being confined to the 'praecipui
loci' consists chiefly of passages of substantial length and
entirely (I believe) of express quotations. It has been again
necessary to distinguish between the quotations made directly by
Epiphanius himself and those made by the heretical writers whose
works he is reviewing.
_Exact._ | _Slightly | _Variant._ | _Remarks._
| Variant._ | |
426A, Matt. 1.1; | | |
Matt. 1.18, | | |
(v.l.) | | |
|426BC, Matt. | |abridged, diver-
| 1.18-25+.| | gent in middle.
| |430B, Matt. 2.13. |Porphyry & Celsus.
| |44C, Matt. 5.34,37|
|59C, Matt. | |
| 5.17,18.| |
180B, Matt. 5.18+.| | |Valentinians.
| |226A, Matt. 5.45. |
|72A, Matt. 7.6. | |Basilidians.
404C, Matt. 7.15. | | |
| |67C. Matt. 8.11. |
| |650B. Matt. |
| | 8.28-34 (par.)|
|303A, Matt. | |Marcion.
| 9.17,16.| |
|71B, Matt. 10.33.| |Basilidians.
|274B, Matt. | |
| 10.16.| |
88A, Matt. 11.7. |143B, Matt. | |Gnostics.
| 11.18.| |
|254B, Matt. | |Marcosians.
| 11.28.| |
| |139AB, Matt. |Ebionites.
| | 12.48 sqq. (v.l.)|
174C, Matt. 10.26.| | |
| |464B, Matt. |Theodotus.
| | 12.31,32.|
|33A, Matt. 23.5. | |
| |218D, Matt. 15.4-6|Ptolemaeus.
| | (or. obl.)|
| |490C, Matt. 15.20.|
| | Mark 7.21,22.|
| |490A, Matt. 18.8. |}compression
| | Mark 9.43. |}
| |679BC, Matt. |Manes.
| | 13.24-30,37-39.|
| |152B, Matt. 5.27. |
|59CD, Matt. | |
| 19.10-12.| |
|59D, Matt. 19.6. | |
| |81A, Matt. 19.12. |
| |97D, Matt. 22.30. |
| |36BC, Matt. 23. |remarkable compo-
| | 23,25; 23.18-20.| sition, probably
| | | from memory.
| | (5.35); Mark |
| | 7.11-13; Matt. |
| | 23.15. |
| |226A, Matt. 23.29;|composition.
| | Luke 11.47.|
| |281A, Matt. 23.35.|
| |508C, Matt. 25.34.|
| |146AB, Matt. 26. |narrative.
| | 17,18; Mark 14. |
| | 12-14; Luke 22. |
| | 9-11. |
| |279D, Matt. 26.24.|
| |390B, Matt. 21.33,|
| | par. |
|50A, Matt. 28.19.| |
|427B, Mark 1.1,2.| |
| (v.1.)| |
|428C, Mark 1.4. | |
| |457D, Mark 3.29; |singular
| | Matt. 12.31; |composition.
| | Luke 12.10. |
|400D, Matt. 19.6;| |
| Mark 10.9. | |
| |650C, Matt. 8. |narrative.
| | 28-34; Mark 5. |
| | 1-20; Luke 8. |
| | 26-39. |
[These last five quotations have already been given under Irenaeus, whom
Epiphanius is transcribing.]
|464D, Luke 12.9; | |composition.
| Matt. 10.33.| |
|181B, Luke 14.27.| |Valentians.
|401A, Luke 21.34.| |
|143C, Luke 24.42.| |
| (v. 1.)| |
|349C, Luke 24. | |Marcion.
| 38,39| |
384B, John 1.1-3. | | |
148A, John 1.23. | | |
|148B, John | |
| 2.16,17.| |
|89C, John 3.12. | |Gnostics.
|274A, John 3.14 | |
59C, John 5.46. | | |
| |162B, John 5.8. |
66C, John 5.17. | | |
|919A, John 5.18. | |
| |117D, John 6.15. |
|89D, John 6.53. | |the same.
|279D, John 6.70. | |
| |279B, John 8.44. |
|463D, John 8.40. | |Theodotus.
| |148B, John 12.41. |
| |153A, John 12.22. |
|75C, John 14.6. | |
919C, John 14.10. | | |
921D, John 17.3. | | |
| |279D, John |
| | 17.11,12.|
|119D, John 18.36.| |
It is impossible here not to notice the very large amount of
freedom in the quotations. The exact quotations number only
fifteen, the slightly variant thirty-seven, and the markedly
variant forty. By far the larger portion of this last class and
several instances in the second it seems most reasonable to refer
to the habit of quoting from memory. This is strikingly
illustrated by the passage 117 D, Where the retreat of Jesus and
His disciples to Ephraim is treated as a consequence of the
attempt 'to make Him king' (John vi. 15), though in reality it did
not take place till after the raising of Lazarus and just before
the Last Passover (see John xi. 54). A very remarkable case of
combination is found in 36 BC, where a single quotation is made up
of a cento of no less than six separate passages taken from all
three Synoptic Gospels and in the most broken order. Fusions so
complete as this are usually the result of unconscious acts of the
mind, i.e. of memory. A curious instance of the way in which the
Synoptic parallels are blended together in a compound which
differs from each and all of them is presented in 437 D ([Greek:
to blasphaemounti eis to pneuma to hagion ouk aphethaesetai auto
oute en to nun aioni oute en to mellonti]). Another example of
Epiphanius' manner in skipping backwards and forwards from one
Synoptic to another may be seen in 218 D, which is made up of
Matt. xv. 4-9 and Mark vii. 6-13. A strange mistake is made in 428
D, where [Greek: paraekolouthaekoti] is taken with [Greek: tois
autoptais kai hupaeretais tou logou]. Many kinds of variation find
examples in these quotations of Epiphanius, to some of which we
may have occasion to allude more particularly later on.
It should be remembered that these are not by any means selected
examples. Neither Irenaeus nor Epiphanius are notorious for free
quotation--Irenaeus indeed is rather the reverse. Probably a much
more plentiful harvest of variations would have been obtained e.g.
from Clement of Alexandria, from whose writings numerous instances
of quotation following the sense only, of false ascription, of the
blending of passages, of quotations from memory, are given in the
treatise of Bp. Kaye [Endnote 56:1]. Dr. Westcott has recently
collected [Endnote 56:2] the quotations from Chrysostom _On the
Priesthood,_ with the result that about one half present
variations from the Apostolic texts, and some of these variations,
which he gives at length, are certainly very much to the point.
I fear we shall have seemed to delay too long upon this first
preliminary stage of the enquiry, but it is highly desirable that
we should start with a good broad inductive basis to go upon. We
have now an instrument in our hands by which to test the alleged
quotations in the early writers; and, rough and approximate as
that instrument must still be admitted to be, it is at least much
better than none at all.
CHAPTER III.
THE APOSTOLIC FATHERS.
To go at all thoroughly into all the questions that may be raised
as to the date and character of the Christian writings in the
early part of the second century would need a series of somewhat
elaborate monographs, and, important as it is that the data should
be fixed with the utmost attainable precision, the scaffolding
thus raised would, in a work like the present, be out of
proportion to the superstructure erected upon it. These are
matters that must be decided by the authority of those who have
made the provinces to which they belong a subject of special
study: all we can do will be to test the value of the several
authorities in passing.
In regard to Clement of Rome, whose First (genuine) Epistle to the
Corinthians is the first writing that meets us, the author of
'Supernatural Religion' is quite right in saying that 'the great mass
of critics ... assign the composition of the Epistle to the end of the
first century (A.D. 95-100)' [Endnote 58:1]. There is as usual a right
and a left wing in the array of critics. The right includes several of
the older writers; among the moderns the most conspicuous figure is the
Roman Catholic Bishop Hefele. Tischendorf also, though as it is pointed
out somewhat inconsistently, leans to this side. According to their
opinion the Epistle would be written shortly before A.D. 70. On the
left, the names quoted are Volkmar, Baur, Scholten, Stap, and Schwegler
[Endnote 59:1]. Baur contents himself with the remark that the Epistle
to the Corinthians, 'as one of the oldest documents of Christian
antiquity, might have passed without question as a writing of the Roman
Clement,' had not this Clement become a legendary person and had so
many spurious works palmed off upon him [Endnote 59:2]. But it is
surely no argument to say that because a certain number of extravagant
and spurious writings are attributed to Clement, therefore one so sober
and consistent with his position, and one so well attested as this, is
not likely to have been written by him. The contrary inference would be
the more reasonable, for if Clement had not been an important person,
and if he had left no known and acknowledged writings, divergent
parties in the Church would have had no reason for making use of his
name. But arguments of this kind cannot have much weight. Probably not
one half of the writings attributed to Justin Martyr are genuine; but
no one on that account doubts the Apologies and the Dialogue with
Tryphon.
Schwegler [Endnote 59:3], as is his wont, has developed the opinion of
Baur, adding some reasons of his own. Such as, that the letter shows
Pauline tendencies, while 'according to the most certain traditions'
Clement was a follower of St. Peter; but the evidence for the Epistle
(Polycarp, Dionysius of Corinth, A.D. 165-175, Hegesippus, and
Irenaeus in the most express terms) is much older and better than
these 'most certain traditions' (Tertullian and Origen), even if they
proved anything: 'in the Epistle of Clement use is made of the Epistle
to the Hebrews;' but surely, according to any sober canons of
criticism, the only light in which this argument can be regarded is as
so much evidence for the Epistle to the Hebrews: the Epistle implies a
development of the episcopate which 'demonstrably' (nachweislich) did
not take place until during the course of the second century; what the
'demonstration' is does not appear, and indeed it is only part of the
great fabric of hypothesis that makes up the Tuebingen theory.
Volkmar strikes into a new vein [Endnote 60:1]. The Epistle of Clement
presupposes the Book of Judith; but the Book of Judith must be dated
A.D. 117-118; and therefore the Epistle of Clement will fall about
A.D. 125. What is the ground for this reasoning? It consists in a
theory, which Volkmar adopted and developed from Hitzig, as to the
origin of the Book of Judith. That book is an allegorical or symbolical
representation of events in the early part of the rising of the Jews
under Barcochba; Judith is Judaea, Nebuchadnezzar Trajan; Assyria
stands for Syria, Nineveh for Antioch, Arphaxad for a Parthian king
Arsaces, Ecbatana for Nisibis or perhaps Batnae; Bagoas is the eunuch-
service in general; Holofernes is the Moor Lucius Quietus. Out of
these elements an elaborate historical theory is constructed, which
Ewald and Fritzsche have taken the trouble to refute on historical
grounds. To us it is very much as if Ivanhoe were made out to be
an allegory of incidents in the French Revolution; or as if the
'tale of Troy divine' were, not a nature-myth or Euemeristic legend
of long past ages, but a symbolical representation of events under
the Pisistratidae.
