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Supernatural Religion (Vol. 1-3). Walter Richard Cassels
Читать онлайн.Название Supernatural Religion (Vol. 1-3)
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isbn 4064066389819
Автор произведения Walter Richard Cassels
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Издательство Bookwire
Justin designates the source of his quotations ten times, the "Memoirs of the Apostles,"(5) and five times he calls it simply the "Memoirs."(6) He says, upon one occasion, that these Memoirs were composed "by his Apostles and their followers,"(7) but except in one place, to which we have already referred, and which we shall hereafter fully examine, he never mentions the author's name, nor does he ever give any more precise information regarding their composition. It has been argued that, in saying that these Memoirs were recorded by the Apostles and their followers, Justin intentionally and literally described the four canonical Gospels, the first and fourth of which are ascribed to Apostles, and the other two to Mark and Luke, the followers of Apostles;(1) but such an inference is equally forced and unfounded. The language itself forbids this explanation, for Justin does not speak indefinitely of Memoirs of Apostles and their followers, but of Memoirs of the Apostles, invariably using the article, which refers the Memoirs to the collective body of the Apostles.(2) Moreover, the incorrectness of such an inference is manifest from the fact that circumstances are stated by Justin as derived from these Memoirs, which do not exist in our Gospels at all, and which, indeed, are contradictory to them. Vast numbers of spurious writings, moreover, bearing the names of Apostles and their followers, and claiming more or less direct apostolic authority, were in circulation in the early Church: Gospels according to Peter,(3) to Thomas,(4) to James,(5) to Judas,(6) according to the
Apostles, or according to the Twelve,(1) to Barnabas,(2) to Matthias,(3) to Nicodemus,(4) &c., and ecclesiastical writers bear abundant testimony to the early and rapid growth of apocryphal literature.(5) The very names of most of such apocryphal Gospels are lost, whilst of others we possess considerable information; but nothing is more certain than the fact, that there existed many works bearing names which render the attempt to interpret the title of Justin's Gospel as a description of the four in our canon quite unwarrantable. The words of Justin evidently imply simply that the source of his quotations is the collective recollections of the Apostles, and those who followed them, regarding the life and teaching of Jesus.
The title: "Memoirs of the Apostles" by no means indicates a plurality of Gospels.(6) A single passage has been pointed out, in which the Memoirs are said to have been called [——]—] in the plural: "For the Apostles in the Memoirs composed by them, which are called
Gospels,"(1) &c. The last expression, a [——]—], as many scholars have declared, is probably an interpolation. It is, in all likelihood, a gloss on the margin of some old MS. which some copyist afterwards inserted in the text.(2) If Justin really stated that the Memoirs were called Gospels, it seems incomprehensible that he should never call them so himself. In no other place in his writings does he apply the plural to them, but, on the contrary, we find Trypho referring to the "so-called Gospel," which he states that he has carefully read,(3) and which, of course, can only be Justin's "Memoirs;" and again, in another part of the same dialogue, Justin quotes passages which are written "in the Gospel"(4) [——]—]. The term "Gospel" is nowhere else used by Justin in reference to a written record.(5) In no case, however, considering the numerous Gospels then in circulation, and the fact that many of these, different from the canonical Gospels, are known to have been exclusively used by distinguished contemporaries of Justin, and by various communities of Christians in that day, could such an expression be taken as a special indication of the canonical Gospels.(6)
Describing the religious practices amongst Christians, in another place, Justin states that, at their assemblies on Sundays, "the Memoirs of the Apostles or the writings of the prophets are read as long as time permits."(1( This, however, by no means identifies the Memoirs with the canonical Gospels, for it is well known that many writings which have been excluded from the canon were publicly read in the Churches, until very long after Justin's day.(2) We have already met with several instances of this. Eusebius mentions that the Epistle of the Roman Clement was publicly read in Churches in his time,(3) and he quotes an Epistle of Dionysius of Corinth to Soter, the Bishop of Rome, which states that fact for the purpose of "showing that it was the custom to read it in the Churches, even from the earliest times."(4) Dionysius likewise mentions the public reading of the Epistle of Soter to the Corinthians. Epiphanius refers to the reading in the Churches of the Epistle of Clement,(5) and it continued to be so read in Jerome's day.(6) In like manner, the "Pastor" of Hermas,(7) the "Apocalypse of Peter,"(8) and other works excluded from the canon were publicly read in the Church in early days.(9) It is certain that Gospels which did not permanently secure a place in the canon, such as the Gospel according to the Hebrews, the Gospel according to Peter, the Gospel of the Ebionites, and many kindred Gospels, which in early times were exclusively used by various communities,(1) must have been read at their public assemblies. The public reading of Justin's Memoirs, therefore, does not prove anything, for this practice was by no means limited to the works now in our canon.
