Chapter IV: Justin Martyr (1)

Hitherto the extant remains of Christian literature have been scanty and the stream of evangelical quotation has been equally so, but as we approach the middle of the second century it becomes much more abundant. We have copious quotations from a Gospel used about the year 140 by Marcion; the Clementine Homilies, the date of which however is more uncertain, also contain numerous quotations; and there are still more in the undoubted works of Justin Martyr. When I speak of quotations, I do not wish to beg the question by implying that they are necessarily taken from our present Gospels, I merely mean quotations from an evangelical document of some sort. This reservation has to be made especially in regard to Justin.

Strictly according to the chronological order we should not have to deal with Justin until somewhat later, but it will perhaps be best to follow the order of 'Supernatural Religion,' the principle of which appears to be to discuss the orthodox writers first and heretical writings afterwards. Modern critics seem pretty generally to place the two Apologies in the years 147-150 A.D. and the Dialogue against Tryphon a little later. Dr. Keim indeed would throw forward the date of Justin's writings as far as from 155-160 on account of the mention of Marcion [Endnote 89:1], but this is decided by both Hilgenfeld [Endnote 89:2] and Lipsius to be too late. I see that Mr. Hort, whose opinion on such matters deserves high respect, comes to the conclusion 'that we may without fear of considerable error set down Justin's First Apology to 145, or better still to 146, and his death to 148. The Second Apology, if really separate from the First, will then fall in 146 or 147, and the Dialogue with Tryphon about the same time' [Endnote 89:3]

No definite conclusion can be drawn from the title given by Justin to the work or works he used, that of the 'Memoirs' or 'Recollections' of the Apostles, and it will be best to leave our further enquiry quite unfettered by any assumption in respect to them. The title certainly does not of necessity imply a single work composed by the Apostles collectively [Endnote 89:4], any more than the parallel phrase 'the writings of the Prophets' [Endnote 89:5] ([Greek: ta sungrammata ton prophaeton]), which Justin couples with the 'Memoirs' as read together in the public services of the Church, implies a single and joint production on the part of the Prophets. This hypothesis too is open to the very great objection that so authoritative a work, if it existed, should have left absolutely no other trace behind it. So far as the title is concerned, the 'Memoirs of the Apostles' may be either a single work or an almost indefinite number. In one place Justin says that the Memoirs were composed 'by His Apostles and their followers' [Endnote 90:1], which seems to agree remarkably, though not exactly, with the statement in the prologue to St. Luke. In another he says expressly that the Memoirs are called Gospels ([Greek: ha kaleitai euangelia]) [Endnote 90:2]. This clause has met with the usual fate of parenthetic statements which do not quite fall in with preconceived opinions, and is dismissed as a 'manifest interpolation,' a gloss having crept into the text from the margin. It would be difficult to estimate the exact amount of probability for or against this theory, but possible at any rate it must be allowed to be; and though the _primâ facie_ view of the genuineness of the words is supported by another place in which a quotation is referred directly 'to the Gospel,' still too much ought not perhaps to be built on this clause alone.

* * * * *

A convenient distinction may be drawn between the material and formal use of the Gospels; and the most satisfactory method perhaps will be, to run rapidly through Justin's quotations, first with a view to ascertain their relation to the Canonical Gospels in respect to their general historical tenor, and secondly to examine the amount of verbal agreement. I will try to bring out as clearly as possible the double phenomena both of agreement and difference; the former (in regard to which condensation will be necessary) will be indicated both by touching in the briefest manner the salient points and by the references in the margin; the latter, which I have endeavoured to give as exhaustively as possible, are brought out by italics in the text. The thread of the narrative then, so far as it can be extracted from the genuine writings of Justin, will be much as follows [Endnote 91:1].

According to Justin the Messiah
was born, without sin, of a
[SIDENOTES] virgin _who_ was descended from [SIDENOTES]
[Matt. 1.2-6.] David, Jesse, Phares, Judah, [Luke 3.31-34.]
Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham, if
not (the reading here is doubtful)
from Adam himself. [Justin
therefore, it may be inferred, had
before him a genealogy, though
not apparently, as the Canonical
Gospels, that of Joseph but of
Mary.] To Mary it was announced
by the angel Gabriel [Luke 1.26.]
that, while yet a virgin, the
power of God, or of the Highest, [Luke 1.35.]
should overshadow her and she
should conceive and bear a Son [Luke 1.31.]
[Matt. 1.21.] whose name she should call Jesus,
because He should save His
people from their sins. Joseph
observing that Mary, his espoused,
was with child was
[Matt. 1.18-25.] warned in a dream not to put
her away, because that which
was in her womb was of the
Holy Ghost. Thus the prophecy,
[Matt. 1.23.] Is. vii. 14 (Behold the
virgin &c.), was fulfilled. The
mother of John the Baptist was [Luke 1.57.]
Elizabeth. The birth-place of
the Messiah had been indicated
[Matt. 2.5, 6.] by the prophecy of Micah (v. 2,
Bethlehem not the least among
the princes of Judah). There
He was born, as the Romans
might learn from the census
taken by Cyrenius the first
_procurator_ [Greek: [Luke 2.1, 2.]
epitropou] _of Judaea_.
His life extended from Cyrenius
to Pontius Pilate. So, in
consequence of this the first census
in Judaea, Joseph went up from
Nazareth where he dwelt to [Luke 2.4.]
Bethlehem _whence he was_, as a
member of the tribe of Judah.
The parents of Jesus could find
no lodging in Bethlehem, so it [Luke 2.7.]
came to pass that He was born
_in a cave near the village_ and
laid in a manger. At His birth [_ibid._]
[Matt. 2.1.] there came Magi _from Arabia_,
who knew by a star that had
appeared in the _heaven_ that a
[Matt. 2.2.] king had been born in Judaea.
Having paid Him their homage
[Matt. 2.11.] and offered gifts of gold, frankincense
and myrrh, they were
[Matt. 2.12.] warned not to return to Herod
[Matt. 2. 1-7.] whom they had consulted on
the way. He however not willing
that the Child should escape,
[Matt. 2.16.] ordered a massacre of _all_ the
children in Bethlehem, fulfilling
[Matt. 2.17, 18.] the prophecy of Jer. xxxi. 15
(Rachel weeping for her children &c.).
Joseph and his wife meanwhile
[Matt. 2.13-15.] with the Babe had fled
to Egypt, for the Father resolved
that He to whom He had
given birth should not die before
He had preached His word
as a man. There they stayed
[Matt. 2.22] until Archelaus succeeded Herod,
and then returned.