Examples such as this are apt to draw from the English reader a
sweeping condemnation of German criticism, and yet they are really
only the sports or freaks of an exuberant activity. The long list
given in 'Supernatural Religion' [Endnote 61:1] of those who
maintain the middle date of Clement's Epistle (A.D. 95-100)
includes apparently all the English writers, and among a number of
Germans the weighty names of Bleek, Ewald, Gieseler, Hilgenfeld,
Koestlin, Lipsius, Laurent, Reuss, and Ritschl. From the point of
view either of authority or of argument there can be little doubt
which is the soundest and most judicious decision.
Now what is the bearing of the Epistle of Clement upon the
question of the currency and authority of the Synoptic Gospels?
There are two passages of some length which are without doubt
evangelical quotations, though whether they are derived from the
Canonical Gospels or not may be doubted.
The first passage occurs in c. xiii. It will be necessary to give
it in full with the Synoptic parallels, in order to appreciate the
exact amount of difference and resemblance which it presents.
_Matt._ v. 7, vi. 14, |_Clem. ad Cor._ c. xiii. |_Luke_ vi. 36, 37, 31,
vii. 12,2. | | vi. 38, 37, 38.
| [Especially re- |
| membering the word |
| of the Lord Jesus |
| which he spake ... |
| For thus he said:] |
v. 7. Blessed are | Pity ye, that ye may | vi. 36. Be ye mer-
the pitiful, for they | be pitied: forgive, | ciful, etc. vi. 37. Ac-
shall be pitied. vi. | that it may be for- | quit, and ye shall be
14. For if ye for | given unto you. As | acquitted. vi. 3 1.
give men their tres- | ye do, so shall it | And as ye would
passes, etc. vii. 12. | be done unto you: | that they should do
All things therefore | as ye give, so shall | unto you, do ye
whatsoever ye would | it be given. unto you: | also unto them like
that men should do | as ye judge, so shall | wise. vi. 38. Give,
unto you, even so do | it be judged unto | and it shall be given
ye unto them. vii. 2. | you: as ye are kind, | unto you. vi. 3 7.
For with what judg- | so shall kindness be | And judge not, and
ment ye judge, ye | shown unto you: | ye shall not be
shall be judged: and | | judged.
with what measure | with what measure | For with what
ye mete, it shall be | ye mete, with it shall | measure ye mete, it
measured unto you. | it be measured unto | shall be measured
| you. | unto you again.
[GREEK TABLE]
_Matt._ v. 7, vi. 14, |_Clem. ad Cor._ c. xiii. |_Luke_ vi. 36, 37, 31,
vii. 12,2. | | vi. 38, 37, 38.
| |
v.7. makarioi hoi |eleeite hina eleaethaete.| vi. 36. ginesthe
eleaemones hoti autoi | |oiktirmones, k.t.l.
eleaethaesontai. | |
vi. 14. ean gar | aphiete hina aphethae | vi. 37. apoluete kai
aphaete tois anth. ta |humin. |apoluthaesesthe.
paraptomata auton. | |
vii. 12. panta oun | hos poieite houto | vi. 31. kai kathos
hosa ean thelaete hina |poiaethaesetai humin. |thelete hina poiosin
poiosin humin hoi anth.| |humin hoi anthropoi kai
houtos kai humeis | |humeis poieite autois
| |homoios poieite autois.
| hos didote houtos | vi. 38. didote, kai
|dothaesetai humin. |dothaesetai humin.
vii. 2. en ho gar | hos krinete houtos | vi. 37. kai mae
krimati krinete |krithaesetai humin. |krinete kai ou mae
krithaesesthe. | |krithaete.
| hos chraesteuesthe |
|houtos chraesteuthaesetai|
|humin. |
kai en ho metro | ho metro metreite en | vi. 38. to gar auto
metreite |auto metraethaesetai |metro ho metreite
metraethaesetai humin. |humin. |antimetraethaesetai
| |humin.
We are to determine whether this quotation was taken from the
Canonical Gospels. Let us try to balance the arguments on both
sides as fairly as possible. Dr. Lightfoot writes in his note upon
the passage as follows: 'As Clement's quotations are often very
loose, we need not go beyond the Canonical Gospels for the source
of this passage. The resemblance to the original is much closer
here, than it is for instance in his account of Rahab above, Sec. 12.
The hypothesis therefore that Clement derived the saying from oral
tradition, or from some lost Gospel, is not needed.' (1) No doubt
it is true that Clement does often quote loosely. The difference
of language, taking the parallel clauses one by one, is not
greater than would be found in many of his quotations from the Old
Testament. (2) Supposing that the order of St. Luke is followed,
there will be no greater dislocation than e.g. in the quotation
from Deut. ix. 12-14 and Exod. xxxii. (7, 8), 11, 31, 32 in c.
liii, and the backward order of the quotation would have a
parallel in Clem. Hom. xvi. 13, where the verses Deut. xiii. 1-3,
5, 9 are quoted in the order Deut. xiii. 1-3, 9, 5, 3,--and
elsewhere. The composition of a passage from different places in
the same book, or more often from places in different books, such
as would be the case if Clement was following Matthew, frequently
occurs in his quotations from the Old Testament. (3) We have no
positive evidence of the presence of this passage in any non-
extant Gospel. (4) Arguments from the manner of quoting the Old
Testament to the manner of quoting the New must always be to a
certain extent _a fortiori_, for it is undeniable that the
New Testament did not as yet stand upon the same footing of
respect and authority as the Old, and the scarcity of MSS. must
have made it less accessible. In the case of converts from
Judaism, the Old Testament would have been largely committed to
memory in youth, while the knowledge of the New would be only
recently acquired. These considerations seem to favour the
hypothesis that Clement is quoting from our Gospels.
But on the other hand it may be urged, (1) that the parallel
adduced by Dr. Lightfoot, the story of Rahab, is not quite in
point, because it is narrative, and narrative both in Clement and
the other writers of his time is dealt with more freely than
discourse. (2) The passage before us is also of greater length
than is usual in Clement's free quotations. I doubt whether as
long a piece of discourse can be found treated with equal freedom,
unless it is the two doubtful cases in c. viii and c. xxix. (3) It
will not fail to be noticed that the passage as it stands in
Clement has a roundness, a compactness, a balance of style, which
give it an individual and independent appearance. Fusions effected
by an unconscious process of thought are, it is true, sometimes
marked by this completeness; still there is a difficulty in
supposing the terse antitheses of the Clementine version to be
derived from the fuller, but more lax and disconnected, sayings in
our Gospels. (4) It is noticed in 'Supernatural Religion' [Endnote
65:1] that the particular phrase [Greek: chraesteusthe] has at
least a partial parallel in Justin [Greek: ginesthe chraestoi kai
oiktirmones], though it has none in the Canonical Gospels. This
may seem to point to a documentary source no longer extant.
Doubtless light would be thrown upon the question if we only knew
what was the common original of the two Synoptic texts. How do
they come to be so like and yet so different as they are? How do
they come to be so strangely broken up? The triple synopsis, which
has to do more with narrative, presents less difficulty, but the
problem raised by these fragmentary parallelisms in discourse is
dark and complex in the extreme; yet if it were only solved it
would in all probability give us the key to a wide class of
phenomena. The differences in these extra-canonical quotations do
not exceed the differences between the Synoptic Gospels
themselves; yet by far the larger proportion of critics regard the
resemblances in the Synoptics as due to a common written source
used either by all three or by two of them. The critics have not
however, I believe, given any satisfactory explanation of the
state of dispersion in which the fragments of this latter class
are found. All that can be at present done is to point out that
the solution of this problem and that of such quotations as the
one discussed in Clement hang together, and that while the one
remains open the other must also.
Looking at the arguments on both sides, so far as we can give
them, I incline on the whole to the opinion that Clement is not
quoting directly from our Gospels, but I am quite aware of the
insecure ground on which this opinion rests. It is a nice balance
of probabilities, and the element of ignorance is so large that
the conclusion, whatever it is, must be purely provisional.
Anything like confident dogmatism on the subject seems to me
entirely out of place.
Very much the same is to be said of the second passage in c. xlvi
compared with Matt. xxvi. 24, xviii. 6, or Luke xvii. 1, 2. It hardly
seems necessary to give the passage in full, as this is already done
in 'Supernatural Religion,' and it does not differ materially from
that first quoted, except that it is less complicated and the
supposition of a quotation from memory somewhat easier. The critic
indeed dismisses the question summarily enough. He says that 'the
slightest comparison of the passage with our Gospels is sufficient to
convince any unprejudiced mind that it is neither a combination of
texts nor a quotation from memory' [Endnote 66:1]. But this very
confident assertion is only the result of the hasty and superficial
examination that the author has given to the facts. He has set down
the impression that a modern might receive, at the first blush,
without having given any more extended study to the method of the
patristic quotations. I do not wish to impute blame to him for this,
because we are all sure to take up some points superficially; but the
misfortune is that he has spent his labour in the wrong place. He
has, in a manner, revived the old ecclesiastical argument from
authority by heaping together references, not always quite digested
and sifted, upon points that often do not need them, and he has
neglected that consecutive study of the originals which alone could
imbue his mind with their spirit and place him at the proper point of
view for his enquiry.
The hypothesis that Clement's quotation is made _memoriter_ from our
Gospel is very far from being inadmissible. Were it not that the
other passage seems to lean the other way, I should be inclined to
regard it as quite the most probable solution. Such a fusion is
precisely what _would_ and frequently _does_ take place in quoting
from memory. It is important to notice the key phrases in the
quotation. The opening phrases [Greek: ouai to anthropo ekeino; kalon
aen auto ei ouk egennaethae] are found _exactly_ (though with
omissions) in Matt. xxvi. 24. Clement has in common with the
Synoptists all the more marked expressions but two, [Greek:
skandalisai] ([Greek: -sae] Synoptics), the unusual word [Greek:
mulos] (Matt., Mark), [Greek: katapontisthaenai] ([Greek: -thae]
Matt.), [Greek: eis taen thalassan] (Mark, Luke), [Greek: hena ton
mikron] ([Greek: mou] Clement, [Greek: touton] Synoptics). He differs
from them, so far as phraseology is concerned, only in writing _once_
(the second time he agrees with the Synoptics) [Greek: ton eklekton
mou] for [Greek: ton mikron touton], by an easy paraphrase, and
[Greek: peritethaenai] where Mark and Luke have [Greek: perikeitai]
and Matthew [Greek: kremasthae]. But on the other hand, it should be
noticed that Matthew has, besides this variation, [Greek: en to
pelagei taes thalassaes], where the two companion Gospels have
[Greek: eis taen thalassan]; where he has [Greek: katapontisthae],
Mark has [Greek: beblaetai] and Luke [Greek: erriptai]; and in the
important phrase for 'it were better' all the three Gospels differ,
Matthew having [Greek: sumpherei], Mark [Greek: kalon estin], and
Luke [Greek: lusitelei]; so that it seems not at all too much to say
that Clement does not differ from the Synoptics more than they differ
from each other. The remarks that the author makes, in a general way,
upon these differences lead us to ask whether he has ever definitely
put to himself the question, How did they arise? He must be aware
that the mass of German authorities he is so fond of quoting admit of
only two alternatives, that the Synoptic writers copied either from
the same original or from each other, and that the idea of a merely
oral tradition is scouted in Germany. But if this is the case, if so
great a freedom has been exercised in transcription, is it strange
that Clement (or any other writer) should be equally free in
quotation?
