We must now as briefly as possible examine the evidence furnished by
the apocryphal religious romance generally known by the name of "The
Clementines," and assuming, falsely of course,(1) to be the composition
of the Roman Clement. The Clementines are composed of three principal
works, the Homilies, Recognitions, and a so-called Epitome. The
Homilies, again, are prefaced by a pretended epistle addressed by the
Apostle Peter to James, and another from Clement. These Homilies were
only known in an imperfect form till 1853, when Dressel(2) published
a complete Greek text. Of the Recognitions we only possess a Latin
translation by Rufinus (a.d. 402).
{2}
Although there is much difference of opinion regarding the claims to
priority of the Homilies and Recognitions, many critics assigning that
place to the Homilies,(1) whilst others assert the earlier origin of the
Recognitions,(2) all are agreed that the one is merely a version of the
other, the former being embodied almost word for word in the latter,
whilst the Epitome is a blending of the other two, probably intended
to purge them from heretical doctrine. These works, however, which are
generally admitted to have emanated from the Ebionitic party of the
early Church,(3) are supposed to be based upon older Petrine writings,
such as the "Preaching of Peter" [------], and the "Travels of Peter"
[------].(4)
{3}
It is not necessary for our purpose to go into any analysis of the
character of the Clementines. It will suffice to say that they almost
entirely consist of discussions between the Apostle Peter and Simon
the Magician regarding the identity of the true Mosaic and Christian
religions. Peter follows the Magician from city to city for the purpose
of exposing and refuting him, the one, in fact, representing Apostolic
doctrine and the other heresy, and in the course of these discussions
occur the very numerous quotations of sayings of Jesus and of Christian
history which we have to examine.
The Clementine Recognitions, as we have already remarked, are only known
to us through the Latin translation of Rufinus; and from a comparison of
the evangelical quotations occurring in that work with the same in the
Homilies, it is evident that Rufinus has assimilated them in the course
of translation to the parallel passages of our Gospels. It is admitted,
therefore, that no argument regarding the source of the quotations can
rightly be based upon the Recognitions, and that work may, consequently,
be entirely set aside,(1) and the Clementine Homilies alone need occupy
our attention.
We need scarcely remark that, unless the date at which these Homilies
were composed can be ascertained, their value as testimony for the
existence of our Synoptic Gospels is seriously affected. The difficulty
of arriving at a correct conclusion regarding this point, great under
almost any circumstances, is of course increased by the fact that the
work is altogether apocryphal, and most certainly not held by any one to
have
{4}
been written by the person whose name it bears. There is in fact nothing
but internal evidence by which to fix the date, and that internal
evidence is of a character which admits of very wide extension down the
course of time, although a sharp limit is set beyond which it cannot
mount upwards. Of external evidence there is almost none, and what
little exists does not warrant an early date. Origen, it is true,
mentions [------],(1) which, it is conjectured, may either be the same
work as the [------], or Recognitions, translated by Rufinus, or
related to it, and Epiphanius and others refer to [------];(2) but
our Clementine Homilies are not mentioned by any writer before
pseudo-Athanasius.(3) The work, therefore, can at the best afford no
substantial testimony to the antiquity and apostolic origin of our
Gospels. Hilgenfeld, following in the steps of Baur, arrives at the
conclusion that the Homilies are directed against the Gnosticism of
Marcion (and also, as we shall hereafter see, against the Apostle Paul),
and he, therefore, necessarily assigns to them a date subsequent to a.d.
160. As Reuss, however, inquires: upon this ground, why should a still
later date not be named, since even Tertullian wrote vehemently against
the same Gnosis.(4) There can be little doubt that the author was a
representative of Ebionitic Gnosticism, which had once been the purest
form of primitive Christianity, but later, through its own development,
though still more through the rapid growth around it of Paulinian
doctrine, had
{5}
assumed a position closely verging upon heresy. It is not necessary
for us, however, to enter upon any exhaustive discussion of the date at
which the Clementines were written; it is sufficient to show that there
is no certain ground upon which a decision can be based, and that even
an approximate conjecture can scarcely be reasonably advanced. Critics
variously date the composition of the original Recognitions from about
the middle of the second century to the end of the third, though the
majority are agreed in placing them at least in the latter century.(1)
They assign to the Homilies an origin at different dates within a period
commencing about the middle of the second century, and extending to a
century later.2
In the Homilies there are very numerous quotations
{6}
of sayings of Jesus and of Gospel history, which are generally placed
in the mouth of Peter, or introduced with such formulae as: "The teacher
said," "Jesus said," "He said," "The prophet said," but in no case does
the author name the source from which these sayings and quotations are
derived. That he does, however, quote from a written source, and not
from tradition, is clear from the use of such expressions as "in another
place [------](1) he has said," which refer not to other localities or
circumstances, but another part of a written history.(2) There are in
the Clementine Homilies upwards of a hundred quotations of sayings of
Jesus or references to his history, too many by far for us to examine
in detail here; but, notwithstanding the number of these passages, so
systematically do they vary, more or less, from the parallels in our
canonical Gospels, that, as in the case of Justin, Apologists are
obliged to have recourse to the elastic explanation, already worn so
threadbare, of "free quotation from memory" and "blending of passages"
to account for the remarkable phenomena presented. It must, however,
be evident that the necessity for such an apology at all shows the
insufficiency of the evidence furnished by these quotations. De
Wette says: "The quotations of evangelical works and histories in the
pseudo-Clementine writings, from their nature free and inaccurate,
permit only an uncertain conclusion to be
{7}
drawn as to their written source."(1) Critics have maintained very
different and conflicting views regarding that source. Apologists, of
course, assert that the quotations in the Homilies are taken from
our Gospels only.(2) Others ascribe them to our Gospels, with a
supplementary apocryphal work: the Gospel according to the Hebrews, or
the Gospel according to Peter.(3) Some, whilst admitting a subsidiary
use of some of our Gospels, assert that the author of the Homilies
employs, in preference, the Gospel according to Peter;(4) whilst others,
recognizing also the similarity of the phenomena presented by these
quotations with those of Justin's, conclude that the author does not
quote our Gospels at all, but makes use of the Gospel according to
Peter, or the Gospel according to the Hebrews.(5) Evidence permitting of
such divergent conclusions manifestly cannot be of a decided character.
