THE EXTERNAL EVIDENCE FOR THE FOURTH GOSPEL.
The fourth Gospel was, upon any theory, written later than the
others, and it is not clear that it was published as soon as it
was written. Both tradition and the internal evidence of the
concluding chapter seem to point to the existence of somewhat
peculiar relations between the Evangelist and the presbyters of
the Asian Church, which would make it not improbable that the
Gospel was retained for some time by the latter within their own
private circle before it was given to the Church at large.
We have the express statement of Irenaeus [Endnote 269:1], who, if
he was born as is commonly supposed at Smyrna about 140 A.D., must
be a good authority, that the Apostle St. John lived on till the
times of Trajan (98-117 A.D.). If so, it is very possible that the
Gospel was not yet published, or barely published, when Clement of
Rome wrote his Epistle to the Corinthians. Neither, considering
its almost esoteric character and the slow rate at which such a
work would travel at first, should we be very much surprised if it
was not in the hands of Barnabas (probably in Alexandria) and
Hermas (at Rome). In no case indeed could the silence of these two
writers be of much moment, as in the Epistle of Barnabas the
allusions to the New Testament literature are extremely few and
slight, while in the Shepherd of Hermas there are no clear and
certain references either to the Old Testament or the New
Testament at all.
And yet there is a lively controversy round these two names as to
whether or not they contain evidence for the fourth Gospel, and
that they do is maintained not only by apologists, but also by
writers of quite unquestionable impartiality like Dr. Keim. Dr.
Keim, it will be remembered, argues against the Johannean
authorship of the Gospel, and yet on this particular point he
seems to be almost an advocate for the side to which he is
opposed.
'Volkmar,' he says [Endnote 270:1], 'has recently spoken of Barnabas
as undeniably ignorant of the Logos-Gospel, and explained the early
date assigned to his Epistle by Ewald and Weizsäcker and now also
by Riggenbach as due to their perplexity at finding in it no trace
of St. John. There is room for another opinion. However much it
may be shown that Barnabas gives neither an incident nor a single
sentence from the Gospel, that he is unacquainted with the conception
of the Logos, that expressions like 'water and blood,' or the
Old Testament types of Christ, and especially the serpent reared
in the wilderness as an object of faith, are employed by him
independently--for all this the deeper order of conceptions in
the Epistle coincides in the gross or in detail so repeatedly with
the Gospel that science must either assume a connection between
them, or, if it leaves the problem unsolved, renounces its own
calling. "The Son of God" was to be manifested in the flesh,
manifested through suffering, to go to his glory through death and
the Cross, to bring life and the immanent presence of the Godhead,
such is here and there the leading idea. Existing before the
foundation of the world, the Lord of the world, the sender of the
prophets, the object of their prophecies, beheld even by Abraham,
in the person of Moses himself typified as the only centre of
Israel's hopes, and in so far already revealed and glorified in
type before his incarnation, he was at last to appear, to dwell
among us, to be seen, not as son of David but as Son of God, in
the garment of the flesh, by those who could not even endure the
light of this world's sun. So did he come; nay, so did he die to
fulfil the promise, in the very act of his apparent defeat to
dispense purification, pardon, life, to destroy death, to overcome
the devil, to show forth the Resurrection, and with the Resurrection
his right to future judgment; at the same time, it is true, to fill
up the measure of the sins of Israel, whom he had loved exceedingly
and for whom he had done such great wonders and signs, and to prepare
for himself again a new people who should keep his commandments,
his new law. The mission that his Father gave him he has accomplished,
of his own free will and for our sake--the true explanation of his
death--did he suffer. "The Jews" have not hoped upon him, clearly
as the typical design of the Old Testament and Moses himself pointed
to him, and, in opposition to the spiritual teaching of Moses, they
have been seduced into the carnal and sensual by the devil; they
have set their trust and their hopes, not upon God, but upon the
fleshly circumcision and upon the visible house of God, worshipping
the Lord in the temple almost like the heathen. But the Christian
raises himself above the flesh and its lusts, which disturb the
faculties of knowledge as well as those of will, to the Spirit
and the spiritual service of God, above the ways of darkness to
the ways of light; he presses on to faith, and with faith to
perfect knowledge, as one born again, who is full of the Spirit
of God, in whom God dwells and prophesies, interpreting past and
future without being seen or heard; as taught of God and fulfilling
the commandments of the new law of the Lord, a lover of the brethren,
and in himself the child of peace, of joy, and of love. For this
class of ideas there is no analogy in St. Paul, or even in the
Epistle to the Hebrews, but only in this Gospel, much as the
connection has hitherto been overlooked. Indeed, though it may
still in places be questioned on which side the relation of dependence
lies (it might be thought that Barnabas supplied the ideas, John
the application of them, and the conception of the Logos crowning all),
in any case the Gospel appeared at a date near to that of the
Epistle of Barnabas. With more reason may it be said that it is
not until we come to the Epistle of Barnabas that we find stiff
scholastic theory a more predominant typology, an artificialised
view of Judaism; besides the points of view always appear as
something received and not originated--water and blood, new law,
new people--and in the solemn manifestation of the Son of God
immediately after the selection of the Apostles, in the great
but fruitless exhibition of miracle and love for Israel, there
is evidently allusion to history, that is, to John ii and xii.'
'The Epistle of Barnabas,' Dr. Keim adds, 'after the lucid
demonstration of Volkmar--in spite of Hilgenfeld and Weizäcker,
and now also of Riggenbach--was undoubtedly written at the time of
the rebuilding of the temple under the Emperor Hadrian, about the
year 120 A.D. (according to Volkmar, at the earliest, 118-119), at
latest 130.'
It is not to be expected that this full and able statement should
carry conviction to every reader. And yet I believe that it has
some solid foundation. The single instances are not perhaps such
as could be pressed very far, but they derive a certain weight
when taken together and as parts of a wider circle of ideas. The
application of the type of the brazen serpent to Jesus in c. xii.
may have been suggested by John iii. 14 sqq., but we cannot say
that it was so with certainty. The same application is made by
Justin in a place where there is perhaps less reason to assume a
connection with the fourth Gospel; and we know that types and
prophecies were eagerly sought out by the early Christians, and
were soon collected in a kind of common stock from which every one
drew at his pleasure. A stronger case, and one that I incline to
think of some importance, is supplied by the peculiar combination
of 'the water and the cross' in Barn. c. xi; not that here there
is a direct and immediate, but more probably a mediate, connection
with the fourth Gospel. The phrase [Greek: ho uios tou theou] is
not peculiar to, though it is more frequent in, and to some degree
characteristic of, the Gospel and First Epistle of St. John.
[Greek: Phanerousthai] may be claimed more decidedly, especially
by comparison with the other Gospels, though it occurs with
similar reference to the Incarnation in the later Pauline
Epistles. [Greek: 'Elthein en sarki] is again rightly classed as a
Johannean phrase, though the exact counterpart is found rather in
the Epistles than the Gospel. The doctrine of pre-existence is
certainly taught in such passages as the application of the text,
'Let us make man in our image,' which is said to have been
addressed to the Son 'from the foundation of the world' (c. v).