By process of nature He grew
to the age of thirty years or [Luke 3.23.]
more, _not comely of aspect_ (_as
had been prophesied_), practising
[Mark 6.3.] the trade of a carpenter, _making
ploughs and yokes, emblems of
righteousness_. He remained
hidden till John, the herald of
his coming, came forward, the
[Matt 17.12, 13.] spirit of Elias being in him, and
[Matt. 3.2.] as he _sat_ by the river Jordan [Luke 3.3.]
cried to men to repent. As he
[Matt. 3.4.] preached in his wild garb he
declared that he was not the [John 1.19 ff.]
Christ, but that One stronger
[Matt. 3.11, 12.] than he was coming after him [Luke 3. 16, 17.]
whose shoes he was not worthy
to bear, &c. The later history
of John Justin also mentions,
[Matt. 14.3.] how, having been put in prison, [Luke 3.20.]
at a feast on Herod's birthday
[Matt. 14.6 ff.] he was beheaded at the instance
of his sister's daughter. This
[Matt. 17.11-13.] John was Elias who was to come
before the Christ.

At the baptism of Jesus _a fire
was kindled on the Jordan_, and,
as He went up out of the water,
[Matt. 3.16.] the Holy Ghost alighted upon [Luke 3.21, 22.]
Him, and a voice was heard from
heaven _saying in the words of
David_, 'Thou art My Son, _this
day have I begotten Thee_.' After
[Matt. 4.1, 9.] His baptism He was tempted by
the devil, who ended by claiming
homage from Him. To this
Christ replied, 'Get thee behind
[Matt 4.11.] Me, Satan,' &c. So the devil [Luke 4.13.]
departed from Him at that time
worsted and convicted.

Justin knew that the words
of Jesus were short and concise,
not like those of a Sophist. That
He wrought miracles _might be
learnt from the Acts of Pontius
Pilate, fulfilling Is. xxxv. 4-6._
[Matt. 9.29-31, Those who from their _birth_ were [Luke 18.35-43.]
32, 33. 1-8.] blind, dumb, lame, He healed-- [Luke 11.14 ff.]
[Matt. 4.23.] indeed He healed all sickness and [Luke 5.17-26.]
[Matt 9.18 ff.] disease--and He raised the dead. [Luke 8.41 ff.]
_The Jews ascribed these miracles [Luke 7. 11-18.]
to magic_.

Jesus, too (like John, _whose mission ceased when He appeared in public_), began His ministry [Matt 4.17.] by proclaiming that the kingdom of heaven was at hand. Many precepts of the Sermon on the Mount Justin has preserved, [Matt 5.20.] the righteousness of the [Matt 5.28.] Scribes and Pharisees, the [Matt 5.29-32.] adultery of the heart, the offending [Matt 5.34, 37, eye, divorce, oaths, returning 39] [Matt 5.44.] good for evil, loving and praying [Matt 5.42.] for enemies, giving to those that [Luke 6.30.] [Matt 6.19, 20.] need, placing the treasure in [Matt 6.25-27.] heaven, not caring for bodily [Luke 12.22-24.] [Matt 5.45.] wants, but copying the mercy [Matt 6.21, &c.] and goodness of God, not acting from worldly motives--above all, [Matt 7.22, 23.] deeds not words. [Luke 13.26, 27.]

Justin quotes sayings from [Matt. 8.11, 12.] the narrative of the centurion [Luke 13.28, 29.] [Matt. 9.13.] of Capernaum and of the feast [Luke 5.32.] in the house of Matthew. He [Matt. 10.1 ff.] has, the choosing of the twelve [Luke 6.13.] Apostles, with the name given [Mark 3.17.] to the sons of Zebedee, Boanerges or 'sons of thunder,' the com- mission of the Apostles, the [Luke 10.19.] [Matt. 11.12-15.] discourse after the departure of [Luke 16.16.] the messengers of John, the [Matt. 16.4.] sign of the prophet Jonas, the [Matt. 13.3 ff.] parable of the sower, Peter's [Luke 8.5 ff.] [Matt. 16.15-18.] confession, the announcement of [Luke 9.22.] [Matt. 16.21.] the Passion.

From the account of the last
journey and the closing scenes
of our Lord's life, Justin has,
[Matt. 19.16,17.] the history of the rich young [Luke 18.18,19.]
[Matt. 21.1 ff.] man, the entry into Jerusalem, [Luke 19.29 ff.]
the cleansing of the Temple, the [Luke 19.46.]
[Matt. 22.11.] wedding garment, the controversial
discourses about the [Luke 20.22-25.]
[Matt. 22.21.] tribute money, the resurrection, [Luke 20.35,36.]
[Matt. 22.37,38.] and the greatest commandment,
[Matt. 23.2 ff.] those directed against the Pha- [Luke 11.42,52.]
[Matt. 25.34,41.] risees and the eschatological
[Matt. 25.14-30.] discourse, the parable of the
talents. Justin's account of the
institution of the Lord's Supper [Luke 22.19,20.]
agrees with that of Luke. After
[Matt. 26.30.] it Jesus sang a hymn, and taking
[Matt. 26.36,37.] with Him three of His disciples
to the Mount of Olives He was
in an agony, His sweat falling in [Luke 22.42-44.]
_drops_ (not necessarily of blood)
to the ground. His captors
surrounded Him _like the 'horned
bulls' of Ps. xxii._ 11-14; there
[Matt. 26.56.] was none to help, for His followers
_to a man_ forsook Him.
[Matt. 26.57 ff.] He was led both before the [Luke 22.66 ff.]
Scribes and Pharisees and before
[Matt. 27.11 ff.] Pilate. In the trial before Pilate [Luke 23.1 ff.]
[Matt. 27.14] He kept silence, _as Ps. xxii._ 15.
Pilate sent Him bound to Herod. [Luke 23.7.]

