Our author says of Basilides, "He was founder of a system of Gnosticism, who lived at Alexandria about the year 125. With the exception of a very few brief fragments, none of his writings have been preserved, and all our information regarding them is derived from writers opposed to him. Eusebius states that Agrippa Castor, who had written a refutation of the doctrines of Basilides, 'Says that he had composed twenty-four books upon the gospel.' This is interpreted by Tischendorf to imply that the work was a commentary upon our four Gospels, a conclusion the audacity of which can scarcely be exceeded" (p. 42). I remark that by "the gospel" would be meant the gospel which was preached by the apostles, and Tischendorf is not far wrong in supposing that the written records of it in the hands of the first Christians was the subject of the commentary. Our author has certainly not proved the contrary. He says: "We know that Basilides made use of a Gospel, written by himself it is said, but certainly called after his own name; ... but the fragments of that work which are extant are of a character which precludes the possibility of the work being considered a Gospel." Neander affirmed the Gospel of Basilides to be the Gospel according to the Hebrews. I remark that that is not only probable, but that the Gospel to the Hebrews may have been the Hebrew translation of the Greek Gospel of Matthew, with its additions and modifications, to suit the Jewish Nazarene sect, who, we know, had a Hebrew text of their own, which they did not hesitate to alter and adapt to their own views. Basilides, says our author, expressly states that he received his knowledge of the truth from Glaucis, the "interpreter of Peter," whose disciple he claimed to be. Basilides also claimed to have received from a certain Matthias the report of private discourses which he had heard from the Saviour for his special instruction. Canon Westcott writes: "Since Basilides lived on the verge of the apostolic times, it is not surprising that he made use of other sources of Christian doctrine besides the canonical books. The belief in Divine inspiration was still fresh and real."[38] Our author says: "It is apparent, however, that Basilides, in basing his doctrine on these apocryphal books as inspired, and upon tradition, and in having a special Gospel called after his own name, ignores the canonical Gospels, offers no evidence for their existence, but proves that he did not recognise any such works as of authority." I remark, the question is not their authority, but, Did they exist? Basilides wrote a book, called it a Gospel, or commentary of the Gospel, and made as much use as suited his heretical purpose of the canonical records, of tradition, and of other books. This seems to be what we can arrive at. Hippolytus, writing of the Basilideans and describing their doctrines, uses the singular pronoun "he"—"he says," in a passage of which our author gives an unintelligible translation. This pronoun is an inconvenient witness. Our author wants it to be "they," in order that the disciples of Basilides living at a later period, when the Gospels were generally recognised, may be meant, and not Basilides, who lived A.D. 125. Hippolytus has a sentence of Basilides, which our author translates as follows:—"Jesus, however, was generated according to these, as we have already said. But when the generation which has already been declared had taken place, all things regarding the Saviour, according to them, occurred in a similar way as they have been written in the Gospel." This means that the things referring to the Incarnation were as written in the Gospel, not as preached, but as written; and if Basilides, as the founder of the sect, is referred to, the statement testifies to the existence of the Gospels in the year 125, and the doctrine of the Incarnation being in them. But our author says the statement is not made in connection with Basilides, but his followers; that it is made about A.D. 225, by Hippolytus, and affords no proof that either Basilides or his followers used the Gospels or admitted their authority. "The exclusive use, by any one, of the Gospel according to the Hebrews, for instance, would be perfectly consistent with the statement" (p. 48). "No one who considers what is known of that Gospel, or who thinks of the use made of it in the first half of the second century by perfectly orthodox Fathers, before we hear anything of our Gospels, can doubt this" (p. 48). I remark, that those who adopt Tischendorf's view, that Matthew was written in Greek, and a corrupted version in Hebrew, used in certain countries, will not have to resort to any such explanation as our author suggests. His examination in detail of the several quotations is important, because it exhibits his want of appreciation of the evidence they afford. The first passage Tischendorf points out is found in the "Stromata" of Clement of Alexandria, and it is certainly from our Gospel of Matthew,[39] however that work may have been compiled (for it is not necessary to insist that no other records than Matthew's own are included in the book which, we contend, was at very early date read in the Churches, and is what we now have). "They say the Lord answered, All men cannot receive this saying. For there are eunuchs who are indeed from birth, but others from necessity."[40] Our author says "this passage in its affinity to, and material variation from, our First Gospel, might be quoted as evidence for the use of the Gospel according to the Hebrews, but it is simply preposterous to point to it as evidence for the use of Matthew. Apologists ... seem altogether to ignore the history of the creation of written Gospels, and to forget the very existence of the πολλοἱ of Luke." We value his acknowledgment, and find no difficulty, notwithstanding the silence of some apologists, in reconciling our belief in the four Gospels with the facts or probabilities of what can be ascertained as to their "creation." We allow that the word Luke uses (πολλοἱ) refers to many, which is consistent with the idea that many committed to writing what they knew, and that their records were embodied in the Synoptic Gospels.