Generally I think it may be said that the doctrine of the
Incarnation, the typology, and the use of the Old Testament
prophecies, approximate, most distinctly to the Johannean type,
though under the latter heads there is of course much debased
exaggeration. The soteriology we might be perhaps tempted to
connect rather on the one hand with the Epistle to the Hebrews,
and on the other with those of St. Paul. There may be something of
an echo of the fourth Gospel in the allusion--to the unbelief and
carnalised religion of the Jews. But the whole question of the
speculative affinities of a writing like this requires subtle and
delicate handling, and should be rather a subject for special
treatment than an episode in an enquiry like the present. The
opinion of Dr. Keim must be of weight, but on the whole I think it
will be safest and fairest to say that, while the round assertion
that the author of the Epistle was ignorant of our Gospel is not
justified, the positive evidence that he made use of it is not
sufficiently clear to be pressed controversially.
* * * * *
A similar condition of things may be predicated of the Shepherd of
Hermas, though with a more decided leaning to the negative side.
Here again Dr. Keim [Endnote 273:1], as well as Canon Westcott
[Endnote 273:2], thinks that we can trace an acquaintance with the
Gospel, but the indications are too general and uncertain to be relied
upon. The imagery of the shepherd and the flock, as perhaps of the
tower and the gate, may, be as well taken from the scenes of the
Roman Campagna as from any previous writing. The keeping of the
commandments is a commonplace of Christianity, not to say of
religion. And the Divine immanence in the soul is conceived rather
in the spirit of the elder Gospels than of the fourth.
There is a nearer approach perhaps in the identification of 'the
gate' with the 'Son of God,' and in the explanation with which it
is accompanied. 'The rock is old because the Son of God is older
than the whole of His creation; so that He was assessor to His
Father in the creation of the world; the gate is new, because He
was made manifest at the consummation of the last days, and they
who are to be saved enter by it into the kingdom of God' (Sim. ix.
12). Here too we have the doctrine of pre-existence; and
considering the juxtaposition of these three points, the pre-
existence, the gate (which is the only access to the Lord), the
identification of the gate with the incarnation of Jesus, we may
say perhaps a _possible_ reference to the fourth Gospel;
_probable_ it might be somewhat too much to call it. We must
leave the reader to form his own estimate.
* * * * *
A somewhat greater force, but not as yet complete cogency,
attaches to the evidence of the Ignatian letters. A parallel is
alleged to a passage in the Epistle to the Romans which is found
both in the Syriac and in the shorter Greek or Vossian version. 'I
take no relish in corruptible food or in the pleasures of this
life. I desire bread of God, heavenly bread, bread of life, which
is the flesh of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was born in the
latter days of the seed of David and Abraham; and I desire drink
of God, His blood, which is love imperishable and ever-abiding
life' [Endnote 275:1] (Ep. ad Rom. c. vii). This is compared with
the discourse in the synagogue at Capernaum in the sixth chapter
of St. John. It should be said that there is a difference of
reading, though not one that materially influences the question,
in the Syriac. If the parallel holds good, the peculiar diction of
the author must be seen in the substitution of [Greek: poma] for
[Greek: posis] of John vi. 55, and [Greek: aennaos zoae] for
[Greek zoae aionios], of John vi. 54. [The Ignatian phrase is
perhaps more than doubtful, as it does not appear either in the
Syriac, the Armenian, or the Latin version.] Still this need not
stand in the way of referring the original of the passage
ultimately to the Gospel. The ideas are so remarkable that it
seems difficult to suppose either are accidental coincidence or
quotation from another writer. I suspect that Ignatius or the
author of the Epistle really had the fourth Gospel in his mind,
though not quite vividly, and by a train of comparatively remote
suggestions.
The next supposed allusion is from the Epistle to the
Philadelphians: 'The Spirit, coming from God, is not to be
deceived; for it knoweth whence it cometh and whither it goeth,
and it searcheth that which is hidden' [Endnote 275:2]. This is
obviously the converse of John iii. 5, where it is said that we do
not know the way of the Spirit, which is like the wind, &c. And
yet the exact verbal similarity of the phrase [Greek: oiden pothen
erchetai kai pou hupagei], and its appearance in the same
connection, spoken of the Spirit, leads us to think that there
was--as there may very well have been--an association of ideas.
This particular phrase [Greek: pothen erchetai kai pou hupagei] is
very characteristically Johannean. It occurs three times over in
the fourth Gospel, and not at all in the rest of the New
Testament. The combination of [Greek: erchesthai] and [Greek
hupagein] also occurs twice, and [Greek: pou [opou] hupago [-gei,
-geis]] in all twelve times in the Gospel and once in the Epistle
([Greek: ouk oide pou hupagei]); this too, it is striking to
observe, not at all elsewhere. The very word [Greek: hupago] is
not found at all in St. Paul, St. Peter, or the Epistle to the
Hebrews. Taken together with the special application to the
Spirit, this must be regarded as a strong case.
Neither do the arguments of 'Supernatural Religion' succeed in
proving that there is no connection with St. John in such
sentences as, 'There is one God who manifested Himself through
Jesus Christ His Son, who is His eternal Word' (Ad Magn. c. viii),
or who is Himself the door of the Father (Ad Philad. c. ix). In
regard to the first of these especially, it is doubtless true that
Philo also has 'the eternal Word,' which is even the 'Son' of God;
but the idea is much more consciously metaphorical, and not only
did the incarnation of the Logos in a historical person never
enter into Philo's mind, but 'there is no room for it in his
system' [Endnote 276:1].
It should be said that these latter passages are all found only in
the Vossian recension of the Epistles, and therefore, as we saw
above, are in any case evidence for the first half of the second
century, while they _may_ be the genuine works of Ignatius.
* * * * *
The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians, which goes very much
with the Ignatian Epistles and the external evidence for which it
is so hard to resist, testifies to the fourth Gospel through the
so-called first Epistle. That this Epistle is really by the same
author as the Gospel is not indeed absolutely undoubted, but I
imagine that it is as certain as any fact of literature can be.
The evidence of style and diction is overwhelming [Endnote 277:1].
We may set side by side the two passages which are thought to be
parallel.
_Ep. ad Phil_. c. vii.
[Greek: Pas gar hos an mae homologae Iaesoun Christon en sarki
elaeluthenai antichristos esti; kai hos an mae homologae to
marturion tou staurou ek tou diabolou esti; kai hos an methodeuae
ta logia tou Kuriou pros tas idias epithumias, kai legae maete
anastasin maete krisin einai, outos prototokos esti tou Satana.]
1 _John_ vi. 2, 3.
[Greek: Pan pneuma ho homologei Iaesoun Christon en sarki
elaeluthota ek tou Theou estin. Kai pan pneuma ho mae homologei
tou Iaesoun ek tou Theou ouk estin, kai touto estin to tou
antichristou, k.t.l.]
This is precisely one of those passages where at a superficial
glance we are inclined to think that there is no parallel, but
where a deeper consideration tends to convince us of the opposite.
The suggestion of Dr. Scholten cannot indeed be quite excluded,
that both writers I have adopted a formula in use in the early
Church against various heretics' [Endnote 277:2]. But if such a
formula existed it is highly probable that it took its rise from
St. John's Epistle. This passage of the Epistle of Polycarp is the
earliest instance of the use of the word 'Antichrist' outside the
Johannean writings in which, alone of the New Testament, it occurs
five times. Here too it occurs in conjunction with other
characteristic phrases, [Greek: homologein, en sarki elaeluthenai,
ek tou diabolou]. The phraseology and turns of expression in these
two verses accord so entirely with those of the rest of the
Epistle and of the Gospel that we must needs take them to be the
original work of the writer and not a quotation, and we can hardly
do otherwise than see an echo of them in the words of Polycarp.
There is naturally a certain hesitation in using evidence for the
Epistle as available also for the Gospel, but I have little doubt
that it may justly so be used and with no real diminution of its
force. The chance that the Epistle had a separate author is too
small to be practically worth considering.