Justin relates most of the incidents
of the Crucifixion in detail,
for confirmation of which he refers
to the _Acts of Pilate_. He marks
especially the fulfilment in various
places of Ps. xxii. He has the
piercing with nails, the casting of [Luke 24.40.]
[Matt. 27.35.] lots and dividing of the garments, [Luke 23.34.]
[Matt. 27.39 ff.] the _sneers_ of the crowd [Luke 23.35.]
(somewhat expanded from the
[Matt. 27.42.] Synoptics), and their taunt, _He
who raised the dead_ let Him save
[Matt. 27.46.] Himself; also the cry of despair,
'My God, My God, why hast
Thou forsaken Me?' and the last
words, 'Father, into Thy hands [Luke 23.46.]
I commend My Spirit.'

[Matt. 27.57-60.] The burial took place in the
evening, the disciples being all
[Matt. 26.31,56.] scattered in accordance with
Zech. xiii. 7. On the third day, [Luke 24.21.]
[Matt. 28.1 ff.] the day of the sun or the first [Luke 24.1 ff.]
(or eighth) day of the week,
Jesus rose from the dead. He
then convinced His disciples that
His sufferings had been prophe- [Luke 24.26, 46.]
tically foretold and they repented [Luke 24.32.]
of having deserted Him. Having
given them His last commission
they saw Him ascend up into [Luke 24.50.]
heaven. Thus believing and
having first waited to receive
power from Him they went forth
into all the world and preached
the word of God. To this day
[Matt. 28.19] Christians baptize in the name
of the Father of all, and of our
Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the
Holy Ghost.

[Matt. 28.12-15.] The Jews spread a story that
the disciples stole the body of
Jesus from the grave and so
deceived men by asserting that
He was risen from the dead and
ascended into heaven.

There is nothing in Justin (as
in Luke xxiv, but cp. Acts i. 3)
to show that the Ascension did
not take place _on the same day_
as the Resurrection.

I have taken especial pains in the above summary to bring out the points in which Justin way seem to differ from or add to the canonical narratives. But, without stopping at present to consider the bearing of these upon Justin's relation to the Gospels, I will at once proceed to make some general remarks which the summary seems to suggest.

(1) If such is the outline of Justin's Gospel, it appears to be really a question of comparatively small importance whether or not he made use of our present Gospels in their present form. If he did not use these Gospels he used other documents which contained substantially the same matter. The question of the reality of miracles clearly is not affected. Justin's documents, whatever they were, not only contained repeated notices of the miracles in general, the healing of the lame and the paralytic, of the maimed and the dumb, and the raising of the dead--not only did they include several discourses, such as the reply to the messengers of John and the saying to the Centurion whose servant was healed, which have direct reference to miracles, but they also give marked prominence to the chief and cardinal miracles of the Gospel history, the Incarnation and the Resurrection. It is antecedently quite possible that the narrative of these events may have been derived from a document other than our Gospels; but, if so, that is only proof of the existence of further and independent evidence to the truth of the history. This document, supposing it to exist, is a surprising instance of the homogeneity of the evangelical tradition; it differs from the three Synoptic Gospels, nay, we may say even from the four Gospels, _less_ than they differ from each other.

(2) But we may go further than this. If Justin really used a separate substantive document now lost, that document, to judge from its contents, must have represented a secondary, or rather a tertiary, stage of the evangelical literature; it must have implied the previous existence of our present Gospels. I do not now allude to the presence in it of added traits, such as the cave of the Nativity and the fire on Jordan, which are of the nature of those mythical details that we find more fully developed in the Apocryphal Gospels. I do not so much refer to these--though, for instance, in the case of the fire on Jordan it is highly probable that Justin's statement is a translation into literal fact of the canonical (and Justinian) saying, 'He shall baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire'--but, on general grounds, the relation which this supposed document bears to the extant Gospels shows that it must have been in point of time posterior to them.

The earlier stages of evangelical composition present a nucleus, with a more or less defined circumference, of unity, and outside of this a margin of variety. There was a certain body of narrative, which, in whatever form it was handed down--whether as oral or written--at a very early date obtained a sort of general recognition, and seems to have been as a matter of course incorporated in the evangelical works as they appeared.

Besides this there was also other matter which, without such general recognition, had yet a considerable circulation, and, though not found in all, was embodied in more than one of the current compilations. But, as we should naturally expect, these two classes did not exhaust the whole of the evangelical matter. Each successive historian found himself able by special researches to add something new and as yet unpublished to the common stock. Thus, the first of our present Evangelists has thirty-five sections or incidents besides the whole of the first two chapters peculiar to himself. The third Evangelist has also two long chapters of preliminary history, and as many as fifty-six sections or incidents which have no parallel in the other Gospels. Much of this peculiar matter in each case bears an individual and characteristic stamp. The opening chapters of the first and third Synoptics evidently contain two distinct and independent traditions. So independent indeed are they, that the negative school of critics maintain them to be irreconcilable, and the attempts to harmonise them have certainly not been completely successful [Endnote 101:1]. These differences, however, show what rich quarries of tradition were open to the enquirer in the first age of Christianity, and how readily he might add to the stores already accumulated by his predecessors. But this state of things did not last long. As in most cases of the kind, the productive period soon ceased, and the later writers had a choice of two things, either to harmonise the conflicting records of previous historians, or to develope their details in the manner that we find in the Apocryphal Gospels.

