Think of this renowned defender of Christianity, Justin Martyr, attempting to establish the divinity of Christ by citing four hundred texts from the Old Testament and apocryphal books and two only from the Evangelists! There is really but one passage in the Gospels to be found in Justin. But if it could be shown that they contain many passages similar to, or even identical with, passages found in his writings, this would not prove that he has quoted from them. It is not claimed that these Gospels are mere fabrications of their authors, or that they are composed entirely of original matter. They consist largely of traditions, and these traditions, many of them, were embodied in other and older books which were used by the early Fathers. While the Four Gospels were not extant in Justin's time, some of the documents of which they are composed, particularly those containing the reputed sayings of Jesus, had already appeared and were frequently cited by the Fathers. These citations, Paley, Lardner, Westcott, and others, in their evidences of Christianity, have adduced as proofs of the early origin of the Four Gospels. Justin's quotations are chiefly from what he calls the "Memoirs of the Apostles." These, it is claimed, were the Four Gospels. If so, then the gospels we have are not genuine, for the quotations from the "Memoirs" are not to be found in our Gospels. Justin says that Mary (not Joseph) was descended from David; that Jesus was born in a cave; that the Magi came from Arabia; that Jesus made ploughs and yokes; that a fire was kindled in the Jordan at his baptism; that he was called a magician. The "Memoirs," or Gospels, from which Justin quotes are not our Gospels. The Rev. Dr. Giles repudiates the claim that Justin Martyr recognized the Gospels. He says: "The very names of the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, are never mentioned by him--do not occur once in all his works. It is, therefore, childish to say that he has quoted from our existing Gospels" (Christian Records, p. 71). Papias, a Christian bishop and a contemporary of Justin Martyr, is cited as a witness for the Gospels. He is quoted by Eusebius as referring to writings of Matthew and Mark. But the books he mentions are plainly not the gospels of Matthew and Mark. Of Matthew he says: "Matthew composed the oracles in the Hebrew dialect, and every one interpreted them as he was able" (Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History, book iii, p. 39). This was not the biographical narrative known as "Matthew," but probably an apocryphal book called the "Oracles of Christ," which some ascribed to Matthew.