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diff --git a/45620-tei/45620-tei.tei b/45620-tei/45620-tei.tei new file mode 100644 index 0000000..75ad4f2 --- /dev/null +++ b/45620-tei/45620-tei.tei @@ -0,0 +1,15565 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> + +<!DOCTYPE TEI.2 SYSTEM "http://www.gutenberg.org/tei/marcello/0.4/dtd/pgtei.dtd" [ + +<!ENTITY u5 "http://www.tei-c.org/Lite/"> + +]> + +<TEI.2 lang="en"> +<teiHeader> + <fileDesc> + <titleStmt> + <title>Lost and Hostile Gospels</title> + <author><name reg="Baring-Gould, Sabine">Sabine Baring-Gould</name></author> + </titleStmt> + <editionStmt> + <edition n="1">Edition 1</edition> + </editionStmt> + <publicationStmt> + <publisher>Project Gutenberg</publisher> + <date>May 8, 2014</date> + <idno type="etext-no">45620</idno> + <availability> + <p>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 online at www.gutenberg.org/license</p> + </availability> + </publicationStmt> + <sourceDesc> + <bibl> + Created electronically. + </bibl> + </sourceDesc> + </fileDesc> + <encodingDesc> + </encodingDesc> + <profileDesc> + <langUsage> + <language id="en"></language> + <language id="fr"></language> + <language id="he"></language> + </langUsage> + </profileDesc> + <revisionDesc> + <change> + <date value="2014-05-08">May 8, 2014</date> + <respStmt> + <name> + Produced by David King, and the Online + Distributed Proofreading Team at <http://www.pgdp.net/>. + </name> + </respStmt> + <item>Project Gutenberg TEI edition 1</item> + </change> + </revisionDesc> +</teiHeader> + +<pgExtensions> + <pgStyleSheet> + .boxed { x-class: boxed } + .shaded { x-class: shaded } + .rules { x-class: rules; rules: all } + .indent { margin-left: 2 } + .bold { font-weight: bold } + .italic { font-style: italic } + .smallcaps { font-variant: small-caps } + </pgStyleSheet> + + <pgCharMap formats="txt.iso-8859-1"> + <char id="U0x2014"> + <charName>mdash</charName> + <desc>EM DASH</desc> + <mapping>--</mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x2003"> + <charName>emsp</charName> + <desc>EM SPACE</desc> + <mapping> </mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x2026"> + <charName>hellip</charName> + <desc>HORIZONTAL ELLIPSIS</desc> + <mapping>...</mapping> + </char> + </pgCharMap> +</pgExtensions> + +<text lang="en"> + <front> + <div> + <divGen type="pgheader" /> + </div> + <div> + <divGen type="encodingDesc" /> + </div> + + <div rend="page-break-before: always"> + <p rend="font-size: xx-large; text-align: center">The Lost and Hostile Gospels</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">An Essay</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">On the Toledoth Jeschu, and the Petrine and Pauline Gospels of the First Three Centuries of Which Fragments Remain.</p> + <p rend="font-size: large; text-align: center">By</p> + <p rend="font-size: x-large; text-align: center">Rev. S. Baring-Gould, M.A.</p> + <p rend="; text-align: center">Author of <q>The Origin and Development of Religious Belief,</q> <q>Legendary Lives of the Old Testament Characters.</q> Etc.</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">Williams and Norgate</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">London, Edinburgh</p> + <p rend="text-align: center">1874</p> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before: always"> + <head>Contents</head> + <divGen type="toc" /> + </div> + + </front> +<body> + +<div> +<p rend='text-align: center'> +<figure url='images/cover.jpg' rend='width: 40%'> +<figDesc>Cover Art</figDesc> +</figure> +</p> +<p> +[Transcriber's Note: The above cover image was produced by the submitter at +Distributed Proofreaders, and is being placed into the public domain.] +</p> +</div> + +<pb n='v'/><anchor id='Pgv'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Preface.</head> + +<p> +It is advisable, if not necessary, for me, by way of preface, +to explain certain topics treated of in this book, which do +not come under its title, and which, at first thought, may be +taken to have but a remote connection with the ostensible +subject of this treatise. These are: +</p> + +<p> +1. The outbreak of Antinomianism which disfigured and +distressed primitive Christianity. +</p> + +<p> +2. The opposition of the Nazarene Church to St. Paul. +</p> + +<p> +3. The structure and composition of the Synoptical Gospels. +</p> + +<p> +The consideration of these curious and important topics +has forced its way into these pages; for the first two throw +great light on the history of those Gospels which have disappeared, +and which it is not possible to reconstruct without +a knowledge of the religious parties to which they belonged. +And these parties were determined by the fundamental question +of Law or No-law, as represented by the Petrine and +ultra-Pauline Christians. And the third of these topics +necessarily bound up with the consideration of the structure +and origin of the Lost Gospels, as the reader will see if he +<pb n='vi'/><anchor id='Pgvi'/> +cares to follow me in the critical examination of their extant +fragments. +</p> + +<p> +Upon each of these points a few preliminary words will +not, I hope, come amiss, and may prevent misunderstanding. +</p> + +<p> +1. The history of the Church, as the history of nations, is +not to be read with prejudiced eyes, with penknife in hand +to erase facts which fight against foregone conclusions. +</p> + +<p> +English Churchmen have long gazed with love on the +Primitive Church as the ideal of Christian perfection, the +Eden wherein the first fathers of their faith walked blameless +before God, and passionless towards each other. To doubt, +to dissipate in any way this pleasant dream, may shock and +pain certain gentle spirits. Alas! the fruit of the tree of +γνῶσις, if it opens the eyes, saddens also and shames the +heart. +</p> + +<p> +History, whether sacred or profane, hides her teaching +from those who study her through coloured glasses. She +only reveals truth to those who look through the cold clear +medium of passionless inquiry, who seek the Truth without +determining first the masquerade in which alone they will +receive it. +</p> + +<p> +It exhibits a strange, a sad want of faith in Truth thus +to constrain history to turn out facts according to order, to +squeeze it through the sieve of prejudice. And what indeed +is Truth in history but the voice of God instructing the +world through the vices, follies, errors of the past? +</p> + +<p> +A calm, patient spirit of inquiry is an attitude of the +modern mind alone. To this mind History has made strange +disclosures which she kept locked up through former ages. +<pb n='vii'/><anchor id='Pgvii'/> +The world of Nature lay before the men of the past, but +they could not, would not read it, save from left to right, or +right to left, as their prejudices ran. The wise and learned +had to cast aside their formulae, and sit meekly at the feet of +Nature, as little children, before they learned her laws. Nor +will History submit to hectoring. Only now is she unfolding +the hidden truth in her ancient scrolls. +</p> + +<p> +It is too late to go back to conclusions of an uncritical age, +though it was that of our fathers; the time for denying the +facts revealed by careful criticism is passed away as truly as +is the time for explaining the shadows in the moon by the +story of the Sabbath-breaker and his faggot of sticks. +</p> + +<p> +And criticism has put a lens to our eyes, and disclosed to +us on the shining, remote face of primitive Christianity rents +and craters undreamt of in our old simplicity. +</p> + +<p> +That there was, in the breast of the new-born Church, an +element of antinomianism, not latent, but in virulent activity, +is a fact as capable of demonstration as any conclusion in a +science which is not exact. +</p> + +<p> +In the apostolic canonical writings we see the beginning of +the trouble; the texture of the Gospels is tinged by it; the +Epistles of Paul on one side, of Jude and Peter on the other, +show it in energetic operation; ecclesiastical history reveals it +in full flagrance a century later. +</p> + +<p> +Whence came the spark? what material ignited? These +are questions that must be answered. We cannot point to +the blaze in the sub-apostolic age, and protest that it was an +instantaneous combustion, with no smouldering train leading +up to it,—to the rank crop of weeds, and argue that they +<pb n='viii'/><anchor id='Pgviii'/> +sprang from no seed. We shall have to look up the stream +to the fountains whence the flood was poured. +</p> + +<p> +The existence of antinomianism in the Churches of Greece +and Asia Minor, synchronizing with their foundation, transpires +from the Epistles of St. Paul. It was an open sore in +the life-time of the Twelve; it was a sorrow weighing daily on +the great soul of the Apostle of the Gentiles. It called forth +the indignant thunder of Jude and Peter, and the awful +denunciations in the charges to the Seven Churches. +</p> + +<p> +The apocryphal literature of the sub-apostolic period carries +on the sad story. Under St. John's presiding care, the gross +scandals which defiled Gentile Christianity were purged out, +and antinomian Christianity deserted Asia Minor for +Alexandria. There it made head again, as revealed to us by the +controversialists of the third century. And there it disappeared +for a while. +</p> + +<p> +Yet the disease was never eradicated. Its poison still +lurked in the veins of the Church, and again and again +throughout the Middle Ages heretics emerged fitfully, true +successors of Nicolas, Cerdo, Marcion and Valentine, shaking +off the trammels of the moral law, and seeking justification +through mystic exaltation or spiritual emotion. The Papacy +trod down these ugly heretics with ruthless heel. But at the +Reformation, when the restraint was removed, the disease +broke forth in a multitude of obscene sects spotting the fair +face of Protestantism. +</p> + +<p> +Nor has the virus exhausted itself. Its baleful workings, +if indistinct, are still present and threatening. +</p> + +<p> +But how comes it that Christianity has thus its dark +<pb n='ix'/><anchor id='Pgix'/> +shadow constantly haunting it? The cause is to be sought +in the constitution of man. Man, moving in his little orbit, +has ever a face turned away from the earth and all that is +material, looking out into infinity,—a dark, unknown side, +about whose complexion we may speculate, but which we +can never map. It is a face which must ever remain mysterious, +and ever radiate into mystery. As the eye and ear are +bundles of nerves through which the inner man goes out into, +and receives impressions from, the material world, so is the +soul a marvellous tissue of fibres through which man is placed +<foreign rend='italic'>en rapport</foreign> with the spiritual world, God and infinity. It is +the existence of this face, these fibres—take which simile you +like—which has constituted mystics in every age all over the +world: Schamans in frozen Siberia, Fakirs in burning India, +absorbed Buddhists, ecstatic Saints, Essenes, Witches, Anchorites, +Swedenborgians, modern Spiritualists. +</p> + +<p> +Man, double-faced by nature, is placed by Revelation +under a sharp, precise external rule, controlling his actions +and his thoughts. +</p> + +<p> +To this rule spirit and body are summoned to do homage. +But the spirit has an inherent tendency towards the unlimited, +by virtue of its nature, which places it on the confines +of the infinite. Consequently it is never easy under a +rule which is imposed on it conjointly with the body; it +strains after emancipation, strives to assert its independence +of what is external, and to establish its claim to obey only +the movements in the spiritual world. It throbs sympathetically +with the auroral flashes in that realm of mystery, like +the flake of gold-leaf in the magnetometer. +</p> + +<pb n='x'/><anchor id='Pgx'/> + +<p> +To be bound to the body, subjected to its laws, is degrading; +to be unbounded, unconditioned, is its aspiration and +supreme felicity. +</p> + +<p> +Thus the incessant effort of the spirit is to establish its +law in the inner world of feeling, and remove it from the +material world without. +</p> + +<p> +Moreover, inasmuch as the spirit melts into the infinite, +cut off from it by no sharply-defined line, it is disposed to +regard itself as a part of God, a creek of the great Ocean of +Divinity, and to suppose that all its emotions are the pulsations +of the tide in the all-embracing Spirit. It loses the +consciousness of its individuality; it deifies itself. +</p> + +<p> +A Suffee fable representing God and the human soul illustrates +this well. <q>One knocked at the Beloved's door, and +a voice from within cried, <q>Who is there?</q> Then the soul +answered, <q>It is I.</q> And the voice of God said, <q>This house +will not hold me and thee.</q> So the door remained shut. +Then the soul went away into a wilderness, and after long +fasting and prayer it returned, and knocked once again at the +door. And again the voice demanded <q>Who is there?</q> +Then he said, <q>It is <hi rend='smallcaps'>Thou</hi>,</q> and at once the door opened to +him.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Thus the mystic always regards his unregulated wishes as +divine revelations, his random impulses as heavenly inspirations. +He has no law but his own will; and therefore, in +mysticism, there, is no curb against the grossest licence. +</p> + +<p> +The existence of that evil which, knowing the constitution +of man, we should expect to find prevalent in mysticism, the +experience of all ages has shown following, dogging its steps +<pb n='xi'/><anchor id='Pgxi'/> +inevitably. So slight is the film that separates religious from +sensual passion, that uncontrolled spiritual fervour roars +readily into a blaze of licentiousness. +</p> + +<p> +It is this which makes revivalism of every description so +dangerous. It is a two-edged weapon that cuts the hand +which holds it. +</p> + +<p> +Yet the spiritual, religious element in man is that which is +most beautiful and pure, when passionless. It is like those +placid tarns, crystal clear and icy cold, in Auvergne and the +Eifel, which lie in the sleeping vents of old volcanoes. We +love to linger by them, yet never with security, for we know +that a throb, a shock, may at any moment convert them into +boiling geysirs or raging craters. +</p> + +<p> +So well is this fact known in the Roman Church, that a +mystic is inexorably shut up in a convent, or cast out as a +heretic. +</p> + +<p> +The more spiritual a religion is, the more apt it is to lurch +and let in a rush of immorality; for its tendency is to substitute +an internal for the external law, and the internal impulse +is too often a hidden jog from the carnal appetite. In a +highly spiritual religion, a written revelation is supplemented +or superseded by one which is within. +</p> + +<p> +This was eminently the case with the Anabaptists of the sixteenth +century. When plied with texts by the Lutheran divines, +they coldly answered that they walked not after the letter, but +after the spirit; that to those who are in Christ Jesus, there +is an inner illumination directing their conduct, before which +that which is without grew pale and waned. The horrible +<pb n='xii'/><anchor id='Pgxii'/> +licence into which this internal light plunged them is matter +of history. +</p> + +<p> +One lesson history enforces inexorably—that there lies a +danger to morals in placing reliance on the spirit as an independent +guide. +</p> + +<p> +The spirit has its proper function and its true security; +its function, the perception of the infinite, the divine; its +security, the observance of the marriage-tie which binds it to +the body. +</p> + +<p> +God has joined body and spirit in sacred wedlock, and +subjected both to a revealed external law; in the maintenance +of this union, and submission to this law, man's safety lies. +The spirit supreme, the body a bond-maid, is no marriage; it +is a concubinage, bringing with it a train of attendant evils. +</p> + +<p> +Man stands, so to speak, at the bisection of two circles, +the material and the spiritual, in each of which he has a +part, and to the centres of each of which he feels a gravitation. +Absorption in either realm is fatal to the well-being +of the entire man. +</p> + +<p> +And this leads us to the consideration of the marvellous +aptitude to human nature of the Incarnation, welding together +into indissoluble union spirit and matter, the infinite and the +finite. The religion which flows from that source cannot dissociate +soul from body. Its law is the marriage of that which +is spiritual to that which is material; the soul cannot shake +off the responsibilities of the body; everything spiritual is +clothed, and every material object is a sacrament conveying a +ray of divinity. +</p> + +<pb n='xiii'/><anchor id='Pgxiii'/> + +<p> +There can be no evasion, no abrasion and rupture of the +tie by either party, without lesion of the chain which binds +to the Incarnation; and it is a fact worthy of note, that +mysticism has always a tendency to obscure this fundamental +dogma, and that the immoral sects of ancient times and of +the present day hang loosely by, or openly deny, this great +verity. +</p> + +<p> +St. Paul had a natural bias towards mysticism. His trances +and revelations betoken a nature branching out into the +spiritual realm; and throughout his letters we see the inevitable +consequence—a struggle to displace the centre of +obedience, to transfer it from without and enthrone it within, +to make the internal revelation the governing principle of +action, in the room of submission to an external law. +</p> + +<p> +But, like St. Theresa, who never relinquished her common +sense whilst yielding up her spirit to the most incoherent +raptures; like Mohammad, who, however he might soar in +ecstasy above the moon, never lost sight of the principles +which would ensure a very material success; like Ignatius +Loyola, who, in the midst of fantastic visions, elaborated a +system of government full of the maturest judgment,—so St. +Paul never surrendered himself unconditionally to the promptings +of his spirit. Like the angel of the Apocalypse, if he +stood with one foot in the vague sea, he kept the other on +the solid land. +</p> + +<p> +That thorn in the flesh, whose presence he deplored, kept +him from forgetting the body and its obligations; the moral +disorders breaking out wherever he preached his gospel, +warned him in time not to relax too far the restraint imposed +<pb n='xiv'/><anchor id='Pgxiv'/> +by the law without. As the revolt of the Anabaptists +checked Luther, so did the excesses of the Gentile Christians +arrest Paul. Both saw and obeyed the warning finger of +Providence signalling a retreat. +</p> + +<p> +Divinely inspired St. Paul was. But inspiration never +obscures and obliterates human characteristics. It directs +and utilizes them for its own purpose, leaving free margin +beyond that purpose for the exercise of individual proclivities +uncontrolled. +</p> + +<p> +Paul's natural tendency is unmistakable; and we may see +evidence of divine guidance in the fact of his having refused +to give the rein to his natural propensities, and of being prepared +to turn all his energies to the repairing of those dykes +against the ocean which in a moment of impatience he had +set his hand to tear down. +</p> + +<p> +As Socrates was by nature prone to become the most +vicious of men, so was Paul naturally disposed to become the +most dangerous of heresiarchs. But the moral sense of Socrates +mastered his passions and converted him into a philosopher; +and the guiding spirit of God made of Paul the +mystic an apostle of righteousness. +</p> + +<p> +Christianity, as the religion of the Incarnation, has its +external form and its internal spirit, and it is impossible to +dissociate one from the other without peril. Mere formalism +and naked spirituality are alike and equally pernicious. Formalism, +the resolution of religion into ceremonial acts only, +void of spirit, is like the octopus, lacing its thousand filaments +about the soul and drawing it into the abyss; and mysticism, +pure spirituality, like the magnet mountain in Sinbad's +<pb n='xv'/><anchor id='Pgxv'/> +voyage, draws the nails out of the vessel—the rivets of moral +law—and the Christian character goes to pieces. +</p> + +<p> +The history of the Church is the history of her leaning +first towards one side, then towards the other, of advance +amid perpetual recoils from either peril. +</p> + +<p> +2. The alarm caused in Jerusalem amidst the elder apostles +and the Nazarene Church at the immorality which disfigured +Pauline Christianity, was not the only cause of the mistrust +wherewith they viewed him and his teaching. Other causes +existed which I have not touched on in my text, lest I +should distract attention from the main points of my argument, +but they are deserving of notice here. +</p> + +<p> +And the first of these was the intense prejudice which +existed among the Jews of Palestine against Greek modes of +thought, manners, culture, even against the Greek language. +</p> + +<p> +The second was the jealousy with which the Palestinian +Jews regarded the Alexandrine Jews, their mode of interpreting +Scripture, and their system of theology. +</p> + +<p> +St. Paul, an accomplished Greek scholar, brought up at +Tarsus amidst Hellenistic Jews, adopted the theology and +exegesis in vogue at Alexandria, and on both these accounts +excited the suspicion and dislike of the national party at +Jerusalem. The Nazarenes were imbued with the prejudices +they had acquired in their childhood, in the midst of which +they had grown up, and they could not but regard Paul with +alarm when he turned without disguise to the Greeks, and +introduced into the Church the theological system and scriptural +interpretations of a Jewish community they had always +regarded as of questionable orthodoxy. +</p> + +<pb n='xvi'/><anchor id='Pgxvi'/> + +<p> +First let us consider the causes which contributed to the +creation of the prejudice against the Hellenizers. Judaea had +served as the battle-field of the Greek kings of Egypt and +Syria. Whether Judaea fell under the dominion of Syria or +Egypt it mattered not; Ptolemies and Seleucides alike were +intolerable oppressors. But it was especially the latter who +excited to its last exasperation the fanaticism of the Jews, +and called forth in their breasts an ineffaceable antipathy +towards everything that was Greek. +</p> + +<p> +The temple was pillaged by them, the sanctuary was +violated, the high-priesthood degraded. Antiochus Epiphanes +entertained the audacious design of completely overthrowing +the religion of the Jews, of forcibly Hellenizing +them. For this purpose he forbade the celebration of the +Sabbaths and feasts, drenched the sanctuary with blood to +pollute it, the sacrifices were not permitted, circumcision was +made illegal. The sufferings of the Jews, driven into deserts +and remote hiding-places in the mountains, are described in +the first book of the Maccabees. +</p> + +<p> +Yet there was a party disposed to acquiesce in this attempt +at changing the whole current of their nation's life, ready to +undo the work of Ezra, break with their past, and fling themselves +into the tide of Greek civilization and philosophic +thought. These men set up a gymnasium in Jerusalem, +Graecised their names, openly scoffed at the Law, ignored the +Sabbath, and neglected circumcision.<note place='foot'>Joseph. Antiq. xii. 5; 1 Maccab. i. 11-15, 43, 52; 2 Maccab. iv. +9-16.</note> At the head of this +party stood the high-priests Jason and Menelaus. The author +<pb n='xvii'/><anchor id='Pgxvii'/> +of the first book of the Maccabees styles these conformists to +the state policy, <q>evil men, seducing many to despise the +Law.</q> Josephus designates them as <q>wicked</q> and <q>impious.</q><note place='foot'>πονήροι, ἀσεβεῖς.—Antiq. xiii. 4, xii. 10.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The memory of the miseries endured in the persecution of +Antiochus did not fade out of the Jewish mind, neither did +the party disappear which was disposed to symbolize with +Greek culture, and was opposed to Jewish prejudice. Nor +did the abhorrence in which it was held lose its intensity. +</p> + +<p> +From the date of the Antiochian persecution, the names of +<q>Greek</q> or <q>friend of the Greeks</q> were used as synonymous +with <q>traitor</q> and <q>apostate.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Seventy years before Christ, whilst Hyrcanus was besieging +Aristobulus in Jerusalem, the besiegers furnished the besieged +daily with lambs for the sacrifice. An old Jew, belonging to +the anti-national party, warned Hyrcanus that as long as the +city was supplied with animals for the altar, so long it would +hold out. On the morrow, in place of a lamb, a pig was +flung over the walls. The earth shuddered at the impiety, +and the heads of the synagogue solemnly cursed from thenceforth +whosoever of their nation should for the future teach +the Greek tongue to his sons.<note place='foot'>Baba-Kama, fol. 82; Menachoth, fol. 64; Sota, fol. 49; San-Baba, +fol. 90.</note> Whether this incident be +true or not, it proves that a century after Antiochus Epiphanes +the Jews entertained a hatred of that Greek culture +which they regarded as a source of incredulity and impiety. +</p> + +<p> +The son of Duma asked his uncle Israel if, after having +<pb n='xviii'/><anchor id='Pgxviii'/> +learned the whole Law, he might not study the philosophy +of the Greeks. <q><q>The Book of the Law shall not depart out +of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night.</q> +These are the words of God</q> (Josh. i. 8), said the old man; +<q>find me an hour which is neither day nor night, and in +that study your Greek philosophy.</q><note place='foot'>Menachoth, fol. 99.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Gamaliel, the teacher of St. Paul, was well versed in Greek +literature; that this caused uneasiness in his day is probable; +and indeed the Gemara labours to explain the fact of his +knowledge of Greek, and apologizes for it.<note place='foot'>Baba-Kama, fol. 63.</note> Consequently +Saul, the disciple of Gamaliel, also a Greek scholar, would be +likely to incur the same suspicion, as one leaning away from +strict Judaism towards Gentile culture. +</p> + +<p> +The Jews of Palestine viewed the Alexandrine Jews with +dislike, and mistrusted the translation into Greek of their +sacred books. They said it was a day of sin and blasphemy +when the version of the Septuagint was made, equal only in +wickedness to that on which their fathers had made the +golden calf.<note place='foot'>Mass. Sopherim, c. i. in Othonis Lexicon Rabbin. p. 329.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The loudly-proclaimed intention of Paul to turn to the +Gentiles, his attitude of hostility towards the Law, the abrogation +of the Sabbath and substitution for it of the Lord's-day, +his denunciation of circumcision, his abandonment of +his Jewish name for a Gentile one, led to his being identified +by the Jews of Palestine with the abhorred Hellenistic party; +and the Nazarene Christians shared to the full in the national +prejudices. +</p> + +<pb n='xix'/><anchor id='Pgxix'/> + +<p> +The Jews, at the time of the first spread of Christianity, +were dispersed over the whole world; and in Greece and Asia +Minor occupied a quarter, and exercised influence, in every +town. The Seleucides had given the right of citizenship to +these Asiatic Jews, and had extended to them some sort of +protection. The close association of these Jews with Greeks +necessarily led to the adoption of some of their ideas. Since +Ezra, the dominant principle of the Palestinian and Babylonish +rabbis had been to create a <q>hedge of the Law,</q> to constitute +of the legal prescriptions a net lacing those over whom +it was cast with minute yet tough fibres, stifling spontaneity. +Whilst rabbinism was narrowing the Jewish horizon, Greek +philosophy was widening man's range of vision. The tendencies +of Jewish theology and Greek philosophy were radically +opposed. The Alexandrine Jews never submitted to be +involved in the meshes of rabbinism. They produced a +school of thinkers, of whom Aristobulus was the first known +exponent, and Philo the last expression, which sought to +combine Mosaism with Platonism, to explain the Pentateuch +as the foundation of a philosophic system closely related to +the highest and best theories of the Greeks. +</p> + +<p> +In the Holy Land, routine, the uniform repetition of prescribed +forms, the absence of all alien currents of thought, +tended insensibly to transform religion into formalism, and +to identify it with the ceremonies which are its exterior manifestation. +</p> + +<p> +In Egypt, on the other hand, the Alexandrine Jews, ambitious +to give to the Greeks an exalted idea of their religion, +strove to bring into prominence its great doctrines of the +<pb n='xx'/><anchor id='Pgxx'/> +Unity of the Godhead, of Creation, and Providence. All secondary +points were allegorized or slurred over. As Palestinian +rabbinism became essentially ceremonial, Alexandrine +Judaism became essentially spiritual. The streams of life +and thought in these members of the same race were diametrically +opposed. +</p> + +<p> +The Jews settled in Asia Minor, subjected to the same +influences, actuated by the same motives, as the Egyptian +Jews, looked to Alexandria rather than to Jerusalem or +Babylon for guidance, and were consequently involved in the +same jealous dislike which fell on the Jews of Egypt.<note place='foot'>Philo is not mentioned by name once in the Talmud, nor has a single +sentiment or interpretation of an Alexandrine Jew been admitted into +the Jerusalem or Babylonish Talmud.</note> +</p> + +<p> +There can be no doubt that St. Paul was acquainted with, +and influenced by, the views of the Alexandrine school. That +he had read some of Philo's works is more than probable. +How much he drew from the writings of Aristobulus the +Peripatetic cannot be told, as none of the books of that learned +but eclectic Jew have been preserved.<note place='foot'>Aristobulus wrote a book to prove that the Greek sages drew their +philosophy from Moses, and addressed his book to Ptolemy Philometor.</note> +</p> + +<p> +In more than one point Paul departs from the traditional +methods of the Palestinian rabbis, to adopt those of the +Alexandrines. The Jews of Palestine did not admit the +allegorical interpretation of Scripture. Paul, on two occasions, +follows the Hellenistic mode of allegorizing the sacred +text. On one of these occasions he uses an allegory of Philo, +while slightly varying its application.<note place='foot'>Gal. iv. 24, 25.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='xxi'/><anchor id='Pgxxi'/> + +<p> +The Palestinian Jews knew of no seven orders of angels; +the classification of the celestial hierarchy was adopted by +Paul<note place='foot'>Col. i. 16.</note> from Philo and his school. The identification of idols +with demons<note place='foot'>1 Cor. x. 21.</note> was also distinctively Alexandrine. +</p> + +<p> +But what is far more remarkable is to find in Philo, born +between thirty and forty years before Christ, the key to most +of Paul's theology,—the doctrines of the all-sufficiency of +faith, of the worthlessness of good works, of the imputation +of righteousness, of grace, mediation, atonement. +</p> + +<p> +But in Philo, these doctrines drift purposeless. Paul took +them and applied them to Christ, and at once they fell into +their ranks and places. What was in suspension in Philo, +crystallized in Paul. What the Baptist was to the Judaean +Jews, that Philo was to the Hellenistic Jews; his thoughts, +his theories, were— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 10'><q rend='pre'>In the flecker'd dawning</q></l> +<l><q rend='post'>The glitterance of Christ.</q><note place='foot'>Dante, Parad. xiv.