But if Justin used a single and separate document or any set of documents independent of the canonical, then we may say with confidence that that document or set of documents belonged entirely to this secondary stage. It possesses both the marks of secondary formation. Such details as are added to the previous evangelical tradition are just of that character which we find in the Apocryphal Gospels. But these details are comparatively slight and insignificant; the main tendency of Justin's Gospel (supposing it to be a separate composition) was harmonistic. The writer can hardly have been ignorant of our Canonical Gospels; he certainly had access, if not to them, yet to the sources, both general and special, from which they are taken. He not only drew from the main body of the evangelical tradition, but also from those particular and individual strains which appear in the first and third Synoptics. He has done this in the spirit of a true _desultor_, passing backwards and forwards first to one and then to the other, inventing no middle links, but merely piecing together the two accounts as best he could. Indeed the preliminary portions of Justin's Gospel read very much like the sort of rough _primâ facie_ harmony which, without any more profound study, most people make for themselves. But the harmonising process necessarily implies matter to harmonise, and that matter must have had the closest possible resemblance to the contents of our Gospels.

If, then, Justin made use either of a single document or set of documents distinct from those which have become canonical, we conclude that it or they belonged to a later and more advanced stage of formation. But it should be remembered that the case is a hypothetical one. The author of 'Supernatural Religion' seems inclined to maintain that Justin did use such a document or documents, and not our Gospels. If he did, then the consequence above stated seems to follow. But I do not at all care to press this inference; it is no more secure than the premiss upon which it is founded. Only it seems to me that the choice lies between two alternatives and no more; either Justin used our Gospels, or else he used a document later than our Gospels and presupposing them. The reader may take which side of the alternative he pleases.

The question is, which hypothesis best covers and explains the facts. It is not impossible that Justin may have had a special Gospel such as has just been described. There is a tendency among those critics who assign Justin's quotations to an uncanonical source to find that source in the so-called Gospel according to the Hebrews or some of its allied forms. But a large majority of critics regard the Gospel according to the Hebrews as holding precisely this secondary relation to the canonical Matthew. Justin's document can hardly have been the Gospel according to the Hebrews, at least alone, as that Gospel omitted the section Matt. i. 18-ii. 23 [Endnote 103:1], which Justin certainly retained. But it is within the bounds of possibility--it would be hazardous to say more--that he may have had another Gospel so modified and compiled as to meet all the conditions of the case. For my own part, I think it decidedly the more probable hypothesis that he used our present Gospels with some peculiar document, such as this Gospel according to the Hebrews, or perhaps, as Dr. Hilgenfeld thinks, the ground document of the Gospel according to Peter (a work of which we know next to nothing except that it favoured Docetism and was not very unlike the Canonical Gospels) and the Protevangelium of James (or some older document on which that work was founded) in addition.

It will be well to try to establish this position a little more in detail; and therefore I will proceed to collect first, the evidence for the use, either mediate or direct, of the Synoptic Gospels, and secondly, that for the use of one or more Apocryphal Gospels. We still keep to the substance of Justin's Gospel, and reserve the question of its form.

Of those portions of the first Synoptic which appear to be derived from a peculiar source, and for the presence of which we have no evidence in any other Gospel of the same degree of originality, Justin has the following: Joseph's suspicions of his wife, the special statement of the significance of the name Jesus ('for He shall save His people from their sins,' Matt. i. 21, verbally identical), the note upon the fulfilment of the prophecy Is. vii. 14 ('Behold a virgin,' &c.), the visit of the Magi guided by a star, their peculiar gifts, their consultation of Herod and the warning given them not to return to him, the massacre of the children at Bethlehem, fulfilling Jer. xxxi. 15, the descent into Egypt, the return of the Holy Family at the succession of Archelaus. The Temptations Justin gives in the order of Matthew. From the Sermon on the Mount he has the verses v. 14, 20, 28, vi. 1, vii. 15, 21, and from the controversial discourse against the Pharisees, xxiii. 15, 24, which are without parallels. The prophecy, Is. xlii. 1-4, is applied as by Matthew alone. There is an apparent allusion to the parable of the wedding garment. The comment of the disciples upon the identification of the Baptist with Elias (Matt. xvii. 13), the sign of the prophet Jonas (Matt. xvi. 1, 4), and the triumphal entry (the ass _with the colt_), show a special affinity to St. Matthew. And, lastly, in concert with the same Evangelist, Justin has the calumnious report of the Jews (Matt. xxviii. 12 15) and the baptismal formula (Matt. xxviii. 19).

Of the very few details that are peculiar to St. Mark, Justin has the somewhat remarkable one of the bestowing of the surname Boanerges on the sons of Zebedee. Mark also appears to approach most nearly to Justin in the statements that Jesus practised the trade of a carpenter (cf. Mark vi. 3) and that He healed those who were diseased _from their birth_ (cf. Mark ix. 21), and perhaps in the emphasis upon the oneness of God in the reply respecting the greatest commandment.

In common with St. Luke, Justin has the mission of the angel Gabriel to Mary, the statement that Elizabeth was the mother of John, that the census was taken under Cyrenius, that Joseph went up from Nazareth to Bethlehem [Greek: hothen aen], that no room was found in the inn, that Jesus was thirty years old when He began His ministry, that He was sent from Pilate to Herod, with the account of His last words. There are also special affinities in the phrase quoted from the charge to the Seventy (Luke x. 19), in the verse Luke xi. 52, in the account of the answer to the rich young man, of the institution of the Lord's Supper, of the Agony in the Garden, and of the Resurrection and Ascension.