We may affirm, however, that few of those who are
{8}
willing to admit the use of our Synoptics by the author of the Homilies
along with other sources, make that concession on the strength of the
absolute isolated evidence of the Homilies themselves, but they are
generally moved by antecedent views on the point. In an inquiry like
that which we have undertaken, however, such easy and indifferent
judgment would obviously be out of place, and the point we have to
determine is not whether an author may have been acquainted with our
Gospels, but whether he furnishes testimony that he actually was in
possession of our present Gospels and regarded them as authoritative.
We have already mentioned that the author of the Clementine Homilies
never names the source from which his quotations are derived. Of these
very numerous quotations we must again distinctly state that only two or
three, of a very brief and fragmentary character, literally agree with
our Synoptics, whilst all the rest differ more or less widely from
the parallel passages in those Gospels. Some of these quotations are
repeated more than once with the same persistent and characteristic
variations, and in several cases, as we have already seen, they agree
more or less closely with quotations of Justin from the Memoirs of the
Apostles. Others, again, have no parallels at all in our Gospels, and
even Apologists are consequently compelled to admit the collateral
use of an apocryphal Gospel. As in the case of Justin, therefore, the
singular phenomenon is presented of a vast number of quotations of which
only one or two brief phrases, too fragmentary to avail as evidence,
perfectly agree with our Gospels; whilst of the rest, which all vary
more or less, some merely resemble combined passages of two Gospels,
others merely contain the sense, some
{9}
present variations likewise found in other writers or in various parts
of the Homilies are repeatedly quoted with the same variations, and
others are not found in our Gospels at all. Such phenomena cannot
be fairly accounted for by any mere theory of imperfect memory or
negligence. The systematic variation from our Synoptics, variation
proved by repetition not to be accidental, coupled with quotations which
have no parallels at all in our Gospels, more naturally point to the
use of a different Gospel. In no case can the Homilies be accepted as
furnishing evidence even of the existence of our Gospels.
As it is impossible here to examine in detail all of the quotations in
the Clementine Homilies, we must content ourselves with this distinct
statement of their character, and merely illustrate briefly the
different classes of quotations, exhausting, however, those which
literally agree with passages in the Gospels. The most determined
of recent Apologists do not afford us an opportunity of testing
the passages upon which they base their assertion of the use of our
Synoptics, for they simply assume that the author used them without
producing instances.(1)
The first quotation agreeing with a passage in our Synoptics occurs
in Hom. iii. 52: "And he cried, saying: Come unto me all ye that are
weary," which agrees with the opening words of Matt. xi. 28, but the
phrase does
1 Teschendorf only devotes a dozen linos, with a note, to
the Clemontinos, and only in connection with our fourth
Gospel, which shall hero-after have our attention. Wann
wurden u. s. w., p. 90. In the same way Canon Westcott
passes them over in a short paragraph, merely asserting the
allusions to our Gospels to be "generally admitted," and
only directly referring to one supposed quotation from Mark
which we shall presently examine, and one which he affirms
to be from the fourth Gospel. On the Canon, p. 251 f. [In
the 4th edition he has enlarged his remarks, p. 282 ff.]
{10}
not continue, and is followed by the explanation: "that is, who are
seeking the truth and not finding it."(1) It is evident, that so short
and fragmentary a phrase cannot prove anything.(2)
The next passage occurs in Hom. xviii. 15: "For Isaiah said: I will open
my mouth in parables, and I will utter things that have been kept secret
from the foundation of the world."(3) Now this passage, with a slightly
different order of words, is found in Matt. xiii. 35. After giving a
series of parables, the author of the Gospel says (v. 34), "All these
things spake Jesus unto the multitudes in parables; and without a
parable spake he not unto them; (v. 35) That it might be fulfilled which
was spoken by the prophet (Isaiah), saying: I will open my mouth in
parables, &c." There are two peculiarities which must be pointed out in
this passage. It is not found in Isaiah, but in Psalm lxxviii. 2,(4) and
it presents a variation from the version of the lxx. Both the variation
and the erroneous reference to Isaiah, therefore, occur also in the
Homily. The first part of the sentence agrees with, but the latter part
is quite different from, the Greek of the lxx., which reads: "I will
utter problems from the beginning," [------].(5)
The Psalm from which the quotation is really taken is, by its
superscription, ascribed to Asaph, who, in the Septuagint version of II.
Chronicles xxix. 30, is called a
{11}
prophet.(1) It was, therefore, early asserted that the original reading
of Matthew was "Asaph," instead of "Isaiah." Porphyry, in the third
century, twitted Christians with this erroneous ascription by their
inspired evangelist to Isaiah of a passage from a Psalm, and reduced the
Fathers to great straits. Eusebius, in his commentary on this verse
of the Psalm, attributes the insertion of the words, "by the prophet
Isaiah," to unintelligent copyists, and asserts that in accurate MSS.
the name is not added to the word prophet. Jerome likewise ascribes the
insertion of the name Isaiah for that of Asaph, which was originally
written, to an ignorant scribe,(2) and in the commentary on the Psalms,
generally, though probably falsely, ascribed to him, the remark is made
that many copies of the Gospel to that day had the name "Isaiah," for
which Porphyry had reproached Christians,(3) and the writer of the same
commentary actually allows himself to make the assertion that Asaph was
found in all the old codices, but ignorant men had removed it.(4) The
fact is, that the reading "Asaph" for "Isaiah" is not found in any
extant MS., and, although "Isaiah" has disappeared from all but a few
obscure codices, it cannot be denied that the name anciently stood in
the text.(5) In the Sinaitic Codex, which is probably the earliest
MS. extant, and which is assigned to the fourth century, "the prophet
_Isaiah_" stands in the text by the first hand, but is erased by the
second (b).