</note></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +The Fathers, perplexed at finding Pauline words, expressions, +ideas, in the writings of Philo, and unwilling to admit that +Paul had derived them from Philo, invented a myth that the +Alexandrine Jew came to Rome and was there converted to +the Christian faith. Chronology and a critical examination +of the writings of the Jewish Plato have burst that bubble.<note place='foot'>See the question carefully discussed in M. F. Delaunay's Moines et +Sibylles; Paris, 1874, pp. 28 sq.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The fact that Paul was deeply saturated with the philosophy +of the Alexandrine Jews has given rise also to two +<pb n='xxii'/><anchor id='Pgxxii'/> +obstinate Christian legends,—that Dionysius the Areopagite, +author of the Celestial Hierarchy, the Divine Names, &c., +was the disciple of St. Paul, and that Seneca the philosopher +was also his convert and pupil. Dionysius took Philo's +system of the universe and emanations from the Godhead +and Christianized them. The influence of Philo on the +system of Dionysius <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>saute aux yeux</foreign>, as the French would +say. And Dionysius protests, again and again, in his writings +that he learned his doctrine from St. Paul. +</p> + +<p> +From a very early age, the Fathers insisted on Seneca +having been a convert of St. Paul; they pointed out the +striking analogies in their writings, the similarity in their +thoughts. How was this explicable unless one had been the +pupil of the other? But Seneca, we know, lived some time +in Alexandria with his uncle, Severus, prefect of Egypt; and +at that time the young Roman, there can be little question, +became acquainted with the writings of Philo.<note place='foot'>See, on this curious topic, C. Aubertin: Sénèque et St. Paul; Paris, +1872.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Thus St. Paul, by adopting the mode of Biblical interpretation +of a rival school to that dominant in Judaea, by absorbing +its philosophy, applying it to the person of Christ and +the moral governance of the Church, by associating with +Asiatic Jews, known to be infected with Greek philosophic +heresies, and by his open invocation to the Gentiles to come +into and share in all the plenitude of the privileges of the +gospel, incurred the suspicion, distrust, dislike of the believers +in Jerusalem, who had grown up in the midst of national prejudices +which Paul shocked. +</p> + +<pb n='xxiii'/><anchor id='Pgxxiii'/> + +<p> +3. It has been argued with much plausibility, that because +certain of the primitive Fathers were unacquainted with the +four Gospels now accounted Canonical, that therefore those +Gospels are compositions subsequent to their date, and that +therefore also their authority as testimonies to the acts and +sayings of Jesus is sensibly weakened, if not wholly overthrown. +It is true that there were certain Fathers of the first +two centuries who were unacquainted with our Gospels, but +the above conclusions drawn from this fact are unsound. +</p> + +<p> +This treatise will, I hope, establish the fact that at the +close of the first century almost every Church had its own +Gospel, with which alone it was acquainted. But it does not +follow that these Gospels were not as trustworthy, as genuine +records, as the four which we now alone recognize. +</p> + +<p> +It is possible, from what has been preserved of some of +these lost Gospels, to form an estimate of their scope and +character. We find that they bore a very close resemblance +to the extant Synoptical Gospels, though they were by no +means identical with them. +</p> + +<p> +We find that they contained most of what exists in our +three first Evangels, in exactly the same words; but that +some were fuller, others less complete, than the accepted +Synoptics. +</p> + +<p> +If we discover whole paragraphs absolutely identical in the +Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, of the Hebrews, of the +Clementines, of the Lord, it goes far to prove that all the +Evangelists drew upon a common fund. And if we see that, +though using the same material, they arranged it differently, +<pb n='xxiv'/><anchor id='Pgxxiv'/> +we are forced to the conclusion that this material they incorporated +in their biographies existed in <foreign rend='italic'>anecdota</foreign>, not in a +consecutive narrative. +</p> + +<p> +Some, at least, of the Gospels were in existence at the +close of the first century; but the documents of which they +were composed were then old and accepted. +</p> + +<p> +And though it is indisputable that in the second century +the Four had not acquired that supremacy which brought +about the disappearance of the other Gospels, and were therefore +not quoted by the Fathers in preference to them, it is +also certain that all the material out of which both the extant +and the lost Synoptics were composed was then in existence, +and was received in the Church as true and canonical. +</p> + +<p> +Admitting fully the force of modern Biblical criticism, I +cannot admit all its most sweeping conclusions, for they are +often, I think, more sweeping than just. +</p> + +<p> +The material out of which all the Synoptical Gospels, +extant or, lost, were composed, was in existence and in circulation +in the Churches in the first century. That material +is—the sayings of Christ on various occasions, and the incidents +in his life. These sayings and doings of the Lord, I +see no reason to doubt, were written down from the mouths +of apostles and eye-witnesses, in order that the teaching and +example of Christ might be read to believers in every Church +during the celebration of the Eucharist. +</p> + +<p> +The early Church followed with remarkable fidelity the +customs of the Essenes, so faithfully that, as I have shown, +Josephus mistook the Nazarenes for members of the Essene +<pb n='xxv'/><anchor id='Pgxxv'/> +sect; and in the third century Eusebius was convinced that +the Therapeutae, their Egyptian counterparts, were actually +primitive Christians.<note place='foot'>Euseb. Hist. Eccl. ii. 17. The Bishop of Caesarea is quoting from +Philo's account of the Therapeutae, and argues that these Alexandrine Jews +must have been Christians, because their manner of life, religious customs +and doctrines, were identical with those of Christians. <q>Their meetings, +the distinction of the sexes at these meetings, the religious exercises performed +at them, <emph>are still in vogue among us at the present day</emph>, and, +especially at the commemoration of the Saviour's passion, we, like them, +pass the time in fasting and vigil, and in the study of the divine word. +All these the above-named author (Philo) has accurately described in his +writings, and <emph>are the same customs that are observed by us alone</emph>, at the +present day, particularly the vigils of the great Feast, and the exercises +in them, and the hymns that are commonly recited among us. He states +that, whilst one sings gracefully with a certain measure, the others, listening +in silence, join in at the final clauses of the hymns; also that, on the +above-named days, they lie on straw spread on the ground, and, to use his +own words, abstain altogether from wine and from flesh. Water is their +only drink, and the relish of their bread salt and hyssop. Besides this, he +describes the grades of dignity among those who administer the ecclesiastical +functions committed to them, those of deacons, and the presidencies +of the episcopate as the highest. Therefore,</q> Eusebius concludes, <q>it is +obvious to all that Philo, when he wrote these statements, <emph>had in view the +first heralds of the gospel, and the original practices handed down from +the apostles</emph>.</q></note> +</p> + +<p> +The Essenes assembled on the Sabbath for a solemn feast, +in white robes, and, with faces turned to the East, sang +antiphonal hymns, broke bread and drank together of the +cup of love. During this solemn celebration the president +read portions from the sacred Scriptures, and the exhortations +of the elders. At the Christian Eucharist the ceremonial +<pb n='xxvi'/><anchor id='Pgxxvi'/> +was identical;<note place='foot'>It is deserving of remark that the turning to the East for prayer, +common to the Essenes and primitive Christians, was forbidden by the +Mosaic Law and denounced by prophets. When the Essenes diverged from +the Law, the Christians followed their lead.</note> Pliny's description of a Christian +assembly might be a paragraph from Josephus or Philo +describing an Essene or Therapeutic celebration. In place of +the record of the wanderings of the Israelites and the wars of +their kings being read at their conventions, the president read +the journeys of the Lord, his discourses and miracles. +</p> + +<p> +No sooner was a Church founded by an apostle than there +rose a demand for this sort of instruction, and it was supplied +by the jottings-down of reminiscences of the Lord and +his teaching, orally given by those who had companied with +him. +</p> + +<p> +Thus there sprang into existence an abundant crop of +memorials of the Lord, surrounded by every possible guarantee +of their truth. And these fragmentary records passed from +one Church to another. The pious zeal of an Antiochian +community furnished with the memorials of Peter would +borrow of Jerusalem the memorials of James and Matthew. +One of the traditions of John found its way into the Hebrew +Gospel—that of the visit of Nicodemus; but it never came +into the possession of the compiler of the first Gospel or of +St. Luke. +</p> + +<p> +After a while, each Church set to work to string the <foreign rend='italic'>anecdota</foreign> +it possessed into a consecutive story, and thus the +Synoptical Gospels came into being. +</p> + +<pb n='xxvii'/><anchor id='Pgxxvii'/> + +<p> +Of these, some were more complete than others, some were +composed of more unique material than the others. +</p> + +<p> +The second Gospel, if we may trust Papias, and I see no +reason for doubting his testimony, is the composition of +Mark, the disciple of St. Peter, and consists exclusively of +the recollections of St. Peter. This Gospel was not co-ordinated +probably till late, till long after the disjointed memorabilia +were in circulation. It first circulated in Egypt; but +in at least one of the Petrine Churches—that of Rhossus—the +recollections of St. Peter had already been arranged in a +consecutive memoir, and, in A.D. 190, Serapion, Bishop of +Antioch, found the Church of Rhossus holding exclusively to +this book as a Gospel of traditional authority, received from +the prince of the apostles. +</p> + +<p> +The Gospel of St. Matthew, on the other hand, is a diatessaron +composed of four independent collections of memorabilia. +Its groundwork is a book by Matthew the apostle, +a collection of the discourses of the Lord. Whether Matthew +wrote also a collection of the acts of the Lord, or contributed +disconnected anecdotes of the Lord to Churches of +his founding, and these were woven in with his work on the +Lord's discourses, is possible, but is conjectural only. +</p> + +<p> +But what is clear is, that into the first Gospel was incorporated +much, not all, of the material used by Mark for the +construction of his Gospel, <hi rend='italic'>viz.</hi> the recollections of St. Peter. +That the first evangelist did not merely amplify the Mark +Gospel appears from his arranging the order of his anecdotes +differently; that he did use the same <q>anecdota</q> is +<pb n='xxviii'/><anchor id='Pgxxviii'/> +evidenced by the fact of his using them often word for +word. +</p> + +<p> +The Gospel of the Hebrews and the Gospel quoted in the +Clementines were composed in precisely the same manner, +and of the same materials, but not of all the same. +</p> + +<p> +That the Gospel of St. Matthew, as it stands, was the +composition of that apostle, cannot be seriously maintained; +yet its authority as a record of facts, not as a record of their +chronological sequence, remains undisturbed. +</p> + +<p> +The Gospel of St. Luke went, apparently, through two +editions. After the issue of his original Gospel, which, +there is reason to believe, is that adopted by Marcion, fresh +material came into his hands, and he revised and amplified +his book. +</p> + +<p> +That this second edition was not the product of another +hand, is shown by the fact that characteristic expressions +found in the original text occur also in the additions. +</p> + +<p> +The Pauline character of the Luke Gospel has been frequently +commented on. It is curious to observe how much +more pronounced this was in the first edition. The third +Gospel underwent revision under the influence of the same +wave of feeling which moved Luke to write the Christian +Odyssey, the Acts, nominally of the Apostles, really of St. +Paul. With the imprisonment of Paul the tide turned, and +a reconciliatory movement set strongly in. Into this the +Apostle of Love threw himself, and he succeeded in directing +it. +</p> + +<p> +The Apostolic Church was a well-spring tumultuously +<pb n='xxix'/><anchor id='Pgxxix'/> +gushing forth its superabundance of living waters; there was +a clashing of jets, a conflict of ripples; but directly St. John +gave to it its definite organization, the flood rushed out +between these banks, obedient to a common impulse, the +clashing forces produced a resultant, the conflicting ripples +blended into rhythmic waves, and the brook became a river, +and the river became a sea. +</p> + +<p> +The lost Gospels are no mere literary curiosity, the examination +of them no barren study. They furnish us with most +precious information on the manner in which all the Gospels +were compiled; they enable us in several instances to determine +the correct reading in our canonical Matthew and Luke; +they even supply us with particulars to fill lacunae which +exist, or have been made, in our Synoptics. +</p> + +<p> +The poor stuff that has passed current too long among us as +Biblical criticism is altogether unworthy of English scholars +and theologians. The great shafts that have been driven into +Christian antiquity, the mines that have been opened by the +patient labours of German students, have not received sufficient +attention at our hands. If some of our commentators +timorously venture to their mouths, it is only to shrink +back again scared at the gnomes their imagination pictures as +haunting those recesses, or at the abysses down which they +may be precipitated, that they suppose lie open in those +passages. +</p> + +<p> +This spirit is neither courageous nor honest. God's truth +is helped by no man's ignorance. +</p> + +<p> +It may be that we are dazzled, bewildered by the light and +<pb n='xxx'/><anchor id='Pgxxx'/> +rush of new ideas exploding around us on every side; but, +for all that, a cellar is no safe retreat. The vault will +crumble in and bury us. +</p> + +<p> +The new lights that break in on us are not always the +lanterns of burglars. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'><hi rend='smallcaps'>S. Baring-Gould</hi>.</hi> +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>East Mersea, Colchester</hi>,<lb/> +<hi rend='italic'>November 2nd, 1874</hi>. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='001'/><anchor id='Pg001'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Part I. The Jewish Anti-Gospels.</head> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>I. The Silence Of Josephus.</head> + +<p> +It is somewhat remarkable that no contemporary, or +even early, account of the life of our Lord exists, except +from the pens of Christian writers. +</p> + +<p> +That we have none by Roman or Greek writers is +not, perhaps, to be wondered at; but it is singular that +neither Philo, Josephus, nor Justus of Tiberias, should +have ever alluded to Christ or to primitive Christianity. +</p> + +<p> +The cause of this silence we shall presently investigate. +Its existence we must first prove. +</p> + +<p> +Philo was born at Alexandria about twenty years +before Christ. In the year A.D. 40, he was sent by the +Alexandrine Jews on a mission to Caligula, to entreat +the Emperor not to put in force his order that his statue +should be erected in the Temple of Jerusalem and in all +the synagogues of the Jews. +</p> + +<p> +Philo was a Pharisee. He travelled in Palestine, and +speaks of the Essenes he saw there; but he says not a +<pb n='002'/><anchor id='Pg002'/> +word about Jesus Christ or his followers. It is possible +that he may have heard of the new sect, but he probably +concluded it was but insignificant, and consisted +merely of the disciples, poor and ignorant, of a Galilean +Rabbi, whose doctrines he, perhaps, did not stay to inquire +into, and supposed that they did not differ fundamentally +from the traditional teaching of the rabbis of +his day. +</p> + +<p> +Flavius Josephus was born A.D. 37—consequently +only four years after the death of our Lord—at Jerusalem. +Till the age of twenty-nine, he lived in Jerusalem, +and had, therefore, plenty of opportunity of +learning about Christ and early Christianity. +</p> + +<p> +In A.D. 67, Josephus became governor of Galilee, on +the occasion of the Jewish insurrection against the +Roman domination. After the fall of Jerusalem he +passed into the service of Titus, went to Rome, where +he rose to honour in the household of Vespasian and of +Titus, A.D. 81. The year of his death is not known. +He was alive in A.D. 93, for his biography is carried +down to that date. +</p> + +<p> +Josephus wrote at Rome his <q>History of the Jewish +War,</q> in seven books, in his own Aramaic language. +This he finished in the year A.D. 75, and then translated +it into Greek. On the completion of this work he +wrote his <q>Jewish Antiquities,</q> a history of the Jews +in twenty books, from the beginning of the world to the +twelfth year of the reign of Nero, A.D. 66. He completed +this work in the year A.D. 93, concluding it with +a biography of himself. He also wrote a book against +Apion on the antiquity of the Jewish people. A book in +praise of the Maccabees has been attributed to him, but +without justice. In the first of these works, the larger +of the two, the <q>History of the Jewish War,</q> he treats +of the very period when our Lord lived, and in it he +<pb n='003'/><anchor id='Pg003'/> +makes no mention of him. But in the shorter work, +the <q>Jewish Antiquities,</q> in which he goes over briefly +the same period of time treated of at length in the other +work, we find this passage: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q>At this time lived Jesus, a wise man [if indeed he ought +to be called a man]; for he performed wonderful works [he +was a teacher of men who received the truth with gladness]; +and he drew to him many Jews, and also many Greeks. +[This was the Christ.] But when Pilate, at the instigation +of our chiefs, had condemned him to crucifixion, they who +had at first loved him did not cease; [for he appeared to +them on the third day again alive; for the divine prophets +had foretold this, together with many other wonderful things +concerning him], and even to this time the community of +Christians, called after him, continues to exist.</q><note place='foot'>Γίνεται δὲ κατὰ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον Ιησοῦς, σοφὸς ἀνὴρ, εἴγε ἄνδρα +αὐτὸν λέγειν χρή; ἦν γὰρ παραδόξων ἔργων ποιητὴς, διδάσκαλος +ἀνθρώπων τῶν ἡδονῇ τ᾽ ἀληθῆ δεχομένων; καὶ πολλοὺς μὲν Ἰουδαίους, +πολλοὺς δὲ καὶ τοῦ Ἑλληνικοῦ ἐπηγάγετο. Ὁ Χριστὸς οὖτος ἦν. Καὶ +αὐτὸν ἐνδείξει τῶν πρώτων ἀνδρῶν παρ᾽ ἡμῖν σταυρῷ ἐπιτετιμηκότος +Πιλάτου, οὐκ ἐπαύσαντο οἵ γε πρῶτον αὐτὸν ἀγαπήσαντες; ἐφάνη γαρ +αὐτοῖς τρίτην ἔχων ἡμέραν πάλιν ζῶν, τῶν θείων προφητῶν ταῦτά +τε καὶ ἄλλα μυρία θαυμάσια περὶ αὐτοῦ εἰρηκότων; εἰς ἔτι νῦν τῶν +χριστιανῶν ἀπὸ τοῦδε ὠνομασμένων οὐκ ἐπέλίπε τὸ φῦλον.—Lib. xviii. +c. iii. 3.</note> +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +That this passage is spurious has been almost universally +acknowledged. One may be, perhaps, accused of +killing dead birds, if one again examines and discredits +the passage; but as the silence of Josephus on the subject +which we are treating is a point on which it will be +necessary to insist, we cannot omit as brief a discussion +as possible of this celebrated passage. +</p> + +<p> +The passage is first quoted by Eusebius (fl. A.D. 315) +in two places,<note place='foot'>Hist. Eccl. lib. i. c. 11; Demonst. Evang. lib. iii.</note> but it was unknown to Justin Martyr +(fl. A.D. 140), Clement of Alexandria (fl. A.D. 192), +<pb n='004'/><anchor id='Pg004'/> +Tertullian (fl. A.D. 193), and Origen (fl. A.D. 230). Such +a testimony would certainly have been produced by +Justin in his Apology, or in his Controversy with +Trypho the Jew, had it existed in the copies of Josephus +at his time. The silence of Origen is still more +significant. Celsus in his book against Christianity +introduces a Jew. Origen attacks the arguments of +Celsus and his Jew. He could not have failed to quote +the words of Josephus, whose writings he knew, had +the passage existed in the genuine text.<note place='foot'>He indeed distinctly affirms that Josephus did not believe in Christ, +Contr. Cels. i.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Again, the paragraph interrupts the chain of ideas in +the original text. Before this passage comes an account +of how Pilate, seeing there was a want of pure drinking +water in Jerusalem, conducted a stream into the city +from a spring 200 stadia distant, and ordered that the +cost should be defrayed out of the treasury of the +Temple. This occasioned a riot. Pilate disguised +Roman soldiers as Jews, with swords under their cloaks, +and sent them among the rabble, with orders to arrest +the ringleaders. +</p> + +<p> +This was done. The Jews finding themselves set +upon by other Jews, fell into confusion; one Jew attacked +another, and the whole company of rioters melted +away. <q>And in this manner,</q> says Josephus, <q>was this +insurrection suppressed.</q> Then follows the paragraph +about Jesus, beginning, <q>At this time lived Jesus, a +wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man,</q> &c. +</p> + +<p> +And the passage is immediately followed by, <q>About +this time another misfortune threw the Jews into disturbance; +and in Rome an event happened in the +temple of Isis which produced great scandal.</q> And +then he tells an indelicate story of religious deception +which need not be repeated here. The misfortune +<pb n='005'/><anchor id='Pg005'/> +which befel the Jews was, as he afterwards relates, that +Tiberius drove them out of Rome. The reason of this +was, he says, that a noble Roman lady who had become +a proselyte had sent gold and purple to the temple at +Jerusalem. But this reason is not sufficient. It is +clear from what precedes—a story of sacerdotal fraud—that +there was some connection between the incidents +in the mind of Josephus. Probably the Jews had been +guilty of religious deceptions in Rome, and had made a +business of performing cures and expelling demons, with +talismans and incantations, and for this had obtained +rich payment.<note place='foot'>Juvenal, Satir. vi. 546. <q>Aere minuto qualiacunque voles Judaei +somnia vendunt.</q> The Emperors, later, issued formal laws against those +who charmed away diseases (Digest. lib. i. tit. 13, i. 1). Josephus tells +the story of Eleazar dispossessing a demon by incantations. De Bello Jud. +lib. vii. 6; Antiq. lib. viii. c. 2.</note> +</p> + +<p> +From the connection that exists between the passage +about the <q>other misfortune that befel the Jews</q> and +the former one about the riot suppressed by Pilate, it +appears evident that the whole of the paragraph concerning +our Lord is an interpolation. +</p> + +<p> +That Josephus could not have written the passage as +it stands, is clear enough, for only a Christian would +speak of Jesus in the terms employed. Josephus was +a Pharisee and a Jewish priest; he shows in all his +writings that he believes in Judaism. +</p> + +<p> +It has been suggested that Josephus may have +written about Christ as in the passage quoted, but that +the portions within brackets are the interpolations of +a Christian copyist. But when these portions within +brackets are removed, the passage loses all its interest, +and is a dry statement utterly unlike the sort of notice +Josephus would have been likely to insert. He gives +colour to his narratives, his incidents are always sketched +<pb n='006'/><anchor id='Pg006'/> +with vigour; this account would be meagre beside those +of the riot of the Jews and the rascality of the priests +of Isis. Josephus asserts, moreover, that in his time +there were four sects among the Jews—the Pharisees, +the Sadducees, the Essenes, and the sect of Judas of +Gamala. He gives tolerably copious particulars about +these sects and their teachings, but of the Christian sect +he says not a word. Had he wished to write about it, +he would have given full details, likely to interest his +readers, and not have dismissed the subject in a couple +of lines. +</p> + +<p> +It was perhaps felt by the early Christians that the +silence of Josephus—so famous an historian, and a Jew—on +the life, miracles and death of the Founder of +Christianity, was extremely inconvenient; the fact +could not fail to be noticed by their adversaries. Some +Christian transcriber may have argued, Either Josephus +knew nothing of the miracles performed by Christ,—in +which case he is a weighty testimony against them,—or +he must have heard of Jesus, but not have deemed his +acts, as they were related to him, of sufficient importance +to find a place in his History. Arguing thus, the copyist +took the opportunity of rectifying the omission, written +from the standpoint of a Pharisee, and therefore designating +the Lord as merely a wise man. +</p> + +<p> +But there is another explanation of this interpolation, +which will hardly seem credible to the reader at this +stage of the examination, viz. that it was inserted by a +Pharisee after the destruction of Jerusalem; and this is +the explanation I am inclined to adopt. At that time +there was a mutual tendency to sink their differences, +and unite, in the Nazarene Church and the Jews. The +cause of this will be given further on; sufficient for our +purpose that such a tendency did exist. Both Jew and +Nazarene were involved in the same exile, crushed by +<pb n='007'/><anchor id='Pg007'/> +the same blow, united in the same antipathies. The +Pharisees were disposed to regret the part they had +taken in putting Jesus to death, and to acknowledge +that he had been a good and great Rabbi. The Jewish +Nazarenes, on their side, made no exalted claims for the +Lord as being the incarnate Son of God, and later even, +as we learn from the Clementine Homilies, refused to +admit his divinity. The question dividing the Nazarene +from the Jew gradually became one of whether Christ +was to be recognized as a prophet or not; and the Pharisees, +or some of them at least, were disposed to allow +as much as this. +</p> + +<p> +It was under this conciliatory feeling that I think it +probable the interpolation was made, at first by a Jew, +but afterwards it was amplified by a Christian. I think +this probable, from the fact of its not being the only +interpolation of the sort effected. Suidas has an article +on the name <q>Jesus,</q> in which he tells us that Josephus +mentions him, and says that he sacrificed with the priests +in the temple. He quoted from an interpolated copy of +Josephus, and this interpolation could not have been +made by either a Gentile or a Nazarene Christian: not +by a Gentile, for such a statement would have been +pointless, purposeless to him; and it could not have +been made by a Nazarene, for the Nazarenes, as will +presently be shown, were strongly opposed to the sacrificial +system in the temple. The interpolation must +therefore have been made by a Jew, and by a Jew with +a conciliatory purpose. +</p> + +<p> +It is curious to note the use made of the interpolation +now found in the text. Eusebius, after quoting it, says, +<q>When such testimony as this is transmitted to us by +an historian who sprang from the Hebrews themselves, +respecting John the Baptist and the Saviour, what subterfuge +<pb n='008'/><anchor id='Pg008'/> +can be left them to prevent them from being +covered with confusion?</q><note place='foot'>Hist. Eccl. i. 11.</note> +</p> + +<p> +There is one other mention of Christ in the <q>Antiquities</q> +(lib. xx. c. 9): +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q>Ananus, the younger, of whom I have related that he +had obtained the office of high-priest, was of a rash and +daring character; he belonged to the sect of the Sadducees, +which, as I have already remarked, exhibited especial severity +in the discharge of justice. Being of such a character, Ananus +thought the time when Festus was dead, and Albinus was +yet upon the road, a fit opportunity for calling a council of +judges, and for bringing before them James, the brother of +him who is called Christ, and some others: he accused them +as transgressors of the law, and had them stoned to death. +But the most moderate men of the city, who also were +reckoned most learned in the law, were offended at this proceeding. +They therefore sent privately to the king (Agrippa +II.), entreating him to send orders to Ananus not to attempt +such a thing again, for he had no right to do it. And some +went to meet Albinus, then coming from Alexandria, and put +him in mind that Ananus was not justified, without his consent, +in assembling a court of justice. Albinus, approving +what they said, angrily wrote to Ananus, and threatened him +with punishment; and king Agrippa took from him his office +of high-priest, and gave it to Jesus, the son of Donnæus.</q> +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +This passage is also open to objection. +</p> + +<p> +According to Hegesippus, a Jewish Christian, who +wrote a History of the Church about the year A.D. 170, +of which fragments have been preserved by Eusebius, +St. James was killed in a tumult, and not by sentence +of a court. He relates that James, the brother of Jesus, +was thrown down from a wing of the temple, stoned, +and finally despatched with a fuller's club. Clement of +<pb n='009'/><anchor id='Pg009'/> +Alexandria confirms this, and is quoted by Eusebius +accordingly. +</p> + +<p> +Eusebius quotes the passage from Josephus, without +noticing that the two accounts do not agree. According +to the statement of Hegesippus, St. James suffered +alone; according to that of Josephus, several other +victims to the anger or zeal of Ananus perished with +him. +</p> + +<p> +It appears that some of the copies of Josephus were +tampered with by copyists, for Theophylact says, <q>The +wrath of God fell on them (the Jews) when their city +was taken; and Josephus testifies that these things +happened to them on account of the death of Jesus.</q> +But Origen, speaking of Josephus, says, <q>This writer, +though he did not believe Jesus to be the Christ, inquiring +into the cause of the overthrow of Jerusalem +and the demolition of the temple ... says, <q>These +things befel the Jews in vindication of James, called the +Just, who was the brother of Jesus, called the Christ, +forasmuch as they killed him who was a most righteous +man.</q></q><note place='foot'>Contr. Cels. i. 47; and again, ii. 13: <q>This (destruction), as Josephus +writes, <q>happened upon account of James the Just, the brother of +Jesus, called the Christ;</q> but in truth on account of Christ Jesus, the +Son of God.</q></note> Josephus, as we have seen, says nothing of +the sort; consequently Origen must have quoted from +an interpolated copy. And this interpolation suffered +further alteration, by a later hand, by the substitution +of the name of Jesus for that of James. +</p> + +<p> +It is therefore by no means unlikely that the name of +James, the Lord's brother, may have been inserted in the +account of the high-handed dealing of Ananus in place +of another name. +</p> + +<p> +However, it is by no means impossible to reconcile +<pb n='010'/><anchor id='Pg010'/> +the two accounts. The martyrdom of St. James is an +historical fact, and it is likely to have taken place +during the time when Ananus had the power in his +hands. +</p> + +<p> +For fifty years the pontificate had been in the same +family, with scarcely an interruption, and Ananus, or +Hanan, was the son of Annas, who had condemned +Christ. They were Sadducees, and as such were persecuting. +St. Paul, by appealing to his Pharisee principles, +enlisted the members of that faction in his favour +when brought before Ananias.