to argue that the quotation indicated a continuous order, and the variations combined to confirm the probability of a different source, and still more so to point out that, although parts of the quotation separated from their context might to a certain extent correspond with scattered verses in the first Gospel, such a circumstance was no proof that the quotation was taken from that and from no other Gospel. The passage, however, is a literal quotation from Luke x. 2, 3, which, as we have assumed, had been lost.
Again, still supposing the third Gospel no longer extant, we might find the following quotation in a work of the Fathers: "Take heed to yourselves [——]—] of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy [——]—].
For there is nothing covered up [——]—] which shall not be revealed, and hid which shall not be known." It would of course be affirmed that this was evidently a combination of two verses of our first Gospel quoted almost literally, with merely a few very immaterial slips of memory in the parts we note, and the explanatory words "which is hypocrisy" introduced by the Father, and not a part of the quotation at all. The two verses are Matt. xvi. 6: "Beware and [——]—] take heed of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees" [——]—] and Matt. x. 26
.... "For [——]—] there is nothing covered [——]—] that shall not be revealed, and hid that shall not be known." The sentence would in fact be divided as in the case of Justin, and each part would have its parallel pointed out in separate portions of the Gospel. How wrong such a system is—and it is precisely that which is adopted with regard to Justin—is clearly established by the fact that the quotation,
instead of being such a combination, is simply taken from the Gospel according to Luke xii. 1, 2, as it stands. To give one more example, and such might easily be multiplied, if our second Gospel had been lost, and the following passage were met with in one of the Fathers without its source being indicated, what would be the argument of those who insist that Justin's quotations, though differing from our Gospels, were yet taken from them? "If any one have [——]—] ears to hear let him hear. And he said unto them: Take heed what [——]—] ye hear: with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you: and more shall be given unto you. For he [——]—] that hath to him shall be given, and he [——]—] that hath not from him shall be taken even that which he hath." Upon the principle on which Justin's quotations are treated, it would certainly be affirmed positively that this passage was a quotation from our first and third Gospels combined and made from memory. The exigencies of the occasion might probably cause the assertion to be made that the words: "And he said to them," really indicated a separation of the latter part of the quotation from the preceding, and that the Father thus showed that the passage was not consecutive; and as to the phrase: "and more shall be given unto you," that it was evidently an addition of the Father. The passage would be dissected, and its different members compared with scattered sentences, and declared almost literal quotations from the Canonical Gospels: Matt. xiii. 0. He that hath [——]—] ears to hear let him hear."(l) Luke viii. 18, "Take heed therefore how [——]—] ye hear." Matt. vii. 2... "with what measure ye
mete it shall be measured to you."(1) Matt. xiii. 12: "For whosoever [——]—] hath, to him shall be given (and he shall have abundance); but whosoever [——]—] hath not from him shall be taken even that which he hath." a In spite of these ingenious assertions, however, the quotation in reality is literally and consecutively taken from Mark iv. 23—25.
These examples may suffice to show that any argument which commences by the assumption that the order of a passage quoted may be entirely disregarded, and that it is sufficient to find parallels scattered irregularly up and down the Gospels to warrant the conclusion that the passage is compiled from them, and is not a consecutive quotation from some other source, is utterly unfounded and untenable. The supposition of a lost Gospel which has just been made to illustrate this argument is, however, not a mere supposition as applied to Justin but a fact, for we no longer have the Gospel according to Peter nor that according to the Hebrews, not to mention the numerous other works in use in the early Church. The instances we have given show the importance of the order as well as the language of Justin's quotations, and while they prove the impossibility of demonstrating that a consecutive passage which differs not only in language but in order from the parallels in our Gospels must be derived from them, they likewise prove the probability that such passages are actually quoted from a different source.
If we examine further, however, in the same way, quotations which differ merely in language, we arrive at the very same conclusion. Supposing the third Gospel to be lost, what would be the source assigned to the