dost

Hello

I read this paper recently:

http://www.answering-islam.org/Bible/gospelhist.html

I was not impressed with the arguments used to defend the reliability and authorship of the gospels. I think modern apologists do much better. But, I am interested in one item within the above paper. It says:

"It is especially noteworthy that during the first three centuries no commentary was written on any book outside the NT, with the sole exception of Clement's commentary on the so-called Revelation of Peter. Harmonies, or combinations of the four Gospels into one, were also composed; for example, Tatian's Diatessaron (A.D. 170)."

Is this true? No commentaries on the non-canonical writings were ever composed by the early christians? I know this does not mean that the canonical writings are reliable in their entirety, but I am just curious to know when the earliest commentaries were composed and whether or not commentaries on non-canonical writings were ever composed in the early period.

Thanks.

Joan of Bark

Andrew Criddle, where are you?

Toto

I have edited the title to reflect the question asked.

It appears that the earliest church father who discussed non-canonical texts was Eusebius, but this may just mean that any prior writing on that topic has not survived.

dost

Thanks Toto for the correction.

I read some where that the earliest commentary on any canonical New Testament writing was on the gospel of John by Gnostic writers. I can't find the reference at this time in my books. I think the commentary on John was composed in the early or mid-second century, not sure.

How about Mark? I think this was a neglected gospel as the early Christians preferred to use Matthew and Luke. When was the first commentary on Mark composed? And for Luke and Matthew?

I would think that the earliest commentary on 2 Peter would be composed quite late, perhaps fourth century or later?

Finally, the Pauline epistles? These are letters written to congregations and individuals and so I would guess that no commentaries on them would have been produced by the Christians in the first three centuries.

Can someone offer precise information here?

S.C.Carlson

Very late. Vincent Taylor's commentary on Mark (1952) stated: "In the fifth century Victor of Antioch says that he had not been able to able to find the work of an earlier commentator, and the next of whom we know of is the Venerable Bede three centuries earlier."

However, it now looks like that earliest full commentary on Mark is that by pseudo-Jerome, probably a seventh-century Irish monk. Excerpts of this commentary taken from Michael Cahill, The First Commentary on Mark: An Annotated Translation (Oxford: University Press, 1998) are available on Questia.

Stephen

S.C.Carlson

According to Eusebius, Clement of Alexandria commented upon 2 Peter and other NT books in his now-lost Hypotyposeis. In fact, this would make, Clement, who died around 215, the earliest person to cite 2 Peter by name. In terms of citations in works that have actually survived, the earliest extant mention is by Clement's successor, Origen, in his commentary on John (c. 250).

S.C.Carlson

You're probably thinking of Basildes's Exegetica, though the scholarly consensus about that work may well have been just shaken up in a very recent article by James Kelhoffer, "Basilides's Gospel and Exegetica (Treatises)," VC 59 (2005): 115-134. Here is his abstract:

dost

Hello Carlson

You have been quite helpful, thanks!

Does Eusebius any where identify what books besides 2 Peter Clement of Alexandria commented upon?

How about the Pauline epistles, Revelation and the Johannine letters?

TedM

Here's a resource showing references/allusions to the NT documents by Church Fathers. That's different from commentaries which show clear knowledge of the document as opposed to just quoting some part that it contains, and it doesn't sort the sources by date, so this may not be helpful to you: http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/e-catena/

S.C.Carlson

Eusebius, Church History 6.14.1:

Some of Clement's comments on the Catholic epistles have survived in a Latin rendition (probably not very faithful).

The last two works, of course, did not make into the New Testament and are currently believed to have been composed around the time of the Bar Cochba rebellion (130s).

Eusebius, Hist. 5.27 mentions a commentary by a certain Heraclitus (c. 200) on Paul. This notice is about all we know about it. Origen (d. c. 250) wrote a huge set of commentaries on Paul's letters.

Melito of Sardis in the reign of Marcus Aurelius (180s) wrote a book about Revelation. It has not survived and I cannot tell whether it was a commentary or a sermon about. Victorinus of Pettau (late 2nd century) has what I think is the earliest surviving commentary on Revelation, and his original text (before Jerome censored it) was discovered less than 125 years ago.

The Johannine letters are among the Catholic Epistles, and would have been commented upon by Clement. Some of them have survived in Latin form.

Stephen