The idea of attributing inspiration to the Memoirs, or to any other work of the Apostles, with the single exception, as we shall presently see, of the Apocalypse of John,(2) which, as prophecy, entered within his limits, was quite foreign to Justin, who recognized the Old Testament alone as the inspired word of God.(3) Indeed, as we have already said, the very name "Memoirs" in itself excludes the thought of inspiration,(1) which Justin attributed only to prophetic writings; and he could not in any way regard as inspired the written tradition of the Apostles and their followers, or a mere record of the words of Jesus. On the contrary, he held the accounts of the Apostles to be credible solely from their being authenticated by the Old Testament, and he clearly states that he believes the facts recorded in the Memoirs because the spirit of prophecy had already foretold them.(2) According to Justin, the Old Testament contained all that was necessary for salvation, and its prophecies are the sole criterion of truth, the Memoirs, and even Christ himself, being merely its interpreters.(3) He says that Christ commanded us not to put faith in human doctrines, but in those proclaimed by the holy prophets, and taught by himself.(4) Prophecy and the words of Christ himself are alone of dogmatic value, all else is human teaching.(5) Indeed, from a passage quoted with approval by Irenæus, Justin, in his lost work against Marcion, said: "I would not have believed the Lord himself, if he had proclaimed any other God than the Creator;" that is to say, the God of the Old Testament.(6)
That Justin does not mention the name of the author of the Memoirs would in any case render any argument as to their identity with our canonical Gospels inconclusive; but the total omission to do so is the more remarkable from the circumstance that the names of Old Testament writers constantly occur in his writings. Semisch counts 197 quotations of the Old Testament, in which Justin refers to the author by name, or to the book, and only 117 in which he omits to do so,(1) and the latter number might be reduced by considering the nature of the passages cited, and the inutility of repeating the reference.(2) When it is considered, therefore, that notwithstanding the extremely numerous quotations, and references to facts of Christian history, all purporting to be derived from the "Memoirs," he absolutely never, except in the one instance referred to, mentions an author's name, or specifies more clearly the nature of the source, the inference must not only be that he attached small importance to the Memoirs, but also that he was actually ignorant of the author's name, and that his Gospel had no more definite superscription. Upon the theory that the Memoirs of the Apostles were simply our four canonical Gospels, the singularity of the omission is increased by the diversity of contents and of authors, and the consequently greater necessity and probability that he should, upon certain occasions, distinguish between them. The fact is that the only writing of the New Testament to which Justin refers by name is, as we have already mentioned, the Apocalypse, which he attributes to "a certain man whose name was John, one of the Apostles of Christ, who prophesied by a revelation made to him," &c.(1) The manner in which John is here mentioned, after the Memoirs had been so constantly indefinitely referred to, clearly shows that Justin did not possess any Gospel also attributed to John. That he does name John, however, as author of the Apocalypse and so frequently refers to Old Testament writers by name, yet never identifies the author of the Memoirs, is quite irreconcilable with the idea that they were the canonical Gospels.(2)
It is perfectly clear, however, and this is a point of very great importance upon which critics of otherwise