4 Canon Westcott admits that in the latter passage Justin
does profess to give the exact words which were recorded in
the Memoirs, and that they are not to be found in our
Gospels; "but," he apologetically adds, "we do find these
others so closely connected with them that few readers would
feel the difference"! This is a specimen of apologetic
criticism. Dr. Westcott goes on to say that as no MS. or
Father known to him has preserved any reading more closely
resembling Justin's, "if it appear not to be deducible from
our Gospels, due allowance being made for the object which
he had in view, its source) must remain concealed." On the
Canon, p. 114 f. Cf. Matt, xxvii. 39—43; Mark xv. 29—32;
Luke xxiii. 34—37.
contained in the first of these passages is altogether peculiar to Justin: "Let him who raised the dead deliver himself" [——]—];(1) and even if Justin did not himself indicate a written source, it would not be reasonable to suppose that he should himself for the first time record words to which he refers as the fulfilment of prophecy.(2) It would be still more ineffectual to endeavour to remove the difficulty presented by such a variation by attributing the words to tradition, at the same time that it is asserted that Justin's Memoirs were actually identical with the Gospels. No aberration of memory could account for such a variation, and it is impossible that Justin should prefer tradition regarding a form of words, so liable to error and alteration, with written Gospels within his reach. Besides, to argue that Justin affirmed that the truth of his statement could be ascertained [——]—], whilst the words which he states to have been spoken were not actually recorded, would be against all reason.
The second of the mocking speeches (3) of the lookers-on is referred distinctly to the Memoirs of the Apostles, but is also, with the accompanying description, foreign
1 The nearest parallel in our Gospels is in Luke xxiii. 35.
"He saved others, let him save himself if this man be the
Christ of God, his chosen." [——]—]
3 Semisch argues that both forms are quotations of the same
sentence, and that there is consequently a contradiction in
the very quotations themselves; but there can be no doubt
whatever that the two phrases are distinct parts of the
mockery, and the very same separation and variation occur in
each of the Canonical Gospels. Die ap. Denkw. Mart. Just.,
p. 282; cf. Hilgenfeld, Die Ew. Justin's, p. 244.
to our Gospels. The nearest approach to it occurs in our first Gospel, and we subjoin both passages for comparison:
[——]—]
It is evident that Justin's version is quite distinct from this, and cannot have been taken from our Gospels,(2) although professedly derived from the Memoirs of the Apostles.
Justin likewise mentions the cry of Jesus on the Cross, "O God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" [——]—];(3) as a fulfilment of the words of the Psalm, which he quotes here, and elsewhere,(4) with the peculiar addition of the Septuagint version, "attend to me" [——]—], which, however, he omits when giving the cry of Jesus, thereby showing that he follows a written source which did not contain it, for the quotation of the Psalm, and of