These coincidences are of various force. Some of the single verses quoted, though possessing salient features in common, have also, as we shall see, more or less marked differences. Too much stress should not be laid on the allegation of the same prophecies, because there may have been a certain understanding among the Christians as to the prophecies to be quoted as well as the versions in which they were to be quoted. But there are other points of high importance. Just in proportion as an event is from a historical point of view suspicious, it is significant as a proof of the use of the Gospel in which it is contained; such would be the adoration of the Magi, the slaughter of the innocents, the flight into Egypt, the conjunction of the foal with the ass in the entry into Jerusalem. All these are strong evidence for the use of the first Gospel, which is confirmed in the highest degree by the occurrence of a reflection peculiar to the Evangelist, 'Then the disciples understood that He spake unto them of John the Baptist' (Matt. xvii. 13, compare Dial. 49). Of the same nature are the allusions to the census of Cyrenius (there is no material discrepancy between Luke and Justin), and the statement of the age at which the ministry of Jesus began. These are almost certainly remarks by the third Evangelist himself, and not found in any previously existing source. The remand to Herod in all probability belonged to a source that was quite peculiar to him. The same may be said with only a little less confidence of the sections of the preliminary history.

Taking these salient points together with the mass of the coincidences each in its place, and with the due weight assigned to it, the conviction seems forced upon us that Justin did either mediately or immediately, and most probably immediately and directly, make use of our Canonical Gospels.

On the other hand, the argument that he used, whether in addition to these or exclusively, a Gospel now lost, rests upon the following data. Justin apparently differs from the Synoptics in giving the genealogy of Mary, not of Joseph. In Apol. i. 34 he says that Cyrenius was the first governor (procurator) of Judaea, instead of saying that the census first took place under Cyrenius. [It should be remarked, however, that in another place, Dial. 78, he speaks of 'the census which then took place for the first time ([Greek: ousaes tote protaes]) under Cyrenius.'] He states that Mary brought forth her Son in a cave near the village of Bethlehem. He ten times over speaks of the Magi as coming from Arabia, and not merely from the East. He says emphatically that all the children ([Greek: pantas haplos tous paidas]) in Bethlehem were slain without mentioning the limitation of age given in St. Matthew. He alludes to details in the humble occupation of Jesus who practised the trade of a carpenter. Speaking of the ministry of John, he three times repeats the phrase _'as he sat'_ by the river Jordan. At the baptism of Jesus he says that 'fire was kindled on' or rather 'in the Jordan,' and that a voice was heard saying, 'Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee.' He adds to the notice of the miracles that the Jews thought they were the effect of magic. Twice he refers, as evidence for what he is saying, to the Acts of Pontius Pilate. In two places Justin sees a fulfilment of Ps. xxii, where none is pointed out by the Synoptics. He says that _all_ the disciples forsook their Master, which seems to overlook Peter's attack on the high priest's servant. In the account of the Crucifixion he somewhat amplifies the Synoptic version of the mocking gestures of the crowd. And besides these matters of fact he has two sayings, 'In whatsoever I find you, therein will I also judge you,' and 'There shall be schisms and heresies,' which are without parallel, or have no exact parallel, in our Gospels.

Some of these points are not of any great importance. The reference to the Acts of Pilate should in all probability be taken along with the parallel reference to the census of Cyrenius, in which Justin asserts that the birth of Jesus would be found registered. Both appear to be based, not upon any actual document that Justin had seen, but upon the bold assumption that the official documents must contain a record of facts which he knew from other sources [Endnote 107:1]. In regard to Cyrenius he evidently has the Lucan version in his mind, though he seems to have confused this with his knowledge that Cyrenius was the first to exercise the Roman sovereignty in Judaea, which was matter of history. Justin seems to be mistaken in regarding Cyrenius as 'procurator' [Greek: epitropou] of Judaea. He instituted the census not in this capacity, but as proconsul of Syria. The first procurator of Judaea was Coponius. Some of Justin's peculiarities may quite fairly be explained as unintentional. General statements without the due qualifications, such as those in regard to the massacre of the children and the conduct of the disciples in Gethsemane, are met with frequently enough to this day, and in works of a more professedly critical character than Justin's. The description of the carpenter's trade and of the crowd at the Crucifixion may be merely rhetorical amplifications in the one case of the general Synoptic statement, in the other of the special statement in St. Mark. A certain fulness of style is characteristic of Justin. That he attributes the genealogy to Mary may be a natural instance of reflection; the inconsistency in the Synoptic Gospels would not be at first perceived, and the simplest way of removing it would be that which Justin has adopted. It should be noticed however that he too distinctly says that Joseph was of the tribe of Judah (Dial. 78) and that his family came from Bethlehem, which looks very much like an unobliterated trace of the same inconsistency. It is also noticeable that in the narrative of the Baptism one of the best MSS. of the Old Latin (a, Codex Vercellensis) has, in the form of an addition to Matt. iii. 15, 'et cum baptizaretur lumen ingens circumfulsit de aqua ita ut timerent omnes qui advenerant,' and there is a very similar addition in g1 (Codex San-Germanensis). Again, in Luke iii. 22 the reading [Greek: ego saemeron gegennaeka se] for [Greek: en soi eudokaesa] is shared with Justin by the most important Graeco- Latin MS. D (Codex Bezae), and a, b, c, ff, l of the Old Version; Augustine expressly states that the reading was found 'in several respectable copies (aliquibus fide dignis exemplaribus), though not in the older Greek Codices.'

There will then remain the specifying of Arabia as the home of the Magi, the phrase [Greek: kathezomenos] used of John on the banks of the Jordan, the two unparallelled sentences, and the cave of the Nativity. Of these the phrase [Greek: kathezomenos], which occurs in three places, Dial. 49, 51, 88, but always in Justin's own narrative and not in quotation, _may_ be an accidental recurrence; and it is not impossible that the other items may be derived from an unwritten tradition.

