ii . .iiil- I h.aa .i |i.. i' ii I .lullinrily, ami
Li \ .•! i-ai i'iiiph.i i . ,.i: ■ I ' . . '. i i'lice... hetween
ihi'iiialMl iither wiiliii-- liiiih .111- li. lieC.islicls.
JOHN, GOSPEL OF
JOHN, GOSPEL OF
tlesdoclared he mentions the name of (iospel is a '(, i.e. a valid f the Churcli )ecame a dis-
(3) TertuUian was a famous theologian of the Western Church, and was born at C^irthauc al«Mit 160. The style of his writing s\i--r>ls lli;il hi- \\,i , trained as an advocate. Ho wa> H'ImiIiiI ;i ui.in ui great learning. Jerome speaks .ii hi- ' im;;('i and vehement disposit ion," and liis hal>it of mind is in striking contrast !<■ ^\\^■ |iliilo-(,|ihie temper of
Clement. It is n Ilo^ In (|ii.,ic passa.u'es from his
writings, as he und.nil.irdly a--uiiii-s \.ithout ques- tion the ;^en\iiiii'ni's> oi ihc (;..>|iil. and lays under contriliuliiin r\eiy rha|i|ir. I.illle is known of his personal life. Iml hi- \\a.~ iniainly in touch with theological Dpniioii, nut only at Cai'thage, but also at Kome. In the line of argument that he adopts in his reply to Marcion he is concerned above all else to show that the doctrine of the Church is in line with Apostolic tradition. He makes api)eal in another writing, de Prmscriptiour Ihii-rticoruni, to the testimony of those Cliunlies tliat were founded by Apostles, or to whom \\> their mind in letters. Among thcs< Ephesus, evidentlv in <-.anH'\inn witi St. John. His l.'Tm lor ihr funrln
legal tei-m, Erninj, Uru ,,i Li.il ,ii,in III I
document finally declaring tlie mind Avith regard to spiritual (;ruth. He tinguished leader of the Montanists, and would on that account be ])redis[iosed to combat any olijec tion, if it had been urged, .auainst Ihc autliciiticil v of the Gospel. ^ At the s.unc limc. he i~ n..l. indif- ferent to questions of htcr.ny crilii'i~ni. a|i|iliecl to the Gospels. In his reply to .Maicinn he makes careful and scholarly investigation into the text of St. Luke, and is able to prove that iMarcion's (iospel is a mutilated copy.
(4) The Muratorian Fragment on the Canon. — This fragment contains the earliest known list of the books that were regarded at the date at which it was written as canonical. It was published in the year 1740 by an Italian scholar, JMuratori.
Lightfoot, Westcott, and others argue for a dale 150-175 ; hut Salmon, Zahn, and Harnack agree in jil.aciiig its date, from internal evidence, not earlier than .\.v\ 200. .Sandav, in his Gospels in the Second Centurii (pji. 26-1-2BU), suggests 170-lSO, and perhaps within ten years later. Stanton, in Tli<' finnpi'In an Historical Documents (p. 247, n. 1), inclines to the later date.
The writer gives an account of the origin of the Fourth Gospel which is pl.ninly legendary. The important statenn'nt in it is tliai thc(;u,|icl i^ila-
work of St. John {./n/iuiiiir.^ , .,■ i/r.; i/m/, .i, w h. . i~ ,a I -. .
the author of at least two ..t ihc l-'pi-l Ic-, n,. ;:iii-:
epistolis). The further -laicni, HI i i Iclhallic
resolved to write it aft ci , : i-n laM. .in.l
at the request of contcnnM,., ; , i h.i nm- |, ■,, /,,,,/-
antihtts condkcipulis rl - /" , - i, aiai i lie i-on-
currence is also claimo<l ot the rest ot tlie Apostles {rccognowcnfibiif: eunctis). The second statement .seems, like the ypoipiiioi of Clement, to be foitnded on Jn l" and •2\-'^, and posse.sses no independent value, except as an interpretation of internal evi- dence.
The object of the author was clearly contro- versial, ' to draw a broad line of separation between the ins]iired writings of the Apostolic age and modern addition,-' (.Salmon, Introduction, p. 46). He strongly protests, for example, against the in- clusion of Jfrniiii.K in the Canon, though he has no objection to its being 'read.' Bacon (Hibbert Journal, April 1903) has interpreted the Muratorian Fragment as indicating the existence of controversy in the Church at that date as to the Aiiostoli(' author- ship ; but the empha.sis on thai i|nc-tioii might easily be explained by the fact that ihe liiioiicity — the vaWa^Wrecjpifi! of the G(js]icl> «.in .ilone in question. There is no attemi)t to /nirminuze the statements in the various Gospels ; but it is sought to secure for the contents of the Fourth Gospel a place of equal authority with the other three.
Throughout the Avhole history of the IS'T Canon the ,adiiii-.-ion '.f a bo.dv was not decided solely on the
'pn-ii f auilioiship, liiit far more on the general
I oii-iilcr.ii ion whcilici iis teachiii" was congruent \vnli ilic> 1, , ri\.il dortrine of the Church. Salmon think- I liai I 1m' \m Iter of the Muratorian Fragment is ar;:n]ii;j aj.nn-t the Montanists, and Zahn and Dnuiiiiion.l ih.ii he is opposing the Alogi (see belo« !. Ihc Icj.ndary account of the origin of the (lo-pcl ^^oula -ccni'to indicate that the fact of the Aposloli,- anlhoi-liip was .already well estab- lisheil .ami well known. \n adilitional confirma- tion of the \ icw that Ihe historic-ity alone is within the purview of the writer is that the words of the Fir-st Epistle (it is true in a somewhat inaccurate rendering), ' What we have seen with our eyes, and heard witli our ears, and our hands have handled, these things we lia\-e written' {hwc scripsimus), are quoted as a reference by the author to his Gospel. (5) Theophilus, bishop of Antioch (c. A.D. 180), ■ er works, a defence of Christi- I .Vniolyi us, 'a real or imaginary "i>lc liMiiiing and high culture' ilic cailiest writer of the 2nd 1 1 noting a passage from the ■til- to St. John byname. His !■ t.aiiglii liy the Holy Scriptures ling men, among whom John oilow verbatim quotations from le Gospel. There are also other a k that recall the Fourth Gospel. o, as belying any aiipearance of the autliorship of ilic fiospel, the name of Si . .lohn in iliis ijuite italics on the I lospels mt their i^enuineness, y Harnack. This part lit be set aside. works of Justin that I are the two Apologies I, llir .1,1,: They may Ills All. I lii-lUl. Palestine m1 he w.i- l.iouglit up in the who w as a heathen. He was philosophy, and after an un- of various teachers he ulti- tonist. After his conversion ich he i^ives a full account ill v,;i- kiiallcd with love to ■d lii- iiliilosopliic attainments