<note place='foot'>Acts xxiii.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The apostles based their teaching on the Resurrection, +the very doctrine most repugnant to the Sadducees; +and their accounts of visions of angels repeated +among the people must have irritated the dominant +faction who denied the existence of these spirits. It +can hardly be matter of surprise that the murder of +James should have taken place when Ananus was +supreme in Jerusalem. If that were the case, Josephus +no doubt mentioned James, and perhaps added +the words, <q>The brother of him who is called Christ;</q> +or these words may have been inserted by a transcriber +in place of <q>of Sechania,</q> or Bar-Joseph. +</p> + +<p> +This is all that Josephus says, or is thought to have +said, about Jesus and the early Christians. +</p> + +<p> +At the same time as Josephus, there lived another +Jewish historian, Justus of Tiberias, whom Josephus +mentions, and blames for not having published his +History of the Wars of the Jews during the life of +Vespasian and Titus. St. Jerome includes Justus in his +Catalogue of Ecclesiastical Writers, and Stephen of Byzantium +mentions him. +</p> + +<p> +His book, or books, have unfortunately been lost, but +<pb n='011'/><anchor id='Pg011'/> +Photius had read his History, and was surprised to find +that he, also, made no mention of Christ. <q>This +Jewish historian,</q> says he, <q>does not make the smallest +mention of the appearance of Christ, and says nothing +whatever of his deeds and miracles.</q><note place='foot'>Bibliothec. cod. 33.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='012'/><anchor id='Pg012'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>II. The Cause Of The Silence Of Josephus.</head> + +<p> +It is necessary to inquire, Why this silence of Philo, +Josephus and Justus? at first so inexplicable. +</p> + +<p> +It can only be answered by laying before the reader a +picture of the Christian Church in the first century. A +critical examination of the writings of the first age of +the Church reveals unexpected disclosures. +</p> + +<p> +1. It shows us that the Church at Jerusalem, and +throughout Palestine and Asia Minor, composed of converted +Jews, was to an <emph>external</emph> observer indistinguishable +from a modified Essenism. +</p> + +<p> +2. And that the difference between the Gentile +Church founded by St. Paul, and the Nazarene Church +under St. James and St. Peter, was greater than that +which separated the latter from Judaism <emph>externally</emph>, so +that to a superficial observer their inner connection was +unsuspected. +</p> + +<p> +This applies to the period from the Ascension to the +close of the first century,—to the period, that is, in +which Josephus and Justus lived, and about which +they wrote. +</p> + +<p> +1. Our knowledge of the Essenes and their doctrines +is, unfortunately, not as full as we could wish. We +are confined to the imperfect accounts of them furnished +by Philo and Josephus, neither of whom knew +them thoroughly, or was initiated into their secret +doctrines. +</p> + +<p> +The Essenes arose about two centuries before the birth +<pb n='013'/><anchor id='Pg013'/> +of Christ, and peopled the quiet deserts on the west of +the Dead Sea, a wilderness to which the Christian monks +afterwards seceded from the cities of Palestine. They +are thus described by the elder Pliny: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q>On the western shore of that lake dwell the Essenes, at +a sufficient distance from the water's edge to escape its pestilential +exhalations—a race entirely unique, and, beyond +every other in the world, deserving of wonder; men living +among palm-trees, without wives, without money. Every +day their number is replenished by a new troop of settlers, +for those join them who have been visited by the reverses of +fortune, who are tired of the world and its style of living. +Thus happens what might seem incredible, that a community +in which no one is born continues to subsist through the +lapse of centuries.</q><note place='foot'>Plin. Hist. Nat. v. 17; Epiphan. adv. Haeres. xix. 1.</note> +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +From this first seat of the Essenes colonies detached +themselves, and settled in other parts of Palestine; they +settled not only in remote and solitary places, but in +the midst of villages and towns. In Samaria they +flourished.<note place='foot'>Epiphan. adv. Haeres. x.</note> According to Josephus, some of the Essenes +were willing to act as magistrates, and it is evident that +such as lived in the midst of society could not have followed +the strict rule imposed on the solitaries. There +must therefore have been various degrees of Essenism, +some severer, more exclusive than the others; and Josephus +distinguishes four such classes in the sect. Some +of the Essenes remained celibates, others married. The +more exalted and exclusive Essenes would not touch one +of the more lax brethren.<note place='foot'>For information on the Essenes, the authorities are, Philo, Περὶ τοῦ +πάντα σπουδαῖον εἶναι ἐλεύθερον, and Josephus, De Bello Judaico, and +Antiq.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='014'/><anchor id='Pg014'/> + +<p> +The Essenes had a common treasury, formed by +throwing together the property of such as entered into +the society, and by the earnings of each man's labour.<note place='foot'>Compare Luke x. 4; John xii. 6, xiii. 29; Matt. xix. 21; Acts ii. +44, 45, iv. 32, 34, 37.</note> +</p> + +<p> +They wore simple habits—only such clothing as was +necessary for covering nakedness and giving protection +from the cold or heat.<note place='foot'>Compare Matt. vi. 28-34; Luke xii. 22-30.</note> +</p> + +<p> +They forbad oaths, their conversation being <q>yea, yea, +and nay, nay.</q><note place='foot'>Compare Matt. v. 34.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Their diet was confined to simple nourishing food, +and they abstained from delicacies.<note place='foot'>Compare Matt. vi. 25, 31; Luke xii. 22, 23.</note> +</p> + +<p> +They exhibited the greatest respect for the constituted +authorities, and refrained from taking any part in the +political intrigues, or sharing in the political jealousies, +which were rife among the Jews.<note place='foot'>Compare Matt. xv. 15-22.</note> +</p> + +<p> +They fasted, and were incessant at prayer, but without +the ostentation that marked the Pharisees.<note place='foot'>Compare Matt. vi. 1-18.</note> +</p> + +<p> +They seem to have greatly devoted themselves to the +cure of diseases, and, if we may trust the derivation of +their name given by Josephus, they were called Essenes +from their being the healers of men's minds and +bodies.<note place='foot'>From אסא, meaning the same as the Greek Therapeutae.</note> +</p> + +<p> +If now we look at our blessed Lord's teaching, we +find in it much in common with that of the Essenes. +The same insisting before the multitude on purity of +thought, disengagement of affections from the world, +disregard of wealth and clothing and delicate food, pursuit +of inward piety instead of ostentatious formalism. +</p> + +<pb n='015'/><anchor id='Pg015'/> + +<p> +His miracles of healing also, to the ordinary observer, +served to identify him with the sect which made healing +the great object of their study. +</p> + +<p> +But these were not the only points of connection between +him and the Essenes. The Essenes, instead of +holding the narrow prejudices of the Jews against Samaritans +and Gentiles, extended their philanthropy to all. +They considered that all men had been made in the +image of God, that all were rational beings, and that +therefore God's care was not confined to the Jewish +nation, salvation was not limited to the circumcision.<note place='foot'>Compare Luke x. 25-37; Mark vii. 26.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The Essenes, moreover, exhibited a peculiar veneration +for light. It was their daily custom to turn their +faces devoutly towards the rising of the sun, and to +chant hymns addressed to that luminary, purporting +that his beams ought to fall on nothing impure. +</p> + +<p> +If we look at the Gospels, we cannot fail to note how +incessantly Christ recurs in his teaching to light as the +symbol of the truth he taught,<note place='foot'>Matt. iv. 16, v. 14, 16, vi. 22; Luke ii. 32, viii. 16, xi. 23, xvi. 8; +John i. 4-9, iii. 19-21, viii. 12, ix. 5, xi. 9, 10, xii. 35-46.</note> as that in which his disciples +were to walk, of which they were to be children, +which they were to strive to obtain in all its purity and +brilliancy. +</p> + +<p> +The Essenes, moreover, had their esoteric doctrine; to +the vulgar they had an esoteric teaching on virtue and +disregard of the world, whilst among themselves they +had a secret lore, of which, unfortunately, we know +nothing certain. In like manner, we find our Lord +speaking in parables to the multitude, and privately +revealing their interpretation to his chosen disciples. +<q>Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the +kingdom of God, but to others in parables; that seeing +<pb n='016'/><anchor id='Pg016'/> +they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.</q><note place='foot'>Luke viii. 10; Mark iv. 12; Matthew xiii. 11-15.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The Clementines, moreover, preserve a saying of our +Lord, contained in the Gospel in use among the Ebionites, +<q>Keep the mysteries for me, and for the sons of +my house.</q><note place='foot'>Clem. Homil. xix. 20.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The Essenes, though showing great veneration for the +Mosaic law, distinguished between its precepts, for some +they declared were interpolations, and did not belong to +the original revelation; all the glosses and traditions of +the Rabbis they repudiated, as making the true Word of +none effect.<note place='foot'>Compare Matt. xv. 3, 6.</note> Amongst other things that they rejected +was the sacrificial system of the Law. They regarded +this with the utmost horror, and would not be present at +any of the sacrifices. They sent gifts to the Temple, but +never any beast, that its blood might be shed. To the +ordinary worship of the Temple, apart from the sacrifices, +they do not seem to have objected. The Clementine +Homilies carry us into the very heart of Ebionite Christianity +in the second, if not the first century, and show +us what was the Church of St. James and St. Peter, the +Church of the Circumcision, with its peculiarities and +prejudices intensified by isolation and opposition. In +that curious book we find the same hostility to the sacrificial +system of Moses, the same abhorrence of blood-shedding +in the service of God. This temper of mind +can only be an echo of primitive Nazarene Christianity, +for in the second century the Temple and its sacrifices +were no more. +</p> + +<p> +Primitive Jewish Christianity, therefore, reproduced +what was an essential feature of Essenism—a rejection +of the Mosaic sacrifices. +</p> + +<pb n='017'/><anchor id='Pg017'/> + +<p> +In another point Nazarene Christianity resembled +Essenism, in the poverty of its members, their simplicity +in dress and in diet, their community of goods. This +we learn from Hegesippus, who represents St. James, +Bishop of Jerusalem, as truly an ascetic as any mediaeval +monk; and from the Clementines, which make St. Peter +feed on olives and bread only, and wear but one coat. +The name of Ebionite, which was given to the Nazarenes, +signified <q>the poor.</q> +</p> + +<p> +There was one point more of resemblance, or possible +resemblance, but this was one not likely to be observed +by those without. The Therapeutae in Egypt, who were +apparently akin to the Essenes in Palestine, at their +sacred feasts ate bread and salt. Salt seems to have +been regarded by them with religious superstition, as +being an antiseptic, and symbolical of purity.<note place='foot'>The reference to salt as an illustration by Christ (Matt. v. 13; Mark +ix. 49, 50; Luke xiv. 34) deserves to be noticed in connection with this.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Perhaps the Essenes of Judaea also thus regarded, and +ceremonially used, salt. We have no proof, it is true; +but it is not improbable. +</p> + +<p> +Now one of the peculiarities of the Ebionite Church +in Palestine, as revealed to us by the Clementines, was +the use of salt with the bread in their celebrations of +the Holy Communion.<note place='foot'>Clem. Homil. xiv. 1: <q>Peter came several hours after, and breaking +bread for the Eucharist, and putting salt upon it, gave it first to our +mother, and after her, to us, her sons.</q></note> +</p> + +<p> +But if Christ and the early Church, by their teaching +and practice, conformed closely in many things to the +doctrine and customs of the Essenes, in some points +they differed from them. The Essenes were strict Sabbatarians. +On the seventh day they would not move a +vessel from one place to another, or satisfy any of the +wants of nature. Even the sick and dying, rather than +<pb n='018'/><anchor id='Pg018'/> +break the Sabbath, abstained from meat and drink on +that day. Christ's teaching was very different from this; +he ate, walked about, taught, and performed miracles on +the Sabbath. But though he relaxed the severity of observance, +he did not abrogate the institution; and the +Nazarene Church, after the Ascension, continued to venerate +and observe the Sabbath as of divine appointment. +The observance of the Lord's-day was apparently due +to St. Paul alone, and sprang up in the Gentile churches<note place='foot'>Acts xx. 7; 1 Cor. xvi. 2; Rev. i. 9.</note> +in Asia Minor and Greece of his founding. When the +churches of Peter and Paul were reconciled and fused +together at the close of the century, under the influence +of St. John, both days were observed side by side; and +the Apostolical Constitutions represent St. Peter and St. +Paul in concord decreeing, <q>Let the slaves work five +days; but on the Sabbath-day and the Lord's-day let +them have leisure to go to church for instruction and +piety. We have said that the Sabbath is to be observed +on account of the Creation, and the Lord's-day on +account of the Resurrection.</q><note place='foot'>Const. Apost. lib. viii. 33.</note> +</p> + +<p> +After the Ascension, the Christian Church in Jerusalem +attended the services in the Temple<note place='foot'>Acts ii. 46, iii. 1, v. 42.</note> daily, as did +the devout Jews. There is, however, no proof that they +assisted at the sacrifices. They continued to circumcise +their children; they observed the Mosaic distinction of +meats; they abstained from things strangled and from +blood.<note place='foot'>Acts xv.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The doctrine of the apostles after the descent of the +Holy Ghost was founded on the Resurrection. They +went everywhere preaching the Resurrection; they +claimed to be witnesses to it, they declared that Jesus +had risen, they had seen him after he had risen, that +<pb n='019'/><anchor id='Pg019'/> +therefore the resurrection of all men was possible.<note place='foot'>Acts i. 22, iv. 2, 33, xxiii. 6.</note> The +doctrine of the Resurrection was held most zealously by +the Pharisees; it was opposed by the Sadducees. This +vehement proclamation of the disputed doctrine, this +production of evidence which overthrew it, irritated the +Sadducees then in power. We are expressly told that +they <q>came upon them (the apostles), being grieved +that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus +the Resurrection.</q> This led to persecution of the +apostles. But the apostles, in maintaining the doctrine +of the Resurrection, were fighting the battles of the +Pharisees, who took their parts against the dominant +Sadducee faction,<note place='foot'>Acts xxiii. 7.</note> and many, glad of a proof which would +overthrow Sadduceeism, joined the Church.<note place='foot'>Acts xv. 5.</note> +</p> + +<p> +We can therefore perfectly understand how the Sadducees +hated and persecuted the apostles, and how the +orthodox Pharisees were disposed to hail them as auxiliaries +against the common enemy. And Sadduceeism was +at that time in full power and arrogance, exercising +intolerable tyranny. +</p> + +<p> +Herod the Great, having fallen in love with Mariamne, +daughter of a certain Simon, son of Boethus of Alexandria, +desired to marry her, and saw no other means of +ennobling his father-in-law than by elevating him to +the office of high-priest (B.C. 28). This intriguing family +maintained possession of the high-priesthood for thirty-five +years. It was like the Papacy in the house of Tusculum, +or the primacy of the Irish Church in that of +the princes of Armagh. Closely allied to the reigning +family, it lost its hold of the high-priesthood on the +deposition of Archelaus, but recovered it in A.D. 42. +This family, called Boethusim, formed a sacerdotal +<pb n='020'/><anchor id='Pg020'/> +nobility, filling all the offices of trust and emolument +about the Temple, very worldly, supremely indifferent +to their religious duties, and defiantly sceptical. They +were Sadducees, denying angel, and devil, and resurrection; +living in easy self-indulgence; exasperating the +Pharisees by their heresy, grieving the Essenes by their +irreligion. +</p> + +<p> +In the face of the secularism of the ecclesiastical rulers, +the religious zeal of the people was sure to break out in +some form of dissent. +</p> + +<p> +John the Baptist was the St. Francis of Assisi, the +Wesley of his time. If the Baptist was not actually an +Essene, he was regarded as one by the indiscriminating +public eye, never nice in detecting minute dogmatic differences, +judging only by external, broad resemblances +of practice. +</p> + +<p> +The ruling worldliness took alarm at his bold denunciations +of evil, and his head fell. +</p> + +<p> +Jesus of Nazareth seemed to stand forth occupying +the same post, to be the mouthpiece of the long-brooding +discontent; and the alarmed party holding the high-priesthood +and the rulership of the Sanhedrim compassed +his death. To the Sadducean Boethusim, who rose into +power again in A.D. 42, Christianity was still obnoxious, +but more dangerous; for by falling back on the grand +doctrine of Resurrection, it united with it the great sect +of the Pharisees. +</p> + +<p> +Under these circumstances the Pharisees began to +regret the condemnation and death of Christ as a mistake +of policy. Under provocation and exclusion from office, +they were glad to unite with the Nazarene Church in +combating the heretical sect and family which monopolized +the power, just as at the present day in Germany +Ultramontanism and Radicalism are fraternizing. Jerusalem +fell, and Sadduceeism fell with it, but the link +<pb n='021'/><anchor id='Pg021'/> +which united Pharisaism and Christianity was not +broken as yet; if the Jewish believers and the Pharisees +had not a common enemy to fight, they had a common +loss to deplore; and when they mingled their tears in +banishment, they forgot that they were not wholly one +in faith. Christianity had been regarded by them as +a modified Essenism, an Essenism gravitating towards +Pharisaism, which lent to Pharisaism an element of +strength and growth in which it was naturally deficient—that +zeal and spirituality which alone will attract and +quicken the popular mind into enthusiasm. +</p> + +<p> +Whilst the Jewish Pharisees and Jewish Nazarenes +were forgetting their differences and approximating, the +great and growing company of Gentile believers assumed +a position of open, obtrusive indifference at first, and +then of antagonism, to the Law, not merely to the Law +as accepted by the Pharisee, but to the Law as winnowed +by the Essene. +</p> + +<p> +The apostles at Jerusalem were not disposed to force +the Gentile converts into compliance with all the requirements +of that Law, which they regarded as vitiated +by human glosses; but they maintained that the converts +must abstain from meats offered to idols, from the +flesh of such animals as had been strangled, and from +blood.<note place='foot'>Acts xv. 29.</note> If we may trust the Clementines, which represent +the exaggerated Judaizing Christianity of the ensuing +century, they insisted also on the religious obligation of +personal cleanliness, and on abstention from such meats +as had been pronounced unclean by Moses. +</p> + +<p> +To these requirements one more was added, affecting +the relations of married people; these were subjected +to certain restrictions, the observance of new moons and +sabbaths. +</p> + +<p> +<q>This,</q> says St. Peter, in the Homilies,<note place='foot'>Clem. Homil. vii. 8.</note> <q>is the rule of +<pb n='022'/><anchor id='Pg022'/> +divine appointment. To worship God only, and trust only +in the Prophet of Truth, and to be baptized for the remission +of sins, to abstain from the table of devils, that is, food offered +to idols, from dead carcases, from animals that have been +suffocated or mangled by wild beasts, and from blood; not +to live impurely; to be careful to wash when unclean; that +the women keep the law of purification; that all be sober-minded, +given to good works, refrain from wrong-doing, look +for eternal life from the all-powerful God, and ask with prayer +and continual supplication that they may win it.</q> +</p> + +<p> +These simple and not very intolerable requirements +nearly produced a schism. St. Paul took the lead in +rejecting some of the restraints imposed by the apostles +at Jerusalem. He had no patience with their minute +prescriptions about meats: <q>Touch not, taste not, handle +not, which all are to perish with the using.</q><note place='foot'>Col. ii. 21.</note> It was +inconvenient for the Christian invited to supper to have +to make inquiries if the ox had been knocked down, or +the fowl had had its neck wrung, before he could eat. +What right had the apostles to impose restrictions on +conjugal relations? St. Paul waxed hot over this. <q>Ye +observe days and months and times and years. I am +afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in +vain.</q><note place='foot'>Gal. iv. 10. When it is seen in the Clementines how important the +observance of these days was thought, what a fundamental principle it was +of Nazarenism, I think it cannot be doubted that it was against this that +St. Paul wrote.</note> <q>Let no man judge you in meat or in drink, or +in respect of an holiday, or of the new moons, or of the +sabbath-days.</q><note place='foot'>Col. ii. 16.</note> It was exactly these sabbaths and new +moons on which the Nazarene Church imposed restraint +on married persons.<note place='foot'>Clement. Homil. xix. 22.</note> As for meat offered in sacrifice to +idols, St. Paul relaxed the order of the apostles assembled +in council. It was no matter of importance whether +<pb n='023'/><anchor id='Pg023'/> +men ate sacrificial meat or not, for <q>an idol is nothing +in the world.</q> Yet with tender care for scrupulous +souls, he warned his disciples not to flaunt their liberty +in the eyes of the sensitive, and offend weak consciences. +He may have thus allowed, in opposition to the apostles +at Jerusalem, because his common sense got the better +of his prudence. But the result was the widening of +the breach that had opened at Antioch when he withstood +Peter to the face. +</p> + +<p> +The apostles had abolished circumcision as a rite to +be imposed on the Gentile proselytes, but the children +of Jewish believers were still submitted by their parents, +with the consent of the apostles, to the Mosaic institution. +This St. Paul would not endure. He made it a +matter of vital importance. <q>Behold, I, Paul, say unto +you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you +nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, +that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ +is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are +justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.</q><note place='foot'>Gal. v. 2-4.</note> In a +word, to submit to this unpleasant, but otherwise harmless +ceremony, was equivalent to renouncing Christ, +losing the favour of God and the grace of the Holy +Spirit. It was incurring damnation. The blood of +Christ, his blessed teaching, his holy example, could +<q>profit nothing</q> to the unfortunate child which had +been submitted to the knife of the circumciser. +</p> + +<p> +The contest was carried on with warmth. St. Paul, +in his Epistle to the Galatians, declared his independence +of the Jewish-Christian Church; his Gospel was +not that of Peter and James. Those who could not +symbolize with him he pronounced <q>accursed.</q> The +pillar apostles, James, Cephas and John, had given, indeed, +the right hand of fellowship to the Apostle of +<pb n='024'/><anchor id='Pg024'/> +the Gentiles, when they imposed on his converts from +heathenism the light rule of abstinence from sacrificial +meats, blood and fornication; but it was with the understanding +that he was to preach to the Gentiles exclusively, +and not to interfere with the labours of St. Peter +and St. James among the Jews. But St. Paul was impatient +of restraint; he would not be bound to confine +his teaching to the uncircumcision, nor would he allow +his Jewish converts to be deprived of their right to that +full and frank liberty which he supposed the Gospel to +proclaim. +</p> + +<p> +Paul's followers assumed a distinct name, arrogated +to themselves the exclusive right to be entitled <q>Christians,</q> +whilst they flung on the old apostolic community +of Nazarenes the disdainful title of <q>the Circumcision.</q> +</p> + +<p> +An attempt was made to maintain a decent, superficial +unity, by the rival systems keeping geographically separate. +But such a compromise was impossible. Wherever +Jews accepted the doctrine that Christ was the Messiah +there would be found old-fashioned people clinging to +the customs of their childhood respecting Moses, and +reverencing the Law; to whom the defiant use of meats +they had been taught to regard as unclean would be +ever repulsive, and flippant denial of the Law under +which, the patriarchs and prophets had served God must +ever prove offensive. Such would naturally form a +Judaizing party,—a party not disposed to force their +modes of life and prejudices on the Gentile converts, but +who did not wish to dissociate Christianity from Mosaism, +who would view the Gospel as the sweet flower that had +blossomed from the stem of the Law, not as an axe laid +at its root. +</p> + +<p> +But the attempt to reconcile both parties was impossible +at that time, in the heat, intoxication and extravagance +of controversy. In the Epistle to the Galatians +<pb n='025'/><anchor id='Pg025'/> +we see St. Paul writing in a strain of fiery excitement +against those who interfered with the liberty of his converts, +imposing on them the light rule of the Council of +Jerusalem. The followers of St. Peter and St. James are +designated as those who <q>bewitch</q> his converts, <q>remove +them from the grace of Christ to another Gospel;</q> who +<q>trouble</q> his little Church in its easy liberty, <q>would +pervert the gospel of Christ.</q> To those only who hold +with him in complete emancipation of the believer from +vexatious restraints, <q>to as many as walk according to +this rule,</q> will he accord his benediction, <q>Peace and +mercy.</q> +</p> + +<p> +He assumed a position of hostility to the Law. He +placed the Law on one side and the Gospel on the other; +here restraint, there liberty; here discipline, there freedom. +A choice must be made between them; an election +between Moses and Christ. There was no conciliation +possible. To be under the Law was not to be under +grace; the Law was a <q>curse,</q> from which Christ had +redeemed man. Paul says he had not known lust but +by the Law which said, Thou shalt not covet. Men +under the Law were bound by its requirements, as a +woman is bound to a husband as long as he lives, but +when the husband is dead she is free,—so those who +accept the Gospel are free from the Law and all its requirements. +The law which said, Thou shalt not covet, +is dead. Sin was the infraction of the law. But the +law being dead, sin is no more. <q>Until the law, sin +was in the world, but sin is not imputed where there is +no law.</q> <q>Where no law is, there is no transgression.</q> +<q>Now we are delivered from the law, that being dead +wherein we were held.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Such an attack upon what was reverenced and observed +by the Jewish Christians, and such doctrine which +seemed to throw wide the flood-gates of immorality, +<pb n='026'/><anchor id='Pg026'/> +naturally excited alarm and indignation among those +who followed the more temperate teaching of Peter and +James and John. +</p> + +<p> +The converts of St. Paul, in their eagerness to manifest +their emancipation from the Law, rolled up ceremonial +and moral restrictions in one bundle, and flung both +clean away. +</p> + +<p> +The Corinthians, to show their freedom under the +Gospel, boasted their licence to commit incest <q>such +as was not so much as named among the Gentiles.</q><note place='foot'>1 Cor. v. 1.</note> +Nicolas, a hot Pauline, and his followers <q>rushed headlong +into fornication without shame;</q><note place='foot'>Euseb. Hist. Eccl. iii. 29.</note> he had the +effrontery to produce his wife and offer her for promiscuous +insult before the assembled apostles;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi></note> the later +Pauline Christians went further. The law was, it was +agreed, utterly bad, but it was promulgated by God; +therefore the God of the Law was not the same deity as +the God of the Gospel, but another inferior being, the +Demiurge, whose province was rule, discipline, restraint, +whereas the God of the Gospel was the God of absolute +freedom and unrestrained licence. +</p> + +<p> +They refused to acknowledge any Scriptures save the +Gospel of St. Luke, or rather the Gospel of the Lord, +another recension of that Gospel, drawn up by order +of St. Paul, and the Epistles of the Apostle of the +Gentiles. +</p> + +<p> +But even in the first age the disorders were terrible. +St. Paul's Epistles give glimpses of the wild outbreak of +antinomianism that everywhere followed his preaching,—the +drunkenness which desecrated the Eucharists, +the backbitings, quarrellings, fornication, lasciviousness, +which called forth such indignant denunciation from the +great apostle. +</p> + +<pb n='027'/><anchor id='Pg027'/> + +<p> +Yet he was as guiltless of any wish to relax the +restraints of morality as was, in later days, his great +counterpart Luther. Each rose up against a narrow +formalism, and proclaimed the liberty of the Christian +from obligation to barren ceremonial; but there were +those in the first, as there were those in the sixteenth +century, with more zeal than self-control, who found +<q>Justification by Faith only</q> a very comfortable doctrine, +quite capable of accommodating itself to a sensual +or careless life. +</p> + +<p> +St. Paul may have seen, and probably did see, that +Christianity would never make way if one part of the +community was to be fettered by legal restrictions, and +the other part was to be free. According to the purpose +apparent in the minds of James and Peter, the Jewish +converts were to remain Jews, building up Christian +faith on the foundation of legal prescriptions, whilst the +Gentile converts were to start from a different point. +There could be no unity in the Church under this +system—all must go under the Law, or all must fling it +off. The Church, starting from her cradle with such an +element of weakness in her constitution, must die prematurely. +</p> + +<p> +He was right in his view. But it is by no means +certain that St. Peter and St. James were as obstinately +opposed to the gradual relaxation of legal restrictions, +and the final extinction or transformation of the ceremonial +Law, as he supposed. +</p> + +<p> +In the heat and noise of controversy, he no doubt +used unguarded language, said more than he thought, +and his converts were not slow to take him <foreign lang='fr' rend='italic'>au pied de +la lettre</foreign>. +</p> + +<p> +The tone of Paul's letters shows conclusively that not +for one moment would he relax moral obligation. With +the unsuspiciousness of a guileless spirit, he never suspected +<pb n='028'/><anchor id='Pg028'/> +that his words, taken and acted upon as a practical +system, were capable of becoming the charter of +antinomianism. Yet it was so. No sooner had he +begun to denounce the Law, than he was understood to +mean the whole Law, not merely its ceremonial part. +When he began to expatiate on the freedom of Grace, +he was understood to imply that human effort was overridden. +When he proclaimed Justification by Faith only, +it was held that he swept away for ever obligation to +keep the Commandments. +</p> + +<p> +The results were precisely the same in the sixteenth +century, when Luther re-affirmed Paulinism, with all his +warmth and want of caution. At first he proclaimed +his doctrines boldly, without thought of their practical +application. When he saw the results, he was staggered, +and hasted to provide checks, and qualify his former +words: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q>Listen to the Papists,</q> he writes; <q>the sole argument +they use against us is that no good result has come of my +doctrine. And, in fact, scarce did I begin to preach my +Gospel before the country burst into frightful revolt; schisms +and sects tore the Church; everywhere honesty, morality, and +good order fell into ruin; every one thought to live independently, +and conduct himself after his own fancy and caprices +and pleasure, as though the reign of the Gospel drew with it +the suppression of all law, right and discipline. Licence and +all kinds of vices and turpitudes are carried in all conditions +to an extent they never were before. In those days there +was some observance of duty, the people especially were +decorous; but now, like a wild horse without rein and bridle, +without constraint or decency, they rush on the accomplishment +of their grossest lusts.