diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 20:12:22 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 20:12:22 -0700 |
| commit | dfbf7dbe8f7e7a71f1e9b8d94b45b5567c2d89ce (patch) | |
| tree | 73392496ed17bc00327bddb1911649ba292c3b0a /39288-h | |
Diffstat (limited to '39288-h')
| -rw-r--r-- | 39288-h/39288-h.htm | 9022 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39288-h/images/titlepage.jpg | bin | 0 -> 6229 bytes |
2 files changed, 9022 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/39288-h/39288-h.htm b/39288-h/39288-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ecc19e5 --- /dev/null +++ b/39288-h/39288-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9022 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> +<HTML><HEAD> + <meta http-equiv="Content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css"> + <title> The Making Of The New Testament By Benjamin W. Bacon D.D. A Project Gutenberg eBook </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +.smaller {font-size:small;} + +.larger {font-size:large;} + +.padtop {margin-top:4em;} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; +} /* page numbers */ + + +blockquote { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} +.center {text-align: center;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + + +/* Footnotes */ + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The Making of the New Testament, by Benjamin W. Bacon + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license + + +Title: The Making of the New Testament + +Author: Benjamin W. Bacon + +Release Date: March 28, 2012 [EBook #39288] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAKING OF THE NEW TESTAMENT *** + + + + +Produced by David Edwards, Hazel Batey and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1>THE MAKING OF THE NEW TESTAMENT</h1> +<p class='padtop larger center'>THE<br>HOME UNIVERSITY LIBRARY<br>OF MODERN KNOWLEDGE</p> +<p class='padtop larger center'>Editors of<br>THE HOME UNIVERSITY LIBRARY<br>OF MODERN KNOWLEDGE<br> + +<p class='smaller center'><span class="smcap">Rt. Hon. H. A. L. Fisher, M.A., F.B.A.<br> +Prof. Gilbert Murray, Litt.D., LL.D., F.B.A.<br> +Prof. J. Arthur Thomson</span>, M.A., LL.D.</p><br> +<p class='padtop smaller center'><i>For list of volumes in the Library see end of book.</i><br> + + + +<p class='padtop larger center'>THE MAKING OF THE NEW TESTAMENT<br> + +<p class='padtop larger center'><i>By</i></p> +<p class='larger center'>BENJAMIN W. BACON D.D.</p> + +<p class='smaller center'>PROFESSOR OF NEW CRITICISM AND</p> +<p class='smaller center'>EXEGESIS IN YALE UNIVERSITY</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 152px;"> +<img src="images/titlepage.jpg" width="152" height="141" alt="" title=""> +</div> + +<p class='padtop larger center'>THORNTON BUTTERWORTH LIMITED</p> +<p class='larger center'>15 BEDFORD STREET, LONDON, W.C.2</p> + +<p class='smaller center'><i>First Impression ... September 1912</i></p> +<p class='smaller center'><i>All Rights Reserved</i></p><br><br> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="center"><a href="#THE_MAKING_OF_THE_NEW_TESTAMENT">PART I</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="center"><a href="#THE_MAKING_OF_THE_NEW_TESTAMENT">CANONIZATION AND CRITICISM</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left">CHAP.</td><td align="left"><td align="left">PAGE</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">I </td><td align="left"><a href="#THE_MAKING_OF_THE_NEW_TESTAMENT">INSPIRATION AND CANONIZATION</a></td><td align="left">7</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">II </td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">THE REACTION TO CRITICISM</a></td><td align="left">33</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><td align="left"></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="center"><a href="#PART_II">PART II</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="center"><a href="#PART_II">THE LITERATURE OF THE APOSTLE</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">III </td><td align="left"><a href="#PART_II">PAUL AS MISSIONARY AND DEFENDER OF THE GOSPEL OF GRACE</a></td><td align="left">56</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">IV </td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">PAUL AS PRISONER AND CHURCH FATHER</a></td><td align="left">83</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">V </td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">PSEUDO-APOSTOLIC EPISTLES</a></td><td align="left">104</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><td align="left"></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="center"><a href="#PART_III">PART III</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="center"><a href="#PART_III">THE LITERATURE OF CATECHIST AND PROPHET</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">VI </td><td align="left"><a href="#PART_III">THE MATTHÆAN TRADITION OF THE PRECEPTS OF JESUS</a></td><td align="left">128</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">VII </td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">THE PETRINE TRADITION. EVANGELIC STORY</a></td><td align="left">154</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">VIII </td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">THE JOHANNINE TRADITION. PROPHECY</a></td><td align="left">185</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><td align="left"></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="center"><a href="#PART_IV">PART IV</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td><td align="center"><a href="#PART_IV">THE LITERATURE OF THE THEOLOGIAN</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">IX </td><td align="left"><a href="#PART_IV">THE SPIRITUAL GOSPEL AND EPISTLES</a></td><td align="left">206</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="right">X </td><td align="left"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">EPILOGUES AND CONCLUSIONS</a></td><td align="left">233</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><td align="left"><a href="#BIBLIOGRAPHY">BIBLIOGRAPHY</a></td><td align="left">251</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"><td align="left"><a href="#INDEX">INDEX</a></td></tr> +</table></div><br><br> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 7]</span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="THE_MAKING_OF_THE_NEW_TESTAMENT" id="THE_MAKING_OF_THE_NEW_TESTAMENT"></a>THE MAKING OF THE NEW TESTAMENT</h2> + +<h3>PART I</h3> + +<h3>CANONIZATION AND CRITICISM</h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h3>CHAPTER I</h3> + +<h3>INSPIRATION AND CANONIZATION</h3> + + +<p>The New Testament presents the paradox +of a literature born of protest against the +tyranny of a canon, yet ultimately canonized +itself through an increasing demand for +external authority. This paradox is full of +significance. We must examine it more +closely.</p> + +<p>The work of Jesus was a consistent effort +to set religion free from the deadening system +of the scribes. He was conscious of a direct, +divine authority. The broken lights of former +inspiration are lost in the full dawn of God's +presence to His soul.</p> + +<p>So with Paul. The key to Paul's thought +is his revolt against legalism. It had been +part of his servitude to persecute the sect +which claimed to know another Way besides<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> +the "way"<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> of the scribes. These Christians +signalized their faith by the rite of baptism, +and gloried in the sense of endowment with +"the Spirit." Saul was profoundly conscious +of the yoke; only he had not drammed that +his own deliverance could come from such a +quarter. But contact with victims of the +type of Stephen, men "filled with the Spirit," +conscious of the very "power from God" for +lack of which his soul was fainting, could not +but have some effect. It came suddenly, +overwhelmingly. The real issue, as Saul saw +it, both before and after his conversion, was +Law <i>versus</i> Grace. In seeking "justification" +by favour of Jesus these Christians were +opening a new and living way to acceptance +with God. Traitorous and apostate as the +attempt must seem while the way of the Law +still gave promise of success, to souls sinking +like Saul's deeper and deeper into the despairing +consciousness of "the weakness of the +flesh" forgiveness in the name of Jesus +might prove to be light and life from God. +The despised sect of 'sinners' whom he +had been persecuting expressed the essence +of their faith in the doctrine that the gift +of the Spirit of Jesus had made them sons +and heirs of God. If the converted Paul in +turn is uplifted—"energized," as he terms +it—even beyond his fellow-Christians, by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> +the sense of present inspiration, it is no more +than we should expect.</p> + +<p>Paul's conversion to the new faith—or at +least his persistent satisfaction in it—will be +inexplicable unless we appreciate the logic +of his recognition in it of an inherent opposition +to the growing demands of legalism. +Jesus had, in truth, led a revolt against mere +book-religion. His chief opponents were the +scribes, the devotees and exponents of a +sacred scripture, the Law. "Law" and +"Prophets," the one prescribing the conditions +of the expected transcendental Kingdom, +the other illustrating their application +and guaranteeing their promise, constituted +the canon of the synagogue. Judaism had +become a religion of written authority. +Jesus set over against this a direct relation +to the living Father in heaven, ever presently +revealed to the filial spirit. The Sermon on +the Mount makes the doing of this Father's +will something quite other than servitude to +written precepts interpreted by official authority +and imposed under penalty. It is to be +self-discipline in the Father's spirit of disinterested +goodness, as revealed in everyday +experience.</p> + +<p>Even the reward of this self-discipline, the +Kingdom, Jesus did not conceive quite as +the scribes. To them obedience in this +world procured a "share in the world to +come." To Him the reward was more a +matter of being than of getting. The Kingdom<span class="pagenum">[Pg 10]</span> +was an heir-apparency; and, therefore, +present as well as future. It was "within" +and "among" men as well as before them. +They should seek to "be sons and daughters +of the Highest," taking for granted that all +other good things would be "added." So +Jesus made religion live again. It became +spiritual, inward, personal, actual.</p> + +<p>After John the Baptist's ministry to what +we should call the 'unchurched' masses, +Jesus took up their cause. He became the +"friend" and champion of the "little ones," +the "publicans and sinners," the mixed +'people of the land' in populous, half-heathen, +Galilee. The burdens imposed by +the scribes in the name of 'Scripture' were +accepted with alacrity by the typical Pharisee +unaffected by Pauline misgivings of 'moral +inability.' To "fulfil all righteousness" was +to the Pharisee untainted by Hellenism a +pride and delight. To the "lost sheep of +Israel" whom Jesus addressed, remote from +temple and synagogue, this "righteousness" +had proved (equally as to Paul, though on +very different grounds) "a yoke which neither +we nor our fathers were able to bear." Jesus +"had compassion on the multitude." To +them he "spoke with authority"; and yet +"not as the scribes" but as "a prophet." +When challenged by the scribes for his +authority he referred to "the baptism of +John," and asked whether John's commission +was "from heaven, or of men." They<span class="pagenum">[Pg 11]</span> +admitted that John was "a prophet." Those +who give utterance after this manner to the +simple, sincere conviction of the soul, voicing +its instinctive aspiration toward "the things +that be of God," are conscious that they +speak not of themselves.</p> + +<p>Jesus, it is true, was no iconoclast. He took +pains to make clear that if he superseded what +they of old time had taught as righteousness, +it was in the interest of a higher, a "righteousness +of God." If he disregarded fasts and +sabbaths, it was to put substance for form, +end for means. "Judgment, mercy, and good +faith" should count more than tithes from +"mint and anise and cummin." He echoed +what John the Baptist had taught of repentance +and forgiveness. Hope should no +longer be based on birth, or prerogative, or +ritual form, but on the mercy of a God who +demands that we forgive if we would be forgiven. +Such had been, however, the message +not of John only, but of all the prophets before +him: "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice." +Jesus taught this higher, inward, righteousness; +but not merely as John had done. +John had said: Repent, for the wrath of God +is at hand. Jesus said: Repent, for the +forgiveness of God is open. The Father's +heart yearns over the wayward sons. Jesus +preached the nearness of the Kingdom as +"glad tidings to the poor"; and among these +"poor" were included even aliens who put +"faith" in the God of Abraham.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p> + +<p>The new Way started from the same +Scripture as that of the scribes, but it tended +in an opposite direction. Theirs had been +gradually developing in definiteness and +authority since the time of Ezra; yes, since +Josiah had made formal covenant, after the +discovery of "the book of the Law" in the +temple, pledging himself and his people to +obedience. As with many ancient peoples, +the codification of the ancient law had been +followed by its canonization, and as the +national life had waned the religious significance +of the Law had increased. It was now +declared to express the complete will of God, +for an ideal people of God, in a renovated +universe, whose centre was to be a new and +glorified Jerusalem. The Exile interrupted +for a time the process of formal development; +but in the ecclesiastical reconstruction which +followed in Ezra's time "the book of the Law" +had become all the more supreme; the scribe +took the place of the civil officer, the synagogue +became local sanctuary and court-house +in one, the nation became a church, Israel +became 'the people of the book.'</p> + +<p>Legal requirement calls for the incentive +of reward. We need not wonder, then, that +the canon of the Law was soon supplemented +by that of the writings of the Prophets, +historical and hortatory. The former were +considered to interpret the Law by showing +its application in practice, the latter were +valued for their predictive element. Law<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +and Prophets were supplemented by Psalms, +and elements from the later literature having +application to the religious system. The most +influential were the "apocalypses," or "revelations" +of the transcendental Kingdom and +of the conditions and mode of its coming. +Scripture had thus become an embodiment +of Israel's religion. It set forth the national +law, civil, criminal, or religious; and the +national hope, the Kingdom of God. Its +custodian and interpreter was the 'scribe,' +lawyer and cleric in one. The scribe held +"the key of knowledge"; to him it was +given to 'bind and loose,' 'open and shut.' +Any preacher who presumed to prescribe a +righteousness apart from 'the yoke of the +Law,' or to promise forgiveness of sins on +other authority, must reckon with the scribes. +He would be regarded as seeking to 'take the +Kingdom by violence.'</p> + +<p>Jesus' martyrdom was effected through the +priests, the temple authorities; but at the +instigation of the scribes and Pharisees. +His adherents were soon after driven out +from orthodox Judaism and subjected to +persecution. This persecution, however, soon +found its natural leadership, not among the +Sadducean temple-priesthood, but among the +devotees of the Law. It was "in the synagogues." +From having been quasi-political +it became distinctly religious. This persecution +by the Pharisees is on the whole less +surprising than the fact that so many of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> +Jewish believers should have continued to +regard themselves as consistent Pharisees, +and even been so regarded by their fellow-Jews. +In reality Jewish Christians as a rule +could see no incompatibility between average +synagogue religion and their acceptance of +Jesus as the man supernaturally attested in +the resurrection as destined to return bringing +the glory of the Kingdom. Jesus' idea of +'righteousness' did not seem to them irreconcilable +with the legalism of the scribes; still +less had they felt the subtle difference between +his promise "Ye shall be sons and daughters +of the Highest" and the apocalyptic dreams +which they shared with their fellow-Jews. +Saul the persecutor and Paul the apostle +were more logical. In Gal. ii. 15-21 we have +Paul's own statement of the essential issue +as it still appeared to his clear mind. Average +synagogue religion still left room for a more +fatherly relation of God to the individual, in +spite of the gradual encroachment of the +legalistic system of the scribes. Men not +sensitive to inconsistency could find room +within the synagogue for the 'paternal +theism' of Jesus, even if this must more and +more be placed under the head of 'uncovenanted +mercies.' To Paul, however, the +dilemma is absolute. One must trust either to +"law" or "grace." Partial reliance on the +one is to just that extent negation of faith +in the other. The system of written precept +permits no exception, tolerates no divided<span class="pagenum">[Pg 15]</span> +allegiance. If the canon of written law be the +God-given condition of the messianic promise, +then no man can aspire to share in the hope +of Israel who does not submit unreservedly +to its yoke. Conversely, faith is not faith +if one seek to supplement it by the merit of +"works of law."</p> + +<p>From this point of view the Jew who seeks +forgiveness of sins by baptism "into the name +of Jesus" must be considered an apostate +from the Law. He acknowledges thereby +that he is following another Way, a way of +"grace," a short-cut, as it were, to a share in +Israel's messianic inheritance by the "favour" +of a pretended Messiah. The same Paul who +after his conversion maintains (Gal. ii. 21) +that to seek "justification" through the +Law makes the grace of God of none effect, +must conversely have held before conversion +that to seek it by "grace" of Jesus made +the Law of none effect. Even at the time of +writing the axiom still held: No resistance to +the yoke of the Law, no persecution (Gal. v. 11).</p> + +<p>It is true, then, that the legalistic system of +prescription and reward had developed—could +develop—only at the expense of the +less mechanical, more fatherly, religion of a +Hosea or an Isaiah. Even scribes had admitted +that the law of love was "much more +than all whole burnt-offering and sacrifice." +And the movement of the Baptist and of +Jesus had really been of the nature of a +reaction toward this older, simpler faith.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +The sudden revolt in Paul's own mind against +the scribal system might not have occurred +in the mind of a Pharisee unfamiliar with +Greek ideas. But to some extent Paul's +experience of the conflict of flesh and spirit, +a 'moral inability' to meet the Law's demands +<i>was</i> a typical Christian experience, as Paul +felt it to be. To him it became the basis of +an independent gospel. To him the Cross +and the Spirit imparted from the risen Messiah +were tokens from God that the dispensation +of Law is ended and a dispensation of Grace +and Son ship begun. Without this Pauline +gospel <i>about</i> Jesus Christianity could never +have become more than a sect of reformed +Judaism.</p> + +<p>The teaching and martyrdom of Jesus had +thus served to bring out a deep and real +antithesis. Only, men who had not passed +like Paul from the extreme of trust in legalism +to a corresponding extremity of despair +might be pardoned for some insensibility to +this inconsistency. We can appreciate that +James and Peter might honestly hold themselves +still under obligation of the written law, +even while we admit Paul's logic that any man +who had once "sought to be justified in +Christ" could not turn back in any degree to +legal observance without being "self-condemned."</p> + +<p>Christianity may be said to have attained +self-consciousness as a new religion in the +great argument directed by Paul along the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> +lines of his own gospel against Peter and the +older apostles. Its victory as a universal +religion of 'grace' over the limitations of +Judaism was due to the common doctrine of +'the Spirit.' This was the one point of +agreement, the one hope of ultimate concord +among the contending parties. All were +agreed that endowment with 'the Spirit' +marks the Christian. It was in truth the +great inheritance from Jesus shared by all +in common. And Peter and James admitted +that to deny that uncircumcized Gentiles had +received the Spirit was to "contend against +God."</p> + +<p>After Paul's death ecclesiastical development +took mostly the road of the synagogue. +The sense of the presence and authority of +'the Spirit' grew weaker, the authority of +the letter stronger. From the outset even +the Pauline churches, in ritual, order, observance, +had followed instinctively this pattern. +All continued, as a matter of course, to use +the synagogue's sacred writings. Paul himself, +spite of his protest against "the letter," +could make no headway against his opponents, +save by argument from 'Scripture.' He +had found in it anticipations and predictions +of his own Christian faith; but by an exegesis +often only little less forced and fantastic than +that of the rabbinic schools in which he had +been trained. This was a necessity of the +times. The reasoning, fallacious as it seems +to-day, had appealed to and strengthened<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> +Paul's own faith, and was probably effective +with others, even if the faith really rested on +other grounds than the reasoning by which +it was defended. The results of this biblicism +were not all salutary. The claims of written +authority were loosened rather than broken. +Paul himself had found room enough within +these defences for the religion of the Spirit; +but a generation was coming with less of the +sense of present inspiration. Dependence on +past authority would be increased in this new +generation in direct proportion to its sense +of the superior 'inspiration' of the generation +which had gone before. Paul is unhampered +by even "the scriptures of the +prophets" because in his view these take all +their authority and meaning from "the Lord, +the Spirit." Hence "where the Spirit of the +Lord is, there is liberty." Only the remembered +"word of the Lord" has authority for +Paul beyond his own, even when he thinks +that he also has the Spirit. With that +exception past revelation is for Paul subordinate +to present. But Paul's immediate +disciple, the author of Hebrews, is already on +a lower plane. This writer looks back to a +threefold source of authority: God had spoken +in former ages "by the prophets" and to the +present "by a Son," but he looks also to an +apostolic authority higher than his own: The +word "was confirmed unto us by them that +heard, God also bearing witness with them, +both by signs and wonders, and by manifold<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> +powers, and by gifts of the Holy Ghost." +Similarly the author of the Pastoral Epistles +(90-100?) holds the "pattern of sound words" +heard from Paul as a "sacred deposit," which +is "guarded," rather than revealed, "by the +Holy Spirit." The "sound words" in question +are defined to be "the words of our Lord +Jesus Christ." These, taken together with +"the doctrine which is according to godliness," +fix the standard of orthodoxy. To +"Jude" (100-110?) the faith is something +"once for all delivered to the saints." His +message is: "Remember, beloved, the words +spoken before by the apostles of our Lord +Jesus Christ." Authority increases, the sense +of the revealing Spirit decreases.</p> + +<p>It is long before the sense of present inspiration, +both in word and work is lost; still +longer before the recorded precepts of Jesus, +the exhortations and directions of apostles, +the visions of "prophets," come to take their +place alongside the Bible of the synagogue +as "writings of the new covenant." Melito +of Sardis (<i>c.</i> 170) is the first to use this +expression, and even in his case it does not +bear the sense of a canon with definite limits. +Tertullian (200-210) is the first to place a +definite "New Testament" over against the +Old. We must glance at some of the intermediate +steps to appreciate this gradual +process of canonization.</p> + +<p>At first there is no other 'Scripture' than +the synagogue's. Clement of Rome (95)<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> +still uses only the Law and the Prophets +(including certain apocrypha now lost) as +his Bible. He refers to the precepts of Jesus +(quoted as in Acts <span class="smcap">xx.</span> 35 from oral tradition), +with the same sense as Paul of their paramount +authority, and bids the Corinthians whom he +addresses give heed to what the blessed +Apostle Paul had written to them "in the +beginning of the gospel service," to warn +them against factiousness. Nor has Clement +yet lost the sense of direct inspiration; for +he attaches to his own epistle, written in +behalf of the church at Rome, the same +superhuman authority claimed in Acts <span class="smcap">xv.</span> +28 for the letter sent by the church at +Jerusalem. If the Corinthians disregard the +"words spoken by God through us" they will +"incur no slight transgression and danger," +for these warnings of a sister church are uttered +in the name and by inspiration of the Holy +Ghost. Still, Clement does not dream of +comparing his authority, even when he writes +as agent of the church, with that of "the +oracles of the teaching of God," the "sacred +Scriptures," the "Scriptures which are true, +which were given through the Holy Ghost, +wherein is written nothing unrighteous or +counterfeit." He does not even rank his +own authority with that of "the good apostles, +Peter and Paul."</p> + +<p>Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, transported +to Rome for martyrdom in 110-117, employs +a brief stay among the churches of Asia to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> +exhort them to resist the encroachments of +heresy by consolidation of church organization, +discipline, strict obedience to the bishop. +Ignatius, too, still feels the afflatus. His +message, he declares with emphasis, was +revealed to him, together with the occasion +for it, directly from heaven. It was "the +voice of God and not only of a man" when he +cried out among the Philadelphians: "Give +heed to the bishop, and the presbytery and +deacons." Yet Ignatius cannot enjoin the +Romans as Peter and Paul did. They were +"apostles." He is "a convict." His inspiration, +however undoubted, is of a lower order.</p> + +<p>Hermas, a 'prophet' of the same Roman +church as Clement, though a generation later, +is still so conscious of the superhuman character +of his "Visions," "Parables," and +"Mandates" that he gives them out for +circulation as inspired messages of the Spirit; +and this not for Rome alone. Clement, then +apparently still living, and "the one to whom +this duty is committed," is to send them "to +foreign cities." In point of fact the <i>Shepherd</i> +of Hermas long held a place for many churches +as part of the New Testament canon. Yet +less than a generation after Hermas, the claim +to exercise the gift of prophecy in the church +was looked upon as dangerous if not heretical.</p> + +<p>In the nature of the case it was really +impossible that the original sense of endowment +with "the Spirit" should survive. Not +only did the rapidly growing reverence for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> +the apostles and the Lord open a chasm +separating "the word of wisdom and the +word of power" given to that age, from +the slighter contemporary claims of miracle +and revelation; the very growth and +wide dissemination of the gospel message +made standardization imperative. Before the +middle of the second century Gnostic schism +had swept nearly half the church into the +vortex of speculative heresy. Marcion at +Rome (<i>c.</i> 140) carried Pauline anti-legalism +to the extreme of an entire rejection of the +Old Testament. Judaism and all its works +and ways were to be repudiated. The very +God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was +declared other than, and ignorant of, the +"heavenly Father" of Jesus. Against such +vagaries there must be some historic standard. +Even Marcion himself looked to the past, +however recent, as the source of light, and +since some written standard must be found, +it was he, the heretic, who gave to Christianity +its first canon of Christian writings. The +Marcionite churches did away with the public +reading of the Law and the Prophets, and +could only put in their place "Gospel" and +"Apostle." Not that Epistles, Gospels, and +even 'Revelations' were not also in use +among the orthodox; but they are not yet +referred to as 'Scripture.' Even gospels +are treated merely as aids to the memory in +transmitting the teaching of the Lord. This +teaching itself is but the authoritative interpretation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> +of Law and Prophets, and is in turn +interpreted by the writings of the apostles.</p> + +<p>Marcion's 'Gospel' consisted of our Luke, +expurgated according to his own ideas. His +'Apostle' contained the Epistles of Paul +minus the Pastoral Epistles and a series of +passages cancelled out from the rest as +Jewish interpolations. This was the first +Christian Bible distinct from 'the Scriptures' +of the synagogue.</p> + +<p>Indirectly the growth of Gnostic heresy +contributed still more to the increasing +authority of apostolic and quasi-apostolic +writings. One of its earliest and most obnoxious +forms was called 'Doketism,' from +its exaggeration of Paulinism into a complete +repudiation of the historic Jesus, whose +earthly career was stigmatized as mere +'phantasm' (<i>dokesis</i>). Doketism is known +to us not only through description by orthodox +opponents, but by a few writings of its own. +It is the type of heresy antagonized in the +Johannine Epistles (<i>c.</i> 100) and in those of +Ignatius (110-117). Now Ignatius, as we +have seen, relied mainly on church organization +and discipline. The Pastoral Epistles +(90-100), while they emphasize also "the +form of healthful words, even the words of +our Lord Jesus" take, on the whole, a similar +direction. But 1st John, which relies far less +than the Pastoral Epistles or Ignatius on mere +church organization, is also driven back upon +the life and teaching of Jesus as the historic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> +standard. It <i>does</i>, therefore, make formal +appeal to the sacred tradition in both its +elements, but with a difference characteristic +of the Pauline spirit. The redeeming life and +death of Jesus are viewed as a manifestation of +"the life, even the eternal life (of the Logos) +which was with the Father and was manifested +unto us" (the historic body of believers). +Again Jesus' one "new commandment," +the law of love, is the epitome of all +righteousness.</p> + +<p>In his doctrine of Scripture as in many other +respects the Johannine writer shows a breadth +and catholicity of mind which almost anticipates +the development of later ages. His +task was in fact the adjustment of the +developed Pauline gospel to a type of Christianity +more nearly akin to synagogue tradition. +This type had grown up under the +name of Peter. On the question of the +standard of written authority 'John'<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> +leaves room for the freedom of the Spirit so +splendidly set forth in the teaching and example +of Jesus and Paul, while he resists the +erratic licence of "those that would lead you +astray." The result is a doctrine of historic +authority in general, and of that of the +Scriptures in particular, sharply differentiated +from the Jewish, and deserving in every respect<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> +to be treated as the basis of the Christian. +In a great chapter of his Gospel (John v.), +wherein Jesus debates with the scribes the +question of His own authority, the dialogue +closes with a denunciation of them because +they search the Scriptures with the idea that +in them they have eternal life, that is, they +treat them as a code of precepts, obedience to +which will be thus rewarded. On the contrary, +says Jesus, the Scriptures only "bear witness" +to the life that is present in Himself as the +incarnate, eternal, Word; "but ye will not +come unto me that ye might have life."</p> + +<p>In seeking the life behind the literature +as the real revelation, the Johannine writer +makes the essential distinction between Jewish +and Christian doctrine. He stands between +Paul, whose peculiar view was based on an +exceptional personal experience, and the +modern investigator, who can but treat all +literary monuments and records of religious +movements objectively, as data for the history +and psychology of religion. If the student +be devoutly minded the Scriptures will be +to him, too, however conditioned by the +idiosyncrasies of temporal environment and +individual character, manifestations of "the +life, even the eternal life, which was with +the Father and was manifested unto us."</p> + +<p>But the Johannine writer was far deeper +and more 'spiritual'<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> than the trend of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> +his age. Ignatius' friend and contemporary, +Polycarp, "the father of the Christians" of +Asia, in his Epistle to the Philippians (110-117) +urges avoidance of the false teachers who +"pervert the sayings of the Lord to their own +lusts, denying the (bodily) resurrection and +judgment." But he has no better remedy +than to "turn (probably in a somewhat +mechanical way) to the tradition handed down +from the beginning" and to study "the +Epistles of Paul." The former process is in +full application in Polycarp's later colleague, +Papias of Hierapolis (<i>c.</i> 145?), who publishes +a little volume entitled <i>Interpretation of the +Sayings of the Lord</i>. It is based on carefully +authenticated traditions of the 'apostles and +elders,' especially a certain contemporary +"Elder John" who speaks for the Jerusalem +succession. According to Papias our two +Greek Gospels of Matthew and Mark represent +two apostolic sources, the one an Aramaic +compilation of the Precepts of Jesus by +Matthew, the other anecdotes of his "sayings +and doings" collated from the preaching of +Peter.</p> + +<p>Grateful as we must be for Papias' efforts +to authenticate evangelic tradition, since they +are corroborated in their main results by +all other ancient tradition as well as by +critical study of the documents, it is noticeable +how they stand in line with the tendencies of +the age. Eusebius (325) characterizes the +reign of Trajan (98-117) as a period when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> +many undertook to disseminate in writing +"the divine Gospels." One of our own +evangelists, whose work must probably be +referred to the beginning of this period, but is +not mentioned by 'the Elder,' alludes to the +same phenomenon. The apostles were gone. +Hence to Luke<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> the question of "order" was +a perplexity, as the Elder observes that it had +already been to Mark. Soon after Luke and +Papias comes Basilides with his <i>Exegetics</i>, +probably based on Luke (120?), and Marcion +(140), both engaged from their own point of +view with the current questions of Jesus' +teaching and ministry.</p> + +<p>Thus, at the beginning of the second century, +the elements necessary to the formation of +a New Testament canon were all at hand. +They included the tradition of the teaching +and work of Jesus, the letters of apostles and +church leaders revered as given by authority +of the Spirit and the visions and revelations +of 'prophets.' Not only the elements were +present, the irresistible pressure of the times +was certain to force them into crystallization. +The wonder is not that the canon should +have been formed, but that it should have +been delayed so long.</p> + +<p>For there were also resistant factors. +Phrygia, the scene of Paul's first great +missionary conquests, the immemorial home +of religious enthusiasm, became the seat, +about the middle of the second century, of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> +movement of protest against the church policy +of consolidation and standardization. Montanus +arose to maintain the persistence in +the church of the gift of prophecy, tracing +the succession in both the male and female +line back to Silas the companion of Paul +and the prophesying daughters of Philip +the Evangelist. The 'Phrygians,' as they +were called, naturally made much of the +writings current in Asia Minor, especially the +book of 'prophecy' attributed to 'John.' +Theoretically indeed the church was unwilling +to acknowledge the disappearance of this gift. +To Hermas (130-140) and the <i>Teaching of the +Twelve</i> (120-130) it is still a "sin against the +Spirit" to interrupt or oppose a prophet +during his ecstatic utterance. On the other +hand, the <i>Teaching</i> reiterates the apostolic +warnings to "try the spirits," with prohibitions +of specific excesses of the order. Moreover +by the time of Montanus and the +'Phrygians' theoretical recognition of revelation +through the prophets was rapidly giving +way before the practical dangers inseparable +from 'revelations' of this enthusiastic character, +of which any member of the church, +man or woman, ignorant or learned, lay or +cleric, might be the recipient. The strict +regulative control imposed by both Paul +and John<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> upon this type of spiritual gift (1st +Thess. v. 20 <i>f</i>.; 1st Cor. xii. 3; xv. 29 <i>f.</i> 32; <i>cf.</i> +1st John iv. 1) was found to be doubly necessary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> +in face of the disintegrating tendencies of the +post-apostolic age, and after long debate +and much protest the movement of Montanus +was at last decreed heretical at Rome, though +Irenæus (186) interceded for it, and Tertullian +(210) became a convert.</p> + +<p>The history of this movement in the formative +period of the New Testament canon +explains why the "revelations of the prophets" +obtained but scant recognition as +compared with the "word of the Lord" and +the "commandment of the apostles." Last +of the three, in order of rank (1st Cor. xii. 28; +Eph. iv. 11), last also to be codified in written +form, we need not be surprised that our present +New Testament retains but a single one of +the once current books of 'prophecy.' For +a time the <i>Shepherd</i> of Hermas and the +<i>Apocalypse of Peter</i> rivalled the claims to +canonicity of our own Revelation of John, +but were soon dropped. Our own Apocalypse +has suffered more opposition than any other +New Testament writing, being still excluded +from the canon in some branches of the +church. Its precarious place at the end of the +canon which we moderns have inherited from +Athanasius (<i>ob.</i> 373) was due, in fact, far +less to its author's vigorous assertions of +authority as an inspired "prophet" (i. 1-3; +xxii. 6-9, 18 <i>f.</i>) than to the claims to apostolicity +put forward in the preface and appendix. +For until the third century no one drammed +of understanding the "John" of Rev. i. 4, 9<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> +and xxii. 8 otherwise than as the Apostle. +Eusebius accordingly (325) is uncertain only +as to whether the book should be classed in +his first group of "accepted" writings, along +with the Gospels and Pauline Epistles, or in +the third as "spurious." If written by "some +other John than the Apostle" he would not +even honour it with a place in his second group +of "disputed" books, along with Hebrews, +James, Jude, and 2nd Peter.</p> + +<p>Thus at the end of the second century, while +there was still much dispute (destined indeed +to continue for centuries) as to the <i>limits</i> of +the New Testament canon, there had in fact +come to be a real canonical New Testament +set over against the Old, as of equal, or even +greater authority. The "word of the Lord," +the "commandment of the apostles," and at +last even the "revelations of the prophets," +had successively ceased as living realities, and +become crystallized into written form. They +had been codified and canonized. The church +had travelled the beaten track of the synagogue, +and all the more rapidly from the +example set before it. None of the early +canons (<i>i. e.</i> lists of writings permitted to be +read in the churches) coincides exactly, it is +true, with the New Testament current among +ourselves. The list of Athanasius is the first +to give just our books. The Roman list of the +Muratorian fragment (185-200) omits Hebrews, +James and 2nd Peter, and gives at least +a partial sanction to the <i>Apocalypse of Peter</i>.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> +The lists of Origen (<i>ob</i>. 251) and Eusebius (325) +vary as respects both inclusion and exclusion. +All early authorities express a doubtful +judgment regarding the outer fringe of minor +writings such as James, Jude, 2nd Peter, +2nd and 3rd John. Even those of larger +content, such as Hebrews and Revelation, if +their apostolicity was questioned, remained +subjects of dispute. But already by <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 200 +the time had long since passed when any of +the thirteen epistles bearing the name of Paul +could be deemed open to question. Marcion's +exclusion of the three Pastorals had been +forgotten. Dispute of the four-gospel canon +could still be tolerated; but not for long. +Irenæus (186) has no patience with "those +wretched men" who cannot see that in the +nature of the case there should be neither more +nor less than this number. But he explicitly +refers to those who disputed "that aspect +of the gospel which is called John's." There +were, in fact, opponents of Montanism at +Rome, who under the lead of Gaius had +denied the authenticity of all the writings +attributed to John, including the Gospel +itself. But even those of the orthodox who +were willing enough to reject Revelation, with +its now unfashionable eschatology, agreed +that Gaius' attack upon the fourth Gospel +was too radical. The small body who continued +for a few generations to resist the +inclusion of any of the Johannine writings in +the canon remained without influence, and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 32]</span> +were ultimately forgotten. The 'catholic'<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> +church had repudiated heresy, standardized +the faith, and confined its recognized historic +expression to a 'canon' of New Testament +Scripture.</p><br><br> + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h3> + +<h3>THE REACTION TO CRITICISM</h3> + + +<p>The consolidated 'catholic' church of +the third century might seem, so far as its +doctrine of Scripture was concerned, to have +retraced its steps to a standpoint corresponding +completely to that of the synagogue. +Only, the paradox still held that the very +writings canonized were those supremely +adapted to evoke a spirit of resistance to +the despotism of either priest or scribe. +The Protestant Reformation was a revolt +against the former, and it is noticeable how +large a part was played by the New Testament +doctrine of the 'Spirit' in this struggle +of spiritual democracy against hierocratic +tyranny. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians +became Luther's Palladium.</p> + +<p>But the post-Reformation dogmatists took +fright at their own freedom. The prediction +of the Romanists that repudiation of traditional +authority in its ecclesiastical embodiment +would result in internecine schism and +conflict seemed on the point of being realized. +The theological system-makers, like their +predecessors of the post-apostolic age, could<span class="pagenum">[Pg 34]</span> +see no way out but to throw all their weight +on a past inspiration assumed to be without +error. The canonical books were declared to +furnish an infallible rule of faith and practice.</p> + +<p>It was in the sincere desire to meet the +requirements of this theory that the science +of criticism grew up. In the earlier days +it did not venture for the most part beyond +what is known as 'textual' criticism. For +a doctrine of inerrancy is manifestly unserviceable +until errors of transmission have +been eliminated. Textual criticism set itself +to this task, asking the question: As between +the various readings found in different New +Testament manuscripts, which is original? +Unfortunately, to meet the logical requirement +the critic, if not backed like those of Rome +by a papal guarantee, must himself be infallible. +The inevitable result of this attempt, +begun in the sincerest spirit of apologetics, +was to prove that an infallible text is hopelessly +unattainable. Textual criticism is indispensable; +but as the servant of apologetics +it is foredoomed to failure.</p> + +<p>The variation of the manuscripts was not +the only obstacle to biblical infallibility. To +say nothing of differences of interpretation +there was the question of the canon. Either +the decision of the 'catholic' church must +be accepted as infallible, or scholarship must +undertake a 'criticism of the canon' to +defend the current list of "inspired" books. +A 'higher' criticism became necessary if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> +only to vindicate the church's choice on +historical grounds. Roman Catholics like +Simon, whose <i>Critical History</i> of the Biblical +books appeared in 1689-1695, could reopen the +question with impunity. Those who based +their authority on the infallibility of Scripture +alone could not meet the challenge otherwise +than as Michælis did in his <i>Introduction to +the Divine Writings of the New Testament</i> (1750-1780). +Michælis undertook a historical +inquiry into the circumstances of origin of +each of the canonical books, with the object +of proving each to be in reality what tradition +declared. The twenty-seven commonly accepted +were supposed to have been either +written by apostles, or at least so super-intended +and guaranteed by them, as to +cover all with the ægis of an infallibility not +conceded to the post-apostolic age. Scholarship +in the harness of apologetics again found +its task impracticable. Michælis himself confessed +it "difficult" to prove authenticity in +cases like that of the Epistle of Jude. Conceive +the task as the scientific vindication of +a verdict rendered centuries before on unknown +grounds, but now deprived of official +authority, and it becomes inevitably hopeless. +Can it be expected that doctors will not +disagree on the authenticity or pseudonymity +of 2nd Peter, who always have disagreed on +this and similar questions, and have just +admitted failure to agree in the matter of +text?<span class="pagenum">[Pg 36]</span></p> + +<p>For half a century criticism seemed lost +in the slough of mere controversy over the +(assumed) infallible text, and the (assumed) +infallible canon. Apologists fought merely on +the defensive, endeavouring to prove that +men whose fallibility was admitted had +nevertheless pronounced an infallible verdict +on the most difficult subjects of literary and +historical inquiry. Critics had an easy task +in showing that the church's theory of +inspiration and canonicity was incorrect; but +made no progress toward a constructive +explanation of the religious, or even the +historical, significance of the literature. Real +progress was made only when criticism left +off the attempt either to establish or disestablish +a 'received' text, or an 'authorized' +canon, and became simply an instrument +in the hand of the historian, as he seeks +to trace to their origins the ideas the church +enshrined in her literature because she found +them effective in her growth.</p> + +<p>For the great awakening in which New +Testament criticism 'found itself' as a +genuine and indispensable branch of the +history of religion, we are largely indebted +to the eminent church historian, Ferdinand +Christian Baur (<i>ob.</i> 1860). Baur gathered +up the fragmentary results of a generation +of mere negation, a war of independence +against the tyranny of dogmatic tradition, +and sought to place the New Testament +writings in their true setting of primitive<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> +church history. His particular views have +been superseded. Subsequent study has disproved +many of his inferences, and brought +from friend and foe far-reaching modifications +to his general theory. But, consciously or +not, Baur, in making criticism the hand-maid +of history, was working in the interest of +that constructive, Christian, doctrine of inspired +Scripture which an ancient and nameless +teacher of the church had described as +"witness" to the Life, "even the eternal +life, which was with the Father," and is in +man, and has been manifested in the origin +and historical development of our religion.