Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 60:238 (Apr 1903)
Article: Hints Relative To The Date Of The Fourth Gospel
Author: Charles W. Rishell

BSac 60:238 (April 1903) p. 244

Hints Relative To The Date Of The Fourth Gospel

Prof. Charles W. Rishell

It is the purpose of this article to present certain considerations bearing upon the date of the Fourth Gospel which force themselves upon the attention of one who studies the progress of Christological development in the writings of Justin Martyr, Origen, and Athanasius, as compared with some parts of our canonical Pauline and Johannine literature.

Beginning with Justin it seems clear that he belongs to the school of John, rather than of Paul. True, he unquestionably holds the main Christological views expressed in the Pauline literature. But this fact is not sufficient to place him in the Pauline school, since his Christological teachings are far more comprehensive than those of Paul. For example, he argues insistently and repeatedly for the supernatural conception of Jesus, basing his views on the celebrated Isaian passage; not, indeed, without evident reference to other sources, presumably our Matthew and Luke, though only for incidental circumstances, never for proof. Again, we find in his writings a large use of elements which are found in our canonical Scriptures only in the Johannine literature; such as the idea of the Logos, and of the Logos, or Son, as begotten and only begotten. It may be said, in brief, that the peculiar features of Justin’s Christology are the miraculous conception, the doctrine of the Logos, and of the Logos as begotten and only begotten,

BSac 60:238 (April 1903) p. 245

with the inferences he draws from these ideas. If we leave out of account the miraculous conception, then, we find that the peculiarities of Justin’s Christology are those of the Johannine writings.

There is a large realm of Christological doctrine common to Paul, John, and Justin, such as the subordination of the Son to the Father and the preexistence of the Son, both of which, it must be confessed, are taught more explicitly in the Pauline than in the Johannine writings, and much more clearly in Justin than in Paul. It might seem difficult at first sight, therefore, to determine whether Justin is following the Pauline or the Johannine writings in the doctrines of subordination and preexistence. But the evidence is distinctly in favor of the Johannine source for Justin’s doctrine, since Paul’s doctrines of preexistence and subordination are connected with the idea of the Son, while those of Justin, like those of the Fourth Gospel, are, for the most part, connected with the idea of the Logos. If, therefore, Justin is dependent upon either the Johannine or the Pauline Christology, it must be upon the former.

Justin’s doctrine of God as ineffable, as incapable of revealing himself to men or of having any intercourse w...