Basilides, Hippolytus directly refers not only to the heretic chief, but also to his disciple Isidorus and all their followers,(1) [------] and then proceeds to use the indefinite "he says," interspersed with references in the plural to these heretics, exhibiting the same careless method of quotation, and leaving the same complete uncertainty as to the speaker's identity as in the other cases mentioned.(2) On the other hand, it has been demonstrated by Hilgenfeld, that the gnosticism ascribed to Basilides by Hippolytus, in connection with these quotations, is of a much later and more developed type than that which Basilides himself held,(3) as shown in the actual fragments of his own writings which are still extant, and as reported by Irenæus,(4) Clement of Alexandria,(5) and the work "Adversus omnes Hæreses," annexed to the "Præscriptio hæreticorum" of Tertullian, which is
considered to be the epitome of an earlier work of Hippolytus. The fact probably is that Hippolytus derived his views of the doctrines of Basilides from the writings of his later followers, and from them made the quotations which are attributed to the founder of the school.(1) In any case there is no ground for referring these quotations with an indefinite [------] to Basilides himself.
Of all this there is not a word from Canon Westcott,(2) but he ventures to speak of "the testimony of Basilides to our 'acknowledged' books," as "comprehensive and clear."(3) We have seen, however, that the passages referred to have no weight whatever as evidence for the use of our Synoptics. The formulae (as [------] to that compared with Luke i. 35, and [------] with references compared with some of the Epistles) which accompany these quotations, and to which Canon Westcott points as an indication that the New Testament writings were already recognized as Holy Scripture,(4) need no special attention, because, as it cannot be shown that the expressions were used by Basilides himself at all, they do not come into question. If anything, however, were required to complete the evidence that these quotations are not from the works of Basilides himself, but from later writings by his followers, it would be the use of such formulae, for as the writings of pseudo-Ignatius, Polycarp, Justin Martyr, Papias, Hegesippus,