</p> + +<p>The Reformation had been a revolt against +the despotism of the priest; this was a revolt +against the despotism of the scribe.</p> + +<p>Baur gave scant—too scant—consideration +to early tradition, making his results unduly +negative. None of the New Testament books +are dated; few besides the Pauline Epistles +embody even an author's name; and these +few, 1st and 2nd Peter, James, Jude and +Revelation, were (1st Peter alone excepted) +just those which even the canon-makers +had classified as doubtful, or spurious. Not +even a Calvin would support the authenticity +of 2nd Peter, a Luther had denied the value +of James and Revelation. It had been an +easy task for 'criticism of the canon' to +show that those who determined its content +had not been actuated by considerations of +pure science. Those books secured admission<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> +which were most widely current as ancient +and trustworthy, and whose orthodoxy met +the standards of the time. Those were +disputed, or rejected, which were less widely +current, or unorthodox, or could establish +no direct relation to an apostle. It was +proper for the critic, once his aim had become +not apologetic but historical, to drop once +for all the question whether the canon-makers' +selection—made not for scientific, +but for religious purposes—is good, bad or +indifferent. The time had come for him to +apply the available evidence to his own +scientific question: What relation do these +several writings bear to the development of +Christianity? It remained to be seen whether +he could offer constructive evidence more +convincing than tradition.</p> + +<p>The latest date to which an undated, or +disputed, writing can be assigned is that when +the marks of its employment by others, or +influence upon them, become undeniable. +This is termed the 'external' evidence. +The earliest date, conversely, is that to which +we are brought down by references in the +book itself to antecedent and current events, +and writings, or by undeniable marks of their +influence. This is termed the 'internal' +evidence. Counting tradition as part of the +external evidence, modern scientific criticism +is able to fix within a few decades the origin +of all the New Testament writings, without +incurring opposition even from the apologist.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 39]</span> +No scholar now dreams of adopting any other +method of proof, whatever his doctrinal +proclivities. The overwhelming majority are +agreed that the period covered, from the +earliest Pauline Epistles to the latest brief +fulminations against Gnostic Doketism and +denial of 'resurrection and judgment,' is +included in the century from <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 50 to 150.</p> + +<p>Baur's conception of the course of events +in this momentous century has been described +as a theory of historical progress by fusion +of opposites in a higher unity. The Hegelian +scheme of thesis, antithesis and synthesis +had in fact some justification in the recognized +phenomena of the development of Christianity. +It had sprung from Judaism, overcoming the +particularism of that still nationalistic faith +by the sense of its mission to the world at +large. The conflict acknowledged in all the +sources and most vividly reflected in the +great Epistles of Paul to the Galatians, +Corinthians and Romans, a conflict between +those who conceived Christianity as a universal +religion, and those who looked upon it as +only a reformed, spiritualized and perfected +Judaism, was the characteristic phenomenon +of the first or apostolic age. It was the +struggle of the infant faith against its +swaddling bands. The critical historian is +compelled to estimate all later, anonymous, +accounts of this development in the light of +the confessedly earlier, and indubitably +authentic records, the four great Epistles of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> +Paul; for these simply reflect the actual +conditions, and are not affected by the later +disposition to idealize the story. Thesis and +antithesis were therefore really in evidence +at the beginnings.</p> + +<p>Equal unanimity prevailed as to the close +of the period in question. In <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 150 to +200, Christianity was solidifying into the +'catholic' church, rejecting extremes of +doctrine on both sides, formulating its 'rule +of faith,' determining its canon, centralizing +administrative control. It had thrown off as +heretical upon the extreme left Marcion and +the Gnostics, who either repudiated the +Jewish scriptures altogether, or interpreted +them with more than Pauline freedom. On +the extreme right it had renounced the +unprogressive Ebionites of Palestine, still +unreconciled to Paul, and insistent on submission +to the Law for Jew and Gentile, as +the condition of a 'share in the world to +come.' What could be imagined as to the +course of events in the intervening century +of obscurity? Must it not have witnessed +a progressive divergence of the extremes of +Paulinists and Judaizers, coincidently with +a rapprochement of the moderates from the +side of Peter and that of Paul respectively? +Baur's outline seemed thus to describe adequately +the main course of events. He relied +upon internal evidence to determine the +dates of the disputed writings and their +relation to it. But 'criticism of the canon'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> +in Baur's own, and in the preceding generation, +had come to include among the writings +of doubtful date and authenticity not only +those disputed in antiquity, and the anonymous +narrative books, but also 1st Peter and +the minor Epistles of Paul. Nothing strictly +apostolic was left save the four great Epistles +of Paul.</p> + +<p>The theory of Baur and the Tübingen +school (for so his followers came to be +designated) was broadly conceived and ably +advocated. In two vital respects it has had +permanent influence. (1) Criticism, as already +noted, has ceased to be mere debate about +text and canon, and concerns itself to-day +primarily with the history of Christian ideas +as embodied in its primitive literature. Its +problem is to relate the New Testament +writings, together with all other cognate +material, to the history of the developing +religion from its earliest traceable form in the +greater Pauline Epistles to where it emerges +into the full light of day toward the close of +the second century. (2) Again, Baur's outline +of the process through which the nascent +faith attained to full self-consciousness as +a world-religion required correction rather +than disproof. It was a grievous mistake +to identify Peter, James, and John with +those whom Paul bitterly denounces as +Judaizing "false brethren," "super extra +apostles," "ministers of Satan." It was a +perversion of internal evidence to reject as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> +post-Pauline the Epistles of the later period +such as Philippians and Colossians, on the +ground that Paul himself did not live to +participate in the second crisis, the defence +of his doctrine against perversion on the +side of mystical, Hellenistic theosophy. The +great Epistles written under the name of +Paul from the period of his captivity are +innocent of reference to the developed Gnostic +systems of the second century. They antagonize +only an incipient tendency in this +direction.</p> + +<p>But while the transition of <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 50-150 +was both deeper and more complex than +Baur conceived, the transfer of the gospel +during that century from Jewish to Gentile +soil is really the great outstanding fact, +against which as a background the literature +must be read; and the initial stage of the +process is marked by the controversy of +Paul with the Galilean apostles. What we +must call, in distinction from Paulinism, +'apostolic' Christianity is well represented +in the Book of Acts. Paul's writings show +that he felt himself and his churches to +represent an independent type of Christianity +in all respects equal to the 'apostolic,' the +problem being unification of the two. Now +it is axiomatic that the investigator must +proceed from the relatively known and +determinable to the unknown and disputable. +Accordingly it is in reality from the Epistolary +literature of the church, in particular the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> +greater Pauline Epistles, that he must take +his start. As a source for our understanding +of the development of the life of the church +the Literature of the Apostle, directly participant +in the conflicts and issues of the times, +even if in its later elements of doubtful or +pseudonymous authorship, takes precedence +as a whole over the Literature of the Catechist, +with its later and more or less idealized +narration, exemplified in the Book of Acts.</p> + +<p>Modern criticism acknowledges, then, its +indebtedness to the Tübingen school for a +clearer definition of both its task and method, +by concentrating attention upon the contrast +between the Petrine and the Pauline conception +of 'the gospel.' Still it must be +admitted that most of the inferences first +drawn have since been overthrown. In +their chronological scheme of the New Testament +writings the Tübingen critics under-estimated +the force of the external evidences +(including early tradition) and misinterpreted +the internal. New discovery and more careful +study of literary relations have inverted +Baur's views as to dates of the Johannine +writings. Four of these (the Gospel and +three Epistles) are anonymous. Baur's date +for these has been forced back by no less than +half a century. The fifth (Revelation) bears +the name of John, but was hotly disputed as +pseudonymous in the second century, and +even by its supporters was dated so late as +"the end of the reign of Domitian" (95).<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> +The Tübingen school placed Revelation thirty +years earlier, and attributed it to the Apostle. +Modern criticism emphatically reverts to the +ancient date, and regards the book as pseudonymous, +or as written by "some other John."</p> + +<p>Again the relative dates of the Synoptic +writings (Matthew, Mark, Luke-Acts) were +inverted by the Tübingen critics, primarily +through wrong application of their theory +of doctrinal development; secondarily, and +as a consequence, through misinterpretation +of the intricate literary relationships. Present-day +criticism considers it established that +Mark is the oldest of the three, taken up by +each of the other two. There is almost +equal unanimity in regarding the discourse +material common to Matthew and Luke and +variously combined by each with Mark, as +independently drawn by them from the book +of the "Precepts of the Lord," reported +by Papias to have been compiled by Matthew +"in the Hebrew (<i>i. e.</i> Aramaic) tongue." +Tübingen gospel criticism is thus almost +entirely set aside, in favour of the so-called +'Two-document' theory.</p> + +<p>So with the Pauline Epistles of the second +period. Doubt still clings to Ephesians. It +had been treated by some as pseudo-Pauline +even before the time of Baur; but Baur's +own followers soon receded from his extreme +application of his theory to the internal +evidence of Philippians, Colossians and Philemon. +It became evident that Paul's "gospel"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> +included something more than the mere +antithesis of Law and Grace. He had other +opponents than the Judaizers, and had to +defend his doctrine against perversion by +Grecizing mystics as well as against opposition +by Pharisaic legalists.</p> + +<p>Two generations of research and controversy +have greatly advanced the cause of constructive +criticism. Hand in hand with a +more accurate dating of the literature, secured +through more impartial judgment of both +the external and internal evidence, there has +gone a reconstruction of our conception of +the course of events. The tendencies in the +early church were not two only, but four; +corresponding, perhaps, to those rebuked by +Paul at Corinth, which called themselves by +the names respectively of Peter, of Paul, of +Apollos and of Christ. It seems probable +from the bitterness with which in 2nd Cor. +x. 7 Paul denounces the man who says, +"I am of Christ," that this party-cry was +employed in the sense of following the example +of Jesus as respects obedience to the Law +(for even Paul acknowledged that Christ +had been "made a minister of the circumcision +for the truth of God"). If so, the Corinthian +"Christ-party" may be identified with those +"ministers of the circumcision" who denied +both the apostleship and the gospel of Paul. +At all events those "of Cephas" were +relatively harmless. They may be identified +with the so-called 'weak' of Romans, for<span class="pagenum">[Pg 46]</span> +whose scruples on the score of 'pollutions +of idols' Paul demands such consideration +both at Corinth and at Rome. His own +adherents both at Corinth (those 'of Paul') +and at Rome (the 'strong') are to follow +his example not merely in recognizing that: +"No idol is anything in the world," that +"there is nothing unclean of itself," and that +"all things are lawful." It is to be followed +also in recognizing the limitations of this +liberty. Limits are imposed among other +things by the scruples of others, so that +Paul himself becomes "as under the Law" +when among Jews, though "as without the +Law" among the Gentiles. The "weak" +are to be resisted only when the admission +of themselves or their claims would lead +to "doubtful disputations," or to a rebuilding +of walls of separation that had been torn +down through faith in Christ. Galatians +sounds the battle-cry of endangered liberty. +Corinthians (and Romans in still higher +degree) shows the magnanimity of the victor.</p> + +<p>Whether it be possible to identify those +"of Apollos" at Corinth with the beginnings +of that Hellenistic perversion of the Pauline +gospel into a mystical theosophy which afterwards +passed into Gnosticism may be left +an open question. At least we have come to +see that the conditions of the church's +growth were far more complex than Baur +imagined. In particular it is necessary to +distinguish four different attitudes on the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 47]</span> +single question of the obligation of the Law. +There were (1) Judaizers who insisted on +complete submission to the Law as the +condition of salvation, for both Jews and +Gentiles; (2) imitators of Cephas, who considered +believers of Jewish birth to be "under +the Law," but asked of Gentiles only such +consideration for it as the special conditions +seemed to require; (3) Paulinists, who held +that neither Jews nor Gentiles are under the +law, yet felt that consideration should be +shown for the scrupulous when asked not +as of right, but as of charity; (4) radicals, +who recognized no limits to their freedom +save the one new commandment.</p> + +<p>But while conflict first broke out over the +mere concrete question of Gentile liberty, the +real distinction of Paul's gospel from that +of the older apostles was far deeper. The +question as Tübingen critics conceived it +concerned primarily the <i>extent</i> of the gospel +message,—to how large a circle was it +offered? Modern criticism has come to see +that the difference was in higher degree a +difference of <i>quality</i>. Paul's whole message +of redemption through the cross and resurrection +started from other premises than those +of the Galilean apostles, and was conceived +in other terms. For this reason it leads over +to a new Christology. In short, the transition +of Christianity from its Jewish to its Gentile +form is not a mere enlargement of its field by +the abolition of particularistic barriers. The<span class="pagenum">[Pg 48]</span> +background we must study for the understanding +of it is not so much mere contemporary +history as the contemporary history <i>of +religion</i>. The development from the Petrine +gospel broadly characteristic of the Synoptic +writings, through the Pauline Epistles to that +of the Johannine writings, is a transition from +Hebrew to Hellenistic conceptions of what +redemption is, and how it is effected. Modern +criticism expresses the contrast in its distinction +of the gospel <i>of</i> Jesus from the gospel +<i>about</i> Jesus.</p> + +<p>In the case of both Paul and his predecessors +in the faith there is a common +starting-point. It was the doctrine that +God had raised Jesus from the dead and +exalted Him as Christ and Lord to the throne +of glory. Its proofs were the ecstatic phenomena +of the Spirit, those strange manifestations +of 'prophecy,' 'tongues,' and the like in +the Christian assembly. The inference from +this resurrection faith for an apostle of the +Galilean group was that he must "teach all +men everywhere to observe all things whatsoever +Jesus had commanded." Jesus had been +raised up in Israel as the Prophet like unto +Moses; His apostle must repeat the remembered +word of commandment and the word +of promise. He will have an authority +derived from the manifestations of signs and +wonders. These had accompanied Jesus' +own career, and now, by grace of His endowment +of His disciples with the Spirit,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> +they will be repeated by their hands. The +'apostolic' gospel is thus primarily historical. +The Pauline gospel centres at the other pole of +religious conviction. It is primarily psychological. +For Paul the immediate effect of the +revelation of God's Son "in" him is an irresistible +impulse to relate his own soul's experience. +The gospel he preaches is not so much what +Jesus did or said while on earth, as what God +has done, and is still doing, through the +"life-giving Spirit" which emanates from +the risen Lord. Signs and wonders are tokens +of the Spirit, but are of less value, and must +vanish before the "abiding" ethical gifts. +Both the Pauline and the Petrine gospel +start from the common confession of "Jesus +as Lord"; but the Christology of the Synoptic +literature is an Apotheosis doctrine, falling +back on the historical Jesus. That of the +Epistles is a doctrine of Incarnation, appealing +to the eternal manifestation of God in +man. For the former, Jesus was "a prophet +mighty in deed and word," raised up by God +in accordance with the promise of Deut. +xviii. 18, to turn Israel to repentance. Having +fulfilled this mission in rejection and martyrdom +Jesus had been exalted to God's "right +hand" and "made both Lord and Christ." +He there awaits the subjection of all His +enemies. In the Pauline gospel the story +of Jesus is a drama of the supernal regions, +wherein His earthly career as prophet, leader, +teacher, sinks to the level of the merest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> +episode. As pre-existent spirit, Jesus had +been from the beginning of the creation "in the +form of God." As the period of its consummation +drew near He took upon Him +human form, descended through suffering +and death to the lowest depths of the underworld, +and by divine power had reascended +above all the heavens with their ranks of +angelic hierarchies. Whether Paul himself +so conceived it or not, the Gentile world had +no other moulds of thought wherein to formulate +such a Christology than the current myths +of Redeemer-gods. The value of the individual +<i>soul</i> had at last been discovered, and men +resorted to the ancient personifications of the +forces of nature as deliverers of this new-found +<i>soul</i> from its weakness and mortality. The +influential religions of the time were those of +personal redemption by mystic union with +a dying and resurrected "Saviour-god," an +Osiris, an Adonis, an Attis, a Mithra. Religions +of this type were everywhere displacing the old +national faiths. The Gentile could not think +of "the Christ" primarily as a Son of David +who restores the kingdom to Israel, shatters +the Gentiles like a potter's vessel and rules +them with a rod of iron. If he employed +this Old Testament language at all, it had +for him a purely symbolical sense. The +whole conception was spiritualized. The +"enemies" overcome were the spiritual foes +of humanity, sin and death; "redemption" +was not the deliverance of Israel out of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> +hand of all their enemies, that (together with +all afar off that call upon the name of this +merciful God) they may "serve Him in +holiness and righteousness all their days." +It was the rescue of the sons of Adam out +of the bondage to evil Powers incurred +through inheritance of Adam's sinful flesh. +This had been the tendency already of Jewish +apocalypse. The starting-point of Paul's +own conceptions was not Israel's bondage in +Egypt, but a conception already tinged, like +the late book of Jewish philosophy called the +Wisdom of Solomon, with the Stoic conception +of 'flesh' as prison-house of 'spirit,' +already inflamed, like the contemporary Jewish +apocalypses of Esdras and Baruch, with lurid +visions of a universe rescued by superhuman +power from a thraldom of demonic rule. +Paul's preaching was made real by his own +experience. For if ever there was an evangelist +whose message was his own experience, +Paul was such. And Paul's experience was +not so much that of a Palestinian Jew, as that +of a Hellenist, one whose whole idea of +'redemption' has been unconsciously universalized, +individualized, and spiritualized, by +contact with Greek and Hellenistic thought. +Paul and the Galilean apostles were not far +apart in their expectations of the future. +Both stood gazing up into heaven. But for +his authority Paul inevitably looked inwards, +the Galilean apostles looked backwards.</p> + +<p>It is hopeless at the present stage of acquaintance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> +with the history of religion, +particularly the spread of the various +'mysteries' and religions of personal redemption +in the early empire, to deny this +contrast between the gospel of Paul and the +gospel of "the apostles and elders at Jerusalem." +It is shortsighted to overlook its +significance in the transition of the faith. +Whereas the Jewish-Christian had as its +principal background the national history, +more or less transcendentalized in the forms +of apocalypse, Paul's had as its principal +background the speculative mythology of +the Hellenistic world, more or less adapted to +the forms of Judaism. Only ignorance of +the function of mythology, especially as then +employed to express the aspiration of the +soul for purity, life and fellowship with God, +can make these mythologically framed religious +ideas seem an inappropriate vehicle to +convey Paul's sense of the significance of +Jesus' message and life of "Son ship." +They were at least the best expression those +times and that environment could afford of +the greater Kingdom God had proclaimed in +the resurrection of the Christ, and was bringing +to pass through the outpouring of His +Spirit.</p> + +<p>Modern criticism must therefore recognize +that the beginnings of our religion were not +a mere enlargement of Judaism by abolition +of the barriers of the Law, but a fusion of the +two great streams of religious thought distinctive<span class="pagenum">[Pg 53]</span> +of the Jewish and the Hellenistic +world in a higher unity. Alexander's hoped-for +"marriage of Europe and Asia" was +consummated at last in the field of religion +itself. Denationalized Judaism contributed +the social ideal: the messianic hope of a +world-wide Kingdom of God. It is the worthy +contribution of a highly ethical national +religion. Hellenism contributed the individual +ideal: personal redemption in mystic +union with the life of God. It is a concept +derived from the Greek's newly-awakened +consciousness of a personality agonizing for +deliverance out of the bondage of the material +and transitory, alien and degrading to its +proper life. The critic who has become a +historian of ideas will find his study of the +literature of the apostolic and post-apostolic +age here widening out into a prospect of +unsuspected largeness and significance. He +will see as the two great divisions of his +subject, (1) the gospel <i>of</i> Jesus, represented, +as we are told, in the first beginnings of literary +development by an Aramaic compilation of +the Precepts of the Lord by the Apostle +Matthew, circulating possibly even before the +great Pauline Epistles among the Palestinian +churches; (2) the gospel <i>about</i> Jesus, represented +in the Pauline Epistles, and these +based on their author's personal experience. +It is a gospel of God's action "in Christ, +reconciling the world." It interprets the +personality of Jesus and his experience of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> +the cross and resurrection as manifestations +of the divine idea. The interpretation +employs Hellenistically coloured forms of +thought, and is forced to vindicate itself first +against subjection to legalism, afterwards +against perversion into an unethical, superstitious +theosophy. But surely the doctrine +<i>about</i> Jesus, interpreting the significance of +His person and work as the culmination of +redemption through the indwelling of God +in men and among men belongs as much to +the essence of Christianity as the gospel of +love and faith proclaimed <i>by</i> Jesus.</p> + +<p>Besides these two principal types of gospel +and their subordinate combinations the critical +historian may see ultimately emerging +a type of 'spiritual' gospel, growing upon +Gentile soil, in fact, receiving its first literary +expression in the early years of the second +century at the very headquarters of the +Pauline mission-field. This third type aims +to be comprehensive of the other two. It is +essentially a gospel about Jesus, though it +takes the form for its main literary expression +of a gospel preached by Jesus. The fourth +evangelist is the true successor of Paul, +though the conditions of the age compel him +to go beyond the literary form of the Epistle +and to construct a Gospel wherein both +factors of the sacred tradition shall appear, +the words and works, the Precepts and the +Saving Ministry of Jesus. But it is in no +mechanical or slavish sense that the fourth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> +evangelist appeals to this supreme authority. +He lifts the whole message above the level +of mere baptized legalism, even while he +guards it against the unbridled licence of +Gnostic theosophy, applying to this purpose +his doctrine of the Incarnate Logos. His +basis is psychology as well as history. It is +the Life which is the light of men, that life +whose source is God, and which permeates +and redeems His creation; even "the eternal +Life which was with the Father and was +manifested to us."</p> + +<p>In the critical grouping of our New Testament +writings the Gospel and Epistles of +John can occupy, then, no lesser place than +that of the keystone of the arch.</p> + +<p>To sum up: the Literature of the Apostle owed +its early development and long continuance +among the Pauline churches of Asia Minor and +Greece, to the impetus and example of Paul's +apostolic authority. The Literature of the +Teacher and Prophet, growing up around Jerusalem +and its daughter churches at Antioch +and Rome, came slowly to surpass in influence +the "commandment of the apostles," as the +church became more and more exclusively +dependent upon it for the "teaching of the +Lord." It was the function of the great +"theologian" of Ephesus (as he came early +to be called), linking the authority of both, +to furnish the fundamental basis for the +catholic faith.<br><br><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h3><a name="PART_II" id="PART_II"></a>PART II</h3> + +<h3>THE LITERATURE OF THE APOSTLE</h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h3>CHAPTER III</h3> + +<h3>PAUL AS MISSIONARY AND DEFENDER OF THE GOSPEL OF GRACE</h3> + + +<p>Most vital of all passages for historical +appreciation of the great period of Paul's +missionary activity and its literature is the +retrospect over his career as apostle to the +Gentiles and defender of a gospel "without +the yoke of the Law" in Gal. i.-ii. Especially +must the contrast be observed between +this and the very different account in Acts +ix.-xvi.</p> + +<p>Galatians aims to counteract the encroachments +of certain Judaizing interlopers upon +Paul's field, and seems to have been written +from Corinth, shortly after his arrival there +(<i>c.</i> 50) on the Second Missionary Journey +(Acts xv. 36—xviii. 22). We take "the +churches of Galatia" to be those founded by +Paul in company with Barnabas on the First +Missionary Journey (Acts xiii.-xiv.), and +revisited with Silas after a division of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +recently evangelized territory whereby Cyprus +had been left to Barnabas and Mark (Acts xv. +36—xvi. 5; <i>cf.</i> Gal. iv. 13).</p> + +<p>The retrospect is in two parts: (1) a proof +of the divine origin of Paul's apostleship and +gospel by the independence of his conversion +and missionary career; (2) an account of +his defence of his "gospel of uncircumcision" +on the two occasions when it had been +threatened. Visiting Jerusalem for the second +time some fifteen years<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> after his conversion, +he secured from its "pillars," James, Peter, +and John, an unqualified, though "private," +endorsement. At Antioch subsequently he +overcame renewed opposition by public exposure +of the inconsistency of Peter, who had +been won over by the reactionaries.</p> + +<p>Acts reverses Paul's point of view, making +his career in the period of unobstructed +evangelization one of labour for Jews alone, +in complete dependence on the Twelve. It +practically excludes the period of opposition +by a determination of the Gentile status in +an 'Apostolic Council.' Paul is represented +as simply acquiescing in this decision.</p> + +<p>As described by Paul, the whole earlier +period of fifteen years had been occupied by +missionary effort for <i>Gentiles</i>, first at Damascus, +afterwards "in the regions of Syria +and Cilicia." It was interrupted only by a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> +journey "to Arabia," and later, three years +after his conversion, by a two-weeks' private +visit to Peter in Jerusalem. In this period +must fall most of the journeys and adventures +of 2nd Cor. xi. 23-33. It was practically +without contact with Judæa. His "gospel" +was what God alone had taught him through +an inward manifestation of the risen Jesus.</p> + +<p>As described by Luke<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> the whole period +was spent in the evangelization of Greek-speaking +<i>Jews</i>, principally at Jerusalem. +This was Paul's chosen field, worked under +direction of "the apostles." Only against +his will<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> was he driven for refuge to Tarsus, +whence Barnabas, who had first introduced +him to the apostles, brought him to Antioch. +There was no Gentile mission until Barnabas +and he were by that church made its +'apostles.' This mission was on express +direction of "the Spirit" (Acts ix. 19-30; +xi. 25 <i>f.</i>; xiii. 1-3; <i>cf.</i> xxii. 10-21). Paul's +apostleship to the Gentiles begins, then, +according to Luke, with the First Missionary +Journey, when in company with (and at first +in subordination to) Barnabas he evangelizes +Cyprus and southern Galatia. The two are +agents of Antioch, with "letters of commendation" +from "the apostles and elders in +Jerusalem" (Acts xv. 23-26). Paul is not<span class="pagenum">[Pg 59]</span> +an apostle of Christ in the same sense as the +Twelve (<i>cf.</i> Acts i. 21 <i>f.</i>). He is a providential +"vessel of the Spirit," ordained "by men and +through men." His gospel is Peter's unaltered +(<i>cf.</i> Acts xxvi. 16-23).</p> + +<p>There is even wider disparity regarding the +period of opposition. Luke slightly postpones +its beginning and very greatly antedates its +suppression. Moreover, he makes Paul accept +a solution which his letters emphatically +repudiate.</p> + +<p>According to Acts there was no opposition +before the First Missionary Journey, for the +excellent reason that there had been no +Gentile propaganda.<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> There was no opposition +after the Council called to consider it +(Acts xv.), for the conclusive reason that +"the apostles and elders" left nothing to +dispute about. As soon as the objections were +raised the church in Antioch laid the question +before these authorities, sending Paul and +Barnabas to testify. On their witness to the +grace of God among the Gentiles, Peter +(explicitly claiming for himself (!) this special +apostleship, Acts xv. 7) proposes unconditional +acknowledgment of Gentile liberty, referring<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> +to the precedent of Cornelius. In this there +was general acquiescence. In fact the matter +had really been decided before (Acts xi. 1-18). +The only wholly new point was that raised by +James in behalf of "the Jews among the +Gentiles" (Acts xv. 21; <i>cf.</i> xxi. 21). For +their sake it is held "necessary" to limit +Gentile freedom on four points. They must +abstain from three prohibited meats, and from +fornication, for these convey the "pollution +of idols." The "necessity" lies in the fact +that <i>liberty from the Law is not conceded to +Jews</i>. They will be (involuntarily) defiled if +they eat with their Gentile brethren unprotected. +"Fornication" is added because (in +the words of an ancient Jewish Christian) it +"differs from all other sins in that it defiles +not only the sinner, but those also <i>who eat or +associate with him</i>." Paul and Barnabas, +according to Luke, gladly accepted these +"decrees," and Paul distributed them "for +to keep" among his converts in Galatia (!). +<i>Peter</i> is the apostle to the Gentiles. Antioch +and Jerusalem decide the question of their +status. The terms of fellowship are those +of <i>James</i> and Peter.</p> + +<p>Paul has no mention of either Council or +'decrees.' His terms of fellowship positively +exclude both. He falls back upon the private +Conference, and lays bare a story of agonizing +struggle to make effective its recognition of +the equality and independence of Gentile +Christianity. The struggle is a result of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> +resistance to emissaries "from James" at +Antioch, who had brought over all the Jewish +element in that mixed church, including Peter +and "even Barnabas" to terms of fellowship +acceptable to the Pillars. After the collision +at Antioch Paul leaves the "regions of Syria +and Cilicia," and transfers the scene of his +missionary efforts to the Greek world between +the Taurus range and the Adriatic. For the +next ten years we see him on the one side +conducting an independent mission, proclaiming +the doctrine of the Cross as inaugurating +a new era, wherein law has been done +away, and Jew and Gentile have "access in +one Spirit unto the Father." On the other +he is defending this gospel of 'grace' against +unscrupulous Jewish-Christian traducers, and +labouring to reconcile differences between his +own followers and those of 'the circumcision' +who are not actively hostile, but only +have taken 'offence.' Throughout the period, +until the arrest in Jerusalem which ends his +career as an evangelist, Paul stands alone as +champion of unrestricted Gentile liberty and +equality. He cannot admit terms of fellowship +which imply a continuance of the legal +dispensation. Jewish Christians may keep +circumcision and the customs if they wish; +but may not hold or recommend them as +conferring the slightest advantage in God's +sight. He will not admit the doctrine of +salvation by faith <i>with</i> works of law. Jew as +well as Gentile must have "died to the Law."<span class="pagenum">[Pg 62]</span> +There is no "justification" except "by faith +<i>apart</i> from works of law."<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p> + +<p>Unless we distinctly apprehend the deep +difference, almost casually brought out by +this question of the (converted) Jew among +Gentiles and his obligation to eat with his +Gentile brother, a difference between 'apostolic' +Christianity as Luke gives it, and the +'gospel' of Paul, we can have no adequate +appreciation of the great Epistles produced +during this period of conflict. The basis of +Luke's pleasing picture of peace and concord +is a fundamentally different conception of the +relation of Law and Grace. Paul and Luke +both hold that the Mosaic commandments are +not binding on <i>Gentiles</i>. The point of difference—and +Paul's own account of his Conference +with the Pillars goes to show that Luke's +idea is also theirs; else why need there be a +division of 'spheres of influence'?—is Paul's +doctrine that the believing Jew <i>as well as the +Gentile</i> is "dead to the Law." And this +doctrine was never accepted south of the +Taurus range.</p> + +<p>Agreement and union were sure to come, if +only by the rapid disappearance from the church +after 70 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> of the element of the circumcised, +and the progressive realization in 'Syria and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> +Cilicia' of the impracticability of the Jerusalem-Antioch +plan of requiring Gentiles to make +their tables innocuous to the legalist. If only +the participation of Paul and Barnabas be +excluded from the story of Acts xv. (or better, +restored to its proper sequence after Acts xi. +30) we have every reason to accept Luke's +account of an Apostolic Council held at +Jerusalem not long after "Peter came to +Antioch" to settle between the churches of +northern and southern Syria the knotty +question of the Christian Jew's eating or not +eating with Gentiles. It is almost certain +that Syria did adopt this modus vivendi for +"the brethren which are of the Gentiles <i>in +Antioch, Syria and Cilicia</i>" (Acts xv. 23); +for we can trace its gradual obsolescence there. +In Revelation (a book of Palestinian origin +republished at Ephesus <i>c.</i> 95; <i>cf.</i> Rev. ii. 14, +20, 24) in the <i>Teaching of the Twelve</i> (125), and +in the 'Western' text of Acts xv. (150?) +there is a progressive scaling down of the +'burden.' Gentiles are at last asked to do +almost nothing more than Paul had demanded +on moral grounds without recognition of +the validity of "distinctions of meats." In +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 120 the 'burden' is: "Concerning +meats, keep what thou art able; however, +abstain at all events from things offered to +idols, for it is the food of dead gods."</p> + +<p>But to take Luke's account of how peace +was restored, with its implication that the +Pauline gospel as developed in Greek Christendom<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> +between the Taurus range and the +Adriatic was nothing more than a branch +from the parent stock of the 'apostolic' +church in "Syria and Cilicia," would be like +viewing the history of the United States from +the standpoint of a British imperialist of a +period of Anglo-Saxon reunion in <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 2000, +who should omit entirely the American War +of Independence, holding that Washington +and Franklin after bearing testimony before +Parliament accepted for the colonies a plan +of settlement prepared by a Liberal Government +which reduced to a minimum the obnoxious +requirements of the Tories.</p> + +<p>The history of this period of the development +of the independent 'gospel' of Paul +and of his independent churches is so vital, +and so confused by generations of well-meaning +'harmonizers,' that we must take +time to contrast once more Luke's theory of +the process of reunion with Paul's.</p> + +<p><i>In Acts Paul takes precisely the view of +Peter and James.</i> He is himself 'under the +Law.' He does <i>not</i> disregard it even among +Gentiles. On the contrary, he sets an example +of scrupulous legality to the Jews +among the Gentiles, himself 'walking orderly, +keeping the Law.' The statement that he +"teaches them to forsake Moses, telling them +not to circumcise their children, nor to obey +the customs" is a calumny (!) which he takes +public occasion to disprove (Acts xxi. 20-26). +Before the Sanhedrin he emphatically declares<span class="pagenum">[Pg 65]</span> +himself a consistent Pharisee (Acts xxiii. 1, 6); +before Felix and Festus, blameless by the +standard of Law and Prophets (xxiv. 14-16; +xxv. 8); before Agrippa, a strict Pharisee in his +conduct hitherto (xxvi. 5, 22 <i>f.</i>). Titus, whose +circumcision Paul strenuously resisted, is +never mentioned in Acts. Conversely Timothy +(a Jew only on his mother's side) Paul "took +and circumcised" immediately after the +Jerusalem Council "because of the Jews that +were in those parts" (Galatia!). His visit +with Barnabas to Jerusalem is not occasioned +by opposition to Gentile missions, though it +falls between Barnabas' mission from Jerusalem +to investigate the alarming reports of +Gentile conversions at Antioch, and the First +Missionary Journey on which the two take +with them Mark, who had accompanied them +from Jerusalem. No; according to Luke +Gentile missions did not yet exist<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a>(!). This +visit (that of the Conference, Gal. ii. 1-10) +was merely to convey a gift from the Antioch +church to that of Jerusalem because of the +famine "about that time" (it occurred in +46-47). Conversely the great 'offering of +the Gentiles' made at the risk of Paul's life +in company with delegates from each province +of his field, as a proffer of peace, the enterprise +which occupies so large a place in his effort +and his letters of this period (1st Cor. xvi. 1-6; +2nd Cor. 8-9; Rom. xv. 15, 16, 25-32), has in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> +Acts no relation to the controversy—for the +demonstration of Paul's exemplary legalism in +the temple is merely incidental. The gift +Paul brought was "alms to my nation" (!) +(Acts xxiv. 17). The reader asks in vain what +necessitates this dangerous journey. The only +motives assigned are a Nazarite vow assumed +in Cenchreæ (xviii. 18; xxi. 24), and regard +for the Jewish feasts (xx. 16).</p> + +<p>The background of history against which +the modern reader must place the great letters +of Paul of the first period, is manifestly something +quite different from the mere unsifted +story of Acts. Their real origin is in a profound +difference in Paul's idea of 'the +gospel' and the necessity of defending the +independence of it and of the Gentile churches +founded on it. The difference originates in +Paul's own religious experience. It found +its first expression in his antithesis of Law and +Grace, his doctrine that the cross marks the +abolition of the economy of Law.</p> + +<p>Both in Galatians and everywhere else Paul +treats on equal terms with the representatives +of the "apostleship of the circumcision." He +denounces Peter and "the rest of the Jews," +including "even Barnabas," at Antioch, after +they have withdrawn from Gentile fellowship +in order to preserve their legal 'cleanness,' +and the point of the denunciation is that this +is inconsistent with <i>their</i> (implied) abandonment +of the Law as a means of salvation +when they "sought to be justified by faith in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> +Christ." This makes their conduct not only +inconsistent but cowardly and "hypocritical."</p> + +<p>Here is something far deeper than a mere +question of policy. Paul's attitude shows that +from the beginning he has really been preaching +"a different gospel." A gospel <i>about</i> +Christ in which the central fact is the cross as +the token of the abolition of a dispensation +of Law wherein Jew and Gentile alike were in +a servile relation to God, under angelic (or +demonic) "stewards and governors," and the +inauguration of a dispensation of Grace, +wherein all who have 'faith' and receive in +baptism the gift of 'the Spirit,' are thereby +adopted to be God's sons. Beside this cosmic +drama of the cross and resurrection wherein +God reveals his redemptive purpose for the +world, the mere inculcation of the easy yoke +of Jesus as a new Law, simplifying and +supplementing the old by restoring the doctrine +of forgiveness for the repentant +believer (<i>cf.</i> Matt. xxviii. 20; Acts x. 42 <i>f.</i>; +xiii. 39; xxvi. 22 <i>f.</i>) seems only half a gospel.</p> + +<p>Paul can never surrender the independence +of his God-given message, nor the liberty +wherewith Christ has made all believers free +in abolishing the economy of law and making +them "sons" by the Spirit. And yet he is +even more determined to achieve peace and +reunion than the apostles 'of the circumcision'; +only he has a different plan. Paul +and his churches fall back upon the Jerusalem +Conference, not upon the 'Apostolic Council.'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> +The Conference is their Magna Carta. Its +recognition of Paul's independent gospel and +apostleship as no less divine than Peter's is +their guarantee of liberty and equality; its +request for brotherly aid is their promise of +fraternity.</p> + +<p>Approaches were made on both sides. It +is true the ill-advised attempt of the Judaizers +to secure unity by a renewal of their propaganda +of the Law, seducing the Greek churches +from their loyalty to Paul and his gospel, +provoked from him only such thunderbolts +as Galatians, with its defence of "the liberty +wherewith Christ hath made us free," or +2nd Cor. x. 1 to xiii. 10, with its denunciation +of the "ministers of Satan." Peace through +surrender was not to Paul's mind. But the +sincere attempt of the followers of Peter to +find a <i>modus vivendi</i>, even if they did not +venture to claim liberty from the Law for +themselves, found Paul prepared to go more +than half-way. His epistles are not more +remarkable for their strenuous defence of +the liberty of Son ship, than for their insistence +on the obligation of brotherly love. His +churches must be not only morally pure for +their own sakes, but must avoid offences to +the more scrupulous. Even that which Christian +liberty allows must be sacrificed to the +scruples of the 'weak,' if only it be not +"unto doubtful disputations," or demanded +as of right. From 1st Thessalonians (Corinth, +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 50), where, in the absence of all Judaizing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> +opposition Paul merely exhibits his simple +gospel of the resurrection and judgment to +come, unaffected by questions of Law and +Grace, on through Galatians with its sublime +polemic for the liberty of sons, to the Corinthian +correspondence, with its insistence on +the duty of consideration and forbearance, +its stronger note of love, its revelation of +the widespread, strenuous exertions of Paul +to promote his great 'offering,' down to +Romans, where the 'offering of the Gentiles' +is ready to be made (Rom. xv. 16-33), and +Paul is sedulously preparing to enter a great +new field already partially occupied, by +presenting a full and superlatively conciliatory +statement of his entire 'gospel' (i. 15-17), +there is steady progress toward the "peace" +and "acceptance" which he hopes to find in +Jerusalem. The later Epistles, with their +different phase of conflict, the very attitude +of 'apostolic' Christianity toward Paul, as +exhibited in Acts, make it incredible that +substantial unity was not in fact secured.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> We +cannot, indeed, accept Luke's representation of +Paul as performing the Nazarite ceremonial in +the temple in order to prove <i>that he does not +teach that the Law is not binding on Jews</i>. But<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> +it does not follow that Paul may not have done +even this to prove that his principle of accommodation +to the weak (1st Cor. ix. 19-22) left +ample room for fellowship with the Jewish +Christian—except when (as with Peter and +Barnabas at Antioch) the needless scruples +of the legalist were made a pretext for "compelling +the Gentiles to live as do the Jews."</p> + +<p>Had unity been attained through the simple +process imagined by Luke, obedient acquiescence +of Paul and the Gentiles in the divinely +inspired verdict of "the apostles and elders +in Jerusalem," Christianity would have been +an immeasurably poorer thing than it became. +Indeed, it is questionable whether a gospel of +mere simplification, extension and supplementation +of the Law would ever have made +permanent conquest of the Gentile world. +It is because Paul stood out on this question +of 'meats' for the equal right of his independent +gospel, refusing submission until his +great ten-years' work of evangelization by +tongue and pen had made Gentile Christianity +a factor of at least equal importance with +Jewish, that our religion was enriched by its +Hellenistic strain. The deeper insight into +the real significance of Jesus' work and fate +born of Paul's peculiar experience and his +Hellenistic apprehension of the gospel found +embodiment in the beginnings of a New +Testament literature. The writings of this +period must accordingly be viewed against +the background of a critical history. Luke's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> +account, written in the interest of "apostolic" +authority, must receive such modifications as +the contemporary documents require.