It is therefore clear that whether Justin used these Gospels or not, he cannot in any case have confined himself to them; unless indeed this is possible in regard to the Gospel that bears the name of Peter, though the possibility is drawn so entirely from our ignorance that it can hardly be taken account of.  We thus seem to be reduced to the conclusion that Justin’s Gospel or Gospels was an unknown entity of which no historical evidence survives, and this would almost be enough, according to the logical Law of Parsimony, to drive us back upon the assumption that our present Gospels only had been used.  This assumption however still does not appear to me wholly satisfactory, for reasons which will come out more clearly when from considering the matter of the documents which Justin used we pass to their form.

* * * * *

The reader already has before him a collection of Justin’s quotations from the Old Testament, the results of which may be stated thus.  From the Pentateuch eighteen passages are quoted exactly, nineteen with slight variations, and eleven with marked divergence.  From the Psalms sixteen exactly, including nine (or ten) whole Psalms, two with slight and three with decided variation.  From Isaiah twenty-five exactly, twelve slightly variant, and sixteen decidedly.  From the other Major Prophets Justin has only three exact quotations, four slightly divergent, and eleven diverging more widely.  From the Minor Prophets and other books he has two exact quotations, seven in which the variation is slight, and thirteen in which it is marked.  Of the distinctly free quotations in the Pentateuch (eleven in all), three may be thought to have a Messianic character (the burning bush, the brazen serpent, the curse of the cross), but in none of these does the variation appear to be due to this.  Of the three free quotations from the Psalms two are Messianic, and one of these has probably been influenced by the Messianic application.  In the free quotations from Isaiah it is not quite easy to say what are Messianic and what are not; but the only clear case in which the Messianic application seems to have caused a marked divergence is xlii. 1-4.  Other passages, such as ii. 5, 6, vii. 10-17, lii. l3-liii. 12 (as quoted in A. i. 50), appear under the head of slight variation.  The long quotation lii. 10-liv. 6, in Dial. 12, is given with substantial exactness.  Turning to the other Major Prophets, one passage, Jer. xxxi. 15, has probably derived its shape from the Messianic application.  And in the Minor Prophets three passages (Hos. x. 6, Zech. xii. 10-12, and Micah v. 2) appear to have been thus affected.  The rest of the free quotations and some of the variations in those which are less free may be set down to defect of memory or similar accidental causes.

Let us now draw up a table of Justin’s quotations from the Gospels arranged as nearly as may be on the same standard and scale as that of the quotations from the Old Testament.  Such a table will stand thus. [Those only which appear to be direct quotations are given.]