This then will apply to the case of Papias, of whose relations to
the fourth Gospel we have no record, but of whom Eusebius expressly
says, that 'he made use of testimonies from the first Epistle of John.'
There is the less reason to doubt this statement, as in _every_
instance in which a similar assertion of Eusebius can be verified
it is found to hold good. It is much more probable that he would
overlook real analogies than be led astray by merely imaginary
ones--which is rather a modern form of error. In textual matters
the ancients were not apt to go wrong through over-subtlety, and
Eusebius himself does not, I believe, deserve the charge of
'inaccuracy and haste' that is made against him [Endnote 278:1].
* * * * *
In regard to the much disputed question of the use of the fourth
Gospel by Justin, those who maintain the affirmative have again
emphatic support from Dr. Keim [Endnote 278:2]. We will examine
some of the instances which are adduced on this side.
And first, in his account of John the Baptist, Justin has two
particulars which are found in the fourth Gospel and in no other.
That Gospel alone makes the Baptist himself declare, 'I am not the
Christ;' and it alone puts into his mouth the application of the
prophecy of Isaiah, 'I am the voice of one crying in the
wilderness.' Justin combines these two sayings, treating them as
an answer made by John to some who supposed that he was the
Christ.
_Justin, Dial_. c. 88.
To whom he himself also cried: 'I am not the Christ, but the voice
of one crying [Greek: ouk eimi o Christos, alla phonae boontos];
for there shall come one stronger than I,' &c.
_John_ i. 19, 20, 23.
And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and
Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed,
and denied not: but confessed, I am not the Christ [Greek: oti ouk
eimi ego o Christos]... I am the voice of one crying [Greek: ego
phonae boontos] in the wilderness,' &c.
The passage in Justin does not profess to be a direct quotation;
it is merely a historical reproduction, and, as such, it has quite
as much accuracy as we should expect to find. The circumstantial
coincidences are too close to be the result of accident. And Dr.
Keim is doubtless right in ridiculing Volkmar's notion that Justin
has merely developed Acts xiii. 25, which contains neither of the
two phrases ([Greek: ho Christos, phonae boontos]) in question. To
refer the passage to an unknown source such as the Gospel
according to the Hebrews--all we know of which shows its
affinities to have been rather on the side of the Synoptics--when
we have a known source in the fourth Gospel ready to hand, is
quite unreasonable [Endnote 280:1].
No great weight, though perhaps some fractional quantity, can be
ascribed to the statement that Jesus healed those who were maimed
from their birth ([Greek: tous ek genetaes paerous] [Endnote
280:2]). The word [Greek: paeros] is used specially for the blind,
and the fourth Evangelist is the only one who mentions the healing
of congenital infirmity, which he does under this same phrase
[Greek: ek genetaes], and that of a case of blindness (John ix.
1). The possibility urged in 'Supernatural Religion,' that Justin
may be merely drawing from tradition, may detract from the force
of this but cannot altogether remove it, especially as we have no
other trace of a tradition containing this particular.
Tischendorf [Endnote 280:3] lays stress on a somewhat remarkable
phenomenon in connection with the quotation of Zech. xvi. 10,
'They shall look on him whom they pierced.' Justin gives the text
of this in precisely the same form as St. John, and with the same
variation from the Septuagint, [Greek: opsontai eis hon
exekentaesan] for [Greek: epiblepsontai pros me anth hon
katorchaesanto]--a variation which is also found in Rev. i. 7.
Those who believe that the Apocalypse had the same author as the
Gospel, naturally see in this a confirmation of their view, and it
would seem to follow that Justin had had either one or both
writings before him. But the assumption of an identity of
authorship between the Apocalypse and the Gospel, though I believe
less unreasonable than is generally supposed, still is too much
disputed to build anything upon in argument. We must not ignore
the other theory, that all three writers had before them and may
have used independently a divergent text of the Septuagint. Some
countenance is given to this by the fact that ten MSS. of the
Septuagint present the same reading [Endnote 281:1]. There can be
little doubt however that it was in its origin a Christian
correction, which had the double advantage of at once bringing the
Greek into closer conformity to the Hebrew, and of also furnishing
support to the Christian application of the prophecy. Whether this
correction was made before either the Apocalypse or the Gospel
were written, or whether it appeared in these works for the first
time and from them was copied into other Christian writings, must
remain an open question.
The saying in Apol. i. 63, 'so that they are rightly convicted
both by the prophetic Spirit and by Christ Himself, that they knew
neither the Father nor the Son' ([Greek: oute ton patera oute ton
uion egnosan]), certainly presents a close resemblance to John
xvi. 3, [Greek: ouk egnosan ton patera oude eme]. But a study of
the context seems to make it clear that the only passage
consciously present to Justin's mind was Matt. xi. 27. Dr. Keim
thinks that St. John supplied him with a commentary oh the
Matthaean text; but the coincidence may be after all accidental.
But the most important isolated case of literary parallelism is
the well-known passage in Apol. i. 61 [Endnote 281:2].
_Apol_. i. 61.
For Christ said: Except ye be born again ye shall not enter into
the kingdom of heaven. Now that it is impossible for those who
have once been born to return into the wombs of those who bare
them is evident to all.
[Greek: Kai gar ho Christos eipen, An mae anagennaethaete, ou mae
eiselthaete eis taen Basileian ton ouranon. Hoti de kai adunaton
eis tas maetras ton tekouson tous hapax gennomenous embaenai,
phaneron pasin esti.]
_John_ iii. 3-5.
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except any one be born over again (or possibly 'from above'), he
cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a
man be born when he is old? can he enter a second time into his
mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say
unto thee, Except any one be born of Water and Spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God.
[Greek: Apekrithae Iaesous kai eipen auto Amaen amaen lego soi,
ean mae tis gennaethae anothen ou dunatai idein taen Basilaian tou
Theou. Legei pros aouton ho Nikodaemos, Pos dunatai anthropos
gennaethaenai geron on; mae dunatai eis taen koilian taes maertros
autou deuteron eiselthein kai gennaethaenai; k.t.l.]
Here we have first to determine the meaning of the word [Greek: anothen]
in the phrase [Greek: gennaethae anothen] of John iii. 3 on which
the extent of the parallelism to some degree turns. Does it mean
'be born _over again_,' like Justin's [Greek: anagennaethaete]?
Or does it mean 'be born _from above_,' i.e. by a heavenly, divine,
regeneration? To express an opinion in favour of the first of these
views would naturally be to incur the charge of taking it up merely to
suit the occasion. It is not however necessary; for it is sufficient to
know that whether or not this meaning was originally intended by the
Evangelist, it is a meaning that Justin might certainly put upon the
words. That this is the case is sufficiently proved by the fact that
the Syriac version (which is quoted in 'Supernatural Religion,' by a
pardonable mistake, on the other side [Endnote 283:1]) actually
translates the words thus. So also does the Vulgate; with Tertullian
('renatus'), Augustine, Chrysostom (partly), Luther, Calvin,
Maldonatus, &c. For the sense 'from above' are the Gothic version,
Origen, Cyril, Theophylact, Bengel, &c.; on the whole a fairly equal
division of opinion. The question has been of late elaborately
re-argued by Mr. McClellan [Endnote 283:2], who decides in favour of
'again.' But, without taking sides either way, it is clear that Justin
would have had abundant support, in particular that of his own national
version, if he intended [Greek: anagennaethaete] to be a paraphrase of
[Greek: gennaethae anothen].
