1. The *Apostolic Fathers* do not, indeed, quote our Gospel as the work of St. John, for it was not their custom to name the author from whom they quoted; but passages are met with in the works of these fathers which are very probably founded upon passages in our Gospel. Compare, for instance, with John xxi. 20, the words of St. Clement of Rome († 101):—“John also, who leaned upon the bosom of our Lord, whom the Lord loved exceedingly” (Epis. 1 _De Virgin_, c. 6); or with John iii. 8, the words of St. Ignatius of Antioch († 107):—“The Spirit, since He is born of God, is not deceived, _for He knoweth whence He cometh and whither He goeth_” (Ad. Philad. 7). It would be easy to multiply instances of this kind;(3) but, as such coincidences are always more or less inconclusive, it is more important to note here that Papias and Polycarp, two disciples of St. John, indirectly support the claim of the fourth Gospel to authenticity. For it is certain that both these writers accepted the First Epistle of St. John as his.(4) Now, so great is the similarity of style between our Gospel and that Epistle, and so close the relation between the two, that we are justified in concluding, with Cornely (Introd. iii. 59, 3), that Papias and Polycarp, admitting the one, probably admitted also the other to be the work of St. John. Even Renan admits that “The two writings offer the most complete identity of style, the same terms, the same favourite expressions.” Indeed we have now the direct testimony of Papias in a fragment of his rather recently discovered: “Quant au silence de Papias il n’est plus possible d’en tirer un argument contre le quatrième Evangile. Un nouveau fragment de l’évêque d’Hieropolis, cité par Thomasius (i. 344) ... temoigne qu’il connaissait l’œuvre de l’Apotre” (_Didon—Jesus Christ_, Introd. xxviii.). 2. The *Fathers of the second century* were thoroughly acquainted with our Gospel, and some of them refer to it as the work of St. John. Thus, when *Justin Martyr* († 167), in proving the necessity of Baptism (_Apol._ i. 61), says: “For Christ said: ‘Unless you be born again, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.’ Now that those born once cannot enter again into the wombs of their mothers, is clear to all,” there can hardly be a doubt that he had before his mind John iii. 3, 4. Again, *Tatian*, a disciple of St. Justin, actually wrote a Harmony of the Four Gospels, known as Tatian’s _Diatessaron_, which commenced with the opening words of our Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word.”(5) The *Muratorian Fragment*, which contains a list of canonical books, made not later than 170 A.D., says: “John, one of the disciples, (is the author) of the fourth Gospel.” *Theophilus* of Antioch († 186), who was the sixth successor to St. Peter in the see of Antioch, says:—“These things we are taught by the Sacred Scriptures, and by all inspired by the Holy Ghost, _of whom John says_: ‘In the beginning was the Word,’ ” &c.