Still, on the whole, I incline to think that though there is not conclusive proof that Justin used a lost Gospel besides the present Canonical Gospels, it is the more probable hypothesis of the two that he did. The explanations given above seem to me reasonable and possible; they are enough, I think, to remove the _necessity_ for assuming a lost document, but perhaps not quite enough to destroy the greater probability. This conclusion, we shall find, will be confirmed when we pass from considering the substance of Justin's Gospel to its form.

But now if we ask ourselves _what_ was this hypothetical lost document, all we can say is, I believe, that the suggestions hitherto offered are insufficient. The Gospels according to the Hebrews or according to Peter and the Protevangelium of James have been most in favour. The Gospel according to the Hebrews in the form in which it was used by the Nazarenes contained the fire upon Jordan, and as used by the Ebionites it had also the voice, 'This day have I begotten Thee.' Credner [Endnote 110:1], and after him Hilgenfeld [Endnote 110:2], thought that the Gospel according to Peter was used. But we know next to nothing about this Gospel, except that it was nearly related to the Gospel according to the Hebrews, that it made the 'brethren of the Lord' sons of Joseph by a former wife, that it was found by Serapion in the churches of his diocese, Rhossus in Cilicia, that its use was at first permitted but afterwards forbidden, as it was found to favour Docetism, and that its contents were in the main orthodox though in some respects perverted [Endnote 110:3]. Obviously these facts and the name (which falls in with the theory--itself also somewhat unsubstantial--that Justin's Gospel must have a 'Petrine' character) are quite insufficient to build upon. The Protevangelium of James, which it is thought might have been used in an earlier form than that which has come down to us, contains the legend of the cave, and has apparently a similar view to the Gospel last mentioned as to the perpetual virginity of Mary. The kindred Evangelium Thomae has the 'ploughs and yokes.' And there are some similarities of language between the Protevangelium and Justin's Gospel, which will come under review later [Endnote 110:4].

It does not, however, appear to have been noticed that these Gospels satisfy most imperfectly the conditions of the problem. We know that the Gospel according to the Hebrews in its Nazarene form omitted the whole section Matt. i. 18--ii. 23, containing the conception, the nativity, the visit of the Magi, and the flight into Egypt, all of which were found in Justin's Gospel; while in its Ebionite form it left out the first two chapters altogether. There is not a tittle of evidence to show that the Gospel according to Peter was any more complete; in proportion as it resembled the Gospel according to the Hebrews the presumption is that it was not. And the Protevangelium of James makes no mention of Arabia, while it expressly says that the star appeared 'in the East' (instead of 'in the heaven' as Justin); it also omits, and rather seems to exclude, the flight into Egypt.

It is therefore clear that whether Justin used these Gospels or not, he cannot in any case have confined himself to them; unless indeed this is possible in regard to the Gospel that bears the name of Peter, though the possibility is drawn so entirely from our ignorance that it can hardly be taken account of. We thus seem to be reduced to the conclusion that Justin's Gospel or Gospels was an unknown entity of which no historical evidence survives, and this would almost be enough, according to the logical Law of Parsimony, to drive us back upon the assumption that our present Gospels only had been used. This assumption however still does not appear to me wholly satisfactory, for reasons which will come out more clearly when from considering the matter of the documents which Justin used we pass to their form.

* * * * *

The reader already has before him a collection of Justin's quotations from the Old Testament, the results of which may be stated thus. From the Pentateuch eighteen passages are quoted exactly, nineteen with slight variations, and eleven with marked divergence. From the Psalms sixteen exactly, including nine (or ten) whole Psalms, two with slight and three with decided variation. From Isaiah twenty-five exactly, twelve slightly variant, and sixteen decidedly. From the other Major Prophets Justin has only three exact quotations, four slightly divergent, and eleven diverging more widely. From the Minor Prophets and other books he has two exact quotations, seven in which the variation is slight, and thirteen in which it is marked. Of the distinctly free quotations in the Pentateuch (eleven in all), three may be thought to have a Messianic character (the burning bush, the brazen serpent, the curse of the cross), but in none of these does the variation appear to be due to this. Of the three free quotations from the Psalms two are Messianic, and one of these has probably been influenced by the Messianic application. In the free quotations from Isaiah it is not quite easy to say what are Messianic and what are not; but the only clear case in which the Messianic application seems to have caused a marked divergence is xlii. 1-4. Other passages, such as ii. 5, 6, vii. 10-17, lii. l3-liii. 12 (as quoted in A. i. 50), appear under the head of slight variation. The long quotation lii. 10-liv. 6, in Dial. 12, is given with substantial exactness. Turning to the other Major Prophets, one passage, Jer. xxxi. 15, has probably derived its shape from the Messianic application. And in the Minor Prophets three passages (Hos. x. 6, Zech. xii. 10-12, and Micah v. 2) appear to have been thus affected. The rest of the free quotations and some of the variations in those which are less free may be set down to defect of memory or similar accidental causes.

Let us now draw up a table of Justin's quotations from the Gospels arranged as nearly as may be on the same standard and scale as that of the quotations from the Old Testament. Such a table will stand thus. [Those only which appear to be direct quotations are given.]