{12}
The quotation in the Homily, however, is clearly not from our Gospel.
It is introduced by the words "For Isaiah says:" and the context is so
different from that in Matthew, that it seems most improbable that the
author of the Homily could have had the passage suggested to him by the
Gospel. It occurs in a discussion between Simon the Magician and Peter.
The former undertakes to prove that the Maker of the world is not the
highest God, and amongst other arguments he advances the passage:
"No man knew the Father, &c.," to show that the Father had remained
concealed from the Patriarchs, &c., until revealed by the Son, and in
reply to Peter he retorts, that if the supposition that the Patriarchs
were not deemed worthy to know the Father was unjust, the Christian
teacher was himself to blame, who said: "I thank thee, Lord of heaven
and earth, that what was concealed from the wise thou hast revealed to
suckling babes." Peter argues that in the statement of Jesus: "No man
knew the Father, &c.," he cannot be considered to indicate another
God and Father from him who made the world, and he continues: "For the
concealed things of which he spoke may be those of the Creator himself;
for Isaiah says: 'I will open my mouth, &c.' Do you admit, therefore,
that the prophet was not ignorant of the things concealed,"(1) and so
on. There is absolutely nothing in this argument to indicate that the
passage was suggested by the Gospel, but, on the contrary, it is used in
a totally different way, and is quoted not as an evangelical text, but
as a saying from the Old Testament, and treated in connection with the
prophet himself, and not with its supposed fulfilment in Jesus. It may
be remarked, that in the corresponding part of
{13}
the Recognitions, whether that work be of older or more recent date, the
passage does not occur at all. Now, although it is impossible to say
how and where this erroneous reference to a passage of the Old Testament
first occurred, there is no reason for affirming that it originated in
our first Synoptic, and as little for asserting that its occurrence
in the Clementine Homilies, with so different a context and object,
involves the conclusion that their author derived it from the Gospel,
and not from the Old Testament or some other source. On the contrary,
the peculiar argument based upon it in the Homilies suggests a different
origin, and it is very probable that the passage, with its erroneous
reference, was derived by both from another and common source.
Another passage is a phrase from the "Lord's Prayer," which occurs in
Hom. xix. 2: "But also in the prayer which he commended to us, we have
it said: Deliver us from the evil one" [------]. It need scarcely be
said, however, that few Gospels can have been composed without including
this prayer, and the occurrence of this short phrase demonstrates
nothing more than the mere fact, that the author of the Homilies was
acquainted with one of the most universally known lessons of Jesus, or
made use of a Gospel which contained it. There would have been cause for
wonder had he been ignorant of it.
The only other passage which agrees literally with our Gospels is also
a mere fragment from the parable of the Talents, and when the other
references to the same parable are added, it is evident that the
quotation is not from our Gospels. In Hom. iii. 65, the address to
the good servant is introduced: "Well done, good and faithful servant"
[------], which agrees
{14}
with the words in Matt. xxv. 21. The allusion to the parable of the
talents in the context is perfectly clear, and the passage occurs in
an address of the Apostle Peter to overcome the modest scruples of
Zaccheus, the former publican, who has been selected by Peter as his
successor in the Church of Caesarea when he is about to leave in pursuit
of Simon the Magician. Anticipating the possibility of his hesitating
to accept the office, Peter, in an earlier part of his address, however,
makes fuller allusions to the same parable of the talents, which we must
contrast with the parallel in the first Synoptic. "But if any of those
present, having the ability to instruct the ignorance of men, shrink
back from it, considering only his own ease, then let him expect to
hear:"
[--Table--]
{15}
The Homily does not end here, however, but continues in words not found
in our Gospels at all: "And reasonably: 'For,' he says, 'it is thine,
O man, to put my words as silver with exchangers, and to prove them as
money/"(1) This passage is very analogous to another saying of Jesus,
frequently quoted from an apocryphal Gospel, by the author of the
Homilies, to which we shall hereafter more particularly refer, but
here merely point out: "Be ye approved money-changers" [------].(2) The
variations from the parallel passages in the first and third Gospels,
the peculiar application of the parable to the _words_ of Jesus, and
the addition of a saying not found in our Gospels, warrant us in denying
that the quotations we are considering can be appropriated by our
canonical Gospels, and, on the contrary, give good reason for the
conclusion, that the author derived his knowledge of the parable from
another source.
There is no other quotation in the Clementine Homilies which literally
agrees with our Gospels, and it is difficult, without incurring the
charge of partial selection, to illustrate the systematic variation
in such very numerous passages as occur in these writings. It would be
tedious and unnecessary to repeat the test applied to the quotations
of Justin, and give in detail the passages from the Sermon on the Mount
which are found in the Homilies. Some of these will come before us
presently, but with regard to the whole, which are not less than fifty,
we may broadly and positively state that they all more or less differ
from our Gospels. To take the
{16}
severest test, however, we shall compare those further passages which
are specially adduced as most closely following our Gospels, and neglect
the vast majority which most widely differ from them. In addition to
the passages which we have already examined, Credner(1) points out the
following. The first is from Hom. xix. 2.(2) "If Satan cast out Satan
he is divided against himself: how then can his kingdom stand?" In the
first part of this sentence, the Homily reads, [------] for the [------]
of the first Gospel, and the last phrase in each is as follows:--
[------]
The third Gospel differs from the first as the Homily does from both.