</p> + +<p>Taking up the story at the point of divergence +we see Paul and Barnabas returning to +Antioch after the Conference with the Pillars, +glad at heart, and expecting now to resume +the work for Gentiles without impediment. +Besides Titus, John Mark of Jerusalem, a +nephew of Barnabas, accompanied them. +The Missionary Journey to Cyprus and +(southern) Galatia follows, Mark returning, +however, to Jerusalem after leaving Cyprus.</p> + +<p>It was probably during the absence of the +missionaries that "Peter came to Antioch" +and, at first, followed the Pauline practice +of disregarding 'distinctions of meats.' +Later, on arrival of certain "from James" he +"drew back and separated himself, fearing +those of the circumcision." While matters +were at this stage Paul and Barnabas reappeared +on the scene. Paul thought it +necessary to rebuke Peter "openly, before +them all." Barnabas, former head of the +Antioch church, took sides with Peter and +"the rest of the Jews," doubtless determining +the attitude of the church; for Paul says +nothing of prevailing upon them by his +argument, but merely turns it at once upon +the Galatians themselves. Moreover, Barnabas +now takes Cyprus as his mission field, +with Mark as his helper, while Paul with a +new companion, Silvanus (in Acts "Silas," a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> +bearer of the 'decrees' from Jerusalem), +takes the northern half of the newly evangelized +territory, and through much difficulty +and opposition makes his way to the coasts +of the Ægean.</p> + +<p>This second visit to the churches of Galatia +(Acts xvi. 1-5) was signalized by warnings +against the (possible) preaching of "another +gospel" (Gal. i. 9); for Paul had reason to +anticipate trouble from the "false brethren." +If Acts may be believed, it was also marked +by an extraordinary evidence of Paul's +readiness to "become all things to all men" +in the interest of conciliation. He is said to +have circumcised a Galatian half-Jew named +Timothy. If so, it was certainly not to prove +his respect for the legal requirement, but +rather its indifference. "Circumcision is nothing +and uncircumcision nothing; only faith +working through love." But these generous +'accommodations' of Paul produced more +of misrepresentation than of conciliation. He +had cause to regret his liberality later (Gal. i. +10; v. 11 <i>f.</i>; <i>cf.</i> 1st Cor. vii. 18).</p> + +<p>Some unexplained obstacle (Acts xvi. 6) prevented +Paul's entrance into the Province of Asia +at this time. Ephesus, his probable objective, +had perhaps already been occupied +(xviii. 24-28). He turned north through +Phrygia-Galatia, hoping to find a field in +Bithynia, but was again disappointed. At +Troas, the very extremity of Asia, came the +turning-point in the fortunes of the missionaries.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> +Encouraged by a vision they crossed +into Macedonia and found fields white for the +harvest.</p> + +<p>The Epistles to Thessalonica address one +of these Macedonian churches from Corinth, +whither the missionaries have been driven. +Timothy had been sent back from Athens +when Paul's own repeated attempts to return +had been frustrated, and has just arrived with +good news of the church's perseverance in +spite of a persecution stirred up by the Jews. +It is against these, apparently, not against +Jewish-Christian detractors, that Paul defends +his character and message (1st Thess. ii. 1-13). +There is also an urgent warning against +fornication (iv. 1-8) and exhortation to +abound in love (iv. 9-12), with correction of +the natural Greek tendency to misapprehend +the Jewish eschatology and resurrection-doctrine +(iv. 13—v. 1-11; <i>cf.</i> 1st Cor. xv.). The +closing admonitions relate to the direction +of church meetings and discipline.</p> + +<p>2nd Thessalonians corrects and supplements +the eschatology of 1st Thessalonians by adding +a doctrine of Antichrist, which is at all events +thoroughly Jewish and earlier than 70, when +the temple was destroyed in which it expects +the manifestation of "the man of sin." It +is the only one of the Epistles of this period +whose authenticity is seriously questioned by +critical scholarship. How little this affects +the question of Paul's 'gospel' may be seen +by the fact that the entire contents cover<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> +less than 3 per cent. of the earlier Epistles, +while the subject is a mere detail.</p> + +<p>Far more significant is it to observe the +close correspondence between the missionary +preaching of Paul as here described by himself +(1st Thess. i. 9 <i>f.</i>) and the general apostolic +message (<i>kerygma</i>) as described by Luke +(Acts x. 42 <i>f.</i>; xiv. 15-17; xvii. 24-31). +Where there are no Judaizers there is no +reference to the dispensations of Law and +Grace and the abolition of the former in the +Cross. The doctrine is the common gospel +of the Resurrection, wherein Jesus has been +manifested as the Messiah. Faith in him +secures forgiveness to the repentant; all others +are doomed to perish in the judgment shown +by his 'manifestation' to be at hand +(<i>cf.</i> 1st Cor. xv. 11; Rom. i. 3-5).</p> + +<p>Galatians was written but slightly before +(or after?) the letters to Thessalonica. Its +single theme (after the retrospect) is the +Adoption to Son ship through the Spirit. +Against the Judaizer's plea that to share in +the Inheritance one must be adopted (preferably +by circumcision) into the family of +Abraham, or at all events pay respect to the +Mosaic Law, Paul asserts the single fact of +the adoption of the Spirit. "It is because +ye are sons that God sent forth the Spirit of +his Son into our hearts crying (in the ecstatic +utterances of 'tongues') Abba, that is, +Father" (Gal. iv. 6). To go back to legal +observances is to revert from redemption to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> +bondage. All Christians are indeed sons of +Abraham, but only as sharers of his trust +in God. Abraham was made "heir of the +world" (Rom. iv. 13) for his faith. Circumcision +and the Law came afterwards. They +were not superimposed stipulations and conditions +of the promise. On the contrary they +were temporary pedagogic measures intended +to produce the consciousness of sin and +(moral) death, so that when the Heir should +come men should be ready to cast themselves +on the mercy of God displayed in his vicarious +death.<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> Thus the messianic Redemption is +a redemption from a system issuing in sin and +death. On the cross even the sinless Christ +incurred the curse in order that believers thus +redeemed might have the Blessing of the +Abrahamic promise (Gal. iii. 1—iv. 7).</p> + +<p>But this transfer from bondage to liberty, +from the legal to the filial relation, does not +"make Christ a minister of sin." On the +contrary, if the delivering Spirit of Son ship +has been received at all, it controls the life +for purity and love. One cannot be a son +and be unfilial or unbrotherly. The unity of +the redeemed world in Christ is the unity of +loving service, not of subjection to a bygone<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +system of rules (iv. 8—vi. 18). Thus does +Galatians meet the insidious plea of the +Judaizers, and their charges against Pauline +liberty.</p> + +<p>The church founded by Paul in Corinth +(Acts xviii. 1-17) was grounded from the +beginning in this doctrine of the Cross. Paul +purposely restricted himself to it (1st Cor. +i. 17-25; ii. 1-5). He had indeed a world-view, +of which we learn more in the Epistles +of the Captivity, a philosophy revealed by the +Spirit as a "mystery of God." Those who +afterwards in Corinth came to call themselves +followers "of Apollos" had nothing to teach +him on this score. But consideration of this +Grecizing tendency, too often issuing in a +mere "philosophy and vain deceit after the +Elements of the world and not after Christ" +(Col. ii. 8), must be deferred, in favour of +questions which became more immediately +pressing. For after Paul had left Corinth to +make a brief visit via Ephesus to Cæsarea and +Antioch, and had returned through the now +pacified Galatian churches to make Ephesus +his permanent headquarters (Acts xviii. 18-23), +he received disturbing news of conditions +in Corinth. Under Apollos (now at Ephesus +with Paul) an Alexandrian convert thoroughly +indoctrinated with Paul's gospel (Acts xviii. +24-28) the church had flourished, but discussions +had subsequently arisen, resulting +in a letter to Paul asking his advice on +disputed points. Besides this there were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> +moral blemishes. First the factious strife +itself, of which Paul has learnt from newcomers +from Corinth; secondly a case of +unpunished incest. A previous letter from +Paul (now lost, or but partially preserved in +2nd Cor. vi. 14—vii. 1) had required the +church "to have no company with fornicators." +The church, making the application +general, had pleaded the impracticability of +"going out of the world." Paul now explains: +"If any man <i>that is named a brother</i> +be a fornicator ... with such a one no, not +to eat." After further rebuke for litigiousness, +and a lack of moral tone, especially in +the matter of "fornication" (ch. vi.), Paul +takes up seriatim "the things whereof ye +wrote." We are chiefly interested in the +long section (viii. 1—xi. 1) on "things offered +to idols" wherein Paul instructs those who +would be imitators of his freedom, but who +forget that he has always refused to assert +his rights when thereby the 'weak' were +stumbled. Moreover fornication is never +among the permissible things, nor even the +eating of meats offered to idols <i>at the heathen +banquet itself</i>. Such food is unobjectionable +only when it has been sold in the market, +and can be eaten without 'offence.'</p> + +<p>The other questions related to church +meetings for the "Lord's supper" and the +exercise of "spiritual gifts." They give +opportunity for the development of Paul's +noble doctrine of unity through loving service<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> +(xi. 2—xiv. 40). The doctrinal section of +1st Corinthians concludes with a full statement +of Paul's doctrine of the resurrection +body (called forth by Greek objections to +the Jewish). From the items of business at +the close we learn that "the collection for the +saints" has been under way some time +already "in Galatia," and that Paul hopes, +after passing through Macedonia, to join the +delegation which is to carry the money to +Jerusalem (xvi. 1-6).</p> + +<p>As it turned out Paul actually followed the +itinerary outlined in 1st Cor. xvi. 1-6, but +not until after distressing experiences. Timothy, +sent (by way of Macedonia, Acts xix. 22) +as Paul's representative (iv. 17; xvi. 10 <i>f.</i>), +was unable to restore order. The opposition +to Paul's apostolic authority, treated almost +contemptuously in ix. 1-14, grew to alarming +proportions. Paul received so direct and +personal an affront (either on a hasty visit +undertaken in person from Ephesus, or in the +person of Timothy) that he despatched a +peremptory ultimatum, whose effect he is +anxiously waiting to hear when 2nd Corinthians +opens with Paul driven out from +Ephesus, a refugee in Macedonia (<i>c.</i> 55). It +is highly probable that the disconnected +section appended between 2nd Cor. ix. 15 +and the Farewell, is taken from this "grievous" +letter written "out of much affliction and +anguish of heart with many tears" (2nd Cor. +ii. 1-4; vii. 8-16); for it was not only a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> +peremptory demand for punishment of the +offender, but also a letter of forced self-commendation. +Paul cannot have written in +self-commendation on more than one occasion, +and he promises not to repeat this in iii. 1 <i>ff.</i> +We may take 2nd Cor. x.-xiii., then, as representing +the "grievous" letter. The opposition +emanates from Judaizers who say they are +"of Christ," and may therefore be identical +with those of 1st Cor. i. 12. But it has grown +to proportions which for a time made Paul +despair of the church's loyalty. Titus' arrival +in Macedonia with news of their restored +obedience had been an inexpressible relief +(ii. 5-17; vii. 8-16). It remains only to set +his 'ministry of the new covenant' once more +in contrast with the Mosaic 'ministry of +condemnation and death,' including further +elucidation of the doctrine of the resurrection +body (iii. 1—vi. 10) and to urge generosity in +the matter of the collection (chh. viii.-ix.).</p> + +<p>The somewhat disordered, but unmistakably +genuine material of 2nd Corinthians was +probably given out as a kind of residuum of +Pauline material long after our 1st Corinthians +had been put in circulation, perhaps when +renewed strife had caused the church in Rome +to intervene through Clement (95), who quotes +1st Corinthians, but shows no knowledge of +2nd Corinthians. The correspondence is not +only invaluable to the church for its pæan +of love as the invincible, abiding gift of the +Spirit (1st Cor. xiii.) and its sublime eulogy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> +of the "ministry of the new covenant," but +instructive in the highest degree to the +historian. Almost every aspect of Paul's work +as missionary, defender of his own independent +apostleship and gospel, guide and instructor +of developing Gentile-Christian thought, and +ardent commissioner for peace with the +apostolic community in Syria, is here set +forth. The best exposition of the history is +the documentary material itself, and conversely.</p> + +<p>Romans was written during the peaceful +winter at Corinth (55-56) which followed these +weeks of tormenting anxiety in Macedonia +(Acts xx. 1-3). Paul feels that he has carried +the gospel to the very shores of the Adriatic +(xv. 19). He is on the point of going to +Jerusalem with his great 'offering of the +Gentiles,' and has already fixed his eye on +Rome and "Spain"! Just as before the First +Missionary Journey he forestalled opposition +by frankly laying his gospel before the +Pillars, so now he lays it before the church +in Rome, but most delicately and tactfully, +not as though assuming to admonish Christians +already "filled with all knowledge and +able to admonish one another" (xv. 14), but +"that I with you may be comforted in you, +each of us by the other's faith" (i. 12). Thus +the Epistle is an eirenicon. For Rome was +even more than Ephesus had been, a preoccupied +territory, though a metropolis of +Paul's mission-field. Most of the church are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> +Paul's sympathizers, but there are many of +the 'weak,' who may easily be 'offended.' +The letter repeats and enlarges the argument +of Galatians for the gospel of Grace, carrying +back the promise to Abraham to its antecedent +in the fall of Adam, whereby all mankind had +passed under the domination of Sin and Death. +The function of the Law is again made clear +as bringing men to consciousness of this +bondage, till it is done away by (mystical) +death and resurrection with Christ. In the +adoption wrought by the Spirit the whole +creation even, groaning since Adam's time +under 'vanity,' is liberated in the manifestation +of the sons of God. Jesus, glorified at +the right hand of God, is the firstfruits of the +cosmic redemption (Rom. i.-viii.). Such is +Paul's theory of 'evolution.' It is followed +by a vindication of God in history. Rom. +ix.-xi. exhibits the relation of Jew and Gentile +in the process of the redemption. Israel has +for the time being been hardened that the +Gentiles may be brought in. Ultimately +their very jealousy at this result will bring +them also to repentant faith.</p> + +<p>Paul's sublime exposition of his view of +cosmic and historic redemption is followed +(as in all the Epistles) by a practical exhortation +(chh. xii.-xiv.), the keynote of which is +unity through mutual forbearance and loving +service. It repeats the Corinthian figure of +the members in the body, and the Galatian +definition of the 'law of Christ.' Special<span class="pagenum">[Pg 82]</span> +application is made to the case of the scrupulous +who make distinctions of days and of +meats. Here, however (xiv. 1—xv. 13), there +is no longer need to resist a threatened yoke. +Only tenderness and consideration are urged +for the over-scrupulous "brother in Christ." +It was in this spirit that Paul and his great +company of delegates from the churches of +the Gentiles went up to Jerusalem (Acts xx. 4—xxi. +17).<br><br><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h3> + +<h3>PAUL AS PRISONER AND CHURCH FATHER</h3> + + +<p>The second period of Paul's literary career +begins after an interval of several years. +This interval is covered indeed, so far as the +great events of the Apostle's personal story +are concerned, by the last nine chapters of +Acts, but exceedingly obscure as respects the +fortunes of his mission-field and the occasion +for the group of Epistles which come to us +after its close. It is barely possible that a +fragment or two from the so-called Pastoral +Epistles (1st Timothy, 2nd Timothy, Titus), +which seem to be compiled long after Paul's +death on the basis of some remnants of his +correspondence, may have been written shortly +after the arrest in Jerusalem and "first +defence." In 2nd Tim. iv. 11-18 a journey is +referred to from Troas by way of Ephesus +which coincides in many respects with that +of Acts xx. If the fragment could be taken +out from its present setting it might be possible +to identify the two; for it is clear from +the forecast of Acts xx. 25, 38 that Paul +never did revisit this region. The grip of +Rome upon her troublesome prisoner was<span class="pagenum">[Pg 84]</span> +not relaxed until his martyrdom, probably +some considerable time before the "great +multitude" whom Nero condemned after +the conflagration of 64. However, until +analysis can dissect out with greater definiteness +the genuine elements of the Pastoral +Epistles, they cannot be used to throw light +upon the later period of Paul's career. A +historical background has indeed been created +to meet their requirements—a release of +Paul, resumption of missionary activities on +the coasts of the Ægean, renewed imprisonment +in Rome and ultimate martyrdom. But +this has absolutely no warrant outside the +Pastorals themselves, and is both inconsistent +with Acts and open to criticism intrinsically. +The story thus created of a +release, <i>second</i> visitation of the Greek churches, +and <i>second</i> imprisonment must, therefore, +be regarded as fictitious, and the Pastoral +Epistles in their present form as products +of the post-Pauline age.</p> + +<p>It is our task to trace the development among +the Greek churches of Christianity conceived +as a "revelation of God in Christ," alongside +of its development in the 'apostolic' church, +until the period of 'catholic' unity and the +completed canon. Upon this development +the story of Paul's personal fortunes in Acts +throws but little light. We merely see that +his great peace-making visit to Jerusalem +was suddenly interrupted by his arrest in +the temple, while engaged in an act of worship<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> +undoubtedly intended by him to demonstrate +his willingness in the interest of unity to +"become as under the Law to them that are +under the Law." After this his great delegation +from the Gentile churches must have +scattered to their homes. Paul remained a +prisoner for two years in Cæsarea, and after +an adventurous journey covering the ensuing +autumn and winter (59-60), spent two more +years in less rigid confinement at Rome. +We need no hint from his request in 2nd Tim. +iv. 13 for "books and parchments" to infer +that the years of forced seclusion in Cæsarea +were marked by study and meditation; but +narrative and inference together convey but +little of what we mainly desire to know: +the course of religious development in the +Pauline churches, as a background for the +literature.</p> + +<p>On the other hand recent research into +religious conditions in the early Empire has +removed the principal objections to the authenticity +of Philippians, Philemon, Colossians, and +even Ephesians. We are far from being +compelled to come down to the time of the +great Gnostic systems of the second century +to find a historical situation appropriate to +this group of letters purporting to be written +by Paul from his captivity. Indeed they +exhibit on any theory of their origin a characteristic +and legitimate development of the +Pauline gospel of Son ship by the Spirit of +Adoption abolishing the dispensation of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> +Law. It is a development almost inevitable +in a conception of 'the gospel' formed on Greek +ideas of Redemption, if we place in opposition +to it a certain baser type of superstitious, +mongrel Judaism, revealed in the Epistles +themselves, repeatedly referred to in Acts, +and now known to us by a mass of extraneous +documentary material.</p> + +<p>The new disturbers of the churches' peace +revealed in the Epistles of the Captivity are +still of Jewish origin and tendency; but at +least in the region of Colossæ (in the Lycus +Valley, adjacent to southern Galatia) the issue +is no longer that between Law and Grace, +but concerns the nature and extent of the +Redemption. The trouble still comes from a +superstitious exaltation of the Mosaic revelation; +but those whom Paul here opposes do +not "use the Law lawfully," frankly insisting +on its permanent obligation as the will of +God for all sons, unaffected by the Cross. It +is now admitted to be an "ordinance of +angels"; but the observance of it is inculcated +because man's redemption can only come +through conciliation of these higher beings. +Mystical union with superhuman Powers is +to be promoted by its observances. This +superstition is neither purely Jewish, nor +purely Greek. It is composite—Hellenistic. +Judaism is imitated in the superstitious +reverence for the Law; but the conception +of Redemption leaves behind every thought +of national particularism and is openly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> +individualistic. The redemption sought is that +of the individual soul from the limitations of +humanity, and doubtless the name of Jesus +played an important rôle in the emancipation, +as in the exorcisms of the sons of Sceva (Acts +xix. 13 <i>f.</i>); only it was not "above every +name."</p> + +<p>But even Jewish apocalypses such as +<i>Enoch</i> and <i>Baruch</i> with all their superstitious +angelology and demonology manage somehow +to cling to the ancient Jewish faith in the +primacy of man, and Paul in like manner +upholds against the theosophists the doctrine +of the believer's Son ship and joint-heirship +with Christ. In fact the Adoption, Redemption +and Inheritance accorded in the gift of +the Spirit are to his mind gifts so great and +exalted as to make it a "gratuitous self-humiliation" +to pay homage, in Mosaic or other +ceremonial, to "angels," "principalities," +or "powers." In Christ we already have +a foothold in the heavenly regions. We were +foreordained in his person to be "heirs" +"before the foundation of the world." His +resurrection and ascension "to the right hand +of God" participated in by us through "the +Spirit" was a "triumph" over the 'Elements' +and 'Rulers.' They should be beneath +the Christian's feet in feeling, as they +soon will be in reality.</p> + +<p>This exalted doctrine of Christ's Son ship as +compared with the mere temporary authority +of "angels and principalities and powers,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> +secures to the Epistles of the Captivity +their well-deserved title of "Christological"; +for they lay the foundation for all later +doctrines of the Logos or Word. It is well +to realize, however, that the doctrine is in +origin and meaning simply a vindication of +the divine dignity of manhood.</p> + +<p>An idea of outward conditions at the time +of writing may be gained from the two +Epistles of the group most universally admitted +to be genuine, Philemon and Philippians. +Both are written from captivity, +almost certainly in Rome, because the writer +is expecting, if released, to revisit the Ægean +coasts, which was not Paul's expectation in +Cæsarea. But there is a wide difference +between the two as respects the circumstances +presupposed. The tone of Philemon is hopeful, +sprightly, even jocose. Paul is in company +with a group of "fellow-workers" +which significantly includes "Mark," as well +as two companions of the voyage to Rome, +"Aristarchus" of Thessalonica, and "Luke" +(Acts xxvii. 2). Epaphras, his "fellow-prisoner," +appears in Colossians as the founder +of that church and a teacher in the adjacent +towns of Hierapolis and Laodicea. He has +brought to Paul either of his own knowledge +or by report from others, disturbing news of +the inroads of the heresy. Onesimus, whose +case occasions the letter to Philemon, is an +escaped slave of this friend and convert of +Paul. The apostle is sending back the slave<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> +with the request that he be forgiven and manumitted. +The interrelation of the persons +mentioned in Philemon and Colossians shows +that the occasion is the same. Tychicus +(<i>cf.</i> Acts xx. 3) the bearer of Colossians (Col. +iv. 7) accompanies Onesimus. Ephesians (if +authentic) belongs to the same group, being +also carried by Tychicus (Eph. vi. 21). It +was certainly <i>not</i> intended for Ephesus, but +for some church or churches not directly +known to Paul (i. 15; iii. 2). It bears much +the same relation to Colossians as Romans to +Galatians. In spite of copious evidences of +its use reaching back even to Clement of +Rome (95) the genuineness of Ephesians is +more seriously questioned than that of any +other Pauline letter save the Pastorals. In +the present writer's judgment this suspicion +is unfounded, but the question of Pauline, +semi-Pauline or deutero-Pauline is immaterial +to the general development.</p> + +<p>Philippians is of later date than Philemon +and its companions. Paul has been in circumstances +of dire physical distress, and is +comforting his correspondents in view of an +immediately impending decision of his case +(ii. 23). The issue will be life or death, and +Paul has no earthly (but only super-earthly) +reasons for hoping the verdict may not be +adverse. He is still expecting, if released, +to revisit the Ægean coast (ii. 24); but it is +only smiling through his tears when he tells +the Philippians that their need of him is so<span class="pagenum">[Pg 90]</span> +great that he is confident he will be spared to +them (Phil. 1. 12-30). Knowing that this +journey was never made, we can but infer +that the fate so near at hand in Phil. ii. 17 +came actually to pass. Paul's blood was +"poured out a libation," as tradition of extreme +antiquity credibly reports, and it can +hardly have been after a release, return to +Greece and second arrest. The passage in +2nd Tim iv. 5-8 which repeats the figure of the +libation (Phil. ii. 17), treating it no longer as +doubtful, but a tragic certainty, will have been +penned (if authentic) but a few weeks at most +after Philippians, and immediately before +the end. If Philemon-Colossians-Ephesians +be dated in 62, Philippians, with the possible +fragments in 2nd Timothy, may be dated a +few months later.</p> + +<p>Conditions at Philippi appear only in a +favourable light from this latest authentic +epistle. Paul can thank God upon every +remembrance of these loyal and liberal +Macedonian friends. In Rome, however, he +is still affected by Judaizing opposition, +though his attitude toward it (in Rome at +least) shows the significant difference from +Galatians that he can now be thankful that +Christ is preached even thus (Phil. i. 15-18). +Moreover there is a difference in the type of +legalism represented; for while in his warning +to the Philippians of the possible coming of +the heretics Paul is moved to recall his own +renunciation of legalistic righteousness, the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 91]</span> +terms of opprobrium applied to the disturbers +imply an immorality and assimilation to +heathenism (Phil. iii. 2 19; <i>cf.</i> Rom. xvi. +17-20) which could not justly be said to characterize +the legalism of the synagogue.</p> + +<p>The doctrinal elements of Philippians consist +of two passages: (1) the denunciation +of the "concision" (a term applied to the +heathenized renegade Jew) ending with a +reminder of the high enthronement of our +spiritual Redeemer (iii. 1-21); (2) the definition +of the "mind," or "disposition," of +Christ exhibited in his self-abnegating incarnation, +obedient suffering, and supreme exaltation +(ii. 5-11). Both passages are characteristic +of Paul's gospel in general, which is +always, as against that of the Judaizers, the +gospel of a drama, or spectacle, witnessed; +not a gospel of teachings heard. It is a +gospel <i>about</i> Jesus, not of precepts inculcated +<i>by</i> Jesus, a drama of redemption for all mankind +out of servitude into Son ship, wherein +the cross is central. Both passages are also +characteristic, as we shall see, of the later +period of Paul's literary activity; for even in +Philippians, the dominant doctrinal motive +is the Redemption to which Paul is looking +forward, and this is now conceived even more +strongly than in the earlier letters in +terms of personal religion. He anticipates +"departing to be with Christ" (i. 23) rather +than awaiting Him on earth (1st Thess. iv. 17). +The "goal" toward which the Christian<span class="pagenum">[Pg 92]</span> +"presses on" is personal immortality through +mystic union with Christ in the life of God +(iii. 10-14). This too is a real doctrine of +the Kingdom of God; but its starting-point is +humanity's triumph over its enemies 'sin' +and 'death,' not Israel's triumph over its +oppressors. Still more in the Colossian group +does it become apparent how the 'far-off, +divine event' is a unity of mankind through +the Spirit corresponding to the Stoic figure of +the members and the body rather than the +'Kingdom of David.'</p> + +<p>Again the opponents in Phil. iii. 2, 18 <i>f.</i> are +not mere Pharisaic legalists, unable to see +that Law and Grace are mutually exclusive +systems, and nullifying the significance of the +Cross by perpetuating the system it was +intended to abolish. If we may explain the +difference by Colossians, they are Jews of +heathenish tendencies, pretended adherents +of the gospel, who nullify its significance +by perpetuating regard for the Law; only the +servility deplored is not servility toward God, +but toward "angels" (Col. ii. 18).</p> + +<p>To appreciate the enlargement which has +come to Christianity beyond its merely +'apostolic' form through the independent +development of the Greek churches in this +second period we must realize that Paul's +'gospel of the uncircumcision' differed in +respect to promise as well as law. The coming +Kingdom which he preached was something +more than "the kingdom of our father<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> +David" extended from Jerusalem. What it +really was becomes fully apparent only in +the 'Christological Epistles.' But we must +study the opposition to appreciate how +differently the idea of Redemption had +developed on Greek soil.</p> + +<p>That aspect of Judaism which was most +conspicuous to the outsider in Paul's day +was not the legalism of the scribes and the +Palestinian synagogue, perpetually embalmed +in the Talmud and orthodox rabbinism of +to-day. It was the superstition and magic +which excite the contempt of satirists like +Horace, Juvenal, and Martial, and call forth +descriptions like that of the letter of Hadrian +to Servianus, characterizing the Samaritans, +Jews <i>and Christians</i> dwelling in Egypt as "all +astrologers, haruspices, and quacksalvers." +It is this type of Jew who is most widely +known in the contemporary Hellenistic world; +whose spells and incantations, framed in +Old Testament language, are perpetuated in +the leaden incantation rolls and magic papyri +of the Berlin collection; whose portrait is +painted in the Simon Magus of Acts viii. 14-24, +the Elymas the sorcerer of Acts xiii. 6-12, the +"strolling Jews, exorcists," and the "seven +sons of Sceva" of Acts xix. 13-20. A +Christian writer early in the second century +is so impressed with this characteristic of contemporary +Judaism that he even distinguishes +as the third type of religion, besides idolatry +and Christianity, "the Jews, who fancy that<span class="pagenum">[Pg 94]</span> +they alone know God, but do not, worshipping +angels and archangels, the moon and +the month," and seeks to prove his case +by citing the Old Testament festal system. +Indeed this idea of Judaism is the predominant +one among the second-century apologists. +Jewish "superstition" is a notorious fact +of the time. The transcendentalizing of +Jewish theology after the Persian period had +led inevitably to an elaborate angelology and +demonology. When as part of this process a +more and more supernatural character was +attributed to the Law it could but have a two-fold +effect. The learned and orthodox would +treat it soberly as a revelation of the divine +will. This is the legalistic development we +see in the Talmud and the Palestinian synagogue. +The ignorant and superstitious, +especially in the Greek-speaking world, would +use it as a book of magic. This is what we +see among many Jewish sects, particularly +in Samaria, Egypt and among the Greek-speaking +Jews. The tendency was marked +even in Galilee. Jesus Himself stigmatizes +the morbid craving of His countrymen for +miracles as the mark of an "adulterous" +generation, because the power invoked was +not divine, but always angelic, or even +demonic. Paul alludes to the same trait +(1st Cor. i. 22). But while there is a singular +absence both from the Pauline and the +Johannine writings of any reference to exorcism, +the typical miracle of Synoptic story, it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> +has been justly remarked that no element of +Paul's thought has been so little affected by +that of Jesus as his angelology and demonology. +Paul's world-view, like that of the +apocalypses of his time, is a perfect phantasmagoria +of angels and demons, "gods many +and lords many." His conception of the +redemption conflict is not a wrestling against +flesh and blood, but against "world-rulers of +this (lower region of) darkness," against +"archangels," "elements," "principalities," +"powers." The one thing which takes away +all harmful influence from this credulity (if +we must apply an unfairly modern judgment +to an ancient writer) is his doctrine of the +Son ship and Lordship of Jesus, with whom +the redeemed are "joint-heirs" of the entire +creation and thus superior to angels. In +this respect Paul has imbibed the mind of +Christ. Jesus' remedy for superstition is not +scientific but religious. It does not deny +the popularly assumed relation to "spirits" +good or evil, but affirms a direct relation to +the Infinite Spirit, which reduces all angels +and demons to insignificance save as "ministers." +Paul's world-view starts with the +creation of man to be lord and heir of the +world (Gal. iv. 1; 1st Cor. iii. 22; <i>cf.</i> Gen. +i. 28). The "purpose of God, which he +purposed in Christ Jesus, before the creation, +unto a dispensation of the fulness of the ages" +is "to our glory." It would be frustrated if +the "Second Adam" did not become the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> +Heir, in whom the redeemed creation would +find the goal of its long expectancy. Paul +has a cosmology as well as "Enoch." He +could not be a worthy follower of Jesus—he +could not even be a loyal "son of the Law" +without holding to the accepted doctrine of +the Inheritance intended for Messiah and his +obedient people. It did not make him less +firm in this conviction when as a Christian +he thought of Jesus as the Messiah, and of +Jew and Gentile united in his kingdom; +only the starting-point is not the subjection +of the sons of Abraham under Gentiles, but +the subjection of the sons of Adam under +"world-rulers of this darkness." When he +combines Ps. viii. and Ps. cx. in his depiction of +the reign of Christ in 1st Cor. xv. 24-27, it is +a sure indication of its scope as Paul understood +it. He included in the lordship over +creation, and the subjection of all "enemies" +which the exalted Christ is awaiting "at the +right hand of God," the subjection of "angels, +and principalities, and powers and every +name that is named, whether of beings in +heaven, or on earth, or under the earth." +Paul pursues, then, the method of the apocalyptic +writers in making his doctrine of Redemption +and the Kingdom transcendental. +By making it cosmic he undermines its +Jewish particularism. He avoids the superstition +by holding firmly to Jesus' doctrine +of Son ship by <i>moral</i> affinity with God.</p> + +<p>In the Christological Epistles accordingly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> +it is apparent that the Pauline churches +are learning to think of the coming Kingdom +in a widely different way from the 'apostolic.' +The Greek doctrine of mystic union, not the +rabbinic of a "share in the world to come," +is the basis. In due time we shall see +how difficult the process of reconciliation +became between Greek and Semitic thought +in this field also. For the present we can only +note how in the great theme of the Unity of +the Spirit in Eph. iv. 1—vi. 9 it is not the +'apostolic' ideal of a restoration of the +kingdom to Israel according to the oath sworn +to Abraham (Luke i. 68-75; <i>cf.</i> Acts i. 6) that +dominates, but an enlargement of the figure +of the body and members, a figure commonly +employed by Stoic writers, to apply to the +unity of the church in Corinthians and Romans. +In the Epistles of the Captivity the doctrine +of the Kingdom is a social organism permeated +and vitalized by Christ's spirit of service. +Personal immortality is union with the life of +God.</p> + +<p>In view of the notoriety of Ephesus as the +very centre of the trade in magic (so much so +that spells and incantations were technically +known as "Ephesian letters") and of what +Acts tells us of the enormous destruction there +of "books of magic" effected by Paul's +preaching, it is not surprising that Asia and +Phrygia should appear a few years after Paul's +departure as the hot-bed of a "philosophy +and vain deceit, after the tradition of men,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> +after the 'elements' of the world, and not +after Christ." Acts xx. 29 makes Paul +predict the heresy.</p> + +<p>Such was especially the case at Colossæ, +a little town long after notorious for its superstition, +where Epaphras, now Paul's fellow-prisoner, +had founded the church. Epaphras +himself at the time of Paul's writing was in +great anxiety both for this church and for +the adjoining churches at Hierapolis and +Laodicea. Colossians is written to meet this +danger, and was sent by the same bearers as +the note to Philemon. It was to be exchanged, +after being read at Colossæ, for another epistle +sent simultaneously to Laodicea. Whether +our Ephesians is this companion letter or +only a deutero-Pauline production framed on +the basis of some genuine letter written on +this occasion, is a disputed point among +critics. In Marcion's canon our Ephesians +was called "Laodiceans," and in our own +oldest textual authorities it has no address. +We may assume that Ephesians is really the +companion letter, whose original address +was for some reason cancelled;<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> or that +it is but partially from Paul's own hand. +Neither view will materially alter our conception +of his teaching, or the special +application of it to the circumstances of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> +churches of the Lycus Valley. The important +thing to observe is that whereas the application +in Colossians is specific, in Ephesians it is +systematic and general. Colossians wages a +direct polemic against those who are making +believers the spoil of mere 'Elements' by +introducing distinctions of "meats <i>and +drinks</i>" (a step beyond Mosaism), with observance +of "feast days, new moons and +sabbaths." In Ephesians we have, either +altogether at first hand, or to a greater or +less extent at second, a general, affirmative +presentation of Paul's doctrine of Lordship +in Christ. It has only incidental allusion to +being "deceived with empty words" (v. 6), +and a warning not to be "children tossed to +and fro and carried about with every wind +of doctrine, by the sleight of men in craftiness, +after the wiles of error" (iv. 14).</p> + +<p>Colossians and Ephesians develop, accordingly, +that (cosmological) wisdom of God +conveyed to Paul by the Spirit of Christ in +a "mystery," at which he had only hinted in +1st Cor. ii. 1-16. Paul's <i>gnosis</i>, or insight, +concerns the purpose of God in creation, +hidden even from the (angelic) "world-rulers," +who are coming to nought. The +Spirit of Christ, who as the divine Wisdom +had been the agent of creation, is given to +Christian apostles and prophets. It affords +them in the revelation of this "mystery" +a philosophy both of creation and redemption +which puts to shame mere speculative reasoning.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> +The Inheritance—the things God prepared +for those that love Him—consists (as +an apocalyptic writer had said) of "things +which eye had not seen, nor ear heard, nor +had entered into the heart of man to conceive." +Paul had purposely refrained from unfolding +this revealed cosmology and philosophy of +history to the Corinthians, in order to avoid +just the evils which the teaching of Apollos +had apparently precipitated at the time when +1st Corinthians was written. Still, we can +gain from this very epistle (1st Cor. viii. 6; +xv. 24-28) a partial conception of his doctrine +of Christ as the beginning and end of the +creation, the Wisdom of God by whom and +for whom as Heir, all things were created. +From Romans i.-viii. and ix.-xi. we can easily +see that as Second Adam the Messiah was to +Paul the key to the world's development and +to human history; for since the triumph of +Satan in Eden the whole creation had +waited, groaning, for the advent of the sons. +Galatians makes it no less clear that he thought +of the Cross as the epoch-making event, +which marks the transition from the period +of the control of the world by secondary +agencies, to the rule of the Son. This +"mystery" is simply brought out and developed +now in the Epistles of the Captivity. +The effort and prayer is that the readers may +"have the eyes of their heart enlightened," +obtain something of Paul's own insight into +the riches of the inheritance they are to share<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> +with Christ, something of Paul's experience +of the power of God in raising Christ from +the dead and setting Him on the throne of +glory. If they but realize what Son ship and +heirship with Christ implies—if they but take +in the fact that by the resurrection Spirit +within them they have already in a sense +shared in this deliverance and this exaltation, +they will be forearmed against all the vain +deceits of theosophy. It is in fact this +resurrection Spirit which brings about the +unity of the world as a single organism. It +extends from the uppermost height to the +nethermost abyss. And because it is the +Spirit of Jesus, it fills all it touches with the +disposition to loving service. It affords a +new ethics and a new politics whose keynote +is the law of love in imitation of God and +Christ. All social relations are recreated by +it, beginning with family and church. Hence +we must think of our redemption as like +Israel's from the bondage and darkness of +Egypt. The principalities and powers of this +world, spiritual hosts of wickedness in the +super terrestrial regions, are vainly endeavouring +to hold back the people of God, in "this +darkness." We have only to wait like Israel +at the Passover "with our loins girt, and our +feet shod." The Deliverer will soon appear +from heaven, clad in armour of salvation, +as in the ancient passover songs, cleaving the +darkness with his sword of light, and leading +forth the captives.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 102]</span></p> + +<p>In these themes, variously interwoven in +Ephesians and Colossians, it is difficult to say +whether it is the note of unity or the note of +freedom which predominates. Certainly we +can recognize the same great apostle of liberty +who in the epistles of the earlier period had +proved the power and value of his religious +insight by seizing upon the doctrine of Son ship +as the essential heart of the gospel. It is the +same genius consciously taught of God who +had demanded and obtained recognition on +equal terms for his gospel of Grace and Son ship, +a gospel given by revelation of God's Son +"in" him, who now demands that the gift +of the Spirit to Jew and Gentile be recognized +as calling for reconstruction of the doctrine +of the coming Kingdom. "He that ascended +is the same also that descended to the lowest +depths that he might fill all things." And +he poured out the "gifts" in order that they +might make one organism of the new social +order, a new creation animated and vitalized +by Jesus' spirit of loving service.</p> + +<p>For just as in all the great earlier epistles +the note of longing for peace and unity in love +rings ever stronger and clearer above the +strife, so in the later epistles, the note of +triumph in liberty has a deep under-chord of +thanksgiving for reconciliation achieved. The +great pæan of reverent adoration for the glory +of God's grace in Eph. i. 3-14, is a thanksgiving +for the union of Jew and Gentile in +one common redemption. The retrospect<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> +of the work of God in ii. 11-21 is the proclamation +of "peace to him that was far off +and peace to him that was nigh." It is +described as the building of Jew and Gentile +into one living temple, upon the foundation +of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus +Himself being the chief corner-stone. The +exhortation to the unity of the Spirit in iv. 1—vi. +9 rests upon an exultant application of +the figure of the "one new man" in whose +body all are members, that would be inconceivable +if at the time of writing the church +which had received the gifts from the ascended +Lord was not indeed one body, but two bodies +standing apart in mutual distrust and jealousy.</p> + +<p>In fact we may say not of Ephesians only, +but of Colossians likewise, and indeed of all +the group: Their keynote is not so much the +conquest of all things by Christ as "the reconciliation +of all things in Christ, whether things +upon the earth, or things in the heavens" +(Col. i. 20). It is not unreasonable to infer +from such undertones as these that the prayer +was answered in which Paul when he set out +from Corinth had besought the Roman +church by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the +love of the Spirit to strive together with him, +that his ministration which he had for Jerusalem +might be acceptable to the saints, that +so his coming to them in Rome through the +will of God might be in joy, and that together +with them he might find rest.<br><br><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h3> + +<h3>PSEUDO-APOSTOLIC EPISTLES</h3> + + +<p>We cannot wonder that an epoch of the +church's history which followed upon the +martyrdom in rapid succession of all its +remaining great leaders, should at first be +poor in literary products. James the Lord's +brother was stoned to death by a mob in +Jerusalem in the year 61-2. His namesake, +brother of John, had been beheaded early in +44 by Herod Agrippa I. Among the "others" +who, as Josephus informs us, perished along +with James in 61, we may, perhaps, reckon +John, who stands beside him in Paul's list +of the Pillars. This John, son of Zebedee, +brother of the other James, is reckoned a +martyr in the same sense as his brother in the +earliest gospels. The brothers are assured +that they shall drink the same cup of suffering +as the Lord, though they may not claim in +return pre-eminent seats in glory (Mark x. +39 <i>f.</i>). John did not suffer with his brother +James in 44, because he is present at the +conference in 46-7 (Gal. ii. 9); but one of the +traditions of the Jerusalem elders reported by +Papias declared that he was "killed by the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> +Jews" in fulfilment of the Lord's prediction, +and this early tradition must be accepted in +spite of its conflict with one which gradually +superseded it after John came to be regarded +as author of Revelation and the Fourth Gospel. +The statement that he was killed "together +with James his brother" may be due merely +to the (not infrequent) confusion of the two +Jameses.</p> + +<p>Paul's decapitation in Rome occurred not +more than a year or two later, and was followed +there in 64, according to very ancient and +trustworthy tradition, by the martyrdom of +Peter. The death of all the principal leaders +explains why the Jerusalem church when it +reassembled after the overthrow of city and +temple in the year 70, put forward no more +prominent candidates for the leadership than +a certain Symeon, son of Clopas, one of +the group of 'relatives of the Lord' who +are traceable "until the time of Trajan," +and a certain unknown Thebuthis. Symeon, +according to Eusebius, who takes his account +from Hegesippus (165), was the representative +of "those of the apostles and disciples +of the Lord that were still living, together with +the Lord's relatives." Thebuthis is said to +have sprung from one of the heretical Jewish +sects and to have organized a schism in consequence +of his disappointment. All we can +be sure of is that Jerusalem 'down to the +time of Trajan' continued to regard itself +as the seat of apostolic authority and arbiter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> +of orthodoxy, on account of its succession of +disciples and relatives of the Lord. Among +the latter the leading, if not the only, representatives +of the seed of David, when "search +was made" in the persecution under Domitian +(81-95), were two <i>grandsons</i> of Jude, the Lord's +brother. Jude himself, then, was no longer +living. Luke (<i>c.