God" [------] of Philo, and, throughout, his absolutely divine nature is
asserted both by the Evangelist, and in express terms in the discourses
of Jesus.(6) Nothing could be more opposed to the principles of the
Clementines.
{349}
According to the Homilies, the same Spirit, the [------], appeared in
Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and finally in Jesus,
who are the only "true prophets" and are called the seven Pillars
[------] of the world.(1) These seven(2) persons, therefore, are
identical, the same true Prophet and Spirit" who from the beginning of
the world, changing names and forms, passes through Time,"(3) and these
men were thus essentially the same as Jesus.(4) As Neander rightly
observes, the author of the Homilies "saw in Jesus a new appearance of
that Adam whom he had ever venerated as the source of all the true and
divine in man."(5) We need not point out how different these views are
from the Logos doctrine of the fourth Gospel.(6) In other points there
is an equally wide gulf between the Clementines and the fourth Gospel.
According to the author of the Homilies, the chief dogma of
6 It is very uncertain by what means the author of the
Homilies considered this periodical reappearance to be
effected, whether by a kind of transmigration or otherwise.
Critics consider it very doubtful whether he admitted the
supernatural birth of Jesus (though some hold it to be
probable), but at any rate he does not explain the matter:
Uhlhorn, Die Homilien, p. 209 f.; Neander, K. G., ii. p.
618, anm. 1; Credner thought that he did not admit it, 1. c.
p. 253; Schliemann, whilst thinking that he did admit it,
considers that in that case he equally attributed a
supernatural birth to the other seven prophets: Die
Clementinen, p. 207 ff.
{350}
true Religion is Monotheism. Belief in Christ, in the specific Johannine
sense, is nowhere inculcated, and where belief is spoken of, it is
merely belief in God. No dogmatic importance whatever is attached to
faith in Christ or to his sufferings, death, and resurrection, and
of the doctrines of Atonement and Redemption there is nothing in the
Homilies,(1)--everyone must make his own reconciliation with God,
and bear the punishment of his own sins.(2) On the other hand, the
representation of Jesus as the Lamb of God taking away the sins of
the world,(3) is the very basis of the fourth Gospel. The passages are
innumerable in which belief in Jesus is insisted upon as essential. "He
that believeth in the Son hath eternal life, but he that believeth
not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him
"(4)...."for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your
sins."(5) In fact, the "whole of Christianity according to the author
of the fourth Gospel is concentrated in the possession of faith in
Christ.(6) Belief in God alone is never held to be sufficient; belief
in Christ is necessary for salvation; he died for the sins of the world,
and is the object of faith, by which alone forgiveness and justification
before God can be secured.(7) The same discrepancy is apparent in
smaller details. In the Clementines the Apostle Peter
{351}
is the principal actor, and is represented as the chief amongst the
Apostles. In the Epistle of Clement to James, which precedes the
Homilies, Peter is described in the following terms: "Simon, who, on
account of his true faith and of the principles of his doctrine, which
were most sure, was appointed to be the foundation of the Church, and
for this reason his name was by the unerring voice of Jesus himself
changed to Peter; the first-fruit of our Lord; the first of the Apostles
to whom first the Father revealed the Son; whom the Christ deservedly
pronounced blessed; the called and chosen and companion and
fellow-traveller (of Jesus); the admirable and approved disciple, who as
fittest of all was commanded to enlighten the West, the darker part
of the world, and was enabled to guide it aright," &C.(1) He is here
represented as the Apostle to the Heathen, the hated Apostle Paul
being robbed of that honourable title, and he is, in the spirit of
this introduction, made to play, throughout, the first part amongst the
Apostles.(2) In the fourth Gospel, however, he is assigned a place quite
secondary to John,(3) who is the disciple whom Jesus loved and who leans
on his bosom.(4) We shall only mention one "other point The Homilist,
when attacking the Apostle Paul, under the
{352}
name of Simon the Magician, for his boast that he had not been taught by
man, but by a revelation of Jesus Christ,(1) whom he had only seen in
a vision, inquires: Why, then, did the Teacher remain and discourse
a whole year to us who were awake, if you became his Apostle after a
single hour of instruction?(2) As Neander aptly remarks: "But if the
author had known from the Johannine Gospel that the teaching of
Christ had continued for _several years_, he would certainly have had
particularly good reason instead of one year to set _several_."(3) It is
obvious that an author with so vehement an animosity against Paul
would assuredly have strengthened his argument, by adopting the more
favourable statement of the fourth Gospel as to the duration of the
ministry of Jesus, had he been acquainted with that work.
Our attention must now be turned to the anonymous composition, known as
the "Epistle to Diognetus," general particulars regarding which we have
elsewhere given.(4) This epistle, it is admitted, does not contain
any quotation from any evangelical work, but on the strength of some
supposed references it is claimed by apologists as evidence for the
existence of the fourth Gospel. Tischendorf, who only devotes a dozen
lines to this work, states his case as follows: "Although this short
apologetic epistle contains no precise quotation from any gospel, yet
it contains repeated references to evangelical, and particularly to
Johannine, passages. For when the author writes, ch. 6: 'Christians
dwell in the world, but they are not of the world;' and in
{353}
ch. 10: 'For God has loved men, for whose sakes he made the world....
to whom he sent his only begotten Son,' the reference to John xvii. 11
('But they are in the world'); 14 ('The world hateth them, for they are
not of the world'); 16 ('They are not of the world as I am not of the
world'); and to John iii. 16 ('God so loved the world that he gave his
only begotten Son'), is hardly to be mistaken."(1)
Dr. Westcott still more emphatically claims the epistle as evidence for
the fourth Gospel, and we shall, in order impartially to consider the
question, likewise quote his remarks in full upon the point, but as he
introduces his own paraphrase of the context in a manner which does
not properly convey its true nature to a reader who has not the epistle
before him, we shall take the liberty of putting the actual quotations
in italics, and the rest must be taken as purely the language of Canon
Westcott. We shall hereafter show also the exact separation which
exists between phrases which are here, with the mere indication of some
omission, brought together to form the supposed references to the fourth
Gospel. Canon Westcott says: "In one respect the two parts of the
book are united,(2) inasmuch as they both exhibit a combination of the
teaching of St. Paul and St. John. The love of God, it is said in the
letter to Diognetus, is the source of love in the Christian, who
must needs 'love God who thus first loved him' [------], and find an
expression for this love by loving his neighbour,
{354}
whereby he will be '_an imitator of God!_' For God loved men, for whose
sakes He made the world, to whom He subjected all things that are in
the earth.... unto whom [------] He sent His only begotten Son, to whom He
promised the kingdom in heaven [------], _and will give it to those who
love Him._' God's will is mercy; '_He sent His Son as wishing to save
[------].... and not to condemn'_ and as witnesses of this, '_Christians
dwell in the world, though they are not of the world!_(1) At the close
of the paragraph he proceeds: "The presence of the teaching of St.
John is here placed beyond all doubt. There are, however, no direct
references to the Gospels throughout the letter, nor indeed any
allusions to our Lord's discourses."(2)
It is clear that as there is no direct reference to any Gospel in the
Epistle to Diognetus, even if it were ascertained to be a composition
dating from the middle of the second century, which it is not, and even
if the indirect allusions were ten times more probable than they are,
this anonymous work could do nothing towards establishing the apostolic
origin and historical character
{355}
of the fourth Gospel. Written, however, as we believe it to have been,
at a much later period, it scarcely requires any consideration here.
We shall, however, for those who may be interested in more minutely
discussing the point, at once proceed to examine whether the composition
even indicates the existence of the Gospel, and for this purpose we
shall take each of the passages in question and place them with their
context before the reader; and we only regret that the examination of
a document which, neither from its date nor evidence can be of any real
weight, should detain us so long. The first passage is: "Christians
dwell in the world but are not of the world" [------]. Dr. Westcott,
who reverses the order of all the passages indicated, introduces this
sentence (which occurs in chapter vi.) as the consequence of a passage
following it in chapter vii. by the words "and as witnesses of this:
Christians," &c.... The first parallel which is pointed out in the
Gospel reads, John xvii. 11: "And I am no more in the world, and
these are in the world [------], and I come to thee, Holy Father keep
them,"&c. Now it must be evident that in mere direct point of language
and sense there is no parallel here at all. In the Gospel, the disciples
are referred to as being left behind in the world by Jesus who goes to
the Father, whilst, in the Epistle, the object is the antithesis that
while Christians _dwell_ in the world they are not of the world. In the
second parallel, which is supposed to complete the analogy, the Gospel
reads: v. 14, "I have given them thy word: and the world hated them
because they are not of the world, [------] even as I am not of the
world." Here, again, the parallel words are merely introduced as a
reason why the world hated them, and not antithetically, and from this
very connection we shall see that the resemblance between the Epistle
and the Gospel is merely superficial.
In order to form a correct judgment regarding the nature of the passage
in the Epistle, we must carefully examine the context. In chapter v. the
author is speaking of the manners of Christians, and he says that they
are not distinguished from others either
{356}
by country or language or by their customs, for they have neither cities
nor speech of their own, nor do they lead a singular life. They dwell in
their native countries, but only as sojourners [------], and the writer
proceeds by a long sequence of antithetical sentences to depict their
habits. "Every foreign land is as their native country, yet the land of
their birth is a foreign land" [------], and so on. Now this epistle
is in great part a mere plagiarism of the Pauline and other canonical
epistles, whilst professing to describe the actual life of Christians,
and the fifth and sixth chapters, particularly, are based upon the
epistles of Paul and notably the 2nd Epistle to the Corinthians, from
which even the antithetical style is derived. We may give a specimen
of this in referring to the context of the passage before us, and it is
important that we should do so. After a few sentences like the above
the fifth chapter continues: "They are in the flesh, but do not live
according to the flesh. They continue on earth, but are citizens of
heaven "[------].(1)
It is very evident here, and throughout the Epistle, that the Epistles
of Paul chiefly, together with the other canonical Epistles, are the
sources of the writer's inspiration. The next chapter (vi) begins and
proceeds as follows: "To say all in a word: what the soul is in the
body, that Christians are in the world. The soul is dispersed throughout
all the members of the body, and Christians throughout all the cities
of the world. The soul dwells in the body but is not of the body, and
Christians dwell in the world, but are not of the world. [------]. The
invisible soul is kept in the visible body, and Christians are known,
indeed, to be in the world, but their worship of God remains invisible.
