including Irenaeus, expressly assert that Papias also was a hearer of
St. John. Eusebius (_H. E._ iii. 39) says that "in his preface" Papias
does not declare that he was an "eye-witness of the holy _apostles_."
But Eusebius in his Chronicle (_Syncell._ 655, 14) plainly says that
Papias, like Polycarp, was a "hearer" of John the Divine and Apostle.
The preface of Papias, which Eusebius transcribes, mentions John the
Presbyter. The following is a literal translation of it:--

"But for your advantage I will not hesitate to put side by side with my
interpretations everything that in time past I learnt well from the
Elders, and remembered well, guaranteeing its truth. For, unlike the
many, I did not take pleasure in those who say much, but in those who
teach the truth; nor in those who relate alien commandments, but in
those who relate such as were given from the Lord to the Faith, and are
derived from 'the Truth' itself. And again, on any occasion when a
person came who had been a follower of the Elders, I would inquire
about the discourses of the Elders--what Andrew or what Peter said, or
what Philip or what Thomas or James, or what John or Matthew or any
other of the disciples of the Lord, and the things which Aristion and
John the Presbyter (Elder), the disciples of the Lord, say. For I did
{286} not suppose that the contents of books would profit me so much as
the utterances of a living and abiding voice."

The exact meaning of this passage is disputed, but much of it is
perfectly clear. It is plain that Papias is referring to his action at
a time long past (_pote_), probably about A.D. 100. It is also plain
that he had no direct access at that date to the apostles about whose
sayings he inquired. They were already dead, their speech was a thing
of the past (_eipen_). On the other hand, Aristion and John the
Presbyter were then living, their speech was a thing of the present
(_legousin_). They survived at the time of his inquiries, and we
cannot accept the hypothesis that Papias only meant that he inquired
what Aristion and John the Presbyter said in their books. He recorded
what they said to his friends, and he quoted them both so freely that
Eusebius believed that Papias also wrote down words which Aristion and
John the Presbyter said in his own hearing. But whether he heard them
or only heard about them, it is evident that he had reached manhood
before they were dead. It is also certain that he calls the