The author rightly notices--though he does not seem quite to
appreciate its bearing--the fact that Marcion and some codices (of
the Old Latin translation) insert, as Clement does, the phrase
[Greek: ei ouk egennaethae ae] in the text of St. Luke. Supposing
that this were the text of St. Luke's Gospel which Clement had before
him, it would surely be so much easier to regard his quotation as
directly taken from the Gospel; but the truer view perhaps would be
that we have here an instance (and the number of such instances in
the older MSS. is legion) of the tendency to interpolate by the
insertion of parallel passages from the same or from the other
Synoptic Gospels. Clement and Marcion (with the Old Latin) will then
confirm each other, as showing that even at this early date the two
passages, Matt. xxvi. 24 and Matt. xviii. 6 (Luke xvii. 2), had
already begun to be combined.
There is one point more to be noticed before we leave the Epistle
of Clement. There is a quotation from Isaiah in this Epistle which
is common to it with the first two Synoptics. Of this Volkmar
writes as follows, giving the words of Clement, c. xv, 'The
Scripture says somewhere, This people honoureth me with their
lips, but their heart is far from me,' ([Greek: houtos ho laos
tois cheilesin me tima hae de kardia auton porro apestin ap'
emou]). 'This "Scripture" the writer found in Mark vii. 6
(followed in Matt. xv. 8), and in that shape he could not at once
remember where it stood in the Old Testament. It is indeed Mark's
peculiar reproduction of Is. xxix. 13, in opposition to the
original and the LXX. A further proof that the Roman Christian has
here our Synoptic text in his mind, may be taken from c. xiii,
where he quotes Jer. ix. 24 with equal divergence from the LXX,
after the precedent of the Apostle (1 Cor. i. 31, 2 Cor. x. 17)
whose letters he expressly refers to (c. xlvii) [Endnote 69:1].
It is difficult here to avoid the conclusion that Clement is
quoting the Old Testament through the medium of our Gospels. The
text of the LXX is this, [Greek: engizei moi ho laos houtos en to
stomati autou kai en tois cheilesin auton timosin me]. Clement has
the passage exactly as it is given in Mark ([Greek: ho laos
houtos] Matt.), except that he writes [Greek: apestin] where both
of the Gospels have [Greek: apechei] with the LXX. The passage is
not Messianic, so that the variation cannot be referred to a
Targum; and though A. and six other MSS. in Holmes and Parsons
omit [Greek: en to stomati autou] (through wrong punctuation--
Credner), still there is no MS. authority whatever, and naturally
could not be, for the omission of [Greek: engizei moi ... kai] and
for the change of [Greek: timosin] to [Greek: tima]. There can be
little doubt that this was a free quotation in the original of the
Synoptic Gospels, and it is in a high degree probable that it has
passed through them into Clement of Rome. It might perhaps be
suggested that Clement was possibly quoting the earlier document,
the original of our Synoptics, but this suggestion seems to be
excluded both by his further deviation from the LXX in [Greek:
apestin], and also by the phenomena of the last quotation we have
been discussing, which are certainly of a secondary character.
Altogether I cannot but regard this passage as the strongest
evidence we possess for the use of the Synoptic Gospels by
Clement; it seems to carry the presumption that he did use them up
to a considerable degree of probability.
It is rather singular that Volkmar, whose speculations about the
Book of Judith we have seen above, should be so emphatic as he is
in asserting the use of all three Synoptics by Clement. We might
almost, though not quite, apply with a single change to this
critic a sentence originally levelled at Tischendorf, to the
intent that 'he systematically adopts the latest (earliest)
possible or impossible dates for all the writings of the first two
centuries,' but he is able to admit the use of the first and third
Synoptics (the publication of which he places respectively in 100
and 110 A.D.) by throwing forward the date of Clement's Epistle,
through the Judith-hypothesis, to A.D. 125. We may however accept
the assertion for what it is worth, as coming from a mind
something less than impartial, while we reject the concomitant
theories. For my own part I do not feel able to speak with quite
the same confidence, and yet upon the whole the evidence, which on
a single instance might seem to incline the other way, does appear
to favour the conclusion that Clement used our present Canonical
Gospels.
2.
There is not, so far as I am aware, any reason to complain of the
statement of opinion in 'Supernatural Religion' as to the date of
the so-called Epistle of Barnabas. Arguing then entirely from
authority, we may put the _terminus ad quem_ at about 130
A.D. The only writer who is quoted as placing it later is Dr.
Donaldson, who has perhaps altered his mind in the later edition
of his work, as he now writes: 'Most (critics) have been inclined
to place it not later than the first quarter of the second
century, and all the indications of a date, though very slight,
point to this period' [Endnote 71:1].
The most important issue is raised on a quotation in c. iv, 'Many
are called but few chosen,' in the Greek of the Codex Sinaiticus
[Greek: [prosechomen, maepote, hos gegraptai], polloi klaetoi,
oligoi de eklektoi eurethomen.] This corresponds exactly with
Matt. xxii. 14, [Greek: polloi gar eisin klaetoi, oligoi de
eklektoi]. The passage occurs twice in our present received text
of St. Matthew, but in xx. 16 it is probably an interpolation.
There also occurs in 4 Ezra (2 Esdras) viii. 3 the sentence, 'Many
were created but few shall be saved' [Endnote 71:2]. Our author
spends several pages in the attempt to prove that this is the
original of the quotation in Barnabas and not the saying in St.
Matthew. We have the usual positiveness of statement: 'There can
be no doubt that the sense of the reading in 4 Ezra is exactly
that of the Epistle.' 'It is impossible to imagine a saying more
irrelevant to its context than "Many are called but few chosen" in
Matt. xx. 16,' where it is indeed spurious, though the relevancy
of it might very well be maintained. In Matt. xxii. 14, where the
saying is genuine, 'it is clear that the facts distinctly
contradict the moral that "few are chosen."' When we come to a
passage with a fixed idea it is always easy to get out of it what
we wish to find. As to the relevancy or irrelevancy of the clause
in Matt. xxii. 14 I shall say nothing, because it is in either
case undoubtedly genuine. But it is surely a strange paradox to
maintain that the words 'Many were created but few shall be saved'
are nearer in meaning to 'Many are called but few chosen' than the
repetition of those very words themselves. Our author has
forgotten to notice that Barnabas has used the precise word
[Greek: klaetoi] just before; indeed it is the very point on which
his argument turns, 'because we are called do not let us therefore
rest idly upon our oars; Israel was called to great privileges,
yet they were abandoned by God as we see them; let us therefore
also take heed, for, as it is written, many are called but few
chosen.' I confess I find it difficult to conceive anything more
relevant, and equally so to see any special relevancy, in the
vague general statement 'Many were created but few shall be
saved.'
But even if it were not so, if it were really a question between
similarity of context on the one hand and identity of language on
the other, there ought to be no hesitation in declaring that to be
the original of the quotation in which the language was identical
though the context might be somewhat different. Any one who has
studied patristic quotations will know that context counts for
very little indeed. What could be more to all appearance remote
from the context than the quotation in Heb. i. 7, 'Who maketh his
angels spirits and his ministers a flaming fire'? where the
original is certainly referring to the powers of nature, and means
'who maketh the winds his messengers and a flame of fire his
minister;' with the very same sounds we have a complete inversion
of the sense. This is one of the most frequent phenomena, as our
author cannot but know [Endnote 73:1].
Hilgenfeld, in his edition of the Epistle of Barnabas, repels
somewhat testily the imputation of Tischendorf, who criticises him
as if he supposed that the saying in St. Matthew was not directly
referred to [Endnote 73:2]. This Hilgenfeld denies to be the case.
In regard to the use of the word [Greek: gegraptai] introducing
the quotation, the same writer urges reasonably enough that it
cannot surprise us at a time when we learn from Justin Martyr that
the Gospels were read regularly at public worship; it ought not
however to be pressed too far as involving a claim to special
divine inspiration, as the same word is used in the Epistle in
regard to the apocryphal book of Enoch, and it is clear also from
Justin that the Canon of the Gospels was not yet formed but only
forming.
The clause, 'Give to every one that asketh of thee' [Greek: panti
to aitounti se didou], though admitted into the text of c. xix by
Hilgenfeld and Weizsaecker, is wanting in the Sinaitic MS., and the
comparison with Luke vi. 30 or Matt. v. 42 therefore cannot be
insisted upon.
The passage '[in order that He might show that] He came not to
call the righteous but sinners' ([Greek: hina deixae hoti ouk
aelthen kalesai dikaious alla amartolous] [Endnote 74:1]) is
removed by the hypothesis of an interpolation which is supported
by a precarious argument from Origen, and also by the fact that
[Greek: eis metanoian] has been added (clearly from Luke v. 32) by
later hands both to the text of Barnabas and in Matt. ix. 13
[Endnote 74:2]. This theory of an interpolation is easily
advanced, and it is drawn so entirely from our ignorance that it
can seldom be positively disproved, but it ought surely to be
alleged with more convincing reasons than any that are put forward
here. We now possess six MSS. of the Epistle of Barnabas,
including the famous Codex Sinaiticus, the accuracy of which in
the Biblical portions can be amply tested, and all of these six
MSS., without exception, contain the passage. The addition of the
words [Greek: eis metanoian] represents much more the kind of
interpolations that were at all habitual. The interpolation
hypothesis, as I said, is easily advanced, but the _onus
probandi_ must needs lie heavily against it. In accepting the
text as it stands we simply obey the Baconian maxim _hypotheses
non fingimus_, but it is strange, and must be surprising to a
philosophic mind, to what an extent the more extreme representatives
of the negative criticism have gone back to the most condemned
parts of the scholastic method; inconvenient facts are explained
away by hypotheses as imaginary and unverifiable as the 'cycles
and epicycles' by which the schoolmen used to explain the motions
of the heavenly bodies.
'If however,' the author continues, 'the passage 'originally
formed part of the text, it is absurd to affirm that it is any
proof of the use or existence of the first Gospel.' 'Absurd' is
under the circumstances a rather strong word to use; but, granting
that it would have been even 'absurd' to allege this passage, if
it had stood alone, as a sufficient proof of the use of the
Gospel, it does not follow that there can be any objection to the
more guarded statement that it invests the use of the Gospel with
a certain antecedent probability. No doubt the quotation
_may_ have been made from a lost Gospel, but here again
[Greek: eis aphanes ton muthon anenenkas ouk echei elenchon]--
there is no verifying that about which we know nothing. The critic
may multiply Gospels as much as he pleases and an apologist at
least will not quarrel with him, but it would be more to the point
if he could prove the existence in these lost writings of matter
_conflicting_ with that contained in the extant Gospels. As
it is, the only result of these unverifiable hypotheses is to
raise up confirmatory documents in a quarter where apologists have
not hitherto claimed them.