The next passage referred to by Tischendorf is one quoted by Epiphanius: "And therefore he said, Cast not ye pearls before swine, neither give that which is holy unto dogs."[41] "It is introduced in the section of the work of Epiphanius directed against the Basilideans. As in dealing with all these heresies there is continual interchange of reference to the head and later followers, there is no certainty who is referred to in these quotations, and in this instance nothing to indicate that the passage is ascribed to Basilides himself. His name is mentioned in the first line of the first chapter, but not again until the fifth chapter" (p. 50).
I remark, it was the founder of the sect and not the followers who wrote the book, and those who opposed the heresy would, although they alluded to the sect, have regard to the founder when they referred to the doctrines held, and quoted the written opinions which distinguished the party on gospel matters. To make the matter as plain as I can, I will suppose a case as an illustration of the point. Supposing that in Pliny's letter to Trajan there were found these words referring to the Christians: "They say, the rule which should be observed in regard to an enemy is, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which persecute you"—would it be right to assert that the quotation is no proof that Christ so taught, but His disciples, long afterwards? This is something like what our author's objection, referring to the pronouns "he" and "they" in Hippolytus, amounts to. "They" does not mean "he" when thus used; and "he," when actually used in the first line of the first chapter, and afterwards means, "they;" that is, "He (Basilides) says," means "They (his followers at a later date) say."
The plural pronoun is used, indicating the sect, Basilides and his followers. Therefore our author says there is uncertainty as to who he is when used in the same sentence. He says "Hippolytus is giving an epitome of the views of the school with nothing more definite than a subjectless φησἱ (he says) to indicate who is referred to. None of the quotations which we have considered are directly referred to Basilides himself, but they are introduced by the utterly vague expression, 'He says' (φησἱ), without any subject accompanying the verb."
The suggestion (p. 51) that Hippolytus "consciously or unconsciously, in the course of transfer to his pages, corrected the text," is very unsatisfactory. An intelligent reader cannot fail to see how an obvious inference is avoided, and how ingenuity is taxed to make words square with foregone conclusions.
Tischendorf asks: "Who is there so sapient as to draw the line between what the master alone says, and that which the disciples state, without in the least repeating the master?" (p. 59) and our author says, "Tischendorf solves the difficulty by referring everything indiscriminately to the master" (p. 59). To say that Tischendorf does this is reckless assertion.
When our author has to account for such a passage in Basilides as, "The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee," he says it happens to agree with the words in Luke i. 55; and resorts to his usual mode of avoiding the acknowledgment that such a verbatim quotation is against his hypothesis, by saying, "There is good reason for concluding that the narrative to which it belongs was contained in other Gospels." The following sentence is startling, and apt to mislead those who do not take the trouble to be sure of his meaning. He says (p. 67): "Nothing, however, can be clearer than the fact that this quotation, by whomsoever made, is not taken from our Third Synoptic, inasmuch as there does not exist a single MS. which contains such a passage." What does he mean? We turn to Luke i. 35, and read: "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Does he mean the whole passage is not in any MS? No: he means the following, with the slight variation at the end, is not in any MS. "The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee, therefore the thing begotten of thee shall be called holy." Only the words in italics are different in the two passages, and the meaning is the same, the only difference being that the latter does not include the words "the Son of God." The remark that the quotation happens to agree with the passage in Luke i. 35, should not be unnoticed.
Happens! Mark the peculiar inappropriateness of the word. It indicates our author's whereabouts, and is a beacon in the book to warn the reader. Events transpire, and they happen to agree with prophetic visions which plainly foretold them! Reason being unequal to an explanation, coincidence must be resorted to. Was it an accident that, "at one particular point in history, and in one special individual, the elements of a new religious development, which, per se, were already extant, should have concentrated themselves in a new life?" This, says Baur, is "the wonder in the history of the origin of Christianity which no historical reflection can further analyse." Did it happen that the Messiah came as was predicted centuries before?
Did Paul happen to have a vision just at the time when the whole course of his life underwent a change, and from being a chief persecutor of the faith he became a chief apostle—no less an apostle than the most prominent among the Twelve? If the Saviour did not meet him on the way to Damascus he could not be an apostle; and as he was an honest man, and no impostor, could what happened to him have been other than what he asserted? Baur was in a great difficulty about the matter, and said, "No analysis, either psychological or didactic, can clear up the mystery of that act in which God revealed His Son in Paul." Jeremiah prophesied that the Jews should return to their own land after seventy years of exile, and they happened to do so!
The artful way in which the evidence from the writings of Hippolytus is disposed of is one of the most notable things in the book we are reviewing. The reader's attention is taxed to keep up with the sophistical argument, and our author finds it necessary to explain why he has been forced to go at such a length into these questions, as to risk "being very wearisome" to his readers (p. 73).