The flesh hates the soul and wages war against it, although in no way
wronged by it, because it is restrained from indulgence in sensual
pleasures, and the world hates Christians,
{358}
although in no way wronged by them, because they are opposed to sensual
pleasures [------]. The soul loves the flesh that hates it, and the
members, and Christians love those who hate them "[------]. And so on
with three or four similar sentences, one of which, at least, is taken
from the Epistle to the Corinthians,(1) to the end of the chapter.
Now the passages pointed out as references to the fourth Gospel, it will
be remembered, distinctly differ from the parallels in the Gospel, and
it seems to us clear that they arise naturally out of the antithetical
manner which the writer adopts from the Epistles of Paul, and are based
upon passages in those Epistles closely allied to them in sense and
also in language. The simile in connection with which the words occur
is commenced at the beginning of the preceding chapter, where Christians
are represented as living as strangers even in their native land,
and the very essence of the passage in dispute is given in the two
sentences: "They are in the flesh, but do not live according to the
flesh" [------], which is based upon 2 Cor. x. 3, "For we walk in the
flesh, but do not war(2) according to the flesh" [------], and similar
passages abound; as for instance, Rom. viii. 4... "in us who walk not
according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit; 9. But ye are not
in the flesh but in the Spirit [------]: 12...
So then, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh, that we should live
after the flesh" [------] &c., &c. (Cf. 4, 14.). And the second: "They
continue on earth but are citizens of heaven" [------], which recall
Philip, iii. 20: "For our country (our citizenship) is in heaven"
[------].(3) The sense of the passage is everywhere found, and nothing
is more natural than
{359}
the use of the words arising both out of the previous reference to
the position of Christians as mere sojourners in the world, and as the
antithesis to the preceding part of the sentence: "The soul dwells in
the body, but is not of the body," and: "Christians dwell in the world
but are not of the world." Cf. 1 Cor. ii. 12; vii. 31; 2 Cor. L 12. Gal.
iv. 29, v. 16 ff. 24, 25, vi. 14. Rom. viii. 3 ff. Ephes. ii. 2, 3, 11
ff. Coloss. iii. 2 ff: Titus ii. 12. James i. 27. There is one point,
however, which we think shows that the words were not derived from the
fourth Gospel. The parallel with the Epistle can only be made by taking
a few words out of xvii. 11 and adding to them a few words in verse 14,
where they stand in the following connection "And the world hated
them, because they are not of the world" [------]. In the Epistle, in a
passage quoted above, we have: "The flesh hates the soul, and wages war
against it, although unjustly, because it is restrained from indulgence
in sensual pleasures, and the world hates Christians, _although in no
way wronged by them, because they are opposed to sensual pleasures_."
[------].Now nothing could more clearly show that these analogies are
mere accidental coincidence, and not derived from the fourth Gospel,
than this passage. If the writer had really had the passage in the
Gospel in his mind, it is impossible that he could in this manner have
completely broken it up and changed its whole context and language. The
phrase: "they are not of the world" would have been introduced here as
the reason for the hatred, instead of being used with quite different
context elsewhere in the passage. In fact, in the only place in which
the words would have presented a true parallel with the Gospel, they are
not used. Not the slightest reference is made throughout the Epistle to
Diognetus to any of the discourses of Jesus. On the other hand, we
have seen that the whole of the passage in the Epistle in which
these sentences occur is based both in matter, and in its peculiar
antithetical form, upon the Epistles of Paul, and in these and other
canonical Epistles again, we find the source of the sentence just
quoted: Gal. iv. 29. "But as then, he that was born after the flesh
{360}
persecuted him (that was born) after the Spirit, even so it is now."(1)
v. 16. "Walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the
flesh. 17. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit
against the flesh: for these are contrary the one to the other, that ye
may not do the things that ye would."(2) There are innumerable passages
in the Pauline Epistles to the same effect.
We pass on now to the next passage in the order of the Epistle. It is
not mentioned at all by Tischendorf: Dr. West-cott introduces it with
the words: "God's will is mercy," by which we presume that he means to
paraphrase the context "He sent his Son as wishing to save [------]....
and not to condemn."(3) This sentence, however, which is given as
quotation without any explanation, is purely a composition by Canon
Westcott himself out of different materials which he finds in the
Epistle, and is not a quotation at all. The actual passage in
the Epistle, with its immediate context, is as follows: "This
(Messenger--the Truth, the holy Word) he sent to them; now, was it,
as one of men might reason, for tyranny and to cause fear and
consternation? Not so, but in clemency and gentleness, as a King sending
his Son [------] a king, he sent [------]; as God he sent (him); as
towards men he sent; as saving he sent[------] (him); as persuading
[------],
not forcing, for violence has no place with God. He sent as inviting,
not vindictively pursuing; he sent as loving, not condemning [------].
For he will send him to judge, and who shall abide his presence?"(4) The
supposed parallel in the Gospel is as follows (John iii. 17): "For God
sent not his Son into the world that he might condemn the
{361}
world, but that the world through him might be saved"(1) [------].
Now, it is obvious at a glance that the passage in the Epistle is
completely different from that in the Gospel in every material point of
construction and language, and the only similarity consists in the idea
that God's intention in sending his Son was to save and not to condemn,
and it is important to notice that the letter does not, either here
or elsewhere, refer to the condition attached to salvation so clearly
enunciated in the preceding verse: "That whosoever believeth in him
might not perish." The doctrine enunciated in this passage is the
fundamental principle of much of the New Testament, and it is expressed
with more especial clearness and force, and close analogy with the
language of the letter, in the Epistles of Paul, to which the letter
more particularly leads us, as well as in other canonical Epistles, and
in these we find analogies with the context quoted above, which
confirm our belief that they, and not the Gospel, are the source of the
passage--Rom. v. 8: "But God proveth his own love towards us, in that
while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. 9. Much more then.......
shall we be saved [------] through him from the wrath (to come).'" Cf.
16,17. Rom. viii. 1: "There is, therefore, now no condemnation [------]
to them which are in Christ Jesus.(2) 3.... God sending his own Son"
[------] &c. And coming to the very 2nd Epistle to the Corinthians, from
which we find the writer borrowing wholesale, we meet with the different
members of the passage we have quoted: v. 19.... "God was reconciling
the world unto himself in Christ, not reckoning unto them their
trespasses..... 20. On Christ's behalf, then, we are ambassadors,
as though God were entreating by us; we pray on Christ's behalf: Be
reconciled to God. v. 10. For we must all appear before the judgment
seat of Christ, &c. 11. Knowing, then, the fear of
{362}
the Lord, we persuade [------] men," &c. Galatians iv. 4: "But when the
fulness of time came, God sent out his Son [------], 5. That he might
redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption
of sons,"(1) &c. Ephes. ii. 4. "But God being rich in mercy because of
his great love wherewith he loved us, 5. Even when we were dead in our
trespasses, quickened us together with Christ--by grace ye have been
saved"--cf. verses 7,8. 1 Thess. v. 9. "For God appointed us not to
wrath, but to the obtaining salvation [------] through our Lord Jesus
Christ." 1 Tim. i. 15. "This is a faithful saying.... that Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners" [------]. 1 Tim. ii. 3. "For this
is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour [------]. 4. Who
willeth all men to be saved "[------]. Cf. v. 5, 6. 2 Tim. i. 9. "Who
saved us [------], and called us with a holy calling, not according to
our works, but according to his own purpose, and the grace which was
given to us in Christ Jesus before time began; 10. But hath been made
manifest by the appearing of our Saviour [------] Jesus Christ"3 These
passages might be indefinitely multiplied; and they contain the sense
of the passage, and in many cases the language, more closely than the
fourth Gospel, with which the construction and form of the sentence has
no analogy. Now, with regard to the Logos doctrine of the Epistle to
{363}
Diognetus, to which we may appropriately here refer, although we
must deal with it in the briefest manner possible, so far is it from
connecting the Epistle with the fourth Gospel, that it much more proves
the writer's ignorance of that Gospel. The peculiar terminology of the
prologue to the Gospel is nowhere found in the Epistle, and we have
already seen that the term Logos was applied to Jesus in works of the
New Testament, acknowledged by all to have been written long before the
fourth Gospel. Indeed, it is quite certain, not only historically, but
also from the abrupt enunciation of the doctrine in the prologue, that
the theory of the Logos was well known and already applied to Jesus
before the Gospel was composed. The author knew that his statement would
be understood without explanation. Although the writer of the Epistle
makes use of the designation "Logos," he shows his Greek culture by
giving the precedence to the term Truth or Reason. It has indeed been
remarked(1) that the name Jesus or Christ does not occur anywhere in the
Epistle. By way of showing the manner in which "the Word" is spoken
of, we will give the entire passage, part of which is quoted above; the
first and only one in the first ten chapters in which the term is used:
"For, as I said, this was not an earthly invention which was delivered
to them (Christians), neither is it a mortal system which they deem
it right to maintain so carefully; nor is an administration of human
mysteries entrusted to them, but the Almighty and invisible God himself,
the Creator of all things [------] has implanted in men, and established
in their hearts from heaven, the Truth and the Word, the holy and
incomprehensible [------], not as one might suppose, sending to men some
servant or angel or ruler [------], or one of those ordering earthly
affairs, or one of those entrusted with the government of heavenly
things, but the artificer and creator of the universe [------] himself,
by whom he created the heavens [------];(3) by
{364}
whom he confined the sea within its own bounds; whose commands [------]
all the stars [------]--elements) faithfully observe; from whom (the
sun) has received the measure of the daily course to observe; whom
the moon obeys, being bidden to shine at night; whom the stars obey,
following in the course of the moon; by whom all things have been
arranged and limited and subjected, the heavens and the things in the
heavens, the earth and the things in the earth, the sea and the things
in the sea [------], fire, air, abyss, the things in the heights,
the things in the depths, the things in the space between. This
(Messenger--the truth, the Word) he sent to them. Now, was it, as one of
men might reason, for tyranny and to cause fear and consternation? Not
so, but in clemency and gentleness, as a King sending his Son, a king,
he sent; as God he sent (him); as towards men he sent, as saving he sent
(him); as persuading," &c., &c.(1) The description here given, how
God in fact by Reason or Wisdom created the Universe, has much closer
analogy with earlier representations of the doctrine than with that in
the fourth Gospel, and if the writer does also represent the Reason in
a hypostatic form, it is by no means with the concreteness of the Gospel
doctrine of the Logos, with which linguistically, moreover, as we
have observed, it has no similarity. There can be no doubt that his
Christology presents differences from that of the fourth Gospel.(2)
We have already seen how Jesus is called the Word in works of the New
Testament earlier than the fourth Gospel,(3) and how the doctrine is
constantly referred to in the Pauline Epistles and the Epistle to the
Hebrews, and it is to these, and not to the fourth Gospel, that the
account in the Epistle to Diognetus may be more properly traced. Heb. L
2. "The Son of God by whom also he made the worlds. 10. The heavens are
works of thy hands" [------]. xi. 3. "By faith we understand that the
worlds were framed [------], by the word of God" [------]. 1 Cor. viii.