We are delaying, however, too long upon points of quite secondary
importance. Two more passages are adduced; one, an application of
Ps. cx (The Lord said unto my Lord) precisely as in Matt. xxii.
44, and the other a saying assigned to our Lord, 'They who wish to
see me and lay hold on my kingdom must receive me through
affliction and suffering.' Of neither of these can we speak
positively. There is perhaps a slight probability that the first
was suggested by our Gospel, and considering the character of the
verifiable quotations in Barnabas, which often follow the sense
only and not the words, the second may be 'a free reminiscence of
Matt. xvi. 24 compared with Acts xiv. 22,' but it is also possible
that it may be a saying quoted from an apocryphal Gospel.
It should perhaps be added that Lardner and Dr. Westcott both
refer to a quotation of Zech. xiii. 7 which appears in the common
text of the Epistle in a form closely resembling that in which the
quotation is given in Matt. xxvi. 31 and diverging from the LXX,
but here again the Sinaitic Codex varies, and the text is too
uncertain to lay stress upon, though perhaps the addition [Greek:
taes poimnaes] may incline the balance to the view that the text
of the Gospel has influenced the form of the quotation [Endnote
76:1].
The general result of our examination of the Epistle of Barnabas
may perhaps be stated thus, that while not supplying by itself
certain and conclusive proof of the use of our Gospels, still the
phenomena accord better with the hypothesis of such a use. This
Epistle stands in the second line of the evidence, and as a
witness is rather confirmatory than principal.
3.
After Dr. Lightfoot's masterly exposition there is probably
nothing more to be said about the genuineness, date, and origin of
the Ignatian Epistles. Dr. Lightfoot has done in the most lucid
and admirable manner just that which is so difficult to do, and
which 'Supernatural Religion' has so signally failed in doing; he
has succeeded in conveying to the reader a true and just sense of
the exact weight and proportion of the different parts of the
evidence. He has avoided such phrases as 'absurd,' 'impossible,'
'preposterous,' that his opponent has dealt in so freely, but he
has weighed and balanced the evidence piece by piece; he has
carefully guarded his language so as never to let the positiveness
of his conclusion exceed what the premises will warrant; he has
dealt with the subject judicially and with a full consciousness of
the responsibility of his position [Endnote 77:1].
We cannot therefore, I think, do better than adopt Dr. Lightfoot's
conclusion as the basis of our investigation, and treat the
Curetonian (i.e. the three short Syriac) letters as (probably)
'the work of the genuine Ignatius, while the Vossian letters
(i.e. the shorter Greek recension of seven Epistles) are accepted
as valid testimony at all events for the middle of the second
century--the question of the genuineness of the letters being
waived.'
The Curetonian Epistles will then be dated either in 107 or in 115
A.D., the two alternative years assigned to the martyrdom of
Ignatius. In the Epistle to Polycarp which is given in this
version there is a parallel to Matt. x. 16, 'Be ye therefore wise
as serpents and harmless as doves.' The two passages may be
compared thus:--
_Ign. ad Pol._ ii.
[Greek: Psronimos ginou hos ophis en apasin kai akeaios osei
perisetera.]
_Matt._ x. 16.
[Greek: Ginesthe oun psronimoi hos oi opheis kai akeaioi hos ai
peristerai.]
We should naturally place this quotation in the second column of
our classified arrangement, as presenting a slight variation. At
the same time we should have little hesitation in referring it to
the passage in our Canonical Gospel. All the marked expressions
are identical, especially the precise and selected words [Greek:
phronimos] and [Greek: akeraios]. It is however possible that
Ignatius may be quoting, not directly from our Gospel, but from
one of the original documents (such as Ewald's hypothetical
'Spruch-sammlung') out of which our Gospel was composed--though it
is somewhat remarkable that this particular sentence is wanting in
the parallel passage in St. Luke (cf. Luke x. 3). This may be so
or not; we have no means of judging. But it should at any rate be
remembered that this original document, supposing it to have had a
substantive existence, most probably contained repeated references
to miracles. The critics who refer Matt. x. 16 to the document in
question, also agree in referring to it Matt. vii. 22, x. 8, xi.
5, xii. 24 foll., &c., which speak distinctly of miracles, and
precisely in that indirect manner which is the best kind of
evidence. Therefore if we accept the hypothesis suggested in
'Supernatural Religion'--and it is a mere hypothesis, quite
unverifiable--the evidence for miracles would not be materially
weakened. The author would, I suppose, admit that it is at least
equally probable that the saying was quoted from our present
Gospel.
This probability would be considerably heightened if the allusion
to 'the star' in the Syriac of Eph. xix has, as it appears to
have, reference to the narrative of Matt. ii. In the Greek or
Vossian version of the Epistle it is expanded, 'How then was He
manifested to the ages? A star shone in heaven above all the
stars, and the light thereof was unspeakable, and the strangeness
thereof caused astonishment' ([Greek: Pos oun ephanerothae tois
aoisin; Astaer en ourano elampsen huper pantas tous asteras, kai
to phos autou aneklalaeton aen, kai xenismon pareichen hae
kainotaes autou]). This is precisely, one would suppose, the kind
of passage that might be taken as internal evidence of the
genuineness of the Curetonian and later character of the Vossian
version. The Syriac ([Greek: hatina en haesouchia Theou to asteri]
[or [Greek: apo tou asteros]] [Greek: eprachthae]), abrupt and
difficult as it is, does not look like an epitome of the Greek,
and the Greek has exactly that exaggerated and apocryphal
character which would seem to point to a later date. It
corresponds indeed somewhat nearly to the language of the
Protevangelium of James, Sec.21, [Greek: eidomen astera pammegethae
lampsanta en tois astrois tou ouranou kai amblunonta tous allous
asteras hoste mae phainesthai autous]. Both in the Protevangelium
and in the Vossian Ignatius we see what is clearly a developement
of the narrative in St. Matthew. If the Vossian Epistles are
genuine, then by showing the existence of such a developement at
so early a date they will tend to throw back still further the
composition of the Canonical Gospel. If the Syriac version, on the
other hand, is the genuine one, it will be probable that Ignatius
is directly alluding to the narrative which is peculiar to the
first Evangelist.
These are (so far as I am aware) the only coincidences that are
found in the Curetonian version. Their paucity cannot surprise us,
as in the same Curetonian text there is not a single quotation
from the Old Testament. One Old Testament quotation and two
Evangelical allusions occur in the Epistle to the Ephesians, which
is one of the three contained in Cureton's MS.; the fifth and
sixth chapters, however, in which they are found, are wanting in
the Syriac. The allusions are, in Eph. v, 'For if the prayer of
one or two have such power, how much more that of the bishop and
of the whole Church,' which appears to have some relation to Matt.
xviii. 19 ('If two of you shall agree' &c.), and in Eph. vi, 'For
all whom the master of the house sends to be over his own
household we ought to receive as we should him that sent him,'
which may be compared with Matt. x. 40 ('He that receiveth you'
&c.). Both these allusions have some probability, though neither
can be regarded as at all certain. The Epistle to the Trallians
has one coincidence in c. xi, 'These are not plants of the Father'
([Greek: phyteia Patros]), which recalls the striking expression
of Matt. xv. 13, 'Every plant ([Greek: pasa phyteia]) that my
heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up.' This is a
marked metaphor, and it is not found in the other Synoptics; it is
therefore at least more probable that it is taken from St.
Matthew. The same must be said of another remarkable phrase in the
Epistle to the Smyrnaeans, c. vi, [Greek: ho choron choreito]
([Greek: ho dynamenos chorein choreito], Matt. xix. 12), and also
of the statement in c. i. of the same Epistle that Jesus was
baptized by John 'that He might fulfil all righteousness' ([Greek:
hina plaerothae pasa dikaiosynae hup' autou]). This corresponds
with the language of Matt. iii. 15 ([Greek: houtos gar prepon
estin haemin plaerosai pasan dikaiosynaen]), which also has no
parallel in the other Gospels. The use of the phrase [Greek:
plaerosai pasan dikaiosynaen] is so peculiar, and falls in so
entirely with the characteristic Christian Judaizing of our first
Evangelist, that it seems especially unreasonable to refer it to
any one else. There is not the smallest particle of evidence to
connect it with the Gospel according to the Hebrews to which our
author seems to hint that it may belong; indeed all that we know
of that Gospel may be said almost positively to exclude it. In
this Gospel our Lord is represented as saying, when His mother and
His brethren urge that He should accept baptism from John, 'What
have I sinned that I should go and be baptized by him?' and it is
almost by compulsion that He is at last induced to accompany them.
It will be seen that this is really an _opposite_ version of
the event to that of Ignatius and the first Gospel, where the
objection comes from _John_ and is overruled by our Lord
Himself [Endnote 81:1].
There is however one quotation, introduced as such, in this same
Epistle, the source of which Eusebius did not know, but which
Origen refers to the 'Preaching of Peter' and Jerome seems to have
found in the Nazarene version of the 'Gospel according to the
Hebrews.' This phrase is attributed to our Lord when He appeared
'to those about Peter and said to them, Handle Me and see that I
am not an incorporeal spirit' ([Greek: psaelaphaesate me, kai
idete, hoti ouk eimi daimonion asomaton]). But for the statement
of Origen that these words occurred in the 'Preaching of Peter'
they might have been referred without much difficulty to Luke
xxiv. 39. The Preaching of Peter seems to have begun with the
Resurrection, and to have been an offshoot rather in the direction
of the Acts than the Gospels [Endnote 81:2]. It would not
therefore follow from the use of it by Ignatius here, that the
other quotations could also be referred to it. And, supposing it
to be taken from the 'Gospel according to the Hebrews,' this would
not annul what has been said above as to the reason for thinking
that Ignatius (or the writer who bears his name) cannot have used
that Gospel systematically and alone.
4.
Is the Epistle which purports to have been written by Polycarp to the
Philippians to be accepted as genuine? It is mentioned in the most
express terms by Irenaeus, who declares himself to have been a
disciple of Polycarp in his early youth, and speaks enthusiastically
of the teaching which he then received. Irenaeus was writing between
the years 180-190 A.D., and Polycarp is generally allowed to have
suffered martyrdom about 167 or 168 [Endnote 82:1]. But the way in
which Irenaeus speaks of the Epistle is such as to imply, not only
that it had been for some time in existence, but also that it had
been copied and disseminated and had attained a somewhat wide
circulation. He is appealing to the Catholic tradition in opposition
to heretical teaching such as that of Valentinus and Marcion, and he
says, 'There is an Epistle written by Polycarp to the Philippians of
great excellence [Greek: hikanotatae], from which those who wish to
do so and who care for their own salvation may learn both the
character of his faith and the preaching of the truth' [Endnote
82:2]. He would hardly have used such language if he had not had
reason to think that the Epistle was at least fairly accessible to
the Christians for whom he is writing. But allowing for the somewhat
slow (not too slow) multiplication and dissemination of writings
among the Christians, this will throw back the composition of the
letter well into the lifetime of Polycarp himself. In any case it
must have been current in circles immediately connected with
Polycarp's person.