The next passage is from Hom. xix. 7.s "For thus, said our Father, who
was without deceit: out of abundance of heart mouth speaketh." The Greek
compared with that of Matt. xii. 34.
[------]
The form of the homily is much more proverbial. The next passage occurs
in Hom. iii. 52: "Every plant which the heavenly Father did not plant
shall be rooted up." This agrees with the parallel in Matt. xv. 13, with
the important exception, that although in the mouth of Jesus, "_the_
heavenly Father" is substituted for the "_my_ heavenly Father" of the
Gospel. The last passage pointed out by Credner, is from Hom. viii.
4: "But also 'many,' he said, 'called, but few chosen;'" which may be
compared with Matt. xx. 16, &c.
[------]
{17}
We have already fully discussed this passage of the Gospel in connection
with the "Epistle of Barnabas,"[1] and need not say more here.
The variations in these passages, it may be argued, are not very
important. Certainly, if they were the exceptional variations amongst a
mass of quotations perfectly agreeing with parallels in our Gospels, it
might be exaggeration to base upon such divergences a conclusion that
they were derived from a different source. When it is considered,
however, that the very reverse is the case, and that these are passages
selected for their closer agreement out of a multitude of others either
more decidedly differing from our Gospels or not found in them at all,
the case entirely changes, and variations being the rule instead of the
exception, these, however slight, become evidence of the use of a Gospel
different from ours. As an illustration of the importance of slight
variations in connection with the question as to the source from which
quotations are derived, the following may at random be pointed out. The
passage "See thou say nothing to any man, but go thy way, show thyself
to the priest" [------] occurring in a work like the Homilies would,
supposing our second Gospel no longer extant, be referred to Matt viii.
4, with which it entirely agrees with the exception of its containing
the one extra word [------]. It is however actually taken from Mark i.
44, and not from the first Gospel. Then again, supposing that our first
Gospel had shared the fate of so many others of the [------] of Luke,
and in some early work the following passage were found: "A prophet is
not without honour except in his own country
{18}
and in his own house" [------]t this passage would undoubtedly be
claimed by apologists as a quotation from Mark vi. 4, and as proving the
existence and use of that Gospel. The omission of the words "and among
his own kin" [------] would at first be explained as mere abbreviation,
or defect of memory, but on the discovery that part or all of these
words are omitted from some MSS., that for instance the phrase is erased
from the oldest manuscript known, the Cod. Sinaiticus, the derivation
from the second Gospel would be considered as established. The author
notwithstanding might never have seen that Gospel, for the quotation is
taken from Matt. xiii. 57.(2)
We have already quoted the opinion of De Wette as to the inconclusive
nature of the deductions to be drawn from the quotations in the
pseudo-Clementine writings regarding their source, but in pursuance
of the plan we have adopted we shall now examine the passages which he
cites as most nearly agreeing with our Gospels.(3) The first of these
occurs in Hom. iii. 18: "The Scribes and the Pharisees sit upon Moses'
seat; all things therefore, whatsoever they speak to you, hear them,"
which is compared with Matt, xxiii. 2, 3: "The Scribes and the Pharisees
sit upon Moses' seat; all things therefore, whatsoever they say to
you, do and observe." We subjoin the Greek of the latter half of these
passages.
{19}
That the variation in the Homily is deliberate and derived from the
Gospel used by the author is clear from the continuation: "Hear _them_
[------], he said, as entrusted with the key of the kingdom, which is
knowledge, which alone is able to open the gate of life, through which
alone is the entrance to eternal life. But verily, he says: They possess
the key indeed, but to those who wish to enter in they do not grant
it."(1) The [------] is here emphatically repeated, and the further
quotation and reference to the denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees
continues to differ distinctly from the account both in our first and
third Gospels. The passage in Matt, xxiii. 13, reads: "But woe unto you,
Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut the kingdom of heaven
against men; for ye go not in yourselves neither suffer ye them that are
entering to go in."(2) The parallel in Luke xi. 52 is not closer. There
the passage regarding Moses' seat is altogether wanting, and in ver.
52, where the greatest similarity exists, the "lawyers" instead of the
"Scribes and Pharisees" are addressed. The verse reads: "Woe unto you,
Lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in
yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered."(3) The first
Gospel has not the direct image of the key at all: the Scribes and
Pharisees "shut the kingdom of
{20}
heaven;" the third has "the key of knowledge" [------] taken away by the
lawyers, and not by the Scribes and Pharisees, whilst the Gospel of the
Homilies has the key of the kingdom [------], and explains that this
key is knowledge [------]. It is apparent that the first Gospel uses an
expression more direct than the others, whilst the third Gospel explains
it, but the Gospel of the Homilies has in all probability the simpler
original words: the "key of the kingdom," which both of the others have
altered for the purpose of more immediate clearness. In any case it is
certain that the passage does not agree with our Gospel.(1)
The next quotation referred to by De Wette is in Hom. iii. 51: "And also
that he said: 'I am not come to destroy the law.... the heaven and the
earth will pass away, but one jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass
from the law.'" This is compared with Matt. v. 17, 18:(2) "Think not
that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to
destroy but to fulfil, (v. 18) For verily I say unto you: Till heaven
and earth pass away one jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass from
the law, till all be fulfilled." The Greek of both passages reads as
follows:--
[------]
{21}
That the omissions and variations in this passage are not accidental is
proved by the fact that the same quotation occurs again literally in
the Epistle from Peter(1) which is prefixed to the Homilies in which the
[------] is
repeated, and the sentence closes at the same point The author in
that place adds: "This he said that all might be fulfilled" [------].