</q><note place='foot'><q>Lies der Papisten Bücher, höre ihre Predigen, so wirst du finden, +dass diess ihr einziger Grund ist, darauf sie stehen wider uns pochen und +trotzen, da sie vorgeben, es sei nichts Gutes aus unserer Lehre gekommen. +Denn alsbald, da unser Evangelium anging und sie hören liess, folgte der +gräuliche Aufruhr, es erhuben sich in der Kirche Spaltung und Sekten, es +ward Ehrbarkeit, Disziplin und Zucht zerrüttet, und Jedermann wolte +vogelfrei seyn und thun, was ihm gelüstet nach allem seinen Muthwillen +und Gefallen, als wären alle Gesetze, Rechte und Ordnung gans aufhoben, +wie es denn leider allzu wahr ist. Denn der Muthwille in allen Ständen, +mit allerlei Laster, Sünden und Schanden ist jetzt viel grösser denn zuvor, +da die Leute, und sonderlich der Pöbel, doch etlichermassen in Furcht und +in Zaum gehalten waren, welches nun wie ein zaumlos Pferd lebt und thut +Alles, was es nur gelüstet ohne allen Scheu.</q>—Ed. Walch, v. 114. For a +very full account of the disorders that broke out on the preaching of +Luther, see Döllinger's Die Reformation in ihre Entwicklung. Regensb. +1848.</note> +</p> + +</quote> + +<pb n='029'/><anchor id='Pg029'/> + +<p> +Gaspard Schwenkfeld saw the result of this teaching, +and withdrew from it into what he considered a more +spiritual sect, and was one of the founders of Anabaptism, +a reaction against the laxity and licentiousness of +Lutheranism. <q>This doctrine,</q> said he, <q>is dangerous +and scandalous; it fixes us in impiety, and even encourages +us in it.</q><note place='foot'>Epistolas, 1528, ii. 192.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The Epistles of St. Paul exhibit him grappling with +this terrible evil, crying out in anguish against the daily +growing scandals, insisting that his converts should +leave off their <q>rioting and drunkenness, chambering +and wantonness, strife and envying;</q> that their bodies +were temples of the Spirit of God, not to be defiled with +impurity; that it was in vain to deceive themselves by +boasting their faith and appealing to the freedom of +Grace. <q>Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, +nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with +mankind, nor thieves, nor coveters, nor drunkards, nor +revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of +God.</q> +</p> + +<p> +And he holds himself up to his Corinthian converts +as an example that, though professing liberty, they +should walk orderly: <q>Be ye followers of me, even as I +also am of Christ.</q><note place='foot'>1 Cor. xi. 1.</note> +<pb n='030'/><anchor id='Pg030'/> +But apparently all his efforts could only control the +most exuberant manifestations of antinomianism, like +the incest at Corinth. +</p> + +<p> +The grave Petrine Christians at Jerusalem were +startled at the tidings that reached them from Asia +Minor and Greece. It was necessary that the breach +should be closed. The Church at Jerusalem was poor; +a collection was ordered by St. Paul to be made for its +necessities. He undertook to carry the money himself +to Jerusalem, and at the same time, by conforming to +an insignificant legal custom, to recover the regard and +confidence of the apostles. +</p> + +<p> +This purpose emerges at every point in the history of +St. Paul's last visit to Jerusalem. But it was too late. +The alienation of parties was too complete to be salved +over with a gift of money and appeased by shaven +crowns.<note place='foot'>Acts xxi. 23, 24.</note> +</p> + +<p> +When St. Paul was taken, he made one ineffectual +effort to establish his relation to Judaism, by an appeal +to the Pharisees. But it failed. He was regarded with +undisguised abhorrence by the Jews, with coldness by +the Nazarenes. The Jews would have murdered him. +We do not hear that a Nazarene visited him. +</p> + +<p> +Further traces of the conflict appear in the Epistles. +The authenticity of the Epistle to the Hebrews has been +doubted, disputed, and on weighty grounds. It is saturated +with Philonism, whole passages of Philo re-appear +in the Epistle to the Hebrews, yet I cannot doubt that +it is by St. Paul. When the heat of contest was somewhat +abated, when he saw how wofully he had been +misunderstood by his Jewish and Gentile converts in +the matter of the freedom of the Gospel; when he learned +how that even the heathen, not very nice about morals, +<pb n='031'/><anchor id='Pg031'/> +spoke of the scandals that desecrated the assemblies of +the Pauline Christians,—then no doubt he saw that it +was necessary to lay down a plain, sharp line of demarcation +between those portions of the Law which were +not binding, and those which were. Following a train +of thought suggested by Philo, whose works he had just +read, he showed that the ceremonial, sacrificial law was +symbolical, and that, as it typified Christ, the coming of +the One symbolized abrogated the symbol. But the +moral law had no such natural limit, therefore it was +permanent. Yet he was anxious not to be thought to +abandon his high views of the dignity of Faith; and the +Epistle to the Hebrews contains one of the finest passages +of his writing, the magnificent eulogy on Faith in +the 11th chapter. St. Paul, like Luther, was not a clear +thinker, could not follow a thread of argument uninterruptedly +to its logical conclusion. Often, when he saw +that conclusion looming before him, he hesitated to +assert it, and proceeded to weaken the cogency of his +former reasoning, or diverged to some collateral or irrelevant +topic. +</p> + +<p> +The Epistle to the Hebrews is, I doubt not, a reflex +of the mind of Paul under the circumstances indicated. +</p> + +<p> +This Epistle, there can be little question, called forth +the counterblast of the Epistle of James, the Lord's +brother. But the writer of that Epistle exhibits an +unjust appreciation of the character of St. Paul. Paul +was urged on by conviction, and not actuated by vanity. +Yet the exasperation must have been great which called +forth the indignant exclamation, <q>Wilt thou know, O +vain man, that faith without works is dead!</q><note place='foot'>James ii. 20.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The second of the Canonical Epistles attributed to +<pb n='032'/><anchor id='Pg032'/> +St. Peter,<note place='foot'>It is included by Eusebius in the Antilegomena, and, according to +St. Jerome, was rejected as a spurious composition by the majority of the +Christian world.</note> if not the expression of the opinion of the +Prince of the Apostles himself, represents the feelings of +Nazarene Christians of the first century. It cautions +those who read the writings of St. Paul, <q>which they +that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also +the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The Nicolaitans, taking advantage of the liberty accorded +them in one direction, assumed it in another. In +the letter to the Church of Pergamos, in the Apocalypse, +they are denounced as <q>eating things sacrificed to idols, +and committing fornication.</q><note place='foot'>Rev. ii. 1, 14, 15.</note> They are referred to as +the followers of Balaam, both in that Epistle and in the +Epistles of Jude and the 2nd of St. Peter. This is because +Balaam has the same significance as Nicolas.<note place='foot'>בלעם, <hi rend='italic'>destruction of the people</hi>, from בלע, <hi rend='italic'>to swallow up</hi>, and +עם, <hi rend='italic'>people</hi> = Νικόλαος.</note> +Jude, the brother of James, writes of them: <q>Certain +men are crept in unawares ... ungodly men turning +the grace of our God into lasciviousness ... who +defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities,</q> +<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> of the apostles; <q>these speak evil of those +things which they know not; but what they know +naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt +themselves. But, beloved, remember ye the words which +were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus +Christ; how that they told you there should be mockers +in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly +lusts. These be they who separate themselves, +sensual, having not the Spirit.</q> +</p> + +<p> +And St. Peter wrote in wrath and horror. <q>It had +been better not to have known the way of righteousness, +<pb n='033'/><anchor id='Pg033'/> +than, after they have known it, to turn from the +holy commandment delivered unto them.</q><note place='foot'>2 Pet. ii. 21.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The extreme Pauline party went on their way; +Marcion, Valentine, Mark, were its successive high-priests +and prophets. It ran from one extravagance to +another, till it sank into the preposterous sect of the +Cainites; in their frantic hostility to the Law, canonizing +Cain, Esau, Pharaoh, Saul, all who are denounced in the +Old Testament as having resisted the God of the Law, +and deifying the Serpent, the Deceiver, as the God of +the Gospel who had first revealed to Eve the secret of +liberty, of emancipation from restraint. +</p> + +<p> +But disorders always are on the surface, patent to +every one, and cry out for a remedy. Those into which +the advanced Pauline party had fallen were so flagrant, +so repugnant to the good sense and right feelings of +both Jew and Gentile believers, that they forced on a +reaction. The most impracticable antinomians on one +side, and obstructive Judaizers on the other, were cut +off, or cut themselves off, from the Church; and a +temper of mutual concession prevailed among the moderate. +At the head of this movement stood St. John. +</p> + +<p> +The work of reconciliation was achieved by the +Apostle of Love. A happy compromise was effected. +The Sabbath and the Lord's-day were both observed, +side by side. Nothing was said on one side about distinction +in meats, and the sacred obligation of washing; +and on the other, the Gentile Christians adopted the +Psalms of David and much of the ceremonial of the +Temple into their liturgy. The question of circumcision +was not mooted. It had died out of exhaustion, +and the doctrine of Justification was accepted as a harmless +opinion, to be constantly corrected by the moral law +and common sense. +</p> + +<pb n='034'/><anchor id='Pg034'/> + +<p> +A similar compromise took place at the English +Reformation. In deference to the dictation of foreign +reformers, the Anglican divines adopted their doctrine of +Justification by Faith only into the Articles, but took +the wise precaution of inserting as an antidote the +Decalogue in the Communion Office, and of ordering it +to be written up, where every one might read, in the +body of the church. +</p> + +<p> +The compromise effected by the influence and +authority of St. John was rejected by extreme partizans +on the right and the left. The extreme Paulines continued +to refuse toleration to the Law and the Old +Testament. The Nazarene community had also its +impracticable zealots who would not endure the reading +of the Pauline Epistles. +</p> + +<p> +The Church, towards the close of the apostolic age, +was made up of a preponderance of Gentile converts; +in numbers and social position they stood far above the +Nazarenes. +</p> + +<p> +Under St. John, the Church assumed a distinctively +Gentile character. In its constitution, religious worship, +in its religious views, it differed widely from the Nazarene +community in Palestine. +</p> + +<p> +With the disappearance from its programme of distinction +of meats and circumcision, its connection with +Judaism had disappeared. But Nazarenism was not +confined to Palestine. In Rome, in Greece, in Asia +Minor, there were large communities, not of converted +Jews only, but of proselytes from Gentiledom, who regarded +themselves as constituting the Church of Christ. +The existence of this fact is made patent by the Clementines +and the Apostolic Constitutions. St. Peter's successors +in the see of Rome have been a matter of perplexity. +It has impressed itself on ecclesiastical students +that Linus and Cletus ruled simultaneously. I have +<pb n='035'/><anchor id='Pg035'/> +little doubt it was so. The Judaizing Church was strong +in Rome. Probably each of the two communities had +its bishop set over it, one by Paul, the other by Peter. +</p> + +<p> +Whilst the <q>Catholic</q> Church, the Church of the +compromise, grew and prospered, and conquered the +world, the narrow Judaizing Church dwindled till it expired, +and with its expiration ceased conversion from +Judaism. This Jewish Church retained to the last its +close relationship with Mosaism. Circumstances, as has +been shown, drew the Jewish believer and the Pharisee +together. +</p> + +<p> +When Jerusalem fell, the Gentile Church passed without +a shudder under the Bethlehem Gate, whereon an +image of a swine had been set up in mockery; contemplated +the statue of Hadrian on the site of the Temple +without despair, and constituted itself under a Gentile +bishop, Mark, in Ælia Capitolina. +</p> + +<p> +But the old Nazarene community, the Church of +James and Symeon, clinging tightly to its old traditions, +crouched in exile at Pella, confounded by the Romans +in common banishment with the Jew. The guards +thrust back Nazarene and Jew alike with their spears, +when they ventured to approach the ruins of their prostrate +city, the capital of their nation and of their faith. +</p> + +<p> +The Church at Jerusalem under Mark was, to the +Nazarene, alien; its bishop an intruder. To the Nazarene, +the memory of Paul was still hateful. The Clementine +Recognitions speak of him with thinly-disguised +aversion, and tell of a personal contest between him, +when the persecutor Saul, and St. James their bishop, +and of his throwing down stairs, and beating till nearly +dead, the brother of the Lord. In the very ancient +apocryphal letter of St. Peter to St. James, belonging to +the same sect, and dating from the second century, Paul +is spoken of as the <q>enemy preaching a doctrine at once +<pb n='036'/><anchor id='Pg036'/> +foolish and lawless.</q><note place='foot'>Τοῦ ἐχθροῦ ἀνθρώπου ἄνομον τίνα καὶ φλυαρώδη διδασκαλιάν—Clem. +Homil. xx. ed. Dressel, p. 4. The whole passage is sufficiently +curious to be quoted. St. Peter writes: <q>There are some from among +the Gentiles who have rejected my legal preaching, attaching themselves to +certain lawless and trifling preaching of the man who is my enemy. And +these things some have attempted while I am still alive, to transform my +words by certain various interpretations, in order to the dissolution of +the Law; as though I also myself were of such a mind, but did not freely proclaim +it, which God forbid! For such a thing were to act in opposition to +the law of God, which was spoken by Moses, and was borne witness to by +our Lord in respect of its eternal continuance; for thus he spoke: The +heavens and the earth shall pass away, but one jot or one tittle shall in +no wise pass from the law.</q></note> The Nazarene Christians, as +Irenaeus and Theodoret tell us, regarded him as an +apostate.<note place='foot'><q>Apostolum Paulum recusantes, apostatam eum legis dicentes.</q>—Iren. +Adv. Haeres. i. 26. Τὸν δὲ ἀπόστυλον ἀποστάτην καλοῦσι.—Theod. +Fabul. Haeret. ii. 1.</note> They would not receive his Epistles or the +Gospel of St. Luke drawn up under his auspices. +</p> + +<p> +In the Homilies, St. Peter is made to say: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q>Our Lord and Prophet, who hath sent us, declared that +the Wicked One, having disputed with him forty days, and +having prevailed nothing against him, promised that he +would send apostles among his subjects to deceive. Wherefore, +above all, remember to shun apostle or teacher or prophet +who does not first accurately compare his preaching with +[that of] James, who was called the Brother of my Lord, and +to whom was entrusted the administration of the Church of +the Hebrews at Jerusalem. And that, even though he come +to you with credentials; lest the wickedness which prevailed +nothing when disputing forty days with our Lord should +afterwards, like lightning falling from heaven upon earth, +send a preacher to your injury, preaching under pretence of +truth, like this Simon [Magus], and sowing error.</q><note place='foot'>Hom. xi. 85.</note> +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +The reader has but to study the Clementine Homilies +<pb n='037'/><anchor id='Pg037'/> +and Recognitions, and his wonder at the silence of Josephus +and Justus will disappear. +</p> + +<p> +Those curious books afford us a precious insight into +the feelings of the Nazarenes of the first and second +centuries, showing us what was the temper of their +minds and the colour of their belief. They represent +St. James as the supreme head of the Church. He is +addressed by St. Peter, <q>Peter to James, the Lord and +Bishop of the Holy Church, under the Father of all.</q> +St. Clement calls him <q>the Lord and Bishop of bishops, +who rules Jerusalem, the Holy Church of the Hebrews, +and the Churches everywhere excellently founded by +the providence of God.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Throughout the curious collection of Homilies, Christianity +is one with Judaism. It is a reform of Mosaism. +It bears the relation to Judaism, that the Anglican +Church of the last three centuries, it is pretended, bears +to the Mediaeval Church in England. Everything essential +was retained; only the traditions of the elders, the +glosses of the lawyers, were rejected. +</p> + +<p> +Christianity is never mentioned by name. A believer +is called, not a Christian, but a Jew. Clement describes +his own conversion: <q>I betook myself to the +holy God and Law of the Jews, putting my faith in the +well-assured conclusion that the Law has been assigned +by the righteous judgment of God.</q><note place='foot'>Hom. iv. 22.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Apion the philosopher, is spoken of as hating the +Jews; the context informs us that by Jews is meant +those whom we should call Christians. +</p> + +<p> +Moses is the first prophet, Jesus the second. Like +their spiritual ancestors the Essenes, the Nazarenes protested +that the Law was overlaid with inventions of a +later date; these Jesus came to efface, that he might +re-edit the Law in its ancient integrity. The original +<pb n='038'/><anchor id='Pg038'/> +Law, as given by God and written by Moses, was lost; +it was found again after 300 years, lost again, and then +re-written from memory by Ezra. Thus it came to pass +that the Old Revelation went through various editions, +which altered its meaning, and left it a compound of +truths and errors.<note place='foot'>Clem. Homil. ii. 38-40, 48, iii. 50, 51.</note> It was the mark of a good and wise +Jew, instructed by Jesus, to distinguish between what +was true and what was false in the Scriptures. +</p> + +<p> +Thus the Nazarene thought himself a Hebrew of the +Hebrews, as an Anglican esteems himself a better +Catholic than the Catholics. The Nazarenes would +have resented with indignation the imputation that they +were a sect alien from the commonwealth of Israel, and, +like all communities occupying an uneasy seat between +two stools, were doubly, trebly vehement in their denunciation +of that sect to which they were thought to bear +some relation. They repudiated <q>Christianity,</q><note place='foot'>Of course I mean the designation given to the Pauline sect, not the +religion of Christ.</note> as a +high Anglican repudiates Protestantism; they held aloof +from a Pauline believer, as an English Churchman will +stand aloof from a Lutheran. +</p> + +<p> +And thus it came to pass that the Jewish historians +of the first century said nothing about Christ and the +Church he founded. +</p> + +<p> +And yet St. Paul had wrought a work for Christ and +the Church which, humanly speaking, none else could +have effected. +</p> + +<p> +The Nazarene Church was from its infancy prone to +take a low view of the nature of Christ. The Jewish +converts were so infected with Messianic notions that +they could look on Jesus Christ only as the Messiah, +not as incarnate God. They could see in him a prophet, +<q>one like unto Moses,</q> but not one equal to the Father. +</p> + +<pb n='039'/><anchor id='Pg039'/> + +<p> +The teaching of the apostles seemed powerless at the +time to lift the faith of their Jewish converts to high +views of the Lord's nature and mission. Their Judaic +prejudice strangled, warped their faith. Directly the +presence of the apostles was withdrawn, the restraint on +this downward gravitation was removed, and Nazarenism +settled into heresy on the fundamental doctrine of +Christianity. To Gentiles it was in vain to preach Messianism. +Messianism implied an earnest longing for a +promised deliverer. Gentiles had no such longing, had +never been led to expect a deliverer. +</p> + +<p> +The apostle must take other ground. He took that +of the Incarnation, the Godhead revealing the Truth +to mankind by manifestation of itself among men, in +human flesh. +</p> + +<p> +The apostles to the circumcision naturally appealed +to the ruling religious passion in the Jewish heart—the +passion of hope for the promised Messiah. The Messiah +was come. The teaching of the apostles to the circumcision +necessarily consisted of an explanation of this +truth, and efforts to dissipate the false notions which +coloured Jewish Messianic hopes, and interfered with +their reception of the truth that Jesus was the one who +had been spoken of by the prophets, and to whose +coming their fathers had looked. +</p> + +<p> +To the Gentiles, St. Paul preached Christ as the revealer +to a dark and ignorant world of the nature of +God, the purpose for which He had made man, and the +way in which man might serve and please God. The +Jews had their revelation, and were satisfied with it. +The Gentiles walked in darkness; they had none; their +philosophies were the gropings of earnest souls after +light. The craving of the Gentile heart was for a revelation. +Paul preached to them the truth manifested to +the world through Christ. +</p> + +<pb n='040'/><anchor id='Pg040'/> + +<p> +Thus Pauline teaching on the Incarnation counteracted +the downward drag of Nazarene Messianism, which, when +left to itself, ended in denying the Godhead of Christ. +</p> + +<p> +If for a century the churches founded by St. Paul were +sick with moral disorders, wherewith they were inoculated, +the vitality of orthodox belief in the Godhead of +Christ proved stronger than moral heresy, cast it out, +and left only the scars to tell what they had gone +through in their infancy. +</p> + +<p> +Petrine Christianity upheld the standard of morality, +Pauline Christianity bore that of orthodoxy. +</p> + +<p> +St. John, in the cool of his old age, was able to give +the Church its permanent form. The Gentile converts +had learned to reverence the purity, the uprightness, the +truthfulness of the Nazarene, and to be ashamed of their +excesses; and the Nazarene had seen that his Messianism +supplied him with nothing to satisfy the inner +yearning of his nature. Both met under the apostle of +love to clasp hands and learn of one another, to confess +their mutual errors, to place in the treasury of the +Church, the one his faith, the other his ethics, to be the +perpetual heritage of Christianity. +</p> + +<p> +Some there were still who remained fixed in their prejudices, +self-excommunicated, monuments to the Church +of the perils she had gone through, the Scylla and Charybdis +through which she had passed with difficulty, +guided by her Divine pilot. +</p> + +<milestone unit='tb' rend='rule: 50%'/> + +<p> +I have been obliged at some length to show that the +early Christian Church in Palestine bore so close a resemblance +to the Essene sect, that to the ordinary superficial +observer it was indistinguishable from it. And +also, that so broad was the schism separating the Nazarene +Church consisting of Hebrews, from the Pauline +Church consisting of Gentiles that no external observer +<pb n='041'/><anchor id='Pg041'/> +who had not examined the doctrines of these communities +would suppose them to be two forms of the same +faith, two religions sprung from the same loins. Their +connection was as imperceptible to a Jew, as would be +that between Roman Catholicism and Wesleyanism to-day. +</p> + +<p> +Both Nazarene and Jew worshipped in the same +temple, observed the same holy days, practised the same +rites, shrank with loathing from the same food, and +mingled their anathemas against the same apostate, +Paul, who had cast aside at once the law in which he +had been brought up, and the Hebrew name by which +he had been known. +</p> + +<p> +The silence of Josephus and Justus under these circumstances +is explicable. They have described Essenism; +that description covers Nazarenism as it appeared +to the vulgar eye. If they have omitted to speak of +Jesus and his death, it is because both wrote at the time +when Nazarene and Pharisee were most closely united +in sympathy, sorrow and regret for the past. It was +not a time to rip up old wounds, and Justus and Josephus +were both Pharisees. +</p> + +<p> +That neither should speak of Pauline Christianity is +also not remarkable. It was a Gentile religion, believed +in only by Greeks and Romans; it had no open <emph>observable</emph> +connection with Judaism. It was to them but +another of those many religions which rose as mushrooms, +to fade away again on the soil of the Roman +world, with which the Jewish historians had little interest +and no concern. +</p> + +<p> +If this explanation which I have offered is unsatisfactory, +I know not whither to look for another which +can throw light to the strange silence of Philo, Josephus +and Justus. +</p> + +<p> +It is thrown in the teeth of Christians, that history, +<pb n='042'/><anchor id='Pg042'/> +apart from the Gospels, knows nothing of Christ; that +the silence of contemporary, and all but contemporary, +Jewish chroniclers, invalidates the testimony of the inspired +records. +</p> + +<p> +The reasons which I have given seem to me to explain +this silence plausibly, and to show that it arose, +not from ignorance of the acts of Christ and the existence +of the Church, but from a deliberate purpose. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='043'/><anchor id='Pg043'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>III. The Jew Of Celsus.</head> + +<p> +Celsus was one of the four first controversial opponents +of Christianity. His book has been lost, with the +exception of such portions as have been preserved by +Origen. +</p> + +<p> +Nothing for certain is known of Celsus. Origen endeavours +to make him out to be an Epicurean, as prejudice +existed even among the heathen against this school of +philosophy, which denied, or left as open questions, the +existence of a God, Providence, and the Eternity of the +Soul. He says in his first book that he has heard there +had existed two Epicureans of the name of Celsus, one +who lived in the reign of Nero († A.D. 68), the other +under Hadrian († A.D. 138), and it is with this latter +that he has to do. But it is clear from passages of +Celsus quoted by Origen, that this antagonist of Christianity +was no Epicurean, but belonged to that school of +Eclectics which based its teaching on Platonism, but +adopted modifications from other schools. Origen himself +is obliged to admit in several passages of his +controversial treatise that the views of Celsus are not +Epicurean, but Platonic; but he pretends that Celsus disguised +his Epicureanism under a pretence of Platonism. +Controversialists in the first days of Christianity were +as prompt to discredit their opponents by ungenerous, +false accusation, as in these later days. +</p> + +<p> +We know neither the place nor the date of the birth +of Celsus. That he lived later than the times of Hadrian +<pb n='044'/><anchor id='Pg044'/> +is clear from his mention of the Marcionites, who only +arose in A.D. 142, and of the Marcellians, named after +the woman Marcella, who, according to the testimony +of Irenaeus,<note place='foot'>Adv. Haeres. i. 24.</note> first came to Rome in the time of Pope +Anicetus, after A.D. 157. As Celsus in two passages remarks +that the Christians spread their doctrines secretly, +because they were forbidden under pain of death to +assemble together for worship, it would appear that he +wrote his book Λόγος ἀληθής during the reign of Marcus +Aurelius (between 161-180), who persecuted the Christians. +We may therefore put the date of the book approximately +at A.D. 176. +</p> + +<p> +The author is certainly the Celsus to whom Lucian +dedicated his writing, <q>Alexander the False Prophet.</q> +Of the religious opinions of Celsus we are able to form a +tolerable conception from the work of Origen. <q>If the +Christians only honoured One God,</q> says he,<note place='foot'>Origen, Contr. Cels. lib. viii.</note> <q>then the +weapons of their controversy with others would not be +so weak; but they show to a man, who appeared not +long ago, an exaggerated honour, and are of opinion that +they are not offending the Godhead, when they show to +one of His servants the same reverence that they pay +to God Himself.</q> Celsus acknowledges, with the Platonists, +One only, eternal, spiritual God, who cannot be +brought into union with impure matter, the world. All +that concerns the world, he says, God has left to the +dispensation of inferior spirits, which are the gods of +heathendom. The welfare of mankind is at the disposal +of these inferior gods, and men therefore do well to +honour them in moderation; but the human soul is called +to escape the chains of matter and strain after perfect +purity; and this can only be done by meditation on the +One, supreme, almighty God. <q>God,</q> says he,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> lib. vi.