Against external evidence such as this the objections that are
brought are really of very slight weight. That which is reproduced
in 'Supernatural Religion' from an apparent contradiction between
c. ix and c. xiii, is dismissed even by writers such as Ritschl
who believe that one or both chapters are interpolated. In c. ix
the martyrdom of Ignatius is upheld as an example, in c. xiii
Polycarp asks for information about Ignatius 'et de his qui cum eo
sunt,' apparently as if he were still living. But, apart from the
easy and obvious solution which is accepted by Ritschl, following
Hefele and others, [Endnote 83:1] that the sentence is extant only
in the Latin translation and that the phrase 'qui cum eo sunt' is
merely a paraphrase for [Greek: ton met' autou]; apart from this,
even supposing the objection were valid, it would prove nothing
against the genuineness of the Epistle. It might be taken to prove
that the second passage is an interpolation; but a contradiction
between two passages in the same writing in no way tends to show
that that writing is not by its ostensible author. But surely
either interpolator or forger must have had more sense than to
place two such gross and absurd contradictions within about sixty
lines of each other.
An argument brought by Dr. Hilgenfeld against the date dissolves
away entirely on examination. He thinks that the exhortation Orate
pro regibus (et potestatibus et principibus) in c. xii must needs
refer to the double rule of Antoninus Pius (147 A.D.) or Marcus
Aurelius and Lucius Verus (161 A.D.). But the writer of the
Epistle is only reproducing the words of St. Paul in 1 Tim. ii. 2
([Greek: parakalo ... poieisthai deaeseis ... hyper basileon kai
panton ton en hyperochae onton]). The passage is wrongly referred
in 'Supernatural Religion' to 1 Pet. ii. 17 [Endnote 84:1]. It is
very clear that the language of Polycarp, like that of St. Paul,
is quite general. In order to limit it to the two Caesars we
should have had to read [Greek: hyper ton basileon].
The allusions which Schwegler finds to the Gnostic heresies are
explained when that critic at the end of his argument objects to
the Epistle that it makes use of a number of writings 'the origin
of which must be placed in the second century, such as the Acts, 1
Peter, the Epistles to the Philippians and to the Ephesians, and 1
Timothy.' The objection belongs to the gigantic confusion of fact
and hypothesis which makes up the so-called Tuebingen theory, and
falls to the ground with it.
It should be noticed that those who regard the Epistle as
interpolated yet maintain the genuineness of those portions which
are thought to contain allusions to the Gospels. Ritschl states
this [Endnote 84:2]; Dr. Donaldson confines the interpolation to
c. xiii [Endnote 84:3]; and Volkmar not only affirms with his
usual energy the genuineness of these portions of the Epistle, but
he also asserts that the allusions are really to our Gospels
[Endnote 84:4].
The first that meets us is in c. ii, 'Remembering what the Lord said
teaching, judge not that ye be not judged; forgive and it shall be
forgiven unto you; pity that ye may be pitied; with what measure ye
mete it shall be measured unto you again; and that blessed are the
poor and those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs
is the kingdom of God' [Endnote 85:1]. This passage (if taken from our
Gospels) is not a continuous quotation, but is made up from Luke vi.
36-38, 20, Matt. v. 10, or of still more _disjecta membra_ of St.
Matthew. It will be seen that it covers very similar ground with the
quotation in Clement, and there is also a somewhat striking point of
similarity with that writer in the phrase [Greek: eleeite hina
eleaetheate]. There is moreover a closer resemblance than to our
Gospels in the clause [Greek: aphiete kai aphethaesetai humin]. But
the order of the clauses is entirely different from that in Clement,
and the first clause [Greek: mae krinete hina mae krithaete] is
identical with St. Matthew and more nearly resembles the parallel in
St. Luke than in Clement. These are perplexing phenomena, and seem to
forbid a positive judgment. It would be natural to suppose, and all
that we know of the type of doctrine in the early Church would lead us
to believe, that the Sermon on the Mount would be one of the most
familiar parts of Christian teaching, that it would be largely
committed to memory and quoted from memory. There would be no
difficulty in employing that hypothesis here if the passage stood
alone. The breaking up of the order too would not surprise us when we
compare the way in which the same discourse appears in St. Luke and in
St. Matthew. But then comes in the strange coincidence in the single
clause with Clement; and there is also another curious phenomenon, the
phrase [Greek: aphiete kai aphethaesetai humin] compared with Luke's
[Greek: apoluete kai apoluthaesesthe] has very much the appearance of
a parallel translation from the same Aramaic original, which may
perhaps be the famous 'Spruch-sammlung.' This might however be
explained as the substitution of synonymous terms by the memory. There
is I believe nothing in the shape of direct evidence to show the
presence of a different version of the Sermon on the Mount in any of
the lost Gospels, and, on the other hand, there are considerable
traces of disturbance in the Canonical text (compare e.g. the various
readings on Matt. v. 44). It seems on the whole difficult to construct
a theory that shall meet all the facts. Perhaps a mixed hypothesis
would be best. It is probable that memory has been to some extent at
work (the form of the quotation naturally suggests this) and is to
account for some of Polycarp's variations; at the same time I cannot
but think that there has been somewhere a written version different
from our Gospels to which he and Clement have had access.
There are several other sayings which seem to belong to the Sermon
on the Mount; thus in c. vi, 'If we pray the Lord to forgive us we
also ought to forgive' (cf. Matt. vi. 14 sq.); in c. viii, 'And if
we suffer for His name let us glorify Him' (cf. Matt. v. 11 sq.);
in c. xii, 'Pray for them that persecute you and hate you, and for
the enemies of the cross; that your fruit may be manifest in all
things, that ye may be therein perfect' (cf. Matt. v. 44, 48). All
these passages give the sense, but only the sense, of the first
(and partly also of the third) Gospel. There is however one
quotation which coincides verbally with two of the Synoptics
[Praying the all-seeing God not to lead us into temptation, as the
Lord said], The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak
([Greek: to men pneuma prothumon, hae de sarx asthenaes], Matt.,
Mark, Polycarp; with the introductory clause compare, not Matt.
vi. 13, but xxvi. 41). In the cases where the sense alone is given
there is no reason to think that the writer intends to give more.
At the same time it will be observed that all the quotations refer
either to the double or triple synopsis where we have already
proof of the existence of the saying in question in more than a
single form, and not to those portions that are peculiar to the
individual Evangelists. The author of 'Supernatural Religion' is
therefore not without reason when he says that they may be derived
from other collections than our actual Gospels. The possibility
cannot be excluded. It ought however to be borne in mind that if
such collections did exist, and if Polycarp's allusions or
quotations are to be referred to them, they are to the same extent
evidence that these hypothetical collections did not materially
differ from our present Gospels, but rather bore to them very much
the same relation that they bear to each other. And I do not know
that we can better sum up the case in regard to the Apostolic
Fathers than thus; we have two alternatives to choose between,
either they made use of our present Gospels, or else of writings
so closely resembling our Gospels and so nearly akin to them that
their existence only proves the essential unity and homogeneity of
the evangelical tradition.
CHAPTER IV.
JUSTIN MARTYR.
Hitherto the extant remains of Christian literature have been
scanty and the stream of evangelical quotation has been equally
so, but as we approach the middle of the second century it becomes
much more abundant. We have copious quotations from a Gospel used
about the year 140 by Marcion; the Clementine Homilies, the date
of which however is more uncertain, also contain numerous
quotations; and there are still more in the undoubted works of
Justin Martyr. When I speak of quotations, I do not wish to beg
the question by implying that they are necessarily taken from our
present Gospels, I merely mean quotations from an evangelical
document of some sort. This reservation has to be made especially
in regard to Justin.
Strictly according to the chronological order we should not have
to deal with Justin until somewhat later, but it will perhaps be
best to follow the order of 'Supernatural Religion,' the principle
of which appears to be to discuss the orthodox writers first and
heretical writings afterwards. Modern critics seem pretty
generally to place the two Apologies in the years 147-150 A.D. and
the Dialogue against Tryphon a little later. Dr. Keim indeed would
throw forward the date of Justin's writings as far as from 155-160
on account of the mention of Marcion [Endnote 89:1], but this is
decided by both Hilgenfeld [Endnote 89:2] and Lipsius to be too
late. I see that Mr. Hort, whose opinion on such matters deserves
high respect, comes to the conclusion 'that we may without fear of
considerable error set down Justin's First Apology to 145, or
better still to 146, and his death to 148. The Second Apology, if
really separate from the First, will then fall in 146 or 147, and
the Dialogue with Tryphon about the same time' [Endnote 89:3]
No definite conclusion can be drawn from the title given by Justin to
the work or works he used, that of the 'Memoirs' or 'Recollections' of
the Apostles, and it will be best to leave our further enquiry quite
unfettered by any assumption in respect to them. The title certainly
does not of necessity imply a single work composed by the Apostles
collectively [Endnote 89:4], any more than the parallel phrase 'the
writings of the Prophets' [Endnote 89:5] ([Greek: ta sungrammata ton
prophaeton]), which Justin couples with the 'Memoirs' as read together
in the public services of the Church, implies a single and joint
production on the part of the Prophets. This hypothesis too is open to
the very great objection that so authoritative a work, if it existed,
should have left absolutely no other trace behind it. So far as the
title is concerned, the 'Memoirs of the Apostles' may be either a
single work or an almost indefinite number. In one place Justin says
that the Memoirs were composed 'by His Apostles and their followers'
[Endnote 90:1], which seems to agree remarkably, though not exactly,
with the statement in the prologue to St. Luke. In another he says
expressly that the Memoirs are called Gospels ([Greek: ha kaleitai
euangelia]) [Endnote 90:2]. This clause has met with the usual fate of
parenthetic statements which do not quite fall in with preconceived
opinions, and is dismissed as a 'manifest interpolation,' a gloss
having crept into the text from the margin. It would be difficult to
estimate the exact amount of probability for or against this theory,
but possible at any rate it must be allowed to be; and though the
_prima facie_ view of the genuineness of the words is supported by
another place in which a quotation is referred directly 'to the
Gospel,' still too much ought not perhaps to be built on this clause
alone.
