yr. Competent critics almost universally admit that Justin had no
idea of ranking the "Memoirs of the Apostles" among canonical writings.
The word translated "Memoirs" would be more correctly rendered
"Recollections," or "Memorabilia," and none of these three terms is an
appropriate title for works ranking as canonical Gospels. Great numbers
of spurious writings, under the names of apostles, were current in the
early Church, and Justin names no authors for the "Recollections" he
quotes from, only saying that they were composed "by his Apostles and
their followers," clearly indicating that he was using some collective
recollections of the Apostles and those who followed them. The word
"Gospels," in the plural, is only once applied to these "Recollections;"
"For the Apostles, in the 'Memoirs' composed by them, which are called
Gospels." "The last expression [Greek: kaleitai euaggelai], as many
scholars have declared, is a manifest interpolation. It is, in all
probability, a gloss on the margin of some old MS. which some copyist
afterwards inserted in the text. If Justin really stated that the
'Memoirs' were called Gospels, it seems incomprehensible that he should
never call them so himself. In no other place in his writings does he
apply the plural to them, but, on the contrary, we find Trypho referring
to the 'so-called Gospel,' which he states that he had carefully read,
and which, of course, can only be Justin's 'Memoirs,' and again, in
another part of the same dialogue, Justin quotes passages which are
written 'in the Gospel.' The term 'Gospel' is nowhere else used by
Justin in reference to a written record." The public reading of the
Recollections, mentioned by Justin, proves nothing, since many works,
now acknowledged as spurious, were thus read (see ante, pp. 248, 249).
Justin does not regard the Recollections as inspired, attributing
inspiration only to prophetic writings, and he accepts them as authentic
solely because the events they narrate are prophesied of in the Old
Testament. The omission of any author's name is remarkable, since, in
quoting from the Old Testament, he constantly refers to the author by
name, or to the book used; but in the very numerous quotations, supposed
to be from the Gospels, he never does this, save in one single instance,
mentioned below, when he quotes Peter. On the theory that he had our
four Gospels before him, this is the more singular, since he would
naturally have distinguished o