</note> <q>has +<pb n='045'/><anchor id='Pg045'/> +not made man in His image, as Christians affirm; for +God has not either the appearance of a man, nor indeed +any visible form.</q> In the fourth Book he remarks, in +opposition to the Christian doctrine of the Incarnation, +<q>I will appeal to that which has been held as true in +all ages,—that God is good, beautiful, blessed, and possesses +in Himself all perfections. If He came down +among men, He must have altered His nature; from a +good God, He must have become bad; from beautiful, +ugly; from blessed, unhappy; and His perfect Being +would have become one of imperfection. Who can tolerate +such a change? Only transitory things alter their conditions; +the intransitory remain ever the same. Therefore +it is impossible to conceive that God can have been +transformed in such a manner.</q> +</p> + +<p> +It is remarkable that Celsus, living in the middle of +the second century, and able to make inquiries of aged +Jews whose lives had extended from the first century, +should have been able to find out next to nothing about +Jesus and his disciples, except what he read in the +Gospels. This is proof that no traditions concerning +Jesus had been preserved by the Jews, apart from those +contained in the Gospels, Canonical and Apocryphal. +</p> + +<p> +Origen's answer to Celsus is composed of eight Books. +In the first Book a Jew speaks, who is introduced by +Celsus as addressing Jesus himself; in the second Book +this Jew addresses those of his fellow-countrymen who +have embraced Christianity; in the other six Books +Celsus speaks for himself. Origen extracts only short +passages from the work of Celsus, and then labours to +demolish the force of the argument of the opponent of +Christianity as best he can. +</p> + +<p> +The arguments of Celsus and the counter-arguments +of Origen do not concern us here. All we have to deal +<pb n='046'/><anchor id='Pg046'/> +with are those traditions or slanders detailed to Celsus +by the Jews, which he reproduces. That Celsus was +in communication with Jews when he wrote the two +first Books is obvious, and the only circumstances he +relates which concern the life of our Lord he derived +from his Jewish informants. <q>The Jew (whom Celsus +introduces) addresses Jesus, and finds much fault. In +the first place, he charges him with having falsely proclaimed +himself to be the Son of a Virgin; afterwards, +he says that Jesus was born in a poor Jewish village, +and that his mother was a poor woman of the country, +who supported herself with spinning and needlework; +that she was cast off by her betrothed, a carpenter; and +that after she was thus rejected by her husband, she +wandered about in disgrace and misery till she secretly +gave birth to Jesus. Jesus himself was obliged from +poverty and necessity to go down as servant into Egypt, +where, he learnt some of the secret sciences which are +in high honour among the Egyptians; and he placed +such confidence in these sciences, that on his return to +his native land he gave himself out to be a God.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Origen adds: <q>The carpenter, as the Jew of Celsus +declares, who was betrothed to Mary, put the mother +of Jesus from him, because she had broken faith with +him, in favour of a soldier named Panthera!</q> +</p> + +<p> +Again: <q>Celsus relates from the Gospel of Matthew +the flight of Christ into Egypt; but he denies all that +is marvellous and supernatural in it, especially that an +angel should have appeared to Joseph and ordered him +to escape. Instead of seeking whether the departure of +Jesus from Judaea and his residence in Egypt had not +some spiritual meaning, he has made up a fable concerning +it. He admits, indeed, that Jesus may have +wrought the miracles which attracted such a multitude +<pb n='047'/><anchor id='Pg047'/> +of people to him, and induced them to follow him as +the Messiah; but he pretends that these miracles were +wrought, not by virtue of his divine power, but of his +magical knowledge. Jesus, says he, had a bad education; +later he went into Egypt and passed into service +there, and there learnt some wonderful arts. When he +came back to his fatherland, on account of these arts, +he gave himself out to be a God.</q><note place='foot'>Contra Cels. lib. i.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<q>The Jew brought forward by Celsus goes on to say, <q>I +could relate many things more concerning Jesus, all +which are true, but which have quite a different character +from what his disciples relate touching him; but, +I will not now bring these forward.</q> And what are +these facts,</q> answers Origen, <q>which are not in agreement +with the narratives of the Evangelists, and which +the Jew refrains from mentioning? Unquestionably, he +is using only a rhetorical expression; he pretends that +he has in his store abundance of munitions of war to +discharge against Jesus and his doctrine, but in fact he +knows nothing which can deceive the hearer with the +appearance of truth, <emph>except those particulars which he has +culled from the the Gospels themselves</emph>.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> lib. ii.</note> +</p> + +<p> +This is most important evidence of the utter ignorance +of the Jews in the second century of all that related to +the history of our Lord. Justus and Josephus had been +silent. There was no written narrative to which the +Jew might turn for information; his traditions were +silent. The fall of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the +Jews had broken the thread of their recollections. +</p> + +<p> +It is very necessary to bear this in mind, in order to +appreciate the utter worthlessness of the stories told of +our Saviour in the Talmud and the Toledoth Jeschu. An +attempt has been made to bolster up these late fables, +<pb n='048'/><anchor id='Pg048'/> +and show that they are deserving of a certain amount +of confidence.<note place='foot'>Amongst others, Clemens: Jesus von Nazareth, Stuttgart, 1850; Von +der Alme: Die Urtheile heidnischer und jüdischer Schriftsteller, Leipzig, +1864.</note> +</p> + +<p> +But it is clear that the religious movement which our +Lord originated in Palestine attracted much less attention +at the time than has been usually supposed. The +Sanhedrim at first regarded his teaching with the contempt +with which, in after times, Leo X. heard of the +preaching of Luther. <q>It is a schoolman's proposition,</q> +said the Pope. <q>A new rabbinical tradition,</q> the elders +probably said. Only when their interests and fears +were alarmed, did they interfere to procure the condemnation +of Christ. And then they thought no more +of their victim and his history than they did later of +the history of James, the Lord's brother. The preaching +and death of Jesus led to no tumultuous outbreak against +the Roman government, and therefore excited little interest. +The position of Christ as the God-man was not +forced on them by the Nazarenes. The Jews noticed +the virtues of these men, but ignored their peculiar +tenets, till traditions were lost; and when the majesty +of Christ, incarnate God, shone out on the world which +turned to acknowledge him, they found that they had +preserved no records, no recollections of the events in +the history of Jesus. That he was said by Christians +to have been born of a Virgin, driven into Egypt by +King Herod—that he wrought miracles, gathered disciples, +died on the cross and rose again—they heard from +the Christians; and these facts they made use of to +pervert them into fantastic fables, to colour them with +malignant inventions. The only trace of independent +tradition is in the mention made of Panthera by the +Jew produced by Celsus. +</p> + +<pb n='049'/><anchor id='Pg049'/> + +<p> +It is perhaps worthy of remark that St. Epiphanius, +who wrote against heresies at the end of the fourth century, +gives the genealogy of Jesus thus:<note place='foot'>Adv. Haer. lib. iii; Haer. lxviii. 7.</note> +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><hi rend='italic'>Jacob, called Panther</hi>, married to ?</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Offspring:</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>Mary, married to Joseph</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'>Offspring:</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 8'><hi rend='italic'>Jesus</hi></l> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>Cleophas</l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +It shows that in the fourth century the Jewish stories +of Panthera had made such an impression on the Christians, +that his name was forced into the pedigree of Jesus. +</p> + +<p> +Had any of the stories found in the Toledoth Jeschu +existed in the second century, we should certainly have +found them in the book of Celsus. +</p> + +<p> +Origen taunts the Jew with knowing nothing of Christ +but what he had found out from the Gospels. He would +not have uttered that taunt had any anti-Christian apocryphal +biographies of Christ existed in his day. The +Talmud, indeed, has the tale of Christ having studied +magic in Egypt. Whence this legend, as well as that of +Panthera, came, we shall see presently. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='050'/><anchor id='Pg050'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>IV. The Talmud.</head> + +<p> +The Talmud (<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> the Teaching) consists of two parts, +the Mischna and the Gemara. +</p> + +<p> +The Mischna (<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> δευτέρωσις, Second Law, or Recapitulation) +is a collection of religious ordinances, interpretations +of Old Testament passages, especially of +Mosaic rules, which have been given by various illustrious +Rabbis from the date of the founding of the second +Temple, therefore from about B.C. 400 to the year +A.D. 200. These interpretations, which were either +written or orally handed down, were collected in the +year A.D. 219 by the Rabbi Jehuda the Holy, at Tiberias, +on the Sea of Galilee, into a book to which he gave +the name of Mischna, the Recapitulation of the Law. +At that time the Jewish Sanhedrim and the Patriarch +resided at Tiberias. After the destruction of Jerusalem +in A.D. 70, the Sanhedrim, which consisted of seventy-one +persons, assembled at Jamnia, the ancient Philistine +city of Jabne; but on the insurrection of the Jews +under Barcochab, A.D. 135, it took up its quarters at +Tiberias. There the Sanhedrim met under a hereditary +Patriarch of the family of Gamaliel, who bore the title +of Nasi, Chief, till A.D. 420, when the last member of +the house of Gamaliel died, and the Patriarchate and +Sanhedrim departed from Tiberias. +</p> + +<p> +The Mischna is made up of six Orders (Sedarim), +which together contain sixty-three Tractates. The first +Order or Seder is called Iesaïm, and treats of agriculture. +<pb n='051'/><anchor id='Pg051'/> +The second, Moed, treats of festivals. The third, +Naschim, deals with the rights of women. The fourth, +Nezikim, or Jechnoth, treats of cases of law. The fifth, +Kodaschim, of holy things. The sixth, Taharoth, of impurity +and purifications. +</p> + +<p> +The Orders of Kodaschim and Taharoth are incomplete. +The Jerusalem Talmud consists of only the first +four, and the tract Nidda, which belongs to the Order +Taharoth. +</p> + +<p> +Now it is deserving of remark, that many of the +Rabbis whose sayings are recorded in the Mischna lived +in the time of our Lord, or shortly after, and yet that +not the smallest reference is made to the teaching of +Jesus, nor even any allusion to him personally. Although +the Mischna was drawn up beside the Sea of +Galilee, at Tiberias, near where Jesus lived and wrought +miracles and taught, neither he nor his followers are +mentioned once throughout the Mischna. +</p> + +<p> +There must be a reason why the Mischna, as well as +Josephus and Justus of Tiberias, is silent respecting +Jesus of Nazareth. The reason I have already given. +The followers of Jesus were regarded as belonging to +the sect of the Essenes. Our Lord's teaching made no +great impression on the Jews of his time. It was so +radically unlike the pedantry and puerilities of their +Rabbis, that they did not acknowledge him as a teacher +of the Law. He had preached Essene disengagement +from the world, conquest of passion. Only when Essene +enthusiasm was thought to threaten the powerful families +which held possession of and abused the pontifical +office, had the high-priest and his party taken alarm, +and obtained the condemnation and death of Jesus. +Their alarm died away, the political situation altered, +the new Essenianism ceased to be suspected, and Nazarene +Christianity took its place among the parties of +<pb n='052'/><anchor id='Pg052'/> +Judaism, attracting little notice and exciting no active +hostility. +</p> + +<p> +The Mischna was drawn up at the beginning of the +third century, when Christianity was spreading rapidly +through the Roman empire, and had excited the Roman +emperors to fierce persecution of those who professed it. +Yet Jehuda the Holy says not a word about Christ or +Christianity. +</p> + +<p> +He and those whose sayings he quotes had no suspicion +that this religion, which was gaining ground every +day among the Gentiles, had sprung from the teaching +of a Jew. Christianity ruffled not the surface of Jewdom. +The harmless Nazarenes were few, and were as +strict observers of the Law as the straitest Pharisees. +</p> + +<p> +And if Christianity was thus a matter of indifference +to the Jews, no wonder that every recollection of Jesus +of Nazareth, every tradition of his birth, his teaching, +his death, had died away, so that, even at the close of +the second century, Origen could charge his Jew opponent +with knowing nothing of Jesus save what he had +learned from the Gospels. +</p> + +<p> +The Mischna became in turn the subject of commentary +and interpretation by the Rabbis. The explanations +of famous Rabbis, who taught on the Mischna, +were collected, and called Gemara (the Complement), +because with it the collection of rabbinical expositions +of the Law was completed. +</p> + +<p> +There are two editions of the Gemara, one made in +Palestine and called the Jerusalem Gemara, the other +made at Babylon. +</p> + +<p> +The Jerusalem Gemara was compiled about A.D. 390, +under the direction of the Patriarch of Tiberias. But +there was a second Jewish Patriarchate at Babylon, +which lasted till A.D. 1038, whereas that of Tiberias +was extinguished, as has been already said, in A.D. 420. +</p> + +<pb n='053'/><anchor id='Pg053'/> + +<p> +Among the Babylonish Jews, under the direction of their +Patriarch, an independent school of commentators on +the Mischna had arisen. Their opinions were collected +about the year A.D. 500, and compose the Babylonish +Gemara. This latter Gemara is held by modern Jews +in higher esteem than the Jerusalem Gemara. +</p> + +<p> +The Mischna, which is the same to both Gemaras, together +with one of the commentaries and glosses, called +Mekilta and Massektoth, form either the Jerusalem or +the Babylonish Talmud. +</p> + +<p> +All the Jewish historians who speak of the compilation +of the Gemara of Babylon, are almost unanimous +on three points: that the Rabbi Ashi was the first to +begin the compilation, but that death interrupted him +before its completion; that he had for his assistant +another doctor, the Rabbi Avina; and that a certain +Rabbi Jose finished the work seventy-three years after +the death of Rabbi Ashi. Rabbi Ashi is believed to +have died A.D. 427, consequently the Babylonish Talmud +was completed in A.D. 500. +</p> + +<p> +St. Jerome (d. 420) was certainly acquainted with the +Mischna, for he mentions it by name.<note place='foot'><q>Quantae traditiones Pharisaeorum sint, quas hodie vocant δευτερώσεις +et quam aniles fabulae, evolvere nequeo: neque enim libri patitur magnitudo, +et pleraque tam turpia sunt ut erubescam dicere.</q></note> +</p> + +<p> +St. Ephraem (d. 378) says: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q>The Jews have had four sorts of traditions which they +call Repetitions (δευτερώσεις). The first bear the name of +Moses the Prophet; they attribute the second to a doctor +named Akiba or Bar Akiba. The third pass for being those +of a certain Andan or Annan, whom they call also Judas; and +they maintain that the sons of Assamonaeus were the authors +of the fourth. It is from these four sources that all those +doctrines among them are derived, which, however futile they +<pb n='054'/><anchor id='Pg054'/> +may be, by them are esteemed as the most profound science, +and of which they speak with ostentation.</q><note place='foot'>Haeres. xiii.</note> +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +From this it appears that St. Ephraem was acquainted +not only with the Mischna, but with the Gemara, then +in process of formation. +</p> + +<p> +Both the Jerusalem and the Babylonish Gemara, in +their interpretations of the Mischna, mention Jesus and +the apostles, or, at all events, have been supposed to do +so. At the time when both Gemaras were drawn up, +Christianity was the ruling religion in the Roman empire, +and the Rabbis could hardly ignore any longer the +Founder of the new religion. But their statements concerning +Jesus are untrustworthy, because so late. Had +they occurred in the Mischna, they might have deserved +attention. +</p> + +<p> +But before we consider the passages containing allusions +to Jesus, it will be well to quote a very singular +anecdote in the Jerusalem Gemara:<note place='foot'>Beracoth, xi. <hi rend='italic'>a</hi>.</note> +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q>It happened that the cow of a Jew who was ploughing +the ground began to low. An Arab (or a traveller) who was +passing, and who understood the language of beasts, on hearing +this lowing said to the labourer, <q>Son of a Jew! son of a +Jew! loose thine ox and set it free from the plough, for the +Temple is fallen.</q> But as the ox lowed a second time, he +said, <q>Son of a Jew! son of a Jew! yoke thy ox, join her to +the plough, for the Messiah is born.</q> <q>What is his name?</q> +asked the Jew. <q>כובהס, the Consoler,</q> replied the Arab. +<q>And what is the name of his father?</q> asked the Jew. +<q>Hezekiah,</q> answered the Arab. <q>And whence comes he?</q> +<q>From the royal palace of Bethlehem Juda.</q> Then the Jew +sold his ox and his plough, and becoming a seller of children's +clothes went to Bethlehem, where he found the mother of the +Consoler afflicted, because that, on the day he was born, the +<pb n='055'/><anchor id='Pg055'/> +Temple had been destroyed. But the other women, to console +her, said that her son, who had caused the ruin of the +Temple, would speedily rebuild it. Some days after, she +owned to the seller of children's clothes that the Consoler +had been ravished from her, and that she knew not what had +become of him. Rabbi Bun observes thereupon that there +was no need to learn from an Arab that the Messiah would +appear at the moment of the fall of the Temple, as the +prophet Isaiah had predicted this very thing in the two +verses, x. 34 and xi. 1, on the ruin of the Temple, and the +cessation of the daily sacrifice, which took place at the siege +by the Romans, or by the impious kingdom.</q> +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +This is a very curious story, and its appearance in the +Talmud is somewhat difficult to understand. +</p> + +<p> +We must now pass on to those passages which have +been supposed to refer to our Lord. +</p> + +<p> +In the Babylonish Gemara<note place='foot'>Tract. Sanhedrim, fol. 107, and Sota, fol. 47.</note> it is related that when +King Alexander Jannaeus persecuted the Rabbis, the +Rabbi Jehoshua, son of Parachias, fled with his disciple +Jesus to Alexandria in Egypt, and there both received +instruction in Egyptian magic. On their way back to +Judaea, both were hospitably lodged by a woman. Next +day, as Jehoshua and his disciple were continuing their +journey, the master praised the hospitality of their +hostess, whereupon his disciple remarked that she was +not only a hospitable but a comely woman. +</p> + +<p> +Now as it was forbidden to Rabbis to look with admiration +on female beauty, the Rabbi Jehoshua was so +angry with his disciple, that he pronounced on him excommunication +and a curse. Jesus after this separated +from his master, and gave himself up wholly to the +study of magic. +</p> + +<p> +The name Jesus is Jehoshua Graecised. Both master +<pb n='056'/><anchor id='Pg056'/> +and pupil in this legend bore the same name, but +that of the pupil is in the Talmud abbreviated into +Jeschu. +</p> + +<p> +This story is introduced in the Gemara to illustrate +the obligation incumbent on a Rabbi to keep custody +over his eyes. It bears no signs of having been forced +in so as to give expression to antipathy against Jeschu. +</p> + +<p> +That this Jeschu is our blessed Lord is by no means +evident. On the contrary, the balance of probability is +that the pupil of Jehoshua Ben Perachia was an entirely +different person. +</p> + +<p> +This Jehoshua, son of Perachia, is a known historical +personage. He was one of the Sanhedrim in the reign +of Alexander Jannaeus. He began to teach as Rabbi in +the year of the world 3606, or B.C. 154. Alexander +Jannaeus, son of Hyrcanus, was king of the Jews in +B.C. 106. The Pharisees could not endure that the +royal and high-priestly functions should be united in +the same person; they therefore broke out in revolt. +The civil war caused the death of some 50,000, according +to Josephus. When Alexander had suppressed the +revolt, he led 800 prisoners to the fortress of Bethome, +and crucified them before the eyes of his concubines at +a grand banquet he gave. +</p> + +<p> +The Pharisees, and those of the Sanhedrim who had +not fallen into his hands, sought safety in flight. It was +then probably that Jehoshua, son of Perachia, went down +into Egypt and was accompanied by Jeschu. +</p> + +<p> +Jehoshua was buried at Chittin, but the exact date +of his death is not known.<note place='foot'>Bartolocci: Bibliotheca Maxima Rabbinica, sub. nom.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Alexander Jannaeus died B.C. 79, after a reign of +twenty-seven years, whilst besieging the castle of +Ragaba on the further side of Jordan. +</p> + +<p> +It will be seen at once that the date of the Talmudic +<pb n='057'/><anchor id='Pg057'/> +Jeschu is something like a century earlier than that of +the Jesus of the Gospels. +</p> + +<p> +Moreover, it cannot be said that Jewish tradition +asserts their identity. On the contrary, learned Jewish +writers have emphatically denied that the Jeschu of the +Talmud is the Jesus of the Gospels. +</p> + +<p> +In the <q>Disputation</q> of the Rabbi Jechiels with +Nicolas, a convert, occurs this statement. <q>This (which +is related of Jesus and the Rabbi Joshua, son of Perachia) +contains no reference to him whom Christians +honour as a God;</q> and then he points out that the impossibility +of reconciling the dates is enough to prove +that the disciple of Joshua Ben Perachia was a person +altogether distinct from the Founder of Christianity. +</p> + +<p> +The Rabbi Lippmann<note place='foot'>Sepher Nizzachon, n. 337.</note> gives the same denial, and +shows that Jesus of the Gospels was a contemporary of +Hillel, whereas the Jeschu of the anecdote lived from +two to three generations earlier. +</p> + +<p> +The Rabbi Salman Zevi entered into the question +with great care in a pamphlet, and produced ten reasons +for concluding that the Jeschu of the Talmud was not +the Jesus, son of Mary, of the Evangelists.<note place='foot'>Eisenmenger: Neuentdecktes Judenthum, I. pp. 231-7. Königsberg, +1711.</note> +</p> + +<p> +We can see now how it was that the Jew of Celsus +brought against our Lord the charge of having learned +magic in Egypt. He had heard in the Rabbinic schools +the anecdote of Jeschu, pupil of Jehoshua, son of Perachia,—an +anecdote which could scarcely fail to be narrated +to all pupils. He at once concluded that this Jeschu +was the Jesus of the Christians, without troubling himself +with the chronology. +</p> + +<p> +In the Mischna, Tract. Sabbath, fol. 104, it is forbidden +to make marks upon the skin. The Babylonish Gemara +<pb n='058'/><anchor id='Pg058'/> +observes on this passage: <q>Did not the son of Stada +mark the magical arts on his skin, and bring them with +him out of Egypt?</q> This son of Stada is Jeschu, as +will presently appear. +</p> + +<p> +In the Mischna of Tract. Sanhedrim, fol. 43, it is ordered +that he who shall be condemned to death by stoning +shall be led to the place of execution with a herald +going before him, who shall proclaim the name of the +offender, and shall summon those who have anything to +say in mitigation of the sentence to speak before the +sentence is put in execution. +</p> + +<p> +On this the Babylonish Gemara remarks, <q>There exists +a tradition: On the rest-day before the Sabbath they +crucified Jeschu. For forty days did the herald go before +him and proclaim aloud, He is to be stoned to death +because he has practised evil, and has led the Israelites +astray, and provoked them to schism. Let any one who +can bring evidence of his innocence come forward and +speak! But as nothing was produced which could establish +his innocence, he was crucified on the rest-day of +the Passah (<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> the day before the Passover).</q> +</p> + +<p> +The Mischna of Tract. Sanhedrim, fol. 67, treats of the +command in Deut. xiii. 6-11, that any Hebrew who +should introduce the worship of other gods should be +stoned with stones. On this the Gemara of Babylon +relates that, in the city of Lydda, Jeschu was heard +through a partition endeavouring to persuade a Jew to +worship idols; whereupon he was brought forth and +crucified on the eve of the Passover. <q>None of those +who are condemned to death by the Law are spied upon +except only those (seducers of the people). How are +they dealt with? They light a candle in an inner +chamber, and place spies in an outer room, who may +watch and listen to him (the accused). But he does not +see them. Then he whom the accused had formerly +<pb n='059'/><anchor id='Pg059'/> +endeavoured to seduce says to him, <q>Repeat, I pray you, +what you told me before in private.</q> Then, should he +do so, the other will say further, <q>But how shall we leave +our God in heaven and serve idols?</q> Now should the +accused be converted and repent at this saying, it is +well; but if he goes on to say, That is our affair, and so +and so ought we to do, then the spies must lead him off +to the house of judgment and stone him. This is what +was done to the son of Stada at Lud, and they hung +him up on the eve of the Passover.</q><note place='foot'>Tract. Sabbath, fol. 67.</note> And the Tract. +Sanhedrim says, <q>It is related that on the eve of the +Sabbath they crucified Jeschu, a herald going before +him,</q> as has been already quoted; and then follows the +comment: <q>Ula said, Will you not judge him to have +been the son of destruction, because he is a seducer of +the people? For the Merciful says (Deut. xiii. 8), Thou +shalt not spare him, neither shalt thou conceal him. But +I, Jesus, am heir to the kingdom. Therefore (the herald) +went forth proclaiming that he was to be stoned because +he had done an evil thing, and had seduced the people, +and led them into schism. And (Jeschu) went forth to +be stoned with stones because he had done an evil thing, +and had seduced the people and led them into schism.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The Babylonish Gemara to the Mischna of Tract. +Sabbath gives the following perplexing account of the +parents of Jeschu:<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> fol. 104.</note> <q>They stoned the son of Stada in +Lud (Lydda), and crucified him on the eve of the Passover. +This Stada's son was Pandira's son. Rabbi Chasda +said Stada's husband was Pandira's master, namely +Paphos, son of Jehuda. But how was Stada his mother? +His (<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> Pandira's) mother was a woman's hair-dresser. +As they say in Pombeditha (the Babylonish school by +the Euphrates), this one went astray (S'tath-da) from +her husband.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='060'/><anchor id='Pg060'/> + +<p> +The Gloss or Paraphrase on this is: <q>Stada's son +was not the son of Paphos, son of Jehuda; No. As +Rabbi Chasda observed, Paphos had a servant named +Pandira. Well, what has that to do with it? Tell us +how it came to pass that this son was born to Stada. +Well, it was on this wise. Miriam, the mother of Pandira, +used to dress Stada's hair, and ... Stada became +a mother by Pandira, son of Miriam. As they say in +Pombeditha, Stada by name and Stada by nature.</q><note place='foot'>The passage is not easy to understand. I give three Latin translations +of it, one by Cl. Schickardus, the second quoted from Scheidius (Loca +Talm. i. 2). <q>Filius Satdae, filius Pandeirae fuit. Dixit Raf Chasda: Amasius +Pandeirae, maritus Paphos filius Jehudae fuit. At quomodo mater ejus +Satda? Mater ejus Mirjam, comptrix mulierum fuit.</q> <q>Filius Stadae +filius Pandirae est. Dixit Rabbi Chasda: Maritus seu procus matris ejus +fuit Stada, iniens Pandiram. Maritus Paphus filius Judae ipse est, mater ejus +Stada, mater ejus Maria,</q> &c. Lightfoot, Matt. xxvii. 56, thus translates +it: <q>Lapidârunt filium Satdae in Lydda, et suspenderunt eum in vesperâ +Paschatis. Hic autem filius Satdae fuit filius Pandirae. Dixit quidem Rabb +Chasda, Maritus (matris ejus) fuit Satda, maritus Pandira, maritus Papus +filius Judae: sed tamen dico matrem ejus fuisse Satdam, Mariam videlicet, +plicatricem capillorum mulierum: sicut dicunt in Panbeditha, Declinavit +ista a marito suo.</q></note> +</p> + +<p> +The obscurity of the passage arises from various causes. +R. Chasda is a punster, and plays on the double meaning +of <q>Baal</q> for <q>husband</q> and <q>master.</q> There is also +ambiguity in the pronoun <q>his;</q> it is difficult to say to +whom it always refers. The Paraphrase is late, and is +a conjectural explanation of an obscure passage. +</p> + +<p> +It is clear that the Jeschu of the Talmud was the +son of one Stada and Pandira. But the name Pandira +having the appearance of being a woman's name,<note place='foot'>פנדירה. As a man's name it occurs in 2 Targum, Esther vii.</note> this +led to additional confusion, for some said that Pandira +was his mother's name. +</p> + +<p> +The late Gloss does not associate Stada with the +blessed Virgin. It gives the name of Miriam or Mary +<pb n='061'/><anchor id='Pg061'/> +to be the mother of Pandira, the father of Jeschu. The +Jew of Celsus says that the mother of Jesus was a poor +needlewoman, who also span for her livelihood. He probably +recalled what was said of Miriam, the mother of +Panthera, and grandmother of Jeschu, and applied it +to St. Mary the Virgin, misled by the obscurity of the +saying of Chasda, which was orally repeated in the Rabbinic +schools. +</p> + +<p> +The Jerusalem Gemara to Tract. Sabbath says: <q>The +sister's son of Rabbi Jose swallowed poison, or something +deadly. There came to him a man and conjured him in +the name of Jeschu, son of Pandeira, and he was healed +or made easy. But when he went forth it was said to +him, How hast thou healed him? He answered, by +using such and such words. Then he (R. Jose) said to +him, It had been better for him to have died than to +have heard this name. And so it was with him (<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> the +boy died).</q> +</p> + +<p> +In another place:<note place='foot'>Avoda Sava, fol. 27.</note> <q>Eleasar, the son of Damah, was +bitten by a serpent. There came to him James, a man +of the town of Sechania, to cure him in the name of +Jeschu, son of Pandeira; but the Rabbi Ismael would +not suffer it, but said, It is not permitted to thee, son +of Damah. But he (James) said, Suffer me, and I will +bring an argument against thee which is lawful. But +he would not suffer him.