ords, this
implied contrast must, I think, make itself felt. It is impossible to
read the clauses, having regard to the genius of the language, without
throwing a strong emphasis on the recurrent word _old_, which I have
therefore italicized, as the only way of reproducing the same effect for
the English reader. Dr Westcott therefore is perfectly justified in
maintaining that the expression naturally implies a recognized New
Testament literature.

And if this reference is suggested by strict principles of exegesis, it
alone is consonant with historical probability. It is a fact that half a
century, or even more, before Melito wrote, the author of the epistle
bearing the name of Barnabas quotes as 'Scripture' a passage found in St
Matthew's Gospel, and not known to have existed elsewhere [227:1]. It is
a fact that about that same time, or earlier, Polycarp wrote a letter
which is saturated with the thoughts and language of the Apostolic
Epistles [227:2]. It is a fact that some twenty or thirty years before
Melito, Justin Martyr speaks of certain Gospels (whether our Canonical
Gospels or not, it is unnecessary for my present purpose to inquire) as
being read together with the writings of the prophets at the religious
services of the Christians on Sundays, and taken afterwards as the
subject of exhortation and comment by the preacher [227:3]. It is a fact
that about the same time when Justin records this as the habitual
practice of the Church, the heretic Marcion, himself a native of Asia
Minor, constructed a Canon for himself by selecting from and mutilating
the Apostolic and Evangelical writings which he found in circulation. It
is a fact that Dionysius of Corinth, a contemporary of Melito, speaks of
certain writings as 'the Scriptures of the Lord,' or 'the Dominical
Scriptures.' and denounces those who tamper with them [228:1]. It is a
fact that Irenaeus, who had received his early education in Asia Minor,
writing within some ten or twenty years after the death of Melito,
quotes the Four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the great majority of
the Apostolic Epistles, and the Apocalypse, as Scripture, declaring more
especially of the Four Gospels, that they had been received by the
Churches from the beginning, and treating all these writings alike with
the same deference which they have received from subsequent generations
of Christians ever since. The inference from these facts (and they do
not stand alone) is obvious.