</i> 100), Papias (145), and +Hegesippus (165) successively exhibit the +growing authority of the "tradition handed +down," especially that of "the apostles and +elders in Jerusalem." But what Papias +records of the traditions of these "elders" +does not rise above the level of Jewish midrash, +and the epistles which bear the names of +James and Jude have little intrinsic value, +and enjoyed from the beginning only the most +meagre acceptance. At Rome tradition +attaches to the name of Peter, but besides the +bare fact of his martyrdom "at the same time +with Paul" (64-5) it has little of value to +relate. We cannot safely go beyond the +tradition reported by Porphyry that Peter +fed the lambs (at Rome) for a few months +before his martyrdom, and that reported by +Papias that Mark, who had been Peter's +assistant, compiled there the Gospel which +bears his name, basing it upon his recollections +of Peter's preaching. Of this vitally important +work (<i>c.</i> <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 75) we must speak in another +connection. We are concerned at present +with writings which directly reflect the +development of Christian life and doctrine in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> +this sub-apostolic period, especially that in +the Pauline mission-field.</p> + +<p>Except for the appearance of the Gospel +of Mark at Rome (<i>c.</i> 75) there remains nothing +to break the silence and darkness of twenty +years after the deaths of James and Peter and +Paul. The writings which finally did appear +were almost inevitably anonymous or pseudepigraphic, +because apostolic authority stood +so high that no other could secure circulation. +Hebrews (<i>c.</i> 85) has an epistolary attachment +at the close of its "exhortation," but either +never had an address or superscription, or +else has been deprived of it. All the Synoptic +writings are anonymous, though Luke-Acts +(<i>c.</i> 100) is dedicated to a literary patron. +Revelation (<i>c.</i> 95) is boldly asserted to be the +work of the Apostle John in the prefatory +chapters and the epilogue (i. 2, 4, 9; xxii. 8). +But the body of the work, though of Palestinian +origin, has a totally different standpoint, +and claims the authority of a prophet, not that +of an apostle. Similarly the Fourth gospel +when finally published received an appendix +(ch. xxi.) which cautiously suggests the +Apostle John as its author; but the three +Epistles by the same writer are anonymous. +The homily called James (90-100) has a +superscription which superficially connects it +with the chief authority in Jerusalem, and the +Epistle of Jude prefixes to itself the name +which stood next in the same class. But even +in antiquity they had a precarious standing,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> +and neither is a real letter. Finally there are +the Epistles to Timothy and Titus, purporting +to be written by Paul, and a whole series of +every kind, epistles, gospel, acts, and apocalypse, +written in the name of Peter, of which +only two secured final adoption into the canon. +Of all these only 1st Peter and the so-called +Pastoral Epistles (1st and 2nd Timothy and +Titus) have some claim to be considered +genuine; for 1st Peter is certainly of early +origin (<i>c.</i> 85), and was undisputed in antiquity; +while the Pastorals, though rejected by +Marcion, and as a whole of late date (90-110), +are made up on the basis of some authentic +Pauline material.</p> + +<p>The post-apostolic epistles may be grouped +into two classes, according as they are predominantly +occasioned (<i>a</i>) by internal dangers +of heresy and moral laxity; or (<i>b</i>) +by the external peril of persecution. To +the former (<i>a</i>) must be reckoned (1) the +so-called Pastoral Epistles; (2) Jude; (3) 2nd +Peter. All these concern themselves outspokenly +with a type of false doctrine which +has certain more or less definite traits, +and is tending toward the Gnostic heresies of +the second century, if not yet clearly identifiable +with them. But the inspired genius of +Paul is wanting. The age is not creative, but +conservative. Its writers are ecclesiastics +and church teachers, not apostles and prophets. +Their distinctive note is appeal to apostolic +authority. Whether the name by which they<span class="pagenum">[Pg 109]</span> +cover their own insignificance be that of +"Paul," or "Jude the brother (son?) of +James," or "Peter," they have little or no +independent message. They hark back to +the "pattern of sound words" the "deposit," +"the faith once for all delivered to the saints," +"the words spoken before by the holy +prophets, and the commandments of the +Lord and Saviour through your apostles," in +particular the "wisdom of our beloved brother +Paul" who (in the Pastoral Epistles) had +predicted the heresy, and "in all his epistles" +had spoken of the resurrection and judgment. +Second Peter, which refers in the passage just +quoted (2nd Pet. iii. 2, 15 <i>f.</i>) to the Pauline +Epistles alongside "the other Scriptures" +belongs to a very late period (<i>c.</i> 150). In +fact this Epistle, now almost universally +recognized to be pseudonymous, merely reëdits +the Epistle of Jude, supplying a prefix (ch. i.) +and an appendix (ch. iii.) to make special +application of its denunciations to the case of +the false teachers who were "denying the +(bodily) resurrection and the judgment." +Neither plagiarism nor pseudonymity were +recognized offences at the time; so that we +bring no indictment against the author of +2nd Peter, were he the Apostle or not. Still +our conception of the Galilean fisherman will +be higher without this example of pulpit +rhetoric than with it.</p> + +<p>Of the nature of the heresies controverted +in this series of writings we must speak later.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> +As to the region whence they originate something +can be made out already. Not indeed +from 2nd Peter, which is of too late date to be +of service. True the readers addressed are +assumed to be the same as in the first epistle, +in other words the Pauline mission-field of +Asia Minor (1st Pet. i. 1), and there is reason +to think "Asia" was the region first affected. +"Ephesus" and "Asia" are in fact the +regions affected in 1st and 2nd Timothy (1st +Tim. i. 3 <i>f.</i>; 2nd Tim. i. 15). Moreover it is +in this same region that we find Polycarp +(110-117) adverting to those who "pervert +the sayings of the Lord to their own lusts, and +deny the resurrection and judgment." To +the same region and the same period belong +the letters of "the Spirit" in Rev. i.-iii. (<i>c.</i> 95) +with their denunciation of the Balaamite and +Nicolaitan heretics, and still further 1st-3rd +John and the Epistles of Ignatius, which are +also polemics against a Gnostic heresy (Doketism) +tending to moral laxity. It is doubtful, +however, in view of the general address (2nd +Pet. i. 1), whether the author of 2nd Peter +really has a definite circle in mind, and does +not rather in iii. 1 mistakenly treat 1st Peter +as a general epistle. Denial of the resurrection +and judgment was not limited to one locality +or period. Hegesippus regards it as a pre-Christian +heresy combated already by James. +Equally precarious would be the assumption +that Jude, with its similar general address, +was necessarily intended for Asia Minor. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> +false teachers resemble those we know of +there, and the denunciation is incorporated +by 2nd Peter, but 'Cainites' and 'Balaamites' +were not confined to the regions of 1st +John and Revelation, and Jude might have +almost any date between 90 and 120. The +most that can be said is that before the death +of Paul the last view we obtain of his mission-field +shows it exposed, especially in the region +of Ephesus, to a rising flood of superstition +and false doctrine, while documents that can +be dated with some definiteness in 95-117, such +as Revelation, the Johannine and Ignatian +Epistles, and the letter of Polycarp, show a +great advance of heretical teaching in the same +region. The later heresy corresponds in +several respects to that combated in the +Pastorals, Jude and 2nd Peter, but becomes +at last more distinctly definable as Doketism, +whose most obnoxious form comes to be +denial of the (bodily) resurrection and judgment. +The three Pastoral Epistles, Jude and +2nd Peter may, therefore, be taken as probably +reflecting the growing internal danger +confronted by the churches of Asia (if not +by all the churches) in the sub-apostolic +age.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately, literary relations sometimes +interfere with historical classification, and we +are, therefore, compelled to defer treatment +of 1st-3rd John and the Epistles of "the +Spirit" to the churches (Rev. i. 3), which +really belong to our present group (<i>a</i>) of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> +writings against the heresies of (proconsular) +Asia. Their relation to the special canon +of Ephesus, whose writings are all ascribed +to John, makes it convenient to consider +them in another connection. The reader +should bear in mind, however, that the +group extends continuously down to the +Epistles of Ignatius and centres upon Ephesus, +where, according to Acts xx. 29 <i>f.</i>, the "grievous +wolves" were to enter in after Paul's +departing.</p> + +<p>Similar considerations affect the grouping +of the Epistle of James, which almost demands +a class by itself. It might be called anti-heretical, +except that its nature is the reverse +of controversial, and its author seems to have +no direct contact with the false teachers. +In a remote and general way he deplores the +vain talk and disputation which go hand in +hand with a relaxation of the practical Christian +virtues. On the whole it seems more +correct to class James with 1st Peter and +Hebrews, particularly as it displays direct +literary dependence on the former, if not on +both.</p> + +<p>Our second group (<i>b</i>) consists of writings not +primarily concerned with heresy. Its first +and best example speaks in the name of Peter +as representative of "apostolic" Christianity +at Rome. But the doctrine, and even the +phraseology and illustrations of 1st Peter are +largely borrowed from the greater Epistles of +Paul, particularly Romans and Ephesians.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 113]</span> +Nothing even remotely suggests an author who +had enjoyed personal relations with Jesus, or +could relate his wonderful words and deeds. +On the contrary the doctrine is Paul's gospel +minus the sting of the abolition of the Law. +In view of the known internal conditions of +the churches to which 1st Peter is addressed +in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, <i>Asia</i> and +Bithynia it is remarkable how completely the +subject of heresy or false doctrine is ignored. +Their adversary the devil is not at present +taking the form of a seducing serpent (2nd +Cor. xi. 3), but of a "roaring lion" openly +destroying and devouring (1st Pet. v. 8 <i>f.</i>), +and the same sufferings the Asiatics are called +upon to endure are being inflicted upon their +brethren throughout the world. A systematic, +universal "fiery persecution" is going on, +which has come almost as a surprise (iv. 12) +and may compel any believer, after having +made "defence" before the magistrate of +"the hope that is in him," to "suffer as a +Christian" and to "glorify God in this name." +The author exhorts to irreproachable conduct +as citizens, and kindness and good order in the +brotherhood. If such blamelessness of living +be combined with patient endurance of the +unjust punishment, Christians who still must +sanctify in their hearts Christ (and not the +Emperor) as Lord, will ultimately be left +unharmed.</p> + +<p>Superior as is this noble exhortation to +patient endurance of suffering in the meekness<span class="pagenum">[Pg 114]</span> +of Christ to the controversial rhetoric of 2nd +Peter, immeasurably better as is its attestation +in ancient and modern times, even the +most conservative modern critics are compelled +to regard it as at least semi-pseudonymous. +It might be just possible to carry back the +conditions of persecution presupposed to the +time of Nero. But if it be Peter writing from +Rome after the recent martyrdoms of James +and Paul, why is there no allusion to either? +Again, we might possibly prolong the life of +Peter (against all probability) down to the +beginning of the reign of Domitian (81-95). +In that case the absence of any allusion to the +great events of recent occurrence in Palestine +would be almost equally hard to explain. +Moreover, with any dating the real author +remains a literary man, a Paulinist, a Grecian +Jew, and the share attributable to Peter +personally becomes most shadowy. The +simpler, and (as the present writer has come +to believe) the more probable view is that 1st +Peter, like the later writings which assumed +the name, is wholly pseudonymous. If, +however, it appeared (as we are persuaded) +some twenty years after the Apostle's death, +among those perfectly aware of the fact, +assuming no other disguise, but frankly dealing +with the existing situation, this is a kind of +pseudonymity which should be classed with +literary fictions and conventions which are +harmless because (at the time) perfectly transparent. +Letters written under fictitious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> +names were in fact a very common literary +device of the age.</p> + +<p>At all events the Apostle appears as an old +man (v. 1) writing from "Babylon"—rightly +taken by the fathers to be a cryptogram for +Rome. Salutations are conveyed from Mark, +his "son" (<i>cf.</i> Philem. i. 10). The bearer +(writer?) is represented to be Silvanus (like +Mark a companion of Paul with relations to +Jerusalem as well), and Silvanus is commended +as a "trustworthy" disciple. The author +states it as his object to "exhort and testify +that this is the true grace of God wherein ye +stand."</p> + +<p>Ignorant as we are of its author's name it +is fortunate for our study of the times that the +date of 1st Peter is fairly determinable by the +convergence of external and internal evidence. +Echoes from it appear already in Clement of +Rome (95) as well as in James and Hermas. +We must think of it, then, as a hand of cordial +encouragement extended by a representative +of the Petro-Pauline church at Rome, soon +after the outbreak of the persecution of +Domitian (<i>c.</i> 90), to the still independent but +suffering churches of Asia Minor. If we +remember that it undertakes to endorse the +doctrine of one third of contemporary Christendom, +and (in substance) offers a 'letter of +commendation' to Silvanus, it will be obvious +that no name of less authority than that of +Peter could have served. As Zahn has well +remarked: "The significant thing ... is that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> +it is Peter, the most distinguished apostle +of the circumcision (Gal. ii. 7) who bears +witness to the genuineness of their state of +grace."</p> + +<p>We must place alongside of 1st Peter one +other epistle in which the motive of exhortation +to endurance of persecution without +relaxation of the moral standard is prominent, +though not exclusive, and a second, wherein +it appears only in a faint echo of "trials," +which turn out, however, as the reader proceeds, +to be only "temptations," while the +real occasion of writing is plain—moral relaxation +without either heresy or persecution to +excuse it. The two writings in question are +the anonymous "exhortation" handed down +under the title "To the Hebrews," and the +so-called Epistle (in reality a homily) of James. +Hebrews begins as an exposition of the two +psalms Paul had quoted in his reference in +1st Cor. xv. 24-28 to the exaltation of Jesus +(Pss. viii. and cx.) proving Him to be the Son, +who, after temporary subordination to the +angels, has been exalted above them to the +place of supreme dominion. Christ has thus +effected a greater redemption than Moses and +Joshua. He is also a "high-priest after the +order of Melchizedek" according to Ps. cx.; +so that the Aaronic priesthood and ceremonial +are surpassed as well as the Mosaic legislation, +by the sacrifice of Calvary and intercession of +the risen Redeemer. It is no wonder that in +the period of debate against Judaism the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 117]</span> +canon-makers gave to this anonymous sermon +a title which ranks it first in the class of subsequent +controversial pamphlets "against the +Jews." Controversy, however, is subordinate +in the writer's purpose to edification. He is +not unconscious of the dangers of that superstitious +'worship of the angels,' against which +Paul's Asian epistles had been directed, but +his demonstration of the superiority of the +institutions and aims of Christianity to those +of Judaism has the practical object of reinforcing +the courage and "faith" of his +readers under pressure of persecution. His +argument culminates in an inspiring list of +Scriptural heroes and martyrs, leading up as +a climax to "Jesus the author and perfecter +of our faith." As Jesus endured, looking +beyond the shame and suffering of the cross +to the joy of His reward, so should the readers +"endure their chastening." Apostacy will +meet a fearful doom in the judgment of fire. +To this homily (Heb. i.-xii.) is appended a concluding +chapter (probably by the author himself) +which transforms it into a letter. The +author is a church-teacher of the second +generation, as he frankly confesses himself +(ii. 3); a disciple of Paul, to judge by his use +of Paul's doctrine and some of his epistles, +especially Romans. To judge by his rhetorical +style and his Alexandrian ideas and mode +of thought, he is the sort of teacher Apollos will +have been. Just at present he is separated +from his flock (xiii. 19). Where they are we<span class="pagenum">[Pg 118]</span> +can only infer from xiii. 24, which conveys +salutations from those in the writer's neighbourhood +who are "from Italy." He himself +is probably among the Pauline churches, for +he sends news of Timothy (xiii. 23) and hopes +to come soon in company with him. Ephesus, +where Apollos was at last accounts, may +possibly be the place of writing. Hebrews +would seem then to be written to Rome, +long after the first "great fight of afflictions" +(the Neronian outbreak of 64) and when the +danger of "fainting under the chastening" +of a second persecution (that of Domitian <i>c.</i> +90) was imminent. Such slight indications as +we have of a literary relation between Hebrews +and 1st Peter suggest the priority of Hebrews, +but the date and occasion must be nearly the +same.</p> + +<p>"James" is also a homily exhorting to +patient endurance, but there is nothing to +suggest its having ever been sent anywhere as +a letter, save the brief superscription written +in imitation of 1st Pet. i. 1. "James ... to +the twelve tribes of the Dispersion." Imagine +the mode of delivery! Nor is it called forth +by any special emergency. There is an +allusion to false doctrine. It is the heresy (!) +of "justification by faith apart from works." +But the writer is no more conscious of contradicting +Paul than is Luke in describing Paul's +apostleship and gospel. He merely impersonates +the 'bishop of bishops' addressing +Christendom at large, deprecating the loquacity<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> +of the "many teachers," and commending +the 'wisdom' of a "good life" instead. +There is protest against oppression. But it +is only the oppression of the poor by the rich +in the Christian brotherhood. He returns to +this subject con amore. Evidently the church +of his age is characterized by worldliness both +of thought and conduct, among clergy and +laity. But all colour of region or period is +wanting. Take 1st Peter, substitute the head +of the Jerusalem succession for the head of +the Roman, remove the Pauline doctrine, the +traces of Jesus and his gospel of Son ship, +remove the special references to local conditions +and particular emergencies, leaving only +moral generalities, and the result will be not +unlike the Epistle of James. The author +has heard something of Paulinism, has read +Hebrews (Jas. ii. 21-25; v. 10), and imitated +1st Peter (Jas. i. 1, 18, 21; iv. 6 <i>f.</i>; v. 20). +Strong arguments have even been advanced +to prove that he was not a Christian at all. +He probably was, if only from his literary +connection with the above-named earlier +writings, and the influence exerted by his +own on Hermas (Rome, 120-140), and perhaps +Clement (Rome, 95). But as for connection +with the historic Jesus—"Elijah" is +his example of the man of prayer (v. 13-18), +and "Job" and "the prophets" his "example +of suffering and patience" (v. 10 <i>f.</i>). +Hebrews can show more of the influence of +Jesus than this (Heb. v. 7 <i>f.</i>, xii. 2-4). Like<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> +Hermas (who, however, does not even mention +the name of Jesus) 'James' thinks of Him +simply as "the Lord of glory," without +raising the question how He came to be +such.</p> + +<p>Apart from the superscription, whose object +is only to clothe the homily with the authority +of a name revered throughout the 'catholic' +church, there is nothing to connect James +with Syria rather than any other region +outside Paul's mission-field. Even Palestine +might be its place of origin if the date were +late enough to account for the Greek style. +At all events it comes first to our knowledge +at Rome. There is some reason to think that +Clement of Rome (<span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 95), whose moralizing +is of a similar type, has been directly influenced +by James. If so we have in James, Clement +and Hermas a series illustrative of the +decline at Rome of the Pauline gospel of +conscious revelation and inspiration toward +the hum-drum levels of mere 'catholic' +catechetics.</p> + +<p>With every allowance for differences among +critics as to date and origin of the non-controversial +epistles of the sub-apostolic age, +it is easy to see that the resistless march of +events is taking up and accomplishing Paul's +effort and prayer for the unity of the two +branches of the Church. One great event of +this period, which for us stands out with +startling vividness upon the pages of history, +is curiously without trace or reflection in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> +this literature. We search the New Testament +in vain for the slightest allusion +(outside the writings directly or indirectly +derived from Palestine itself) to the fall of +Jerusalem in <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 70, and the consequent +cessation of Jewish national life and temple +ceremonial. The remoteness of the writers +with whom we are dealing both in time and +national interest from the affairs of Jerusalem +is not the only cause. The fate of the temple +had no effect to weaken the types of Judaism +with which the church of the sub-apostolic +age had to contend. The Pharisaic legalism +of the synagogue became only the stronger +when the hollow Sadducean priesthood collapsed, +and temple ceremonial became simply +a ceremonial on paper, the affair no longer of +priest and Levite, but of scribe and Pharisee. +So also with the denationalized Judaism of the +Dispersion, a more insidious danger for early +converts from heathenism than the stricter, +legalistic type. The crushing of the nationalistic +rebellion, the temporary suppression of +the war-party, the Zealots, only strengthened +and promoted Pharisaism, and the Dispersion +was scarcely affected by the losses of +the war. When Jerusalem and the temple +fell, temple and city had become entirely +superfluous factors to both parties in the +great strife of church versus synagogue. +Hebrews knows of a type of Judaism which is +formidable by reason of the appeal of its +ordinances of angels and its sacerdotal system<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> +written in a book of acknowledged divine +authority. But the characteristic point is +that in Hebrews, as truly as in Barnabas and +Justin Martyr, it is only the prescription and +not the practice which is in question. But +for the fact that the "new testament" of +Heb. ix. 15 is still unwritten, its controversy +might properly be described as a battle of +books.</p> + +<p>On the other hand the pressure of persecution +without, combined with the disappearance +of creative leadership within, is visibly forcing +the independent provinces of Christendom +toward organic unity under the principle of +apostolic authority. First Peter is the first and +greatest evidence of this tendency to union +promoted by external pressure. Hebrews +and James follow as illustrative of the need +felt for maintaining the standards both of +doctrine and of morals at their full height. +Christianity must not be thought of as on +a level with Judaism, it is the final and +universal revelation. It must not be practised +half-heartedly, with "double-mindedness," +nor in vain philosophizing and professions +belied by deeds. It must be obeyed as a new +and royal law, the mirror of divine perfection.</p> + +<p>If, then, we turn from these evidences +of general conditions in church and empire +to the inward dangers revealed by the +writings against heresy, we shall see how +this disruptive influence, already distinctly +apprehended in Paul's later writings, makes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> +itself more and more strongly felt, and in +more and more definite form, with Ephesus +and the churches of Asia as its chief +breeding-place.</p> + +<p>The Pastoral Epistles in their present form +cannot be dated much before the time when +they begin to be used by Ignatius and Polycarp +(110-117). Indeed some phrases (perhaps +editorial additions) seem to imply a still +later date, as when in 1st Tim. vi. 20, Timothy +is warned against the "antitheses of miscalled +Gnosis," as if with direct reference to Marcion's +system of this title. Their avowed purpose +is to counteract the inroads of heresy, and the +remedy applied is ecclesiastical authority and +discipline. Far more of Paul's inspired gospel +of Son ship and liberty, far more of his conception +of the redemption in Christ as a +triumph over the spiritual world-rulers of this +darkness, is found in 1st Peter and Hebrews +than here. Nothing appears of Paul's broad +horizon, his spirit of missionary conquest, his +devotion to the unity of Jew and Gentile in +their common access to the Father in one +Spirit. There is no trace of the great Pauline +doctrines of the conflict of flesh and spirit, the +superseding of the dispensation of Law by +the dispensation of Grace, the Adoption, the +Redemption, the Inheritance. The attention +is turned wholly to local conditions, maintenance +of the transmitted doctrine and order, +resistance to the advance of "vain talk," +"Jewish fables," "foolish questionings, genealogies<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> +and strifes about the Law," which go +hand in hand with moral laxity. In short the +outlook and temper are those of the Epistle of +James, while the remedy is that of Acts and +the Epistles of Ignatius. The Paul who here +speaks is not the missionary and mystic, but +the shrewd ecclesiastic. There is only too +much evidence to show that in the Pauline +mission-field the remedy resorted to against +the licence in thought and action which +threatened decadence and dissolution after +apostolic inspiration had died out, was the +religion of authority, doctrinal and disciplinary, +not the religion of the Spirit. Ecclesiastical +appointees take the place as teachers and +defenders of the faith of those who had been +the inspired apostles and prophets of its +extension.</p> + +<p>And on the other side are the false teachers. +They are of Jewish character in their doctrine, +aspiring to be "teachers of the Law" though +really ignorant of its meaning. The worst of +them are actual Jews (Tit. i. 10), which implies +that some were not. Moreover the type of +doctrine is still less like the Pharisaism of the +synagogue than the "philosophy and vain +deceit" rebuked by Paul at Colossæ. There +is similar distinction of meats (treated in 2nd +Tim. iv. 1-5 as a doctrine of "seducing spirits +and demons"), and a prohibition of wine and +marriage. There is side by side with this +ascetic tendency one equally marked toward +libertinism and love of money (2nd Tim. iii.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> +1-9). Both phases remind us of the "concision" +of Paul's later letters. But besides +the larger development new features appear +of Hellenistic rather than Jewish type. The +new doctrine of the resurrection as something +"past already" is more closely connected with +the Pauline mysticism, the present union of +the believer with the life of Christ "hid in +God," than with the Jewish idea of return to +earth in resuscitated flesh. The Paulinist of +the Pastorals is already foreshadowing the +great conflict of Ignatius, Justin and Irenæus +against those who "denied the resurrection," +perverting (as the fathers allege) the meaning +of Paul's saying, "flesh and blood cannot +inherit the kingdom of God" (<i>cf.</i> 2nd Pet. iii. +16). And the Pastorals tend toward the +un-Pauline doctrine soon to be formulated in +the 'catholic' church: "I believe in the +resurrection of the <i>flesh</i>." Again the false +doctrine now distinctly avows itself a form of +Gnosis. "They profess that they know God, +but by their works they deny him, being +abominable and disobedient, and unto every +good work reprobate." And our Paulinist's +remedy is the traditional doctrine, the "pattern +of sound words," the "deposit" of the +Church teacher, more especially the whole-some +words, "even the words of our Lord +Jesus Christ, and the doctrine which is +according to godliness." Thus even the rich, +if they do good, and become "rich in good +works" will "lay up in store for themselves<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> +a good foundation against the time to +come."</p> + +<p>We have only to place these pseudo-Pauline +writings side by side with the Epistles of John +and Ignatius to recognize the advance of the +heresy which soon declared itself as Gnostic +Doketism, with the Jew Cerinthus at Ephesus +as its principal exponent. Moreover this +steadily increasing inward danger of the Pauline +mission-field, a danger not merely sporadic +like the outbursts of persecution, but constant +and increasing, is forcing the two great +branches of the Christian brotherhood together +on the basis of 'catholicity' and the 'apostolic' +tradition. Between the churches of the +Ægean and that of Rome, where both parties +stand on neutral ground, there are exchanged +generous and sympathetic assurances of essential +unity of doctrine in the great outbreak of +persecution in 85-90. Among the Pauline +churches themselves there is an irresistible +reaction against the vagaries and moral laxity +of heretical teaching toward 'apostolic' tradition +and ecclesiastical authority. It appears +with almost startling vividness in the Pastoral +Epistles, and meets its answer from without, +perhaps from Rome, perhaps from Syria, in +the homily dressed as an encyclical called the +Epistle of James. It is not hard to foresee +what sort of Christian unity is destined to +come about. Nevertheless the creative spirit +and genius of Paul was to find expression in +one more splendid product of Ephesus before<span class="pagenum">[Pg 127]</span> +the Roman unity was to be achieved.—But +before we take up the writings of the great +'theologian' of Ephesus we must trace the +growth in Syria and at Rome of the Literature +of the Church Teacher and Prophet.<br><br><span class="pagenum">[Pg 128]</span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h3><a name="PART_III" id="PART_III"></a>PART III</h3> + +<h3>THE LITERATURE OF CATECHIST AND PROPHET</h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h3>CHAPTER VI</h3> + +<h3>THE MATTHÆAN TRADITION OF THE PRECEPTS OF JESUS</h3> + + +<p>As we have seen in our study of the later +literature addressed to, or emanating from, +the Pauline mission-field, the church teacher +and ecclesiastic who there took up the pen after +the death of Paul had scarcely any alternative +but to follow the literary model of the great +founder of Gentile Christianity. Inevitably +the typical literary product of this region +became the apostolic letter, framed on the +model of Paul's, borrowing his phraseology +and ideas, when not actually embodying +fragments from his pen and covering itself +with his name. Homilies are made over +into "epistles." Even 'prophecy,' to obtain +literary circulation, must have prefixed epistles +of "the Spirit" to the churches; and when +at last a gospel is produced, this too is accompanied, +as we shall see, by three successive +layers of enclosing 'epistles.'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p> + +<p>At the seat of 'apostolic' Christianity it +was equally inevitable that the literary +products should follow a different model. +Here, from the beginning, the standard of +authority had been the commandment of +Jesus. Apostleship had meant ability to +transmit his teaching, not endowment with +insight into the mystery of the divine purpose +revealed in his cross and resurrection. "The +gospel" was the gospel <i>of</i> Jesus. The letters +of Paul, if they circulated at all in Syria and +Cilicia at this early time, have had comparatively +small effect on writers like Luke +and James. At Rome the case was somewhat +different. Here Pauline influence had been +effectually superimposed upon an originally +Jewish-Christian stock. The Roman Gospel +of Mark, accordingly, has just the characteristics +we should expect from this Petro-Pauline +community. Antioch, too, though at the +disruption over the question of table-fellowship +it took the side of James, Peter, and +Barnabas against Paul, had always had a +strong Gentile element. But Jerusalem, the +church of the apostles and elders, with its +caliphate in the family of Jesus, and its zeal +for Jewish institutions and the Law, was the +pre-eminent seat of traditional authority. No +other gospel, oral or written, could for a +moment compare in its eyes with its own +cherished treasury of the precepts of Jesus. +Its own estimate of itself as conservator of +orthodoxy, and custodian of the sacred<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> +deposit, vividly reflected from the pages of +Hegesippus, was increasingly accepted by +the other churches. 'James' and 'Jude' +were probably not the real names of the writers +of these 'general' or 'catholic' epistles; +but they show in what direction men looked +when there was need to counteract a widespread +tendency to moral relaxation and vain +disputations, or to demoralizing heresy.</p> + +<p>We have also seen how inevitable was the +reaction after Paul's death, even among his +own churches, toward a historic standard of +authority. Even more marked than the +disposition to draw together in fraternal +sympathy under persecution, is the reliance +shown by the Pastoral Epistles on "health-giving +words, even the words of our Lord +Jesus Christ" (1st Tim. vi. 3), and on a consolidated +apostolic succession as a bulwark +against the disintegrating advance of heresy. +In (proconsular) Asia early in the second +century there is an unmistakable and sweeping +disposition to "turn to the word handed down +to us from the beginning" (<i>Ep. of Polyc.</i>, vii.) +against those who were "perverting the sayings +of the Lord to their own lusts." The +ancient "word of prophecy" and the former +revelations granted to apostolic seers were +also turned to account by men like Papias +and the author of 2nd Peter against those who +"denied the resurrection and judgment."</p> + +<p>This Papias of Hierapolis, the friend and +colleague of Polycarp, had undertaken in opposition<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> +to "the false teachers, and those who +have so very much to say," to write (probably +after the utter destruction of the community +of 'apostles, elders, and witnesses' at Jerusalem +in 135), <i>an Exposition of the Sayings of +the Lord</i>. He based the work on authentic +tradition of the Jerusalem witnesses, two of +whom (Aristion, and John 'the Elder') were +still living at the time of his inquiries. In +fact, this much debated "John the Elder," +clearly distinguished by Papias from John the +"disciple of the Lord," may be identified, in +our judgment, with the John mentioned by +Eusebius and Epiphanius midway in the +succession of 'Elders' of the Jerusalem +church between <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 62 and 135. Epiphanius +dates his death in 117. Papias gives us +practically all the information we have +regarding the beginnings of gospel literature. +He may have known all four of our Gospels. +He certainly knew Revelation and "vouched +for its trustworthiness," doubtless against the +deniers of the resurrection and judgment. +He "used testimonies" from 1st John, and +probably the saying of Jesus of John xiv. 2; +but he seems to have based his <i>Exposition</i> +on two gospels only, giving what he had +been able to learn of their history from travellers +who reported to him testimonies of +'the elders.' Papias' two gospels were our +Matthew and our Mark, whose differences +he reconciled by what the Jerusalem elders +had reported as to their origin. Matthew,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> +according to these authorities (?), represented +in its Greek form a collection of the Precepts +of the Lord which had formerly been current +in the original Aramaic, so that its circulation +had of course been limited to Palestine. The +original compiler had been the Apostle Matthew. +Various Greek equivalents of this +compilation had taken its place where Aramaic +was not current. Thus Papias, in +explicit dependence on "the Elder" so far as +Mark is concerned, but without special designation +of his authority for the statement +regarding Matthew. It is even possible that +his representation that the primitive Matthew +was "in the Hebrew tongue" may be due to +rumours whose real starting-point was nothing +more than the <i>Gospel of the Nazarenes</i>, a product +of <i>c.</i> 110-140 which misled many later +fathers, particularly Jerome. We cannot +afford, however, to slight the general bearing +of testimony borne by one such as Papias +regarding the origins of gospel composition, +and particularly the two branches into which +the tradition was divided. For Papias had +made diligent inquiry. Moreover his witness +does not stand alone, but has the support of +still more ancient reference (<i>e. g.</i> 1st Tim. vi. 3, +Acts i. 1) and the internal evidence of the +Synoptic Gospels themselves. The motive for +his statement is apologetic. Differences +between the two Gospels had been pointed +out on the score both of words and events. +Papias shows that Gospel tradition is not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> +to be held responsible for verbal agreement +between the two parallel reports of the +Lord's words. The differences are attributable +to translation. So, too, regarding +events. Exact correspondence of Mark with +Matthew (or other gospels) is not to be looked +for, especially as regards the order; because +Mark had not himself been a disciple, and +could not get the true order from Peter, whose +anecdotes he reproduced; for when Mark +wrote Peter was no longer living. Mark has +reproduced faithfully and accurately his recollection +of "things either said or done," as +related by Peter. But Peter had had no such +intention as Matthew of making a systematic +compilation (<i>syntagma</i>) of the sayings of the +Lord, and had only related his anecdotes "as +occasion required." If the tradition regarding +Matthew, as well as that regarding Mark, +was derived from the Elder, he, too, as well +as Papias, knew the Greek Matthew; regarding +it as a "translation" of the apostolic +<i>Logia</i>, he naturally makes Matthew the +standard and accounts as above for the wide +divergence of Mark as to order.</p> + +<p>The Jerusalem elder who thus differentiates +the two great branches of gospel tradition into +Matthæan Precepts and Petrine Sayings and +Doings, is probably "the Elder John"; for +this elder's "traditions" were so copiously +cited by Papias as to lead Irenæus, and after +him Eusebius, to the unwarranted inference +of personal contact. Irenæus even identified<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> +the Elder John with the Apostle, thus transporting +not only him, but the entire body of +"Elders and disciples" from Jerusalem to +Asia, a pregnant misapprehension to which +we must return later. In the meantime we +must note that this fundamental distinction +between <i>syntagmas</i> of the Precepts, and +narratives of the Sayings and Doings, carries +us back as far as it is possible to penetrate +into the history of gospel composition. The +primitive work of the Apostle Matthew, was +probably done in and for Jerusalem and +vicinity—certainly so if written in Aramaic. +The date, if early tradition may be believed, +was "when Peter and Paul were preaching +and founding the church at Rome." Oral +tradition must have begun the process even +earlier.<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> Mark's work was done at Rome, +according to internal evidence no less than by +the unanimous voice of early tradition. It +dates from "after the death of Peter" (64-5) +according to ancient tradition. According +to the internal evidence it was written certainly +not long before, and probably some few years +after, the overthrow of Jerusalem and the +temple (70). At the time of Papias' writing, +then (<i>c.</i> 145), all four gospels were probably +known, though only Matthew and Mark were +taken as authoritative because (indirectly) +apostolic. At the time of prosecution of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> +inquiries the voice of (Palestinian) tradition +was still "living and abiding." If, as tenses +and phraseology seem to imply, this means +Aristion and the Elder John (<i>ob.</i> 117?) it is +reasonable to regard it as extending back +over a full generation. The original Matthew +was even then (<i>c.</i> 100), and in Palestine itself, +a superseded book. It had three successors, +if not more, two Greek and one Aramaic, +all still retaining their claim to the name and +authority of Matthew<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a>; but all had been re-cast +in a narrative frame, which at least in the +case of our canonical first Gospel was borrowed +from the Roman work of Mark. So far as the +remaining fragments of its rivals enable us +to judge, the same is true in their case +also, though to a less extent. It is quite +unmistakably true of Luke, the gospel of +Antioch, that its narrative represents the +same "memorabilia of Peter"; for so Mark's +gospel came to be called. Thus the Petrine +story appears almost from the start to have +gained undisputed supremacy. But side by +side with this remarkable fact as to gospel +<i>narrative</i> is the equally notable confirmation +of the other statements of 'the Elders' +regarding the Precepts. For all modern<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> +criticism admits, that besides the material +of Mark, which both Matthew and Luke +freely incorporate, omitting very little, our +first and third evangelists have embodied, +in (usually) the same Greek translation but +in greatly varied order, large sections from +one or more early compilations of the Sayings +of Jesus.</p> + +<p>It is indispensable to a historical appreciation +of the environment out of which any +gospel has arisen that we realize that no +community ever produced and permanently +adopted as its "gospel" a <i>partial</i> presentation +of the message of salvation. To its mind the +writing must have embodied, for the time at +least, the message, the whole message, and +nothing but the message. Change of mind as +to the essential contents of the message would +involve supplementation or alteration of the +written gospel employed. No writing of the +kind would be produced with tacit reference +to some other for another aspect of the +truth.</p> + +<p>It was not, then, the mere limitation of its +language which caused the ancient Matthæan +Sayings (the so-called <i>Logia</i>) to be superseded +and disappear; nor is mere "translation" +the word to describe that which took its place. +The growth of Christianity in the Greek-speaking +world not only called upon Jerusalem +to pour out its treasure of evangelic tradition +in the language of the empire, but stimulated +a sense of its own increasing need. That<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> +which could once be supplied by eye-witnesses, +the testimony of Jesus' mighty works, his +death and resurrection, was now fast disappearing. +And simultaneously the appreciation +of its importance was growing. It was +impossible to be blind to the conquests made +by the gospel <i>about</i> Jesus. Enclosed in it, as +part of its substance the gospel <i>of</i> Jesus found +its final resting-place, much as the mother +church itself was later taken up and incorporated +in a catholic Christendom. So it is that +in the Elder's time the church of the 'apostles, +elders and witnesses' have done more than +merely supersede their Aramaic(?) <i>Syntagma</i> +of the Precepts by "translations." They had +adopted alongside of it from Rome Mark's +"Memorabilia of Peter" as to "things either +said or done by the Lord." We can see indeed +from the apologetic way in which 'the Elder' +speaks of Mark's limitations (Peter is not to +be held responsible for the lack of order) that +Mark's authority is still held quite secondary +to Matthew's; but the very fact that his work +is given authoritative standing at all, still +more the fact that it has become the framework +into which the old-time <i>syntagma</i> has +been set, marks a great and fundamental +change of view as to what constitutes "the +gospel."</p> + +<p>No mere <i>syntagma</i> of the Precepts of Jesus +has ever come down to us, though the papyrus +leaves of "Sayings of Jesus" discovered in +1897 at Behneseh in Egypt by Grenfell and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 138]</span> +Hunt had something of this character.<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> It +was impossible that any community outside +the most primitive one, where personal "witnesses +of the Lord" still survived "until the +times of Trajan," could be satisfied with a +"gospel" which gave only the precepts of +Jesus without so much as an account of his +crucifixion and resurrection. And, strange +as it may seem, the evidence of Q (<i>i. e.</i> the +coincident material in Matthew and Luke not +derived from Mark), as judged by nearly all +critics, is that no narrative of the kind was +given in the early compilation of discourses +from which this element was mainly derived. +After the "witnesses," apostolic and other, +had begun to disappear, a mere <i>syntagma</i> of +Jesus' sayings could not suffice. It became +inevitable that the precepts should be embodied +in the story. And yet we have at least two +significant facts to corroborate the intimations +of ancient tradition that this combination was +long postponed. (18) When it is at last +effected, and certainly in the regions of southern +Syria,<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> there is even there practically<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> +nothing left of authentic <i>narrative</i> material +but the Petrine tradition as compiled by Mark +at Rome. Our Matthew, a Palestinian Jew, +the only writer of the New Testament who +consistently uses the Hebrew Bible, makes a +theoretical reconstruction of the order of events +in the Galilean ministry, but otherwise he +just incorporates Mark substantially as it was. +What he adds in the way of narrative is so +meagre in amount, and so manifestly inferior +and apocryphal in character, as to prove the +extreme poverty of his resources of oral +tradition of this type. Luke has somewhat +larger, and (as <i>literary</i> products) better, +narrative additions than Matthew's; but the +amount is still extremely meagre, and often +<i>historically</i> of slight value. Some of it reappears +in the surviving fragments of the +<i>Preaching of Peter</i>. To sum up, there is +outside of Mark <i>no</i> considerable amount of +historical material, canonical or uncanonical, +for the story of Jesus. This fact would be +hard to account for if in the regions where +witnesses survived, the first generation really +took an interest in perpetuating narrative +tradition. (2) The <i>order</i> of even such events +as secured perpetuation was already hopelessly +lost at a time more remote than the +writing of our earliest gospel. This is true +not only for Mark, as 'the Elder' frankly +confesses, but for Matthew, Luke and every +one else. Unchronological as Mark's order +often is (and the tradition as to the 'casual<span class="pagenum">[Pg 140]</span> +anecdotes' agrees with the critical phenomena +of the text), it is vastly more historical +than Matthew's reconstruction. On the other +hand Luke, while expressly undertaking to +improve in this special respect upon his +predecessors, almost never ventures to depart +from the order of Mark, and when he does has +never the support of Matthew, and usually +not that of real probability. In short, incorrect +as they knew the order of Mark to +be, it was the best that could be had in the +days when evangelists began to go beyond the +mere <i>syntagmas</i>, and to write "gospels" as +we understand them, or, in their own language, +"the things which Jesus began <i>both</i> to do <i>and</i> +to teach" (Acts i. 1). From these two great +outstanding phenomena of gospel criticism +alone it would be apparent that the distinction +dimly perceived in the tradition of +the Jerusalem elders reported by Papias, and +indeed by many later writers, is no illusion, +but an important and vital fact.