it was considered divinely authoritative; and the use of the epistles, which formed the second and less valued part of the collection, must still have been limited. Justin’s disciple, Tatian (160-180 A.D.), wrote a _Diatessaron_ or harmony of the gospels, which began, according to Ephrem Syrus, with John i. 1; but our knowledge of it is uncertain. The author omitted the genealogies of Jesus and everything belonging to His Davidic descent. He seems also to have put into it particulars derived from extra-canonical sources such as the Gospel according to the Hebrews. Doubtless he was acquainted with Paul’s writings, as statements made in them are quoted; but he dealt freely with them according to Eusebius, and even rejected several epistles, probably first and second Timothy.(172) In Polycarp’s epistle (about 160 A.D.), which is liable to strong suspicions of having been written after the death of the bishop,(173) there are reminiscences of the synoptic gospels; and most of Paul’s epistles as well as I Peter were used by the writer. But the idea of canonical authority, or a peculiar inspiration belonging to these writings, is absent. The author of the second Clementine epistle (about 150-160) had not a New Testament canon made up of the four gospels and epistles. His _Scripture_ was the Old Testament, to which is applied the epithet “the Books” or “the Bible;” and the words of Christ. “The Apostles” immediately subjoined to “the Books,” does not mean the New Testament, or a special collection of the apostolic epistles, as has been supposed.(174) The preacher employed a gospel or gospels as _Scripture_; perhaps those of Matthew and Luke, not the whole documents, but the parts containing the words of Christ.(175) He also used the Gospel of the Egyptians as an authoritative document, and quoted his sources freely. With the Johannine writings he seems to have been unacquainted.(176) Athenagoras of Athens wrote an apology addressed to Marcus Aurelius (176 A.D.). In it he uses written and unwritten tradition, testing all by the Old Testament which was his only authoritative canon. He makes no reference to the Christian documents, but adduces words of Jesus with the verb “he says.” It is not clear whether he quoted from the Synoptics; perhaps the passages which are parallel to Matthew v. 44, 45, 46,(177) and Mark x. 6,(178) were taken from these; but the matter is somewhat uncertain. His treatise on the resurrection appeals to a passage in one of Paul’s epistles.(179) Dionysius of Corinth ( 170 A.D.) complains of the falsification of his writings, but consoles himself with the fact that the same is done to the “Scriptures of the Lord,” _i.e._, the gospels containing the Lord’s words; or rather the two parts of the early collection, “the gospel” and “the apostle” together; which agrees best with the age and tenor of his letters.(180) If such be the meaning, the collection is put on a par with the Old Testament, and regarded as inspired.