* * * * *
A convenient distinction may be drawn between the material and
formal use of the Gospels; and the most satisfactory method
perhaps will be, to run rapidly through Justin's quotations, first
with a view to ascertain their relation to the Canonical Gospels
in respect to their general historical tenor, and secondly to
examine the amount of verbal agreement. I will try to bring out as
clearly as possible the double phenomena both of agreement and
difference; the former (in regard to which condensation will be
necessary) will be indicated both by touching in the briefest
manner the salient points and by the references in the margin; the
latter, which I have endeavoured to give as exhaustively as
possible, are brought out by italics in the text. The thread of
the narrative then, so far as it can be extracted from the genuine
writings of Justin, will be much as follows [Endnote 91:1].
According to Justin the Messiah
was born, without sin, of a
[SIDENOTES] virgin _who_ was descended from [SIDENOTES]
[Matt. 1.2-6.] David, Jesse, Phares, Judah, [Luke 3.31-34.]
Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham, if
not (the reading here is doubtful)
from Adam himself. [Justin
therefore, it may be inferred, had
before him a genealogy, though
not apparently, as the Canonical
Gospels, that of Joseph but of
Mary.] To Mary it was announced
by the angel Gabriel [Luke 1.26.]
that, while yet a virgin, the
power of God, or of the Highest, [Luke 1.35.]
should overshadow her and she
should conceive and bear a Son [Luke 1.31.]
[Matt. 1.21.] whose name she should call Jesus,
because He should save His
people from their sins. Joseph
observing that Mary, his espoused,
was with child was
[Matt. 1.18-25.] warned in a dream not to put
her away, because that which
was in her womb was of the
Holy Ghost. Thus the prophecy,
[Matt. 1.23.] Is. vii. 14 (Behold the
virgin &c.), was fulfilled. The
mother of John the Baptist was [Luke 1.57.]
Elizabeth. The birth-place of
the Messiah had been indicated
[Matt. 2.5, 6.] by the prophecy of Micah (v. 2,
Bethlehem not the least among
the princes of Judah). There
He was born, as the Romans
might learn from the census
taken by Cyrenius the first
_procurator_ [Greek: [Luke 2.1, 2.]
epitropou] _of Judaea_.
His life extended from Cyrenius
to Pontius Pilate. So, in
consequence of this the first census
in Judaea, Joseph went up from
Nazareth where he dwelt to [Luke 2.4.]
Bethlehem _whence he was_, as a
member of the tribe of Judah.
The parents of Jesus could find
no lodging in Bethlehem, so it [Luke 2.7.]
came to pass that He was born
_in a cave near the village_ and
laid in a manger. At His birth [_ibid._]
[Matt. 2.1.] there came Magi _from Arabia_,
who knew by a star that had
appeared in the _heaven_ that a
[Matt. 2.2.] king had been born in Judaea.
Having paid Him their homage
[Matt. 2.11.] and offered gifts of gold, frankincense
and myrrh, they were
[Matt. 2.12.] warned not to return to Herod
[Matt. 2. 1-7.] whom they had consulted on
the way. He however not willing
that the Child should escape,
[Matt. 2.16.] ordered a massacre of _all_ the
children in Bethlehem, fulfilling
[Matt. 2.17, 18.] the prophecy of Jer. xxxi. 15
(Rachel weeping for her children &c.).
Joseph and his wife meanwhile
[Matt. 2.13-15.] with the Babe had fled
to Egypt, for the Father resolved
that He to whom He had
given birth should not die before
He had preached His word
as a man. There they stayed
[Matt. 2.22] until Archelaus succeeded Herod,
and then returned.
By process of nature He grew
to the age of thirty years or [Luke 3.23.]
more, _not comely of aspect_ (_as
had been prophesied_), practising
[Mark 6.3.] the trade of a carpenter, _making
ploughs and yokes, emblems of
righteousness_. He remained
hidden till John, the herald of
his coming, came forward, the
[Matt 17.12, 13.] spirit of Elias being in him, and
[Matt. 3.2.] as he _sat_ by the river Jordan [Luke 3.3.]
cried to men to repent. As he
[Matt. 3.4.] preached in his wild garb he
declared that he was not the [John 1.19 ff.]
Christ, but that One stronger
[Matt. 3.11, 12.] than he was coming after him [Luke 3. 16, 17.]
whose shoes he was not worthy
to bear, &c. The later history
of John Justin also mentions,
[Matt. 14.3.] how, having been put in prison, [Luke 3.20.]
at a feast on Herod's birthday
[Matt. 14.6 ff.] he was beheaded at the instance
of his sister's daughter. This
[Matt. 17.11-13.] John was Elias who was to come
before the Christ.
At the baptism of Jesus _a fire
was kindled on the Jordan_, and,
as He went up out of the water,
[Matt. 3.16.] the Holy Ghost alighted upon [Luke 3.21, 22.]
Him, and a voice was heard from
heaven _saying in the words of
David_, 'Thou art My Son, _this
day have I begotten Thee_.' After
[Matt. 4.1, 9.] His baptism He was tempted by
the devil, who ended by claiming
homage from Him. To this
Christ replied, 'Get thee behind
[Matt 4.11.] Me, Satan,' &c. So the devil [Luke 4.13.]
departed from Him at that time
worsted and convicted.
Justin knew that the words
of Jesus were short and concise,
not like those of a Sophist. That
He wrought miracles _might be
learnt from the Acts of Pontius
Pilate, fulfilling Is. xxxv. 4-6._
[Matt. 9.29-31, Those who from their _birth_ were [Luke 18.35-43.]
32, 33. 1-8.] blind, dumb, lame, He healed-- [Luke 11.14 ff.]
[Matt. 4.23.] indeed He healed all sickness and [Luke 5.17-26.]
[Matt 9.18 ff.] disease--and He raised the dead. [Luke 8.41 ff.]
_The Jews ascribed these miracles [Luke 7. 11-18.]
to magic_.
Jesus, too (like John, _whose
mission ceased when He appeared
in public_), began His ministry
[Matt 4.17.] by proclaiming that the kingdom
of heaven was at hand.
Many precepts of the Sermon
on the Mount Justin has preserved,
[Matt 5.20.] the righteousness of the
[Matt 5.28.] Scribes and Pharisees, the
[Matt 5.29-32.] adultery of the heart, the offending
[Matt 5.34, 37, eye, divorce, oaths, returning
39]
[Matt 5.44.] good for evil, loving and praying
[Matt 5.42.] for enemies, giving to those that [Luke 6.30.]
[Matt 6.19, 20.] need, placing the treasure in
[Matt 6.25-27.] heaven, not caring for bodily [Luke 12.22-24.]
[Matt 5.45.] wants, but copying the mercy
[Matt 6.21, &c.] and goodness of God, not acting
from worldly motives--above all,
[Matt 7.22, 23.] deeds not words. [Luke 13.26, 27.]
Justin quotes sayings from
[Matt. 8.11, 12.] the narrative of the centurion [Luke 13.28, 29.]
[Matt. 9.13.] of Capernaum and of the feast [Luke 5.32.]
in the house of Matthew. He
[Matt. 10.1 ff.] has, the choosing of the twelve [Luke 6.13.]
Apostles, with the name given
[Mark 3.17.] to the sons of Zebedee, Boanerges
or 'sons of thunder,' the com-
mission of the Apostles, the [Luke 10.19.]
[Matt. 11.12-15.] discourse after the departure of [Luke 16.16.]
the messengers of John, the
[Matt. 16.4.] sign of the prophet Jonas, the
[Matt. 13.3 ff.] parable of the sower, Peter's [Luke 8.5 ff.]
[Matt. 16.15-18.] confession, the announcement of [Luke 9.22.]
[Matt. 16.21.] the Passion.
From the account of the last
journey and the closing scenes
of our Lord's life, Justin has,
[Matt. 19.16,17.] the history of the rich young [Luke 18.18,19.]
[Matt. 21.1 ff.] man, the entry into Jerusalem, [Luke 19.29 ff.]
the cleansing of the Temple, the [Luke 19.46.]
[Matt. 22.11.] wedding garment, the controversial
discourses about the [Luke 20.22-25.]
[Matt. 22.21.] tribute money, the resurrection, [Luke 20.35,36.]
[Matt. 22.37,38.] and the greatest commandment,
[Matt. 23.2 ff.] those directed against the Pha- [Luke 11.42,52.]
[Matt. 25.34,41.] risees and the eschatological
[Matt. 25.14-30.] discourse, the parable of the
talents. Justin's account of the
institution of the Lord's Supper [Luke 22.19,20.]
agrees with that of Luke. After
[Matt. 26.30.] it Jesus sang a hymn, and taking
[Matt. 26.36,37.] with Him three of His disciples
to the Mount of Olives He was
in an agony, His sweat falling in [Luke 22.42-44.]
_drops_ (not necessarily of blood)
to the ground. His captors
surrounded Him _like the 'horned
bulls' of Ps. xxii._ 11-14; there
[Matt. 26.56.] was none to help, for His followers
_to a man_ forsook Him.
[Matt. 26.57 ff.] He was led both before the [Luke 22.66 ff.]
Scribes and Pharisees and before
[Matt. 27.11 ff.] Pilate. In the trial before Pilate [Luke 23.1 ff.]
[Matt. 27.14] He kept silence, _as Ps. xxii._ 15.
Pilate sent Him bound to Herod. [Luke 23.7.]
Justin relates most of the incidents
of the Crucifixion in detail,
for confirmation of which he refers
to the _Acts of Pilate_. He marks
especially the fulfilment in various
places of Ps. xxii. He has the
piercing with nails, the casting of [Luke 24.40.]
[Matt. 27.35.] lots and dividing of the garments, [Luke 23.34.]
[Matt. 27.39 ff.] the _sneers_ of the crowd [Luke 23.35.]
(somewhat expanded from the
[Matt. 27.42.] Synoptics), and their taunt, _He
who raised the dead_ let Him save
[Matt. 27.46.] Himself; also the cry of despair,
'My God, My God, why hast
Thou forsaken Me?' and the last
words, 'Father, into Thy hands [Luke 23.46.]
I commend My Spirit.'
[Matt. 27.57-60.] The burial took place in the
evening, the disciples being all
[Matt. 26.31,56.] scattered in accordance with
Zech. xiii. 7. On the third day, [Luke 24.21.]
[Matt. 28.1 ff.] the day of the sun or the first [Luke 24.1 ff.]
(or eighth) day of the week,
Jesus rose from the dead. He
then convinced His disciples that
His sufferings had been prophe- [Luke 24.26, 46.]
tically foretold and they repented [Luke 24.32.]
of having deserted Him. Having
given them His last commission
they saw Him ascend up into [Luke 24.50.]
heaven. Thus believing and
having first waited to receive
power from Him they went forth
into all the world and preached
the word of God. To this day
[Matt. 28.19] Christians baptize in the name
of the Father of all, and of our
Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the
Holy Ghost.
[Matt. 28.12-15.] The Jews spread a story that
the disciples stole the body of
Jesus from the grave and so
deceived men by asserting that
He was risen from the dead and
ascended into heaven.