</p> + +<p>A third big, unexpected fact looms up as +we round the capes of critical analysis, subtracting +from Matthew and Luke first the +elements peculiar to each, then that derived +by each from Mark. It is a fact susceptible, +however, of various interpretation. To some +it only proves either the futility of criticism, +or the worthlessness of ancient tradition. To +us it proves simply that the process of transition +in Palestine, the home of evangelic +tradition, from the primitive <i>syntagma</i> of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> +Precepts, framed on the plan of the Talmudic +treatise known as <i>Pirke Aboth</i>, or "Sayings +of the Fathers," to the Greek type of narrative +gospel, was a longer and more complex one +than has commonly been imagined. A cursory +statement of the results of critical efforts to +reproduce the so-called "second source" of +Matthew and Luke (Mark being considered +the first), will serve to bring out the fact to +which we refer, and at the same time, we +hope, to throw light upon the history of gospel +development.</p> + +<p>The mere process of subtraction above +described to obtain the element Q offers no +serious difficulties, and for those who attach +value to the tradition of 'the Elders' it is +natural to anticipate that the remainder will +show traits corresponding to the description +of an apostolic <i>syntagma</i> of sayings of the Lord +translated from the Aramaic, in short the +much-desired <i>Logia</i> of Matthew. The actual +result is disappointing to such an expectation. +The widely, though perhaps somewhat +thoughtlessly accepted equivalence Q = the +<i>Logia</i> is simply false. Q is <i>not</i> the <i>Logia</i>. +It is not a <i>syntagma</i>, nor even a consistent +whole, and as it lay before our first and third +evangelists it was not (for a considerable part +at least) in Aramaic. True, Q does consist +<i>almost</i> exclusively of discourse material, a +large part of which has only topical order, +and is wholly, or mainly, destitute of narrative +connection. Also we find traces here and there<span class="pagenum">[Pg 142]</span> +of translation at some period from the Aramaic, +though not more in the Q element than in +Mark. But to those who looked for immediate +confirmation of the tradition the result has +been on the whole disappointing. Some, more +particularly among English critics, have considered +it to justify a falling back upon the +vaguer generalities of the once prevalent +theory of oral tradition. In reality we are +simply called upon to renew the process of +discrimination. Most of the Q material has +the saying-character and is strung together +with that lack of all save topical order which +we look for in a <i>syntagma</i>. But parts of it, +such as the Healing of the Centurion's servant +(Matt. viii. 5-10, 13 = Luke vii. 1-10), or the +Preaching of the Baptist and Temptation +Story (Matt. iii. 7-10, 12; iv. 2-11 = Luke iii. +7-9, 17; iv. 2-13), obstinately refuse to be +brought under this category. Moreover, the +latter section has the unmistakable motive of +presenting Jesus <i>in his character and ministry</i> as +"the Son of God," precisely as in Mark. It +begins by introducing Jesus on the stage at +the baptism of John, after the ancient narrative +outline (Acts i. 22; x. 37 <i>f.</i>), and cannot +be imagined as forming part of anything else +but a <i>narrative</i> having the conclusion characteristic +of our own type of gospel. Other +considerable sections of Q, such as the Question +of John's Disciples and Discourse of Jesus +on those that were 'Stumbled' in him +(Matt. xi. 2-11, 16-27; Luke vii. 18-35; x.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 143]</span> +13-22), share with the Baptism and Temptation +section not only the doctrinal motive of +commending Jesus in his person and ministry +as the longed-for Son of God, but in a number +of characteristics which set them quite apart +from the general mass of precepts and parables +in Q. We can here mention only the following: +(1) the coincidence in language between +Matthew and Luke is much greater in these +sections of Q, often even greater than in the +sections borrowed from Mark, showing clearly +the existence of a common document written +not in Aramaic, but in the Greek language. +(2) This material, unlike most of Q, has served +as a source and model in many portions of +Mark. (3) It is for the most part not included +in the five great blocks into which +Matthew has divided the Precepts by means +of a special concluding formula (vii. 28; xi. 1; +xiii. 53; xix. 1, and xxvi. 1) but appears outside, +in the form of supplements to the Markan +narrative (iii. 7—iv. 11; viii. 5-13, 18-22, xi. +2-27; xii. 38-45, etc.). Finally (4) the Q +material of this type seems to be given more +copiously by Luke than by Matthew, and with +something more than mere conjecture of his +own as to its historical occasion. In fact, +since it appears that at least this element of +Q was known to Mark, there is nothing to +justify exclusion from it of such material as +the Transfiguration story, though in this +case it would be needful to prove that Mark +was not the source. Similarly it would be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> +reasonable to think of Luke's wide divergence +from Mark in his story of the Passion as +occasioned by his preference for material +derived from this source. Only, since Matthew +has preferred to follow Mark, we have no +means of determining whence Luke did +derive his new and here often valuable +material.</p> + +<p>The existence, then, of an element of Q +which quite fails to correspond to what we +take the Matthæan <i>syntagma</i> to have been +by no means proves either the futility of +criticism or the worthlessness of the ancient +tradition. It only shows that our synoptic +evangelists were not the first to attempt the +combination of discourse with narrative, but +that Luke at least had a predecessor in the +field, to whom all are more or less indebted. +Criticism and tradition together show that +there are two great streams from which all +historically trustworthy material has been +derived. The one is Evangelic Story, and is +mainly derived from Mark's outline of the +ministry based on the anecdotes of Peter, +though some elements come from another +source, principally preserved by Luke, which +we must discuss in a later chapter devoted +to the growth of Petrine story at Rome +and Antioch. The other stream, "Words of +the Lord," comes from Jerusalem, and is +always associated in all its forms with the +name of Matthew. We have every reason +for accepting the statement that as early as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> +the founding of the church in Rome (45-50) +the Apostle Matthew had begun the work of +compiling the Precepts of Jesus, in a form +serviceable to the object of "teaching men to +observe all things whatsoever he had commanded." +Our present Gospel of Matthew, +however, is neither this work nor a translation +of it; for the only three things told us about +the apostle's work are all irreconcilable with +the characteristics of our Matthew. The +compilation of "Words of the Lord" was +(1) a <i>syntagma</i> and not, like Mark, an outline +of the ministry. It was (2) written in Aramaic; +whereas our Matthew is an original +Greek composition. It was (3) by an apostle +who had personal acquaintance with Jesus; +whereas our first evangelist is to the last +degree dependent upon the confessedly defective +story of Mark. Still if we take our +Matthew as the last link in the long chain of +development, covering perhaps half a century, +and including such by-products as the <i>Gospel +according to the Hebrews</i> and the <i>Gospel of the +Nazarenes</i>, we may obtain a welcome light +upon the environment out of which has come +down the work which an able scholar justly +declared, "the most important book ever +written, the Gospel according to Matthew."</p> + +<p>The language in which it was written was +alone sufficient to place the Greek Matthew +beyond all possible competition in the larger +world from Aramaic rivals. But its comprehensiveness +and catholicity still further<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> +helped it to the position which it soon attained +as the most widely used of all the gospels. +Matthew is not only in its whole structure a +composite gospel, but shows in high degree the +catholicizing tendency of the times. Just +as it frankly adopts the Roman-Petrine +narrative of Mark with slightest possible +modification, so also it places in Peter's hand +with equal frankness the primacy in apostolic +succession. Almost the only additions it +makes to Mark's account of the public ministry +are the story of Peter's walking on the sea +(xiv. 28-33), and his payment of the temple +tribute for Christ and himself with the coin +from the fish's mouth (xvii. 24-27). The +latter story introduces the chapter on the +exercise of rulership in "the church" (ch. xviii.), +beginning with the disciples' question: "Who +<i>then</i> is greatest in the kingdom?" Peter is +again in it the one salient figure (xviii. 21). +An equally important addition, connected +with xviii. 17 <i>f.</i> is the famous committal to +Peter of the power of the keys, with the +declaration making him for his confession the +'Rock' foundation of "the church." This +addition to Mark's story of the rebuke of Peter +at Cæsarea Philippi, is one which decidedly +alters its bearing, and seems even to borrow +the very language of Gal. i. 16 <i>f.</i> in order to +exalt the apostleship of Peter. In fact, the +Roman gospel and the Palestinian almost +reverse the rôles we should expect Peter to +play in each. Matthew alone makes Peter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> +"the first" (x. 2), while Mark seems to take +special pains to record rebukes of the twelve +and the brethren of the Lord, and especially +the rebukes called down upon themselves by +Peter, or Peter and John.</p> + +<p>In respect to the primacy of Peter we can +observe a certain difference even among the +Palestinian gospels which succeeded to the +primitive <i>syntagma</i> of Matthew. Little, indeed, +is known of the orthodox <i>Gospel +of the Nazarenes</i>, beyond its relatively late +and composite character; for it borrowed +from Matthew, Mark and Luke in turn. Its +list of apostles, however, begins with "John +and James the sons of Zebedee," <i>then</i> "Simon +and Andrew," and winds up: "Thee also, +Matthew, did I call, as thou wert sitting at +the seat of custom, and thou followedst me." +The anti-Pauline <i>Gospel according to the Hebrews</i> +shows its conception of the seat of apostolic +authority by giving to "James the Just" the +place of Peter as recipient of that first manifestation +of the risen Lord, which laid the +foundation of the faith. Why then does +the Greek Palestinian gospel, in contrast +with its rivals, lay such special stress on +the primacy of Peter?</p> + +<p>From the cautious and (as it were) deprecatory +tone of the appendix to John (John xxi.) +in seeking to commend the "other disciple +whom Jesus loved" as worthy to be accepted +as a "true witness" without detriment to the +acknowledged authority of Peter as chief<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> +under-shepherd of the flock, we may infer +that not at Rome alone, but wherever there was +question of 'apostolic' tradition, the authority +of Peter was coming rapidly to the fore. The +tendency at Antioch is even more marked than +at Rome, as is manifest from Acts. If, then, it +seems stronger still in a region where we should +expect the authority of James to be put forward, +this need not be taken as a specifically +Roman trait. We must realize the sharp +antagonism which existed in Palestine from +the time of the Apostolic council down, +between (1) the consistent legalists, who +maintained down to the period of Justin (153) +and the <i>Clementine Homilies and Recognitions</i> +(180-200), their bitter hostility to Paul and +his gospel of Gentile freedom from the Law; +and (2) the 'catholic,' or liberal, Jewish-Christians, +who took the standpoint of the +Pillars. It is but one of many indications of +its 'catholic' tendency that our Matthew +increases the emphasis on the apostolic +authority of Peter to the point of an actual +primacy. The phenomenon must be judged +in the light of the disappearance or suppression +of all evangelic story save what came under +the name of Peter, and the tendency in Acts +to bring under his name even the entire +apostleship to the Gentiles. Peter is not yet +in these early writings the representative +of Rome, but of <i>catholicity</i>. The issue in +Matthew is not as between Rome and some +other dominant see, but (as the reflection<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> +of the language of Gal. i. 17 <i>f.</i> in Matt. xvi. 17 +shows) as between 'catholic' apostolic +authority and the unsafe tendencies of Pauline +independence.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, for all his leanings to catholicity +the Greek Matthew has not wholly succeeded +in excluding materials which still reflect +Jewish-Christian hostility to Paul, or at least +to the tendencies of Pauline Christianity. +Over and over again special additions are +made in Matthew to emphasize a warning +against the workers of "lawlessness." The +exhortation of Jesus in Luke vi. 42-45 to +effect (self-)reformation not on the surface, +nor in word, but by change of the inward root +of disposition fructifying in deeds, is altered +in Matt. vii. 15-22 into a warning against +the "false prophets" who work "lawlessness," +and who must be judged by their fruits. +They make the confession of Lordship (<i>cf.</i> +Rom. x. 9) but are not obedient to Jesus' +commandment, and lack good works. In +particular the test of Mark ix. 38-40 is directly +reversed. The principle "Whosoever is not +against us is for us" is not to be trusted. A +teacher may exercise the 'spiritual gifts' of +prophecy, exorcism, and miracles wrought in +the name of Jesus, and still be a reprobate. +A similar (and most incongruous) addition +is made to Mark's parable of the Patient +Husbandman (Mark iv. 26-29), in Matt. xiii. +24-30, and reiterated in a specially appended +"interpretation" (xiii. 36-43). This addition<span class="pagenum">[Pg 150]</span> +likens the "workers of lawlessness" to tares +sown alongside the good seed of the word by +"an enemy." A similar incongruous attachment +is made to the parable of the Marriage +feast (Matt. xxii. 1-14; <i>cf.</i> Luke xiv. 15-24) +to warn against the lack of the 'garment of +good works.' Finally, Matthew closes his +whole series of the discourses of Jesus with a +group of three parables developed with great +elaboration and rhetorical effect, out of +relatively slight suggestions as found elsewhere. +The sole theme of the series is the +indispensableness of good works in the judgment +(Matt. 25; <i>cf.</i> Luke xii. 35-38; xix. 11-28, +and Mark ix. 37, 41). A similar interest +appears in Matthew's insistence on the permanent +obligation of the Law (v. (16) 17-20; +xix. 16-22—in contrast with Mark x. 17-22), +on respect for the temple (xvii. 24-27) and on +the Davidic descent of Jesus, with fulfilment +of messianic promise in him (chh. i.-ii.; ix. 27). +He limits the activity of Jesus to the Holy +Land (xv. 22; contrast Mark vii. 24 <i>f.</i>), makes +him in sending forth the Twelve (x. 5 <i>f.</i>) +specifically forbid mission work among Samaritans +or Gentiles, and while the prohibition is +finally removed in xxviii. 18-20, the apostolic +seat cannot be removed, but remains as in +x. 23, among "the cities of Israel" to the end +of the world.</p> + +<p>There is probably no more of intentional +opposition to Paul or to his gospel in all this +than in James or Luke. We cannot for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> +example regard it as more than accidental +coincidence that in the phrase "an enemy +hath done this," in the parable of the tares, +we have the same epithet which the Ebionite +literature applies to Paul. But enough remains +to indicate how strongly Jewish-Christian +prejudices and limitations still affected our +evangelist. With respect to date, the atmosphere +is in all respects such as characterizes +the period of the nineties.</p> + +<p>It does not belong to our present purpose +to analyze this gospel into its constituent +elements. The process can be followed in +many treatises on gospel criticism, and the +results will be found summarized in <i>Introductions</i> +to the New Testament such as the +recent scholarly work of Moffatt. We have +here but to note the general character and +structure of the book as revealing the main +outlines of its history and the conditions which +gave it birth.</p> + +<p>Matthew and Luke are alike in that both +represent comparatively late attempts to +combine the ancient Matthæan <i>syntagma</i> with +the 'Memorabilia of Peter' compiled by +Mark. But there is a great difference. Luke +contemplates his work with some of the motives +of the historian. He adopts the method of +narrative, and therefore subordinates his +discourse material to a conception (often +confused enough) of sequence in space and +time. Matthew, as the structure of his gospel, +no less than his own avowal shows, had an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> +aim more nearly corresponding to the ancient +Palestinian type. The demand for the narrative +form had become irresistible. It controlled +even his later Greek and Aramaic rivals. But +Matthew has subordinated the historical to +the ethical motive. He aims at, and has +rendered, just the service which his age demanded +and for which it could look to no other +region than Jerusalem, a full compilation of +the commandments and precepts of Jesus.</p> + +<p>The narrative framework is adopted from +Mark without serious alteration, because this +work had already proved its effectiveness in +convincing men everywhere that Jesus was +"the Christ, the Son of God." Like Luke, +Matthew prefixes an account of Jesus' miraculous +birth and childhood, because in his time +(<i>c.</i> 90) the ancient "beginning of the gospel" +with the baptism by John had given opportunity +to the heresy of the Adoptionists, +represented by Cerinthus, who maintained +that Jesus <i>became</i> the Son of God at his +baptism, a merely temporary "receptacle" +of the Spirit. The prefixed chapters have no +incarnation doctrine, and no doctrine of pre-existence. +They do not intend in their story +of the miraculous birth to relate the incoming +of a superhuman or non-human being into +the world, else they could not take up the +pedigree of Joseph as exhibiting Jesus' title +to the throne of David. Miracle attends and +signalizes the birth of that "Son of David" +who is destined to become the Son of God.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> +Apart from the mere question of attendant +prodigy the aim of Matthew's story of the +Infancy is such as should command the respect +and sympathy of every rational thinker. +Against all Doketic dualism it maintains that +the Son of God is such from birth to death. +The presence of God's Spirit with him is not +a mere counterpart to demonic "possession," +but is part of his nature as true man from the +beginning.</p> + +<p>But the doctrinal interest of Matthew +scarcely goes beyond the point of proving +that Jesus is the Christ foretold by the +prophets. Doctrine as well as history is +subordinate to the one great aim of teaching +men to "observe all things whatsoever Jesus +commanded."<br><br><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h3> + +<h3>THE PETRINE TRADITION. EVANGELIC STORY</h3> + + +<p>Of the extent to which the early church +could do without narrative of Jesus' earthly +ministry we have extraordinary evidences in +the literature of Pauline Christianity on the +one side and of Jewish Christianity on the +other. For Paul himself, as we know, the +real story of Jesus was a transcendental +drama of the Incarnation, Redemption, and +Exaltation. It is probable that when at last +"three years" after his conversion he went +up to Jerusalem "to get acquainted with +Peter," the story he was interested to hear +had even then more to do with that common +apostolic witness of the resurrection appearances +reproduced in 1st Cor. xv. 3-11, than +with the sayings and doings of the ministry. +As to this Paul preserves, as we have seen, +an almost unbroken silence. And that which +did not interest Paul, naturally did not interest +his churches.</p> + +<p>On the other hand those who could have +perpetuated a full and authentic account of +the ministry were almost incredibly slow to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> +undertake the task; partly, no doubt, because +of their vivid expectation of the immediate +end of the world, but largely also because to +their mind the data most in need of preservation +were the 'life-giving words.' The impression +of Jesus' character, his person and +authority was not, as they regarded it, a +thing to be gained from the historical outline +of his career. It was established by the +fact of the Resurrection, by the predictions +of the prophets, which found fulfilment in +the circumstances of Jesus' birth, particular +incidents here and there in his career and fate, +but most of all in his resurrection and the +gifts of the Spirit which argued his present +session at the right hand of God. Once this +authority of Jesus was established the believer +had only to observe his commandments as +handed down by the apostles, elders and +witnesses.</p> + +<p>On all sides there was an indifference to such +historical inquiry as the modern man would +think natural and inevitable, an indifference +that must remain altogether inexplicable to +us unless we realize that until at least the +time of the fourth evangelist the main proofs +of messiahship were not looked for in Jesus' +earthly career. His Christhood was thought +of as something in the future, not yet realized. +Even his resurrection and manifestation in +glory "at the right hand of God," which is +to both Paul (Rom. i. 4) and his predecessors +(Acts ii. 32-36) the assurance that "God<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> +hath made him both Lord and Christ," is not +yet the beginning of his specific messianic programme. +Potentially this has begun, because +Jesus has already been seated on the 'throne +of glory,' "from henceforth expecting until his +enemies be made the footstool of his feet." +Practically it is not yet. The Christ is still +a Christ that is to be. His messianic rule +is delayed until the subjugation of the +"enemies"; and this subjugation in turn is +delayed by "the long suffering of God, who +willeth not that any should perish, but +that all men should come to repentance." +Meantime a special "outpouring of the +Spirit" is given in 'tongues,' 'prophecies,' +'miracle working,' and the like, in fulfilment +of scriptural promise, as a kind of +coronation largess to all loyal subjects. This +outpouring of the Spirit, then, is the great +proof and assurance that the Heir has really +ascended the 'throne of glory' in spite of +the continuance of "all things as they were +from the foundation of the world." These +'gifts' are "firstfruits of the Spirit," pledges +of the ultimate inheritance, proofs both to +believers and unbelievers of the complete +Inheritance soon to be received. But the +gifts have also a practical aspect. They are +all endowments for <i>service</i>. The Great Repentance +in Israel and among the Gentiles +is not to be brought about without the co-operation +of believers. The question which at +once arises when the manifestation of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> +risen Christ is granted, "Lord, dost thou at +this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" +is therefore answered by the assurance that +the time is in God's hand alone, but that +the 'gifts of the Spirit,' soon to be imparted, +are intended to enable believers to do their +part, at home and abroad, toward effecting +the Great Repentance (Acts i. 6-8).<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></p> + +<p>For a church which felt itself endowed with +living and present evidences of the messianic +power of Jesus it was naturally only a second +thought (and not a very early one at that) +to look back for proof to occurrences in Jesus' +life in Galilee, however notable his career as +"a prophet mighty in deed and word before +God and all the people." The <i>present</i> gifts +of his power would be (at least in demonstrative +effect) "greater works than these." +With those who had the resurrection testimony<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> +of 1st Cor. xv. 3-11, and even the recurrent +experience of "visions and revelations of the +Lord," anticipatory revelations of his messiahship, +utterances, like that to Peter at Cæsarea +Philippi, wherein Jesus only predicted the +great work to be divinely accomplished through +him, whether by life or death, in going up +to Jerusalem, intimations which had been +disregarded or disbelieved at the time, could +not rank with present knowledge, experience +and insight. They would be recalled merely +as confirmatory foregleams of "the true +light that now shineth," as the two who had +received the manifestation at Emmaus exclaim, +"Did not our heart burn within us +while he talked to us in the way?"</p> + +<p>We could not indeed psychologically account +for the development of the resurrection +faith after the crucifixion, if before it Jesus' +life and utterances had not been such as to +make his manifestation in glory seem to the +disciples just what they <i>ought</i> to have expected. +But, conversely, nothing is more +certain than the fact that they <i>did not</i> expect +it; and that when the belief had become +established by other means, the attitude +toward the "sayings and doings" maintained +by those who had them to relate—as we know, +the most successful missionary of all felt it +no handicap to be entirely without them—was +one of looking back into an obscure past +for things whose pregnant significance became +appreciable only in the light of present knowledge.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> +"These things understood not his +disciples at the first, but when Jesus was +glorified, then remembered they that these +things had been written of him, and that +they had done these things unto him."</p> + +<p>We are fortunate in having even one example +of the "consecutive narratives" (<i>diegeses</i>) +referred to in Luke i. 1. Our Mark is a gospel +written purely and simply from this point +of view, aiming only to show how the earthly +career of Jesus gave evidence that this was +the Son of God, predestined to exaltation to +the right hand of power, with little attempt, +if any, to bring in the precepts of the New +Law. We should realize, however, that this +is already a beginning in the process soon +to become controlling, a process of carrying +back into the earthly life of Jesus in Galilee +of first this trait, then that, then all the +attributes of the glorified Lord.</p> + +<p>Ancient and reliable tradition informs us +that this first endeavour to tell the story of +"Jesus Christ the Son of God" was composed +at Rome by John Mark, a former companion +of both Peter and Paul, from data drawn from +the anecdotes casually employed by Peter +in his preaching. There is much to confirm +this in the structure, the style, and the doctrinal +object and standpoint of the Gospel.</p> + +<p>To begin with, the date of composition +cannot be far from 75. Mark is not only +presupposed by both Matthew and Luke, but +in their time had already acquired an extraordinary<span class="pagenum">[Pg 160]</span> +predominance. To judge by what +remains to us of similar products, Mark in +its own field might almost be said to reign +supreme and reign alone. Such almost exclusive +supremacy could not have been +attained, even by a writing commonly understood +to represent the preaching of Peter, +short of a decade or more of years. On the +other hand we have the reluctant testimony +of antiquity, anxious to claim as much as +possible of apostolic authority for the record, +but unwilling to commit Peter to apparent +contradictions of Matthew, that it was written +after Peter's death (64-5).<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> Internal evidence +would in fact bring down the date of the +work in its present form a full decade thereafter. +It is true that there are many structural +evidences of more than one form of the +narrative, and that the apocalyptic chapter +(ch. xiii.), which furnishes most of the evidence +of date, may well belong among the later +supplements. But in the judgment of most +critics this 'eschatological discourse' (almost +the only connected discourse of the Gospel) +is clearly framed in real retrospect upon the +overthrow of Jerusalem and the temple, +and the attendant tribulation on "those that +are in Judæa." The writer applies a general +saying of Jesus known to us from other +sources about destroying and rebuilding the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> +temple specifically to the demolition effected +by Titus (70). He warns his readers in the +same connection that "the end" is not to +follow immediately upon the great Judæan +war, but only when the powers of evil in the +heavenly places, powers inhabiting sun, moon +and stars, are shaken (xiii. 21-27). The +Pauline doctrine of 2nd Thess. ii. 1-12 is +adopted, but with careful avoidance of the +prediction that the "man of sin" is to appear +"in the temple of God." Paul's "man of +sin" is now identified with Daniel's "abomination +that maketh desolate" (Dan. xii. 11), +which therefore is spoken of as "he" (masculine). +"His" appearance will prelude the +great Judæan tribulation; but his standing +place is ill-defined. It is only "where he +ought not." Matthew (following his usual +practice) returns more nearly to the language +of Daniel. With him the "Abomination" +is again an object standing "in <i>a</i> holy place." +But Matthew is already applying the prophecy +to another tribulation still to come. He does +not see that Mark refers to the sack of Jerusalem +on which he himself looks back in his +addition to the parable of the Supper (Matt. +xxii. 6 <i>f.</i>; <i>cf.</i> Luke xiv. 15-24), but takes +Mark xiii. 14-23 as Jesus' prediction of a +great final tribulation <i>still to come</i>.</p> + +<p>Mark's crudities of language and style, his +frequent latinisms, his explanation to his +readers (almost contemptuously exaggerated) +of Jewish purifications and distinctions<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> +of meats (vii. 3 <i>f.</i>), presupposition of the +Roman form of divorce (x. 12), explanation +in Roman money of the value of the +(Greek and Oriental) "mite" (<i>lepton</i>), are +well-known confirmations of the tradition +of the writing's place of origin. But these +are superficial characteristics. More important +for us to note is the fundamental +conception of what constitutes "the gospel," +and the writer's attitude on questions of the +relation of Jew and Gentile and the authority +of the apostles and kindred of the Lord.</p> + +<p>The most striking characteristic of Mark is +that it aims to present the gospel <i>about</i> Jesus, +and is relatively indifferent to the gospel <i>of</i> +Jesus. Had the writer conceived his task +after the manner of a Matthew there is little +doubt that he could have compiled catechetic +discourses of Jesus like the Sermon on the +Mount or the discourse on prayer of Luke xi. +1-13. The fact that he disregards such +records of Jesus' ethical and religious instruction +does not mean that he (tacitly) refers his +readers to the Matthæan Precepts, or similar +compilations, to supplement his own deficiencies. +It means a different, more Pauline, +conception of what "the gospel" is. Mark +conceives its primary element to be attachment +to the <i>person</i> of Jesus, and has already +gone far toward obliterating the primitive +distinction between a Jesus whose earthly +career had been "in great humility," and the +glorified Son of God. The earthly Jesus is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> +still, it is true, only a man endowed with the +Spirit of Adoption. But he is so completely +"in" the Spirit, and so fully endowed with +it, as almost to assume the Greek figure of a +demi-god treading the earth incognito. No +wonder this Gospel became the favourite of +the Adoptionists and Doketists.</p> + +<p>Mark does not leave his reader in the dark +as to what a man must do to inherit eternal +life. The requirement does not appear until +after Jesus has taken up with the twelve +the road to Calvary, because it is distinctly +<i>not</i> a keeping of commandments, new or old. +It is an adoption of "the mind that was in +Christ, who humbled himself and became +obedient unto death." In Matthew's 'improved' +version of Jesus' answer to the rich +applicant for eternal life, the suppliant is +told he may obtain it by obeying the commandments, +with supererogatory merit ("if +thou wouldest be perfect"), if he follows +Jesus' example of self-abnegating service. In +the form and context from which Matthew +borrows (Mark x. 13-45) there is no trace of +this legalism, and the whole idea of supererogatory +merit, or higher reward, is strenuously, +almost indignantly, repudiated. No +man can receive the kingdom at all who does +not receive it "as a little child." Every man +must be prepared to make every sacrifice, even +if he has kept all the commandments from his +youth up. Peter and the disciples who have +"left all and followed" are in respect to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> +reward on the same level as others. Peter's +plea for the twelve is answered, "There is +no man that hath left" earthly possessions +for Christ's sake that is not amply compensated +even here. He must expect persecution +now, but will receive eternal life +hereafter. Only "many that are first shall +be last, and last first." Even the martyr-apostles +James and John will have no superior +rights in the Kingdom.</p> + +<p>Such passages as the above not only reveal +why Mark's gospel shows comparative disregard +of the Precepts, but also displays an +attitude toward the growing claims of apostolic +authority and neo-legalism which in contrast +with Matthew and Luke is altogether refreshing. +The kindred of the Lord appear but +twice (iii. 20 <i>f.</i>, 31-35 and vi. 1-6), both times +in a wholly unfavourable light. John appears +but once, and that to receive a rebuke +for intolerance. James and John appear +only to be rebuked for selfish ambition. +Peter seldom otherwise than for rebuke. +All the disciples show constantly the blindness +and "hardness of heart" which is explicitly +said to characterize their nation +(vi. 52; vii. 18; viii. 12, 14-21). Their self-seeking +and unfaithfulness is the foil to Jesus' +self-denial and faithfulness (viii. 33; ix. 6, +18 <i>f.</i>, 29; x. 24, 28, 32, 37, 41; xiv. 27-31, +37-41, 50, 66-72). That which in Matthew +(xvi. 16-19) has become a special divine revelation +to Peter of the messiahship, marking the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> +foundation of the church, is in the earlier +Markan form (Mark viii. 27-33) not a revelation +of the messiahship at all. Peter's answer, +"Thou are the Christ," is common knowledge. +The twelve are not supposed to be more +ignorant than the demons! There is, however, +a caustic rebuke of Peter for his carnal, +Jewish idea of the implications of Christhood. +A revelation of its significance almost Doketic +in character is indeed granted just after to +"Peter, James and John"; but they remain +without appreciation or understanding of +the 'vision,' though it exhibits Jesus in his +heavenly glory in company with the translated +heroes of the Old Testament. The +revelation still remains, therefore, a sealed +book until "after the resurrection."</p> + +<p>This exaggeration of the disciples' obtuseness +is partly due, no doubt, to apologetic motives. +The evangelist has to meet the objection, If +Jesus was really the extraordinary, superhuman +being represented, and was openly +proclaimed such by the evil spirits, why was +nothing heard of his claims until after the +crucifixion and alleged resurrection? His +carrying back into the Galilean ministry of +the glorified Being of Paul's redemption +doctrine compels him to represent the twelve +as sharing the dullness of the people who +"having eyes see not, and having ears hear +not." But with all allowance for this, the +Roman Gospel shows small consideration for +the apostles and kindred of the Lord.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p> + +<p>It shows quite as little for Jewish prerogative +and Jewish law. Jesus speaks in parables +because to those "without" his preaching is +to be intentionally a 'veiled' gospel (iv. +1-34). The Inheritance will be taken away +from them and given to others (xii. 1-12). +Priests and people together were guilty of +the rejection and murder of Jesus (xv. 11-15, +29-32). Forgiveness of sins is offered by +Jesus on his own authority in defiance of +the scribes. Their exclusion of the publicans +and sinners he disregards, proclaims abolition +of their fasts, and holds their sabbath-keeping +up to scorn (ii. 1—iii. 6). On the question +of distinctions of meats his position is the most +radical possible. The Jewish ceremonial is +a "vain worship," mere "commandments of +men." Defilement cannot be contracted by +what "goes into a man." Jesus' saying about +inward purity was not aimed at the mere +'hedge of the Law' (Matt. xv. 13), nor the +mere matter of ablutions (Matt. xv. 20), but +was intended to "make all meats clean" +(vii. 1-23). Moses' law in some of its enactments +does not represent the real divine will, +but a human accommodation to human weakness +(x. 2-9). Obedience to its highest code +does not ensure eternal life (x. 19-21). The +single law of love is "much more than all +whole burnt offering and sacrifices" (xii. +28-34). When <i>all</i> the references to Judaism, +its Law, its institutions, and its prerogative, +are of this character, when Jesus <i>always</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> +appears in radical opposition to the Law and +its exponents (xii. 38-40; xiii. 1 <i>f.</i>), <i>never</i> as +their supporter in any degree, the evangelist +comes near to making it too hard for us to +believe that he really was of Jewish birth.</p> + +<p>On the other hand we cannot doubt the +statement that he derives his anecdotes, +however indirectly, from the preaching of +Peter. The prologue (i. 1-13), indeed, makes +no pretence of reporting the testimony of any +witness, but acquaints the reader with the +true nature of Jesus as "the Christ, the Son +of God" by means of a mystical account of +his baptism and endowment with the Spirit +of Adoption, probably resting upon that +document of Q, which we have distinguished +from the Precepts. But the ensuing story +of the ministry opens at the home of Peter in +Capernaum, and continues more or less connected +therewith in spite of interjected groups +of anecdotes whose connection is not chronological +but topical, such as ii. 1—iii. 6; iii. +22-30; iv. 1-34. It reaches its climax where +Jesus at Cæsarea Philippi takes Peter into +his confidence. Here again the mystical +Revelation or Transfiguration vision (ix. 2-10) +interrupts the connection, and shows its +foreign derivation by the transcendental sense +in which it interprets the person of Jesus. +Certain features suggest its having been taken +from the same source as the prologue (i. 1-13).</p> + +<p>The story issues in the tragedy at Jerusalem, +where, as before, Peter's figure, however unfavourable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> +the contrast in which it is set to +that of Jesus, is still the salient one. The +outline in general is identical with that so +briefly sketched in Acts x. 38-42—<i>except</i> that +the absolutely essential point, the one thing +which no gospel narrative can possibly have +lacked, the resurrection manifestation to the +disciples, and the commission to preach the +gospel, is absolutely lacking!</p> + +<p>That Mark's gospel once contained such a +conclusion is almost a certainty. Imagine a +gospel narrative without a report of the manifestation +of the risen Lord to his disciples! +Imagine a church—and that the church at +<i>Rome</i>—giving out as the first, the authentic, +original, and (in intention) the only account +of the origin of the Christian faith (Mark i. 1), +a narrative which <i>ended</i> with the apostles +scattered in cowardly desertion, and Peter +the most conspicuous, most remorseful renegade +of them all! He who writes in Peter's +name from Rome but shortly after, affectionately +naming Mark "my son," must have +had indeed a forgiving spirit. But traces of +the real sequel have not all disappeared. +Many outside allusions still remain to the +turning again of Peter and stablishing of +his brethren in the resurrection faith. The +earliest is Paul's (1st Cor. xv. 5). The present +Mark itself implies that it once had such an +ending; for Jesus promises to rally his flock +in Galilee after he is raised up (xiv. 28), +and the women at the sepulchre are bidden<span class="pagenum">[Pg 169]</span> +to remind the disciples of the promise, though +they fail to deliver their message. Indeed +the whole Gospel looks forward to it. To +this end "the mystery of the kingdom" is +given to the chosen twelve (iii. 13 <i>f.</i>, 31-35; +iv. 10-12); for this they are forewarned +(though vainly) of the catastrophe (viii. 34—ix. +1, 30-32; x. 32-34; xiv. 27-31). In fact +the promise of a baptism of the Spirit (i. 8) +probably implies that the original sequel +related not only the appearance to Peter and +(later) to the rest with the charge to preach, +but also their endowment with the gifts, +perhaps as in John xx. 19-23. What we +now have is only a substitute for this original +sequel, a substitute so ill-fitting as to have +provoked repeated attempts at improvement.</p> + +<p>From xvi. 8 onwards, as is well known, the +oldest textual authorities have simply a blank. +Later authorities give a shorter or longer +substitute for the missing Manifestation and +Charge to the twelve. The shorter follows +Matthew, the longer follows Luke, with traces +of acquaintance with John. Fanciful theories +to explain these textual phenomena, such as +accidental mutilation of the only copy, are +improbable, and do not explain. If conjecture +be permissible it is more likely that the original +work was in two parts, after the manner +of Luke-Acts, the 'former treatise' ending +with the centurion's testimony, "Truly this +man was a Son of God" (xv. 39). The second +part continued the narrative in the form of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 170]</span> +a Preaching of Peter, perhaps ending with his +coming to Rome; for the ancient literature +of the church had several narratives of this +type. Its disappearance will have been due +to the superseding (perhaps the embodiment) +of it by the work of Luke. When the primitive +Markan 'former treatise' was adapted for +separate use as a gospel it was quite natural +that it should be supplemented (we can hardly +say "completed") by the addition of the +story of the Empty Sepulchre (xv. 40—xvi. 8), +though this narrative is quite unknown to +the primitive resurrection preaching (<i>cf.</i> 1st +Cor. xv. 3-11), and one in which every character +save Pilate is a complete stranger to +the body of the work. The subsequent +further additions of the so-called "longer" +and "shorter" endings belong to the history +of transcription after <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 140.</p> + +<p>It will be apparent from the above that the +Gospel of Mark is no exception to the rule that +church-writings of this type inevitably undergo +recasting and supplementation until the advancing +process of canonization at last fixes +their text with unalterable rigidity. Whether +we recognize "sources," or earlier "forms," +or only earlier "editions" of Mark, it is +certain that appendices could still be attached +long after the appearance of Luke, and probable +that in the early period of its purely +local currency at Rome the fund of Petrine +anecdote had received more than one adaptation +of form before it was carried to Syria<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> +and embodied substantially as we now have +it in the composite gospels of Matthew and +Luke. The omission by Luke of Mark vi. +45—viii. 26 is intentional,<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> and cannot be used +to prove the existence of a shorter form; and +the same is probably true of the omission of +Mark ix. 38-40 by Matthew. Mark xii. 41-44, +however, is probably an addition later +than Matthew's time. Neither Matthew nor +Luke had a text extending beyond xvi. 8. +But signs of acquaintance with the original +sequel appear in the appendix to John +(John xxi.) and in the late and composite +<i>Gospel of Peter</i> (<i>c.</i> 140). According to the +latter the twelve remained in Jerusalem +scattered and in hiding for the remaining six +days of the feast. At its close they departed, +mourning and grieving, each man to his own +home. Peter and a few others, including +"Levi the son of Alpheus," resumed their +fishing "on the sea." ... The fragment +breaks off at this point. The story may be +conjecturally completed from 1st Cor. xv. +5-8, with comparison of John xxi. 1-13; +Luke v. 4-8; xxii. 31 <i>f.</i>; xxiv. 34, 36-43.</p> + +<p>As we look back upon the undertaking of +this humble author, named only by tradition, +one among the catechists of the great church +of Paul and Peter, writing but a few years +after their death, but a few years before +1st Peter and Hebrews, one is struck by the +grandeur of his aim. It is true he was not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> +wholly without predecessors in the field. The +work which afforded him at least the substance +of his prologue, and in all probability other +considerable sections of his book, had already +aimed in a more mystical way to connect the +Pauline doctrine of Christ as the Wisdom of +God with the mighty works and teachings of +Jesus. Duplication of a considerable part +of Mark's story (vii. 31—viii. 26 repeats with +some variation vi. 30—vii. 30) shows that his +work was one of combination as well as +creation. But outline, proportion and onward +march of the story show not only skill +and care, but large-minded and consistent +adherence to the fundamental plan to tell +the origin of the Christian faith (Mark i. 1).</p> + +<p>Confirmation of the belief and practice of +the church—it is for this that Mark reports +all he can learn of the years of obscurity in +Galilee followed by the tragedy in Jerusalem. +Not only belief in Jesus as the Son of God will +be justified by the story, but the founding, +institutions, and ritual of the existing church. +He manifestly adapts it to show not only the +superhuman powers and attributes of the +chosen Son of God, but the germ and type +of all the church's institutions. Its baptism +of repentance and accompanying gift of the +Spirit of Adoption only repeats the experience +of Jesus at the baptism of John. Endowment +with the word of wisdom and the word of +power is but the counterpart of Jesus' divine +equipment with "the power of the Spirit"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> +when he taught and healed in Galilee. The +Sending of the Twelve sets the standard for +the church's evangelists and missionaries, just +as the Breaking of the Bread in Galilee gives +the model for its fraternal banquet. So for +the Judæan ministry as well. The path of +martyrdom is that which all must follow, its +Passover Supper of the Lord and Vigil in +Gethsemane are models for the church's +annual observance, its Passover of the Lord, +its Vigil, its Resurrection feast. The grouping +of the anecdotes is not all of Mark's +doing, for we can still see in many cases how +they have grown up around the church observances, +to explain and justify the rites, rather +than to form part of an outlined career. But +taking the work as a whole, and considering +how far beyond that of any other church was +the opportunity at Rome, where Paul had +transmitted the lofty conception of the Son +of God, and Peter the concrete tradition of +his earthly life, we cannot wonder that Mark's +outline so soon became the standard account +of Jesus' earthly ministry, and ultimately +the only one.