It is obvious that if he is quoting St. John the quotation is
throughout paraphrastic. And yet it is equally noticeable that he
does not use the exact Johannean phrase, he uses others that are
in each case almost precisely equivalent. He does not say [Greek:
our dunatai idein--taen basileian ton ouranon], but he says
[Greek: ou mae eiselthaete eis--taen basileian ton ouranon], the
latter pair phrases which the Synoptics have already taught us to
regard as convertible. He does not say [Greek: mae dunatai eis
taen koilian taes maetros autou deuteron eiselthein kai
gennaethaenai], but he says [Greek: adunaton eis tas maetras ton
tekouson tous hapax gennomenous embaebai]. And the scale seems
decisively turned by the very remarkable combination in Justin and
St. John of the saying respecting spiritual regeneration with the
same strangely gross physical misconception. It is all but
impossible that two minds without concert or connection should
have thought of introducing anything of the kind. Nicodemus makes
an objection, and Justin by repeating the same objection, and in a
form that savours so strongly of platitude, has shown, I think we
must say, conclusively, that he was aware that the objection had
been made.
Such are some of the chief literary coincidences between Justin
and the fourth Gospel; but there are others more profound. Justin
undoubtedly has the one cardinal doctrine of the fourth Gospel--
the doctrine of the Logos.
Thus he writes. 'Jesus Christ is in the proper sense [Greek:
idios] the only Son begotten of God, being His Word [Greek: logos]
and Firstborn Power' [Endnote 284:1]. Again, 'But His Son who
alone is rightly [Greek: kurios] called Son, who before all
created things was with Him and begotten of Him as His Word, when
in the beginning He created and ordered all things through Him,'
&c. Again, 'Now the next Power to God the Father and Lord of all,
and Son [Endnote 284:2], is the Word, of whom we shall relate in
what follows how He was made flesh and became Man.' Again,
'The Word of God is His Son.' Again, speaking of the Gentile
philosophers and lawgivers, 'Since they did not know all things
respecting the Word, who is Christ, they have also frequently
contradicted each other.' These passages are given by Tischendorf,
and they might be added to without difficulty; but it is not
questioned that the term Logos is found frequently in Justin's
writings, and in the same sense in which it is used in the
Prologue of the fourth Gospel of the eternal Son of God, who is at
the same time the historical person Jesus Christ.
The natural inference that Justin was acquainted with the fourth
Gospel is met by suggesting other sources for the doctrine. These
sources are of two kinds, Jewish or Alexandrine.
It is no doubt true that a vivid personification of the Wisdom of
God is found both in the Old Testament and in the Apocrypha. Thus
in the book of Proverbs we have an elaborate ode upon Wisdom as
the eternal assessor in the counsels of God: 'The Lord possessed
me in' the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I was
set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth
was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there
were no fountains of water ... When He prepared the heavens, I was
there: when He set a compass upon the face of the deep ... Then I
was by Him, as one brought up with Him: and I was daily His
delight, rejoicing always before Him' [Endnote 285:1]. The ideas
of which this is perhaps the clearest expression are found more
vaguely in other parts of the same book, in the Psalms, and in the
book of Job, but they are further expanded and developed in the
two Apocryphal books of Wisdom. There [Endnote 285:2] Wisdom is
represented as the 'breath of the power of God, and a pure
influence flowing from the glory of the Almighty,' as 'the
brightness [Greek: apaugasma] of the everlasting light, the
unspotted mirror of the power of God, and the image of His
goodness.' Wisdom 'sitteth by the throne' of God. She reacheth
from one end to another mightily: and sweetly doth she order all
things.' 'She is privy to the mysteries of the knowledge of God
and a lover of His works.' God 'created her before the world'
[Endnote 286:1]. We also get by the side of this, but in quite a
subordinate place and in a much less advanced stage of personification,
the idea of the Word or Logos: 'O God of my fathers ... who hast
made all things with thy word, and ordained man through thy wisdom'
[Endnote 286:2]. 'It was neither herb nor mollifying plaister that
restored them to health: but thy word, O Lord, which healeth all things.'
It was 'the Almighty word' ([Greek: ho pantodunamos logos]) 'that
leaped down from heaven' to slay the Egyptians.
But still it will be seen that there is a distinct gap between
these conceptions and that which we find in Justin. The leading
idea is that of Wisdom, not of the Word. The Word is not even
personified separately; it is merely the emitted power or energy
of God. And the personification of Wisdom is still to a large
extent poetical, it does not attain to separate metaphysical
hypostasis; it is not thought of as being really personal.
The Philonian conception, on the other hand, is metaphysical, but
it contains many elements that are quite discordant and
inconsistent with that which we find in Justin. That it must have
been so will be seen at once when we think of the sources from
which Philo's doctrine was derived. It included in itself the
Platonic theory of Ideas, the diffused Logos or _anima mundi_
of the Stoics, and the Oriental angelology or doctrine of
intermediate beings between God and man. On its Platonic side the
Logos is the Idea of Ideas summing up the world of high
abstractions which themselves are also regarded as possessing a
separate individuality; they are Logoi by the side of the Logos.
On its Stoic side it becomes a Pantheistic Essence pervading the
life of things; it is 'the law,' 'the bond' which holds the world
together; the world is its 'garment.' On its Eastern side, the
Logos is the 'Archangel,' the 'Captain of the hosts of heaven,'
the 'Mother-city' from which they issue as colonists, the 'Vice-
gerent' of the Great King [Endnote 287:1].
It needed a more powerful mind than Justin's to reduce all this to
its simple Christian expression, to take the poetry of Judaea and
the philosophy of Alexandria and to interpret and realise both in
the light of the historical events of the birth and life of
Christ. 'The Word became flesh' is the key by which Justin is made
intelligible, and that key is supplied by the fourth Gospel. No
other Christian writer had combined these two ideas before--the
divine Logos, with the historical personality of Jesus. When
therefore we find the ideas combined as in Justin, we are
necessarily referred to the fourth Gospel for them; for the
strangely inverted suggestion of Volkmar, that the author of the
fourth Gospel borrowed from Justin, is on chronological, if not on
other grounds, certainly untenable. We shall see that the fourth
Gospel was without doubt in existence at the date which Volkmar
assigns to Justin's Apology, 150 A. D.
* * * * *
The history of the discussion as to the relation of the Clementine
Homilies to the fourth Gospel is highly instructive, not only in
itself, but also for the light which it throws upon the general
character of our enquiry and the documents with which it is
concerned. It has been already mentioned that up to the year 1853
the Clementine Homilies were only extant in a mutilated form,
ending abruptly in the middle of Hom. xix. 14. In that year a
complete edition was at last published by Dressel from a
manuscript in the Vatican containing the rest of the nineteenth
and the twentieth Homily. The older portion occupies in all, with
the translation and critical apparatus, 381 large octavo pages in
Dressel's edition; the portion added by Dressel occupies 34. And
yet up to 1853, though the Clementine Homilies had been carefully
studied with reference to the use of the fourth Gospel, only a few
indications had been found, and those were disputed. In fact, the
controversy was very much at such a point as others with which we
have been dealing; there was a certain probability in favour of
the conclusion that the Gospel had been used, but still
considerably short of the highest. Since the publication of the
conclusion of the Homilies the question has been set at rest.
Hilgenfeld, who had hitherto been a determined advocate of the
negative theory, at once gave up his ground [Endnote 288:1]; and
Volkmar, who had somewhat less to retract, admitted and admits
[Endnote 288:2] that the fact of the use of the Gospel must be
considered as proved. The author of 'Supernatural Religion' stands
alone in still resisting this conviction [Endnote 288:3], but the
result I suspect will be only to show in stronger relief the one-
sidedness of his critical method.