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The Gemara to Tract. Sanhedrim, fol. 43, mentions five +disciples of Jeschu Ben-Stada, namely, Matthai, Nakai, +Netzer, Boni and Thoda. It says:— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +Jeschu had five disciples, Matthai, Nakai, Nezer and Boni, +and also Thoda. They brought Matthai (to the tribunal) to +pronounce sentence of death against him. He said, Shall Matthai +suffer when it is written (Ps. xlii. 3), מתי When shall +<pb n='062'/><anchor id='Pg062'/> +I come to appear before the presence of God? They replied, +Shall not Matthai die when it is written, מתי When shall +he die and his name perish? They produced Nakai. He +said, Shall Nakai נקאי die? Is it not written, The innocent +ונקי slay thou not? (Exod. xxiii. 7). They answered him, +Shall not Nakai die when it is written, In the secret places +does he murder the innocent? (Ps. x. 8). When they brought +forth Netzer, he said unto them, Shall Netzer נצר be slain? +Is it not written (Isa. xi. 1), A branch ונצר shall grow out +of his roots? They replied, Shall not Netzer die because it +is written (Isa. xiv. 19), Thou art cast out of thy grave like +an abominable branch? They brought forth Boni בוני. He +said, Shall Boni die the death when it is written (Ex. iv. 22), +בני My son, my firstborn, is Israel? They replied, Shall not +Boni die the death when it is written (Ex. v. 23), So I will +slay thy son, thy firstborn son? They led out Thoda תודה. +He said, Shall Thoda die when it is written (Ps. c. 1), A +psalm לתודה of thanksgiving? They replied, Shall not Thoda +die when it is written (Ps. 1. 23), <q>He that sacrificeth praise, +he honoureth me?</q> +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +This is all that the Gemara tells us about Jeschu, +son of Stada or Pandira. It behoves us now to consider +whether he can have been the same person as our Lord. +</p> + +<p> +That there really lived such a person as Jeschu Ben-Pandira, +and that he was a disciple of the Rabbi Jehoshua +Ben-Perachia, I see no reason to doubt. +</p> + +<p> +That he escaped from Alexander Jannaeus with his +master into Egypt, and there studied magical arts; that +he returned after awhile to Judaea, and practised his +necromantic arts in his own country, is also not improbable. +Somewhat later the Jews were famous, or infamous, +throughout the Roman world as conjurors and +exorcists. Egypt was the head-quarters of magical +studies. +</p> + +<p> +That Jeschu, son of Pandira, was stoned to death, in +<pb n='063'/><anchor id='Pg063'/> +accordance with the Law, for having practised magic, is +also probable. The passages quoted are unanimous in +stating that he was stoned for this offence. The Law +decreed this as the death sorcerers were to undergo. +</p> + +<p> +In the Talmud, Jeschu is first stoned and then crucified. +The object of this double punishment being attributed +to him is obvious. The Rabbis of the Gemara period had +begun—like the Jew of Celsus—to confuse Jesus son of +Mary with Jeschu the sorcerer. Their tradition told of +a Jeschu who was stoned; Christian tradition, of a Jesus +who was crucified. They combined the punishments +and fused the persons into one. But this was done very +clumsily. It is possible that more than one Jehoshua +has contributed to form the story of Jeschu in the Talmud. +For his mother Stada is said to have been married +to Paphos, son of Jehuda. Now Paphos Ben-Jehuda is +a Rabbi whose name recurs several times in the Talmud +as an associate of the illustrious Rabbi Akiba, who lived +after the destruction of Jerusalem, and had his school +at Bene-Barah. To him the first composition of the +Mischna arrangements is ascribed. As a follower of the +pseudo-Messiah Barcochab, in the war of Trajan and +Hadrian, he sealed a life of enthusiasm with a martyr's +death, A.D. 135, at the capture of Bether. When the +Jews were dispersed and forbidden to assemble, Akiba +collected the Jews and continued instructing them in +the Law. Paphus remonstrated with him on the risk. +Akiba answered by a parable. <q>A fox once went to +the river side, and saw the fish flying in all directions. +What do you fear? asked the fox. The nets spread by +the sons of men, answered the fish. Ah, my friends, +said the fox, come on shore by me, and so you will +escape the nets that drag the water.</q> A few days after, +Akiba was in prison, and Paphus also. Paphus said, +<q>Blessed art thou, Rabbi Akiba, because thou art imprisoned +<pb n='064'/><anchor id='Pg064'/> +for the words of the Law, and woe is me who +am imprisoned for matters of no importance.</q><note place='foot'>Talmud, Tract. Beracoth, ix. fol. 61, <hi rend='italic'>b</hi>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +We naturally wonder how it is that Stada, the mother +of Jeschu, who was born about B.C. 120, should be represented +as the wife of Paphus, son of Jehuda, who +died about A.D. 150, two centuries and a half later. +</p> + +<p> +It is quite possible that this Paphus lost his wife, +who eloped from him with one Pandira, and became +mother of a son named Jehoshua. The name of Jehoshua +or Jesus is common enough. +</p> + +<p> +In Gittin, Paphus is again mentioned. <q>There is who +finds a fly in his cup, and he takes it out, and will not +drink of it. And this is what did Paphus Ben-Jehuda, +who kept the door shut upon his wife, and nevertheless +she ran away from him.</q><note place='foot'>Gittin, fol. 90, <hi rend='italic'>a</hi>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Mary, the plaiter of woman's hair, occurs in Chajigah. +<q>Rabbi Bibai, when the angel of death at one time stood +before him, said to his messenger, Go, and bring hither +Mary, the women's hair-dresser. And the young man +went,</q> &c.<note place='foot'>Chajigah, fol. 4, <hi rend='italic'>b</hi>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +According to the Toledoth Jeschu, as we shall see +presently, Mary's instructor is the Rabbi Simon Ben +Schetach. She is visited and questioned by the Rabbi +Akiba. This visitation by Akiba is given in the Talmudic +tract, Calla,<note place='foot'>Calla, fol. 18, <hi rend='italic'>b</hi>.</note> and thence the author of the Toledoth +Jeschu drew it. +</p> + +<p> +<q>As once the Elders sat at the gate, there passed two +boys before them. One uncovered his head, the other +did not. Then said the Rabbi Elieser, The latter is certainly +a Mamser; but the Rabbi Jehoshua<note place='foot'>Son of Levi, according to the Toledoth Jeschu of Huldrich.</note> said, He is +a Ben-hannidda. Akiba said, He is both a Mamser and +a Ben-hannidda. They said to him, How canst thou +<pb n='065'/><anchor id='Pg065'/> +oppose the opinion of thy companions? He answered, +I will prove what I have said. Then he went to the +boy's mother, who was sitting in the market selling +fruit, and said to her, My daughter, if you will tell me +the truth I will promise you eternal life. She said to +him, Swear to me. And he swore with his lips, but in +his heart he did not ratify the oath.</q> Then he learned +what he desired to know, and came back to his companions +and told them all.<note place='foot'>In the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas, Jesus as a boy behaves without +respect to his master and the elders; thence possibly this story was derived.</note> +</p> + +<p> +We have here corroborative evidence that this Stada +and her son Jeschu lived at the time of Akiba and +Paphus, that is, after the fall of Jerusalem, in the earlier +part of the second century. +</p> + +<p> +I think that probably the story grew up thus: +</p> + +<p> +A certain Jehoshua, in the reign of Alexander Jannaeus, +went down into Egypt, and there learnt magic. +He returned to Judaea, where he practised it, but was +arrested at Lydda and executed by order of the Sanhedrim, +by being stoned to death. +</p> + +<p> +But who was this Jehoshua? Tradition was silent. +However, there was a floating recollection of a Jehoshua +born of one Stada, wife of Paphus, son of Jehuda, the +companion of Akiba. The two Jehoshuas were confounded +together. Thus stood the story when Origen +wrote against Celsus in A.D. 176. +</p> + +<p> +By A.D. 500 it had grown considerably. The Jew of +Celsus had already fused Jesus of Nazareth with the +other two Jehoshuas. This led to the Rabbis of the +Gemara relating that Jehoshua was both stoned and +crucified. +</p> + +<p> +I do not say that this certainly is the origin of the +story as it appears in the Talmud, but it bears on the +<pb n='066'/><anchor id='Pg066'/> +face of it strong likelihood that it is. Jehoshua who +went into Egypt could not have been stoned to death +after the destruction of Jerusalem and the revolt of Barcochab, +for then the Jews had not the power of life and +death in their hands. The execution must have taken +place long before; yet the Rabbis whose names appear in +connection with the story—always excepting Jehoshua +son of Perachia—all belong to the second century after +Christ. +</p> + +<p> +The solution I propose is simple, and it explains what +otherwise would be inexplicable. +</p> + +<p> +If it be a true solution, it proves that the Jews in +A.D. 500, when the Babylonian Gemara was completed, +had no traditions whatever concerning Jesus of Nazareth. +</p> + +<p> +We shall see next how the confusion that originated +in the Talmud grew into the monstrous romance of the +Toledoth Jeschu, the Jewish counter-Gospel of the +Middle Ages. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='067'/><anchor id='Pg067'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>V. The Counter-Gospels.</head> + +<p> +In the thirteenth century it became known among +the Christians that the Jews were in possession of an +anti-evangel. It was kept secret, lest the sight of it +should excite tumults, spoliation and massacre. But of +the fact of its existence Christians were made aware by +the account of converts. +</p> + +<p> +There are, in reality, two such anti-evangels, each +called Toldoth Jeschu, not recensions of an earlier text, +but independent collections of the stories circulating +among the Jews relative to the life of our Lord. +</p> + +<p> +The name of Jesus, which in Hebrew is Joshua or +Jehoshua (the Lord will sanctify) is in both contracted +into Jeschu by the rejection of an <foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>Ain</foreign>, ישו for ישוע. +</p> + +<p> +The Rabbi Elias, in his Tischbi, under the word +Jeschu, says, <q>Because the Jews will not acknowledge +him to be the Saviour, they do not call him Jeschua, but +reject the Ain and call him Jeschu.</q> And the Rabbi +Abraham Perizol, in his book Maggers Abraham, c. 59, +says, <q>His name was Jeschua; but as Rabbi Moses, the +son of Majemoun of blessed memory, has written it, and +as we find it throughout the Talmud, it is written Jeschu. +They have carefully left out the <foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>Ain</foreign>, because he was not +able to save himself.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The Talmud in the Tract. Sanhedrim<note place='foot'>Fol. 114.</note> says, <q>It is not +lawful to name the name of a false God.</q> On this +account the Jews, rejecting the mission of our Saviour, +<pb n='068'/><anchor id='Pg068'/> +refused to pronounce his name without mutilating it. +By omitting the <foreign lang='he' rend='italic'>Ain</foreign>, the Cabbalists were able to give a +significance to the name. In its curtailed form it is +composed of the letters Jod, Schin, Vau, which are +taken to stand for ימח שמו וזכרונו jimmach schemo +vezichrono, <q>His name and remembrance shall be extinguished.</q> +This is the reason given by the Toledoth Jeschu. +</p> + +<p> +Who were the authors of the books called Toledoth +Jeschu, the two counter-Gospels, is not known. +</p> + +<p> +Justin Martyr, who died A.D. 163, speaks of the blasphemous +writings of the Jews about Jesus;<note place='foot'>Justin Mart. Dialog. cum Tryph. c. 17 and 108.</note> but that +they contained traditions of the life of the Saviour can +hardly be believed in presence of the silence of Josephus +and Justus, and the ignorance of the Jew of Celsus. +Origen says in his answer, that <q>though innumerable +lies and calumnies had been forged against the venerable +Jesus, none had dared to charge him with any +intemperance whatever.</q><note place='foot'>Cont. Cels. lib. iii.</note> He speaks confidently, with +full assurance. If he had ever met with such a calumny, +he would not have denied its existence, he would have +set himself to work to refute it. Had such calumnious +writings existed, Origen would have been sure to know +of them. We may therefore be quite satisfied that none +such existed in his time, the middle of the third +century. +</p> + +<p> +The Toledoth Jeschu comes before us with a flourish +of trumpets from Voltaire. <q>Le Toledos Jeschu,</q> says +he, <q>est le plus ancien écrit Juif, qui nous ait été transmis +contre notre religion. C'est une vie de Jesus Christ, +toute contraire à nos Saints Evangiles: elle parait être +du premier siècle, et même écrite avant les evangiles.</q><note place='foot'>Lettres sur les Juifs. Œuvres, I. 69, p. 36.</note> +<pb n='069'/><anchor id='Pg069'/> +A fair specimen of reckless judgment on a matter of +importance, without having taken the trouble to examine +the grounds on which it was made! Luther knew +more of it than did Voltaire, and put it in a very different +place:— +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q>The proud evil spirit carries on all sorts of mockery in +this book. First he mocks God, the Creator of heaven and +earth, and His Son Jesus Christ, as you may see for yourself, +if you believe as a Christian that Christ is the Son of God. +Next he mocks us, all Christendom, in that we believe in +such a Son of God. Thirdly, he mocks his own fellow Jews, +telling them such disgraceful, foolish, senseless affairs, as of +brazen dogs and cabbage-stalks and such like, enough to make +all dogs bark themselves to death, if they could understand it, +at such a pack of idiotic, blustering, raging, nonsensical fools. +Is not that a masterpiece of mockery which can thus mock +all three at once? The fourth mockery is this, that whoever +wrote it has made a fool of himself, as we, thank God, may +see any day.</q> +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +Luther knew the book, and, translated it, or rather +condensed it, in his <q>Schem Hamphoras.</q><note place='foot'>Luther's Works, Wittemberg, 1556, T. V. pp. 509-535. The passage +quoted is on p. 513.</note> +</p> + +<p> +There are two versions of the Toledoth Jeschu, differing +widely from one another. The first was published +by Wagenseil, of Altdorf, in 1681. The second by +Huldrich at Leyden in 1705. Neither can boast of +an antiquity greater than, at the outside, the twelfth +century. It is difficult to say with certainty which is +the earlier of the two. Probably both came into use +about the same time; the second certainly in Germany, +for it speaks of Worms in the German empire. +</p> + +<p> +According to the first, Jeschu (Jesus) was born in the +year of the world 4671 (B.C. 910), in the reign of Alexander +<pb n='070'/><anchor id='Pg070'/> +Jannaeus (B.C. 106-79)! He was the son of +Joseph Pandira and Mary, a widow's daughter, the +sister of Jehoshua, who was affianced to Jochanan, disciple +of Simeon Ben Schetah; and Jeschu became the +pupil of the Rabbi Elchanan. Mary is of the tribe of +Juda. +</p> + +<p> +According to the second, Jeschu was born in the reign +of Herod the Proselyte, and was the son of Mary, +daughter of Calpus, and sister of Simeon, son of Calpus, +by Joseph Pandira, who carried her off from her husband, +Papus, son of Jehuda. Jeschu was brought up by +Joshua, son of Perachia, in the days of the illustrious +Rabbi Akiba! Mary is of the tribe of Benjamin. +</p> + +<p> +The anachronisms of both accounts are so gross as to +prove that they were drawn up at a very late date, and +by Jews singularly ignorant of the chronology of their +history. +</p> + +<p> +In the first, Mary is affianced to Jochanan, disciple of +Simeon Ben Schetah. Now Schimon or Simeon, son of +Scheta, is a well-known character. He is said to have +strangled eighty witches in one day, and to have been +the companion of Jehudu Ben Tabai. He flourished +B.C. 70. +</p> + +<p> +In the second life we hear of Mary being the sister +of Simeon Ben Kalpus (Chelptu). He also is a well-known +Rabbi, of whom many miracles are related. He +lived in the time of the Emperor Antoninus, before +whom he stood as a disciple, when an old man (circ. +A.D. 160). +</p> + +<p> +In this also the Rabbi Akiba is introduced. Akiba +died A.D. 135. Also the Rabbi Jehoshua Ben Levi. +Now this Rabbi's date can also be fixed with tolerable +accuracy. He was the teacher of the Rabbi Jochanan, +who compiled the Jerusalem Talmud. His date is +A.D. 220. +</p> + +<pb n='071'/><anchor id='Pg071'/> + +<p> +We have thus, in the two lives of Jeschu, the following +personages introduced as contemporaries: +</p> + +<table rend="latexcolumns: 'p{3.5cm} p{3.5cm}'; tblcolumns: 'lw(30) lw(30)'"> +<row><cell>I.</cell><cell>II.</cell></row> +<row><cell></cell><cell></cell></row> +<row><cell>Jeschu born (date given), B.C. 910.</cell><cell>Herod the Great, B.C. 70-4.</cell></row> +<row><cell>Alexander Jannaeus, B.C. 106-79.</cell><cell>R. Jehoshua Ben Perachia, <hi rend='italic'>c.</hi> B.C. 90.</cell></row> +<row><cell>R. Simeon Ben Schetach, B.C. 70.</cell><cell>R. Akiba, A.D. 135.</cell></row> +<row><cell></cell><cell>R. Papus Ben Jehuda, <hi rend='italic'>c.</hi> A.D. 140.</cell></row> +<row><cell></cell><cell>R. Jehoshua Ben Levi, <hi rend='italic'>c.</hi> A.D. 220.</cell></row> +</table> + +<p> +The second Toledoth Jeschu closes with, <q>These are +the words of Jochanan Ben Zaccai;</q> but it is not clear +whether it is intended that the book should be included +in <q>The words of Jochanan,</q> or whether the reference +is only to a brief sentence preceding this statement, +<q>Therefore have they no part or lot in Israel. The Lord +bless his people Israel with peace.</q> Jochanan Ben +Zaccai was a priest and ruler of Israel for forty years, +from A.D. 30 or 33 to A.D. 70 or 73. He died at Jamnia, +near Jerusalem (Jabne of the Philistines), and was +buried at Tiberias. +</p> + +<p> +Nor are these anachronisms the only proofs of the +ignorance of the composers of the two anti-evangels. +In the first, on the death of King Alexander Jannaeus, +the government falls into the hands of his wife Helena, +who is represented as being <q>also called Oleina, and +was the mother of King Mumbasius, afterwards called +Hyrcanus, who was killed by his servant Herod.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The wife of Alexander Jannaeus was Alexandra, not +Helena; she reigned from B.C. 79 to B.C. 71. She was +the mother of Hyrcanus and Aristobulus; but was quite +distinct from Oleina, mother of Mumbasius, and Mumbasius +was a very different person from Hyrcanus. +Oleina was a queen of Adiabene in Assyria. +</p> + +<p> +The first Life refers to the Talmud: <q>This is the same +<pb n='072'/><anchor id='Pg072'/> +Mary who dressed and curled women's hair, mentioned +several times in the Talmud.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Both give absurd anecdotes to account for monks +wearing shaven crowns; both reasons are different. +</p> + +<p> +In the first Life, the Christian festivals of the Ascension +<q>forty days after Jeschu was stoned,</q> that of Christmas, +and the Circumcision <q>eight days after,</q> are spoken +of as institutions of the Christian Church. +</p> + +<p> +In the VIIIth Book of the Apostolical Constitutions, +the festivals of the Nativity and the Ascension are +spoken of,<note place='foot'>Lib. viii. 33.</note> consequently they must have been kept holy +from a very early age. But it was not so with the +feast of the Circumcision. +</p> + +<p> +The 1st of January was a great day among the +heathen. In the Homilies of the Fathers down to the +eighth century, the 1st of January is called the <q>Feast of +Satan and Hell,</q> and the faithful are cautioned against +observing it. All participation in the festivities of that +day was forbidden by the Council <q>in Trullo,</q> in A.D. +692, and again in the Council of Rome, A.D. 744. +</p> + +<p> +Pope Gelasius (A.D. 496) forbade all observance of +the day, according to Baronius<note place='foot'>Martyrol. Rom. ad. 1 Januar.</note>, in the hope of rooting +out every remembrance of the pagan ceremonies which +were connected with it. In ancient Sacramentaries is a +mass on this day, <q>de prohibendo ab idolis.</q> Nevertheless, +traces of the celebration of the Circumcision of +Christ occur in the fourth century; for Zeno, Bishop of +Verona (d. A.D. 380), preached a sermon on it. In the +ancient Mozarabic Kalendar, in the Martyrology wrongly +attributed to St. Jerome, and in the Gelasian Sacramentary, +the Circumcision is indicated on January 1. But +though noted in the Kalendars, the day was, for the +reason of its being observed as a heathen festival, not +<pb n='073'/><anchor id='Pg073'/> +treated by the Church as a festival till very late. +Litanies and penitential offices were appointed for it. +</p> + +<p> +The notice in the Toledoth Jeschu, therefore, points +to a time when the feast was observed with outward +demonstration of joy, and the sanction of the Church +accorded to other festivities. +</p> + +<p> +The Toledoth Jeschu adopts the fable of the Sanhedrim +and King having sent out an account of the trial +of Jesus to the synagogues throughout the world to +obtain from them an expression of opinion. The synagogue +of Worms remonstrated against the execution of +Christ. <q>The people of Girmajesa (Germany) and all +the neighbouring country round Girmajesa which is now +called Wormajesa (Worms), and which lies in the realm +of the Emperor, and the little council in the town of +Wormajesa, answered the King (Herod) and said, Let +Jesus go, and slay him not! Let him live till he falls +and perishes of his own accord.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The synagogues of several cities in the Middle Ages +did in fact, produce apocryphal letters which they pretended +had been written by their forefathers remonstrating +with the Jewish Sanhedrim at Jerusalem, and +requesting that Jesus might be spared. An epistle was +produced by the Jews of Ulm in A.D. 1348, another by +the Jews of Ratisbon about the same date, from the +council at Jerusalem to their synagogues.<note place='foot'>Fabricius, Codex Apocryph. N.T. ii. p. 493.</note> The Jews +of Toledo pretended to possess similar letters in the +reign of Alfonso the Valiant, A.D. 1072. These letters +probably served to protect them from feeling the full +stress of persecution which oppressed the Jews elsewhere. +</p> + +<p> +The most astonishing ignorance of Gospel accounts of +Christ and the apostles is observable in both anti-evangels. +Matthias and Matthew are the same, so are +<pb n='074'/><anchor id='Pg074'/> +John the Baptist and John the Apostle, whilst Thaddaeus +is said to be <q>also called Paul,</q> and Simon Peter +is confounded with Simon Magus.<note place='foot'>Whereas the bitter conflict of Simon Peter and Simon Magus was a +subject well known in early Christian tradition.</note> +</p> + +<p> +These are instances of the confusion of times and persons +into which these counter-Gospels have fallen, and +they are sufficient to establish their late and worthless +character. +</p> + +<p> +The two anti-Gospels are clearly not two editions of +an earlier text. The only common foundation on which +both were constructed was the mention of Jeschu, son +of Panthera, in the Talmud. Add to this such distorted +versions of Gospel stories as circulated among the Jews +in the Middle Ages, and we have the constituents of +both counter-Gospels. Both exhibit a profound ignorance +of the sacred text, but a certain acquaintance with +prominent incidents in the narrative of the Evangelists, +not derived directly from the Gospels, but, as I believe, +from miracle-plays and pictorial and sculptured representations +such as would meet the eye of a mediaeval +Jew at every turn. +</p> + +<p> +We have not to cast about far for a reason which shall +account for the production of these anti-evangels. +</p> + +<p> +The persecution to which the Jews were subjected in +the Middle Ages from the bigotry of the rabble or the +cupidity of princes, fanned their dislike for Christianity +into a flame of intense mortal abhorrence of the Founder +of that religion whose votaries were their deadliest foes. +The Toledoth Jeschu is the utterance of this deep-seated +hatred,—the voice of an oppressed people execrating him +who had sprung from the holy race, and whose blood +was weighing on their heads. +</p> + +<p> +And it is not improbable that the Gospel record of +the patient, loving life of Jesus may have exerted an +<pb n='075'/><anchor id='Pg075'/> +influence on the young who ventured, with the daring +curiosity of youth, to explore those peaceful pages. +What answer had the Rabbis to make to those of their +own religion who were questioning and wavering? They +had no counter-record to oppose to the Gospels, no tradition +wherewith to contest the history written by the +Evangelists. The notices in the Talmud were scanty, +incomplete. It was open to dispute whether these +notices really related to Christ Jesus. +</p> + +<p> +Under such circumstances, a book which professed to +give a true account of Jesus was certain to be hailed and +accepted without too close a scrutiny as to its authenticity; +much as in the twelfth century Joseph Ben +Gorion's <q>Jewish War</q> was assumed to be authentic. +</p> + +<p> +The Toledoth Jeschu or <q>Birth of Jesus</q> boldly identified +the Jesus of the Gospels with the Jeschu of the +Talmud, and attempted to harmonize the Rabbinic and +the Christian stories. +</p> + +<p> +There is a certain likeness between the two counter-Gospels, +but this arises solely from each author being +actuated by the same motives as the other, and from +both deriving from common sources,—the Talmud and +Jewish misrepresentations of Gospel events. +</p> + +<p> +But if there be a likeness, there is sufficient dissimilarity +to make it evident that the two authors wrote +independently, and had no common written text to +amplify and adorn. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='076'/><anchor id='Pg076'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>VI. The First Toledoth Jeschu.</head> + +<p> +We will take first the <hi rend='smallcaps'>Wagenseil</hi> edition of the +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Toledoth Jeschu</hi>,<note place='foot'>Wagenseil: Tela ignea Satanae. Hoc est arcani et horribiles Judaeorum +adversus Christum Deum et Christianam religionem libri anecdoti; Altdorf, +1681.</note> and give an outline of the story, +only suppressing the most offensive particulars, and commenting +on the narrative as we proceed. Wagenseil's +Toledoth Jeschu begins as follows: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q>In the year of the world 4671, in the days of King Jannaeus, +a great misfortune befel Israel. There arose at that +time a scape-grace, a wastrel and worthless fellow, of the +fallen race of Judah, named Joseph Pandira. He was a well-built +man, strong and handsome, but he spent his time in +robbery and violence. His dwelling was at Bethlehem, in +Juda. And there lived near him a widow with her daughter, +whose name was Mirjam; and this is the same Mirjam who +dressed and curled women's hair, who is mentioned several +times in the Talmud.</q> +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +It is remarkable that the author begins with the very +phrase found in Josephus. He calls the appearance of +our Lord <q>a great misfortune which befel Israel.</q> Josephus, +after the passage which has been intruded into his +text relative to the miracles and death of Christ, says, +<q>About this time another great misfortune set the Jews +in commotion;</q> from which it appears as if Josephus +regarded the preaching of Christ as a great misfortune. +That he made no such reference has been already shown. +</p> + +<pb n='077'/><anchor id='Pg077'/> + +<p> +The author also places the birth of Jesus, in accordance +with the Talmud, in the reign of Alexander Jannaeus, +who reigned from B.C. 106 to B.C. 79. He reckons from +the creation of the world, and gives the year as 4671 +(B.C. 910). This manner of reckoning was only introduced +among the Jews in the fourth century after Christ, +and did not become common till the twelfth century. +</p> + +<p> +The Wagenseil Toledoth goes on to say that the widow +engaged Mirjam to an amiable, God-fearing youth, named +Jochanan (John), a disciple of the Rabbi Simeon, son of +Shetach (fl. B.C. 70); but he went away to Babylon, +and she became the mother of Jeschu by Joseph Pandira. +The child was named Joshua, after his uncle, and was +given to the Rabbi Elchanan to be instructed in the Law. +</p> + +<p> +One day Jeschu, when a boy, passed before the Rabbi +Simeon Ben Shetach and other members of the Sanhedrim +without uncovering his head and bowing his knee. +The elders were indignant. Three hundred trumpets +were blown, and Jeschu was excommunicated and cast +out of the Temple. Then he went away to Galilee, and +spent there several years. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Now at this time the unutterable Name of God was engraved +in the Temple on the corner-stone. For when King +David dug the foundations, he found there a stone in the +ground on which the Name of God was engraved, and he took +it and placed it in the Holy of Holies.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>But as the wise men feared lest some inquisitive youth +should learn this Name, and be able thereby to destroy the +world, which God avert! they made, by magic, two brazen +lions, which they set before the entrance to the Holy of +Holies, one on the right, the other on the left.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Now if any one were to go within, and learn the holy +Name, then the lions would begin to roar as he came out, so +that, out of alarm and bewilderment, he would lose his presence +of mind and forget the Name.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='078'/><anchor id='Pg078'/> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And Jeschu left Upper Galilee, and came secretly to +Jerusalem, and went into the Temple and learned there the +holy writing; and after he had written the incommunicable +Name on parchment, he uttered it, with intent that he might +feel no pain, and then he cut into his flesh, and hid the +parchment with its inscription therein. Then he uttered the +Name once more, and made so that his flesh healed up again.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>And when he went out at the door, the lions roared, and +he forgot the Name. Therefore he hasted outside the town, +cut into his flesh, took the writing out, and when he had +sufficiently studied the signs he retained the Name in his +memory.</q> +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +It is scarcely necessary here to point out the amazing +ignorance of the author of the Toledoth Jeschu in making +David the builder of the Temple, and in placing the +images of lions at the entrance to the Holy of Holies. +The story is introduced because Jeschu, son of Stada, in +the Talmud is said to have made marks on his skin. +But the author knew his Talmud very imperfectly. The +Babylonian Gemara says, <q>Did not the son of Stada +mark the magical arts on his skin, and bring them with +him out of Egypt?</q> The story in the Talmud which +accounted for the power of Jeschu to work miracles was +quite different from that in the Toledoth Jeschu. In +the Talmud he has power by bringing out of Egypt, +secretly cut on his skin, the magic arts there privately +taught; in the Toledoth he acquires his power by learning +the incommunicable Name and hiding it under his +flesh. +</p> + +<p> +However, the author says, <q>He could not have penetrated +into the Holy of Holies without the aid of magic; +for how would the holy priests and followers of Aaron +have suffered him to enter there? This must certainly +have been done by the aid of magic.