comprehends
the ultimate authorities under the formula: [Greek: hos ho nomos
kerussei kai hoi prophetai kai ho kurios], just as even Pseudo Clem de
Virg. I. 2: "Sicut ex lege ac prophetis et a domino nostro Jesu Christo
didicimus." Polycarp (6.3) says: [Greek: kathos autos eneteilato kai hoi
euangelisamenoi hemas apostoloi kai hoi prophetai hoi prokeruxantes ten
eleusin tou kuriou hemon]. In the second Epistle of Clement (14. 2) we
read: [Greek: ta biblia] (O.T.) [Greek: kai hoi apostoloi, to
euangelion] may also stand for [Greek: ho kurios]; (Ignat., Didache. 2
Clem. etc.). The Gospel, so far as it is described, is quoted as [Greek:
ta apomnemoneumata t. apostolon] (Justin, Tatian), or on the other hand,
as [Greek: hai kuriakai graphai], (Dionys. Cor. in Euseb. H. E. IV. 23.
12: at a later period in Tertull. and Clem. Alex.). The words of the
Lord, in the same way as the words of God, are called simply [Greek: ta
logia (kuriaka)]. The declaration of Serapion at the beginning of the
third century (Euseb., H. E. VI. 12. 3): [Greek: hemeis kai Petron kai
tous allous apostolous apodechometha hos Christon], is an innovation in
so far as it puts the words of the Apostles fixed in writing and as
distinct from the words of the Lord, on a level with the latter. That
is, while differentiating the one from the other, Serapion ascribes to
the words of the apostles and those of the Lord equal authority. But the
development which led to this position, had already begun in the first
century. At a very early period there were read in the communities,
beside the Old Testament, Gospels, that is collections of words of the
Lord, which at the same time contained the main facts of the history of
Jesus. Such notes were a necessity (Luke 1.4; [Greek: hina epignos peri
hon katechethes logon ten asphaleian]), and though still indefinite and
in many ways unlike, they formed the germ for the genesis of the New
Testament. (See Weiss, Lehrb. d. Einleit in d. N. T. p. 21 ff.). Further
there were read Epistles and Manifestoes by apostles, prophets and
teachers, but, above all, Epistles of Paul. The Gospels at first stood
in no connection with these Epistles, however high they might be prized.
But there did exist a connection between the Gospels and the [Greek: ap'
arches autoptais kai huperetais tou logou], so far as these mediated the
tradition of the Evangelic material, and on their testimony rests the
_Kerygma_ of the Church about the Lord as the T