_Exact._ |_Slightly variant._ | _Variant._ | _Remarks._
| | |
|+D.49, Matt. 3.11, | |repeated in part
| 12 (v.l.) | | similarly.
|D. 51, Matt. 11. | |compounded with
| 12-15; Luke 16. | | omissions but
| 16+. | | striking resem-
| | | blances.
D. 49, Matt. 17. | | |
11-13. | | |
|A.1.15, Matt. 5.28. | |
| |A.1.15, Matt. 5. |from memory?
| | 29; Mark 9.47. |
|A.1.15, Matt. 5.32. | |confusion of read-
| | | ings.
| |+A.1.15, Matt. |from memory?
| | 19.12. |
| |A.1.15, Matt. 5. |compounded.
| | 42; Luke 6.30, |
| | 34. |
Continuous.{ |A.1.15, Matt. 6. | |
{ |19, 20; 16.26; 6.20.| |
| | |
|Continuous.{ |A.1.15 (D.96), |from memory(Cr.),
| { | Luke 6.36; | but prob. diff-
| { | Matt. 5.45; 6. | erent document;
| { | 25-27; Luke 12.| rather marked
| { | 22-24; Matt. 6.| identity in
| { | 32, 33; 6.21. | phrase.
|A.1.15, Matt. 6.1. | |
A.1.15, Matt. 9. | | | do the last
13(?). | | | words belong
| | | to the
| |C | quotation?
| |o { A.1.15, Luke|
| |n { 6.32; Matt.|
| |t { 5.46. |
| |i { A.1.15, (D. |repeated in part
| |n { 128), Luke | similarly, in
| |u { 6.27, 28; | part diversely;
| |o { Matt. 5.44. | confusion in
| |u | MSS.
| |s |
| |s |
Continuous. { |A.1.16, Luke 6.29 | |
{ | (Matt. 5.39, 40.) | |
{ | |A.1.16, Matt. 5. |
{ | | 22 (v.l.) |
{ | |A.1.16, Matt. 5 |[Greek:
{ | | 41. | angaeusei.]
{ |A.1.16, Matt. 5.16. | |
| |D.93, A,1.16, |
| | Matt. 22.40,37,|
| | 38. |
| |A.1.16, D.101, |repeated
| | Matt. 19.16, | diversely.
| | 17 (v.l.); Luke|
| | 18.18,19 (v.l.)|
|A.1.16, Matt. 5. | |
| 34,37. | |
{A.1.16, Matt. | | |
{ 7.21. | | |
C { |A.1.16 (A.1.62), | |repeated in part
o { | Luke 10.16 (v.l.) | | similarly, in
n { | | | part diversely.
t { | |+A.1.16 (D.76), |
i { | | Matt. 7.22, 23 |
n { | | (v.l.); Luke |
u { | | 13.26,27 (v.l.)|
o { |A.1.16, Matt. 13. | |addition.
u { | 42, 43 (v.l.) | |
s { | |A.1.16 (D.35), |
{ | | Matt. 7.15. |
{ |A.1.16, Matt. 7. | |
{ | 16, 19. | |
D.76, Matt. 8.11.| | |
12+. | | |
| |D.35, [Greek: |
| | esontai schi- |
| | smata kai hai- |
| | reseis.] |
|D.76, Matt. 25.41 | |
| (v.l.) | |
|D.35, Matt. 7.15. | |repeated with
| | | nearer
| | | approach to
| | | Matthew, perh.
| | | v.l.
| |D.35, 82, Matt. |repeated with
| |24.24 (Mark 13. | similarity and
| | 22). | divergence.
| |D.82, Matt. 10. |freely.
| | 22, par. |
A.1.19, Luke 18. | | |
27+. | | |
| |A.1.19, Luke 12. |compounded.
| | 4, 5; Matt. |
| | 10.28. |
| |A.1.17, Luke 12. |
| | 48 (v.l.) |
|D.76, Luke 10.19+ | |ins. [Greek:
| | | skolopendron.]
D.105, Matt. 5. | | |
20. | | |
| |D.125, Matt. 13. |condensed narra-
| | 3 sqq. | tive.
| |+D.17, Luke 11. |
| | 52. |
|D.17, Matt. 23.23; | |compounded.
| Luke 11.42. | |
|D.17, 112, Matt. | |repeated simi-
| 23.27; 23.24. | | larly.
| |D.47, [Greek: en |
| | ois an humas |
| | katalabo en |
| | toutois kai |
| | krino.] |
|D.81, Luke 20. | |marked resem-
| 35, 36. | | blance with
| | | difference.
D.107, Matt.16.4.| | |
|D. 122, Matt. 23. | |
| 15. | |
|+D.17, Matt. 21. | |
| 13, 12. | |
| |+A.1.17, Luke 20.|narrative portion
| | 22-25 (v.l.) | free.
|D.100, A.1.63, | |repeated not
| Matt. 11.27 (v.l.)| | identically.
|D.76, 100, Luke | |repeated diverse-
| 9.22. | | diversely;
| | | free (Credner).
A.1.36, Matt. 21.| |D.53, Matt. 21.5.|(Zech. 9.9).
5 (addition). | | |
| |A.1.66, Luke 22. |
| | 19, 20. |
|D.99, Matt. 26. | |
| 39 (v.l.) | |
| |D.103, Luke 22. |
| | 42-44. |
| |D.101, Matt. 27. |
| | 43. |
| |A.1.38, [Greek: |
| | ho nekrous |
| | anegeiras rhu- |
| | sastho eauton.]|
D.99, Matt. 27. | | |compounded.
46; Mark 15.34.| | |
D.105, Luke 23. | | |
46.

The total result may be taken to be that ten passages are substantially exact, while twenty-five present slight and thirty- two marked variations [Endnote 116:1]. This is only rough and approximate, because of the passages that are put down as exact two, or possibly three, can only be said to be so with a qualification; though, on the other hand, there are passages entered under the second class as 'slightly variant' which have a leaning towards the first, and passages entered under the third which have a perceptible leaning towards the second. We can therefore afford to disregard these doubtful cases and accept the classification very much as it stands. Comparing it then with the parallel classification that has been made of the quotations from the Old Testament, we find that in the latter sixty-four were ranked as exact, forty-four as slightly variant, and fifty-four as decidedly variant. If we reduce these roughly to a common standard of comparison the proportion of variation may be represented thus:-- | Exact. | Slightly | Variant. | | variant. | | | | Quotations from the Old Testament | 10 | 7 | 9 Quotations from the Synoptic Gospels | 10 | 25 | 32

It will be seen from this at once how largely the proportion of variation rises; it is indeed more than three times as high for the quotations from the Gospels as for those from the Old Testament. The amount of combination too is decidedly in excess of that which is found in the Old Testament quotations.