We will follow the example that is set us in presenting the whole
of the passages alleged to contain allusions to the fourth Gospel;
and it is the more interesting to do so with the key that the
recent discovery has put into Our hands. The first runs thus:--
_Hom._ iii. 52.
Therefore he, being a true prophet, said: I am the gate of life;
he that entereth in through me entereth into life: for the
teaching that can save is none other [than mine].
[Greek: Dia touto autos alaethaes on prophaetaes elegen; Ego eimi
hae pulae taes zoaes; ho di' emou eiserchomenos eiserchetai eis
taen zoaen; hos ouk ousaes heteras taes sozein dunamenaes
didaskalias.]
_John_ x. 9.
I am the door: by me if any one enter in, he shall be saved, and
shall come in and go out, and shall find pasture.
[Greek: Ego eimi hae thura; di' emou ean tis eiselthae sothaesetai
kai eiseleusetai kai exeleusetai kai nomaen heuraesei.]
Apart from other evidence it would have been somewhat precarious
to allege this as proof of the use of the fourth Gospel, and yet I
believe there would have been a distinct probability that it was
taken from that work. The parallel is much closer--in spite of
[Greek: thura] for [Greek: pulae]--than is Matt. vii. 13, 14 (the
'narrow gate') which is adduced in 'Supernatural Religion,' and
the interval is very insufficiently bridged over by Ps. cxviii.
19, 20 ('This is the gate of the Lord'). The key-note of the
passage is given in the identification of the gate with the person
of the Saviour ('_I_ am the door') and in the remarkable
expression 'he that entereth in _through me_,' which is
retained in the Homily. It is curious to notice the way in which
the [Greek: sothaesetai] of the Gospel has been expanded
exegetically.
Less doubtful--and indeed we should have thought almost beyond a
doubt--is the next reference; 'My sheep hear my voice.'
_Hom._ iii. 52.
[Greek: ta ema probata akouei taes emaes phonaes.]
_John_ x. 27. [Greek: ta probata ta ema taes phonaes mou
akouei.]
'There was no more common representation amongst the Jews of the
relation of God and his people than that of Shepherd and his
sheep' [Endnote 290:1]. That is to say, it occurs of Jehovah or of
the Messiah some twelve or fifteen times in the Old and New
Testament together, but never with anything at all closely
approaching to the precise and particular feature given here. Let
the reader try to estimate the chances that another source than
the fourth Gospel is being quoted. Criticism is made null and void
when such seemingly plain indications as this are discarded in
favour of entirely unknown quantities like the 'Gospel according
to the Hebrews.' If the author of 'Supernatural Religion' were to
turn his own powers of derisive statement against his own
hypotheses they would present a very strange appearance.
The reference that follows has in some respects a rather marked
resemblance to that which we were discussing in Justin, and for
the relation between them to be fully appreciated should be given
along with it:--
_Justin, Apol._ i. 61.
Except ye be born again ye shall not enter into the kingdom of
heaven.
[Greek: An mae anagennaethaete ou mae eiselthaete eis taen
basileian ton ouranon.]
_Clem. Hom._ xi. 26.
Verily I say unto you, Except ye be born again with living water,
in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, ye shall not enter
into the kingdom of heaven.
[Greek: Amaen humin lego, ean mae anagennaethaete hudati zonti eis
onoma patros, uhiou, hagiou pneumatos, ou mae eiselthaete eis taen
basileian ton ouranon.]
_John_ iii. 3, 5. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except
any one be born over again (or 'from above') he cannot see the
kingdom of God ... Except any one be born of water and Spirit, he
cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
[Greek: Amaen amaen lego soi, ean mae tis gennaethae anothen, ou
dunatai idein taen basileian tou Theou ... ean mae tis gennaethae
ex hudatos kai pneumatos, ou dunatai eiselthein eis taen basileian
tou Theou.]
[Greek: pneum]. add. [Greek: hagiou] Vulg. (Clementine edition),
a, ff, m, Aeth., Orig. (Latin translator).
Here it will be noticed that Justin and the Clementines have four
points in common, [Greek: anagennaethaete] for [Greek: gennaethae
anothen], the second person plural (twice over) for [Greek: tis]
and the singular, [Greek: ou mae] and the subjunctive for [Greek:
ou dunatai] and infinitive, and [Greek: taen basileian ton
ouranon], for [Greek: taen basileian tou Theou]. To the last of
these points much importance could not be attached in itself, as
it represents a persistent difference between the first and the
other Synoptists even where they had the same original. As both
the Clementines and Justin used the first Gospel more than the
others, it is only natural that they should fall into the habit of
using its characteristic phrase. Neither would the other points
have had very much importance taken separately, but their
importance increases considerably when they come to be taken
together.
On the other hand, we observe in the Clementines (where it is
however connected with Matt. xxviii. 19) the sufficiently near
equivalent for the striking Johannean phrase [Greek: ex hudatos
kai pneumatos] which is omitted entirely by Justin.
The most probable view of the case seems to be that both the
Clementines and Justin are quoting from memory. Both have in their
memory the passage of St. John, but both have also distinctly
before them (so much the more distinctly as it is the Gospel which
they habitually used) the parallel passage in Matt. xviii. 3--
where _all the last three_ out of the four common variations
are found, besides, along with the Clementines, the omission of
the second [Greek: amaen],--'Verily I say unto you, Except ye be
converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into
the kingdom of heaven' ([Greek: on mae eiseathaete eis taen
basileian ton ouranon]). It is out of the question that this
_only_ should have been present to the mind of the writers;
and, in view of the repetition of Nicodemus' misunderstanding by
Justin and of the baptism by water and Spirit in the Clementine
Homilies, it seems equally difficult to exclude the reference to
St. John. It is in fact a Johannean saying in a Matthaean
framework.
There is the more reason to accept this solution, that neither
Justin nor the Clementines can in any case represent the original
form of the passages quoted. If Justin's version were correct,
whence did the Clementines get the [Greek: hudati zonti k.t.l.]? if
the Clementine, then whence did Justin get the misconception of
Nicodemus? But the Clementine version is in any case too eccentric
to stand.
The last passage is the one that is usually considered to be
decisive as to the use of the fourth Gospel.
_Hom_. xix. 22.
Hence too our Teacher, when explaining to those who asked of him
respecting the man who was blind from his birth and recovered his
sight, whether this man sinned or his parents that he should be
born blind, replied: Neither this man sinned, nor his parents; but
that through him the power of God might be manifested healing the
sins of ignorance.
[Greek: Hothen kai didaskalos haemon peri tou [Endnote 293:1] ek
genetaes paerou kai anablepsantos par' autou exetazon erotaesasin,
ei ohutos haemarten ae oi goneis autou, hina tuphlos gennaethae
[Endnote 293:1] apekrinato oute ohutos ti haemarten, oute oi
goneis autou, all' hina di autou phanerothae hae dunamis tou Theou
taes agnoias iomenae ta hamartaemata.]
_John_ ix. 1-3.
And as he passed by, he saw a man blind from his birth. And his
disciples asked him, saying, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his
parents, that he should be born blind? Jesus answered, Neither
hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God
should be manifested in him.
[Greek: Kai paragon eiden anthropon tuphlon ek genetaes. Kai
aerotaesan auton oi mathaetai autou legontes, Rhabbei, tis
haemarten, ohutos ae oi goneis autou, hina tuphlos gennaethae;
apekrithae Iaesous, Oute ohutos haemarten oute oi goneis autou,
all' hina phanerothae ta erga tou Theou en auto.]