6. "Jesus Christ by whom are all things" [------]. Coloss. i. 13. "...
The
{365}
Son of his love: 15. Who is the image of the invisible God [------] the
first-born of all creation; 16. Because in him were all things created,
the things in the heavens, and the things in the earth, the things
visible and the things invisible [------] whether they be thrones or
dominions, or principalities, or powers; All things have been created
by him and for him [------]. 17. And he is before all things, and in him
all things subsist. 18. And he is the head of the body, the Church, who
is the Beginning(1) [------]; the first-born from the dead; that in all
things he might be the first. 19. Because he was well pleased that in
him should all the fulness dwell. 20. And through him to reconcile
all things unto himself," &c., &c. These passages might be greatly
multiplied, but it is unnecessary, for the matter of the letter is
substantially here. As to the titles of King and God they are everywhere
to be found. In the Apocalypse, the Lamb whose name is "The Word of God"
[------], (xix. 18) has also his name written (xix. 16), "King of kings
and Lord of lords" [------].(2) We have already quoted the views of
Philo regarding the Logos, which also merit comparison with the passage
of the Epistle, but we cannot repeat them here.
The last passage to which we have to refer is the following: "For God
loved men, for whose sakes He made the world, to whom He subjected
all things that are in the earth... Unto whom [------] He sent his
only-begotten Son, to whom He promised the kingdom in heaven [------]
and will give it to those who love Him."(3) The context is as follows:
"For God loved men [------] for whose sake he made the world, to whom
he subjected all things that are in it, to whom he gave reason and
intelligence, to whom alone he granted the right of looking towards him,
whom he formed after his own image, to whom he sent his only begotten
son [------], to whom he has promised the kingdom in heaven, and will
give it to those who have loved him. And when you know this, with what
{366}
gladness, think you, you will be filled? Or how will you love him,
who beforehand so loved you? [------]. But if you love, you will be
an _imitator of his kindness_," &c. [------].(1) This is claimed as a
reference to John iii. 16 f. "For God so loved the world [------] that
he gave his only begotten son [------] that whosoever believeth in him
might not perish," &c. 17. "For God sent not his son into the world
that he might judge the world," &c. [------]. Here, again, a sentence is
patched together by taking fragments from the beginning and middle of a
passage, and finding in them a superficial resemblance to words in the
Gospel. We find parallels for the passage, however, in the Epistles from
which the unknown writer obviously derives so much of his matter. Rom.
v. 8: "But God giveth proof of his love towards us, in that while we
were yet sinners Christ died for us. 10.... through the death of his
son." Chap. viii. 8, "God sending his son, &c. 29.... Them he also
foreordained to bear the likeness of the image of his son, &c. 32. He
that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all," &c. 39.
(Nothing can separate us) "from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus
our Lord." Gal. ii. 20.... "by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me." Chap. iv. 4. "God sent out his son [------]
.... that he might redeem," &c. Ephes. ii. 4. "But God being rich in
mercy because of his great love wherewith he loved us. 5. Even when we
were dead in our trespasses hath quickened us together with Christ. 7.
That he might show forth the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness
[------] towards us in Christ Jesus." Chap. iv. 32. "Be ye kind [------]
one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God also
in Christ forgave you."* Chap. v. 1. "Beye therefore imitators [------]
of God as beloved children. 2. And walk
{367}
in love [------] even as Christ also loved you [------], and gave
himself for us," &c., &c. Titus iii. 4. "But when the kindness [------]
and love towards men [------] of our Saviour God was manifested. 5...
according to his mercy he saved us.... 6.... through Jesus Christ our
Saviour. 7. That being justified by his grace, we should become heirs
according to the hope of Eternal life."
The words: "Or how will you love him who so beforehand loved you?"
[------], Canon Westcott refers to 1 John iv. 19, "We love God(2)
because he first loved us" [------]. The linguistic differences,
however, and specially the substitution of [------], distinctly oppose
the claim. The words are a perfectly natural comment upon the words in
Ephesians, from which it is obvious the writer derived other parts
of the sentence, as the striking word "kindness" [------], which is
commonly used in the Pauline Epistles, but nowhere else in the New
Testament,(3) shows.
Dr. Westcott "cannot call to mind, a parallel to the phrase 'the kingdom
in heaven'"(4) which occurs above in the phrase "to whom he has promised
the kingdom in heaven, and will give it to those who have loved
him" [------]. This also we find in the Epistles to which the writer
exclusively refers in this letter: James il 5, "heirs of the kingdom
which he promised to them that love him" [------] i. 12. "... he shall
receive the crown of life which he promised to them that love him"
[------]. In 2 Tim. iv. 18, we have: "The Lord... shall preserve me safe
unto his heavenly kingdom" [------](5)
The very fact that there is no exact parallel to the phrase "kingdom in
heaven" in our Gospels is unfavourable to the argument that they were
used by the author. Whatever evangelical works he may have read,
{368}
it is indisputable that the writer of this Epistle does not quote any of
them, and he uses no expressions and no terminology which warrants the
inference that he must have been acquainted with the fourth Gospel.
As we have already stated, the writer of the Epistle to Diognetus is
unknown; Diognetus, the friend to whom it is addressed, is equally
unknown; the letter is neither mentioned nor quoted by any of the
Fathers, nor by any ancient writer, and there is no external evidence as
to the date of the composition. It existed only in one codex, destroyed
at Strasburg during the Franco-German war, the handwriting of which was
referred to the thirteenth or fourteenth century, but it is far from
certain that it was so old. The last two chapters are a falsification
by a later writer than the author of the first ten. There is no internal
evidence whatever in this brief didactic composition requiring or even
suggesting its assignment to the second or third centuries, but on the
contrary, we venture to assert that there is evidence, both internal and
external, justifying the belief that it was written at a comparatively
recent date. Apart from the uncertainty of date, however, there is no
allusion in it to any Gospel. Even if there were, the testimony of a
letter by an unknown writer at an unknown period could not have any
weight, but under the actual circumstances the Epistle to Diognetus
furnishes absolutely no testimony at all for the apostolical origin and
historical character of the fourth Gospel.(1)
The fulness with which we have discussed the supposed testimony of
Basilides(2) renders it unnecessary for us to re-enter at any
length into the argument as to his knowledge of the fourth Gospel.
Tischendorf(3) and
{369}
Canon Westcott(l) assert that two passages, namely: "The true light
which lighteth every man came into the world," corresponding with John
i. 9, and: "mine hour is not yet come," agreeing with John ii. 4, which
are introduced by Hippolytus in his work against Heresies(2) with a
subjectless [------]" he says,"are quotations made in some lost work by
Basilides. We have shown that Hippolytus and other writers of his time
were in the habit of quoting passages from works by the founders of
sects and by their later followers without any distinction, an utterly
vague [------] doing service equally for all. This is the case in the
present instance, and there is no legitimate reason for assigning
these passages to Basilides himself,(3) but on the contrary many
considerations which forbid our doing so, which we have elsewhere
detailed.
These remarks most fully apply to Valentinus, whose supposed quotations
we have exhaustively discussed,(4) as well as the one passage given by
Hippolytus containing a sentence found in John x. 8,(5) the only one
which can be pointed out. "We have distinctly proved that the quotations
in question are not assignable to Valentinus himself, a fact which
even apologists admit. There is no just ground for asserting that his
terminology was derived from the fourth Gospel, the whole having been in
current use long before that Gospel was composed.
{370}
There is no evidence whatever that Valentin us was acquainted with such
a work.(1)
We must generally remark, however, with regard to Basilides, Valentinus
and all such Heresiarchs and writers, that, even if it could be shown,
as actually it cannot, that they were acquainted with the fourth Gospel,
the fact would only prove the existence of the work at a late period in
the second century, but would furnish no evidence of the slightest value
regarding its apostolic origin, or towards establishing its historical
value. On the other hand, if, as apologists assert, these heretics
possessed the fourth Gospel, their deliberate and total rejection of
the work furnishes evidence positively antagonistic to its claims. It
is difficult to decide whether their rejection of the Gospel, or their
ignorance of its existence is the more unfavourable alternative.
The dilemma is the very same in the case of Marcion. We have already
fully discussed his knowledge of our Gospels,(2) and need not add
anything here. It is not pretended that he made any use of the fourth
Gospel, and the only ground upon which it is argued that he supplies
evidence even of its existence is the vague general statement of
Tertullian, that Marcion rejected the Gospels "which are put forth as
genuine, and under the name of Apostles or at least of contemporaries
of the Apostles," denying their truth and integrity, and maintaining the
sole
{371}
authority of his own Gospel.(1) We have shown(2) how unwarrantable it is
to affirm from such data that Marcion knew, and deliberately repudiated,
the four canonical Gospels. The Fathers, with uncritical haste and
zeal, assumed that the Gospels adopted by the Church at the close of
the second and beginning of the third centuries must equally have been
invested with canonical authority from the first, and Tertullian took
it for granted that Marcion, of whom he knew very little, must have
actually rejected the four Gospels of his own Canon. Even Canon Westcott
admits that: "it is uncertain whether Tertullian in the passage quoted
speaks from a knowledge of what Marcion may have written on the subject,
or simply from his own point of sight."(3) There is not the slightest
evidence that Marcion knew the fourth Gospel,(4) and if he did, it is
perfectly inexplicable that he did not adopt it as peculiarly
favourable to his own views.(5) If he was acquainted with the work and,
nevertheless, rejected it as false and adulterated, his testimony is
obviously opposed to the Apostolic origin and historical accuracy of
the fourth Gospel, and the critical acumen which he exhibited in his
selection of the Pauline Epistles renders his judgment of greater weight
than that of most of the Fathers.
We have now reached an epoch when no evidence regarding the fourth
Gospel can have much weight,
{372}
and the remaining witnesses need not detain us long. "We have discussed
at length the Diatessaron of Tatian,(1) and shown that whilst there is
no evidence that it was based upon our four Gospels, there is reason to
believe that it may have been identical with the Gospel according to the
Hebrews, by which name, as Epiphanius(2) states, it was actually called.