</p> + +<p>But little space remains in which to trace the +developments of gospel story in other fields. +Southern Syria and Egypt soon found it needful, +as we have seen, to adopt the work of Mark, +but independently and as a framework for +the Matthæan Precepts. It cannot have been +long after that Antioch and Northern Syria +followed suit. For Luke, though acquainted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> +with the work of 'many' predecessors gives +no sure evidence of acquaintance with +Matthew. When we find such unsoftened +contradictions as those displayed between +these two Greek gospels in their opening and +closing chapters, and observe, moreover, that +while both indulge in hundreds of corrections +and improvements upon Mark, these are rarely +coincident and never make the assumption +of interdependence necessary, it is hard to +resist the conclusion that neither evangelist +was directly acquainted with the other's +work. Now no other gospel compares with +Matthew in the rapidity and extent of its +circulation, while Luke declares himself a +diligent inquirer. He could not ignore the +claims of apostolic authority to which this +early and wide acceptance of Matthew were +mainly due. The inference is reasonable that +Luke's date was but little later than that +of Matthew. If the probability of his employment +of the <i>Antiquities</i> of Josephus could +be raised to a certainty this would suffice to +date the Gospel and Book of Acts not earlier +than 96. Internal and external evidence, as +judged by most scholars, converge on a date +approximating 100.</p> + +<p>The North-Syrian derivation of Luke-Acts +is less firmly established in tradition than the +Roman origin of Mark and the South-Syrian +of Matthew. Ancient tradition can point to +nothing weightier than the statement of +Eusebius, drawn we know not whence, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> +independently made in the argumenta (prefixed +descriptions) of several Vulgate manuscripts +that Luke was of Antiochian birth. +However, internal evidence supplies corroboration +in rather unusual degree. If the +reading of some texts in Acts xi. 28, "And as +we were assembled," could be accepted, this +alone would be almost conclusive corroboration. +But dubious as it is, it furnishes support. +For if an alteration of the original, it is at +any rate extremely early (<i>c.</i> 150?) and aimed +to support the belief in question.<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> Moreover +the whole attitude of Luke-Acts in respect to +apostolic authority, settlement of the great +question of the terms of fellowship between +Jew and Gentile, and description of the +founding of the Pauline churches, is such as +to make its origin anywhere between the +Taurus range and the Adriatic most improbable; +while if we place it in Rome we shall +have an insoluble problem in the relation of +its extreme emphasis on apostolic authority, +and quasi-deification of Peter, to the stalwart +independence of Mark. Conversely there are +many individual traits which suggest Antioch +as the place of origin. Next to Jerusalem, +the never-to-be-forgotten church of "the +apostles and elders," Antioch is the mother +church of Christendom. There the name +"Christian" had its origin. There the work +of converting the Gentiles was begun. The<span class="pagenum">[Pg 176]</span> +Greek churches of Cyprus and Asia Minor are +regarded as dependencies of Antioch. Even +those of the Greek peninsula are linked as +well as may be to Antioch and Jerusalem, +with suppression of the story of the schism. +Antioch, not the Pauline Greek churches, is +the benefactress of "the poor saints in Jerusalem," +and at the instance of Antioch, by +appeal to "the apostles and elders," the +"decrees" are obtained which permanently +settle the troublesome question of the obligation +of maintaining ceremonial cleanness which +still rests upon "the Jews which are among +the Gentiles." As we have seen, the settlement +is as far from that of Mark and the +Pauline churches on the one side, as from the +thoroughgoing legalism of Jerusalem on the +other. As late as the Pastoral Epistles +abstinence from "meats which God created +to be received with thanksgiving by them that +believe and know the truth" is to the Pauline +churches a "doctrine of devils and seducing +spirits" taught "through the hypocrisy of +men that speak lies." Distinctions of meats +belong to Jewish superstition, because "every +creature of God is good and nothing is to be +rejected, if it be received with thanksgiving" +(1st Tim. iv. 1-5). Mark, as we have seen, +takes precisely this standpoint. He is equally +radical in condemning distinctions of meats +as essentially "vain worship," and a "commandment +of men" (Mark vii. 1-23). In +truth if we distinguish one of Luke's <i>sources</i><span class="pagenum">[Pg 177]</span> +from Luke himself we shall find exactly this +doctrine taught to Peter himself by special +divine revelation in Acts x. 10-16; xi. 3-10. +Only, as we have already seen (<a href="#FNanchor_10_10">p. 59, note</a>), +this is not the application made by the Book +of Acts, as it now stands, of the material. To +'Luke' nothing could be more repugnant than +the idea of an apostle forsaking the religion of +his fathers, of which circumcision and "the +customs" are an essential part. His cancellation, +in the story of Peter's revelation +and the Apostle's subsequent defence of it +before the church in Jerusalem, of one of its +essential factors, viz. the right to <i>eat</i> with +Gentiles, regardless of man-made distinctions +of meats ("what <i>God</i> hath cleansed make +not <i>thou</i> common") is quite as significant as +his restriction of even Paul's activity to Greek-speaking +<i>Jews</i>, until "the Spirit" has expressly +directed the church in Antioch, +immediately after the persecution of Agrippa I, +to proceed with the propaganda. Both alterations +of the earlier form of the story are in line +with a multitude of minor indications, and +furnish us, in combination with them, the real +keynote of the narrative. In Luke-Acts more +clearly than in any of the gospels the writer +assumes the distinctive function of the +<i>historian</i>. He, too, would relate, like Mark, +the origin of the Christian faith, and that +"from the very first." He even deduces the +pedigree of Jesus from "Adam, which was +the son of God." But the object is far more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> +to prove the pedigree of the faith than the +pedigree of Jesus. Christianity is to be +defended against the charge of being a <i>nova +superstitio</i>, a <i>religio illicita</i>. On the contrary +it is the one true and revealed religion, the +perfect flower and consummation of Judaism. +Yet it is not, like Judaism, particularistic +and national, but universal; for while God at +first made that nation the special repository +of his truth, it was his "determinate foreknowledge +and counsel" that they should +reject and crucify their Messiah, making it +possible to "proclaim this salvation unto +the Gentiles." The one thing Luke is so +anxiously concerned to prove that he wearies +the reader with constant reiteration of it, +proclaims it, argues it, in season and out of +season, with his sources, against his sources, +with the facts, against the facts, is that this +faith was never, never, offered to the Gentiles +except by express direction of God and after +the Jews had demonstrated to the last extremity +of stiff-necked opposition that they +would have none of it. Christianity, then, +and not Judaism, is the true primitive and +revealed religion, the heir of all the divine +promises.</p> + +<p>We can see now why Luke finds it impossible +to adopt Mark's story of a missionary journey +of Jesus in "the coasts of Tyre and Sidon" +and will not even mention the name of Cæsarea +Philippi. His method in omitting Mark vi. +45—viii. 26 is more radical than Matthew's,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 179]</span> +but his motive is similar. The central theme +of this portion of Mark appears in the chapter +(ch. vii.) recording Jesus' repudiation of the +Jewish distinctions of clean and unclean as +"precepts of men," and departing to heal +and preach in Phœoenicia and Decapolis. This +is the theme of Luke's second treatise; and, +as we have seen, his solution of the problem +is radically different. If he cannot admit +that even Paul disregarded "the customs" +or Peter preached to Gentiles until after express +and reiterated direction of "the Spirit," +we surely ought not to expect him to admit +the statement that Jesus repudiated the distinctions +of Mosaism, declared "all meats +clean," and departing into the coasts of Tyre +and Sidon first healed the daughter of "a +Gentile" and afterward continued his journey +"through Sidon" and "the regions of Decapolis," +repeating the symbolic miracles of +opening deaf ears and blind eyes, and feeding +with loaves and fishes. Even if this supposed +ministry of Jesus among the Gentiles +stood on a much stronger foundation of +historical probability than is unfortunately +the case (<i>cf.</i> Rom. xv. 8), it could not +logically be admitted to the work of Luke +without an abandonment of one of his firmest +convictions and a rewriting of both his +treatises.</p> + +<p>Luke was probably not the first to divide +his work into a "former treatise" covering +"both" the sayings and doings of Jesus<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> +"until the time that he was taken up," and +a second devoted to the work of the apostles +after they had received the charge to proclaim +the gospel "to the uttermost parts of the +earth." "Many," as he tells us, had already +undertaken to "draw up narratives" +(<i>diegeses</i>) of this kind, of which the one Luke +himself has chiefly employed, had originally, +as we concluded, a sequel like his own Book +of Acts. There are even features of the +Petrine source of Acts which particularly +connect it with Roman doctrine (<i>e. g.</i> Acts +x. 10-15; <i>cf.</i> Rom. xiv. 14 and Mark vii. +18 <i>f.</i>) and even with the person of Mark +(Acts xii. 12). Its balance between Peter +and Paul and its close with the establishment +of Christianity at Rome, are also suggestive +that the greater part of Luke's second treatise +came <i>ultimately</i> from the same source as his +first. But the division of the work into two +parts: (1) the gospel among the Jews; (2) +the gospel among the Gentiles, would have +followed, independently of any such precedent, +from the whole purpose and structure of the +work. Christianity is to be proved in the +light of its origin, and in spite of the hostility +of the Jews among whom it arose, and whose +sacred writings it adopts, to be the original, +true, revealed religion. To prove this it must +be shown that the rejection and crucifixion +of Jesus by his own people as a result of his +earthly ministry was due not to his own +failure to meet the ideal of the Scriptures<span class="pagenum">[Pg 181]</span> +in question, but to <i>their</i> perversity and wilful +blindness. If it is important to prove in +the former treatise that the opposition of +the controlling authorities among the Jews +was due to this perversity and jealousy, it +is at least equally so to show that the lowly +and devout received him gladly. Hence the +peculiar hospitality of Luke toward material +showing Jesus' acceptance of and by the +humbler and the outcast classes, the poor and +lowly, women, Samaritans, publicans and +sinners. The idyllic scenes of his birth and +childhood are cast among men and women +of this type of Old Testament piety, quietly +"waiting for the kingdom of God." During +his career it is these who receive and hang +upon him. Even on Calvary <i>one</i> of the thieves +must join with this throng of devout and +penitent believers. Jesus' preaching begins +with his rejection by his own fellow-townsmen +only because "no prophet is accepted in his +own country"; though before their attempt +to slay him he proves from Scripture how +Elijah and Elisha had been sent unto the +Gentiles. His ministry ends with his demonstration +to the disciples after his resurrection +from "Moses and all the prophets" how that +"it was needful that the Christ should suffer +before entering his glory," and that after his +rejection by Israel "repentance and remission +of sins should be preached in his name among +all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."</p> + +<p>The second treatise shows how this purpose<span class="pagenum">[Pg 182]</span> +of God to secure the dissemination of the true +faith by the disobedience and hardening of +its first custodians was accomplished, chief +stress being always laid upon the fact that it +was only when the Jews "contradicted and +blasphemed" that the apostles said, "It +was necessary that the word of God should +first be spoken to you, but seeing ye put it +from you, and judge yourselves unworthy +of eternal life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles." +There is no interest taken in the subsequent +fortunes of Jerusalem and Jewish Christianity, +nor even in the fate of Peter and James, after +this transition has been effected to Gentile +soil. There is no interest taken in the spread +of Christianity as such, in Egypt, Ethiopia, +Cyrenaica, Cyprus, Mesopotamia; but only +where the conflict rages over the respective +claim of Jew and Gentile to be the true heir +of the promises, <i>i. e.</i> the mission-field of Paul. +At the individual centres the story goes just +far enough to relate how the gospel was offered +to the Jews and rejected, compelling withdrawal +from the synagogue, and thereafter +it is told over again with slight variations at +the next centre. The book concludes with +a repetition of the stereotyped scene at Rome +itself, in spite of the representation of the very +source employed, that an important church +had long existed there before Paul's coming, +ending with a quotation of the classic passage +from Isa. vi. 9 <i>f.</i> to prove God's original +purpose to harden the heart of Israel, so that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> +his "salvation might be sent unto the Gentiles." +The very fate of Paul himself has so +little interest for Luke in comparison with +this demonstration of Christianity as the one +original, revealed religion, enclosed in Judaism +as seeds are confined in the hardening seed-pod +until disseminated by its bursting, that he +leaves it unmentioned, like that of all other +leaders of the church whose death was not +directly contributory to the process.</p> + +<p>Many, and vitally important to the development +of Gospel Story as we know it, as were +the sources of Luke, both by his own statement +(Luke i. 1) and the internal evidences +of his work, he has made analysis extremely +difficult by the skilful and elaborate stylistic +embroidery with which he has overlaid the +gaps and seams. Nor is this a proper occasion +for entering the field of the higher critic. +Luke-Acts represents the completed development, +not the naïve beginnings of this type of +the Literature of the Church Teacher. We +have seen reason to think we may have traces +of the earlier "narratives" (<i>diegeses</i>) to which +Luke refers, not only in the great Roman work +of Mark, but in a part of the Q material itself. +If Antioch were the place of origin of this +early source, if here too were found those +archives of missionary activity whence came +the famous Diary employed in Acts xvi.-xxviii., +the contribution of this church to +Gospel Story was such as to make Antioch the +appropriate centre for the great "historical"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> +school of interpretation of the fourth and +fifth centuries. When we consider the +dominant motive of Luke and his extraordinary +exaltation of 'apostolic' authority +we seem to be breathing the very atmosphere +of Ignatius the great apostle of ecclesiasticism +and apostolic order, discipline and succession. +Ignatius' hatred of Doketism, too, is not +without a certain anticipation in the opening +and closing chapters of Luke's Gospel, and +perhaps in the fact that the great exsection +from Mark begins with the story of the Walking +on the Sea (Mark vi. 45-52).<br><br><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h3> + +<h3>THE JOHANNINE TRADITION. PROPHECY</h3> + + +<p>In Paul's enumeration of the "gifts" by +which the Spirit qualifies various classes of +men to build in various ways upon the structure +of the church, the class of "prophets" +takes the place next after that of "apostles," +a rank even superior (as more manifestly +'spiritual') to that of "pastors and +teachers." The Book of Acts shows us as +its most conspicuous centre of "prophecy" +the house of Philip the Evangelist at Cæsarea. +This man had four unmarried daughters who +prophesied, and in his house Paul received a +'prophetic' warning of his fate from a +certain Agabus who had come down from +Judæa. There were also prophets in Antioch +(Acts xiii. 1), though the only ones mentioned +by name are this same Agabus<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> and Silas, or +Silvanus, who is also from Judæa. In the +<i>Teaching of the Twelve</i> the 'prophet' still +appears among the regular functionaries of +the church, for the most part a traveller from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> +place to place, and open to more or less +suspicion, as is the case at Rome, where +Hermas combines reverence for the "angel" +that speaks through the true prophet, with +warnings against the self-seeker. In 1st John +the "false prophets" are a serious danger, +propagating Doketic heresy wherever they go. +In fact, this heresy was, as we know, the great +peril in Asia. However, Asia, if plagued by +wandering false prophets, had also become by +this time a notable seat of true and authentic +prophecy; for the same Papias who shows +such sympathy with Polycarp against those +who were "perverting the Sayings of the +Lord to their own lusts," and had turned, as +Polycarp advised, "to the tradition handed +down from the beginning," had similar means +for counteracting those who "denied the +resurrection and judgment." Among those +upon whom he principally relied as exponents +of the apostolic doctrine were two of those +same prophesying daughters of Philip the +Evangelist, who with their father had migrated +from Cæsarea Palestina to Hierapolis, leaving, +however, one, who had married, a resident till +her death at Ephesus. As late as the time of +Montanus (150-170), the "Phrygians" traced +their succession of prophets and prophetesses +back to Silvanus and the daughters of Philip.</p> + +<p>We cannot be sure that the traditions +Papias reported from these prophetesses were +derived at first hand, though it is not impossible +that Papias himself may have seen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> +them. However it is certain that many of +his traditions of 'the Elders' had to do with +eschatology, and aimed to prove the material +and concrete character of the rewards of the +kingdom; for we have several examples of +these traditions, attributing to Jesus apocryphal +descriptions of the marvellous fertility +of Palestine in the coming reign of Messiah, +and particularizing about the abodes of the +blessed. Moreover Eusebius blames Papias +for the crude ideas of Irenæus and other +second century fathers who held the views +called "chiliastic" (<i>i. e.</i> based on the "thousand" +year reign of Christ in Rev. xx. 2 <i>f.</i>). +We also know that Papias defended the +"trustworthiness" of Revelation, a book +which served as the great authority of the +"chiliasts" for the next fifty years in their +fight against the deniers of the resurrection. +He quoted from it, in fact, the passage above +referred to; so that if reason must be sought +for his placing "John and Matthew" together +at the end of his list of seven apostles instead +of in their usual place, it is probably because +they were his ultimate apostolic authorities +for the "word of prophecy" and for the +"commandment of the Lord" respectively. +Justin Martyr, Papias' contemporary at Rome, +though converted in Ephesus, and unquestionably +determined in his mould of thought by +Asiatic Paulinism, has, like Papias, but two +<i>authorities</i> for his gospel teaching: (1) the +commandment of the Lord represented in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> +Petrine and Matthæan tradition; (2) prophecy, +represented in the Christian continuation +of the Old Testament gift. This second +authority, however, is not appealed to without +the support of apostolicity. Revelation is +quoted as among "our writings," like "the +memorabilia of the apostles called Gospels," +but not without the additional assurance that +the seer was "John, one of the <i>apostles</i> of +Christ."</p> + +<p>For 'prophecy,' however acclimated elsewhere, +was in its origin distinctively a Palestinian +product. Its stock in trade was Jewish +eschatology as developed in the long succession +of writers of 'apocalypse' since Daniel +(165 <span class="smcap">b.c.</span>). Of the nature of this curious and +fantastic type of literature we have seen some +examples in 2nd Thessalonians and the Synoptic +eschatology (Mark xiii.=Matt. xxiv.=Luke +xxi.). More can be learnt by comparing +the contemporary Jewish writings of this type +known as 2nd Esdras and the Apocalypse of +Baruch. Older examples are found in the +prophecies and visions purporting to come +from Enoch. For apocalypse became the +successor of true prophecy in proportion as +the loss of Israel's separate national existence +and the enlargement of its horizon compelled +it to make its messianic hopes transcendental, +and its notion of the Kingdom cosmic. Hence +comes all the phantasmagoria of allegorical +monsters, spirits and demons, the great conflict +no longer against Assyria and Babylon, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> +a war of the powers of light and darkness, +heaven and hell. Yet all centres still upon +Jerusalem as the ultimate metropolis of the +world, whose empires, now given over to the +leadership of Satan, will soon lie prostrate +beneath her feet.</p> + +<p>Some such eschatology of divine judgment +and reward is an almost necessary complement +to the legalistic type of religion. If Christianity +be conceived as a system of commandments +imposed by supernatural authority it +must have as a motive for obedience a system +of supernatural rewards and punishments. +Not merely, then, because for centuries the +legalism of the scribes had actually had its +corresponding development of apocalypse, +with visions of the great judgment and Day +of Yahweh, but because of an inherent and +necessary affinity between the two, "Judæa" +continued to be the home of 'prophecy' in +New Testament times also.</p> + +<p>However, the one great example of this type +of literature that has been (somewhat reluctantly) +permitted to retain a place in the +New Testament canon appears at first blush +to be clearly and distinctively a product of +Ephesus. Of no book has early tradition so +clear and definite a pronouncement to make +as of Revelation. Since the time of Paul the +Jewish ideas of resurrection provoked opposition +in the Greek mind. The Greek readily +accepted immortality, but the crudity of +Jewish millenarianism, with its return of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> +dead from the grave for a visible, concrete rule +of Messiah in Palestine repelled him. The +representation of Acts xvii. 32 is fully borne +out by the constant effort of Paul in his Greek +epistles to remove the stumbling-blocks of +this doctrine. It is no surprise, then, to find +the 'prophecy' of Revelation, and more +particularly its doctrine of the thousand-year +reign of Messiah in Jerusalem, a subject of +dispute at least since Melito of Sardis (167), +and probably since Papias (145). Fortunately +controversy brought out with unusual definiteness, +and from the earliest times, positive +statements regarding the origin of the book. +Irenæus (186) declared it a work of the +Apostle John given him in vision "in the end +of the reign of Domitian." The same date +(93), may be deduced from statements of +Epiphanius regarding the history of the church +in Thyatira. Justin Martyr (153), as we have +seen, vouches for the crucial passage (Rev. +xx. 2 <i>f.</i>) as from "one of ourselves, John, an +apostle of the Lord." Papias (145) vouched +for its orthodoxy at least, if not its authenticity. +There can be no reasonable doubt +that it came to be accepted in Asia early in +the second century, in spite of opposition, +as representing the authority of the Apostle +John, and as having appeared there c. 95. +In fact, there is no book of the entire New +Testament whose external attestation can +compare with that of Revelation, in nearness, +clearness, definiteness, and positiveness of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> +statement. John is as distinctively the father +of 'prophecy' in second century tradition +as Matthew of 'Dominical Precepts' and Peter +of 'Narratives.'</p> + +<p>Moreover the book itself purports to be +written from Patmos, an island off the coast +of Asia. It speaks in the name of "John" +as of some very high and exceptional authority, +well known to all the seven important +churches addressed, the first of which is +"Ephesus." By its references to local names +and conditions it even proves, in the judgment +of all the most eminent modern scholars, +that it really did see the light for the first +time (at least for the first time in its present +form) in Ephesus not far from <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 95.</p> + +<p>One would think the case for apostolic +authenticity could hardly be stronger. And +yet no book of the New Testament has had +such difficulty as this, whether in ancient or +modern times, to maintain its place in the +canon. It must also be said that no book gives +stronger internal evidence of having passed +through at least two highly diverse stages in +process of development to its present form.</p> + +<p>The theory of "another John" is indeed +comparatively modern. Nobody dreamt of +such a solution until Dionysius of Alexandria +hesitatingly advanced the conjecture in his +controversy with Nepos the Chiliast. Even +then (<i>c.</i> 250) Dionysius (though he must have +known the little work of Papias) could think +of no other John at Ephesus than the Apostle,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 192]</span> +unless it were perhaps John Mark! It is +Eusebius who joyfully helps him out with the +discovery in Papias of "John the Elder." +But Eusebius himself is candid enough to +admit that Papias only quoted "traditions +of John" and "mentioned him frequently +in his writings." When we read Papias' +own words, though they are cited by Eusebius +for the express purpose of proving the debatable +point, it is obvious that they prove +nothing of the kind, but rather imply the +contrary, viz. that John the Elder, though a +contemporary of Papias, was not accessible, +but known to him only at second hand, by +report of travellers who "came his way." In +short, as we have seen, "Aristion and John +the Elder" were the surviving members of +a group of 'apostles, elders and witnesses +of the Lord' in Jerusalem. If, then, one +chose to attribute the 'prophecies' of Rev. +iv.-xxi. to this Elder there could be no serious +objections on the score of doctrine, for the +"traditions of John" reported by Papias +were not lacking in millenarian colour. Only, +it is not the 'prophecies' of Rev. iv.-xxi. which +contain the references to "John," but the +enclosing prologue and epilogue; and these +concern themselves with the churches of Asia +as exclusively as the 'prophecies' with the +quarrel of Jerusalem with Rome.</p> + +<p>The second century is, as we have seen, +unanimous in excluding from consideration +any other John in Asia save the Apostle, and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 193]</span> +if the writer of Rev. i. and xxii. produced this +impression in all contemporary minds without +exception, including even such as opposed the +book and its doctrine, it is superlatively +probable that such was his intention. The +deniers of the resurrection and judgment did +not point out to Polycarp, Papias, Justin, +Melito and Caius, that they were confusing +two Johns, attributing the work of a mere +Elder to the Apostle. They plumply declared +the attribution to John fictitious; and since +the internal evidence from the condition of +the churches and growth of heresy in chh. i.-iii. +and the imperial succession down to Domitian +in chh. xiii. and xvii. strongly corroborate the +date assigned in antiquity (<i>c.</i> 93), we have no +alternative, if we admit that the Apostle +John had long before been "killed by the +Jews,"<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> but to suppose that this book, like +nearly all the books of 'prophecy,' is, indeed, +pseudonymous. It does not follow that he +who assumes the name of "John" in prologue +and epilogue (i. 1 <i>f.</i>, 4, 9; xxii. 8) to tell the +reader definitely who the prophet is, was +guilty of intentional misrepresentation. If +anything can be made clear by criticism it is +clear that the prophecies were not his own. +They were taken from some nameless source. +The "pseudonymity" consists simply in +clothing a conjecture with the appearance of +indubitable fact.</p> + +<p>But why should a writer who wished to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> +clothe with apostolic authority the 'prophecies' +he was promulgating, not assume +boldly the title of "apostle," as the author +of 2nd Peter has done in adapting similarly +the Epistle of Jude? Why, if he assumes +the name of the martyred Apostle John at all, +does he refrain from saying, "I John, an +<i>apostle</i>, or <i>disciple of the Lord</i>," and content +himself with the humbler designation and +authority of 'prophet'?</p> + +<p>This question brings us face to face with +the most remarkable structural phenomena of +the book, and cannot be understandingly +answered until we have considered them.</p> + +<p>The outstanding characteristic of Revelation +is its adaptation of literary material dealing +with, and applicable to, one historical and +geographical situation, to another situation +almost completely different. The opening +chapters, devoted to "John's" vision on +Patmos and the conditions and dangers of +the seven Churches of Asia, employ indeed +some of the expressions of the substance of +the book. The promises of the Spirit to the +churches recall the glories of the New Jerusalem +of the concluding vision of the seer. +There is some reference to local persecution at +Smyrna incited by the Jews ("a synagogue +of Satan") and which is to last "ten days," +and there is an isolated reference to a martyrdom +of days long gone by in the message to +the church in Pergamum (ii. 13) recalling +remotely the blood and suffering of which the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> +body of the work is full. This we should +of course expect from an adapter of existing +'prophecies.' But the converse, <i>i. e.</i> consideration +for the historical conditions of +Ephesus and its sister churches, on the part +of the body of the work, is absolutely wanting. +On the one side is the situation of the Pauline +churches on the east coast of the Ægean in +<span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 93-95. The prologue and epilogue (Rev. +i.-iii. and xxii. 6-21) are concerned with these +churches of Asia, and their development in the +faith, particularly their growth in good works, +purity from defilements of the world, and +resistance to the inroads of heretical teaching. +The message of the Spirit, conveyed through +"John," is meant to encourage the members +of these churches to pure living in the face of +temptations to worldliness and impurity. +The epistles to the churches, in a word, belong +in the same class with the Pastorals, Jude, +and 2nd Peter, as regards their object and +the situation confronted; though they are +written to enclose apocalyptic visions which +deal with a totally different situation.</p> + +<p>The visions, on the contrary, take not the +smallest notice of (proconsular) Asia and its +problems. Their scene is Palestine, their +subject the outcome of Jerusalem's agonizing +struggle against Rome. From the moment +the threshold of iv. 1 is crossed there is no +consciousness of the existence of such places +as Ephesus, Smyrna and Thyatira. The +scenes are Palestinian. The great battle-field<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> +is Har-Magedon (<i>i. e.</i> city of Megiddo, on the +plain of Esdraelon, the scene of Josiah's +overthrow, 2nd Kings xxiii. 29 <i>f.</i>). "The +city," "the great city," "the holy city" is +Jerusalem; though "spiritually (in allegory) +it is called Sodom and Egypt" (<i>i. e.</i> a place +from which the saints escape to avoid its +doom). When the saints flee from the oppression +of the dragon it is to "the wilderness." +When the invading hordes rush in it is from +beyond "the Euphrates." When the redeemed +appear in company with the Christ +it is on Mount Zion; they constitute an army +of 144,000, twelve thousand from each of +the twelve tribes. Two antagonistic powers +are opposed. On the one side is Jerusalem +and its temple, now given over to the Gentiles +to be trodden under foot forty and two months, +on the other is Rome, no longer, as with Paul, +a beneficent and protecting power, but the +city of the beast, Babylon the great harlot, +at whose impending judgment the Gentiles +will mourn, but all the servants of God rejoice. +Jerusalem rebuilt, glorified, the metropolis +of the world, seat and residence of God and his +Christ, will take the place of Rome, the seat +of the beast and the false prophet. The gates +of this New Jerusalem will stand open to +receive tribute from all the Gentile nations, +and will have on them the names of the +twelve tribes of Israel. The foundations of +the city wall will have on them "the names +of the twelve apostles of the Lamb."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span></p> + +<p>All this is cumulative proof that the horizon +of the seer of Rev. iv.-xx. is that of Palestine. +Its expansion in the introductory Letters of +the Spirit to the Churches to include the +seven churches of (proconsular) Asia, is as +limited in its way as the original. The later +writer merely adds the special province where +he wishes the 'prophecy' to circulate, with +its special interests; there is no real interrelation +of the two parts.</p> + +<p>It is a problem of great complexity to +disentangle the various strands of this strange +and fantastic work, certain as it is that we +have here a conglomerate whose materials +come from various periods. Some elements, +such as ch. xi. on the fate of Jerusalem, seem +to date in part from before 70; others, such as +ch. xviii. on the fate of Rome, show that while +originally composed for the circumstances of +the reign of Vespasian or Titus, the time has +been extended to take in at least the beginning +of that of Domitian.<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> The author rests +mainly upon the Hebrew apocalyptic prophets, +such as Ezekiel, Daniel and Enoch, but he +has not been altogether inhospitable to such +originally Gentile mythology as the doctrine +of the seven spirits of God, and the conflict +of Michael and his angels with the dragon. +He intimates himself that his prophesying +had not been confined to one period or one +people (x. 11). When he translates the +"Hebrew" name of the angel of the abyss,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 198]</span> +"Abaddon," into its Greek equivalent (ix. 11), +or uses Hebrew numerical equivalents for the +letters of the name of a man (xiii. 18), it is +not difficult to guess that this prophecy had +at least its origin in Palestine. In fact, there +is no other country where the geographical +references hold true, and no other period save +that shortly after the overthrow of Jerusalem +by Titus, that affords the historical situation +here presupposed, when worshipping "the +beast and his image" is demanded of the +saints by the earthly ruler (Domitian), and +the overthrow of the seven-hilled city by one +of its own rulers in league with lesser powers +is looked forward to as about to avenge the +sufferings inflicted on the Jews. As regards +this hope of the overthrow of Rome, we know +that the legend of Nero's prospective return +at the head of hosts of Parthian enemies to +recapture his empire gained currency in Asia +Minor in Domitian's reign, and this legend +is certainly developed in Rev. xiii. and xvii. +On the other hand, the author, if he ever came +to Asia, did not cease to be a Palestinian Jew. +He operates exclusively (after iv. 1) with the +materials and interests of Jewish and Jewish-Christian +apocalypse. He has no interest +whatever in the churches of Asia. He does not +betray by one syllable a knowledge even of +their existence, to say nothing of their dangers, +their heresies, their temptations. He does +make it abundantly clear that he is a Christian +prophet (x. 7-11), and (to us) almost equally<span class="pagenum">[Pg 199]</span> +clear that he is <i>not</i> one of the twelve apostles +whose names he sees written on the foundation-stones +of the New Jerusalem (xxi. 14). But +since his prophecy, with all its heterogeneous +elements had to do with the final triumph of +Messiah, and the establishment of His kingdom, +after the overthrow of the power of +Satan—since it depicted "the time of the +dead to be judged, and the time to give their +reward to thy servants the prophets, and to +the saints and to them that fear thy name," +it could not fail to be welcomed by orthodox +Christians in (proconsular) Asia. For the +churches of Asia were engaged at this time +in a vigorous struggle against the heretical +deniers of the resurrection and judgment. +Only, a mere anonymous prophecy from +Palestine could not obtain any authoritative +currency in Asia. To be accepted, even among +the orthodox, some name of apostolic weight +must be attached to it, as we see in the case +of the two Epistles of Peter and those of +James and Jude. The Epistles of the Spirit +to the churches are, then, as truly "letters +of commendation" as though they introduced +a living prophet and not merely a written +prophecy. The John whom they present is +not called an apostle for the very simple +reason that the visions themselves everywhere +refer to their recipient as a 'prophet.' +The author of the prologue and epilogue +does not disregard the language of his material. +As we have seen, he carefully weaves its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> +phraseology into the 'letters.' So with his +insertion of the name "John." It occurs +nowhere but in i. 1 <i>f.</i>, 4, 9 and xxii. 8 <i>f.</i> +All these passages, but especially xxii. 8 <i>f.</i>, +are based upon xix. 9<i>b</i>, 10, adding nothing +to the representation but the name "John" +and the location "Patmos." In fact, xxii. 6-9 +reproduces xix. 9 <i>f.</i>, for the most part +verbatim, although it is clearly insupposable +that the seer of the former passage should +represent himself as offering a <i>second</i> time to +worship the angel, and as receiving <i>again</i> +exactly the same rebuke he had received so +shortly before. He who calls himself "John" +in xxii. 8 is, therefore, <i>not</i> the prophet of +xix. 10. The epilogue itself has apparently +received successive supplements, and the +prologue its prefix; but he who inserts the +name John has done so with caution. He +may not have intended to leave open the +ambiguity found by Dionysius and Eusebius +between the Apostle and the Elder, as a refuge +in case of accusation, but he has at least been +careful not to transgress the limits of the +text he reproduces. The seer spoke of himself +as a "<i>prophet</i>" writing from the midst +of great <i>tribulation</i>, about the <i>kingdom</i> to +follow to those that <i>endured</i>. He had said +that he received "true <i>words of God</i>" from +an <i>angel</i> who declared "I am a fellow <i>servant</i> +with thee and with thy <i>brethren</i> that hold +<i>the testimony of Jesus</i>" (<i>i. e.</i> the confession of +martyrdom). The prologue, accordingly, describes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> +"John" as a <i>servant</i> of Jesus, who +received from an <i>angel</i> the <i>word of God</i> and +<i>the testimony of Jesus</i> (i. 1 <i>f.</i>). He is a <i>brother</i> +and partaker in the <i>tribulation</i> and <i>kingdom</i> +and <i>endurance</i> which are in Jesus. When +he comes to Asia it is "for the <i>word of God</i> +and <i>the testimony of Jesus</i>." The spot whence +he issues his prophetic message is not located +in Ephesus, or in any city where the residents +could say, "But the Apostle John was never +among us." He resides temporarily (as a +prisoner in the quarries?) in the unfrequented +island of Patmos. Thence he could be +supposed to see "in the Spirit" the condition +of affairs in the churches of Asia without +inconvenient questions as to when, and how, +and why.</p> + +<p>We may think, then, of this book of +'prophecy' as brought forth in the vicinity +of Ephesus near "the end of the reign of +Domitian" (95). But only the enclosing +letters to the churches, and the epilogue +guaranteeing the contents, originate here at +this time. The 'prophecies,' occupied as +they are exclusively with the rivalry of +Jerusalem and Rome, and the judgment to +be executed for the former upon her ruthless +adversary, bear unmistakable marks of their +Palestinian origin, not only in the historical +and geographic situations presupposed, but +in the "defiant" Hebraisms of the language, +and the avowed translations from "the +Hebrew." They are an importation from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> +Palestine like "the sound words, even the +words of the Lord Jesus" referred to in the +Pastorals. The churches of Asia are feeling +the need of apostolic authority against the +deniers of the resurrection and the judgment, +as much as against the perverters of the +Lord's words. Such centres as the homes +of the prophesying daughters of Philip at +Ephesus and Hierapolis were even more +abundantly competent to supply this demand +than the other. Agabus will not have been +the only Judæan prophet who visited them, +especially after the "great tribulation" which +befell "those in Judæa." There is nothing +foreign to the habit of the times, even in +Christian circles, if nameless 'prophecies' +from such a source are translated, edited, +and given out under cover of commendatory +epistles written in the name of "John" at +a time when John had indeed partaken both +of the tribulation and of the kingdom of +Jesus. They would hardly have obtained +currency had they not been attributed to an +apostle; for a denial of the apostolicity of +this book has always deprived it of authority.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, the actual (Palestinian) +prophet has no such exalted opinion of himself +as of those whose names he sees written on +the foundation of the walls of the New +Jerusalem (xxi. 14). He is not an apostle +and does not claim to be. He shows not the +faintest trace of any association with the +earthly Jesus, and indeed displays a vindictiveness<span class="pagenum">[Pg 203]</span> +toward the enemies of Israel that +has more of the spirit of the imprecatory +psalms than the spirit of Jesus. He thinks +of Jesus as a king and judge bestowing +heavenly rewards upon the martyrs in a +manner quite inconsistent with his rebuke of +James and John (Mark x. 40). It is a far cry +indeed from this to apostleship and personal +intimacy with Jesus.</p> + +<p>The chief value of Revelation to the student +of Christian origins is that by means of its +clearly determinable date (Ephesus, 93-95) +he can place himself at a point of vantage +whence to look not only around him at the +conditions of the Pauline churches as depicted +in the letters, vexed with growing +Gnostic heresy and moral laxity, but also +both backward and forward. The backward +glance shows Palestine emerging from the +horrors of the Jewish war, filled with bitterness +against Rome, held down under hateful +tyranny and longing for vengeance upon the +despot with his "names of blasphemy" and +his demands of worship for "the image of +the beast" (emperor-worship). Here Jewish +apocalyptic (as in 2nd Esdras) and Christian +'prophecy' are closely in accord. Indeed +a considerable part of the material of Rev. +iv.-xxi., especially in chh. xi.-xii. is ultimately +of Jewish rather than Christian origin. What +the development of Christian 'prophecy' +was in Palestine from apostolic times until +the scattering of the church of "the apostles<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> +and elders" after the war of Bar Cocheba +(135), we can only infer from the kindred +Jewish apocalypses and the chiliastic "traditions +of the Elders" quoted by Irenæus +from Papias. A forward look from our +vantage point in Ephesus <i>c.</i> a.d. 95, shows +the effects of the Palestinian importation extending +down from generation to generation, +first in the long chiliastic controversy against +the Doketic Gnostics, including Montanist +'prophecy'; secondly, in the growth of a +claim to apostolic succession from John.</p> + +<p>(1) In the chiliastic controversy for a century +the chief bones of contention are the (non-Pauline) +doctrine of the resurrection of the +<i>flesh</i> (so the Apostles' Creed and the second-century +fathers), and that of a visible reign +of Christ for a thousand years in Jerusalem. +The new form of resurrection-gospel which +at about this time begins to take the place +of the apostolic of 1st Cor. xv. 3-11, centering +upon the emptiness of the sepulchre and the +tangibility and food-consuming functions of +Jesus' resurrection body, instead of the +"manifestations" to the apostles, is characteristic +of this struggle against the Greek +disposition to spiritualize. Luke and Ignatius +represent the attitude of the orthodox, +Ignatius' opponents that of those who denied +that Jesus was "in the flesh after his resurrection." +Revelation, like the "traditions of +the Elders," champions the visible kingdom +of Messiah in Jerusalem.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span></p> + +<p>(2) In the effort for apostolic authority +the writings which came ultimately to represent +Asian orthodoxy have all been +brought under the name and authority of +the Apostle John, although for many decades +after the appearance of Revelation, Paul, +and not John, remains the apostolic authority +to which appeal is made, and although the +writings themselves were originally anonymous. +There was, indeed, a contributory +cause for the growth of this tradition in the +accidental circumstance that a Palestinian +Elder from whom Papias derived indirect, +and Polycarp in all probability direct, traditions, +bore also the name of John, and survived +until <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 117. Still, the main reason +why this particular apostolic name was +ultimately placed over the Gospel and Epistles +of Ephesian Christendom, can only have been +its previous adoption to cover the compilation +of Palestinian 'prophecies' of <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 95.<br><br><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h3><a name="PART_IV" id="PART_IV"></a>PART IV</h3> + +<h3>THE LITERATURE OF THE THEOLOGIAN</h3> +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h3>CHAPTER IX</h3> + +<h3>THE SPIRITUAL GOSPEL AND EPISTLES</h3> + + +<p>Asia, as we have come to know it through +a succession of writings dating from Colossians-Ephesians +(<i>c.</i> 62) down to Papias +(145), had come to be the chief scene of +mutual reaction between 'apostolic' and +Pauline Christianity at the close of the first +century. Here at Ephesus had been the +great headquarters of Paul's missionary +activity. Here he had reasoned daily in the +school of one Tyrannus, a philosopher, and +had found "many adversaries." Here he +had encountered the "strolling Jews, exorcists," +and had secured the destruction of +an immense mass of books of magic. Here, +according to Acts, he predicted the inroads +of heresy after his "departure," and here the +succeeding literature abundantly witnesses +the fulfilment of the prediction. Ephesians +and Colossians begin the series, the Pastoral +Epistles (<i>c.</i> 90) continue it. Then follow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> +the 'letters to the churches' of Revelation +(95) and the Ignatian Epistles (110-117), +not to mention those whose origin is uncertain, +such as Jude and 2nd Peter.</p> + +<p>The Pastorals already make it apparent that +even the Pauline churches are not exempt +from the inevitable tendency of the age to +fall back upon authority. The very sublimity +of Paul's consciousness of apostolic inspiration +made it the harder for the next generation to +assert any for itself. Moreover heresy was +growing apace. If even the outward pressure +of persecution tended to drive the churches +together in brotherly sympathy, still more +indispensable would appear the need of +traditional standards to maintain the "type +of sound doctrine," "the faith once for all +delivered to the saints." Without such it +would be impossible to check the individualism +of errorists who took Paul's sense of +personal inspiration and mystical insight as +their model, <i>without</i> Paul's sobriety of critical +control under the standard of "the law of +Christ." It is no surprise, then, to find even +at the headquarters of Paulinism early in +the second century a sweeping tendency to +react toward the 'apostolic' standards. In +particular, as Gnostic exaggeration of the +Pauline mysticism led continually further +toward disregard of the dictates of common +morality, and a wider divergence from the +Jewish conceptions of the world to come, +it was natural that men like Polycarp and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> +Papias should turn to the Matthæan and +Petrine tradition of the Lord's oracles, and +to the Johannine 'prophecies' regarding the +resurrection and judgment.