The author of 'Supernatural Religion' undertakes to show 'that
the context of this passage in the Homily bears positive
characteristics which render it impossible that it can have been
taken from the fourth Gospel' [Endnote 293:2]. I think we may
venture to say that he does indeed show somewhat conspicuously the
way in which he uses the word 'impossible' and the kind of grounds
on which that and such like terms are employed throughout his
work.
It is a notorious fact, abundantly established by certain
quotations from the Old Testament and elsewhere, that the last
thing regarded by the early patristic writers was context. But in
this case the context is perfectly in keeping, and to a clear and
unprejudiced eye it presents no difficulty. The Clementine writer
is speaking of the origin of physical infirmities, and he says
that these are frequently due, not to moral error, but to mere
ignorance on the part of parents. As an instance of this he gives
the case of the man who was born blind, of whom our Lord expressly
said that neither he nor his parents had sinned--morally or in
such a way as to deserve punishment. On the contrary they had
erred simply through ignorance, and the object of the miracle was
to make a display of the Divine mercy removing the consequences of
such error. 'And in reality,' he proceeds, 'things of this kind
are the result of ignorance. The misfortunes of which you spoke,
proceed from ignorance and not from any wicked action.' This is
perfectly compatible with every word of the Johannean narrative.
The concluding clause of the quotation is merely a paraphrase of
the original (no part of the quotation professes to be exact),
bringing out a little more prominently the special point of the
argument. There is ample room for this. The predetermined object
of the miracle, says St. John, was to display the works of God,
and the Clementine writer specifies the particular work of God
displayed--the mercy which heals the evil consequences of
ignorance. If there is anything here at all inconsistent with the
Gospel it would be interesting to know (and we are not told) what
was the kind of original that the author of the Homily really had
before him.
A further discussion of this passage I should hardly suppose to be
necessary. Nothing could be more wanton than to assign this
passage to an imaginary Gospel merely on the ground alleged. The
hypothesis was less violent in regard to the Synoptic Gospels,
which clearly contain a large amount of common matter that might
also have found its way into other hands. We have evidence of the
existence of other Gospels presenting a certain amount of affinity
to the first Gospel, but the fourth is stamped with an idiosyncracy
which makes it unique in its kind. If there is to be this freedom
in inventing unknown documents, reproducing almost verbatim the
features of known ones, sober criticism is at an end.
That the Clementine Homilies imply the use of the fourth Gospel
may be considered to be, not indeed certain in a strict sense of
the word, but as probable as most human affairs can be. The real
element or doubt is in regard to their date, and their evidence
must be taken subject to this uncertainty.
* * * * *
It is perhaps hardly worth while to delay over the Epistle to
Diognetus: not that I do not believe the instances alleged by
Tischendorf and Dr. Westcott [Endnote 295:1] to be in themselves
sound, but because there exists too little evidence to determine
the date of the Epistle, and because it may be doubted whether the
argument for the use of the fourth Gospel in the Epistle can be
expressed strongly in an objective form. The allusions in question
are not direct quotations, but are rather reminiscences of
language. The author of 'Supernatural Religion' has treated them
as if they were the former [Endnote 296:1]; he has enquired into
the context &c., not very successfully. But such enquiry is really
out of place. When the writer of the Epistle says, 'Christians
dwell in the world but are not of the world' [Greek: ouk xisi de
ek tou kosmou] = exactly John xvii. 14; note peculiar use of the
preposition); 'For God loved men for whose sakes He made the world
... unto whom He sent His only begotten Son' (= John iii. 16, 'God
so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son'); 'How will
you love Him who so beforehand loved you' [Greek: proagapaesanta];
cf. i John iv. 19, [Greek: protos aegapaesen] 'He sent His Son as
wishing to save ... and not to condemn' ([Greek: sozon ... krinon]
of. John iii. 16),--the probability is about as great that he had
in his mind St. John's language as it would be if the same phrases
were to occur in a modern sermon. It is a real probability; but
not one that can be urged very strongly.
* * * * *
Of more importance--indeed of high importance--is the evidence
drawn from the remains of earlier writers preserved by Irenaeus
and Hippolytus. There is a clear reference to the fourth Gospel in
a passage for which Irenaeus alleges the authority of certain
'Presbyters,' who at the least belonged to an elder generation
than his own. There can be little doubt indeed that they are the
same as those whom he describes three sentences later and with
only a momentary break in the oblique narration into which the
passage is thrown, as 'the Presbyters, disciples of the Apostles.'
It may be well to give the language of Irenaeus in full as it has
been the subject of some controversy. Speaking of the rewards of
the just in the next world, he says [Endnote 297:1]:--
'For Esaias says, "Like as the new heaven and new earth which I
create remain before me, saith the Lord, so your seed and your
name shall stand." And as the Presbyters say, then too those who
are thought worthy to have their abode in Heaven shall go thither,
and some shall enjoy the delights of Paradise, while others shall
possess the splendour of the City; for everywhere the Saviour
shall be seen according as they shall be worthy who look upon Him.
[So far the sentence has been in oratio recta, but here it becomes
oblique.] And [they say] that there is this distinction in
dwelling between those who bear fruit an hundred fold and those
who bear sixty and those who bear thirty, some of whom shall be
carried off into the Heavens, some shall stay in Paradise, and
some shall dwell in the City. And for this reason, [they say that]
the Lord declared ([Greek: eipaekenai]) that _in my Father's_
[realm] _are many mansions;_ for all things [are] of God, who
gives to all the fitting habitation: even as His Word saith
(_ait_), that to all is allotted by the Father as each is or
shall be worthy. And this is (_est_) the couch upon which
they shall recline who are bidden to His marriage supper. That
this is (_esse_) the order and disposition of the saved, the
Presbyters, disciples of the Apostles, say,' etc.
That Irenaeus is here merely giving the 'exegesis of his own day,'
as the author of 'Supernatural Religion' suggests [Endnote 297:2],
is not for a moment tenable. Irenaeus does indeed interpose for
two sentences (Omnia enim... ad nuptias) to give his own comment
on the saying of the Presbyters; but these are sharply cut off
from the rest by the use of the present indicative instead of the
infinitive. There can be no question at all that the quotation 'in
My Father's realm are many mansions' [Greek: en tois ton Patros
mon monas einai pollas] belongs to the Presbyters, and there can
be but little doubt that these Presbyters are the same as those
spoken of as 'disciples of the Apostles.'
Whether they were also 'the Presbyters' referred to as his
authority by Papias is quite a secondary and subordinate question.
Considering the Chiliastic character of the passage, the
conjecture [Endnote 298:1] that they were does not seem to me
unreasonable. This however we cannot determine positively. It is
quite enough that Irenaeus evidently attributes to them an
antiquity considerably beyond his own; that, in fact, he looks
upon them as supplying the intermediate link between his age and
that of the Apostles.
* * * * *
Two quotations from the fourth Gospel are attributed to Basilides,
both of them quite indisputable as quotations. The first is found
in the twenty-second chapter of the seventh book of the
'Refutation,' 'That was the true light which lighteth every man
that cometh into the world [Endnote 298:2] ([Greek: aen to phos to
alaethinon, o photizei panta anthropon erchomenon eis ton kosmon]
= John i. 9), and the second in the twenty-seventh chapter, 'My
hour is not yet come' ([Greek: oupo aekei aeora mon] = John ii.
4). Both of these passages are instances of the exegesis by which
the Basilidian doctrines were defended.
