Encyclopaedia Britannica, or, a Dictionary of arts, sciences, and miscellaneous literature : enlarged and improved. Illustrated with nearly six hundred engravings > Volume 19, Scripture-SUG

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# John
xvi. a.
TOO
Of Juitin
Martyr.
Scripture, markable, beeaufe it (hows that then as well as now
there were four, and only four, gofpels in general ule
among Chriftians.
A. D. 170, the churches of Lyons and Vienne in
France fent an account of the fufferings of their martyrs
to the churches of Aha and Phrygia, which has. been
preferved entire by Eufebius. And what carries ,in
ibme meafure the teftimony of thefe churches to a
higher age is, that they had now for their biihop Po-
thinus, who was 90 years old, and whofe early life con-
fequently muft have immediately followed the times of
the a pottles. In this epiftle are exa£t references to the
gofpels of Luke and John, and to the Aots of the
A potties. The form of reference is the fame as in all
the preceding articles. That from St John is in thefe
words : “ Then was fulfilled that which was fpoken by
the Lord, that ivhofoever killeth you, will think that
he doth God fervice
Diftindt references are alfo made to other books, viz.
Atts, Romans, Ephetians, Philippians, 1 Timothy,
1 Peter, 1 John, Revelation.
A. D. 140, Juttin Martyr compofed feveral. books,
which are mentioned by his difciple Tatian, by Tertul-
lian, Methodius, Eufebius, Jerome, Epiphanius, and
Photius. In his writings between 20 and 30 quota¬
tions from the gofpels and A£ls of the ApoltleS are rec¬
koned up, which are clear, diftimR;, and copious 5 if each
verfe be counted feparately, a much greater number ; if
each expreflion, Hill more. Jones, in his book on the
Canon of the New Teftament, ventures to affirm that
he cites the books of which it confifts, particularly the
four gofpels, above 200 times.
We meet with quotations of three of the gofpels
within the compafs of half a page ; “ and in other
words, he fays, Depart from me into outer darknefs,
which the Father hath prepared for Satan and his An¬
gels,” (which is from Matthew xxv. 41.). “ And again
he faid in other words, I give unto you power to tread,
upon ferpents and fcorpions, and venomous beads, and
upon all the power of the enemy.” (This from Luke
x. tg.). “ And, before he was crucified, he faid, The
-fon of man muft fuffer many things, and be reje&ed.of
the Scribes and Pharifees, and be crucified, and rife
again the third day.” (This from Mark viii. 31.).
All the references in Juftin are made without men¬
tioning the author 5 -which proves that thefe books were
perfedtly well known, and that there were no other ac¬
counts of Chrift then extant, or, at lead, no others fo
received and credited as to make it neceflary to add any
marks of diftindlion. But although Juftin mentions not
the authors names, he calls the books Memoirs compofed
bi/ the Apofles: Memoirs compofed bp the ApofJes and
their Companions ; which defcriptions, the latter efpe-
eially, exaftly fuit the titles which the Gofpels and
A&s of the Apoftles now bear.
He informs us, in his firft apology, that the Memoirs
of the Apofles ^ or the writings of the prophets, are read
according as the time allows *, and, when the reader has
ended, the prefident makes a difcourfe, exhorting to the
imitation of fuch excellent things.
A few ftiort obfervations will ffiow the value of this
teftimony. 1. The Memoirs-of the Apoftles, Juftin in
another place exprefsly tells us are what are called gof¬
pels. And that they were the gofpels which we now
5
ufe is made certain by Juft in’s numerous quotations of Scripture^
them, and his iilence about any others. 2. He de- v
fcribes the general ufage of the Chriftian church. 3,
He does not fpeak of it as recent or newly inftituted,
but in the terms in which men fpeak of eftabliffied
cuftoms.
Juftin alfo makes fuch allufions to the following books
as {hews that he had read them : Romans, 1 Corinthians,
Galatians, Ephefians, Philippians, Coloflians, 2 I heffa-
lonians, Hebrews, 2 Peter j and he afcribes the Revela¬
tion to John the Apoftle of Chrift. . r>fp0t'
A. D. 1x6, Papias, a hearer of John, and companion ot
of Polycarp, as Irenmus attefts, and of the apoftolical
age as all agree, in a paflage quoted by Eufebius, from
a w'ork now loft, exprefsly afcribes the two firft gofpels
to Matthew and Mark ; and in a manner which proves
that thefe gofpels muft have publicly borne the names
of thefe authors at that time, and probably long before \
for Papias does not fay, that one gofpel was written by
Matthew, and another by Mark ; but, affuming this as
perfectly well known, he tells us from what materials
Mark collected his account, viz. from Peter’s preaching,
and in what language Matthew wrote, viz. in Hebrew.
Whether Papias was well informed in this ftatement or
not, to the point for which this teftimony is produced,
namely, that thefe books bore thefe names at this time,
his authority is complete.
Papias hknfelf declares that he received his accounts
of Chriftianity from thofe -who were acquainted with the
apoftles, and that thofe accounts which he thus received
from the older Chriftians, and had committed to memory, * Pr/efat*
he inferted in his books. He farther adds, that he was Op. ~
very felicitous to obtain every poflible information, efpe-
cially to learn what the apoftles faid and preached, v^* 2?^/. lib.iiL
luing fuch information more than what was written inc. 35.
books*". nfp°i?
A. D. 108, Polycarp was the biihop of Smyrna, and
difciple of John the Apoftle. This teftimony concern- ^
ing Polycarp is given by Irenseus, who in his youth had
feen him. “ I can tell the place,” faith Irenaeus,.“ in
which the bleffed Polycarp fat and taught, and his go¬
ing out and coming in, and the manner of his life, and
the form of his perfon, and the difeourfes he made to
the people, and how he related bis converfation with
John and others who had feen the Lord, and how he
related their fayings, and what he had heard concern¬
ing the Lord, both concerning his miracles and his doc¬
trine, as he had received them from the eye-witneffes pf
the word of life ; all which Polycarp related agreeable
to the feriptures.”
Of Polycarp, whofe proximity to the age, and country
and perfons of the apoftles is thus attefted, we have one
undoubted epiftle remaining ; which, though a fiiort
performance, contains nearly 40 clear allufions to the
books of the New Teftament. This is ftrong evidence
of the refpeft which was paid to them by Chriftians of
that age. Amongft thefe, although the writings of St
Paul are more frequently ufed by Polycarp than other
parts of feripture, there are copious allufions to the gof¬
pel of St Matthew, fome to paflages found in the gofpels
both of Matthew and Luke, and fome which more
nearly referable the words in Luke.
He thus fixes the authority of the Lord’s Prayer, and
the ufe of it among Chriftians, If, therefore, we pray
th<j