1-я "Апология" Иустина написана между 150 и 155 годами; в этой "Апологии" и в "Разговоре с Трифоном" приводится множество дословных выписок из всех четырех Евангелий, например:

а) в ст. 16 1-й "Апологии" - Вовсе не клянитесь. Но да будет слово ваше: да-да и нет-нет. А что сверх этого, то от лукавого (Мф. 5, 34, 37);

б) в "Разговоре", в ст. 76, - Сыну Человеческому должно много пострадать и быть отвержену книжниками и фарисеями, быть распяту и в третий день воскреснуть (Мк. 8, 31; Лк. 9, 22);

в) там же в ст. 17, - дом Мой есть дом молитвы, а вы сделали его вертепом разбойников (Лк. 19, 46);

г) в 1-й "Апологии", в ст. 61, - Если не родитесь снова, не войдете в Царство Небесное (Ин. 3, 3).

Вообще же в сочинениях Иустина имеется 127 текстов Евангельских, а именно: 88 из Евангелия от Матфея, 7 - Марка, 25 - Луки и 7 - Иоанна. Приводя тексты из Евангелий, святой Иустин нередко добавляет: "как сказано в памятных записях Апостолов Его и их последователей", или: "Апостолы в написанных ими сказаниях, которые называются Евангелиями, передали..." ("Разговор с Трифоном". Ст. 102-103; 1-я Апология. Ст. 66).

Таким образом, сочинения Иустина Философа свидетельствуют, что около 137 года по Р.Х. все четыре Евангелия были общеизвестными среди христиан священными книгами.

Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons. In his letter to Florinus, an extract from which is given above, Saint Irenaeus calls himself a disciple of Saint Polycarp, a disciple of the holy Apostle John. The birth of Irenaeus is attributed to the year 130. He spent his youth in Smyrna, where he became acquainted with the works of Greek poets and philosophers; in adulthood he was sent by Saint Polycarp to Gaul (present-day France) to spread Christianity; after the death of Bishop Pothinus of Lyons, in 177, he was elected his successor and died in 202.

To the lot of Saint Irenaeus fell the struggle (in word and pen) against heresies. He wrote many works in defense of Christianity, but only one has come down to us: "The Denunciation and Refutation of Falsely Named Knowledge," better known as "Five Books Against Heresies" (see Preobrazhensky's translation of 1871).

In this work there are the following testimonies about the Gospels:

1) In the 3rd book (Chapter 1, pp. 272-273) Irenaeus says: "We learned about the dispensation of our salvation not through anyone else, but through those through whom the Gospel came to us, which they preached orally, and then, by the will of God, handed down to us in the Scriptures. Thus, Matthew published the Scriptures of the Gospel among the Jews in their own language, while Peter and Paul in Rome preached and founded the Church. After their departure, Mark, Peter's disciple and interpreter, gave us in writing what was preached by Peter. And Luke, Paul's companion, set forth in a book the Gospel which he had preached. Then John, the disciple of the Lord, reclining on His breast, also published the Gospel during his sojourn in Ephesus of Asia." 2)

Quoting in the same 3rd book, in chapters 10-11 (pp. 293-310), verbatim from these Gospels everything relating to the birth of John the Baptist, the preaching of the Gospel to Mary, the birth of Jesus Christ, the meeting with Simeon, Irenaeus says: "Such are the first principles of the Gospel. And so great is the authenticity of these Gospels that the heretics themselves bear witness to them, and, proceeding from them, each of them tries to confirm his teaching." 3)

Speaking of the fact that the heretic Marcion and his followers, recognizing the Gospel of Luke, abbreviate it for their own purposes, St. Irenaeus defends the authority of the Evangelists in the following terms: "The Apostles simply and in spite of no one taught to all that which they had been taught by the Lord. In the same way, Luke, in spite of no one, handed down to us what he had learned from them, as he himself testifies, saying: "As those who were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word from the beginning handed down to us" (p. 340). Luke preached together with Paul, was called beloved by him (Col. 4:14), preached the gospel with him, and was authorized by him to deliver the Gospel to us" (p. 339).

In this work of St. Irenaeus there are so many verbatim borrowings from the Gospels that if they were quoted here, it would be necessary to rewrite most of all four Gospels.