There is nothing in Justin (as
in Luke xxiv, but cp. Acts i. 3)
to show that the Ascension did
not take place _on the same day_
as the Resurrection.
I have taken especial pains in the above summary to bring out the
points in which Justin way seem to differ from or add to the
canonical narratives. But, without stopping at present to consider
the bearing of these upon Justin's relation to the Gospels, I will
at once proceed to make some general remarks which the summary
seems to suggest.
(1) If such is the outline of Justin's Gospel, it appears to be
really a question of comparatively small importance whether or not
he made use of our present Gospels in their present form. If he
did not use these Gospels he used other documents which contained
substantially the same matter. The question of the reality of
miracles clearly is not affected. Justin's documents, whatever
they were, not only contained repeated notices of the miracles in
general, the healing of the lame and the paralytic, of the maimed
and the dumb, and the raising of the dead--not only did they
include several discourses, such as the reply to the messengers of
John and the saying to the Centurion whose servant was healed,
which have direct reference to miracles, but they also give marked
prominence to the chief and cardinal miracles of the Gospel
history, the Incarnation and the Resurrection. It is antecedently
quite possible that the narrative of these events may have been
derived from a document other than our Gospels; but, if so, that
is only proof of the existence of further and independent evidence
to the truth of the history. This document, supposing it to exist,
is a surprising instance of the homogeneity of the evangelical
tradition; it differs from the three Synoptic Gospels, nay, we may
say even from the four Gospels, _less_ than they differ from
each other.
(2) But we may go further than this. If Justin really used a
separate substantive document now lost, that document, to judge
from its contents, must have represented a secondary, or rather a
tertiary, stage of the evangelical literature; it must have
implied the previous existence of our present Gospels. I do not
now allude to the presence in it of added traits, such as the cave
of the Nativity and the fire on Jordan, which are of the nature of
those mythical details that we find more fully developed in the
Apocryphal Gospels. I do not so much refer to these--though, for
instance, in the case of the fire on Jordan it is highly probable
that Justin's statement is a translation into literal fact of the
canonical (and Justinian) saying, 'He shall baptize with the Holy
Ghost and with fire'--but, on general grounds, the relation which
this supposed document bears to the extant Gospels shows that it
must have been in point of time posterior to them.
The earlier stages of evangelical composition present a nucleus,
with a more or less defined circumference, of unity, and outside
of this a margin of variety. There was a certain body of
narrative, which, in whatever form it was handed down--whether as
oral or written--at a very early date obtained a sort of general
recognition, and seems to have been as a matter of course
incorporated in the evangelical works as they appeared.
Besides this there was also other matter which, without such
general recognition, had yet a considerable circulation, and,
though not found in all, was embodied in more than one of the
current compilations. But, as we should naturally expect, these
two classes did not exhaust the whole of the evangelical matter.
Each successive historian found himself able by special researches
to add something new and as yet unpublished to the common stock.
Thus, the first of our present Evangelists has thirty-five
sections or incidents besides the whole of the first two chapters
peculiar to himself. The third Evangelist has also two long
chapters of preliminary history, and as many as fifty-six sections
or incidents which have no parallel in the other Gospels. Much of
this peculiar matter in each case bears an individual and
characteristic stamp. The opening chapters of the first and third
Synoptics evidently contain two distinct and independent
traditions. So independent indeed are they, that the negative
school of critics maintain them to be irreconcilable, and the
attempts to harmonise them have certainly not been completely
successful [Endnote 101:1]. These differences, however, show what
rich quarries of tradition were open to the enquirer in the first
age of Christianity, and how readily he might add to the stores
already accumulated by his predecessors. But this state of things
did not last long. As in most cases of the kind, the productive
period soon ceased, and the later writers had a choice of two
things, either to harmonise the conflicting records of previous
historians, or to develope their details in the manner that we
find in the Apocryphal Gospels.
But if Justin used a single and separate document or any set of
documents independent of the canonical, then we may say with
confidence that that document or set of documents belonged entirely to
this secondary stage. It possesses both the marks of secondary
formation. Such details as are added to the previous evangelical
tradition are just of that character which we find in the Apocryphal
Gospels. But these details are comparatively slight and insignificant;
the main tendency of Justin's Gospel (supposing it to be a separate
composition) was harmonistic. The writer can hardly have been ignorant
of our Canonical Gospels; he certainly had access, if not to them, yet
to the sources, both general and special, from which they are taken.
He not only drew from the main body of the evangelical tradition, but
also from those particular and individual strains which appear in the
first and third Synoptics. He has done this in the spirit of a true
_desultor_, passing backwards and forwards first to one and then to
the other, inventing no middle links, but merely piecing together the
two accounts as best he could. Indeed the preliminary portions of
Justin's Gospel read very much like the sort of rough _prima facie_
harmony which, without any more profound study, most people make for
themselves. But the harmonising process necessarily implies matter to
harmonise, and that matter must have had the closest possible
resemblance to the contents of our Gospels.
If, then, Justin made use either of a single document or set of
documents distinct from those which have become canonical, we
conclude that it or they belonged to a later and more advanced
stage of formation. But it should be remembered that the case is a
hypothetical one. The author of 'Supernatural Religion' seems
inclined to maintain that Justin did use such a document or
documents, and not our Gospels. If he did, then the consequence
above stated seems to follow. But I do not at all care to press
this inference; it is no more secure than the premiss upon which
it is founded. Only it seems to me that the choice lies between
two alternatives and no more; either Justin used our Gospels, or
else he used a document later than our Gospels and presupposing
them. The reader may take which side of the alternative he
pleases.
The question is, which hypothesis best covers and explains the
facts. It is not impossible that Justin may have had a special
Gospel such as has just been described. There is a tendency among
those critics who assign Justin's quotations to an uncanonical
source to find that source in the so-called Gospel according to
the Hebrews or some of its allied forms. But a large majority of
critics regard the Gospel according to the Hebrews as holding
precisely this secondary relation to the canonical Matthew.
Justin's document can hardly have been the Gospel according to the
Hebrews, at least alone, as that Gospel omitted the section Matt.
i. 18-ii. 23 [Endnote 103:1], which Justin certainly retained. But
it is within the bounds of possibility--it would be hazardous to
say more--that he may have had another Gospel so modified and
compiled as to meet all the conditions of the case. For my own
part, I think it decidedly the more probable hypothesis that he
used our present Gospels with some peculiar document, such as this
Gospel according to the Hebrews, or perhaps, as Dr. Hilgenfeld
thinks, the ground document of the Gospel according to Peter (a
work of which we know next to nothing except that it favoured
Docetism and was not very unlike the Canonical Gospels) and the
Protevangelium of James (or some older document on which that work
was founded) in addition.
It will be well to try to establish this position a little more in
detail; and therefore I will proceed to collect first, the
evidence for the use, either mediate or direct, of the Synoptic
Gospels, and secondly, that for the use of one or more Apocryphal
Gospels. We still keep to the substance of Justin's Gospel, and
reserve the question of its form.
Of those portions of the first Synoptic which appear to be derived
from a peculiar source, and for the presence of which we have no
evidence in any other Gospel of the same degree of originality,
Justin has the following: Joseph's suspicions of his wife, the
special statement of the significance of the name Jesus ('for He
shall save His people from their sins,' Matt. i. 21, verbally
identical), the note upon the fulfilment of the prophecy Is. vii.
14 ('Behold a virgin,' &c.), the visit of the Magi guided by a
star, their peculiar gifts, their consultation of Herod and the
warning given them not to return to him, the massacre of the
children at Bethlehem, fulfilling Jer. xxxi. 15, the descent into
Egypt, the return of the Holy Family at the succession of
Archelaus. The Temptations Justin gives in the order of Matthew.
From the Sermon on the Mount he has the verses v. 14, 20, 28, vi.
1, vii. 15, 21, and from the controversial discourse against the
Pharisees, xxiii. 15, 24, which are without parallels. The
prophecy, Is. xlii. 1-4, is applied as by Matthew alone. There is
an apparent allusion to the parable of the wedding garment. The
comment of the disciples upon the identification of the Baptist
with Elias (Matt. xvii. 13), the sign of the prophet Jonas
(Matt. xvi. 1, 4), and the triumphal entry (the ass _with the
colt_), show a special affinity to St. Matthew. And, lastly, in
concert with the same Evangelist, Justin has the calumnious report
of the Jews (Matt. xxviii. 12 15) and the baptismal formula (Matt.
xxviii. 19).
Of the very few details that are peculiar to St. Mark, Justin has
the somewhat remarkable one of the bestowing of the surname
Boanerges on the sons of Zebedee. Mark also appears to approach
most nearly to Justin in the statements that Jesus practised the
trade of a carpenter (cf. Mark vi. 3) and that He healed those who
were diseased _from their birth_ (cf. Mark ix. 21), and
perhaps in the emphasis upon the oneness of God in the reply
respecting the greatest commandment.
In common with St. Luke, Justin has the mission of the angel
Gabriel to Mary, the statement that Elizabeth was the mother of
John, that the census was taken under Cyrenius, that Joseph went
up from Nazareth to Bethlehem [Greek: hothen aen], that no room
was found in the inn, that Jesus was thirty years old when He
began His ministry, that He was sent from Pilate to Herod, with
the account of His last words. There are also special affinities
in the phrase quoted from the charge to the Seventy (Luke x. 19),
in the verse Luke xi. 52, in the account of the answer to the rich
young man, of the institution of the Lord's Supper, of the Agony
in the Garden, and of the Resurrection and Ascension.
These coincidences are of various force. Some of the single verses
quoted, though possessing salient features in common, have also,
as we shall see, more or less marked differences. Too much stress
should not be laid on the allegation of the same prophecies,
because there may have been a certain understanding among the
Christians as to the prophecies to be quoted as well as the
versions in which they were to be quoted. But there are other
points of high importance. Just in proportion as an event is from
a historical point of view suspicious, it is significant as a
proof of the use of the Gospel in which it is contained; such
would be the adoration of the Magi, the slaughter of the
innocents, the flight into Egypt, the conjunction of the foal with
the ass in the entry into Jerusalem. All these are strong evidence
for the use of the first Gospel, which is confirmed in the highest
degree by the occurrence of a reflection peculiar to the
Evangelist, 'Then the disciples understood that He spake unto them
of John the Baptist' (Matt. xvii. 13, compare Dial. 49). Of the
same nature are the allusions to the census of Cyrenius (there is
no material discrepancy between Luke and Justin), and the
statement of the age at which the ministry of Jesus began. These
are almost certainly remarks by the third Evangelist himself, and
not found in any previously existing source. The remand to Herod
in all probability belonged to a source that was quite peculiar to
him. The same may be said with only a little less confidence of
the sections of the preliminary history.
Taking these salient points together with the mass of the
coincidences each in its place, and with the due weight assigned
to it, the conviction seems forced upon us that Justin did either
mediately or immediately, and most probably immediately and
directly, make use of our Canonical Gospels.
