MELITO--APOLLINARIS--ATHENAGORAS--THE EPISTLE OF VIENNE AND LYONS.
We pass on, still in a region of fragments--'waifs and strays' of
the literature of the second century--and of partial and indirect
(though on that account not necessarily less important)
indications.
In Melito of Sardis (c. 176 A.D) it is interesting to notice the
first appearance of a phrase that was destined later to occupy a
conspicuous position. Writing to his friend Onesimus, who had
frequently asked for selections from the Law and the Prophets
bearing upon the Saviour, and generally for information respecting
the number and order of 'the Old Books,' Melito says 'that he had
gone to the East and reached the spot where the preaching had been
delivered and the acts done, and that having learnt accurately the
books of the Old Covenant (or Testament) he had sent a list of
them'--which is subjoined [Endnote 244:1]. Melito uses the word
which became established as the title used to distinguish the
elder Scriptures from the younger--the Old Covenant or Testament
([Greek: hae palaia diathaekae]); and it is argued from this that
he implies the existence of a 'definite New Testament, a written
antitype to 'the Old' [Endnote 245:1] The inference however seems
to be somewhat in excess of what can be legitimately drawn. By
[Greek: palaia diathaekae] is meant rather the subject or contents
of the books than the books themselves. It is the system of
things, the dispensation accomplished 'in heavenly places,' to
which the books belong, not the actual collected volume. The
parallel of 2 Cor. iii. 14 ([Greek: epi tae anagnosei taes palaias
diathaekaes]), which is ably pointed to in 'Supernatural Religion'
[Endnote 245:2], is too close to allow the inference of a written
New Testament. And yet, though the word has not actually acquired
this meaning, it was in process of acquiring it, and had already
gone some way to acquire it. The books were already there, and, as
we see from Irenaeus, critical collections of them had already
begun to be made. Within thirty years of the time when Melito is
writing Tertullian uses the phrase Novum Testamentum precisely in
our modern sense, intimating that it had then become the current
designation [Endnote 245:3]. This being the case we cannot wonder
that there should be a certain reflex hint of such a sense in the
words of Melito.
The tract 'On Faith,' published in Syriac by Dr. Cureton and
attributed to Melito, is not sufficiently authenticated to have
value as evidence.
It should be noted that Melito's fragments contain nothing
especially on the Gospels.
2.
Some time between 176-180 A.D. Claudius Apollinaris, Bishop of
Hierapolis, addressed to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius an apology of
which rather more than three lines have come down to us. A more
important fragment however is assigned to this writer in the
Paschal Chronicle, a work of the seventh century. Here it is said
that 'Apollinaris, the most holy bishop of Hierapolis in Asia, who
lived near the times of the Apostles, in his book about Easter,
taught much the same, saying thus: "There are some who through
ignorance wrangle about these matters, in a pardonable manner; for
ignorance does not admit of blame but rather needs instruction.
And they say that on the 14th the Lord ate the lamb with His
disciples, and that on the great day of unleavened bread He
himself suffered; and they relate that this is in their view the
statement of Matthew. Whence their opinion is in conflict with the
law, and according to them the Gospels are made to be at
variance"' [Endnote 246:1]. This variance or disagreement in the
Gospels evidently has reference to the apparent discrepancy
between the Synoptics, especially St. Matthew and St. John, the
former treating the Last Supper as the Paschal meal, the latter
placing it before the Feast of the Passover and making the
Crucifixion coincide with the slaughter of the Paschal lamb.
Apollinaris would thus seem to recognise both the first and the
fourth Gospels as authoritative.
Is this fragment of Apollinaris genuine? It is alleged against it
[Endnote 247:1] (1) that Eusebius was ignorant of any such work on
Easter, and that there is no mention of it in such notices of
Apollinaris and his writings as have come down to us from
Theodoret, Jerome, and Photius. There are some good remarks on
this point by Routh (who is quoted in 'Supernatural Religion'
_apparently_ as adverse to the genuineness of the fragments).
He says: 'There seems to me to be nothing in these extracts to
compel us to deny the authorship of Apollinaris. Nor must we
refuse credit to the author of the Preface [to the Paschal
Chronicle] any more than to other writers of the same times on
whose testimony many books of the ancients have been received,
although not mentioned by Eusebius or any other of his contemporaries;
especially as Eusebius declares below that it was only some select
books that had come to his hands out of many that Apollinaris had
written' [Endnote 247:2]. It is objected (2) that Apollinaris is
not likely to have spoken of a controversy in which the whole Asiatic
Church was engaged as the opinion of a 'few ignorant wranglers' A
fair objection, if he was really speaking of such a controversy.
