Christ’s pre-existence, not declared in the other Gospels, is frequently referred to by Justin.[1] John alone calls Jesus the Word; Justin often refers to him as such. Justin regards the elevation of the brazen serpent in the wilderness as typical[2] of the crucifixion. He says it denoted salvation to those who flee for refuge to him who sent his crucified son into the world; the idea of God’s sending his Son into the world is peculiar to John. The descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, at the baptism of Jesus, is mentioned only in the First and Fourth Gospels. Justin (Dial. c. 88) says that when Jesus “came out of the water, the Holy Ghost lighted on him like a dove, as the Apostles of this very Christ of ours wrote.” Justin (Dial. c. 88) cites, as the words of John the Baptist, “I am not the Christ, but the voice of one crying.”

This declaration, “I am not the Christ,” and this application to himself of the language of Isaiah, are attributed to the Baptist only in John (John i. 20, 23, and iii. 28). Hilgenfeld, the latest representative of the Tübingen skeptical school, recognizes[3] here the use of the Fourth Gospel by Justin. And Dr. Ezra Abbot, following Professor Drummond, gives twenty[4] instances (including the express quotation) of the apparent or seeming use of this Gospel by Justin.

The express quotation as in John iii. 3, 5, is as follows: “For Christ also said, ‘Except ye be born again ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.’ Now, that it is impossible for those who have once been born to enter into their mothers’ womb is manifest to all.” (Ap. c. 61.) This is as translated in the Ante-Nicene Christian Library. Dr. Abbot (p. 29) translates it “Except ye be born again, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew Arnold, “Except ye be born again ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Our common version is, “Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God;” and in verse 5, “Except a man be born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” The revised version, “Except a man be born anew,” or “from above” (margin), “he cannot see the kingdom of God.” There is a substantial agreement in the quotation with John’s Gospel, and unmistakable reference to the interview with Nicodemus, which is found only in John. The most rational inference is that it was from that source.

Justin, in this quotation, was as definite as when (Ap. c. 32) he wrote: “Moses then, who was the first of the prophets, spake in these very words, ‘The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until he come for whom it is reserved; and he shall be the desire of the nations, binding his foal to the vine, washing his robe in the blood of the grape.’” (Com. Gen. xlix. 10, 11.) He does not state where the passage is to be found, and its divergence from Genesis is greater than the difference in the language of Jesus, as quoted by Justin and recorded by John.

Justin, in quoting from the Old Testament, usually gives the name of the prophet, but nothing more; just as he gives this quotation as the language of Christ. He writes Moses said, or Isaiah said, and he also writes Christ said.

The other Apostolic Fathers, in their quotations from the Old Testament, do not usually give the name of the prophet, but only, “It is written,” “God said,” “The Spirit saith,” “The Scripture saith,” and often only “saith,” “The Scripture” in such cases being implied. And, as a rule, they do not quote with literal accuracy or a near approximation to it.

It has been objected, that if this quotation was actually from the Fourth Gospel, more than a single quotation from it should be expected. Let this be tested by the four epistles confessed to be genuine. There is not a single quotation by Justin from either of these acknowledged epistles, and it is doubtful if there is a single reference to them, certainly not in his Apology.

Nor is this all. The epistle to the Galatians (and Renan says, “Thanks to the Epistle to the Galatians!”) is not referred to in any way by Clement, or in Barnabas, or Hermas; nor First Corinthians in Barnabas or Hermas (and but once in Diognetus); nor Romans in Hermas; nor Revelation in Barnabas, or Diognetus, or Polycarp, and but once by Clement.

To account for Justin’s silence, it has been imagined, without the slightest evidence, that Justin was “anti-Pauline.” But how are the omissions by other writers to be accounted for? How did it happen that Clement made no reference to Galatians? It was not from hostility, certainly, for he speaks of “The blessed Apostle Paul.” Yet writing this epistle from the church at Rome, to the church at Corinth, he has but a single quotation from Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, and but a single quotation from Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians, and no reference to Galatians.

The well-known distinction of everyday application in courts of law and elsewhere, between positive and negative evidence, is to be kept in mind. Whether John’s Gospel would be quoted by any writer acquainted with it, might depend entirely upon his object in writing; and so of Galatians, or any of the books of the New Testament. While a single undoubted quotation proves the existence of that which is quoted from, non-quotation may prove nothing at all.

Justin apparently has one quotation from the Fourth Gospel, with many implied references to it. But if there were neither the one nor the other, to infer his ignorance of that Gospel from his silence would be just as sensible as to infer that a lawyer had never heard of Blackstone, or Kent, or Story, because he has not quoted from them.

If Justin in his Apology quoted once from Mark, and once from John, and not at all from Acts, or Revelations, or Paul’s Epistles, it was because his subject did not call for any use of those writings, beyond the use which he made of Mark and John. And if (as was apparently the fact) he quoted Luke six times and Matthew eighteen times in his Apology, it was doubtless because Matthew better served his purpose, or was more firmly fixed in his memory, from his having been born in Palestine, where Matthew’s Gospel was published.

A like explanation accounts for the fact that the Fourth Gospel is not quoted by Polycarp in his Epistle to the Philippians. Neither does he quote or cite from Revelations.

The result so far is this: The Fourth Gospel, apparently, is quoted by Basilides, and Justin, and Papias; and, in addition, there are many implied references to it. There is about the same amount of evidence in respect to Mark and the book of Acts. The evidence accumulates as to Luke’s Gospel, and from Matthew, the quotations and citations become very numerous.

That these quotations and citations were forgeries is an idea that cannot be seriously entertained by anybody. There were originals from which the quotations were taken; and presumptively, those originals were the “Memoirs” so often referred to by Justin; and presumptively our Gospels were those Memoirs, since they answer the description. And unless it can be shown that other writings that will answer the description were then extant, this presumption is well nigh conclusive.