Hilgenfeld
considers this Epistle of much more early date than the Homilies, and
that this agreement bespeaks a particular text.(2) The quotation does
not agree with our Gospels, and must be assigned to another source.
The next passage pointed out by De Wette is the erroneous quotation from
Isaiah which we have already examined.(3) That which follows is found
in Hom. viii. 7: "For on this account our Jesus himself said to one who
frequently called him Lord, yet did nothing which he commanded: Why dost
thou say to me Lord, Lord, and doest not the things which I say?" This
is compared with Luke vi. 46:(4) "But why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do
not the things which I say?"
[------]
This passage differs from our Gospels in having the second person
singular instead of the plural, and in substituting [------] for
[------] in the first phrase. The Homily, moreover, in accordance with
the use of the second person singular, distinctly states that the saying
was addressed to a person who frequently called Jesus "Lord," whereas
in the Gospels it forms part of the Sermon on the Mount with a totally
impersonal application to the multitude.
{22}
The next passage referred to by De Wette is in Hom. xix. 2: "And he
declared that he saw the evil one as lightning fall from heaven." This
is compared with Luke x. 18, which has no parallel in the other Gospels:
"And he said to them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven."
[------]
The substitution of [-------] for [-------], had he found the latter
in his Gospel, would be all the more remarkable from the fact that the
author of the Homilies has just before quoted the saying "If Satan cast
out Satan,"(1) &c. and he continues in the above words to show
that Satan had been cast out, so that the evidence would have been
strengthened by the retention of the word in Luke had he quoted that
Gospel. The variations, however, indicate that he quoted from another
source.(2)
The next passage pointed out by De Wette likewise finds a parallel only
in the third Gospel. It occurs in Hom. ix. 22: "Nevertheless, though all
demons with all the diseases flee before you, in this only is not to
be your rejoicing, but in that, through grace, your names, as of the
ever-living, are recorded in heaven." This is compared with Luke x. 20:
"Notwithstanding, in this rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto
you, but rejoice that your names are written in the heavens."
[------]
{23}
The differences between these two passages are too great and the
peculiarities of the Homily too marked to require any argument to
demonstrate that the quotation cannot be successfully claimed by
our third Gospel. On the contrary, as one of so many other passages
systematically varying from the canonical Gospels, it must rather be
assigned to another source.
De Wette says: "A few others (quotations) presuppose (voraussetzen) the
Gospel of Mark,"(1) and he gives them. The first occurs in Hom. ii. 19:
"There is a certain Justa(2) amongst us, a Syrophoenician, a Canaantte
by race, whose daughter was affected by a sore disease, and who came to
our Lord crying out and supplicating that he would heal her daughter.
But he being also asked by us, said: 'It is not meet to heal the
Gentiles who are like dogs from their using different meats and
practices, whilst the table in the kingdom has been granted to the sons
of Israel.' But she, hearing this and exchanging her former manner of
life for that of the sons of the kingdom, in order that she might, like
a dog, partake of the crumbs falling from that same table, obtained, as
she desired, healing for her daughter."(3) This is compared with
Mark vii. 24--30,(4) as it is the only Gospel which calls the woman
a Syrophoenician. The Homily, however, not only calls her so, a very
unimportant point, but gives her name as "Justa."
{24}
If, therefore, it be argued that the mention of her nationality supposes
that the author found the fact in his Gospel, and that as we know
no other but Mark(1) which gives that information, that he therefore
derived it from our second Gospel, the additional mention of the name
of "Justa" on the same grounds necessarily points to the use of a Gospel
which likewise contained it, which our Gospel does not. Nothing can
be more decided than the variation in language throughout this whole
passage from the account in Mark, and the reply of Jesus is quite
foreign to our Gospels. In Mark (vii. 25) the daughter has "an unclean
spirit" [------]; in Matthew (xv. 22) she is "grievously possessed by a
devil" [------], but in the Homily she is "affected by a sore disease"
[------]. The second Gospel knows nothing of any intercession on the
part of the disciples, but Matthew has: "And the disciples came and
besought him [------] saying: 'Send her away, for she crieth after
us,'"(2) whilst the Homily has merely "being also asked by us," [------]
in the sense of intercession in her favour. The second Gospel gives the
reply of Jesus as follows: "Let the children first be filled: for it is
not meet to take the bread of the children, and to cast it to the dogs.
And she answered and said unto him: 'Yea, Lord, for the dogs also eat
under the table of the crumbs of the children. And he said unto her: For
this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter."(3) The
nature of the reply of the woman is,
{25}
in the Gospels, the reason given for granting her request; but in
the Homily the woman's conversion to Judaism,(1) that is to say
Judeo-Christianity, is prominently advanced as the cause of her
successful pleading. It is certain from the whole character of this
passage, the variation of the language, and the reply of Jesus which is
not in our Gospels at all, that the narrative cannot rightly be assigned
to them, but the more reasonable inference is that it was derived from
another source.(2)
The last of De Wette's(3) passages is from Hom. iii. 57: "Hear, O
Israel; the Lord thy(4) God is one Lord." This is a quotation from
Deuteronomy vi. 4, which is likewise quoted in the second Gospel, xii.
29, in reply to the question, "Which is the first Commandment of all?
Jesus answered: The first is, Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one
Lord, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God," &c. &c. In the Homily,
however, the quotation is made in a totally different connection, for
there is no question of commandments at all, but a clear statement of
the circumstances under which the passage was used, which excludes the
idea that this quotation was derived from Mark xii. 29. The context in
the Homily is as follows: "But to those who were beguiled to imagine
many gods as the Scriptures say, he said: Hear, O Israel," &c, &c.(5)
There is no hint of the assertion of many gods in the Gospels; but, on
the contrary, the question is put by one of the scribes in Mark to whom
Jesus says: "Thou art not far from the Kingdom of God."6 The quotation,
{26}
therefore, beyond doubt, cannot be legitimately appropriated by the
second Synoptic, but may with much greater probability be assigned to a
different Gospel.