We have only now briefly to refer to the address to the Greeks [------],
and
to ascertain what testimony it bears regarding the fourth Gospel. It was
composed after the death of Justin, and scarcely dates earlier than the
beginning of the last quarter of the second century. No Gospel and
no work of the New Testament is mentioned in this composition, but
Tischendorf(3) and others point out one or two supposed references
to passages in the fourth Gospel. The first of these in order, is one
indicated by Canon Westcott,(4) but to which Tischendorf does not call
attention: "God was in the beginning, but we have learned that the
beginning is the power of Reason [------]. For the Lord of the Universe
[------] being himself the substance [------] of all, in that creation
had not been accomplished was alone, but inasmuch as he was all power,
and himself the substance of things visible and invisible, all things
were with him [------].
With him by means of rational power the Reason [------] itself also
which was in him subsisted. But by the will of his simplicity, Reason
[------] springs forth; but the Reason [------] not
{373}
proceeding in vain, because the first-born work [------] of the Father.
Him we know to be the Beginning of the world [------]. But he came into
existence by division, not by cutting off, for that which is cut off
is separated from the first: but that which is divided, receiving the
choice of administration, did not render him defective from whom it was
taken, &c., &c. And as the Logos (Reason), in the beginning begotten,
begat again our creation, himself for himself creating the matter
[------], so I," &c., &C.(1)
It is quite evident that this doctrine of the Logos is not that of the
fourth Gospel, from which it cannot have been derived. Tatian himself(2)
seems to assert that he derived it from the Old Testament. We have
quoted the passage at length that it might be clearly
{374}
understood; and with the opening words, we presume, for he does not
quote at all but merely indicates the chapter, Canon Westcott compares
John i. 1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God" [------]. The statement of Tatian is quite
different; _God_ was in the beginning" [------], and he certainly did
not identify the Word with God, so as to transform the statement of the
Gospel into this simple affirmation. In all probability his formula
was merely based upon Genesis i. 1: "In the beginning God created the
heavens and the earth" [------].(1)1 The expressions: "But we have
learned that the Beginning [------] was the power of Reason," &c., "but
the Reason [------] not proceeding in vain became the first-born work
[------] of the Father. Him we know to be the Beginning [------] of the
world," recall many early representations of the Logos, to which we have
already, referred: Pro v. viii. 22: "The Lord created me the Beginning
[------] of ways for his works [------], 23. Before the ages he
established me, in the beginning [------] before he made the earth,"
&c., &c. In the Apocalypse also the Word is called "the Beginning
[------] of the creation of God," and it will be remembered that Justin
gives testimony from Prov. viii. 21 if. "that God begat before all the
creatures a Beginning [------] a certain rational Power [------], out
of himself," 2 &c., &c., and elsewhere: "As the Logos declared through
Solomon, that this same.... had been begotten of God, before all created
beings, both Beginning [------]" &c.(3) We need not, however, refer to
{375}
the numerous passages in Philo and in Justin, not derived from the
fourth Gospel, which point to a different source for Tatian's doctrine.
It is sufficient that both his opinions and his terminology differ
distinctly from that Gospel.(1)
The next passage we at once subjoin in contrast with the parallel in the
fourth Gospel: [------]
The context to this passage in the Oration is as follows: Tatian is
arguing about the immortality of the soul, and he states that the
soul is not in itself immortal but mortal, but that nevertheless it is
possible for it not to die. If it do not know the truth it dies, but
rises again at the end of the world, receiving eternal death as a
punishment. "Again, however, it does not die, though it be for a time
dissolved, if it has acquired knowledge of God; for in itself it is
darkness, and there is nothing luminous in it, and this, therefore, is
(the meaning of) the saying: The darkness comprehends not the light. For
the soul [------] did not itself save the spirit [------], but was saved
by it, and the light comprehended the darkness. The Logos (Reason) truly
is the light of God, but the ignorant soul is darkness [------]. For
this reason, if it remain
1 We have already mentioned that the Gospel according to
Peter contained the doctrine of the Logos.
{376}
alone, it tends downwards to matter, dying with the flesh," &c., &c.(1)
The source of "the saying" is not mentioned, and it is evident that,
even if it were taken to be a reference to the fourth Gospel, nothing
would thereby be proved but the mere existence of the Gospel. "The
saying," however, 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 calls the Logos "the Light,"(2) and quoting in a
peculiar form Ps. xxvi. 1: "For the Lord is my light [------] and my
Saviour," he goes on to say that, as the sun divides day and night, so,
Moses says, "God divides light and darkness" [------].(3) When we turn
away to things of sense we use "another light," which is in no way
different from "darkness."(4) The constant use of the same similitude of
Light and darkness in the Canonical Epistles(5) 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.
The third and last passage is as follows:
[------]
{377}
Tatian here speaks of God, and not of the Logos, and in this respect,
as well as in language and context, the passage differs from the fourth
Gospel. The phrase is not introduced as a quotation, and no reference
is made to any Gospel. The purpose for which the words are used, again,
rather points to the first chapters of Genesis than to the dogmatic
prologue enunciating the doctrine of the Logos.(1) Under all these
circumstances, the source from which the expression may have been
derived cannot with certainty be ascertained and, as in the preceding
instance, even if it be assumed that the words show acquaintance with
the fourth Gospel, nothing could be proved but the mere existence of the
work about a century and a half after the events which it records. It is
obvious that in no case does Tatian afford the slightest evidence of the
Apostolic origin or historical veracity of the fourth Gospel.
Dr. Lightfoot points out another passage, Sec. 4, [------], which he
compares with John iv. 24, where the same words occur. It is right to
add that he himself remarks: "If it had stood alone I should certainly
not have regarded it as decisive. But the epigrammatic form is
remarkable, and it is a characteristic passage of the fourth Gospel.(2)
Neither Tischendorf nor Dr. Westcott refer to it. The fact is, however,
that the epigrammatic form only exists when the phrase is quoted without
its context. "God is a spirit, not pervading matter, but the creator of
material spirits, and of the forms that are in it. He is invisible and
impalpable," &c. &c. Further on, Tatian says (Sec.15), "For the perfect God
is without flesh, but man is flesh." &c. A large
{378}
part of the oration is devoted to discussing the nature of God, and
the distinction between spirit [------] and soul [------], and it
is unreasonable to assert that a man like Tatian could not make the
declaration that God is a spirit without quoting the fourth Gospel.
We have generally discussed the testimony of Dionysius of Corinth,(1)
Melito of Sardis,(2) and Claudius Apol-linaris,(3) and need not say more
here. The fragments attributed to them neither mention nor quote
the fourth Gospel, but in no case could they furnish evidence to
authenticate the work. The same remarks apply to Athenagoras.(4) Canon
Westcott only ventures to say that he "appears to allude to passages in
St. Mark and St. John, but they are all anonymous."(5) The passages
in which he speaks of the Logos, which are those referred to here,
are certainly not taken from the fourth Gospel, and his doctrine is
expressed in terminology which is different from that of the Gospel,
and is deeply tinged with Platonism.(6) He appeals to Proverbs viii. 22,
already so frequently quoted by us, for confirmation by the Prophetic
Spirit of his exposition of the Logos doctrine.(7) He nowhere identifies
the Logos with Jesus;(8) indeed he does not once make use of the name
of Christ in his works. He does not show the slightest knowledge of the
doctrine of salvation so constantly enunciated in the fourth Gospel.
There can be no doubt, as we have already shown,(9) that he considered
the Old Testament to
{379}
be the only inspired Holy Scriptures. Not only does he not mention nor
quote any of our Gospels, but the only instance in which he makes any
reference to sayings of Jesus, otherwise than by the indefinite [------]
"he says," is one in which he introduces a saying which is not found in
our Gospels by the words: "The Logos again saying to us:" [------], &c.
From the same source, which was obviously not our Canonical Gospels,
we have, therefore, reason to conclude that Athenagoras derived all
his knowledge of Gospel history and doctrine. We need not add that this
writer affords no testimony whatever as to the origin or character of
the fourth Gospel.
It is scarcely worth while to refer to the Epistle of Vienne and Lyons,
a composition dating at the earliest a.d. 177-178, in which no direct
reference is made to any writing of the New Testament.(1) Acquaintance
with the fourth Gospel is argued from the following passage: [------]
Now such a passage cannot prove the use of the fourth Gospel. No source
is indicated in the Epistle from which the saying of Jesus, which of
course apologists assert to be historical, was derived. It presents
decided variations from the parallel in the fourth Gospel; and in the
{380}
Synoptics we find sufficient indications of similar discourses l to
render it very probable that other Gospels may have contained the
passage quoted in the Epistle. In no case could an anonymous reference
like this be of any weight as evidence for the Apostolic origin of the
fourth Gospel.
We need not further discuss Ptolemoeus and Heracleon. We have shown(2)
that the date at which these heretics flourished places them beyond
the limits within which we propose to confine ourselves. 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. The passage as it is given by
Epiphanius is as follows: "Besides, that the world was created by the
same, the Apostle states (saying all things have been made [------] by
him and without him nothing was made)." [------].(3) Now the supposed
quotation is introduced here in a parenthesis interrupting the sense,
and there is every probability that it was added as an illustration by
Epiphanius, and was not in the Epistle to Flora at all. Omitting the
parenthesis, the sentence is a very palpable reference to the Apostle
Paul, and Coloss. i. 16.(4) In regard to Heraclcon, it is asserted from
the unsupported references of Origen(5) that he wrote a commentary on
the fourth Gospel. Even if this be a fact, there is not a single word
of it preserved by Origen which in the least degree bears upon the
Apostolic origin
{381}
and trustworthiness of the Gospel. Neither of these heresiarchs,
therefore, is of any value as a witness for the authenticity of the
fourth Gospel.
The heathen Celsus, as we have shown,(1) wrote at a period when no
evidence which he could well give of his own could have been of much
value in supporting our Gospels. He is pressed into service,(2) however,
because after alluding to various circumstances of Gospel history he
says: "These things, therefore, being taken out of your own writings, we
have no need of other testimony, for you fall upon your own swords,"(3)
and in another place he says that certain Christians "alter the Gospel
from its first written form in three-fold, four-fold, and many-fold
ways, and re-mould it in order to have the means of contradicting the
arguments (of opponents)." (4) This is supposed to refer to the four
Canonical Gospels. Apart from the fact that Origen replies to the first
of these passages, that Celsus has brought forward much concerning Jesus
which is not in accordance with the narratives of the Gospels, it is
unreasonable to limit the accusation of "many-fold" corruption to
four Gospels, when it is undeniable that the Gospels and writings long
current in the Church were very numerous. In any case, what could such
a statement as this do towards establishing the Apostolic origin and
credibility of the fourth Gospel?