</q> But the author +gives no account of how Jeschu learned magic. That +<pb n='079'/><anchor id='Pg079'/> +we ascertain from the Huldrich text, where we are told +that Jeschu spent many years in Egypt, the head-quarters +of those who practised magic. +</p> + +<p> +Having acquired this knowledge, Jeschu went into +Galilee and proclaimed himself to have been the creator +of the world, and born of a virgin, according to the prophecy +of Isaiah (vii. 14). As a sign of the truth of his +mission, he said: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Bring me here a dead man, and I will restore him to life. +Then all the people hasted and dug into a grave, but found +nothing in it but bones.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Now when they told him that they had found only +bones, he said, Bring them hither to me.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>So when they had brought them, he placed the bones together, +and surrounded them with skin and flesh and muscles, +so that the dead man stood up alive on his feet.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And when the people saw this, they wondered greatly; +and he said, Do ye marvel at this that I have done? Bring +hither a leper, and I will heal him.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>So when they had placed a leper before him, he gave him +health in like manner, by means of the incommunicable Name. +And all the people that saw this fell down before him, prayed +to him and said, Truly thou art the Son of God!</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>But after five days the report of what had been done +came to Jerusalem, to the holy city, and all was related that +Jeschu had wrought in Galilee. Then all the people rejoiced +greatly; but the elders, the pious men, and the company +of the wise men, wept bitterly. And the great and the +little Sanhedrim mourned, and at length agreed that they +would send a deputation to him.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>For they thought that, perhaps, with God's help, they +might overpower him, and bring him to judgment, and condemn +him to death.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Therefore they sent unto him Ananias and Achasias, the +noblest men of the little council; and when they had come to +him, they bowed themselves before him reverently, in order to +<pb n='080'/><anchor id='Pg080'/> +deceive him as to their purpose. And he, thinking that they +believed in him, received them with smiling countenance, and +placed them in his assembly of profligates.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>They said unto him, The most pious and illustrious +among the citizens of Jerusalem sent us unto thee, to hear if +it shall please thee to go to them; for they have heard say +that thou art the Son of God.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Then answered Jeschu and said, They have heard aright. +I will do all that they desire, but only on condition that both +the great and lesser Sanhedrim and all who have despised my +origin shall come forth to meet me, and shall honour and receive +me as servants of their Lord, when I come to them.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Thereupon the messengers returned to Jerusalem and related +all that they had heard.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Then answered the elders and the righteous men, We +will do all that he desires. Therefore these men went again +to Jeschu, and told him that it should be even as he had +said.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And Jeschu said, I will go forthwith on my way! And +it came to pass, when he had come as far as Nob,<note place='foot'>Nob was a city of Benjamin, situated on a height near Jerusalem, on +one of the roads which led from the north to the capital, and within sight +of it, as is certain from the description of the approach of the Assyrian +army in Isaiah (x. 28-32).</note> nigh unto +Jerusalem, that he said to his followers, Have ye here a good +and comely ass?</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>They answered him that there was one even at hand. +Therefore he said, Bring him hither to me.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And a stately ass was brought unto him, and he sat upon +it, and rode into Jerusalem. And as Jeschu entered into the +city, all the people went forth to meet him. Then he cried, +saying, Of me did the prophet Zacharias testify, Behold thy +King cometh unto thee, righteous and a Saviour, poor, and +riding on an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass!</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Now when they heard this, all wept bitterly and rent +their clothes. And the most righteous hastened to the Queen. +She was the Queen Helena, wife of King Jannaeus, and she +<pb n='081'/><anchor id='Pg081'/> +reigned after her husband's death. She was also called +Oleina, and had a son, King Mumbasus, otherwise called +Hyrcanus, who was slain by his servant Herod.<note place='foot'>Herod put Alexander Hyrcanus to death B.C. 30. Alexandra, the +mother of Hyrcanus, reigned after the death of Jannaeus, from B.C. 79 to +B.C. 71.</note></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And they said to her, He stirreth up the people; therefore +is he guilty of the heaviest penalty. Give unto us full +power, and we will take him by subtlety.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Then the Queen said, Call him hither before me, and I +will hear his accusation. But she thought to save him out +of their hands because he was related to her. But when the +elders saw her purpose, they said to her, Think not to do +this, Lady and Queen! and show him favour and good; for +by his witchcraft he deceives the people. And they related +to her how he had obtained the incommunicable Name....</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Then the Queen answered, In this will I consent unto +you; bring him hither that I may hear what he saith, and +see with my eyes what he doth; for the whole world speaks +of the countless miracles that he has wrought.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>And the wise men answered, This will we do as thou +hast said. So they sent and summoned Jeschu, and he came +and stood before the Queen.</q> +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +In the sight of Queen Helena, Jeschu then healed a +leper and raised a dead man to life. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Then Jeschu said, Of me did Isaiah prophesy: The +lame shall leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall +sing.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>So the Queen turned to the wise men and said, How say +ye that this man is a magician? Have I not seen with my +eyes the wonders he has wrought as being the Son of God?</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>But the wise men answered and said, Let it not come +into the heart of the Queen to say so; for of a truth he is a +wizard.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Then the Queen said, Away with you, and bring no such +accusations again before me!</q> +</p> + +<pb n='082'/><anchor id='Pg082'/> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Therefore the wise men went forth with sad hearts, and +one turned to another and said, Let us use subtlety, that we +may get him into our hands. And one said to another, If it +seems right unto you, let one of us learn the Name, as he did, +and work miracles, and perchance thus we shall secure him. +And this counsel pleased the elders, and they said, He who +will learn the Name and secure the Fatherless One shall receive +a double reward in the future life.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And thereupon one of the elders stood up, whose name +was Judas, and spake unto them, saying, Are ye agreed to +take upon you the blame of such an action, if I speak the +incommunicable Name? for if so, I will learn it, and it may +happen that God in His mercy may bring the Fatherless One +into my power.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Then all cried out with one voice, The guilt be on us; +but do thou make the effort and succeed.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Thereupon he went into the Holiest Place, and did what +Jeschu had done. And after that he went through the city +and raised a cry, Where are those who have proclaimed +abroad that the Fatherless is the Son of God? Cannot I, +who am mere flesh and blood, do all that Jeschu has done?</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And when this came to the ears of the Queen, Judas was +brought before her, and all the elders assembled and followed +him. Then the Queen summoned Jeschu, and said to him, +Show us what thou hast done last. And he began to work +miracles before all the people.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Thereat Judas spake to the Queen and to all the people, +saying, Let nothing that has been wrought by the Fatherless +make you wonder, for were he to set his nest between the +stars, yet would I pluck him down from thence!</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Then said Judas, Moses our teacher said:</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy +daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is +as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and +serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy +fathers;</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about +<pb n='083'/><anchor id='Pg083'/> +you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of +the earth even unto the other end of the earth;</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; +neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, +neither shalt thou conceal him:</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first +upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of +all the people.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because +he hath sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy +God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the +house of bondage.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>But the Fatherless One answered, Did not Isaias prophesy +of me? And my father David, did he not speak of +me? The Lord said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day +have I begotten thee. Desire of me, and I will give thee +the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost part of +the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt rule them with a +rod of iron, and break them in pieces like a potter's vessel. +And in like manner he speaks in another place, The Lord said +unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine +enemies my footstool! And now, behold! I will ascend to +my Heavenly Father, and will sit me down at His right hand. +Ye shall see it with your eyes, but thou, Judas, shalt not +prevail!</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And when Jeschu had spoken the incommunicable Name, +there came a wind and raised him between heaven and earth. +Thereupon Judas spake the same Name, and the wind raised +him also between heaven and earth. And they flew, both of +them, around in the regions of the air; and all who saw it +marvelled.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Judas then spake again the Name, and seized Jeschu, and +thought to cast him to the earth. But Jeschu also spake the +Name, and sought to cast Judas down, and they strove one +with the other.</q> +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +Finally Judas prevails, and casts Jeschu to the ground, +and the elders seize him, his power leaves him, and he +<pb n='084'/><anchor id='Pg084'/> +is subjected to the tauntings of his captors. Then sentence +of death was spoken against him. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>But when Jeschu found his power gone, he cried and +said, Of me did my father David speak, For thy sake are we +killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the +slaughter.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Now when the disciples of Jeschu saw this, and all the +multitude of sinners who had followed him, they fought +against the elders and wise men of Jerusalem, and gave Jeschu +opportunity to escape out of the city.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And he hasted to Jordan; and when he had washed +therein his power returned, and with the Name he again +wrought his former miracles.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Thereafter he went and took two millstones, and made +them swim on the water; and he seated himself thereon, and +caught fishes to feed the multitudes that followed him.</q> +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +Before going any further, it is advisable to make a +few remarks on what has been given of this curious +story. +</p> + +<p> +The Queen Helena is probably the mother of Constantine, +who went to Jerusalem in A.D. 326 to see the holy +sites, and, according to an early legend, discovered the +three crosses on Calvary. There are several incidents +in the apocryphal story which bear a resemblance to +the incidents in the Toledoth Jeschu. +</p> + +<p> +The Empress Helena favours the Christians against +the Jews. Where three crosses are found, a person suffering +from <q>a grievous and incurable disease</q> is applied +to the crosses, and recovers on touching the true one. +Then the same experiment is tried with a dead body, +with the same success.<note place='foot'>Sozomen, Hist. Eccl. ii. 1.</note> According to the Apocryphal +Acts of St. Cyriacus, a Jew named Judas was brought +before the Empress, and ordered to point out where the +<pb n='085'/><anchor id='Pg085'/> +cross was buried. Judas resisted, but was starved in a +well till he revealed the secret. The resemblance between +the stories consists in the names of Helena and Judas, +and the miracles of healing a leper, and raising a dead +man to life. +</p> + +<p> +According to the Apocryphal Acts of St. Cyriacus, +Judas was the grandson of Zacharias, and nephew of +St. Stephen the protomartyr.<note place='foot'>Acta Sanct. Mai. T. I. pp. 445-451.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It is remarkable that Jeschu should be made to quote +two passages in the Psalms as prophecies of himself, +both of which are used in this manner in the New Testament: +Ps. ii. 7, in Acts xiii. 33, and again Heb. i. 5, +and v. 5; and Ps. cx. 1, in St. Matthew xxii. 44, and +the corresponding passages in St. Mark and St. Luke; +also in Acts ii. 34, in 1 Cor. xv. 25, and Heb. i. 13. +</p> + +<p> +The scene of the struggle in the air is taken from the +contest of St. Peter with Simon Magus, and reminds +one of the contest in the Arabian Nights between the +Queen of Beauty and the Jin in the story of the Second +Calender. +</p> + +<p> +The putting forth from land on a millstone on the +occasion of the miraculous draught of fishes is probably +a perversion of the incident of Jesus entering into the +boat of Peter—the stone—before the miracle was performed, +according to St. Luke, v. 1-8. In the Toledoth +Jeschu there are two millstones which our Lord sets +afloat, and he mounts one, and then the fishes are +caught; in St. Luke's Gospel there are two boats. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q>He saw two ships standing by the lake.... And he +entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed +him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he +sat down and taught the people out of the ship. Now when +he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into +the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.</q> +</p> + +</quote> + +<pb n='086'/><anchor id='Pg086'/> + +<p> +It was standing on the swimming-stone, according to +the Huldrich version, that Jeschu preached to the people, +and declared to them his divine mission. +</p> + +<p> +The story goes on. The Sanhedrim, fearing to allow +Jeschu to remain at liberty, send Judas after him to +Jordan. Judas pronounces a great incantation, which +obliges the Angel of Sleep to seal the eyes of Jeschu and +his disciples. Then, whilst they sleep, he comes and +cuts from the arm of Jeschu a scrap of parchment on +which the Name of Jehovah is written, and which was +concealed under the flesh. Jeschu awakes, and a spirit +appears to him and vexes him sore. Then he feels that +his power is gone, and he announces to his disciples +that his hour is come when he must be taken by his +enemies. +</p> + +<p> +The disciples, amongst whom is Judas, who unobserved, +has mingled with them, are sorely grieved; but +Jeschu encourages them, and bids them believe in him, +and they will obtain thrones in heaven. Then he goes +with them to the Paschal Feast, in hopes of again being +able to penetrate into the Holy of Holies, and reading +again the incommunicable Name, and of thus recovering +his power. But Judas forewarns the elders, and as Jeschu +enters the Temple he is attacked by armed men. The +Jewish servants do not know Jeschu from his disciples. +Accordingly Judas flings himself down before him, and +thus indicates whom they are to take. Some of the disciples +offer resistance, but are speedily overcome, and +take to flight to the mountains, where they are caught +and executed. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>But the elders of Jerusalem led Jeschu in chains into the +city, and bound him to a marble pillar, and scourged him, +and said, Where are now all the miracles thou hast wrought? +And they plaited a crown of thorns and set it on his head. +Then the Fatherless was in anguish through thirst, and he +<pb n='087'/><anchor id='Pg087'/> +cried, saying, Give me water to drink! So they gave him +acid vinegar; and after he had drunk thereof he cried, Of +me did my father David prophesy, They gave me gall to +eat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.<note place='foot'>Ps. lxix. 22.</note> But +they answered, If thou wert God, why didst thou not know +it was vinegar before tasting of it? Now thou art at the +brink of the grave, and changest not. But Jeschu wept and +said, My God, my God! why hast thou forsaken me? And +the elders said, If thou be God, save thyself from our hands. +But Jeschu answered, saying, My blood is shed for the redemption +of the world, for Isaiah prophesied of me, He was +wounded for our transgression and bruised for our iniquities; +our chastisement lies upon him that we may have peace, and +by his wounds we are healed.<note place='foot'>Isa. liii. 5.</note> Then they led Jeschu forth +before the greater and the lesser Sanhedrim, and he was sentenced +to be stoned, and then to be hung on a tree. And it +was the eve of the Passover and of the Sabbath. And they +led him forth to the place where the punishment of stoning +was wont to be executed, and they stoned him there till he +was dead. And after that, the wise men hung him on the +tree; but no tree would bear him; each brake and yielded. +And when even was come the wise men said, We may not, +on account of the Fatherless, break the letter of the law +(which forbids that one who is hung should remain all night +on the tree). Though he may have set at naught the law, +yet will not we. Therefore they buried the Fatherless in the +place where he was stoned. And when, midnight was come, +the disciples came and seated themselves on the grave, and +wept and lamented him. Now when Judas saw this, he took +the body away and buried it in his garden under a brook. +He diverted the water of the brook elsewhere; but when the +body was laid in its bed, he brought its waters back again +into their former channel.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Now on the morrow, when the disciples had assembled +and had seated themselves weeping, Judas came to them and +said, Why weep you? Seek him who was buried. And +<pb n='088'/><anchor id='Pg088'/> +they dug and sought, and found him not, and all the company +cried, He is not in the grave; he is risen and ascended into +heaven, for, when he was yet alive, he said, He would raise +him up, Selah!</q> +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +When the Queen heard that the elders had slain +Jeschu and had buried him, and that he was risen +again, she ordered them within three days to produce +the body or forfeit their lives. In sore alarm, the elders +seek the body, but cannot find it. They therefore proclaim +a fast. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Now there was amongst them an elder whose name was +Tanchuma; and he went forth in sore distress, and wandered +in the fields, and he saw Judas sitting in his garden eating. +Then Tanchuma drew near to him, and said to him, What +doest thou, Judas, that thou eatest meat, when all the Jews +fast and are in grievous distress?</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Then Judas was astonished, and asked the occasion of +the fast. And the Rabbi Tanchuma answered him, Jeschu +the Fatherless is the occasion, for he was hung up and buried +on the spot where he was stoned; but now is he taken away, +and we know not where he is gone. And his worthless disciples +cry out that he is ascended into heaven. Now the +Queen has condemned us Israelites to death unless we find +him.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Judas asked, And if the Fatherless One were found, +would it be the salvation of Israel? The Rabbi Tanchuma +answered that it would be even so.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Then spake Judas, Come, and I will show you the man +whom ye seek; for it was I who took the Fatherless from +his grave. For I feared lest his disciples should steal him +away, and I have hidden him in my garden and led a water-brook +over the place.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Then the Rabbi Tanchuma hasted to the elders of Israel, +and told them all. And they came together, and drew him +forth, attached to the tail of a horse, and brought him before +<pb n='089'/><anchor id='Pg089'/> +the Queen, and said, See! this is the man who, they say, has +ascended into heaven!</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Now when the Queen saw this, she was filled with shame, +and answered not a word.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Now it fell out, that in dragging the body to the place, +the hair was torn off the head; and this is the reason why +monks shave their heads. It is done in remembrance of what +befel Jeschu.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And after this, in consequence thereof, there grew to be +strife between the Nazarenes and the Jews, so that they parted +asunder; and when a Nazarene saw a Jew he slew him. And +from day to day the distress grew greater, during thirty years. +And the Nazarenes assembled in thousands and tens of thousands, +and hindered the Israelites from going up to the festivals +at Jerusalem. And then there was great distress, such +as when the golden calf was set up, so that they knew not +what to do.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And the belief of the opposition grew more and more, +and spread on all sides. Also twelve godless runagates separated +and traversed the twelve realms, and everywhere in the +assemblies of the people uttered false prophecies.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Also many Israelites adhered to them, and these were +men of high renown, and they strengthened the faith in +Jeschu. And because they gave themselves out to be messengers +of him who was hung, a great number followed them +from among the Israelites.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Now when the wise men saw the desperate condition of +affairs, one said to another, Woe is unto us! for we have deserved +it through our sins. And they sat in great distress, +and wept, and looked up to heaven and prayed.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And when they had ended their prayer, there rose up a +very aged man of the elders, by name Simon Cephas, who +understood prophecy, and he said to the others, Hearken to +me, my brethren! and if ye will consent unto my advice, I +will separate these wicked ones from the company of the +Israelites, that they may have neither part nor lot with Israel. +But the sin do ye take upon you.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='090'/><anchor id='Pg090'/> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Then answered they all and said, The sin be on us; declare +unto us thy counsel, and fulfil thy purpose.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Therefore Simon, son of Cephas, went into the Holiest +Place and wrote the incommunicable Name, and cut into his +flesh and hid the parchment therein. And when he came +forth out of the Temple he took forth the writing, and when +he had learned the Name he betook himself to the chief city +of the Nazarenes,<note place='foot'>Rome. Simon Cephas is Simon Peter, but the miraculous power +attributed to him perhaps belongs to the story of Simon Magus.</note> and he cried there with a loud voice, Let +all who believe in Jeschu come unto me, for I am sent by +him to you!</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Then there came to him multitudes as the sand on the +sea-shore, and they said to him, Show us a sign that thou art +sent! And he said, What sign? They answered him, Even +the signs that Jeschu wrought when he was alive.</q> +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +Accordingly he heals a leper and restores a dead man +to life. And when the people saw this, they submitted +to him, as one sent to them by Jeschu. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +Then said Simon Cephas to them, Yea, verily, Jeschu did +send me to you, and now swear unto me that ye will obey +me in all things that I command you. +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And they swore to him, We will do all things that thou +commandest.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Then Simon Cephas said, Ye know that he who hung on +the tree was an enemy to the Israelites and the Law, because +of the prophecy of Isaiah, Your new moons and festivals my +soul hateth.<note place='foot'>Isa. i. 14.</note> And that he had no pleasure in the Israelites, +according to the saying of Hosea, Ye are not my people.<note place='foot'>Hosea i. 9.</note> +Now, although it is in his power to blot them in the twinkling +of an eye from off the face of the earth, yet will he not +root them out, but will keep them ever in the midst of you +as a witness to his stoning and hanging on the tree. He endured +these pains and the punishment of death, to redeem +your souls from hell. And now he warns and commands you +<pb n='091'/><anchor id='Pg091'/> +to do no harm to any Jew. Yea, even should a Jew say to a +Nazarene, Go with me a mile, he shall go with him twain; or +should a Nazarene be smitten by a Jew on one cheek, let him +turn to him the other also, that the Jews may enjoy in this +world their good things, for in the world to come they must +suffer their punishment in hell. If ye do these things, then +shall ye merit to sit with them (<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> the apostles) on their +thrones.<note place='foot'>Matt. xix. 28.</note></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>And this also doth he require of you, that ye do not +celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, but that ye keep +holy the day on which he died. And in place of the Feast +of Pentecost, that ye keep the fortieth day after his stoning, +on which he went up into heaven. And in place of the +Feast of Tabernacles, that ye keep the day of his Nativity, +and eight days after that ye shall celebrate his Circumcision.</q> +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +The Christians promised to do as Cephas commanded +them, but they desired him to reside in the midst of +them in their great city. +</p> + +<p> +To this he consented. <q>I will dwell with you,</q> said +he, <q>if ye will promise to permit me to abstain from +all food, and to eat only the bread of poverty and drink +the water of affliction. Ye must also build me a tower +in the midst of the city, wherein I may spend the rest +of my days.</q> +</p> + +<p> +This was done. The tower was built and called +<q>Peter,</q> and in this Cephas dwelt till his death six years +after. <q>In truth, he served the God of our fathers, +Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and composed many beautiful +hymns, which he dispersed among the Jews, that they +might serve as a perpetual memorial of him; and he +divided all his hymns among the Rabbis of Israel.</q> +</p> + +<p> +On his death he was buried in the tower. +</p> + +<p> +After his death, a man named Elias assumed the place +of messenger of Jeschu, and he declared that Simon +<pb n='092'/><anchor id='Pg092'/> +Cephas had deceived the Christians, and that he, Elias, +was an apostle of Jeschu, rather than Cephas, and that +the Christians should follow him. The Christians asked +for a sign. +</p> + +<p> +Elias said <q>What sign do ye ask?</q> Then a stone +fell from the tower Peter, and smote him that he died. +<q>Thus,</q> concludes this first version of the Toledoth +Jeschu, <q>may all Thine enemies perish, O Lord; but +may those that love Thee be as the sun when it shineth +in its strength!</q> +</p> + +<p> +Thus ends this wonderful composition, which carries +its own condemnation with it. +</p> + +<p> +The two captures and sentences of Jeschu are apparently +two forms of Jewish legend concerning Christ's +death, which the anonymous writer has clumsily combined. +</p> + +<p> +The scene in Gethsemane is laid on the other side of +Jordan. It is manifestly imitated from the Gospels, but +not directly, probably from some mediaeval sculptured +representation of the Agony in the Garden, common +outside every large church.<note place='foot'>The Oelberg was especially characteristic of German churches, and +was erected chiefly in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. They remain +at Nürnberg, Xanten, Worms, Marburg, Donauwörth, Landshut, Wasserburg, +Ratisbon, Klosterneuburg, Wittenberg, Merseburg, Lucerne, +Bruges, &c.</note> In place of an angel appearing +to comfort Christ, an evil spirit vexes him. The +kiss of Judas is transformed into a genuflexion or prostration +before him, and takes place, not in the Garden +but in the Temple. The resistance of the disciples is +mentioned. Jeschu is bound to a marble pillar and +scourged. Of this the Gospels say nothing; but the +pillar is an invariable feature in artistic representations +of the scourging. Two of the sayings on the Cross are +correctly given. In agreement with the account in the +<pb n='093'/><anchor id='Pg093'/> +Talmud, Jeschu is stoned, and then, to identify the son +of Panthera with the son of Mary, is hung on a tree. +The tree breaks, and he falls to the ground. The visitor +to Oberammergau Passion Play will remember the +scene of Judas hanging himself, and the tree snapping. +The Toledoth Jeschu does not say that Jeschu was crucified, +but that he was hung. The suicide of Judas was +identified with the death of Jesus. If the author of the +anti-evangel saw the scene of the breaking bough in +a miracle-play, he would perhaps naturally transfer it +to Christ. +</p> + +<p> +The women seated late at night by the sepulchre, or +coming early with spices, a feature in miracle-plays of +the Passion, are transformed into the disciples weeping +above the grave. The angel who addresses them, in the +Toledoth Jeschu, becomes Judas. +</p> + +<p> +In miracle-plays, Claudia Procula, the wife of Pilate, +assumes a prominence she does not occupy in the Gospels; +she may have originated the idea in the mind +of the author of Wagenseil's Toledoth, of the Queen +Helena. That he confounded the Queen of King Jannaeus +with the mother of Constantine is not wonderful. +The latter was the only historical princess who showed +sympathy with the Christians at Jerusalem, and of +whose existence the anonymous author was aware, probably +through the popular mediaeval romance of Helena, +<q>La belle Helène.