We may here refer to the passage, the only one pointed out by him in
connection with the Synoptics, the discovery of which Canon Westcott
affirms, "has removed the doubts which had long been raised about those
(allusions) to St. Mark."(1) The discovery referred to is that of the
Codex Ottobonianus by Dressel, which contains the concluding part of the
Homilies, and which was first published by him in 1853. Canon Westcott
says: "Though St Mark has few peculiar phrases, one of these is repeated
verbally in the concluding part of the 19th Homily."(2) The passage is
as follows: Hom. xix. 20: "Wherefore also he explained to his disciples
privately the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens." This is compared
with Mark iv. 34.... "and privately to his own disciples, he explained
all things."
[------]
We have only a few words to add to complete the whole of Dr. Westcott's
remarks upon the subject. He adds after the quotation: "This is the only
place where [------] occurs in the Gospels."(4) We may, however, point
out that it occurs also in Acts xix. 39 and 2 Peter i. 20. It is upon
the coincidence of this word that
{27}
Canon Westcott rests his argument that this passage is a reference to
Mark. Nothing, however, could be more untenable than such a conclusion
from such an indication. The phrase in the Homily presents a very marked
variation from the passage in Mark. The "all things" [------] of the
Gospel, reads: "The mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens" [------] in
the Homily. The passage in Mark iv. 11, to which Dr. Westcott does not
refer, reads [------]. There is one very important matter, however,
which our Apologist has omitted to point out, and which, it seems to us,
decides the case--the context in the Homily. The chapter commences thus:
"And Peter said: We remember that our Lord and Teacher, as commanding,
said to us: 'Guard the mysteries for me, and the sons of my house.'
Wherefore also he explained to his disciples privately," &c.:(l) and
then comes our passage. Now, here is a command of Jesus, in immediate
connection with which the phrase before us is quoted, which does not
appear in our Gospels at all, and which clearly establishes the use of a
different source. The phrase itself which differs from Mark, as we have
seen, may with all right be referred to the same unknown Gospel.
It must be borne in mind that all the quotations which we have
hitherto examined are those which have been selected as most closely
approximating to passages in our Gospels. Space forbids our giving
illustrations of the vast number which so much more widely differ from
parallel texts in the Synoptics. We shall confine
{28}
ourselves to pointing out in the briefest possible manner some of the
passages which are persistent in their variations or recall similar
passages in the Memoirs of Justin. The first of these is the injunction
in Hom. iii. 55: "Let your yea be yea, your nay nay, for whatsoever is
more than these cometh of the evil one." The same saying is repeated
in Hom. xix. with the sole addition of "and." We subjoin the Greek
of these, together with that of the Gospel and Justin with which the
Homilies agree.
[------]
As we have already discussed this passage(1) we need not repeat our
remarks here. That this passage comes from a source different from our
Gospels is rendered still more probable by the quotation in Hom. xix. 2
being preceded by another which has no parallel at all in our Gospels.
"And elsewhere he said, 'He who sowed the bad seed is the devil'
[------](2): and again: 'Give no pretext to the evil one.'(2) [------].
But in exhorting he prescribes: 'Let your yea be yea.'" &c. The first
of these phrases differs markedly from our Gospels; the second is not in
them at all; the third, which we are considering, differs likewise in an
important degree in common with Justin's quotation, and there is every
reason for supposing that the whole were derived from the same unknown
source.(3) In the same Homily, xix. 2, there occurs also the passage
which exhibits variations likewise found in Justin, which we have
already examined,(4) and now
{29}
merely point out: "Begone into the darkness without, which the Father
hath prepared for the devil and his angels."(1) The quotation in Justin
(Dial. 76) agrees exactly with this, with the exception that Justin
has [------] instead of [------], which is not important, whilst the
agreement in the marked variation from the parallel in the first Gospel
establishes the probability of a common source different from ours.(2)
We have also already(3) referred to the passage in Hom. xvii. 4. "No one
knew [------] the Father but the Son, even as no one knoweth the Son
but the Father and those to whom the Son is minded to reveal him."
This quotation differs from Matt. xi. 27 in form, in language, and in
meaning, but agrees with Justin's reading of the same text, and as we
have shown the use of the aorist here, and the transposition of the
order, were characteristics of Gospels used by Gnostics and other
parties in the early Church, and the passage with these variations was
regarded by them as the basis of some of their leading doctrines.(4)
That the variation is not accidental, but a deliberate quotation from
a written source, is proved by this, and by the circumstance that the
author of the Homilies repeatedly quotes it elsewhere in the same
form.(5) It is unreasonable to suppose that the quotations in these
Homilies are so systematically and consistently erroneous, and not only
can they not, from their actual variations, be legitimately referred to
the Synoptics exclusively, but, considering all the circumstances, the
{30}
only natural conclusion is that they are derived from a source different
from our Gospels.(1)
Another passage occurs in Hom. iii. 50: "Wherefore ye do err, not
knowing the true things of the Scriptures; and on this account ye are
ignorant of the power of God." This is compared with Mark xii. 24:(2)
"Do ye not therefore err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of
God?"