The real question is here, as in regard to the Synoptics, whether
the quotations were made by Basilides himself or by his disciples,
'Isidore and his crew.' The second instance I am disposed to think
may possibly be due to the later representatives of this school,
because, though the quotation is introduced by [Greek: phaesi] in
the singular, and though Basilides himself can in no case be
excluded, still there is nothing in the chapter to identify the
subject of [Greek: phaesi] specially with him, and in the next
sentence Hippolytus writes, 'This is that which they understand
([Greek: ho kat' autous nenoaemenos]) by the inner spiritual man,'
&c. But the earlier instance is different. There Basilides himself
does seem to be specially singled out.
He is mentioned by name only two sentences above that in which the
quotation occurs. Hippolytus is referring to the Basilidian
doctrine of the origin of things. He says, 'Now since it was not
allowable to say that something non-existent had come into being
as a projection from a non-existent Deity--for Basilides avoids
and shuns the existences of things brought into being by
projection [Endnote 299:1]--for what need is there of projection,
or why should matter be presupposed in order that God should make
a world, just as a spider its web or as mortal man in making
things takes brass or wood or any other portion of matter? But He
spake--so he says--and it was done, and this is, as these men say,
that which is said by Moses: "Let there be light, and there was
light." Whence, he says, came the light? Out of nothing; for we
are not told--he says--whence it came, but only that it was at the
voice of Him that spake. Now He that spake--he says--was not, and
that which was made, was not. Out of that which was not--he says--
was made the seed of the world, the word which was spoken, "Let
there be light;" and this--he says--is that which is spoken in
the Gospels; "That was the true light which lighteth every man
that cometh into the world.'" We must not indeed overlook the fact
that the plural occurs once in the middle of this passage as
introducing the words of Moses; 'as these men say.' And yet,
though this decidedly modifies, I do not think that it removes the
probability that Basilides himself is being quoted. It seems a
fair inference that at the beginning of the passage Hippolytus had
the work of Basilides actually before him; and the single
digression in [Greek: legousin houtoi] does not seem enough to
show that it was laid aside. This is confirmed when we look back
two chapters at the terms in which the whole account of the
Basilidian system is introduced. 'Let us see,' Hippolytus says,
'how flagrantly Basilides as well as (B. [Greek: homou kai])
Isidore and all their crew contradict not only Matthias but the
Saviour himself.' Stress is laid upon the name of Basilides, as if
to say, 'It is not merely a new-fangled heresy, but dates back to
the head and founder of the school.' When in the very next
sentence Hippolytus begins with [Greek: phaesi], the natural
construction certainly seems to be that he is quoting some work of
Basilides which he takes as typical of the doctrine of the whole
school. A later work would not suit his purpose or prove his
point. Basilides includes Isidore, but Isidore does not include
Basilides.
We conclude then that there is a probability--not an overwhelming,
but quite a substantial, probability--that Basilides himself used
the fourth Gospel, and used it as an authoritative record of the
life of Christ. But Basilides began to teach in 125 A.D., so that
his evidence, supposing it to be valid, dates from a very early
period indeed: and it should be remembered that this is the only
uncertainty to which it is subject. That the quotation is really
from St. John cannot be doubted.
The account which Hippolytus gives of the Valentinians also
contains an allusion to the fourth Gospel; 'All who came before Me
are thieves and robbers' (cf. John x. 8). But here the master and
the disciples are more confused. Less equivocal evidence is
afforded by the statements of Irenaeus respecting the Valentinians.
He says that the Valentinians used the fourth Gospel very freely
(plenissime) [Endnote 301:1]. This applies to a date that cannot
be in any case later than 180 A.D., and that may extend almost
indefinitely backwards. There is no reason to say that it does not
include Valentinus himself. Positive evidence is wanting, but negative
evidence still more. Apart from evidence to the contrary, there must
be a presumption against the introduction of a new work which becomes
at once a frequently quoted authority midway in the history of a school.
But to keep to facts apart from presumptions. Irenaeus represents
Ptolemaeus as quoting largely from the Prologue to the Gospel. But
Ptolemaeus, as we have seen, had already gathered a school about
him when Irenaeus became acquainted with him. His evidence
therefore may fairly be said to cover the period from 165-175 A.D.
The author of 'Supernatural Religion' seems to be somewhat beside
the mark when he says that 'in regard to Ptolemaeus all that is
affirmed is that in the Epistle to Flora ascribed to him
expressions found in John i. 3 are used.' True it is that such
expressions are found, and before we accept the theory in
'Supernatural Religion' that the parenthesis in which they occur
is due to Epiphanius who quotes the letter in full himself
[Endnote 302:1], it is only right that some other instance should
be given of such parenthetic interruption. The form in which the
letter is quoted, not in fragments interspersed with comments but
complete and at full length, with a formal heading and close,
really excludes such a hypothesis. But, a century and a half
before Epiphanius, Irenaeus had given a string of Valentinian
comments on the Prologue, ending with the words, 'Et Ptolemaeus
quidem ita' [Endnote 302:2]. Heracleon, too, is coupled with
Ptolemaeus by Irenaeus [Endnote 302:3], and according to the view
of the author of 'Supernatural Religion,' had a school around him
at the time of Irenaeus' visit to Rome in 178 A.D. But this
Heracleon was the author of a Commentary on St. John's Gospel to
which Origen in his own parallel work frequently alludes. These
are indeed dismissed in 'Supernatural Religion' as 'unsupported
references.' But we may well ask, what support they need. The
references are made in evident good faith. He says, for instance
[Endnote 302:4], that Heracleon's exegesis of John i. 3, 'All
things were made by Him,' excluding from this the world and its
contents, is very forced and without authority. Again, he has
misinterpreted John i. 4, making 'in Him was life' mean not 'in
Him' but 'in spiritual men.' Again, he wrongly attributes John i.
18 not to the Evangelist, but to the Baptist. And so on. The
allusions are all made in this incidental manner; and the life of
Origen, if he was born, as is supposed, about 185 A.D., would
overlap that of Heracleon. What evidence could be more sufficient?
or if such evidence is to be discarded, what evidence are we to
accept? Is it to be of the kind that is relied upon for referring
quotations to the Gospel according to the Hebrews, or the Gospel
according to Peter, or the [Greek: Genna Marias]? There are
sometimes no doubt reasonable grounds for scepticism as to the
patristic statements, but none such are visible here. On the
contrary, that Heracleon should have written a commentary on the
fourth Gospel falls in entirely with what Irenaeus says as to the
large use that was made of that Gospel by the Valentinians.
* * * * *
As we approach the end of the third and beginning of the fourth
quarter of the second century the evidence for the fourth Gospel
becomes widespread and abundant. At this date we have attention
called to the discrepancy between the Gospels as to the date of
the Crucifixion by Claudius Apollinaris. We have also Tatian, the
Epistle of the Churches of Vienne and Lyons, the heathen Celsus
and the Muratorian Canon, and then a very few years later
Theophilus of Antioch and Irenaeus.
I imagine that there can be really no doubt about Tatian. Whatever
may have been the nature of the Diatessaron, the 'Address to the
Greeks' contains references which it is mere paradox to dispute. I
will not press the first of these which is given by Dr. Westcott,
not because I do not believe that it is ultimately based upon the
fourth Gospel, still less that there is the slightest contradiction
to St. John's doctrine, but because Tatian's is a philosophical comment
perhaps a degree too far removed from the original to be quite
producible as evidence. It is one of the earliest speculations as to
the ontological relation between the Father and the Son. In the
beginning God was alone--though all things were with Him potentially.