We might pass over the _Canon of Muratori_ entirely,
{382}
as being beyond the limit of time to which we confine ourselves,(1) but
the unknown writer of the fragment gives a legend with regard to the
composition of the fourth Gospel which we may quote here, although
its obviously mythical character renders it of no value as evidence
regarding the authorship of the Gospel. The writer says:
Quarti euangeliorum Iohannis ex decipolis Cohortantibus condescipulis et
episcopis suis dixit conieiunate mihi hodie triduo et quid cuique fuerit
reuelatum alterutrum nobis ennarremus eadem nocte reue latum Andrew
ex apostolis ut recognis centibus cunctis Iohannis suo nomine cuncta
describeret et ideo (2) licit uaria sin culis euangeliorum libris
principia docoantur nihil tamen diffort creden tium fidei cum uno ac
principali spiritu de clarata sint in omnibus omnia de natiui tate de
passione de resurrectione de conuersatione cum decipulis suis ac de
gemino eius aduentu primo in humilitate dispectus quod fo... .u (3)
secundum potestate regali... pre clarum quod futurum est (4) quid
ergo minim si Iohannes tarn constanter sincula etiam in epistulis suis
proferat dicens in semeipsu quae uidimus oculis nostris et auribus
audiuimus et manus nostra palpauerunt heec scripsimus nobis sic enim
non solum uisurem sed et auditorem sed et scriptorem omnium mirabilium
domini per ordi nem profetetur
{383}
"The fourth of the Gospels, of John, one of the disciples. To his
fellow-disciples and bishops (Episcopis) urging him he said: 'Fast with
me to-day for three days, and let us relate to each other that which
shall be revealed to each.' On the same night it was revealed to Andrew,
one of the Apostles, that, with the supervision of all, John should
relate all things in his own name. And, therefore, though various
principles (principia) are taught by each book of the Gospels,
nevertheless it makes no difference to the faith of believers, since,
in all, all things are declared by one ruling Spirit concerning
the nativity, concerning the passion, concerning the resurrection,
concerning the intercourse with the disciples, and concerning his double
advent; the first in lowliness of estate, which has taken place, the
second in regal power and splendour, which is still future. What
wonder, therefore, if John should so constantly bring forward each thing
(singula) also in his Epistles, saying in regard to himself: The things
which we have seen with our eyes, and have heard with our ears, and our
hands have handled, these things have we written unto you. For thus he
professes himself not only an eye-witness and hearer, but also a writer
of all the wonders of the Lord in order."
It is obvious that in this passage we have an apologetic defence of the
fourth Gospel,(1) which unmistakably implies antecedent denial of its
authority and apostolic origin. The writer not only ascribes it to John,
but he clothes it with the united authority of the rest of the Apostles,
in
{384}
a manner which very possibly aims at explaining the supplementary
chapter xxi., with its testimony to the truth of the preceding
narrative. In his zeal, the writer goes so far as to falsify a passage
of the Epistle, and convert it into a declaration by the author of the
letter himself that he had written the Gospel. "'The things which we
have seen, &c., these things have we written unto you' (haec scripsi-mus
vobis).(1) For thus he professes himself not only an eye-witness and
hearer, but also a writer of all the wonders of the Lord in order."
Credner argues that in speaking of John as "one of the disciples" (ex
discipulis), and of Andrew as "one of the Apostles," the writer intends
to distinguish between John the disciple, who wrote the Gospel and
Epistle, and John the Apostle, who wrote the Apocalypse, and that it was
for this reason that he sought to dignify him by a special revelation,
through the Apostle Andrew, selecting him to write the Gospel. Credner,
therefore, concludes that here we have an ancient ecclesiastical
tradition ascribing the Gospel and first Epistle to one of the disciples
of Jesus different from the Apostle John.(2) Into this, however, we need
not enter, nor is it necessary for us to demonstrate the mythical nature
of this narrative regarding the origin of the Gospel. We have merely
given this extract from the fragment to make our statement regarding it
complete. Not only is the evidence of the fragment of no value, from the
lateness of its date and the uncritical character of its author, but a
vague and fabulous tradition recorded by an unknown writer could not, in
any case, furnish testimony calculated to establish the Apostolic origin
and trustworthiness of the fourth Gospel.
{385}
CHAPTER II. AUTHORSHIP AND CHARACTER OF THE FOURTH GOSPEL
The result of our inquiry into the evidence for the fourth Gospel is
sufficiently decided to render further examination unnecessary. We have
seen that, for some century and a half after the events recorded in
the work, there is not only no testimony whatever connecting the fourth
Gospel with the Apostle John, but no certain trace even of the existence
of the Gospel. There has not been the slightest evidence in any of the
writings of the Fathers which we have examined even of a tradition that
the Apostle John had composed any evangelical work at all, and the claim
advanced in favour of the Christian miracles to contemporaneous evidence
of extraordinary force and veracity by undoubted eye-witnesses so
completely falls to the ground, that we might here well bring this
part of our inquiry to a close. There are, however, so many peculiar
circumstances connected with the fourth Gospel, both in regard to its
authorship and to its relationship with the three Synoptics, which
invite further attention, that we propose briefly to review some of
them. We must, however, carefully restrict ourselves to the limits
of our inquiry, and resist any temptation to enter upon an exhaustive
discussion of the problem presented by the fourth Gospel from a more
general literary point of view.
{386}
The endeavour to obtain some positive, or at least negative, information
regarding the author of the fourth Gospel is facilitated by the fact
that several other works in the New Testament Canon are ascribed to him.
These works present such marked and distinct characteristics that, apart
from the fact that their number extends the range of evidence, they
afford an unusual opportunity of testing the tradition which assigns
them all to the Apostle John, by comparing the clear indications which
they give of the idiosyncrasies of their author with the independent
data which we possess regarding the history and character of the
Apostle. It is asserted by the Church that John the son of Zebedee, one
of the disciples of Jesus, is the composer of no less than five of our
canonical writings, and it would be impossible to select any books of
our New Testament presenting more distinct features, or more widely
divergent views, than are to be found in the Apocalypse on the one hand,
and the Gospel and three Epistles on the other. Whilst a strong family
likeness exists between the Epistles and the Gospel, and they exhibit
close analogies both in thought and language, the Apocalypse, on the
contrary, is so different from them in language, in style, in religious
views and terminology, that it is almost impossible to believe that the
writer of the one could be the author of the other. The translators of
our New Testament have laboured, and not in vain, to eliminate as far
as possible all individuality of style and language, and to reduce
the various books of which it is composed to one uniform smoothness of
diction. It is, therefore, impossible for the mere English reader to
appreciate the immense difference which exists between the harsh and
Hebraistic Greek of the Apocalypse and the polished
{387}
elegance of the fourth Gospel, and it is to be feared that the rarity
of critical study has prevented any general recognition of the almost
equally striking contrast of thought between the two works. The
remarkable peculiarities which distinguish the Apocalypse and Gospel
of John, however, were very early appreciated, and almost the first
application of critical judgment to the Canonical books of the New
Testament is the argument of Dionysius Bishop of Alexandria, about the
middle of the third century, that the author of the fourth Gospel
could not be the writer of the Book of Revelation.(1) The dogmatic
predilections which at that time had begun to turn against the
Apocalypse, the nonfulfilment of the prophecies of which disappointed
and puzzled the early Church, led Dionysius to solve the difficulty by
deciding in favour of the authenticity of the Gospel, but at least he
recognized the dilemma which has since occupied so much of biblical
criticism.
It is not necessary to enter upon any exhaustive analysis of the
Apocalypse and Gospel to demonstrate anew that both works cannot have
emanated from the same mind. This has already been conclusively done by
others. Some apologetic writers,--greatly influenced, no doubt, by the
express declaration of the Church, and satisfied by analogies which
could scarcely fail to exist between two works dealing with a similar
theme,--together with a very few independent critics, have asserted the
authenticity of both works.(2) The great majority of
{388}
critics, however, have fully admitted the impossibility of recognizing
a common source for the fourth Gospel and the Apocalypse of John.(1) The
critical question regarding the two works has, in fact, reduced itself
to the dilemma which may be expressed as follows, in the words of
Llicke: "Either the Gospel and the first Epistle are genuine writings of
the Apostle John, and in that case the Apocalypse is no genuine work of
that Apostle, or the inverse."(2) After an elaborate comparison of the
two writings, the same writer, who certainly will not be suspected of
wilfully subversive criticism, resumes: "The difference between the
language, way
{389}
of expression, and mode of thought and doctrine of the Apocalypse and
the rest of the Johannine writings, is so comprehensive and intense, so
individual and so radical; the affinity and agreement, on the
contrary, are so general, and in details so fragmentary and uncertain
(zuruckweichend), that the Apostle John, if he really he the author
of the Gospel and of the Epistle--which we here assume--cannot have
composed the Apocalypse either before or after the Gospel and the
Epistle. If all critical experience and rules in such literary questions
are not deceptive, it is certain that the Evangelist and Apocalyptist
are two different persons of the name of John,"(l) &c.
De Wette, another conservative critic, speaks with equal decision. After
an able comparison of the two works, he says: "From all this it follows
(and in New Testament criticism no result is more certain), that the
Apostle John, if he be the author of the fourth Gospel and of the
Johannine Epistles, did not write the Apocalypse, or, if the Apocalypse
be his work, that he is not the author of the other writings."(2) Ewald
is equally positive: "Above all," he says, "we should err in tracing
this work (the Gospel) to the Apostle, if the Apocalypse of the New
Testament were by him. That this much earlier writing cannot have been
composed by the author of the later is an axiom which I consider I have
already, (in 1826-28) so convincingly demonstrated, that it would be
superfluous now to return to it, especially as, since then, all men
capable of forming a judgment are of the same opinion, and what has been
brought forward by a few writers against it too clearly depends upon
{390}
influences foreign to science."(1) We may, therefore, consider the point
generally admitted, and proceed very briefly to discuss the question
upon this basis.