But the great issue between the Churches of Asia and that of Rome
was whether the Paschal festival should be kept, according to the
Jewish custom, always on the fourteenth day of the month Nisan, or
whether it should be kept on the Friday after the Paschal full moon,
on whatever day of the month it might fall. The fragment appears
rather to allude to some local dispute as to the day on which the
Lord suffered. To go thoroughly into this question would involve
us in all the mazes of the so-called Paschal controversy, and in
the end a precise and certain conclusion would probably be impossible.
So far as I am aware, all the writers who have entered into the
discussion start with assuming the genuineness of the Apollinarian
fragment.
There remains however the fact that it rests only upon the attestation
of a writer of the seventh century, who may possibly be wrong, but,
if so, has been led into his error not wilfully but by accident.
No reason can be alleged for the forging or purposely false ascription
of a fragment like this, and it bears the stamp of good faith in that
it asks indulgence for opponents instead of censure. We may perhaps
safely accept the fragment with some, not large, deduction from its
weight.
3.
An instance of the precariousness of the argument from silence
would be supplied by the writer who comes next under review--
Athenagoras. No mention whatever is made of Athenagoras either by
Eusebius or Jerome, though he appears to have been an author of a
certain importance, two of whose works, an Apology addressed to
Marcus Aurelius and Commodus and a treatise on the Resurrection,
are still extant. The genuineness of neither of these works is
doubted.
The Apology, which may be dated about 177 A.D., contains a few
references to our Lord's discourses, but not such as can have any
great weight as evidence. The first that is usually given, a
parallel to Matt. v. 39, 40 (good for evil), is introduced in such
a way as to show that the author intends only to give the sense
and not the words. The same may be said of another sentence that
is compared with Mark x. 6 [Endnote 249:1]:--
_Athenagoras, Leg. pro Christ. 33._
[Greek: Hoti en archae ho Theos hena andra eplase kai mian
gunaika.]
_Mark x. 6_
[Greek: Apo de archaes ktiseos arsen kai thaelu epoiaesen autous
ho Theos.]
All that can be said is that the thought here appears to have been
suggested by the Gospel--and that not quite immediately.
A much closer--and indeed, we can hardly doubt, a real--parallel
is presented by a longer passage:--
_Athenagoras, Leg. pro Christ. 11._
What then are the precepts in which we are instructed? I say unto
you: Love your enemies, bless them that curse, pray for them that
persecute you; that ye may become the sons of your Father which is
in heaven: who maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good,
and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust.
[Greek: Tines oun haemon hoi logoi, hois entrephometha; lego
humin, agapate tous echthrous humon, eulogeite tous kataromenous,
proseuchesthe huper ton diokonton humas, hopos genaesthe huioi tou
patros humon tou en ouranois, hos ton haelion autou anatellei epi
ponaerous kai agathous kai brechei epi dikaious kai adikous.]
_Matt_. v. 44, 45.
I say unto you: Love your enemies [bless them that curse you, do
good to them that hate you], and pray for them that persecute you;
that ye may become the sons of your Father which is in heaven: for
he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth
rain on the just and the unjust.
[Greek: ego de lego humin, agapate tous echthrous humon
[eulogeite tous kataromenous humas, kalos poiete tous misountas
humas], proseuchesthe huper ton diokonton humas hopos genaesthe
huioi tou patros humon tou en ouranois, hoti ton haelion autou
anatellei epi ponaerous kai agathous kai brechei epi dikaious kai
adikous.]
The bracketed clauses in the text of St. Matthew are both omitted
and inserted by a large body of authorities, but, as it is rightly
remarked in 'Supernatural Religion,' they are always either both
omitted or both inserted; we must therefore believe that the
omission and insertion of one only by Athenagoras is without
manuscript precedent. Otherwise the exactness of the parallel is
great; and it is thrown the more into relief when we compare the
corresponding passage in St. Luke.
The quotation is completed in the next chapter of Athenagoras'
work:--
_Athenagoras, Leg. pro Christ._ 12.
For if ye love, he says, them which love and lend to them which
lend to you, what reward shall ye have?
[Greek: Ean gar agapate, phaesin, tous agapontas, kai daineizete
tois daneizousin humin, tina misthon hexete;]
_Matt._ v. 46.
For if ye shall love them which love you, what reward have ye?
[Greek: Ean gar agapaesaete tous agapontas humas tina misthon
echete;]
Here the middle clause in the quotation appears to be a
reminiscence of St. Luke vi. 34 ([Greek: ean danisaete par' hon
elpizete labein]). Justin also, it should be noted, has [Greek:
agapate] (but [Greek: ei agapate]) for [Greek: agapaesaete]. If
this passage had stood alone, taking into account the variations
and the even run and balance of the language we might have thought
perhaps that Athenagoras had had before him a different version.
