fieth of these things, and wrote these
things, and _we know_ that his testimony is true.' After the narrative
is thus ended, comes the hortatory postscript which we call the First
Epistle, and which was intended (we may suppose) to be circulated with
the narrative. It has no opening salutation, like the two Epistles
proper--the second and third--which bear the same Apostle's name. It
begins at once with a reference to the Gospel narrative which (on this
hypothesis) has preceded--'That which was from the beginning, which we
have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we beheld and our
hands handled, of the Word of Life ... that which we have seen and heard
declare we unto you.' The use of the plural here links on the opening of
the Epistle with the close of the Gospel. The Apostle begins by
associating with himself the elders, who have certified to the
authorship and authenticity of the narrative. Having done this, he
changes to the singular, and speaks in his own name--'I write.' The
opening phrase of the Epistle, 'That which was from the beginning,' is
explained by the opening phrase of the Gospel, 'In the beginning was the
Word.' The whole Epistle is a devotional and moral application of the
main ideas which are evolved historically in the sayings and doings of
Christ recorded in the Gospel. The most perplexing saying in the
Epistle, 'He that came by water and by blood,' illustrates and itself is
illustrated by the most perplexing incident in the Gospel, 'There came
forth water and blood.' We understand at length, why in the Gospel so
much stress is laid on the veracity of the eye-witness just at this
point, when we see from the Epistle what significance the writer would
attach to the incident, as symbolizing Christ's healing power.

This view of the composition of the Gospel and its connection with the
Epistle has been suggested by internal considerations; but it is
strongly confirmed by the earliest tradition which has been preserved.
The Muratorian fragment [188:1] on the Canon must have been written
about A.D. 170. As I shall have occasion to refer to this document more
than once before I have done, I will here give an account of the passage
relating to the Gospels, that it may serve for reference afterwards.

The fragment is mutilated at the beginning, so that the passage
describing the First Gospel is altogether wanting. The text begins
with the closing sentence in the description of the S