directed his attacks more
particularly against the authenticity of the Gospel according to
St. John. His desire to discredit this Gospel seems at times to arise
out of a deep personal dislike to the character of the disciple whom
Jesus loved. (Vol. ii. pp. 403-407, 427, 428, &c.)

On the author's principles, it is difficult to understand the reason for
such an attack on this particular Gospel. He is not an Arian or Socinian
(as the terms are commonly understood), who might desire to disparage
the testimony of this Gospel to the Pre-existence and Godhead of our
Lord. His attack is on the Supernatural generally, as witnessed to by
any one of the four Gospels; and it is allowed on all hands that the
three Synoptics were written long before the Johannean; and, besides
this, he has proved to his own satisfaction, and to the satisfaction of
the Reviewers who so loudly applauded his work, that there existed a
Gospel long anterior to the Synoptics, which is more explicit in its
declarations of the Supernatural than all of them put together.

However, as he has made a lengthened and vigorous attempt to discredit
this Gospel especially, it may be well to show his extraordinary
misconceptions respecting the mere contents of the Fourth Gospel, and
the opinions of the Fathers (notably Justin Martyr) who seem to quote
from it, or to derive their doctrine from it.

The first question--and by far the most important one which we shall
have to meet--is this: Is the doctrine respecting the Person of Jesus
more fully developed in the pages of Justin Martyr, or in the Fourth
Gospel? We mean by the doctrine respecting the Person of Jesus, that He
is, with reference to His pre-existent state, the Logos and
Only-begotten Son of God; and that, as being such, He is to be
worshipped and honoured as Lord and God; and that, in order to be our
Mediator, and the Sacrifice for our sin, He took upon Him our nature.

The author of "Supernatural Religion" endeavours to trace the doctrine
of the Logos, as contained in Justin, to older sources than our present
Fourth Gospel, particularly to Philo and the Gospel according to the
Hebrews. The latter is much too impalpable to enable us to verify his
statements by it; but we shall have to show his misconceptions
respecting the connection of Justin's doctrine with the former. What we
have now to consider is the following statement:--

"It is certain, however, that, both Justin and Philo, unlike the