his writings exact de scription of these me moirs. CHAP. II. written all things concerning Jesus Christ.* The nature of The peculiar objects which he had in view in his called for no extant writings did not suggest, even if they did not exclude, any minute description of these records. It would have added nothing to the vivid picture of Christianity which he drew for the heathen to have quoted with exact precision the testimony of this or that Apostle, even if such a mode of quotation had been usual. One thing they might require to know, and that he tells them, that the words of Christ were still the text of Christian instruction, that the 'Memoirs of the Apostles' were still read, together with the writings of the Prophets, in their weekly services'. So, on the other hand, the great difficulty in a controversy with a Jew was to show that the humiliation and death of Christ were reconcileable with the Messianic prophecies. The chief facts were here confessed; and in other points it was enough for the Apologist to assert generally that the Memoirs which he quoted rested upon Apostolic authority2. The different modes in which he quotes them in his Apo logy and in The manner in which Justin alludes to these Memoirs of the Apostles in his first Apology, known book. his Dialogue. The word was probably borrowed from Xenophon's wellIn various forms it appears frequently in ecclesiastical Greek. Euseb. H. E. iii. 39 (p. 81, note 1); and in his Dialogue with Trypho, confirms what CHAP. II. has been just said. If his mode of reference were not modified by the nature of his subject, it would surely have been the same in both. As it is, there is a marked difference, and exactly such as might have been expected. In the Apology, which contains nearly fifty allusions to the Gospel-history, he speaks only twice of the Apostolic authorship of his Memoirs, and in one other place mentions them generally1. In the Dialogue, which contains about seventy allusions, he quotes them ten times as the Memoirs of the Apostles,' and in five other places as the Memoirs".' tions in the This difference is still more striking if ex- The quotaamined closely. Every quotation of our Lord's Apology. words in the Apology is simply introduced by the 1 Ap. i. 66; 67; 33. Cf. c. 61. 2 It will be useful to give a classification of all the passages in which Justin quotes the 'Memoirs,' with the forms of quotation. The following will suffice: (α) Generally: τὰ ἀπομνημονεύματα τῶν ἀποστό λων. Dial. c. 100, γεγραμμένον ἐν τ. ἀπομν. τ. ἀπ. ; cc. 101, 103, 104, 106, ἐν τ. ἀπομν. τ. ἀπ. γέγραπται; c. 102, ἐν τ. ἀπομν. τ. ἀπ. δεδήλωται : c. 106, ἐν τ. ἀπομν. τ. ἀπ. δηλοῦται : c. 88, ἔγραψαν οἱ ἀπόστολοι. (β) Specially: Dial. c. 106: γεγράφθαι ἐν τοῖς ἀπομνημο νεύμασιν αὐτοῦ (i. e. Πέτρου); c. 103 [ἀπομνημονεύματα] φημι ὑπὸ τῶν ἀποστόλων αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν ἐκείνοις παρακολουθησάν των συντετάχθαι. (γ) τὰ ἀπομνημονεύματα: Dial. c. 105, ἀπὸ τ. ἀπομν. ἐμάθομεν: c. 105, ἐκ τ. ἀπομν. ἔμαθον: cc. 105, 106, 107, ἐν ἀπομν. γέγραπται. CHAP. II. phrases, thus Christ said,' or 'taught,' or 'ex horted; His words were their own witness. For the public events of His Life Justin refers to the Enrolment of Quirinus and the Acts of Pilate', He quotes the Gospels' only when he must speak of things beyond the range of common history. Standing before a Roman emperor as the apologist of the Christians, he confines himself as far as possible to common ground; and if he is compelled for illustration to quote the books of the Christians he takes care to show that they were recognized by the Church, and no private documents of his own. Thus, in speaking of the Annunciation, he says: And the Angel of God sent to the Virgin at that season, announced to her glad tidings, saying, 'Behold, thou shalt conceive of the Holy Spirit, and bear a Son, and he shall be called the Son of the Highest; and thou shalt call His name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins,' as those who have written memoirs of all things concerning our Saviour Jesus Christ taught us, whom we believed, since also the 1 Ap. i. 34: ὡς καὶ μαθεῖν δύνασθε ἐκ τῶν ἀπογραφῶν τῶν γενομένων ἐπὶ Κυρηνίου. Cap. 35 : καὶ ταῦτα ὅτι γέγονε δύνασθε μαθεῖν ἐκ τῶν ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πιλάτου γενομένων ἄκτων. Whether Justin referred to the apocryphal Acts of Pilate,' which we now have, or not, is of no importance: it is only necessary to remark the kind of evidence which he thought best suited to his design. prophetic Spirit said that this would come to CHAP. II. pass1.' So again, when explaining the celebration of the Eucharist, he adds: The Apostles in the Memoirs made by them, which are called Gospels, have handed down that it was thus enjoined on them...' And once more, when describing the Christian Service he notices that 'the Memoirs of the Apostles or the writings of the Prophets are read, as long as the time admits"." tions in the There is no further mention of the Memoirs The quotain the Apology. In the Dialogue the case Dialogue. was somewhat different. Trypho was himself acquainted with the Gospel, and Justin's language becomes proportionately more exact. The words of our Lord are still quoted very often simply as His words, without any acknow 1 Ap. i. 33: ὡς οἱ ἀπομνημονεύσαντες πάντα τὰ περὶ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐδίδαξαν. Credner (p. 129) raises a difficulty about this description. Where, he asks, is the written Gospel which could contain all?—The quotation points to St Luke; and St Luke himself tells us that his Gospel contained an account of all things (ñepì ñávτwv) that Jesus began to do and to teach' (Acts i. 1). The coincidence is at least very worthy of notice. It removes the difficulty, even if it do not also point to the very source of Justin's language. 2 Ap. i. 66. The conjecture that å kaλeîraι evayyédia is a gloss is very unfortunate. It could not be intended for the information of Christian readers; and a copyist would scarcely be likely to supply for the use of heathen what Justin had not thought fit to add. 3 Ap. i. 67. 4 Dial. c. 10 : τὰ ἐν τῷ λεγομένῳ εὐαγγελίῳ. K CHAP. II. ledgment of a written record; but from time to time, when reference is made to words of more special moment, so to speak, it is added that Coincidences they are so 'written in the Gospel'.' In one with passage the contrast between the substance of Christ's teaching and the record of it is brought out very clearly. After speaking of the death of John the Baptist, Justin adds: Wherefore also our Christ when on earth told those who said that Elias must come before Christ: "Elias indeed will come, and will restore all things; but I say to you that Elias came already, and they knew him not, but did to him whatsoever they St MATTHEW, listed." And it is written, "Then understood the St MARK, disciples that he spake to them concerning John the Baptist"."" In another place it appears that Justin refers particularly to one out of the Memoirs. The mention of the fact,' he says, 'that Christ changed the name of Peter, one of the Apostles, and that the event has been written in his (Peter's) Memoirs, together with His having changed the name of two other brethren, who were sons of Zebedee, to that of Boanerges, tended to signify that He was the same through whom the surname Israel was given to Jacob, and Joshua to Oshea3. Now the surname given 1 Cf. below, ii. (2), (a). 2 Dial. c. 49; Matt. xvii. 13; cf. below, 1. c. |