The very same quotation is made both in Hom. ii. 51 and xviii. 20, and
in each case in which the passage is introduced it is in connection
with the assertion that there are true and false Scriptures, and that as
there are in the Scriptures some true sayings and some false, Jesus by
this saying showed to those who erred by reason of the false the cause
of their error. There can scarcely be a doubt that the author of the
Homilies quotes this passage from a Gospel different from ours, and this
is demonstrated both by the important variation from our text and also
by its consistent repetition, and by the context in which it stands.(3)
Upon each occasion, also, that the author of the Homilies quotes the
foregoing passage he likewise quotes another saying of Jesus which is
foreign to our Gospels: "Be ye approved money-changers," [------].(4)4
The saying is thrice quoted without
{31}
variation, and each time, together with the preceding passage, it refers
to the necessity of discrimination between true and false sayings in
the Scriptures, as for instance: "And Peter said: If, therefore, of the
Scriptures some are true and some are false, our Teacher rightly said:
'Be ye approved money-changers,' as in the Scriptures there are some
approved sayings and some spurious."(1) This is one of the best known
of the apocryphal sayings of Jesus, and it is quoted by nearly all the
Fathers,(2) by many as from Holy Scripture, and by some ascribed to the
Gospel of the Nazarenes, or the Gospel according to the Hebrews. There
can be no question here that the author quotes an apocryphal Gospel.(3)
There is, in immediate connection with both the preceding passages,
another saying of Jesus quoted which is not found in our Gospels: "Why
do ye not discern the good reason of the Scriptures?" "[------]; "(4)
This passage also comes from a Gospel different from ours,(5) and the
connection and sequence of these quotations is very significant.
One further illustration, and we have done. We find the following in
Hom. iii. 55: "And to those who
(32)
think that God tempts, as the Scriptures say, he said: 'The evil one
is the tempter,' who also tempted himself. "l This short saying is not
found in our Gospels. It probably occurred in the Gospel of the Homilies
in connection with the temptation of Jesus. It is not improbable that
the writer of the Epistle of James, who shows acquaintance with a Gospel
different from ours,(2) also knew this saying.(3) We are here again
directed to the Ebionite Gospel. Certainly the quotation is derived from
a source different from our Gospels.(4)
These illustrations of the evangelical quotations in the Clementine
Homilies give but an imperfect impression of the character of the
extremely numerous passages which occur in the work. We have selected
for our examination the quotations which have been specially cited by
critics as closest to parallels in our Gospels, and have thus submitted
the question to the test which is most favourable to the claims of
our Synoptics. Space forbids our adequately showing the much wider
divergence which exists in the great majority of cases between them and
the quotations in the Homilies. To sum up the case: Out of more than
a hundred of these quotations only four brief and fragmentary phrases
really agree with parallels in our Synoptics, and these, we have shown,
are either not used in the same context as in our Gospels or are of
a nature far from special to them. Of the rest, all without exception
systematically vary more or less from our Gospels, and many in their
variations agree with similar quotations in other writers,
{33}
or on repeated quotation always present the same peculiarities, whilst
others, professed to be direct quotations of sayings of Jesus, have no
parallels in our Gospels at all. Upon the hypothesis that the author
made use of our Gospels, such systematic divergence would be perfectly
unintelligible and astounding. On the other hand, it must be remembered
that the agreement of a few passages with parallels in our Gospels
cannot prove anything. The only extraordinary circumstance is that, even
using a totally different source, there should not have been a greater
agreement with our Synoptics. But for the universal inaccuracy of the
human mind, every important historical saying, having obviously only
one distinct original form, would in all truthful histories have been
reported in that one unvarying form. The nature of the quotations in the
Clementine Homilies leads to the inevitable conclusion that their author
derived them from a Gospel different from ours; at least, since the
source of these quotations is never named throughout the work, and there
is not the faintest direct indication of our Gospels, the Clementine
Homilies cannot be considered witnesses of any value as to the origin
and authenticity of the canonical Gospels. That this can be said of
a work written a century and a half after the establishment of
Christianity, and abounding with quotations of the discourses of Jesus,
is in itself singularly suggestive.
It is scarcely necessary to add that the author of the Homilies has no
idea whatever of any canonical writings but those of the Old Testament,
though even with regard to these some of our quotations have shown
that he held peculiar views, and believed that they contained spurious
elements. There is no reference in the
{34}
Homilies to any of the Epistles of the New Testament.(1)
One of the most striking points in this work, on the other hand, is
its determined animosity against the Apostle Paul. We have seen that a
strong anti-Pauline tendency was exhibited by many of the Fathers, who,
like the author of the Homilies, made use of Judeo-Christian Gospels
different from ours. In this work, however, the antagonism against the
"Apostle of the Gentiles" assumes a tone of peculiar virulence. There
cannot be a doubt that the Apostle Paul is attacked in it, as the great
enemy of the true faith, under the hated name of Simon the Magician,(2)
whom Peter follows everywhere for the purpose of unmasking and confuting
him. He is robbed of his title of "Apostle of the Gentiles," which,
together with the honour of founding the Church of Antioch, of Laodicaae,
and of Rome, is ascribed to Peter. All that opposition to Paul which
is implied in the Epistle to the Galatians and elsewhere(3) is here
realized and exaggerated, and
{35}
the personal difference with Peter to which Paul refers(1) is widened
into the most bitter animosity. In the Epistle of Peter to James which
is prefixed to the Homilies, Peter says, in allusion to Paul: "For
some among the Gentiles have rejected my lawful preaching and accepted
certain lawless and foolish teaching of the hostile man."(2) First
expounding a doctrine of duality, as heaven and earth, day and night,
life and death,(3) Peter asserts that in nature the greater things come
first, but amongst men the opposite is the case, and the first is
worse and the second better.(4) He then says to Clement that it is easy
according to this order to discern to what class Simon (Paul) belongs,
"who came before me to the Gentiles, and to which I belong who have come
after him, and have followed him as light upon darkness, as knowledge
upon ignorance, as health upon disease."(5) He continues: "If he had
been known he would not have been believed, but now, not being known, he
is wrongly believed; and though by his acts he is a hater, he has been
loved; and although an enemy, he has been welcomed as a friend; and
though he is death, he has been desired as a saviour; and though fire,
esteemed as light; and though a deceiver, he is listened to as speaking
the truth."(6) There is much more of this acrimonious abuse put into
the mouth of Peter.(7) The indications that it is Paul who is really
attacked under the name of Simon are much too clear to admit of doubt.