The external evidence that the Apostle John wrote the Apocalypse is more
ancient than that for the authorship of any book of the New Testament,
excepting some of the Epistles of Paul, and this is admitted even by
critics who ultimately deny the authenticity of the work.(2) Passing
over the very probable statement of Andrew of Caesarea,(3) that Papias
recognized the Apocalypse as an inspired work, and the inference drawn
from this fact that he referred it to the Apostle, we at once proceed to
Justin Martyr, who affirms in the clearest and most positive manner the
Apostolic origin of the work. He speaks to Tryphon of "a certain man
whose name was John, one of the Apostles of Christ, who prophesied by
a revelation made to him," of the Millennium, and subsequent general
resurrection and judgment.(4) The statement of Justin is all the more
important from the fact that he does not name any other writing of the
New Testament, and that the Old Testament was still for him the only
Holy Scripture. The genuineness of this
{391}
testimony is not called in question by any one. Eusebius states that
Melito of Sardis wrote a work on the Apocalypse of John,(1) and Jerome
mentions the treatise.(2) There can be no doubt that had Melito thrown
the slightest doubt on the Apostolic origin of the Apocalypse, Eusebius,
whose dogmatic views led him to depreciate that writing, would have
referred to the fact. Eusebius also mentions that Apollonius, a
Presbyter of Ephesus, quoted the Apocalypse against the Montanists,
and there is reason to suppose that he did so as an Apostolic work.(3)
Eusebius further states that Theophilus of Antioch made use of testimony
from the Apocalypse of John;(4) but although, as Eusebius does not
mention anything to the contrary, it is probable that Theophilus really
recognized the book to be by John the Apostle, the uncritical haste of
Eusebius renders his vague statement of little value. We do not think
it worth while to quote the evidence of later writers. Although Irenaeus,
who repeatedly assigns the Apocalypse to John, the disciple of the
Lord,(5) is cited by Apologists as a very important witness, more
especially from his intercourse with Polycarp, we do not attribute any
value to his testimony, both from the late date at which he wrote, and
from the uncritical and credulous character of his mind. Although he
appeals to the testimony of those "who saw John face to face" with
regard to the number of the name of the Beast, his own utter ignorance
of the interpretation shows how little information he can have derived
from Polycarp.(6) The same remarks apply still more strongly to
Tertullian, who, however, most
{392}
unhesitatingly assigns the Apocalypse to the Apostle John.(1) It would
be useless more particularly to refer to later evidence, however,
or quote even the decided testimony in its favour of Clement of
Alexandria,(2) or Origen.(3)
The first doubt cast upon the authenticity of the Apocalypse occurs in
the argument of Dionysius of Alexandria, one of the disciples of Origen,
in the middle of the third century. He mentions that some had objected
to the whole work as without sense or reason, and as displaying such
dense ignorance, that it was impossible that an Apostle or even one in
the Church, could have written it, and they assigned it to Cerinthus,
who held the doctrine of the reign of Christ on earth.(4) These
objections, it is obvious, are merely dogmatic, and do not affect to be
historical. They are in fact a good illustration of the method by
which the Canon was formed. If the doctrine of any writing met with the
approval of the early Church, it was accepted with unhesitating faith,
and its pretension to Apostolic origin was admitted as a natural
consequence; but if, on the other hand, the doctrine of the writing
was not clearly that of the community, it was rejected without further
examination. It is an undeniable fact, that not a single trace exists of
the application of historical criticism to any book of the New Testament
in the early ages of Christianity. The case of the Apocalypse is most
intelligible:--so long as the expectation and hope of a second advent
and of a personal reign of the risen and glorified Christ, of the
prevalence of which we have abundant testimony in the Pauline Epistles
and other early works, continued to animate the Church, the
{393}
Apocalypse which excited and fostered them was a popular volume: but as
years passed away and the general longing of Christians, eagerly marking
the signs of the times, was again and again disappointed, and the hope
of a Millennium began either to be abandoned or indefinitely postponed,
the Apocalypse proportionately lost favour, or was regarded as an
incomprehensible book misleading the world by illusory promises. Its
history is that of a highly dogmatic treatise esteemed or contemned in
proportion to the ebb and flow of opinion regarding the doctrines which
it expresses.
The objections of Dionysius, resting first upon dogmatic grounds and his
inability to understand the Apocalyptic utterances of the book, took the
shape we have mentioned of a critical dilemma:--The author of the Gospel
could not at the same time be the author of the Apocalypse. Dogmatic
predilection decided the question in favour of the apostolic origin of
the fourth Gospel, and the reasoning by which that decision is arrived
at has, therefore, no critical force or value. The fact still remains
that Justin Martyr distinctly refers to the Apocalypse as the work of
the Apostle John and, as we have seen, no similar testimony exists in
support of the claims of the fourth Gospel.
As another most important point, we may mention that there is
probably not another work of the New Testament the precise date of the
composition of which, within a very few weeks, can so positively be
affirmed. No result of criticism rests upon a more secure basis and is
now more universally accepted by all competent critics than the fact
that the Apocalypse was written in A.D. 68-69.(1) The writer distinctly
and repeatedly mentions his name: i. 1, "The revelation of Jesus
Christ....
{394}
unto his servant John;"(1) i. 4, "John to the seven churches which are
in Asia;"(2) and he states that the work was written in the island of
Patmos where he was "on account of the Word of God and the testimony of
Jesus."(3) Ewald, who decides in the most arbitrary manner against the
authenticity of the Apocalypse and in favour of the Johannine authorship
of the Gospel, objects that the author, although he certainly calls
himself John, does not assume to be an Apostle, but merely terms
himself the servant [------] of Christ like other true Christians, and
distinctly classes himself amongst the Prophets(4) and not amongst the
Apostles.(5) We find, however, that Paul, who was not apt to waive his
claims to the Apostolate, was content to call himself: "Paul a servant
[------] of Jesus Christ, called to be an Apostle," in writing to the
Romans; (i. 1) and the superscription of the Epistle to the Philippians
is: "Paul and Timothy servants [------] of Christ Jesus."(6) There was,
moreover, reason why
{395}
the author of the Book of Revelation, a work the form of which was
decidedly based upon that of Daniel and other Jewish Apocalyptic
writings, should rather adopt the character of Prophet than the less
suitable designation of Apostle upon such an occasion. It is clear that
he counted fully upon being generally known under the simple designation
of "John," and when we consider the unmistakeable terms of authority
with which he addresses the Seven Churches, it is scarcely possible to
deny that the writer either was the Apostle, or distinctly desired to
assume his personality. It is not necessary for us here to enter into
any discussion regarding the "Presbyter John," for it is generally
admitted that even he could not have had at that time any position
in Asia Minor which could have warranted such a tone. If the name of
Apostle, therefore, be not directly assumed--and it was not necessary to
assume it--the authority of one is undeniably inferred.
Ewald, however, argues that, on the contrary, the author could not more
clearly express that he was not one of the Twelve, than when he imagines
(Apoc. xxi. 14) the names of the 'twelve apostles of the Lamb' shining
upon the twelve foundation stones of the wall of the future heavenly
Jerusalem. He considers that no intelligent person could thus publicly
glorify himself or anticipate the honour which God alone can bestow.
"And can any one seriously believe," he indignantly inquires, "that one
of the Twelve, yea, that even he whom we know as the most delicate and
refined amongst them could have written this of himself?"(1) Now, in the
first place, we must remark that in this discussion
{396}
it is not permissible to speak of our knowing John the Apostle as
distinguished above all the rest of the Twelve for such qualities.
Nowhere do we find such a representation of him except in the fourth
Gospel, if even there, but, as we shall presently see, rather the
contrary, and the fourth Gospel cannot here be received as evidence. We
might, by way of retort, point out to those who assert the inspiration
of the Apocalypse, that the symbolical representation of the heavenly
Jerusalem is held to be practically objective, a revelation of things
that "must shortly come to pass," and not a mere subjective sketch
coloured according to the phantasy of the writer. Passing on, however,
it must be apparent that the whole account of the heavenly city is
typical, and that in basing its walls upon the Twelve, he does not
glorify himself personally, but simply gives its place to the idea which
was symbolised when Jesus is represented as selecting twelve disciples,
the number of the twelve tribes, upon whose preaching the spiritual city
was to be built up. The Jewish belief in a special preference of the
Jews before all nations doubtless suggested this, and it forms a leading
feature in the strong Hebraistic form of the writer's Christianity.
The heavenly city is simply a glorified Jerusalem; the twelve Apostles,
representatives of the twelve tribes, set apart for the regeneration of
Israel, are the foundation-stones of the New City with its twelve gates,
on which are written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel(1) for
whom the city is more particularly provided. For 144,000 of Israel
are first sealed, 12,000 of each of the twelve tribes before the Seer
beholds the great multitude of all nations and tribes and peoples.(2)
The whole description is a
{397}
mere allegory characterized by the strongest Jewish dogmatism, and it is
of singular value for the purpose of identifying the author.
Moreover, the apparent glorification of the Twelve is more than
justified by the promise which Jesus is represented by the Synoptics(l)
as making to them in person. When Peter, in the name of the Twelve, asks
what is reserved for those who have forsaken all and followed him, Jesus
replies: "Verily I say unto you that ye which have followed me, in the
regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of his glory,
ye also shall be set upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of
Israel."(2) Ewald himself, in his distribution of the materials of our
existing first Synoptic to the supposed original sources, assigns this
passage to the very oldest Gospel.(3) What impropriety is there, and
what improbability, therefore, that an Apostle, in an apocalyptic
allegory, should represent the names of the twelve Apostles as inscribed
upon the twelve foundation stones of the spiritual Jerusalem, as the
names of the twelve tribes of Israel were inscribed upon the twelve
gates of the city? On the contrary, we submit that it is probable under
the circumstances that an Apostle should make such a representation, and
in view of the facts regarding the Apostle John himself which we have
from the Synoptics, it is particularly in harmony with his character,
and these characteristics directly tend to establish his identity with
the author.
"How much less is it credible of the Apostle John," says Ewald,
elsewhere, pursuing the same argument, "who, as a writer, is so
incomparably modest and
{398}
delicate in feeling, and does not in a single one of the writings really
emanating from him name himself as the author, or even proclaim his own
praise."(l) This is merely sentimental assumption of facts to which we
shall hereafter allude, but if the "incomparable modesty" of which he
speaks really existed, nothing could more conclusively separate the
author of the fourth Gospel from the son of Zebedee whom we know in the
Synoptics, or more support the claims of the Apocalypse. In the first
place, we must assert that, in writing a serious history of the life and
teaching of Jesus, full of marvellous events and astounding doctrines,
the omission of his name by an Apostle can not only not be recognized
as genuine modesty, but must be condemned as culpable neglect. It is
perfectly incredible that an Apostle could have written such a work
without attaching his name as the guarantee of his intimate acquaintance
with the events and statements he records. What would be thought of
a historian who published a history without a single reference to
recognized authorities, and yet who did not declare even his own name
as some evidence of his truth? The fact is, that the first two Synoptics
bear no author's name because they are not the work of any one man, but
the collected materials of many; the third Synoptic only pretends to
be a compilation for private use; and the fourth Gospel bears no simple
signature because it is neither the work of an Apostle, nor of an
eye-witness of the events and hearer of the teaching it records.
