for its authenticity is what might from one point of view be regarded as the ‘understated’ nature of the testimony, namely its ascription to a non-apostle (and hence not a direct eye-witness) and the disclaimer regarding its ‘order’. That this Gospel was also used as a source by the authors of at least two of the three later canonical Gospels (Matthew and Luke) may also attest to the strength of the tradition lying behind it. There are, however, serious objections to be raised to Papias’s testimony,