</p> + +<p>Had nothing intervened between Gnostics +and reactionaries the most vital elements of +Paul's gospel might well have disappeared, +even at this great headquarters of Paulinism. +The Doketists, with their exaggerated Hellenistic +mysticism, were certainly not the true +successors of Paul. They showed an almost +contemptuous disregard for the historic Jesus, +a one-sided aim at personal redemption, by +mystic union of the individual soul with +the Christ-spirit, to the disregard of "the +law of Christ," even in some cases of common +morality. Paul was characterized by a +splendid loyalty to personal purity, to the +social ideal of the Kingdom, and to the unity +of the brotherhood in the spirit of reciprocal +service. On the other hand men like the +author of the Pastoral Epistles, Ignatius and +Polycarp, with their almost panic-stricken +resort to the authority of the past, were not +perpetuating the true spirit of the great +Apostle. Their reliance was on ecclesiastical +discipline, concrete and massive miracle in +the story of Jesus, particularly on the point +of the bodily—or, as they would have said, +the "fleshly"—resurrection. Their conception +of his recorded "words," made of them +a fixed, superhuman standard and rule, a +"new law." Teachers of this type, much as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> +they desired and believed themselves to be +perpetuating the "sacred deposit" of Paul, +were in reality conserving its form and missing +its spirit. Such men would gladly "turn +to the tradition handed down," of the Matthæan +Sayings, and the Petrine Story. But in +the former they would not find reflections of +the sense of Son ship. They would find only +a supplementary Law, a new and higher set +of rules. In the story they would not discover +the Pauline view of the pre-existent divine +Wisdom tabernacling in man, producing a +second Adam, as elder brother of a new race, +the children and heirs of God. They would +take the mysticism of Paul and bring it down +to the level of the man in the street. Jesus +would be to them either a completely superhuman +man, approximating the heathen +demi-god, a divinity incognito; or else a man +so endowed with "the whole fountain of the +Spirit" as to exercise perpetually and uninterruptedly +all its miraculous functions. +The story of the cross would be hidden +behind the prodigies.</p> + +<p>Least of all could the importation of +apocalyptic prophecy do justice to the Pauline +doctrine of the 'last things.' True, Paul is +himself a 'prophet,' thoroughly imbued with +the fantastic Palestinian doctrines. He, too, +believes in a world-conflict, a triumph of the +Messiah over antichrist. More particularly +in one of his very earliest epistles (2nd +Thessalonians) we get a glimpse into these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> +Jewish peculiarities. But these are always +counterbalanced in Paul by a wider and soberer +view, which tends more and more to get the +upper hand. His doctrine of spiritual union +with Christ, present apprehension of "the +life that is hid with Christ in God," a doctrine +of Greek rather than Hebrew parentage, prevails +over the imagery of Jewish apocalypse. +In the later epistles he expects rather to +"depart and be with Christ" than to be +"caught up into the air" with those that are +alive and remain at the 'Coming.' So even +if Paul did have occasion again and again +to defend his Jewish resurrection-doctrine +against the Greek disposition to refine it +away into a mere doctrine of immortality, +his remedy is not a mere falling back into +the crudities of Jewish millenarianism. Least +of all could he have sympathized with the +nationalistic, and even vindictive spirit of +Rev. iv.-xxi., with its great battle of Jerusalem +helped by Messiah and the angels, +against Rome helped by Satan and the +Beast. Paul's doctrine of the resurrection +of the "body" by "clothing" of the spirit +with a "tabernacle" derived "from heaven," +his hope of a messianic Kingdom which is the +triumph of humanity under a "second Adam," +has its apocalyptic traits. It is a victory over +demonic enemies, "spiritual hosts of wickedness +in the heavenly places"; but it has the +reserve of an educated Pharisee against the +cruder forms of Jewish prophecy. It shows<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> +the mind of the cosmopolitan Roman citizen +and philosophic thinker, not merely that of +the Jewish Zealot.</p> + +<p>How salutary if Paul himself could have +lived to control the divergent elements among +his churches, to check the subjective individualism +of the Gnostics on the one hand, +and the reactionary tendencies of the orthodox +on the other. His parting words to his +beloved Philippians are sadly appreciative +of how needful it was for their sake that he +should "abide in the flesh" (Phil. i. 24). +Yet there was one thing still more expedient—that +he should abide with them in the spirit. +And that is just what we find evidenced in +the great 'spiritual' Gospel and its accompanying +Epistles from Ephesus.</p> + +<p>Debate still rages over a mere name, +attached by tradition to these writings that +themselves bear no name. The titles prefixed +by early transcribers attribute them to +"John." But they are never employed +before 175-180 in a way to even remotely +suggest that they were then regarded as +written by John, or even as apostolic in any +sense. And when we trace the tradition back +to its earliest form, in the Epilogue attached +to the Gospel (John xxi.) it seems to be no +more than a dubious attempt to identify +that mysterious figure, the "disciple whom +Jesus loved." If, however, we postpone this +question raised by the Epilogue, the writings +can at least be assigned to a definite locality<span class="pagenum">[Pg 212]</span> +(Ephesus) and a fairly definite date (<i>c.</i> 105-110), +with the general consent both of ancient +tradition and of modern criticism. This is +for us the important thing, since it enables +us to understand their purpose and bearing; +whereas even those who contend that they +were written by the Apostle John can make +little use of the alleged fact. For (1) the little +that is known of John from other sources is +completely opposed to the characteristics of +these writings. They are characterized by a +broad universalism, and reproduce the mysticism +of Paul. To attribute them to the Pillar +of Gal. ii. 9, or the Galilean fisherman of Mark +i. 19 and ix. 38, it becomes necessary to suppose +that John after migrating to Ephesus +underwent a transformation so complete as +to make him in reality another man. (2) +The meagre possibility that the basis of +Revelation might represent the Apostle John +becomes more remote than ever. Now it is +a curious fact that critics who hold to the +much-disputed tradition that the Apostle +John wrote the Gospel and Epistles, although +these writings make no such claim, and have +no affinity with the known character, show as +a rule remarkable alacrity to dismiss the +claims of Revelation, which positively declares +John to have been its author, and has far +stronger evidence, both internal and external, +in support of the claim, than have either +the Gospel or the Epistles. We may prefer +the style and doctrine of the Gospel and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 213]</span> +Epistles, but this playing fast and loose with +the evidence can only discredit criticism of this +type. (3) The value of the demonstration of +Johannine authorship would lie in the fact +that we should then have a first-hand witness +to the actual life and teaching of Jesus, +immeasurably superior to the remote and +indirect tradition of the present Synoptic +sources. But as a matter of real fact those +who maintain the Johannine authorship do not +venture to assert any such historical superiority. +On the contrary they consider the +Synoptic tradition not only historically superior +to "John," as respects both sayings and +course of events, but they are apt to attribute +to this Galilean apostle an extreme of Philonic +abstraction, so that he even prefers deliberate +"fiction" to fact. Thus the reasoning employed +to defend the tradition destroys the +only factor which could give it value.</p> + +<p>On the other hand it is possible to disregard +these secondary disputes, which aim only to +increase or diminish the authority of the +writings by asserting or denying that they were +written by the Apostle John, and to approach +the interpretation of them on the basis only +of what is really known, accredited both by +ancient tradition and by modern criticism. +On this basis we can safely affirm that they +originated in Ephesus early in the second +century, 'spiritualizing' what we have designated +'apostolic' teaching, while at the same +time strongly reacting against Doketic and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> +Antinomian heresy. By such a procedure we +shall be employing modern critical methods +to the highest practical advantage in the +interest of genuinely historical interpretation.</p> + +<p>Even those who find minute distinctions in +style and point of view between the Epistles +and Gospel of John will admit that all four +documents emanate from the same period, +situation, and circumstances, and represent +the same school of thought. We shall make +no serious mistake, then, if we treat them as +written by the same individual, and even as +intended to accompany one another. We +shall have the example of so high an authority +as Lightfoot, who considered 1st John an +Epilogue composed to accompany the Gospel +in place of the present Epilogue (John xxi.). +Moreover the distinctions in the ancient treatment +of 1st John and the two smaller Epistles +are all subsequent to the attribution of the +Gospel and First Epistle to the Apostle, and +a consequence of it. For 1st John and the +Gospel had always been inseparable, and having +no name attached could easily be treated +as the Apostle's. But 2nd and 3rd John +distinctly declare themselves written by an +"Elder"; and in the days when men still +appreciated the distinction between an Elder +and an Apostle it was felt to be so serious a +difficulty that 2nd and 3rd John were put in +the class of "disputed" writings. In reality +1st John and the Gospel are just as certainly +the work of an "Elder" as 2nd John and 3rd<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> +John, though no declaration to that effect is +made. Moreover 1st John and the Gospel +may safely be treated as from the same author; +for such minute differences as exist in style +and point of view can be fully accounted for +by the processes of revision the Gospel +has demonstrably undergone. This is more +reasonable than to imagine two authors so +extraordinarily similar to one another and +extraordinarily different from everybody else.</p> + +<p>"The Elder" does not give his name, and it +is hopeless for us to try to guess it, though it +was of course well known to his "beloved" +friend "Gaius," to whom the third letter (the +outside envelope) was addressed. We have +simply three epistles, one (3rd John) personal, +to the aforesaid Gaius, who is to serve as +the writer's intermediary with "the church," +because Diotrephes, its bishop, violently +opposes him. Another (2nd John) is addressed +to a particular church ("the elect +lady and her children"), in all probability +the church of Diotrephes and Gaius. It may +be the letter referred to in 3rd John 9. The +third (1st John) is entirely general, not even +so much modified from the type of the homily +toward that of the epistle as Hebrews or +James; for it has neither superscription nor +epistolary close. And yet it is, and speaks of +itself (i. 4; ii. 1, 7, 9, 12-14, etc.) as a literary +product. It is not impossible that this group +of 'epistles,' one individual, one to a particular +church, one general, was composed after<span class="pagenum">[Pg 216]</span> +the plan of the similar group addressed by +Paul to churches of this same region, Philemon, +Colossians, and the more general epistle known +to us as Ephesians. They may have been +intended to accompany and introduce the +Gospel written by the same author, just as +the prophecies of Rev. iv.-xxi. are introduced +by the 'epistles' of Rev. i.-iii., or as Luke-Acts +is sent under enclosure to Theophilus +for publication under his patronage. At all +events, be the connection with the Gospel +closer or more remote, to learn anything really +reliable about the writer and his purpose and +environment we must begin with his own references +to them, first in the letter to Gaius, then +in that to "the elect lady and her children," +then in his 'word of exhortation' to young and +old, of 1st John. Thus we shall gain a historical +approach finally to that treatise on the manifestation +of God in Christ which has won him +the title since antiquity of the 'theologian.'</p> + +<p>Third John shows the author to be a man +of eminence in the (larger?) church whence he +writes, old enough to speak of Gaius with +commendation as one of his "children," +though Gaius himself is certainly no mere +youth, and eminent enough to call Diotrephes +to answer for his misconduct. He has sent +out evangelistic workers, some of whom have +recently returned and borne witness "before +the church" to their hospitable reception by +Gaius. For this he thanks Gaius, and urges +him to continue the good work. The main<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> +object of the letter, however, is to commend +Demetrius, who is doubtless the bearer of this +letter as well as another written "to the +church" (2nd John?). This letter, the author +fears, will never reach its destination if +Diotrephes has his way. There is very little +to indicate whence the opposition of Diotrephes +arises, but what little there is (ver. 11) +points to those who make claims to "seeing" +God and being "of" Him, without adequate +foundation in a life of purity and beneficence. +The letter "to the church" is more explicit.</p> + +<p>Second John is perfectly definite in its +purpose. After congratulating the "elect +lady" on those of her children (members) +whom the writer has found leading consistent +Christian lives, he entreats the church to +remember the "new commandment" of +Jesus, which yet is not new but the foundation +of all, the commandment of ministering +love. The reason for this urgency is that +"many deceivers are gone forth into the +world, even they that confess not that Jesus +Christ cometh in the flesh" (ver. 7). And +here we come upon a very novel and distinctive +application of an ancient datum of +'prophecy,' clearly differentiating this writer +from the author of Revelation. The Doketic +heresy is explicitly identified with "the +deceiver and the antichrist." That must +have been a new and surprising turn for men +accustomed to connect the antichrist idea with +the persecuting power of Rome. Satan, as we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> +know, had been repeatedly conceived as +operating through the coercion of outward +force brought against the Messiah and his +people through the Beast and the false +Prophet (Rev. xiii.). There was good authority, +too, for a mystical "man of sin" setting himself +forth as God in the temple (2nd Thess. ii. +4), or for connecting Daniel's "abomination +that maketh desolate" with the sufferings +of the Jewish war and the later attempts of +false prophets to deceive the elect with lying +wonders (2nd Thess. ii. 9; Mark xiii. 22; Rev. +xiii. 14). But this was a new application of +the prophecy. To declare that the heretical +teachers were themselves antichrists was to +call the attention of the church back from +outward opposition to inward disloyalty as +the greater peril. And the identification is +not enunciated in this general warning alone, +but fully developed and defended in two +elaborate paragraphs of the 'word of exhortation' +(1st John ii. 18-29; iv. 1-6). When, +therefore, we find Polycarp in his letter (110-171) +quietly adopting the idea, almost as an +understood thing, declaring "For every one +who shall not confess that Jesus Christ is come +in the flesh, is antichrist" (vii. 1), it becomes +almost a certainty that he had read 1st John.<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> +<p>Our elder's warning "to the church" (perhaps +more particularly its governing body) is +to beware of these deceivers; not to receive +them, nor even to greet them, because they +"go onward" (are 'progressives') and do not +"abide in the teaching of Christ." To abide +in this "teaching" is the church's only safeguard.</p> + +<p>If next we turn to the more general epistle +known as 1st John the lack of any superscription +is more than counterbalanced by +the writer's full and explicit declarations +regarding motive and occasion. The epistle +was certainly intended to be read before +entire congregations. Of part of it at least +the author himself says that it was "written +concerning them that would lead you astray" +(ii. 26). Comparison of the full denunciation +with what we know of Doketism from its +own writings, such as the so-called <i>Acts of +John</i> (<i>c.</i> 175), shows very plainly what type +of heresy is meant. Moreover we have the +Epistles of Ignatius, written to these same +churches but a few years later, and the detailed +descriptions of the Doketist Cerinthus and his +doctrines given by Irenæus, together with the +explicit statement that the writings of John +were directed against this same Cerinthus.</p> + +<p>Yet 1st John is far more than a mere +polemic. The author writes to those "that +believe on the name of the Son of God, that +they may know that they have eternal life" +(v. 13). This certainly is the result of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> +conscious indwelling of the Spirit of Jesus. +It is not evidenced, however, by boastful +words as to illumination, insight and knowledge, +but by practical obedience to the one +new commandment; for "God is love, and he +that <i>loveth</i> (not he that hath <i>gnosis</i>) is begotten +of God and knoweth God." This inward +witness of the Spirit is a gift, or (to use +our author's term) an "anointing" (<i>i. e.</i> a +'Christ'-ening), whose essence is as much +beyond the Greek's ideal of wisdom, on the +one side, as it is beyond the Jew's ideal of +miraculous powers on the other. It is a +spirit of ministering love corresponding to +and emanating from the nature of God himself. +This is "the teaching of Christ" in +which alone it is safe to "abide."</p> + +<p>But again as respects the historic tradition +of the church our author is not less emphatic. +He values the record of an actual, real, and +tangible experience of this manifested life +of God in man. The "progressives" may +repudiate the mere Jesus of "the flesh," in +favour of one who comes by water only (<i>i. e.</i> in +the outpouring of the Spirit in baptism), and +not by the blood of the cross. For the +doctrine of the cross was a special stumbling-block +to Doketists, who rejected the sacrament +of the bread and wine.<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> +The actual<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> +sending of God's only-begotten Son into the +world, the real "propitiation" for our sins +(so lightly denied by the illuminati), is a vital +point to the writer. The sins "of the whole +world" were atoned for in Jesus' blood +actually shed on Calvary. The church possesses, +then, in this story a record of fact +of infinite significance to the world. The +Doketists are playing fast and loose with this +record of the historic Jesus. They deny any +value to the "flesh" in which the æon +Christ had merely tabernacled as its "receptacle" +between the period of the baptism and +the ascension—an event which they date +<i>before</i> the death on the cross.<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> They are met +here with a peremptory challenge and declaration. +The experience of contact with the +earthly Jesus which the Church cherishes as +its most inestimable treasure is the assurance, +and the only assurance that we have, of real +fellowship with the Father; for "the life, the +eternal life" of God in man, the Logos—to +borrow frankly the Stoic expression—is known +not by mere mystical dreams, but by the +historic record of those who personally knew +the real Jesus. The manifestation of God, in<span class="pagenum">[Pg 222]</span> +short, is objective and historical, and not +merely inward and self-conscious; and that +outward and objective manifestation may be +summed up in what we of the Christian +brotherhood have seen and known of Jesus.</p> + +<p>It is when we approach the Fourth Gospel +by way of its own author's adaptation of his +message to the conditions around him that +we begin to appreciate it historically, and +in its true worth. The spirit of polemic is +still prominent in 1st John, but the Gospel +shows the effect of opposition only in the +more careful statement of the evangelist's +exact meaning. It is a theological treatise, +an interpretation of the doctrine of the +person of Christ, written that the readers +"may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the +Son of God, and that believing they may have +life in his name" (xx. 31). In an age so +eagerly bent on ascertaining the historic facts +regarding Jesus' life, and the true sequence +of events (Luke i. 1-4), it is insupposable that +an author so strenuous to uphold the concrete +reality of the church's historic tradition +should not give real history so far as he was +able. He could not afford to depreciate it +in the face of Doketic myth and fancy and +contempt for a "Christ in the flesh." The +idea that such a writer could deliberately +prefer fiction to fact is most improbable; ten +times more so if he was the only surviving +representative of the twelve, a Galilean disciple +even more intimate than Peter with Jesus<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> +from the outset. But real history was no +longer attainable. The author of the Fourth +Gospel reports no event which he does not +take in good faith to be fact. Yet it must +be apparent from his own statement of his +purpose as well as from the very structure of +the book that he does not aim to be a historian, +but an interpreter of doctrine. He +aims to give not <i>fact</i> but <i>truth</i>. And his +handling of (supposed) fact has the freedom +we should expect in a church teacher of that +age, and of the school of Paul the mystic. +The seven progressive "signs" that he narrates, +culminating in the raising of Lazarus, +are avowedly (xx. 31) illustrative selections +from a multitude of current tales of miracle, +aiming to produce that faith in Jesus as the +Son of God which will result in "life," <i>i. e.</i> +the eternal life which consists in his indwelling +(1st John v. 20). They are not described as +acts of pity, drawn from one with whom the +power of God was found present to heal. +Jesus does not yield as in the Synoptics when +compassion for trusting need overcomes reluctance +to increase the importunity that interfered +with his higher mission. Their prime purpose +is to "manifest the glory" of the incarnate +Logos, and Jesus performs them only when, +and as, he chooses. Pity and natural affection +are almost trampled upon that this "manifestation +of his glory" may be made more effective +(ii. 4; iv. 48; ix. 3; xi. 4-6, 15). As +in Paul, there is no exorcism. This most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> +typical and characteristic miracle of Petrine +story (Mark iii. 15; Acts x. 88) has disappeared. +Or rather (as in Paul) the casting +out of Satan from his dominion over the +entire world has transcended and superseded +it (John xii. 31-33; <i>cf.</i> Col. ii. 15). In John, +requests for miracle, whether in faith or unbelief, +always incur rebuke (ii. 4; iv. 48; +vi. 30-36; vii. 4-7; xi. 3-15). Jesus offers +and works them when "his hour" comes, +whether applied for or not (v. 6-9; vi. 6; +ix. 1-7). His reserve is not due to a limitation +of almighty power; for the power is declared +explicitly to be his, <i>in his own right</i> (v. 21; +xi. 22, 25, 42). He restrains it only that faith +may rest upon conviction of the truth rather +than mere wonder (ii. 23-25; iii. 2 <i>f.</i>; iv. 39-42, +48; vi. 29-46; xiv. 11). He is, in short, +an omniscient (i. 47-50; ii. 25), omnipotent +Being, temporarily sojourning on the earth +(iii. 13; xvi. 28).</p> + +<p>The dialogue interwoven with these seven +signs is closely related in subject to them. +It does not aim to repeat remembered Sayings, +but follows that literary form which since +Plato had been the classic model for presenting +the themes of philosophy. The subject-matter +is no longer, as in the Synoptics, the Righteousness +required by God, the Nature and Coming +of the Kingdom, Duty to God and Man. It +is the person and function of the speaker +himself. Instead of the parables we have +allegories: "seven 'I am's'" of Jesus, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> +debate with "the Jews" about the doctrine +of his own person as Son of God.</p> + +<p>This uniformity of topic corresponds with +a complete absence of any attempt to differentiate +in style between utterances of Jesus, +or the Baptist, or the evangelist himself, in +Gospel or Epistles. Had the writer desired, it +is certain that he could have collected sayings +of Jesus, and given them a form similar to +those of Matthew and Luke. He does not try. +The only device he employs to suggest a distinction +is an oracular ambiguity at first misunderstood, +and so requiring progressive unfolding. +The main theme is often introduced +by a peculiar and solemn "Verily, verily."</p> + +<p>As with the 'signs' the lingering Synoptic +sense of progress and proportion has disappeared. +At the very outset John the +Baptist proclaims to his followers that his +own baptism has no value in itself. It is +not "for repentance unto remission of sins." +It is <i>only</i> to make the Christ "manifest" +(i. 19-34). Christ's atonement alone will +take away the sin (i. 29), Christ's baptism alone +will convey real help (i. 34). Jesus, too, +proclaims himself from the outset the Christ, +in the full Pauline sense of the word (i. 45-51; +iv. 26, etc.). He chooses Judas with the +express purpose of the betrayal, and forces +on the reluctant agents of his fate (vi. 70 <i>f.</i>; +xiii. 26 <i>f.</i>; xviii. 4-8; xix. 8-11).</p> + +<p>All this, and much more which we need +not cite, makes hardly the pretence of being<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> +history. It is frankly theology, or rather +apologetics. We have as a framework the +general outline of Mark, a Galilean and a +Judæan ministry (chh. i.-xii.; xiii.-xx.), with +traces of a Perean journey (vii. 1 <i>ff.</i>). This +scheme, however, is broken through by another +based on the Mosaic festal system, Jesus showing +in each case as he visits Jerusalem, the +higher symbolism of the ceremonial (ii. 13 <i>ff.</i> +Passover; v. 1 <i>ff.</i> Pentecost; vii. 1 <i>ff.</i> Tabernacles; +x. 22 <i>ff.</i> Dedication; xii. 1 <i>ff.</i> Passover). +There is in chh. i.-iv. a 'teaching of baptisms' +and of endowment with the Spirit corresponding +roughly to Mark i. 1-45. There is in ch. +v. a teaching of the authority of Jesus against +Moses and the Law, corresponding to Mark ii. +1—iii. 6. There is a teaching of the 'breaking +of bread' corresponding to Mark vi. 30—viii. +26 in John vi., though this last has been related +not merely to the brotherhood banquet ('love-feast') +as in Mark, but anticipates and takes +the place of the teaching as to the Eucharist +(<i>cf.</i> John vi. 52-59 with John xiii.). There is +a Commission of the Twelve like Matt. x. +16-42, though placed (with Luke xxii. 35-38) +as a second sending on the night of betrayal +(xiii. 31—xviii. 26). There is dependence on +Petrine Story, and to some extent on Matthæan +Sayings. In particular John xii. 1-7 combines +the data of Mark xiv. 3-9 with those of Luke +vii. 36-50; x. 38-42 in a curious compound, +making it certain that the evangelist employed +these two—and Matthew as well, if xii. 8 be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> +genuine (it is not found in the ancient Syriac). +Yet our Synoptic Gospels are not the only +sources, and the material borrowed is handled +with sovereign superiority. In short, as even +the church fathers recognized, this Gospel is +of a new type. It does aim to "supplement" +the others, as they recognized; but not as +one narrative may piece out and complete +another. Rather as the unseen and spiritual +supplements the external and visible. This +Gospel uses the established forms of miracle-story +and saying; but it transforms the one +into symbol, the other into dialogue and +allegory. Then by use of this material (supplemented +from unknown, perhaps oral, sources) +it constructs a series of interpretations of the +person and work of the God-man.</p> + +<p>Of one peculiarly distinctive feature we +have still to speak. Where the reader has +special need of an interpreter to attest and +interpret a specially vital fact, such as the +scenes of the night of the betrayal, or the +reality of Jesus' propitiatory death (denied +by the Doketists), or the beginning of the +resurrection faith, Peter's testimony is supplemented +and transcended by that of a hitherto +unknown figure, who anticipates all that Peter +only slowly attains. This is the mysterious, +unnamed "disciple whom Jesus loved" (xiii. +23 <i>ff.</i>; xviii. 15 <i>f.</i>; xix. 25-37; xx. 1-10; +<i>cf.</i> Gal. xx. 20), a Paul present in the spirit, +to see things with the eye of spiritual insight. +There is no transfiguration-scene and no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> +prayer of Gethsemane in this Gospel—Transfiguration +is needless where the glory shines +uninterrupted through the whole career. +Prayer itself is impossible where oneness with +the God-head makes difference of thought or +purpose inconceivable. Hence the prayers of +Jesus are often only "for the sake of those +that stand by" (xi. 41 <i>f.</i>). The same is true +of the Voice from heaven at the scene which +takes the place of Transfiguration and Gethsemane +in one (xii. 27-33). Jesus will not +ask for deliverance from that hour, because +he had sought it from the beginning. His +prayer is "Father, glorify thy name." The +Voice, which some take to be an angel speaking +to him (<i>cf.</i> Luke ix. 35; xxii. 43) is for the sake +of the bystanders. The Voice at his baptism +likewise is not addressed to him (the incarnate +Logos does not need a revelation of his own +identity) but to the Baptist.</p> + +<p>So again and again Synoptic scenes are +retouched and new scenes are added in a way +to present a consistent picture of the "tabernacling" +of the pre-existent Son of God in +human flesh. As we review the whole, and +ask ourselves, What is the occasion of this +strange new presentation of the evangelic +message? we begin to realize how indispensable +is the key which the evangelist has +himself hung before the door. Many and +complex are the problems which confront us +as we move through this heaped-up tangle +of anecdote, dialogue, and allegory. There<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> +is room for the keenest scrutiny of criticism +to determine, if possible, when, and how, and +from what sources these meditations were +put together. But nothing that critical insight, +analysis, and comparison can furnish +avails so much to throw real light upon the +work as what the evangelist himself has done, +by setting forth in a prologue (i. 1-18) the +fundamental principles of his conception.</p> + +<p>In a word evangelic tradition as it had +hitherto found currency still lacked the fundamental +thing in the Christology of Paul—the +Incarnation doctrine. Paul conceived the +story of Jesus as a supernal drama, beginning +and ending in heaven at God's right hand. +Even Matthew and Luke, carrying back the +adoption to Son ship from the baptism to the +birth of Jesus, had not essentially changed the +pre-Pauline point of view. Still there was no +pre-existence. Jesus was not yet shown as the +Wisdom of God, through whom all things +were created, the "heavenly man," the second +Adam, taking upon him the form of a servant, +humbling himself and becoming obedient unto +death, rich, and for our sakes becoming poor. +He was still, even in Mark, just the prophet +mighty in deed and word, raised up by God +from among his brethren, and for his obedience +exalted to the messianic throne of glory. +How <i>could</i> this satisfy churches trained in +the doctrine of Paul? We should almost +rather marvel that the Synoptic narratives +ever found lodgment at all, where Paul had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> +preached from the beginning a doctrine of +the eternal Christ.</p> + +<p>And the transformation is not one whit +more radical than we ought to anticipate. +The Transfiguration story had been a halting +attempt to embody Pauline doctrine in Petrine +story. But apart from the obvious hold +afforded to mere Doketism, how inadequate +to Paul's conception of the "Man from +heaven"! The Fourth evangelist depicts +the person of Jesus consistently and throughout, +despite his meagre and refractory +material, along the lines of Pauline Christology. +There is no concession to Doketism, +for in spite of all, and designedly (iv. 6; xix. +28, 34), Jesus is still no phantasm, but true +man among men. There is no hesitation to +override, where needful, on vital points the +great and growing authority of 'apostolic' +tradition. Tacitly, but uncompromisingly, +Petrine tradition is set aside. The "disciple +whom Jesus loved" sees the matter +otherwise. In particular, apocalyptic eschatology +is firmly repressed in favour of a doctrine +of eternal life in the Spirit. The second +Coming is not to be a manifestation "to the +world." It will be an inward indwelling of +God and Christ in the heart of the believer +(xiv. 22 <i>f.</i>).<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> The place of future reward is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> +not a glorified Palestine and transfigured, +rebuilt Jerusalem. The disciple, like Paul, +will "depart to be with Christ." The Father's +house is wider than the Holy Land. It has +"many mansions," and the servant must be +content to know that his Master will receive +him where he dwells himself (xiv. 1-3; xvii. +24).</p> + +<p>To realize what it meant to produce the +'spiritual' Gospel that comes to us from +Ephesus shortly after the close of the first +century we must place ourselves side by side +with men who had learnt the gospel of Paul +<i>about</i> Jesus, the drama of the eternal, pre-existent, +"heavenly Man," incarnate, triumphant +through the cross over the Prince of this +world and powers of darkness. We must +realize how they found it needful to impregnate +the 'apostolic' material of Petrine +and Matthæan tradition with this deeper significance, +preserving the concrete, historic fact, +and the real manhood, and yet supplementing +the disproportionately external story with a +wealth of transcendental meaning. The spirit +of Paul was, indeed, not dead. Neither Gnostic +heresy could dissipate it, nor reactionary +Christianized legalism absorb it. It had been +reborn in splendid authority and power. In +due time it would prove itself the very mould +of 'catholic' doctrine. The Fourth gospel, +as its Prologue forewarns, is an application to +the story of Jesus as tradition reported it of +the Pauline incarnation doctrine formulated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> +under the Stoic Logos theory. It represents +a study in the psychology of religion applied +to the person of Christ. Poor as Paul himself +in knowledge of the outward Jesus, unfamiliar +with really historical words and deeds, its +doctrine <i>about</i> Jesus became, nevertheless, +like that of the great Apostle to the Gentiles, +the truest exposition of 'the heart of Christ.'<br><br><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h3> + +<h3>EPILOGUES AND CONCLUSIONS</h3> + + +<p>Few of the great writings cherished and +transmitted by the early church have escaped +the natural tendency to attachments at +beginning and end. In the later period +such attachments took the form of prefixed +<i>argumenta</i>, <i>i. e.</i> prefatory descriptions of +author and contents, and affixed <i>subscriptions</i>, +devoted to a similar purpose. These, like +the titles, were clearly distinguished from +the text itself, and in modern editions are +usually not printed, though examples of +'subscriptions' may be seen in the King +James version after the Pauline Epistles. +Before the time when canonization had made +such a process seem sacrilege they were +attached to the text itself, with greater or +less attempt to weld the parts together. We +need not add to what has been already said +as to certain superscriptions of the later +epistolary literature, such as James and Jude, +where the relation to the text impresses us as +closer than is sometimes admitted; nor need +we delay with the preamble to Revelation +(Rev. i. 1-3). That which has been added at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> +the close, in cases where real evidence exists +of such later supplementation, is of special +significance to our study, inasmuch as it +tends to throw light where light is most +required. For that is an obscure period, +early in the second century, when not only +the churches themselves were drawing together +toward catholic unity under the double +pressure of inward and outward peril, but +were bringing with them their treasured +writings, sometimes a collection of Epistles, +sometimes a Gospel, or a book of Prophecy, +sometimes, as in the groups of writings +attributed to John and Peter, a full canon of +Gospel, Epistles and Apocalypse, followed +but little later by 'Acts' as well.</p> + +<p>The most ancient list of books authorized +to be publicly read that we possess is that of +the church of Rome <i>c.</i> 185, called after its +discoverer the Canon of Muratori. From this +fragment, mutilated at beginning and end, +we learn that Paul's letters to the churches +were arranged in a group of seven<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> of which +Romans stood last. It is probably due to its +position at the end that Romans has been +supplemented by the addition of Pauline +fragments, which did not appear in some +early editions of the text. The letter proper +ends with ch. xv. though xvi. 21-23 probably<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> +followed, perhaps concluding with ver. 24, +which some texts insert after ver. 19. Ver. +25-27 is another fragment omitted in some +texts.</p> + +<p>We have seen above (<a href="#Page_200">p. 200</a>) how Revelation +has received conclusion after conclusion, so +that the relation of personalities has become +almost unintelligible. We have very meagre +textual material for Revelation, and can +scarcely judge whether any of the process +represented in Rev. xxii. 6-21 belongs to the +period of transmission, after the publication +of the book in its present form. Until the +discovery of new textual evidence the phenomena +in Revelation must be treated by principles +of the higher criticism, as pertaining +to its history before publication. At all +events we know that the attribution to +"John" (ver. 8 <i>f.</i>) was current as early as +Justin's <i>Apology</i> (153).</p> + +<p>The longer and shorter supplements to +Mark belong again to the field of textual +criticism. The manuscripts and early translations +carry us back to a time when neither +ending was known; though only to leave us +wondering how the necessity arose for composing +them—a question of the higher criticism. +Mark xvi. 9-20 shows acquaintance +with Luke, and probably with John xx. It +is noteworthy, however, in view of the author's +attempt to cover the resurrection appearances +of these two gospels, that he betrays no sign +of acquaintance with John. xxi. In this case of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> +the Roman gospel, however, textual evidence +enables us to trace something of the history of +supplementation. The so-called 'Shorter' +ending provides a close for the incomplete +story, resembling Matthew, while the 'Longer' +is drawn from Luke and John. i.-xx. Subsequent +employments show that the 'Longer' +ending had been attached (perhaps at Rome) +not later than <i>c.</i> 150. It is the first evidence +we have of combination of the Fourth gospel +with the Synoptics; for even Justin, though +<i>affected</i> by John, does not <i>use</i> it as he uses +Matthew, Mark and Luke. Parity among +the four is not traceable earlier than Tatian +(<i>c.</i> 175), the father of gospel 'harmonies.' +The 'Shorter' ending, if not the Longer +as well, would seem to have been added +in Egypt. The supplements to Mark have +this at least of singular interest, that they +show the progress of a process whose beginnings +we traced back to Palestine itself +in the church of the 'apostles, elders and +witnesses of the Lord,' where "the Elder" +in the tradition reported by Papias is already +offering explanations of the disagreements of +Matthew and Mark with a view to their +concurrent circulation.</p> + +<p>After the addition of Mark to Matthew it +was comparatively easy to take in Luke-Acts +as a third, and to form composites out of the +three such as the <i>Gospel of Peter</i> (North Syria +<i>c.</i> 130) and the <i>Gospel of the Nazarenes</i> (Coele-Syria +<i>c.</i> 140). Justin at Rome (<i>c.</i> 153) is still<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> +such a three-gospel man, though affected by +the Fourth; whereas his predecessor Hermas +(125-140) seems to rest on Mark alone, +though perhaps acquainted with Matthew. +The step was a harder one which aimed to +take in the Fourth gospel. Tatian at Rome +(<i>c.</i> 175) and Theophilus at Antioch (181) are +the agents of its accomplishment; and, as +we have seen, it was not effected without a +determined opposition, led at Rome by the +presbyter Gaius, and answered by Irenæus +(<i>c.</i> 186) and Hippolytus (<i>c.</i> 215). Such +opposition from the side of advocates of +Petrine apostolicity is anticipated in the +most significant and important of all the +epilogues, the so-called Appendix or Epilogue +to the Fourth gospel (John xxi.).</p> + +<p>Just when, or where, this supplement was +added is one of the most difficult problems +of the higher criticism. On the side of external +evidence we have the fact that it shows +no effect in Mark xvi. 9-21, where John xx. is +employed, and that there is a great change +about <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 170 in the treatment of this +Gospel and its related Epistles, those who use +them before this time showing no disposition +to treat them as having high apostolic +authority. On the side of internal evidence +there are such data as the use of the second-century +name for the Sea of Galilee ("Sea +of Tiberias," xxi. 1), and references to the +martyrdom of Peter at Rome (xxi. 18 <i>f.</i>) and to +legends of John as the 'witness' who should<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> +survive until the Coming (xxi. 23). Whether +these data suggest an origin at Ephesus, +or at Rome, and at just what date, are problems +for technical research. That which +is of chief interest for us is the motive and +function of this supplement to the Ephesian +Gospel, and the light it throws upon conditions +in the church at large.</p> + +<p>It is quite apparent that John xxi. forms a +subsequent attachment after the formal conclusion +of the Gospel proper in xx. 30 <i>f.</i> For, +apart from differences in style and doctrinal +standpoint, it makes a complete new departure +along the lines of Mark's story of Galilean +resurrection manifestations; whereas the +Gospel follows the Lukan type, and brings +everything to a close without removal from +Jerusalem. The message to the disciples +by the women at the sepulchre is here given +by Jesus in person as in Matt. xxviii. 10, and +is actually delivered as in Luke xxiv. 10 <i>f.</i> It +is followed by the promised manifestation to +the disciples with the overcoming of their +incredulity, and by the great Commission, +accompanied by the Gift of the Spirit. The +story has thus been brought to a formal conclusion, +the invariable and necessary conclusion +of all evangelic narratives. The author's +recapitulation of the nature and contents of +his book and assurance in direct address to +the reader of his purpose in writing ("that +<i>ye</i> may believe") follows appropriately as a +winding up of the whole. It is not conceivable<span class="pagenum">[Pg 239]</span> +that the same writer should resume immediately +after this, at an earlier point in the +narrative, where the disciples are still scattered +in Galilee, unconscious of their vocation and +commission. For in spite of the endeavour +of the supplementer in ver. 14 to make this +out "the third<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> time that Jesus was manifested" +they have manifestly returned to +their original means of livelihood unawakened +to the resurrection faith. Moreover the story +culminates with a restoration of Peter to +favour, with unmistakable reference to his +humiliating failure to live up to the promise +(xiii. 36-38), "Lord, why cannot I follow thee +even now? I will lay down my life for thee" +(<i>cf.</i> xxi. 15-19). If it had been the evangelist's +intention to tell this he would have told +it before the Commission in xx. 19-23. In +short, we have here two widely variant forms +of the tradition of the rallying of the disciples +from their unbelief by the risen Christ and +commissioning of them to their task. The +two commissions, one a general commission +of all "the twelve," like Matt. xviii. 18, the +other a special commission of Peter like Matt. +xvi. 19, are attached one after the other, +with the curious infelicity that the restoration +of Peter from his defection, together with his +installation as chief under-shepherd of the +flock, comes <i>after</i> the commission in which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> +he has already appeared with the rest, +restored to full faith and favour, and gifted +with the inspiration and authority of the +Spirit.</p> + +<p>It is true that the function of "tending the +flock of God" (<i>cf.</i> 1st Pet. v. 2) committed to +Peter in xxi. 15-19 is a more special one than +the apostolate conferred on all in xx. 21-23; +but the Epilogue has previously (xxi. 1-14) +given to Peter a special and commanding +part in the apostolate (extension of the +gospel to the world). No one will question +that in such a writer as the Fourth evangelist +(and if anything still more the writer of the +Epilogue) narratives of miracle are intended +to have a symbolical sense. Nor will it be +denied that the miraculous draft of fishes, +which in Luke v. 1-11 attends the original +vocation of "Simon,"<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> is here applied to the +work the twelve are to accomplish in the now +opening future as "fishers of men." The particularization +of the number of the fishes, and +the statement that the peril of the rending of +the net (<i>cf.</i> Luke v. 6) was happily avoided, +are, of course, also intended to convey a +symbolical sense, which Jerome makes still +easier to grasp by informing us that 153 was +taken by naturalists of the time to be the +full number of all species of fish. John xxi. +1-14 is therefore a primitive story of the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 241]</span> +appearance of Jesus after his resurrection "to +Peter and them that were with him," in +Galilee (not in Jerusalem as in John i.-xx. +and Luke), having a relation to Luke v. 1-11, +and probably also to Matt. xiv. 28-33 (<i>cf.</i> +John xxi. 7). It is also nearly akin to the +fragment at the end of the <i>Gospel of Peter</i>. +It symbolizes the work of the apostolic +mission under the figure of the fishing of men +(<i>cf.</i> Mark i. 17; Matt. xiii. 47-50), and gives +to Peter the leading part. In fact Peter not +only comes to the Lord in advance of all the +rest, and alone maintains with him something +like the intimate relations of the past, but +performs after his private interview with +Jesus the gigantic feat of bringing unaided +to land the entire miraculous catch. The +great and various multitude, which all working +in common had enclosed in the net, but +had not been able to lift into the boat, Peter, +at Jesus' word, brought safely home. The +writer who so employs the already conventionalized +symbols of ecclesiastical imagery, +surely had no mean idea of the apostleship of +Peter. In at least as high degree as the +author of Acts he conceives of Peter as +commissioned in a special sense to be the +great director and leader of all missionary +activity, to Gentiles as well as Jews (Acts xv. +7), and to have been the saviour of the unity +of the church in the hour of its threatened +disruption. When in addition he is invested +by Jesus with the insignia and office of chief<span class="pagenum">[Pg 242]</span> +under-shepherd of the flock of God, the stain +of his threefold denial wiped out by a threefold +opportunity to prove his special love +by special service, and the ignominy of his +previous failure to "follow" (xiii. 36-38) +atoned for by the promise that in old age +he shall have opportunity to follow Jesus in +martyrdom (xxi. 18 <i>f.