If it be considered incredible, however, that an Apostle could, even
in an Allegory, represent the names of the Twelve as written on the
foundation stones of the New Jerusalem, and the incomparable modesty and
delicacy
{399}
of feeling of the assumed author of the fourth Gospel be contrasted with
it so much to the disadvantage of the writer of the Apocalypse, we ask
whether this reference to the collective Twelve can be considered at
all on a par with the self-glorification of the disguised author of the
Gospel, who, not content with the simple indication of himself as John
a servant of Jesus Christ, and with sharing distinction equally with
the rest of the Twelve, assumes to himself alone a pre-eminence in the
favour and affection of his Master, as well as a distinction amongst
his fellow disciples, of which we first hear from himself, and which is
anything but corroborated by the three Synoptics? The supposed author of
the fourth Gospel, it is true, does not plainly mention his name, but he
distinguishes himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved," and represents
himself as "leaning on Jesus' breast at supper."(1) This distinction
assumed to himself, and this preference over the other disciples in
the love of him whom he represents as God, is much greater
self-glorification than that of the author of the Apocalypse. We shall
presently see how far Ewald is right in saying, moreover, that the
author does not clearly indicate the person for whom at least he desires
to be mistaken.
We must conclude that these objections have no weight, and that there
is no internal evidence whatever against the supposition that the "John"
who announces himself as the author of the Apocalypse was the Apostle.
On the contrary, the tone of authority adopted throughout, and the
evident certainty that his identity would everywhere be recognized,
denote a position in the Church which no other person of the name of
John could well have held at the time when the Apocalypse was written.
{400}
The external evidence, therefore, which indicates the Apostle John
as the author of the Apocalypse is quite in harmony with the internal
testimony of the book itself. We have already pointed out the strong
colouring of Judaism in the views of the writer. Its imagery is
thoroughly Jewish, and its allegorical representations are entirely
based upon Jewish traditions, and hopes. The heavenly City is a New
Jerusalem; its twelve gates are dedicated to the twelve tribes of
Israel; God and the Lamb are the Temple of it; and the sealed of the
twelve tribes have the precedence over the nations, and stand with the
Lamb on Mount Zion (xiv. 1) having his name and his Father's written on
their foreheads. The language in which the book is written is the most
Hebraistic Greek of the New Testament, as its contents are the most
deeply tinged with Judaism. If, finally, we seek for some traces of
the character of the writer, we see in every page the impress of an
impetuous fiery spirit, whose symbol is the Eagle, breathing forth
vengeance against the enemies of the Messiah and impatient till it be
accomplished, and the whole of the visions of the Apocalypse proceed to
the accompaniment of the rolling thunders of God's wrath.
We may now turn to examine such historical data as exist regarding John
the son of Zebedee, and to inquire whether they accord better with
the character and opinions of the author of the Apocalypse or of the
Evangelist. John and his brother James are represented by the Synoptics
as being the sons of Zebedee and Salome. They were fishermen on the
sea of Galilee, and at the call of Jesus they left their ship and their
father and followed him.(1) Their fiery and impetuous character led
{401}
Jesus to give them the surname of [------]: "Sons of thunder,"(1) an
epithet justified by several incidents which are related regarding them.
Upon one occasion, John sees one casting out devils in his master's
name, and in an intolerant spirit forbids him because he did not follow
them, for which he is rebuked by Jesus.(2) Another time, when the
inhabitants of a Samaritan village would not receive them, John and
James angrily turn to Jesus and say: "Lord, wilt thou that we command
fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elijah did?"(3)
A remarkable episode will have presented itself already to the mind of
every reader, which the second Synoptic Gospel narrates as follows: Mark
x. 35, "And James and John the sons of Zebedee come unto him saying unto
him: Teacher, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall
ask thee. 36. And he said unto them: What would ye that I should do for
you? 37. They said unto him: Grant that we may sit, one on thy right
hand, and the other on thy left hand in thy glory. 38. But Jesus said to
them: Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink the cup that I drink? or
be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? 39. And they said
unto him: We can. And Jesus said unto them: The cup that I drink ye
shall drink; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be
baptized: 40. But to sit on my right hand or on my left hand is not mine
to give, but for whom it has been prepared. 41. And when the ten
heard it they began to be much displeased with James and John." It is
difficult to say whether the
{402}
effrontery and selfishness of the request, or the assurance with which
the brethren assert their power to emulate the Master is more striking
in this scene. Apparently, the grossness of the proceeding already
began to be felt when our first Gospel was edited, for it represents
the request as made by the mother of James and John; but that is a very
slight decrease of the offence, inasmuch as the brethren are obviously
consenting, if not inciting, parties to the prayer, and utter their
"We can," with the same absence of "incomparable modesty."(1) After the
death of Jesus, John remained in Jerusalem,(2) and chiefly confined
his ministry to the city and its neighbourhood.(3) The account which
Hegesippus gives of James the brother of Jesus who was appointed
overseer of the Church in Jerusalem will not be forgotten,(4) and we
refer to it merely in illustration of primitive Christianity. However
mythical elements are worked up into the narrative, one point is
undoubted fact, that the Christians of that community were but a sect
of Judaism, merely superadding to Mosaic doctrines belief in the actual
advent of the Messiah whom Moses and the prophets had foretold; and we
find, in the Acts of the Apostles, Peter and John represented as "going
up into the Temple at the hour of prayer,"(6) like other Jews. In the
Epistle of Paul to the Galatians, we have most valuable evidence with
regard to the Apostle John. Paul found him still in Jerusalem on the
occasion of the visit referred to in that letter, about a.d. 50--53. We
need not quote at length the important passage Gal. ii. 1 ff., but the
fact
{403}
is undeniable, and stands upon stronger evidence than almost any other
particular regarding the early Church, being distinctly and directly
stated by Paul himself: that the three "pillar" Apostles representing
the Church there were James, Peter, and John. Peter is markedly termed
the Apostle of the circumcision, and the differences between him and
Paul are evidence of the opposition of their views. James and John
are clearly represented as sharing the views of Peter, and whilst Paul
finally agrees with them that he is to go to the Gentiles, the three
[------] elect to continue their ministry to the circumcision.(1)
Here is John, therefore, clearly devoted to the Apostleship of the
circumcision as opposed to Paul, whose views, as we gather from
the whole of Paul's account, were little more than tolerated by the
[------]. Before leaving New Testament data, we may here point out the
statement in the Acts of the Apostles that Peter and John were known to
be "unlettered and ignorant men"(2) [------]. Later tradition mentions
one or two circumstances regarding John to which we may briefly refer.
Irenaeus states: "There are those who heard him (Polycarp) say that
John, the disciple of the Lord, going to bathe at Ephesus and perceiving
Cerinthus within, rushed forth from the bath-house without bathing, but
crying out: 'Let us fly lest the bath-house fall down: Cerinthus, the
enemy of the truth, being within it.'... So great was the care which the
Apostles and their disciples took not to hold even verbal intercourse
with any of the corrupters of the truth,"(3) &c. Polycrates, who was
Bishop of Ephesus
{404}
about the beginning of the third century, states that the Apostle John
wore the mitre and petalon of the high priest [------],(1) a tradition
which agrees with the Jewish tendencies of the Apostle of the
circumcision as Paul describes him.(2)
Now if we compare these data regarding John the son of Zebedee with the
character of John the author of the Apocalypse, as we trace it in
the work itself, it is impossible not to be struck by the singular
agreement. The Hebraistic Greek and abrupt inelegant diction are natural
to the unlettered fisherman of Galilee, and the fierce and intolerant
spirit which pervades the book is precisely that which formerly forbade
the working of miracles, even in the name of the Master, by any not
of the immediate circle of Jesus, and which desired to consume an
inhospitable village with fire from heaven.(3) The Judaistic form of
Christianity which is represented throughout the Apocalypse, and the
Jewish elements which enter so largely into its whole composition, are
precisely those
2 We need not refer to any of the other legends regarding
John, but it may be well to mention the tradition common
amongst the Fathers which assigned to him the cognomen of
"the Virgin." One Codex gives as the superscription of the
Apocalypse: "t[------]" and we know that it is reported in
early writings that, of all the Apostles, only John and the
Apostle Paul remained unmarried, whence probably, in part,
this title. In connection with this we may point to the
importance attached to virginity in the Apocalypse, xiv. 4;
cf. Schwegler, Das naohap. Zeit, ii. p. 264; Lilcke, Comm.
lib. d. Br. Joh., 1836, p. 32 f.; Craftier, Einl. N. T., i.
p. 21.
3 The very objection of Ewald regarding the glorification of
the Twelve, if true, would be singularly in keeping with the
audacious request of John and his brother, to sit on the
right and left hand of the glorified Jesus, for we find none
of the "incomparable modesty" which the imaginative critic
attributes to the author of the fourth Gospel in the John of
the Synoptics.
{405}
which we might expect from John the Apostle of the circumcision and the
associate of James and of Peter in the very centre of Judaism. Parts of
the Apocalypse, indeed, derive a new significance when we remember the
opposition which the Apostle of the Gentiles met with from the Apostles
of the circumcision, as plainly declared by Paul in his Epistle to the
Galatians ii. 1. ff., and apparent in other parts of his writings.