There is, it is true, something to be said on the other side. Justin quotes the Old Testament rather as Scripture, the New Testament rather as history. I think it will be felt that he has permitted his own style a freer play in regard to the latter than the former. The New Testament record had not yet acquired the same degree of fixity as the Old. The 'many' compositions of which St. Luke speaks in his preface were still in circulation, and were only gradually dying out. One important step had been taken in the regular reading of the 'Memoirs of the Apostles' at the Christian assemblies. We have not indeed proof that these were confined to the Canonical Gospels. Probably as yet they were not. But it should be remembered that Irenaeus was now a boy, and that by the time he had reached manhood the Canon of the Gospels had received its definite form.

Taking all these points into consideration I think we shall find the various indications converge upon very much the same conclusion as that at which we have already arrived. The _a priori_ probabilities of the case, as well as the actual phenomena of Justin's Gospel, alike tend to show that he did make use either mediately or immediately of our Gospels, but that he did not assign to them an exclusive authority, and that he probably made use along with them of other documents no longer extant.

The proof that Justin made use of each of our three Synoptics individually is perhaps more striking from the point of view of substance than of form, because his direct quotations are mostly taken from the discourses rather than from the narrative, and these discourses are usually found in more than a single Gospel, while in proportion as they bear the stamp of originality and authenticity it is difficult to assign them to any particular reporter. There is however some strong and remarkable evidence of this kind.

At least one case of parallelism seems to prove almost decisively the use of the first Gospel. It is necessary to give the quotation and the original with the parallel from St. Mark side by side.

_Justin, Dial._ c.49.

[Greek: Aelias men eleusetai kai apokatastaesei panta, lego de humin, hoti Aelias aedae aelthe kai ouk epegnosan auton all' epoiaesan auto hosa aethelaesan. Kai gegraptai hoti tote sunaekan oi mathaetai, hoti peri Ioannon tou Baptistou eipen autois.]

_Matt._ xvii. 11-13.

[Greek: Aelias men erchetai apokatastaesei panta, lego de humin hoti Aelias aedae aelthen kai ouk epegnosan auton, alla epoiaesan auto hosa aethelaesan, [outos kai ho uios tou anthropou mellei paschein hup' auton.] Tote sunaekan oi mathaetai hoti peri Ioannou tou Baptistou eipen autois.] The clause in brackets is placed at the end of ver. 13 by D. and the Old Latin.

_Mark._ ix. 12, 13.

[Greek: Ho de ephae autois, Aelias [men] elthon proton apokathistanei panta, kai pos gegraptai epi ton uion tou anthropou, hina polla pathae kai exoudenaethae. Alla lego humin hoti kai Aelias elaeluthen kai epoiaesan auto hosa aethelon, kathos gegraptai ep' auton.]

We notice here, first, an important point, that Justin reproduces at the end of his quotation what appears to be not so much a part of the object-matter of the narrative as a _comment or reflection of the Evangelist_ ('Then the disciples understood that He spake unto them of John the Baptist'). This was thought by Credner, who as a rule is inclined to press the use of an apocryphal Gospel by Justin, to be sufficient proof that the quotation is taken from our present Matthew [Endnote 119:1]. On this point, however, there is an able and on the whole a sound argument in 'Supernatural Religion' [Endnote 119:2]. There are certainly cases in which a similar comment or reflection is found either in all three Synoptic Gospels or in two of them (e.g. Matt. vii. 28, 29 = Mark i. 22 = Luke iv. 32; Matt. xiii. 34 = Mark iv. 33, 34; Matt. xxvi. 43 = Mark xiv. 40; Matt. xix. 22 = Mark x. 22). The author consequently maintains that these were found in the original document from which all three, or two Synoptics at least, borrowed; and he notes that this very passage is assigned by Ewald to the 'oldest Gospel.'

The observation in itself is a fine and true one, and has an important bearing upon the question as to the way in which our Synoptic Gospels were composed. We may indeed remark in passing that the author seems to have overlooked the fact that, when once this principle of a common written basis or bases for the Synoptic Gospels is accepted, nine-tenths of his own argument is overthrown; for there are no divergences in the text of the patristic quotations from the Gospels that may not be amply paralleled by the differences which exist in the text of the several Gospels themselves, showing that the Evangelists took liberties with their ground documents to an extent that is really greater than that of any subsequent misquotation. But putting aside for the present this _argumentum ad hominem_ which seems to follow from the admission here made, there is, I think, the strongest reason to conclude that in the present case the first Evangelist is not merely reproducing his ground document. There is one element in the question which the author has omitted to notice; that is, the _parallel passage in St. Mark._ This differs so widely from the text of St. Matthew as to show that that text cannot accurately represent the original; it also wants the reflective comment altogether. Accordingly, if the author will turn to p. 275 of Ewald's book [Endnote 120:1] he will find that that writer, though roughly assigning the passage as it appears in both Synoptics to the 'oldest Gospel,' yet in reconstructing the text of this Gospel does so, not by taking that of either of the Synoptics pure and simple, but by mixing the two. All the other critics who have dealt with this point, so far as I am aware, have done the same. Holtzmann [Endnote 120:2] follows Ewald, and Weiss [Endnote 120:3] accepts Mark's as more nearly the original text.

The very extent of the divergence in St. Mark throws out into striking relief the close agreement of Justin's quotation with St. Matthew. Here we have three verses word for word the same, even to the finest shades of expression. To the single exception [Greek: eleusetai] for [Greek: erchetai] I cannot, as Credner does [Endnote 120:4], attach any importance. The present tense in the Gospel has undoubtedly a future signification [Endnote 120:5], and Justin was very naturally led to give it also a future form by [Greek: apokatastaesei] which follows. For the rest, the order, particles, tenses are so absolutely identical, where the text of St. Mark shows how inevitably they must have differed in another Gospel or even in the original, that I can see no alternative but to refer the quotation directly to our present St. Matthew.