6 It is very uncertain by what means the author of theHomilies considered this periodical reappearance to beeffected, whether by a kind of transmigration or otherwise.Critics consider it very doubtful whether he admitted thesupernatural birth of Jesus (though some hold it to beprobable), 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 asupernatural birth to the other seven prophets: DieClementinen, p. 207 ff.
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
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
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 forseveral years, he would certainly have had particularly good reason instead of one year to setseveral."(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
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,
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
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 Christiansdwellin 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
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,
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 animitator 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
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,
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
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.
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
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,
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
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
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;Godwas 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
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