We have already seen the scarcely disguised attack which is made on Paul
in the Clementine Homilies under the name of Simon the Magician,
the Apostle Peter following him from city to city for the purpose of
denouncing and refuting his teaching. There can be no doubt that the
animosity against Paul which was felt by the Ebionitic party, to which
John as well as Peter belonged, was extreme, and when the novelty of the
doctrine of justification by faith alone, taught by him, is considered,
it is very comprehensible. In the Apocalypse, we find undeniable traces
of it which accord with what Paul himself says, and with the undoubted
tradition of the early Church. Not only is Paul silently excluded from
the number of the Apostles, which might be intelligible when the typical
nature of the number twelve is considered, but allusion is undoubtedly
made to him, in the Epistles to the Churches. It is clear that Paul is
referred to in the address to the Church of Ephesus: "And thou didst try
them which say that they are Apostles and are not, and didst find them
false;"(1) and also in the words to the Church of Smyrna: "But I have
a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the
teaching of Balaam, who taught
{406}
Balak to cast a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat
things sacrificed unto idols,"(1) &c., as well as elsewhere.(2) Without
dwelling on this point, however, we think it must be apparent to every
unprejudiced person that the Apocalypse singularly corresponds in every
respect--language, construction, and thought--with what we are told
of the character of the Apostle John by the Synoptic Gospels and by
tradition, and that the internal evidence, therefore, accords with
the external in attributing the composition of the Apocalypse to that
Apostle.3
407}
We may without hesitation affirm, at least, that with the exception of
one or two of the Epistles of Paul there is
{408}
no work of the New Testament which is supported by such close evidence.
We need not discuss the tradition as to the residence of the Apostle
John in Asia Minor, regarding which much might be said. Those who accept
the authenticity of the Apocalypse of course admit its composition in
the neighbourhood of Ephesus,(1) and see in this the confirmation of the
wide-spread tradition that the Apostle spent a considerable period of
the latter part of his life in that city. We may merely mention, in
passing, that a historical basis for the tradition has occasionally been
disputed, and has latterly again been denied by some able critics.(2)
The evidence for this, as for everything else connected with the early
ages of Christianity, is extremely unsatisfactory. Nor need we trouble
ourselves with the dispute as to the Presbyter John, to whom many
ascribe the composition, on the one hand, of the Apocalypse and, on the
other, of the Gospel, according as they finally accept the one or the
other alternative of the critical dilemma which we have explained. We
have only to do with the Apostle John and his connection with either of
the two writings.
If we proceed to compare the character of the Apostle John, as we
have it depicted in the Synoptics and other writings to which we have
referred, with that of the author of the fourth Gospel, and to contrast
the peculiarities of both, we have a very different result. Instead of
the Hebraistic Greek and harsh diction which might
{409}
be expected from the unlettered and ignorant fisherman of Galilee, we
find, in the fourth Gospel, the purest and least Hebraistic Greek of
any of the Gospels (some parts of the third Synoptic, perhaps, alone
excepted), and a refinement and beauty of composition whose charm has
captivated the world, and in too many cases prevented the calm exercise
of judgment Instead of the fierce and intolerant temper of the Son of
thunder, we find a spirit breathing forth nothing but gentleness
and love. Instead of the Judaistic Christianity of the Apostle of
Circumcision who merely tolerates Paul, we find a mind which has so
completely detached itself from Judaism that the writer makes the very
appellation of "Jew" equivalent to that of an enemy of the truth. Not
only are the customs and feasts of the Jews disregarded and spoken of
as observances of a people with whom the writer has no concern, but he
anticipates the day when neither on Mount Gerizim nor yet at Jerusalem
men shall worship the Father, but when it shall be recognized that the
only true worship is that which is offered in spirit and in truth. Faith
in Jesus Christ and the merits of his death is the only way by which man
can attain to eternal life, and the Mosaic Law is practically abolished.
We venture to assert that, taking the portrait of John the son of
Zebedee, which is drawn in the Synoptics and the Epistle of Paul to the
Galatians, supplemented by later tradition, to which we have referred,
and comparing it with that of the writer of the fourth Gospel, no
unprejudiced mind can fail to recognize that there are not two features
alike.
It is the misfortune of this case, that the beauty of the Gospel under
trial has too frequently influenced the decision of the judges, and men
who have, in other
{410}
matters, exhibited sound critical judgment, in this abandon themselves
to sheer sentimentality, and indulge in rhapsodies when reasons would
be more appropriate. Bearing in mind that we have given the whole of
the data regarding John the son of Zebedee furnished by New Testament
writings,--excluding merely the fourth Gospel itself, which, of
course, cannot at present be received in evidence,--as well as the only
traditional information possessing, from its date and character, any
appreciable value, it will become apparent that every argument which
proceeds on the assumption that John was the beloved disciple, and
possessed of characteristics quite different from those we meet with in
the writings to which we have referred, is worthless and a mere petitio
principii. We can, therefore, appreciate the state of the case when, for
instance, we find an able man like Credner commencing his inquiry as
to who was the author of the fourth Gospel, with such words as the
following: "Were we entirely without historical data regarding the
author of the fourth Gospel, who is not named in the writing itself,
we should still, from internal grounds in the Gospel itself--from the
nature of the language, from the freshness and perspicacity of the
narrative, from the exactness and precision of the statements, from
the peculiar.manner of the mention of the Baptist and of the sons of
Zebedee, from the love and fervour rising to ecstacy which the writer
manifests towards Jesus, from the irresistible charm which is poured
out over the whole ideally-composed evangelical history, from the
philosophical considerations with which the Gospel begins--be led to
the result: that the author of such a Gospel can only be a native of
Palestine, can only be a direct eye-witness, can only be an Apostle, can
{411}
only be a favourite of Jesus, can only be that John whom Jesus held
captivated to himself by the whole heavenly spell of his teaching, that
John who rested on the bosom of Jesus, stood beneath his cross, and
whose later residence in a city like Ephesus proves that philosophical
speculation not merely attracted him, but that he also knew how to
maintain his place amongst philosophically cultivated Greeks."(1) It is
almost impossible to proceed further in building up theory upon baseless
assumption; but we shall hereafter see that he is kept in countenance
by Ewald, who outstrips him in the boldness and minuteness of his
conjectures. We must now more carefully examine the details of the case.
The language in which the Gospel is written, as we have already
mentioned, is much less Hebraic than that of the other Gospels, with the
exception of parts of the Gospel according to Luke, and its Hebraisms
are not on the whole greater than was almost invariably the case with
Hellenistic Greek, but its composition is distinguished by peculiar
smoothness, grace, and beauty, and in this respect it is assigned the
first rank amongst the Gospels. It may be remarked that the connection
which Credner finds between the language and the Apostle John arises out
of the supposition, that long residence in Ephesus had enabled him to
acquire that fecility of composition in the Greek language which is one
of its characteristics. Ewald, who exaggerates the Hebraism of the work,
resorts nevertheless to the conjecture, which we shall hereafter more
fully consider, that the Gospel was written from dictation by young
friends of John in Ephesus, who put the aged Apostle's thoughts, in many
places, into purer Greek as they
{412}
wrote them down.(1) The arbitrary nature of such an explanation, adopted
in one shape or another by many apologists, requires no remark, but we
shall at every turn meet with similar assumptions advanced to overcome
difficulties. Now, although there is no certain information as to the
time when, if ever, the Apostle removed into Asia Minor, it is at least
pretty certain that he did not leave Palestine before a.d. 60.(2) We
find him still at Jerusalem about a.d. 50--53, when Paul went thither,
and he had not at that time any intention of leaving, but, on the
contrary, his dedication of himself to the ministry of the circumcision
is distinctly mentioned by the Apostle.(3) The "unlettered and ignorant"
fisherman of Galilee, therefore, had obviously attained an age when
habits of thought and expression have become fixed, and when a new
language cannot without great difficulty be acquired. If we consider the
Apocalypse to be his work, we find positive evidence of such markedly
different thought and language actually existing when the Apostle must
have been between sixty and seventy years of age, that it is quite
impossible to conceive that he could have subsequently acquired the
language and mental characteristics of the fourth Gospel.(4) It would be
perfectly absurd, so far as language goes, to find in the fourth Gospel
the slightest indication of the Apostle John, of whose language we have
no information whatever except from the Apocalypse, a composition
{413}
which, if accepted as written by the Apostle, would at once exclude all
consideration of the Gospel as his work. There are many circumstances,
however, which seem clearly to indicate that the author of the fourth
Gospel was neither a native of Palestine nor a Jew, and to some of
these we must briefly refer. The philosophical statements with which the
Gospel commences, it will be admitted, are anything but characteristic
of the Son of thunder, the ignorant and unlearned fisherman of Galilee
who, to a comparatively advanced period of life, continued preaching in
his native country to his brethren of the circumcision. Attempts have
been made to trace the Logos doctrine of the fourth Gospel to the purely
Hebraic source of the Old Testament, but every impartial mind must
perceive that here there is no direct and simple transformation of the
theory of Wisdom of the Proverbs and Old Testament Apocrypha, and no
mere development of the later Memra of the Targums, but a very advanced
application to Christianity of Alexandrian philosophy, with which we
have become familiar through the writings of Philo, to which reference
has so frequently been made. It is quite true that a decided step beyond
the doctrine of Philo is made when the Logos is represented as [------]
in the person of Jesus, but this argument is equally applicable to the
Jewish doctrine of Wisdom, and that step had already been taken before
the composition of the Gospel. In the Alexandrian philosophy everything
was prepared for the final application of the doctrine, and nothing is
more clear than the fact that the writer of the fourth Gospel was well
acquainted with the teaching of the Alexandrian school, from which he
derived his philosophy, and its elaborate and systematic application to
Jesus alone indicates a late
{414}
development of Christian doctrine, which we maintain could not have been
attained by the Judaistic son of Zebedec.(1)
We have already on several occasions referred to the attitude which the
writer of the fourth Gospel assumes towards the Jews. Apart from the
fact that he places Christianity generally in strong antagonism to
Judaism, as light to darkness, truth to a lie, and presents the doctrine
of a hypostatic Trinity in the most developed form to be found in the
New Testament, in striking contrast to the three Synoptics, and in
contradiction to Hebrew Monotheism, he writes at all times as one who
not only is not a Jew himself, but has nothing to do with their laws and
customs. He speaks everywhere of the feasts "of the Jews," "the passover
of the Jews," "the manner of the purifying of the Jews," "the Jews'
feast of tabernacles," "as the manner of the Jews is to bury," "the
Jews' preparation day," and so on.(2) The Law of Moses is spoken of as
"your law," "their law," as of a people with which the writer was not
connected.(3) Moreover, the Jews are represented as continually in
virulent opposition to Jesus, and seeking to kill him; and the word
"Jew" is the unfailing indication of the enemies of the truth, and the
persecutors of the Christ.(4) The Jews are not once spoken of as the
favoured people of God, but they are denounced as "children of
the devil," who is "the father of lies and a murderer from the
beginning."(5) The author makes Caiaphas and the chief
1 Most critics agree that the characteristics of the fourth
Gospel render the supposition that it was the work of an old
man untenable.