seem enough to
show that it was laid aside. This is confirmed when we look back
two chapters at the terms in which the whole account of the
Basilidian system is introduced. 'Let us see,' Hippolytus says,
'how flagrantly Basilides as well as (B. [Greek: homou kai])
Isidore and all their crew contradict not only Matthias but the
Saviour himself.' Stress is laid upon the name of Basilides, as if
to say, 'It is not merely a new-fangled heresy, but dates back to
the head and founder of the school.' When in the very next
sentence Hippolytus begins with [Greek: phaesi], the natural
construction certainly seems to be that he is quoting some work of
Basilides which he takes as typical of the doctrine of the whole
school. A later work would not suit his purpose or prove his
point. Basilides includes Isidore, but Isidore does not include
Basilides.

We conclude then that there is a probability--not an overwhelming,
but quite a substantial, probability--that Basilides himself used
the fourth Gospel, and used it as an authoritative record of the
life of Christ. But Basilides began to teach in 125 A.D., so that
his evidence, supposing it to be valid, dates from a very early
period indeed: and it should be remembered that this is the only
uncertainty to which it is subject. That the quotation is really
from St. John cannot be doubted.

The account which Hippolytus gives of the Valentinians also
contains an allusion to the fourth Gospel; 'All who came before Me
are thieves and robbers' (cf. John x. 8). But here the master and
the disciples are more confused. Less equivocal evidence is
afforded by the statements of Irenaeus respecting the Valentinians.
He says that the Valentinians used the fourth Gospel very freely
(plenissime) [Endnote 301:1]. This applies to a date that cannot
be in any case later than 180 A.D., and that may extend almost
indefinitely backwards. There is no reason to say that it does not
include Valentinus himself. Positive evidence is wanting, but negative
evidence still more. Apart from evidence to the contrary, there must
be a presumption against the introduction of a new work which becomes
at once a frequently quoted authority midway in the history of a school.

But to keep to facts apart from presumptions. Irenaeus represents
Ptolemaeus as quoting largely from the Prologue to the Gospel. But
Ptolemaeus, as we have seen, had already gathered a school about
him when Irenaeus became acquainted with him. His ev