On the other hand, the argument that he used, whether in addition
to these or exclusively, a Gospel now lost, rests upon the
following data. Justin apparently differs from the Synoptics in
giving the genealogy of Mary, not of Joseph. In Apol. i. 34 he
says that Cyrenius was the first governor (procurator) of Judaea,
instead of saying that the census first took place under Cyrenius.
[It should be remarked, however, that in another place, Dial. 78,
he speaks of 'the census which then took place for the first time
([Greek: ousaes tote protaes]) under Cyrenius.'] He states that
Mary brought forth her Son in a cave near the village of
Bethlehem. He ten times over speaks of the Magi as coming from
Arabia, and not merely from the East. He says emphatically that
all the children ([Greek: pantas haplos tous paidas]) in Bethlehem
were slain without mentioning the limitation of age given in St.
Matthew. He alludes to details in the humble occupation of Jesus
who practised the trade of a carpenter. Speaking of the ministry
of John, he three times repeats the phrase _'as he sat'_ by
the river Jordan. At the baptism of Jesus he says that 'fire was
kindled on' or rather 'in the Jordan,' and that a voice was heard
saying, 'Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee.' He adds
to the notice of the miracles that the Jews thought they were the
effect of magic. Twice he refers, as evidence for what he is
saying, to the Acts of Pontius Pilate. In two places Justin sees a
fulfilment of Ps. xxii, where none is pointed out by the
Synoptics. He says that _all_ the disciples forsook their
Master, which seems to overlook Peter's attack on the high
priest's servant. In the account of the Crucifixion he somewhat
amplifies the Synoptic version of the mocking gestures of the
crowd. And besides these matters of fact he has two sayings, 'In
whatsoever I find you, therein will I also judge you,' and 'There
shall be schisms and heresies,' which are without parallel, or
have no exact parallel, in our Gospels.
Some of these points are not of any great importance. The
reference to the Acts of Pilate should in all probability be taken
along with the parallel reference to the census of Cyrenius, in
which Justin asserts that the birth of Jesus would be found
registered. Both appear to be based, not upon any actual document
that Justin had seen, but upon the bold assumption that the
official documents must contain a record of facts which he knew
from other sources [Endnote 107:1]. In regard to Cyrenius he
evidently has the Lucan version in his mind, though he seems to
have confused this with his knowledge that Cyrenius was the first
to exercise the Roman sovereignty in Judaea, which was matter of
history. Justin seems to be mistaken in regarding Cyrenius as
'procurator' [Greek: epitropou] of Judaea. He instituted the
census not in this capacity, but as proconsul of Syria. The first
procurator of Judaea was Coponius. Some of Justin's peculiarities
may quite fairly be explained as unintentional. General statements
without the due qualifications, such as those in regard to the
massacre of the children and the conduct of the disciples in
Gethsemane, are met with frequently enough to this day, and in
works of a more professedly critical character than Justin's. The
description of the carpenter's trade and of the crowd at the
Crucifixion may be merely rhetorical amplifications in the one
case of the general Synoptic statement, in the other of the
special statement in St. Mark. A certain fulness of style is
characteristic of Justin. That he attributes the genealogy to Mary
may be a natural instance of reflection; the inconsistency in the
Synoptic Gospels would not be at first perceived, and the simplest
way of removing it would be that which Justin has adopted. It
should be noticed however that he too distinctly says that Joseph
was of the tribe of Judah (Dial. 78) and that his family came from
Bethlehem, which looks very much like an unobliterated trace of
the same inconsistency. It is also noticeable that in the
narrative of the Baptism one of the best MSS. of the Old Latin (a,
Codex Vercellensis) has, in the form of an addition to Matt. iii.
15, 'et cum baptizaretur lumen ingens circumfulsit de aqua ita ut
timerent omnes qui advenerant,' and there is a very similar
addition in g1 (Codex San-Germanensis). Again, in Luke iii. 22 the
reading [Greek: ego saemeron gegennaeka se] for [Greek: en soi
eudokaesa] is shared with Justin by the most important Graeco-
Latin MS. D (Codex Bezae), and a, b, c, ff, l of the Old Version;
Augustine expressly states that the reading was found 'in several
respectable copies (aliquibus fide dignis exemplaribus), though
not in the older Greek Codices.'
There will then remain the specifying of Arabia as the home of the
Magi, the phrase [Greek: kathezomenos] used of John on the banks
of the Jordan, the two unparallelled sentences, and the cave of
the Nativity. Of these the phrase [Greek: kathezomenos], which
occurs in three places, Dial. 49, 51, 88, but always in Justin's
own narrative and not in quotation, _may_ be an accidental
recurrence; and it is not impossible that the other items may be
derived from an unwritten tradition.
Still, on the whole, I incline to think that though there is not
conclusive proof that Justin used a lost Gospel besides the
present Canonical Gospels, it is the more probable hypothesis of
the two that he did. The explanations given above seem to me
reasonable and possible; they are enough, I think, to remove the
_necessity_ for assuming a lost document, but perhaps not
quite enough to destroy the greater probability. This conclusion,
we shall find, will be confirmed when we pass from considering the
substance of Justin's Gospel to its form.
But now if we ask ourselves _what_ was this hypothetical lost
document, all we can say is, I believe, that the suggestions
hitherto offered are insufficient. The Gospels according to the
Hebrews or according to Peter and the Protevangelium of James have
been most in favour. The Gospel according to the Hebrews in the
form in which it was used by the Nazarenes contained the fire upon
Jordan, and as used by the Ebionites it had also the voice, 'This
day have I begotten Thee.' Credner [Endnote 110:1], and after him
Hilgenfeld [Endnote 110:2], thought that the Gospel according to
Peter was used. But we know next to nothing about this Gospel,
except that it was nearly related to the Gospel according to the
Hebrews, that it made the 'brethren of the Lord' sons of Joseph by
a former wife, that it was found by Serapion in the churches of
his diocese, Rhossus in Cilicia, that its use was at first
permitted but afterwards forbidden, as it was found to favour
Docetism, and that its contents were in the main orthodox though
in some respects perverted [Endnote 110:3]. Obviously these facts
and the name (which falls in with the theory--itself also somewhat
unsubstantial--that Justin's Gospel must have a 'Petrine'
character) are quite insufficient to build upon. The Protevangelium
of James, which it is thought might have been used in an earlier
form than that which has come down to us, contains the legend of
the cave, and has apparently a similar view to the Gospel last
mentioned as to the perpetual virginity of Mary. The kindred
Evangelium Thomae has the 'ploughs and yokes.' And there are some
similarities of language between the Protevangelium and Justin's
Gospel, which will come under review later [Endnote 110:4].
It does not, however, appear to have been noticed that these
Gospels satisfy most imperfectly the conditions of the problem. We
know that the Gospel according to the Hebrews in its Nazarene form
omitted the whole section Matt. i. 18--ii. 23, containing the
conception, the nativity, the visit of the Magi, and the flight
into Egypt, all of which were found in Justin's Gospel; while in
its Ebionite form it left out the first two chapters altogether.
There is not a tittle of evidence to show that the Gospel
according to Peter was any more complete; in proportion as it
resembled the Gospel according to the Hebrews the presumption is
that it was not. And the Protevangelium of James makes no mention
of Arabia, while it expressly says that the star appeared 'in the
East' (instead of 'in the heaven' as Justin); it also omits, and
rather seems to exclude, the flight into Egypt.
It is therefore clear that whether Justin used these Gospels or
not, he cannot in any case have confined himself to them; unless
indeed this is possible in regard to the Gospel that bears the
name of Peter, though the possibility is drawn so entirely from
our ignorance that it can hardly be taken account of. We thus seem
to be reduced to the conclusion that Justin's Gospel or Gospels
was an unknown entity of which no historical evidence survives,
and this would almost be enough, according to the logical Law of
Parsimony, to drive us back upon the assumption that our present
Gospels only had been used. This assumption however still does not
appear to me wholly satisfactory, for reasons which will come out
more clearly when from considering the matter of the documents
which Justin used we pass to their form.
* * * * *
The reader already has before him a collection of Justin's
quotations from the Old Testament, the results of which may be
stated thus. From the Pentateuch eighteen passages are quoted
exactly, nineteen with slight variations, and eleven with marked
divergence. From the Psalms sixteen exactly, including nine (or
ten) whole Psalms, two with slight and three with decided
variation. From Isaiah twenty-five exactly, twelve slightly
variant, and sixteen decidedly. From the other Major Prophets
Justin has only three exact quotations, four slightly divergent,
and eleven diverging more widely. From the Minor Prophets and
other books he has two exact quotations, seven in which the
variation is slight, and thirteen in which it is marked. Of the
distinctly free quotations in the Pentateuch (eleven in all),
three may be thought to have a Messianic character (the burning
bush, the brazen serpent, the curse of the cross), but in none of
these does the variation appear to be due to this. Of the three
free quotations from the Psalms two are Messianic, and one of
these has probably been influenced by the Messianic application.
In the free quotations from Isaiah it is not quite easy to say
what are Messianic and what are not; but the only clear case in
which the Messianic application seems to have caused a marked
divergence is xlii. 1-4. Other passages, such as ii. 5, 6, vii.
10-17, lii. l3-liii. 12 (as quoted in A. i. 50), appear under the
head of slight variation. The long quotation lii. 10-liv. 6, in
Dial. 12, is given with substantial exactness. Turning to the
other Major Prophets, one passage, Jer. xxxi. 15, has probably
derived its shape from the Messianic application. And in the Minor
Prophets three passages (Hos. x. 6, Zech. xii. 10-12, and Micah v.
2) appear to have been thus affected. The rest of the free
quotations and some of the variations in those which are less free
may be set down to defect of memory or similar accidental causes.
Let us now draw up a table of Justin's quotations from the Gospels
arranged as nearly as may be on the same standard and scale as
that of the quotations from the Old Testament. Such a table will
stand thus. [Those only which appear to be direct quotations are
given.]
_Exact._ |_Slightly variant._ | _Variant._ | _Remarks._
| | |
|+D.49, Matt. 3.11, | |repeated in part
| 12 (v.l.) | | similarly.
|D. 51, Matt. 11. | |compounded with
| 12-15; Luke 16. | | omissions but
| 16+. | | striking resem-
| | | blances.
D. 49, Matt. 17. | | |
11-13. | | |
|A.1.15, Matt. 5.28. | |
| |A.1.15, Matt. 5. |from memory?
| | 29; Mark 9.47. |
|A.1.15, Matt. 5.32. | |confusion of read-
| | | ings.
| |+A.1.15, Matt. |from memory?
| | 19.12. |
| |A.1.15, Matt. 5. |compounded.
| | 42; Luke 6.30, |
| | 34. |
Continuous.{ |A.1.15, Matt. 6. | |
{ |19, 20; 16.26; 6.20.| |
| | |
|Continuous.{ |A.1.15 (D.96), |from memory(Cr.),
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