In Hom. xi. 35, Peter, warning the Church against false
{36}
teachers, says: "He who hath sent us, our Lord and Prophet, declared to
us that the evil one.... announced that he would send from amongst his
followers apostles(1) to deceive. Therefore, above all remember to avoid
every apostle, or teacher, or prophet, who first does not accurately
compare his teaching with that of James called the brother of my Lord,
and to whom was confided the ordering of the Church of the Hebrews in
Jerusalem," &c., lest this evil one should send a false preacher to
them, "as he has sent to us Simon preaching a counterfeit of truth in
the name of our Lord and disseminating error."(2) Further on he speaks
more plainly still. Simon maintains that he has a truer appreciation
of the doctrines and teaching of Jesus because he has received his
inspiration by supernatural vision, and not merely by the common
experience of the senses,(3) and Peter replies: "If, therefore, our
Jesus indeed was seen in a vision, was known by thee, and conversed with
thee, it was only as one angry with an adversary.... But can any one
through a vision be made wise to teach? And if thou sayest: 'It is
possible,' then wherefore did the Teacher remain and discourse for a
whole year to us who were awake? And how can we believe thy story that
he was seen by thee? And how could he have been seen by thee when thy
thoughts are contrary to his teaching? But if seen and taught by him for
a single hour thou becamest an apostle:(4) preach his words, interpret
his sayings, love his
{37}
apostles, oppose not me who consorted with him. For thou hast directly
withstood me who am a firm rock, the foundation of the Church. If thou
hadst not been an adversary thou wouldst not have calumniated me, thou
wouldst not have reviled my teaching in order that, when declaring what
I have myself heard from the Lord.
I might not be believed, as though I were condemned.... But if thou
callest me condemned, thou speakest against God who revealed Christ to
me,'"(1) &c. This last phrase: "If thou callest me condemned" [------]
is an evident allusion to Galat. ii. II: "I withstood him to the face,
because he was condemned" [------].
We have digressed to a greater extent than we intended, but it is not
unimportant to show the general character and tendency of the work we
have been examining. The Clementine Homilies,--written perhaps about the
end of the second century, which never name nor indicate any Gospel
as the source of the author's knowledge of evangelical history, whose
quotations of sayings of Jesus, numerous as they are, systematically
differ from the parallel passages of our Synoptics, or are altogether
foreign to them, which denounce the Apostle Paul as an impostor,
enemy of the faith, and disseminator of false doctrine, and therefore
repudiate his Epistles, at the same time equally ignoring all the other
writings of the New Testament,--can scarcely be considered as giving
much support to any theory of the early formation of the New Testament
Canon, or as affording evidence even of the existence of its separate
books.
{38}
2.
Among the writings which used formerly to be ascribed to Justin
Martyr, and to be published along with his genuine works, is the short
composition commonly known as the "Epistle to Diognetus." The ascription
of this composition to Justin arose solely from the fact that in the
only known MS. of the letter there is an inscription [------] which,
from its connection, was referred to Justin.(1) The style and contents
of the work, however, soon convinced critics that it could not possibly
be written by Justin,(2) and although it has been ascribed by various
isolated writers to Apollos, Clement, Marcion, Quadratus, and others,
none of these guesses have been seriously supported, and critics are
almost universally agreed in confessing that the author of the Epistle
is entirely unknown.
Such being the case, it need scarcely be said that the difficulty of
assigning a date to the work with any degree of certainty is extreme, if
it be not absolutely impossible to do so. This difficulty, however,
is increased by several circumstances. The first and most important of
these is the fact that the Epistle to Diognetus is neither quoted nor
mentioned by any ancient
{39}
writer, and consequently there is no external evidence whatever to
indicate the period of its composition.(1) Moreover, it is not only
anonymous but incomplete, or, at least, as we have it, not the work of
a single writer. At the end of Chapter x. a break is indicated, and
the two concluding chapters are unmistakably by a different and later
hand.(2) It is not singular, therefore, that there exists a wide
difference of opinion as to the date of the first ten chapters, although
all agree regarding the later composition of the concluding portion. It
is assigned by critics to various periods ranging from about the end of
the first quarter of the second century to the end of the third century
or later,(3) whilst some denounce it as a mere modern forgery.(4)
Nothing can be more insecure in one
{40}
direction than the date of a work derived alone from internal evidence.
Allusions to actual occurrences may with certainty prove that a work
could only have been written after they had taken place. The mere
absence of later indications in an anonymous Epistle only found in a
single MS. of the thirteenth or fourteenth century, however, and which
may have been, and probably was, written expressly in imitation of early
Christian feeling, cannot furnish any solid basis for an early date.
It must be evident that the determination of the date of this Epistle
cannot therefore be regarded as otherwise than doubtful and arbitrary.
It is certain that the purity of its Greek and the elegance of its style
distinguish it from all other Christian works of the period to which so
many assign it.(1)
The Epistle to Diognetus, however, does not furnish any evidence even
of the existence of our Synoptics, for it is admitted that it does not
contain a single direct quotation from any evangelical work.(2)We shall
hereafter have to refer to this Epistle in connection with the fourth
Gospel, but in the meantime it may be well to add that in Chapter xii.,
one of those, it will be remembered, which are admitted to be of later
date, a brief quotation is made from 1 Cor. viii. 1, introduced merely
by the words, [------].