Yet the [Greek: tina misthon], compared with the [Greek: poia
charis] of St. Luke and [Greek: ti kainon poieite] of Justin,
would cause misgivings, and greater run and balance is precisely
what would result from 'unconscious cerebration.'
Two more references are pointed out to Matt. v. 28 and Matt. v.
32, one with slight, the other with medium, variation, which leave
the question very much in the same position.
We ought not to omit to notice that Athenagoras quotes one
uncanonical saying, introducing it with the phrase [Greek: palin
haemin legontos tou logou]. I am not at all clear that this is not
merely one of the 'precepts' [Greek: oi logoi] alluded to above.
At any rate it is exceedingly doubtful that the Logos is here
personified. It seems rather parallel to the [Greek: ho logos
edaelou] of Justin (Dial. c. Tryph. 129).
Considering the date at which he wrote I have little doubt that
Athenagoras is actually quoting from the Synoptics, but he cannot,
on the whole, be regarded as a very powerful witness for them.
4.
After the cruel persecution from which the Churches of Vienne and
Lyons had suffered in the year 177 A.D., a letter was written in
their name, containing an account of what had happened, which
Lardner describes as 'the finest thing of the kind in all
antiquity' [Endnote 251:1]. This letter, which was addressed to
the Churches of Asia and Phrygia, contained several quotations
from the New Testament, and among them one that is evidently from
St. Luke's Gospel.
It is said of one of the martyrs, Vettius Epagathus, that his
manner of life was so strict that, young as he was, he could claim
a share in the testimony borne to the more aged Zacharias. Indeed
he had _walked in all the commandments and ordinances of the
Lord blameless_, and in the service of his neighbour untiring,
&c. [Endnote 252:1] The italicised words are a verbatim
reproduction of Luke i. 6.
There is an ambiguity in the words [Greek: sunexisousthai tae tou
presbuterou Zachariou marturia]. The genitive after [Greek: marturia]
may be either subjective or objective--'the testimony borne _by_'
or 'the testimony borne _to_ or _of_' the aged Zacharias. I have
little doubt that the translation given above is the right one.
It has the authority of Lardner ('equalled the character of') and
Routh ('Zachariae senioris elogio aequaretur'), and seems to be
imperatively required by the context. The eulogy passed upon
Vettius Epagathus is justified by the uniform strictness of his
daily life (he has walked in _all_ the commandments &c.), not by
the single act of his constancy in death.
The author of 'Supernatural Religion,' apparently following
Hilgenfeld [Endnote 252:2], adopts the other translation, and
bases on it an argument that the allusion is to the _martyrdom_
of Zacharias, and therefore not to our third Gospel in which no
mention of that martyrdom is contained. On the other hand, we are
reminded that the narrative of the martyrdom of Zacharias enters
into the Protevangelium of James. That apocryphal Gospel however
contains nothing approaching to the words which coincide exactly
with the text of St. Luke.
Even if there had been a greater doubt than there is as to the
application of [Greek: marturia], it would be difficult to resist
the conclusion that the Synoptic Gospel is being quoted. The words
occur in the most peculiar and distinctive portion of the Gospel;
and the correspondence is so exact and the phrase itself so
striking as not to admit of any other source. The order, the
choice of words, the construction, even to the use of the nominative
[Greek: ámemptos] where we might very well have had the adverb
[Greek: amémptôs], all point the same way. These fine edges of the
quotation, so to speak, must needs have been rubbed off in the
course of transmission through several documents. But there is
not a trace of any other document that contained such a remark
upon the character of Zacharias.
This instance of a Synoptic quotation may, I think, safely be
depended upon.
Another allusion, a little lower down in the Epistle, which speaks
of the same Vettius Epagathus as 'having in himself the Paraclete
[there is a play on the use of the word [Greek: paraklaetos] just
before], the Spirit, more abundantly than Zacharias,' though in
exaggerated and bad taste, probably has reference to Luke i. 67,
'And Zacharias his father was filled with the Holy Ghost,' &c.
[Footnote: Mr. Mason calls my attention to [Greek: enduma
numphikon] in § 13, and also to the misleading statement in
_S.R._ ii. p. 201 that 'no writing of the New Testament is
directly referred to.' I should perhaps have more fault to find
with the sentence on p. 204, 'It follows clearly and few venture
to doubt,' &c. I have assumed however for some time that the
reader will be on his guard against expressions such as these.]