</i>), there remains nothing +that the most exacting friend of 'catholic' +apostolicity could demand in the way of +tribute to its great representative.</p> + +<p>And yet the main object of the Epilogue +has not yet been touched. It was not +written, we may be sure, merely to glorify +Peter; though it is, of course, insupposable +that the Gospel in its primitive form simply +left Peter in the attitude of a renegade after +xviii. 27, to reappear quite as if nothing had +happened in xx. 1 <i>ff.</i><a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> It pays its tribute +to Peter as chief witness to the resurrection, +chief apostle, chief saviour of the unity of +the church, chief under-shepherd of the +flock of God, in the interest of that catholic +apostolic unity which all churchmen were so +earnestly labouring to achieve in the writer's +time, and for which the name of Peter was +increasingly significant. But the chief object +of the Epilogue is something else. It was +written primarily to commend and find room<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> +for another authority, the authority of the +Gospel to which it is appended, and which +repeatedly sets over against Peter a mysterious +unnamed figure, who always sees when Peter +is blind, believes when Peter is unbelieving, +is faithful when Peter and all the rest have +fled in cowardly desertion. The object of +the Epilogue is to find room alongside the +growing and salutary authority of Peter for +the authority and message of "the disciple +whom Jesus loved." Its purpose appears +in its conclusion, "This (the disciple whom +Jesus loved) is the disciple which beareth +witness of these things, and wrote these +things, and we (the church which cherishes +and gives forth this 'spiritual' Gospel) know +that his witness is true."</p> + +<p>The writer does not explicitly say that he +means the Apostle John (reputed in Ephesus +the author of Revelation); for such direct +identification might well endanger his own +object. But he makes it clear in two ways +that John is really intended, as, indeed, +subsequent writers immediately infer.<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> (1) +"The sons of Zebedee" are introduced for +the first time in the entire work in xxi. 2, +among the group who are present with Peter. +An easy process of elimination,<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> then, leaves<span class="pagenum">[Pg 244]</span> +open to identification as "the disciple whom +Jesus loved" (ver. 7) only John, or else +one of the two unnamed "other disciples," +who could hardly be reckoned among Jesus' +closest intimates.</p> + +<p>(2) The scene of the prediction of Peter's +martyrdom (xxi. 18 <i>f.</i>) is followed immediately +(ver. 20-23) by a reference to traditions +which we know to have been current before +the close of the first century regarding the +martyrdom of the two sons of Zebedee, in +particular regarding John. Peter in xxi. 21 +raises the question as to the <i>fate</i> of "the +disciple whom Jesus loved" (literally, "and as +to this man, what?"). The pregnant command +of Jesus to Peter, "Follow me," is +clearly intended to have reference to martyrdom +(<i>cf.</i> xiii. 36 <i>f.</i>), and it is obeyed by "the +disciple whom Jesus loved" as well as Peter. +Peter's inquiry and the Lord's reply had +given rise "among the brethren" to the belief +that this disciple would "tarry" till the +Coming. Now it is of John, son of Zebedee, +and only of him, that we have a curious +vacillation of ancient tradition between belief +in his martyrdom in the same sense as his +brother James (Mark x. 39), and a belief +(probably based on Mark ix. 1) that he would +tarry as an abiding witness until the Coming +('white martyrdom'). The writer of the +Epilogue has manifestly these traditions +about the fate of John in mind. He would +have his readers understand that the enigmatic<span class="pagenum">[Pg 245]</span> +prophecy of Jesus neither promised the +permanent survival of John, nor his violent +death, but was at least capable of an interpretation +which set John alongside of Peter, +not as a rival of his leadership, or directive +control, but simply as a witness ('martyr') +to the truth. Peter is willingly granted the +office of 'ruling elder' in the church, if only +"the disciple whom Jesus loved" may have +the function of the prophet and teacher 'in +the Spirit,' the man of faith and insight, +whose function it is to interpret 'the mind +of Christ.'</p> + +<p>Few things could be more significant of +the conditions of Christian life and thought +in the earlier years of the second century +than this Epilogue, appended to the 'spiritual' +Gospel to commend it to general acceptance +in the church. It is not vitally important +whether the cautiously suggested identification +of the Beloved Disciple with John, the +son of Zebedee, be correct or not. It is +important to a historical appreciation of the +great literary contribution of the churches +of Paul to the 'catholic' Christianity of the +second century, that we realize what Petrine +catholicity had then come to mean, and how +the Pauline spiritual gospel came half-way +to meet it. On this point a study of the +epilogues is rewarding, but especially of the +great Epilogue to the Gospel of John.</p> +<br> + +<p>We have reached the period for our own<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> +concluding words. The process of combination +and canonization of the New Testament +writings, which followed upon the consolidation +of the churches in the second century +falls outside our province. We have sought +only to give some insight into the origins, +considering the Making of the New Testament +to apply rather to the creations of the formative +period, when conscious inspiration was +still in its full glow, than to the period of +collection into an official canon. As we look +back over the two leading types of Christian +thought, Pauline and 'Apostolic,' the Greek-Christian +gospel <i>about</i> Jesus, and the Jewish-Christian +gospel <i>of</i> Jesus, the gospel of the +Spirit and the gospel of authority, we cannot +fail to realize how deep and broad and ancient +are the two great currents of religious thought +and life that here are mingling, contending, +coming to new expression and clearer definition. +Each has its various subdivisions and +modifications, Pauline Christianity in the +Greek world has its problems of resistance +to Hellenistic perversion on the one side, to +reaction toward Jewish external authority on +the other. Apostolic Christianity whether +in its more conservative form at Jerusalem, +or in broader assimilation to Pauline doctrine +at Antioch and Rome, has also its divergent +streams, its more primitive and its more +developed stages. The literature, as we +slowly come to appreciate it against the +background of the times, more and more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> +reveals itself as an index to the life. Not to +the mere idiosyncrasies of individuals, but +to the great Gulf-stream of the human instinct +for social Righteousness and for individual +Redemption, as it sweeps onward in its +mighty tide.</p> + +<p>The literature of the New Testament must +be understood historically if understood at +all. It must be understood as the product, +we might almost say the precipitate, of the +greatest period in the history of religion. +It represents the meeting and mutual adjustment +of two fundamental and complementary +conceptions of religion. The antithesis is not +merely that between the particularism of the +Jew and the universalism of the Gentile. It +is an antithesis of the social ideal of Law and +Prophets against the individual ideal of +personal redemption through union with the +divine Spirit, which lay at the heart of all +vital Hellenistic religious thought in this +period of the Empire. Christianity as we +know it, the religion of humanity as it has +come to be, the ultimate world-religion as +we believe it destined to become, is a resultant +of these two factors, Semitic and Aryan, the +social and the individual ideal. Its canonized +literature represents the combination. On +the one side the social ideal is predominant. +It perpetuates the gospel <i>of</i> Jesus in the form +of Matthæan and Petrine tradition, supplemented +by apocalypse, which tradition attaches +conjecturally to the name of John.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> +The goal it seeks is the Kingdom of God, +righteousness and peace on earth as in heaven. +On the other side the individual ideal predominates. +It perpetuates the gospel <i>about</i> +Jesus in the form of the Pauline and Johannine +doctrine of his person, regarded as the norm +and type of spiritual life. The goal it seeks +is personal immortality by moral fellowship +with God. Its faith is Son ship, by participation +in the divine nature, without limitation +in time, without loss of individual identity. +Both types of gospel are justified in claiming +to emanate from Jesus of Nazareth; but +neither without the other can claim to fully +represent the significance of his spirit and +life.</p> + +<p>The unity of the New Testament is a unity +in diversity. Just because it presents so +widely divergent conceptions of what the +gospel is, it gives promise of perennial +fecundity. Studied not after the manner of +the scribes, who think that in their book of +precept and prophecy they have a passport +to rewards in a magical world to come, but +studied as a "manifestation of the life, even +the eternal life" of the Spirit of God in man, +it will continue to reproduce the spirit and +mind of Christ. Studied as a reflection at +various times and in divers manners of that +redemptive Wisdom of God, which "in +every generation entering into holy souls +makes men to be prophets and friends of +God" (Sap. vii. 27), and which the Greeks,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 249]</span> +considering it, unfortunately, in its intellectual +rather than its moral aspect, call the Logos +of God, it will prove, as in so many generations +past it has proved, an "incorruptible seed," +a "word of good tidings preached unto" +the world, a "word of the Lord that abideth +for ever." + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2>FOOTNOTES</h2> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> +<i>Tarik</i>, i. e. "way," is still the Arabic term for a +sect, and the Rabbinic term for legal requirement is <i>halacha</i>, i. +e. "walk."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> +In using traditional names and titles such as "Luke," +"John," "Matthew," "James," no assumption is made as to +authenticity. The designation is employed for convenience +irrespective of its critical accuracy or inaccuracy.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> +The Fourth Gospel is thus characterized by Clement of +Alexandria, meaning that it had a deep symbolic sense.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> +See Footnote 3</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> +See Footnote 3</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> +Catholic is here used in its etymological sense of +"general" or universal. We shall have occasion to apply the term in +a more limited sense hereafter.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Or perhaps thirteen. Gal. ii. 1 may reckon from the +conversion (31-33). In both periods (Gal. i. 18, and ii. 1) both +termini are counted.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> We apply the name to the writer of Luke-Acts without +prejudice to the question of authorship.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Acts xxii. 10-21 is not quite consistent with xxvi. +15-18; but the general sense is clear.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Cornelius' case (Acts x.-xi. 18) is exceptional, and +no propaganda follows. The reading "Greeks" in Acts xi. 20, though +required by the sense and therefore adopted by the English +translators, is not supported by the textual evidence. Luke has here +corrected his source to suit his theory, just as in x. 1—xi. 18 he +passes by the true significance of the story, which really deals +with the question of <i>eating</i> with Gentiles (xi. 3, 7 <i>f.</i>).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> The assertion has recently been made in very high +quarters on the basis of 1st Cor. vii. 18 that Paul also took the +"apostolic" view that the Christian of Jewish birth remains under +obligation to keep the law. One would think Paul had not added verse +19!</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> On the reading "Greeks" in Acts xi. 20 see footnote <a href="#Footnote_10_10">10</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> The actual outcome is seen in the reduction of the +'burden' to the two items of abstinence from "fornication and from +things offered to idols." Paul's nicer distinctions under the latter +head (1st Cor. viii. 1-13, x. 14-23) as well as his distinction +between the ceremonial and the moral grounds for abstinence, were +disregarded.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Romans enlarges the conception of the economy of Law +by making it include the Gentile law of 'conscience' (Rom. i. +18—ii. 16). In Galatians this point is covered only by classing the +"angels" through whom the Mosaic Law was given, with the "Elements" +honoured in Gentile religion. Both are codes of "stewards and +governors."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Harnack very ingeniously suggests as a reason the ill +repute later incurred by Laodicea (<i>cf.</i> Rev. iii. 15 <i>f.</i>); +comparing the chiselling out from inscriptions of the names of +unpopular kings.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Some authorities of the first rank think there is +evidence of literary dependence in 1st Cor. i. 18-21 on the Saying +(Matt. xi. 25-27 = Lk. x. 21 <i>f.</i>).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> The orthodox Aramaic <i>Gospel of the Nazarenes</i> borrows +from Luke as well as Matthew, but speaks in the name of "Matthew." +This apostle was also regarded as author of the <i>Gospel according to</i> +<i>the Hebrews</i>, a heretical product of <i>c.</i> 120, current in Greek +among the Jewish Christians of Palestine (Ebionites).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> It was superscribed "These are the ... words (<i>logoi</i> +as in the Pastoral Epistles, not <i>logia</i> as in Papias and Polycarp) +which Jesus the living Lord spoke to the disciples and Thomas."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> The possibility should be left open that the Greek +Matthew was written in Egypt (cf. Matt. ii. 15), as some critics +hold. From the point of view of the church historian, however, Egypt +must really be classed as in "the regions of southern Syria." Its +relations with Jerusalem were close and constant.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> The parallel in Mark xvi. 14-18 is very instructive, +but needs the recently discovered connection between verses 14 and +15 to complete the sense: "And they excused themselves (for their +unbelief) saying, This age of lawlessness and unbelief is under the +dominion of Satan, who by means of the unclean spirits prevents the +truth and power of God from being apprehended. On this account +reveal thy righteousness (<i>i. e.</i> justice, in the sense of Isa. lvi, +1 <i>b</i>) even now. And Christ replied to them, The limit of years of +Satan's power is (already) fulfilled, but other terrible things are +at hand; moreover I was delivered up to death on behalf of sinners +in order that they might return unto the truth and sin no more, that +they might inherit the spiritual and incorruptible glory which is in +heaven." Then follows the mission into all the world and endowment +with the gifts.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> So Irenæus (186) and (by implication) Papias. Clement +of Alexandria (210) meets the difficulty by alleging that +Peter was still alive, but gave no aid to the writer.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> See below.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Note, also, how in Acts vi. 5 the list of +deacon-evangelists concludes "and Nicholas <i>a proselyte of</i> +<i>Antioch</i>."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> The mention of Agabus, however, in xi. 27 <i>f.</i> is +hardly consistent with xiii. 1 and xxi. 10-14. It seems to be due to +the editorial recasting of xi. 22-30.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> See above, <a href="#Page_104">p. 104.</a></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> Note the addition of an "eighth" emperor in ver. 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Not 2nd John; for it is only in 1st John ii. 18 that +the elder speaks of "many antichrists," identifying each separate +Doketist with the apocalyptic figure. In 2nd John vii. it is the +heresy itself as a phenomenon which constitutes <i>the</i> antichrist.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> +In the <i>Acts of John</i> the Christ spirit which had been +resident in Jesus comes to John after he has fled to a cave on the +Mount of Olives from the posse that arrested the Lord. The sweet +voice of the invisible Christ informs him there that the blinded +multitude below had tortured a mere bodily shape which they took to +be Christ, "while I stood by and laughed." In the <i>Gospel of Peter</i> +Jesus hung upon the cross "as one who feels no pain" and was "taken +up" before the end.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> See Footnote 28.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Some few passages inconsistent with this are found in +the body of the Gospel. Like that of the appendix (xxi. 22) they are +later modifications of a doctrine too Hellenic for the majority.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> The personal letters formed a separate group. Two +letters to the same church (1st Cor., 2nd Cor.) were counted as one. +Marcion (140) counted ten in all, and had a different order.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> A miscount for "fourth," unless we disregard xx. +11-18, or else (with Wellhausen) consider xx. 24-29 an insertion +later than the Epilogue.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> The addition in ver. 10<i>a</i> and the plural "they" in +ver. 11, are mere editorial adaptations of the story to Mark i. +16-20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> We must conclude that <i>both</i> these data from Synoptic +tradition, the denial (xiii. 36-38; xviii. 15-18, 25-27) <i>and</i> the +restoration (ch. xxi.) are supplements to the original form of the +Gospel.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> The <i>Muratorianum</i> bases its legendary account of the +writing of the Fourth gospel by "John" with the endorsement of "his +fellow-disciples and bishops" on John xxi. 24.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> The early death of James the son of Zebedee (Acts xii. +1) excludes him from consideration.</p></div> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="BIBLIOGRAPHY" id="BIBLIOGRAPHY"></a>BIBLIOGRAPHY</h2> + + +<p>1. General Introductions to N.T. Literature.</p> +<blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">Moffatt, Jas.</span> <i>"Internat. Theol. Library" Series.</i> Scribner's, 1911. +Standard, comprehensive, progressive. Best compendium of the subject +in English. A book for experts. 671 pp., 8vo.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Jülicher, A.</span> Engl. transl, by D. A. Ward, from 4th German ed. +London, Smith, Elder & Co., 1903. The most serviceable of modern +German Introductions, based on the standard work of the "liberal" +school, by H. J. Holtzmann. 650 pp., large 8vo.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Zahn, Theo.</span> Engl. transl. from 3rd German ed., by M. W. Jacobus. +Scribner's, 1909. Standard "conservative" work. Immense scholarship +in the harness of apologetics. Total, 1750 pp., in 3 vols., large +8vo.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Bacon, B. W.</span> <i>"New Test. Handbook" Series.</i> Macmillan 1900. Similar +to Moffatt's in standpoint, but without the survey of the +literature. For readers less technically advanced. 300 pp., small +8vo.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Peake, A. S.</span> N.Y., Scribner's, 1910. 250 pp., 12mo. An excellent +primer of the subject, generally conservative.</p></blockquote> + + +<p>2. Critical Treatments of Pauline Literature.</p> +<blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">Shaw, R. D.</span> <i>The Pauline Epistles, Introductory and Expository</i> +<i>Studies</i>, 2nd ed. T. & T. Clarke, 1904. 518 pp., large 8vo. Sober +and cautious. For general readers.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Ramsay, W. M.</span> <i>Pauline and other Studies in Early Christian</i> +<i>History.</i> Hodder & Stoughton, 1906. 425 pp., large 8vo. <i>The Cities</i> +<i>of St. Paul</i> (1907, 468 pp.) is by the same author, an eminent +geographer and archaeologist ardently enlisted against German +criticism. Interesting but diffuse.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Pfleiderer, O.</span> <i>Paulinism.</i> Engl. transl. by E. Peters. 2nd ed. +1891. Williams & Norgate. 2 vols. 8vo. Total, 580 pp., 8vo. Still a +standard exposition of Paul's system of thought. A book for experts.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Baur, F. C.</span> <i>Paul the Apostle of Jesus Christ, his Life and Work,</i> +<i>Epistles and Doctrine.</i> Engl. transl. of Zeller's (2nd), German ed., +by A. Menzies. Williams & Norgate, 1876. Two vols. 8vo (375 + 350 +pp.). An epoch-making book, the starting-point of modern criticism.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Schweitzer, A.</span> This able, though one-sided, critic has issued +already (1912) the conclusion to his study of modern Lives of Christ +(see below, <i>The Quest of the Historical Jesus</i>) under the title +<i>Geschichte der Paulinischen Forschung</i>. It may be expected that +this comprehensive survey and searching criticism of the literature +of Pauline study will soon be made accessible to the English reader.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Wrede, W.</span> <i>Paul.</i> Engl. transl. by E. Lummis. P. Green, London, +1907. 190 pp., 12mo. A brief, brilliant, popular sketch, radical, +suggestive. Needs the balance of more cautious criticism.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Weiss, J.</span> <i>Paul and Jesus.</i> Engl. transl. by H. J. Chaytor. London +and New York, Harper & Bros., 1909. 130 pp., 12mo. An effective +answer to Wrede's view of Paul as the real creator of Christianity, +by a progressive and able critic.</p> + +<p>Lives of Paul by Cone, Clemen (German) and others are abundant in +recent years. See the <i>Encyclopaedias</i> and <i>Dictionaries of the</i> +<i>Bible</i>, s.v. "Paul."</p></blockquote> + +<p>3. Critical Treatments of the Synoptic Gospels and Acts.</p> +<blockquote> + +<p><span class="smcap">Stanton, V. H.</span> <i>The Gospels as Historical Documents</i>, Parts I and +II. Cambridge University Press, 1903-1909. 297 + 400 pp., 8vo. A +standard survey of Gospel criticism from a conservative standpoint, +the work of a scholar for scholars.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Cone, O.</span> <i>Gospel Criticism and Historical Christianity.</i> Putnam's, +N.Y., 1891. 375 pp., small 8vo. Liberal, semi-popular.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Burkitt, F. C.</span> <i>The Earliest Sources for the Life of Jesus.</i> +Houghton & Mifflin, Boston and New York, 1910. 130 pp., 12mo. Simple +and popular. Burkitt is a leading progressive scholar.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>4. The Johannine Writings.</p> +<blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">Drummond, Jas.</span> <i>Character and Authorship of the Fourth Gospel.</i> +Scribner's, N.Y., 1904. 544 pp., 8vo. The ablest recent defence of +the traditional authorship. Scholarly discussion of the literary +history.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Bacon, B. W.</span> <i>The Fourth Gospel in Research and Debate.</i> Moffat, +Yard & Co., N.Y., 1910. 556 pp., 8vo. A similar discussion of the +evidences reaching the reverse conclusion.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Scott, E. F.</span> <i>The Fourth Gospel, its Purpose and Theology.</i> T. & T. +Clarke, Edinburgh, 1906. 386 pp., 8vo. Admirable in temper, lucid in +style, semi-popular.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Schmiedel, P. W.</span> <i>The Johannine Writings.</i> Engl. transl., by M. A. +Canney. London, A. & C. Black, 1903. 295 pp., 12mo. Brief, popular, +radical, by one of the ablest of N.T. critics.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>General.</p> +<blockquote> +<p><span class="smcap">Reuss, E.</span> <i>History of the N.T.</i> Engl. transl. from 5th German ed., +by E. L. Houghton. Boston, Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1884. 649 pp. 2 +vols. large 8vo. A standard treasury of scholarly information.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Wernle, P.</span> <i>The Beginnings of Christianity.</i> Engl. transl., by G. A. +Bienemann. London, Williams & Norgate, 1904. 388 + 404 pp., 8vo. 2 +vols. Able, scholarly, advanced.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Pfleiderer, O.</span> <i>Christian Origins.</i> Engl. transl., by D. Huebsch. +New York, B. W. Huebsch, 1906. 295 pp., 12mo. Popular lectures +showing something of the views of the modern school of critics known +as <i>religionsgeschichtlich</i>. Pfleiderer's critical opinions are +fully expressed in his <i>Primitive Christianity</i> (Engl. transl., by +W. Montgomery, in four vols., 8vo. Putnams, 1909).</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Muzzey, D. S.</span> <i>The Rise of the N.T.</i> New York, Macmillan, 1900. 156 +pp., 12mo. An excellent primer for beginners.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Wrede, W.</span> <i>The Origin of the N.T.</i> Engl. transl. by J. S. Hill. +Harper & Bros., London & New York, 1909. 151 pp., 12mo. An admirable +primer by a brilliant leader of advanced criticism.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Von Soden.</span> <i>The History of Early Christian Literature. Writings of</i> +<i>the N.T.</i> Engl. transl., by J. R. Wilkinson. +Williams & Norgate, 1906. 476 pp., 12mo. A book for beginners by a +great N.T. scholar of liberal views. A closely connected field is +covered by various <i>Histories of the Apostolic Age</i>, of which the +most recent and important are those of Weizsäcker (Engl. transl., +1895) and McGiffert (1897). Less technical and more orthodox are +those of Vernon-Bartlett (1899) and J. H. Ropes (1906). <i>Critical</i> +<i>Lives of Christ</i> present the results of critical study of the +Gospels. A survey of this field of research, keenly analytical and +severely critical, is given by A. Schweitzer in <i>The Quest of the</i> +<i>Historical Jesus</i> (Engl. transl. by W. Montgomery. A. & C. Black, +1910. 416 pp., 8vo). Schweitzer writes with great scholarship and +power, but decided polemic interest as a "consistent eschatologist."</p> +</blockquote><br><br> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;"> +<h2><a name="INDEX" id="INDEX"></a>INDEX</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left">Abomination,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Acts,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_57">57 ff.</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64 ff.</a>, <a href="#Page_174">174 ff</a>.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Agabus,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_185">185</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Allegory (in John),</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_224">224</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Angelology and demonology,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_95">95</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Antichrist,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_217">217 f.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Anti-legalism (of Mark),</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_166">166</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Antinomian heresy,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Antioch,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175 ff.</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183 f</a>.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Apocalypses,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Apostolic Christianity,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Apostolic Commission,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_238">238 f.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Apostolic Council,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Apotheosis doctrine,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_49">49</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Appendix to John,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236 ff.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Asia, Churches of,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_197">197 ff.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Athanasius,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_29">29 f.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Babylon (= Rome),</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Baptist (in John),</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_225">225</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Bar Cocheba,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_204">204</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Baruch, Apocalypse of</i></td><td align="left">188</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Baur, F. C.,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_37">37 ff.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Beloved disciple, the,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243 ff.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Cæsarea,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_85">85</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Calvin,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_37">37</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Canonization of the Law,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_12">12</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Cerinthus,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_219">219</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Chiliasts,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_187">187</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Christological Epistles,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_97">97</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Christ-party,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_45">45</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Clement of Rome,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_19">19 f.</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Clement of Alexandria,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_25">25</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Clementine Homilies and Recognitions</i>,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_148">148</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Colossians,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_98">98</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Corinthian Epistles,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_76">76 ff.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Decrees of Jerusalem,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_60">60</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Diary of Acts,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_183">183</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Dionysius of Alexandria,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_191">191</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Disputed books,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Doketism,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Elder (of 2nd and 3rd John),</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_215">215</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Elements,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Ephesians,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_98">98</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Ephesus,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111 f.</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Epiphanius,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_131">131</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Epistles (Major),</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_43">43</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Epistles of the Captivity,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Eschatological discourse,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_161">161</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Esdras (Apocalypse of),</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_188">188</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">External evidence,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_38">38</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">False brethren,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_41">41</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Feasts (in John),</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_226">226</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Fornication,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Gaius (3rd John),</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_215">215 f.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Gaius of Rome,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Galatians,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Gentile liberty,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_61">61 ff.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Gnosticism,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207 f.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Gospel according to the Hebrews</i>,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Gospel of the Nazarenes</i>,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145 ff.</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Harnack,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_98">98</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Hebrews,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_219">107</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116 ff.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Hebrews, Apostolic authority in,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_18">18</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Hebrews, Canonical standing of,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_31">31</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Hegesippus, 105 f.,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_111">111</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Hellenistic religion,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_247">247</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Hermas,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119 f.</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Ignatius,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_20">20 f.</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Incarnation Doctrine,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Infancy of Jesus (in Matthew and Luke),</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_152">152</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Internal evidence,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_38">38</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Irenæus,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">James,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_104">104 ff.</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112 f.</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Jerusalem Conference,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Jerusalem succession,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_105">105 f.</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">John, the Apostle, a martyr,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">John, Gospel of,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206 ff.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">John, Revelation of,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189 ff.</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">John, Epistles of,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211 ff.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">John, <i>Acts of</i>,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_219">219 f.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">John, the Elder,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Josephus (used by Luke),</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_174">174</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Judaism <i>v.</i> Hellenism,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_52">52 f.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Judaizers,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_68">68</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Jude,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Justin Martyr,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235 f.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Kindred of the Lord,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_164">164 f</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Laodiceans,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_98">98</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Law <i>v.</i> grace,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_219">81</a>, <a href="#Page_219">123</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Logia</i>,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Logos-doctrine,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Lordship (of Christ),</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_96">96</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Luke,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173 f.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Luke, his omissions from Mark,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_178">178 f.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Luke, his purpose in writing,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_180">180 f.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Luther,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_37">37</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Magic,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_93">93 ff.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Marcion,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_22">22 ff.</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mark,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159 ff.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mark, Duplication in,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_172">172</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Mark, Endings of,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_168">168 ff.</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235 f.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Matthew,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_131">131 ff.</a>, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Melito of Sardis,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Michælis,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Missionary Journey, First,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_58">58 f.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Missionary Journey, Second,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_72">72</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Moffatt, Jas.,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_151">151</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Montanus,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_28">28 f.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Muratorian Fragment,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Nepos, the Chiliast,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_191">191</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Offering for the poor,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_69">69</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Palestine, Origin of Revelations,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_195">195 ff.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Papias,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105 f.</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130 f.</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186 f.</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Parables (in Matthew),</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_149">149 f.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Passover,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Pastoral Epistles,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Patmos,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_219">191</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200 f.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Paul, Original Apostle of Asia,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_205">205</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Paul, his religious experience,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_16">16</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Paul, martyrdom,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_105">105</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Pauline <i>v.</i> Petrine gospel,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_49">49</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Paulinism of Mark,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_162">162</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Persecution,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Peter (the Apostle),</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Peter, <i>Apocalypse of</i>,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_29">29 f.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Peter, Commission of,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_240">240 f.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Peter, Epistles of,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108 f.</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112 ff.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Peter, <i>Gospel of</i>,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_171">171</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Peter, <i>Preaching of</i>,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_139">139</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Pharisaic Judaism,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_121">121</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Philemon,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_88">88</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Philip, Daughters of,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_185">185 f.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Philippians,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_89">89 ff.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Phrygian heresy,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_28">28</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Pirke Aboth</i>,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Polycarp,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Porphyry,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_106">106</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Post-Reformation dogma,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_33">33 f.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Precepts (of Jesus),</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_137">137</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Prologue (of John),</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_231">231</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Prophecy,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_188">188 f.</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Q-material,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_141">141 ff.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Reconciliation with God,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_103">103</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Redeemer-gods,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_50">50</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Redemption doctrines,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Reformation,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_37">37</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Repentance (the Great),</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_156">156 f.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Resurrection-doctrine,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Revelation (<i>See</i> John, Revelation of)</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Romans,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80 ff.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Rome,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Satan, Dominion of,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_157">157</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Scripture, Use in Paul,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_17">17</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Scripture, Use in John,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_25">25</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Second Coming,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_230">230</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Sermon on Mount,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Signs in Fourth gospel,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_223">223</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Simon, Richard,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Spirit, Doctrine of the,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Subscriptions,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_233">233</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Superstitious Judaism,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_93">93 f.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Symeon, son of Clopas,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_105">105</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Synoptic writings,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Synoptic writings in John,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_228">228</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Syria and Cilicia,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><i>Teaching of the Twelve</i>,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Tertullian,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_219">19</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Thessalonian Epistles,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_73">73</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Timothy (<i>See</i> Pastoral Epistles),</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_78">78</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Titus (<i>See</i> Pastoral Epistles)</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Transfiguration,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Tübingen School,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_43">43 ff.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Unity of the Church,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Unity of the N.T.,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_248">248</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Way (= sect),</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_8">8</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Weak (party of the),</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_45">45</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Wisdom of God,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Wisdom of Solomon (Sap.),</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_51">51</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Words of Jesus,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129 f.</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144 f.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"></td><td align="left"></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Zahn,</td><td align="left"><a href="#Page_115">115</a></td></tr> +</table></div><br> +<hr style="width: 95%;"> +<p class='center'><i>Richard Clay & sons, Limited, London and Bungay.</i></p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Making of the New Testament, by +Benjamin W. Bacon + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAKING OF THE NEW TESTAMENT *** + +***** This file should be named 39288-h.htm or 39288-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/2/8/39288/ + +Produced by David Edwards, Hazel Batey and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/39288-h/images/titlepage.jpg b/39288-h/images/titlepage.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e5d9874 --- /dev/null +++ b/39288-h/images/titlepage.jpg |