By the mere act of volition He gave birth to the Logos, who was the
real originative cause of things. Yet the existence of the Logos was
not such as to involve a separation of identity in the Godhead; it
involved no diminution in Him from whom the Logos issued. Having been
thus first begotten, the Logos in turn begat our creation, &c. The
Logos is thus represented as being at once prior to creation (the
Johannean [Greek: en archae]) and the efficient cause of it--which is
precisely the doctrine of the Prologue.
The other two passages are however quite unequivocal.
_Orat. ad Graecos_, c. xiii.
And this is therefore that saying: The darkness comprehends not
the light.
[Greek: Kai touto estin ara to eiraemenon Hae skotia to phos ou
katalambanei.]
_John_ i. 5.
And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness
comprehended it not.
[Greek: Kai to phos en tae skotia phainei, kai hae skotia auto ou
katelaben.]
On this there is the following comment in 'Supernatural Religion'
[Endnote 305:1]: '"The saying" is distinctly different in language
from the parallel in the Gospel, and it may be from a different
Gospel. We have already remarked that Philo called the Logos "the
Light," and quoting in a peculiar form, Ps. xxvi. 1: 'For the Lord
is my light ([Greek: phos]) and my Saviour,' he goes on to say
that as the sun divides day and night, so Moses says, 'God divides
light and darkness' ([Greek: Theon phos kai skotos diateichisai]),
when we turn away to things of sense we use 'another light' which
is in no way different from 'darkness.' The constant use of the
same similitude of light and darkness in the Canonical Epistles
shows how current it was in the Church; and nothing is more
certain than the fact that it was neither originated by, nor
confined to, the fourth Gospel.' Such criticism refutes itself,
and it is far too characteristic of the whole book. Nothing is
adduced that even remotely corresponds to the very remarkable
phrase [Greek: hae skotia to phos katalambanei], and yet for these
imaginary parallels one that is perfectly plain and direct is
rejected.
The use of the phrase [Greek: to eiraemenon] should be noticed. It
is the formula used, especially by St. Luke, in quotation from the
Old Testament Scriptures.
The other passage is:--
_Orat. ad Graecos_, c. xix.
All things were by him, and without him hath been made nothing.
[Greek: Panta hup' autou kai choris autou gegonen oude hen.]
_John_ i. 3.
All things were made through him; and without him was nothing made
[that hath been made].
[Greek: Panta di' autou egeneto, kai choris autou egeneto oude hen
[ho gegonen]]. 'The early Fathers, no less than the early
heretics,' placed the full stop at [Greek: oude hen], connecting
the words that follow with the next sentence. See M'Clellan and
Tregelles _ad loc_.
'Tatian here speaks of God and not of the Logos, and in this
respect, as well as language and context, the passage differs from
the fourth Gospel' [Endnote 306:1], &c. Nevertheless it may safely
be left to the reader to say whether or not it was taken from it.
The Epistle of the Churches of Vienne and Lyons contains the
following:--
_Ep. Vienne. et Lugd_. § iv.
Thus too was fulfilled that which was spoken by our Lord; that a
time shall come in which every one that killeth you shall think
that he offereth God service.
[Greek: Eleusetai kairos en o pas ho apokteinas humas doxei
latreian prospherein to Theo.]
_John_ xvi. 2.
Yea, the hour cometh, that every one that killeth you will think
he offereth God service.
[Greek: All' erchetai hora hina pas ho apokteinas humas, doxae
latreian prospherein to Theo.]
It is true that there are 'indications of similar discourses' in
the Synoptics, but of none containing a trait at all closely
resembling this. The chances that precisely the same combination
of words ([Greek: ho apokteinas humas doxei latreian prospherein
to Theo]) occurred in a lost Gospel must be necessarily very small
indeed, especially when we remember that the original saying was
probably spoken in Aramaic and not in Greek [Endnote 307:1].
Dr. Keim, in the elaborate monograph mentioned above, decides that
Celsus made use of the fourth Gospel. He remarks upon it as
curious, that more traces should indeed be found 'both in Celsus
and his contemporary Tatian of John than of his two nearest
predecessors' [Endnote 307:2]. Of the instances given by Dr. Keim,
the first (i. 41, the sign seen by the Baptist) depends on a
somewhat doubtful reading ([Greek: para to Ioannae], which should
be perhaps [Greek: para to Iordanae]); the second, the demand for
a sign localised specially in the temple (i. 67; of. John x. 23,
24), seems fairly to hold good. 'The destination of Jesus alike
for good and evil' (iv. 7, 'that those who received it, having
been good, should be saved; while those who received it not,
having been shown to be bad, should be punished') is indeed an
idea peculiarly Johannean and creates a _presumption_ of the
use of the Gospel; we ought not perhaps to say more. I can hardly
consider the simple allusions to 'flight' ([Greek: pheugein], ii.
9; [Greek: taede kakeise apodedrakenai], i. 62) as necessarily
references to the retreat to Ephraim in John xi. 54. So too the
expression 'bound' in ii. 9, and the 'conflict with Satan' in vi.
42, ii. 47, seem too vague to be used as proof. Still Volkmar too
declares it to be 'notorious' that Celsus was acquainted with the
fourth Gospel, alleging i. 67 (as above), ii. 31 (an allusion to
the Logos), ii. 36 (a satirical allusion to the issue of blood and
water), which passages really seem on the whole to justify the
assertion, though not in a quite unqualified form.
We ought not to omit to mention that there is a second fragment
by Apollinaris, bishop of Hierapolis, besides that to which we
have already alluded, and preserved like it in the Paschal
Chronicle, which confirms unequivocally the conclusion that he
knew and used the fourth Gospel. Amongst other titles that are
applied to the crucified Saviour, he is spoken of as 'having been
pierced in His sacred side,' as 'having poured out of His side
those two cleansing streams, water and blood, word and spirit'
[Endnote 308:1]. This incident is recorded only in the fourth
Gospel.
In like manner when Athenagoras says 'The Father and the Son being
one' ([Greek: henos ontos tou Patros kai tou Uiou]), it is
probable that he is alluding to John x. 30, 'I and my Father are
one,' not to mention an alleged, but perhaps somewhat more
doubtful, reference to John xvii. 3 [Endnote 308:2].
But the most decisive witness before we come to Irenaeus is the
Muratorian Canon. Here we have the fourth Gospel definitely
assigned to its author, and finally established in its place
amongst the canonical or authoritative books. It is true that the
account of the way in which the Gospel came to be composed is
mixed up with legendary matter. According to it the Gospel was
written in obedience to a dream sent to Andrew the Apostle, after
he and his fellow disciples and bishops had fasted for three days
at the request of John. In this dream it was revealed that John
should write the narrative subject to the revision of the rest. So
the Gospel is the work of an eyewitness, and, though it and the
other Gospels differ in the objects of their teaching, all are
inspired by the same Spirit.
There may perhaps in this be some kernel of historical fact, as
the sort of joint authorship or revision to which it points seems
to find some support in the concluding verses of the Gospel ('we
know that his witness is true'). However this may be, the evidence
of the fragment is of more real importance and value, as showing
the estimation in which at this date the Gospel was held. It
corresponds very much to what is now implied in the word
'canonical,' and indeed the Muratorian fragment presents us with a
tentative or provisional Canon, which was later to be amended,
completed, and ratified. So far as the Gospels were concerned, it
had already reached its final shape. It included the same four
which now stand in our Bibles, and the opposition that they met
with was so slight, and so little serious, that Eusebius could
class them all among the Homologoumena or books that were
universally acknowledged.