</q> He therefore fell without a struggle +into the gross anachronism of making the Empress +Helena the wife of Jannaeus, and contemporary with +Christ. +</p> + +<p> +In the Toledoth Jeschu of Wagenseil, Simon Peter is +represented as a Jew ruling the Christians in favour of +the Jews. The Papacy must have been fully organized +when this anti-evangel was written, and the Jews must +have felt the protection accorded them by the Popes +<pb n='094'/><anchor id='Pg094'/> +against their persecutors. St. Gregory the Great wrote +letters, in 591 and 598, in behalf of the Jews who were +maltreated in Italy and Sicily. Alexander II., in 1068, +wrote a letter to the Bishops of Gaul exhorting them to +protect the Jews against the violence of the Crusaders, +who massacred them on their way to the East. He +gave as his reason for their protection the very one put +into Simon Cephas' mouth in the Toledoth Jeschu, that +God had preserved them and scattered them in all +countries as witnesses to the truth of the Gospel. In the +cruel confiscation of their goods, and expulsion from +France by Philip Augustus, and the simultaneous persecution +they underwent in England, Innocent III. took +their side, and insisted, in 1199, on their being protected +from violence. Gregory IX. defended them when maltreated +in Spain and in France by the Crusaders in 1236, +on their appeal to him for protection. In 1246, the Jews +of Germany appealed to the Pope, Innocent IV., against +the ecclesiastical and secular princes who pillaged them +on false charges. Innocent wrote, in 1247, ordering +those who had wronged them to indemnify them for +their losses. +</p> + +<p> +In 1417, the Jews of Constance came to meet Martin V., +as their protector, on his coronation, with hymns +and torches, and presented him with the Pentateuch, +which he had the discourtesy to refuse, saying that they +might have the Law, but they did not understand it. +</p> + +<p> +The claim made in the Toledoth Jeschu that the +Papacy was a government in the interest of the Jews +against the violence of the Christians, points to the thirteenth +century as the date of the composition of this +book, a century when the Jews suffered more from +Christian brutality than at any other period, when +their exasperation against everything Christian was +wrought to its highest pitch, and when they found the +<pb n='095'/><anchor id='Pg095'/> +Chair of Peter their only protection against extermination +by the disciples of Christ. +</p> + +<p> +Some dim reference may be made to the anti-pope of +Jewish blood, Peter Leonis, who took the name of Anacletus II., +and who survives in modern Jewish legend +as the Pope Elchanan. Anacletus II. (A.D. 1130-1138) +maintained his authority in Rome against Innocent II., +and from his refuge in the tower of St. Angelo, +defied the Emperor Lothair, who had marched to Rome +to install Innocent. Anacletus was accused of showing +favour to the Jews, whose blood he inherited—his +father was a Jewish usurer. When Christians shrank +from robbing the churches of their silver and golden +ornaments, required by Anacletus to pay his mercenaries +and bribe the venal Romans, he is said to have entrusted +the odious task to the Jews. +</p> + +<p> +Jewish legend has converted the Jewish anti-pope +into the son of the Rabbi Simeon Ben Isaac, of Mainz, +who died A.D. 1096. According to the story, the child +Elchanan was stolen from his father and mother by a +Christian nurse, was taken charge of by monks, grew +up to be ordained priest, and finally was elected Pope. +</p> + +<p> +As a child he had been wont to play chess with his +father, and had learned from him a favourite move +whereby to check-mate his adversary. +</p> + +<p> +The Jews of Germany suffered from oppression, and +appointed the Rabbi Simeon to bear their complaints to +the Pope. The old Jew went to Rome and was introduced +to the presence of the Holy Father. Elchanan +recognized him at once, and sent forth all his attendants, +then proposed a game of chess with the Rabbi. When +the Pope played the favourite move of the old Jew, +Simeon Ben Isaac sprang up, smote his brow, and cried +out, <q>I thought none knew this move save I and my +long-lost child.</q> <q>I am that child,</q> answered the +<pb n='096'/><anchor id='Pg096'/> +Pope, and he flung himself into the arms of the aged +Jew.<note place='foot'>Mááse, c. 188. I have told the story more fully in the Christmas +Number of <q>Once a Week,</q> 1868.</note> +</p> + +<p> +That the Wagenseil Toledoth Jeschu was written in the +eleventh, twelfth or thirteenth century appears probable +from the fact stated, that it was in these centuries that the +Jews were more subjected to persecution, spoliation and +massacre than in any other; and the Toledoth Jeschu is +the cry of rage of a tortured people,—a curse hurled at +the Founder of that religion which oppressed them. +</p> + +<p> +In the eleventh century the Jews in the great Rhine +cities were massacred by the ferocious hosts of Crusaders +under Ernico, Count of Leiningen, and the priests +Folkmar and Goteschalk. At the voice of their leaders +(A.D. 1096), the furious multitude of red-crossed pilgrims +spread through the cities of the Rhine and the +Moselle, massacring pitilessly all the Jews that they +met with in their passage. In their despair, a great +number preferred being their own destroyers to awaiting +certain death at the hands of their enemies. Several +shut themselves up in their houses, and perished amidst +flames their own hands had kindled; some attached +heavy stones to their garments, and precipitated themselves +and their treasures into the Rhine or Moselle. +Mothers stifled their children at the breast, saying that +they preferred sending them to the bosom of Abraham +to seeing them torn away to be nurtured in a religion +which bred tigers. +</p> + +<p> +Some of the ecclesiastics behaved with Christian +humanity. The Bishops of Worms and Spires ran some +risk in saving as many as they could of this defenceless +people. The Archbishop of Treves, less generous, gave +refuge to such only as would consent to receive baptism, +and coldly consigned the rest to the knives and halters +<pb n='097'/><anchor id='Pg097'/> +of the Christian fanatics. The Archbishop of Mainz +was more than suspected of participation in the plunder +of his Jewish subjects. The Emperor took on himself +the protection and redress of the wrongs endured by the +Jews, and it was apparently at this time that the Jews +were formally taken under feudal protection by the +Emperor. They became his men, owing to him special +allegiance, and with full right therefore to his protection. +</p> + +<p> +The Toledoth Jeschu of Wagenseil was composed by +a German Jew; that is apparent from its mention of +the letter of the synagogue of Worms to the Sanhedrim. +Had it been written in the eleventh century, it would +not have represented the Pope as the refuge of the persecuted +Jews, for it was the Emperor who redressed +their wrongs. +</p> + +<p> +But it was in the thirteenth century that the Popes +stood forth as the special protectors of the Jews. On +May 1, 1291, the Jewish bankers throughout France +were seized and imprisoned by order of Philip the Fair, +and forced to pay enormous mulcts. Some died under +torture, most yielded, and then fled the inhospitable +realm. Five years after, in one day, all the Jews in +France were taken, their property confiscated to the +Crown, the race expelled the realm. +</p> + +<p> +In 1320, the Jews of the South of France, notwithstanding +persecution and expulsion, were again in numbers +and perilous prosperity. On them burst the fury +of the Pastoureaux. Five hundred took refuge in the +royal castle of Verdun on the Garonne. The royal +officers refused to defend them. The shepherds set fire +to the lower stories of a lofty tower; the Jews slew +each other, having thrown their children to the mercy of +their assailants. Everywhere, even in the great cities, +Auch, Toulouse, Castel Sarrazen, the Jews were left to +<pb n='098'/><anchor id='Pg098'/> +be remorselessly massacred and their property pillaged. +The Pope himself might have seen the smoke of the +fires that consumed them darkening the horizon from +the walls of Avignon. But John XXII., cold, arrogant, +rapacious, stood by unmoved. He launched his excommunication, +not against the murderers of the inoffensive +Jews, but against all who presumed to take the Cross +without warrant of the Holy See. Even that same year +he published violent bulls against the poor persecuted +Hebrews, and commanded the Bishops to destroy their +Talmud, the source of their detestable blasphemies; but +he bade those who should submit to baptism to be protected +from pillage and massacre. +</p> + +<p> +The Toledoth Jeschu, therefore, cannot have been +written at the beginning of the fourteenth century, +when the Jews had such experience of the indifference +of a Pope to their wrongs. We are consequently forced +to look to the thirteenth century as its date. And the +thirteenth century will provide us with instances of +persecution of the Jews in Germany, and Popes exerting +themselves to protect them. +</p> + +<p> +In 1236, the Jews were the subject of an outburst of +popular fury throughout Europe, but especially in Spain, +where a fearful carnage took place. In France, the +Crusaders of Guienne, Poitou, Anjou and Brittany killed +them, without sparing the women and children. Women +with child were ripped up. The unfortunate Jews were +thrown down, and trodden under the feet of horses. +Their houses were ransacked, their books burned, their +treasures carried off. Those who refused baptism were +tortured or killed. The unhappy people sent to Rome, +and implored the Pope to extend his protection to them. +Gregory IX. wrote at once to the Archbishop of Bordeaux, +the Bishops of Saintes, Angoulême and Poictiers, +forbidding constraint to be exercised on the Jews to +<pb n='099'/><anchor id='Pg099'/> +force them to receive baptism; and a letter to the King +entreating him to exert his authority to repress the fury +of the Crusaders against the Jews. +</p> + +<p> +In 1240, the Jews were expelled from Brittany by the +Duke John, at the request of the Bishops of Brittany. +</p> + +<p> +In 1246, the persecution reached its height in Germany. +Bishops and nobles vied with each other in despoiling +and harassing the unfortunate Hebrews. They +were charged with killing Christian children and devouring +their hearts at their Passover. Whenever a +dead body was found, the Jews were accused of the +murder. Hosts were dabbled in blood, and thrown +down at their doors, and the ignorant mob rose against +such profanation of the sacred mysteries. They were +stripped of their goods, thrown into prison, starved, +racked, condemned to the stake or to the gallows. From +the German towns miserable trains of yellow-girdled +and capped exiles issued, seeking some more hospitable +homes. If they left behind them their wealth, they +carried with them their industry. +</p> + +<p> +A deputation of German Rabbis visited the Pope, +Innocent IV., at Lyons, and laid the complaints of the +Jews before him. Innocent at once took up their cause. +He wrote to all the bishops of Germany, on July 5th, +1247, ordering them to favour the Jews, and insist on +the redress of the wrongs to which they had been subjected, +whether at the hands of ecclesiastics or nobles. +A similar letter was then forwarded by him to all the +bishops of France. +</p> + +<p> +At this period it was in vain for the Jews to appeal +to the Emperor. Frederick II. was excommunicated, +and Germany in revolt, fanned by the Pope, against him. +A new Emperor had been proposed at a meeting at Budweis +to the electors of Austria, Bohemia and Bavaria, +but the proposition had been rejected. Henry of Thuringia, +<pb n='100'/><anchor id='Pg100'/> +however, set up by Innocent, and supported by +the ecclesiastical princes of Germany, had been crowned +at Hochem. A crusade was preached against the Emperor +Frederick; Henry of Thuringia was defeated and +died. The indefatigable Innocent, clinging to the +cherished policy of the Papal See to ruin the unity of +Germany by stirring up intestine strife, found another +candidate in William of Holland. He was crowned at +Aix-la-Chapelle, October 3, 1247. From this time till +his death, four years after, the cause of Frederick declined. +Frederick was mostly engaged in wars in Italy, +and had not leisure, if he had the power, to attend to +and right the wrongs of his Jewish vassals. +</p> + +<p> +It was at this period that I think we may conclude +the Toledoth Jeschu of Wagenseil was written. +</p> + +<p> +Another consideration tends to confirm this view. +The Wagenseil Toledoth Jeschu speaks of Elias rising +up after the death of Simon Cephas, and denouncing +him as having led the Christians away. +</p> + +<p> +Was there any Elias at the close of the thirteenth +century who did thus preach against the Pope? There +was. Elias of Cortona, second General of the Franciscan +Order, the leader of a strong reactionary party opposed +to the Spirituals or Caesarians, those who maintained the +rule in all its rigour, had been deposed, then carried back +into the Generalship by a recoil of the party wave, then +appealed against to the Pope, deposed once more, and +finally excommunicated. Elias joined the Emperor +Frederick, the deadly foe of Innocent IV., and, sheltered +under his wing, denounced the venality, the avarice, the +extortion of the Papacy. As a close attendant on the +German Emperor, his adviser, as one who encouraged +him in his opposition to a Pope who protected the Jews, +the German Jews must have heard of him. But the +stone of excommunication firing at him struck him +<pb n='101'/><anchor id='Pg101'/> +down, and he died in 1253, making a death-bed reconciliation +with Rome. +</p> + +<p> +But though it is thus possible to give an historical explanation +of the curious circumstance that the Toledoth +Jeschu ranges the Pope among the friends of Judaism +and the enemies of Christianity, and provide for the +identification of Elias with the fallen General of the +Minorites,—the story points perhaps to a dim recollection +of Simon Peter being at the head of the Judaizing +Church at Jerusalem and Rome, which made common +cause with the Jews, and of Paul, here designated Elias, +in opposition to him. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='102'/><anchor id='Pg102'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>VII. The Second Toledoth Jeschu.</head> + +<p> +We will now analyze and give extracts from the +second anti-evangel of the Jews, the <hi rend='smallcaps'>Toledoth Jeschu +of Huldrich</hi>.<note place='foot'>Joh. Jac. Huldricus: Historia Jeschuae Nazareni, a Judaeis blaspheme +corrupta; Leyden, 1705.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It begins thus: <q>In the reign of King Herod the +Proselyte, there lived a man named Papus Ben Jehuda. +To him was betrothed Mirjam, daughter of Kalphus; +and her brother's name was Simeon. He was a Rabbi, +the son of Kalphus. This Mirjam, before her betrothal, +was a hair-dresser to women.... She was surpassing +beautiful in form. She was of the tribe of Benjamin.</q> +</p> + +<p> +On account of her extraordinary beauty, she was kept +locked up in a house; but she escaped through a window, +and fled from Jerusalem to Bethlehem with Joseph +Pandira, of Nazareth. +</p> + +<p> +As has been already said, Papus Ben Jehuda was a +contemporary of Rabbi Akiba, and died about A.D. 140. +In the Wagenseil Toledoth Jeschu, Mirjam is betrothed +to a Jochanan. In the latter, Mary lives at Bethlehem; +in the Toledoth of Huldrich, she resides at Jerusalem. +</p> + +<p> +Many years after, the place of the retreat of Mirjam +and Joseph Pandira having been made known to Herod, +he sent to Bethlehem orders for their arrest, and for +the massacre of the children; but Joseph, who had been +forewarned by a kinsman in the court of Herod, fled +in time with his wife and children into Egypt. +</p> + +<pb n='103'/><anchor id='Pg103'/> + +<p> +After many years a famine broke out in Egypt, and +Joseph and Mirjam, with their son Jeschu and his +brethren, returned to Canaan and settled at Nazareth. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And Jeschu grew up, and went to Jerusalem to acquire +knowledge, in the school of Joshua, the son of Perachia +(B.C. 90); and he made there great advance, so that he +learned the mystery of the chariot and the holy Name.<note place='foot'>The mystery of the chariot is that of the chariot of God and the cherubic +beasts, Ezekiel i. The Jews wrote the name of God without vowels, Jhvh; +the vowel points taken from the name Adonai (Lord) were added later.</note></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>One day it fell out that Jeschu was playing ball with the +sons of the priests, near the chamber Gasith, on the hill of +the Temple. Then by accident the ball fell into the Fish-valley. +And Jeschu was very grieved, and in his anger he +plucked the hat from off his head, and cast it on the ground +and burst into lamentations. Thereupon the boys warned +him to put his hat on again, for it was not comely to be with +uncovered head. Jeschu answered, Verily, Moses gave you +not this law; it is but an addition of the lawyers, and therefore +need not be observed.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Now there sat there, Rabbi Eliezer and Joshua Ben +Levi (A.D. 220), and the Rabbi Akiba (A.D. 135) hard by, +in the school, and they heard the words that Jeschu had +spoken.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Then said the Rabbi Eliezer, That boy is certainly a +Mamser. But Rabbi Joshua, son of Levi, said, He is a Ben-hannidda. +And the Rabbi Akiba said also, He is a Ben-hannidda.<note place='foot'>The story is somewhat different in the Talmudic tract Calla, as already +related.</note> +Therefore the Rabbi Akiba went forth out of the +school, and asked Jeschu in what city he was born. Jeschu +answered, I am of Nazareth; my father's name is Mezaria,<note place='foot'>From Mizraim, Egypt.</note> +and my mother's name is Karchat.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Then the Rabbis Akiba, Eliezer and Joshua went into +the school of the Rabbi Joshua, son of Perachia, and seized +Jeschu by the hair and cut it off in a circle, and washed his +<pb n='104'/><anchor id='Pg104'/> +head with the water Boleth, so that the hair might not grow +again.</q> +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +Ashamed at this humiliation, according to the Toledoth +Jeschu of Huldrich, the boy returned to Nazareth, +where he wounded his mother's breast. +</p> + +<p> +Probably the author of this counter-Gospel saw one +of those common artistic representations of the Mater +Dolorosa with a sword piercing her soul, and invented +the story of Jesus wounding his mother's breast to +account for it. +</p> + +<p> +When Jeschu was grown up, there assembled about +him many disciples, whose names were Simon and +Matthias, Elikus, Mardochai and Thoda, whose names +Jeschu changed. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>He called Simon Peter, after the word Petrus, which in +Hebrew signifies the First. And Matthias he called Matthew; +and Elikus he called Luke, because he sent him forth among +the heathen; and Mardochai he named Mark, because he +said, Vain men come to me; and Thoda he named Pahul +(Paul), because he bore witness of him.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Another worthless fellow also joined them, named Jochanan, +and he changed his name to Jahannus on account of +the miracles Jeschu wrought through him by means of the +incommunicable Name. This Jahannus advised that all the +men who were together should have their heads washed with +the water Boleth, that the hair might not grow on them, and +all the world might know that they were Nazarenes.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>But the affair was known to the elders and to the King. +Then he sent his messengers to take Jeschu and his disciples, +and to bring them to Jerusalem. But out of fear of the people, +they gave timely warning to Jeschu that the King sought to +take and kill him and his companions. Therefore they fled +into the desert of Ai (Capernaum?). And when the servants +of the King came and found them not, with the exception of +Jahannus they took him and led him before the King. And +<pb n='105'/><anchor id='Pg105'/> +the King ordered that Jahannus should be executed with the +sword. The servants of the King therefore went at his command +and slew Jahannus, and hung up his head at the gate +of Jerusalem.<note place='foot'>Evidently the author confounds John the Baptist with John the +Apostle.</note></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>About this time Jeschu assembled the inhabitants of +Jerusalem about him, and wrought many miracles. He laid +a millstone on the sea, and sailed about on it, and cried, I am +God, the Son of God, born of my mother by the power of +the Holy Ghost, and I sprang from her virginal brow.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And he wrought many miracles, so that all the inhabitants +of Ai believed in him, and his miracles he wrought by +means of the incommunicable Name.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Then Jeschu ordered the law to be done away with, for +it is said in the Psalm, It is time for thee, Lord, to lay too +thine hand, for they have destroyed thy law. Now, said he, +is the right time come to tear up the law, for the thousandth +generation has come since David said, He hath promised to +keep his word to a thousand generations (Ps. cviii. 8).</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Therefore they arose and desecrated the Sabbath.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>When now the elders and wise men heard of what was +done, they came to the King and consulted him and his +council. Then answered Judas, son of Zachar,<note place='foot'>Judas Iscarioth. In St. John's Gospel he is called the son of Simon +(vi. 71, xiii. 2, 26). Son of Zachar is a corruption of Iscarioth. The +name Iscarioth is probably from Kerioth, his native village, in Judah.</note> I am the first +of the King's princes; I will go myself and see if it be true +what is said, that this man blasphemeth.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Therefore Judas went and put on other clothes like the +men of Ai, and spake to Jeschu and said, I also will learn +your doctrine. Then Jeschu had his head shaved in a ring +and washed with the water Boleth.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>After that they went into the wilderness, for they feared +the King lest he should take them if they tarried at Ai. +And they lost their way; and in the wilderness they lighted +on a shepherd who lay on the ground. Then Jeschu asked +<pb n='106'/><anchor id='Pg106'/> +him the right way, and how far it was to shelter. The shepherd +answered, The way lies straight before you; and he +pointed it out with his foot.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>They went a little further, and they found a shepherd +maiden, and Jeschu asked her which way they must go. +Then the maiden led them to a stone which served as a sign-post. +And Peter said to Jeschu, Bless this maiden who has +led us hither! And he blessed her, and wished for her that +she might become the wife of the shepherd they had met on +the road.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>Then said Peter, Wherefore didst thou so bless the +maiden? He answered, The man is slow, but she is lively. +If he were left without her activity, it would fare ill with +him. For I am a God of mercy, and make marriages as is +best for man.</q> +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +This is a German story. There are many such of +Jesus and St. Peter to be found in all collections of +German household tales. They go together on a journey, +and various adventures befal them, and the Lord orders +things very differently from what Peter expects. To +this follows another story, familiar to English school-boys. +The apostles come with their Master to an inn, +and ask for food. The innkeeper has a goose, and it is +decided that he shall have the goose who dreams the +best dream that night. When all are asleep, Judas +gets up, plucks, roasts and eats the goose. Next morning +they tell their dreams. Judas says, <q>Mine was the +best of all, for I dreamt that in the night I ate the +goose; and, lo! the goose is gone this morning. I think +the dream must have been a reality.</q> Among English +school-boys, the story is told of an Englishman, and +Scotchman, and an Irishman. The latter, of course, +takes the place of Judas. +</p> + +<p> +Some equally ridiculous stories follow, inserted for +the purpose of making our blessed Lord and his apostles +<pb n='107'/><anchor id='Pg107'/> +contemptible, but not taken, like the two just mentioned, +from German folk-lore. +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>After that Judas went to Jerusalem, but Jeschu and +Peter tarried awaiting him (at Laish), for they trusted him. +Now when Judas was come to Jerusalem, he related to the +King and the elders the words and deeds of Jeschu, and how, +through the power of the incommunicable Name, he had +wrought such wonders that the people of Ai believed in him, +and how that he had taken to wife the daughter of Karkamus, +chief ruler of Ai.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Then the King and the elders asked counsel of Judas +how they might take Jeschu and his disciples. Judas answered, +Persuade Jagar Ben Purah, their host, to mix the +water of forgetfulness with their wine. We will come to +Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles; and then do ye take +him and his disciples. For Jager Purah is the brother of the +Gerathite Karkamus; but I will persuade Jeschu that Jager +Purah is the brother of Karkamus of Ai, and he will believe +my words, and they will all come up to the Feast of Tabernacles. +Now when they shall have drunk of that wine, then +will Jeschu forget the incommunicable Name, and so will be +unable to deliver himself out of your hands, so that ye can +capture him and hold him fast.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Then answered the King and the elders, Thy counsel is +good; go in peace, and we will appoint a fast. Therefore +Judas went his way on the third of the month Tisri (October), +and the great assembly in Jerusalem fasted a great +fast, and prayed God to deliver Jeschu and his followers into +their hands. And they undertook for themselves and for +their successors a fast to be hold annually on the third of the +month Tisri, for ever.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>When Judas had returned to Jeschu, he related to him, +I have been attentive to hear what is spoken in Jerusalem, +and none so much as wag their tongues against thee. Yea! +when the King took Jahannus to slay him, his disciples came +in force and rescued him. And Jahannus said to me, Go say +<pb n='108'/><anchor id='Pg108'/> +to Jesus, our Lord, that he come with his disciples, and +we will protect him; and see! the host, Jager Purah, is +brother of Karkamus, ruler of Ai, and an uncle of thy betrothed.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Now when Jeschu heard the words of Judas, he believed +them; for the inhabitants of Jerusalem and their neighbours +fasted incessantly during the six days between the feast of +the New Year and the Day of Atonement,—yea, even on the +Sabbath Day did some of them fast. And when those men +who were not in the secret asked wherefore they fasted at +this unusual time, when it was not customary to fast save on +the Day of Atonement, the elders answered them, This is +done because the King of the Gentiles has sent and threatened +us with war.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>But Jeschu and his disciples dressed themselves in the +costume of the men of Ai, that they might not be recognized +in Jerusalem; and in the fast, on the Day of Atonement, +Jeschu came with his disciples to Jerusalem, and entered into +the house of Purah, and said, Of me it is written, Who is +this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from +Bozrah? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. I +have trodden the wine-press alone, and of the people there +was none with me.<note place='foot'>Isa. lxiii. 1-3. Singularly enough, this passage is chosen for the +Epistle in the Roman and Anglican Churches for Monday in Holy Week, +with special reference to the Passion.</note> For now am I come from Edom to the +house of Purah, and of thee, Purah, was it written, Jegar +Sahadutha!<note place='foot'>Gen. xxxi. 47.</note> For thou shalt be to us a hill of witness and +assured protection. But I have come here to Jerusalem to +abolish the festivals and the holy seasons and the appointed +holy days. And he that believeth in me shall have his +portion in eternal life. I will give forth a new law in Jerusalem, +for of me was it written, Out of Zion shall the law +go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.<note place='foot'>Isa. ii. 3.</note> And +their sins and unrighteousness will I atone for with my blood. +But after I am dead I will arise to life again; for it is written, +<pb n='109'/><anchor id='Pg109'/> +I kill and make alive; I bring down to hell, and raise up +therefrom again.<note place='foot'>1 Sam. ii. 6.</note></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>But Judas betook himself secretly to the King, and told +him how that Jeschu and his disciples were in the house of +Purah. Therefore the King sent young priests into the +house of Purah, who said unto Jeschu, We are ignorant +men, and believe in thee and thy word; but do this, we +pray thee, work a miracle before our eyes.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Then Jeschu wrought before them wonders by means of +the incommunicable Name.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And on the great Day of Atonement he and his disciples +ate and drank, and fasted not; and they drank of the wine +wherewith was mingled the Water of Forgetfulness, and then +betook themselves to rest.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And when midnight was now come, behold! servants of +the King surrounded the house, and to them Purah opened +the door. And the servants broke into the room where Jeschu +and his disciples were, and they cast them into chains.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Then Jeschu directed his mind to the incommunicable +Name; but he could not recall it, for all had vanished from +his recollection.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And the servants of the King led Jeschu and his disciples +to the prison of the blasphemers. And in the morning +they told the King that Jeschu and his disciples were taken +and cast into prison. Then he ordered that they should be +detained till the Feast of Tabernacles.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And on that feast all the people of the Lord came together +to the feast, as Moses had commanded them. Then the +King ordered that Jeschu's disciples should be stoned outside +the city; and all the Israelites looked on, and heaped stones +on the disciples. And all Israel broke forth into hymns of +praise to the God of Israel, that these men of Belial had thus +fallen into their hands.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>But Jeschu was kept still in prison, for the King would +not slay him till the men of Ai had seen that his words were +naught, and what sort of a prophet he was proved to be.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='110'/><anchor id='Pg110'/> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Also he wrote letters throughout the land to the councils +of the synagogues to learn from them after what manner +Jeschu should be put to death, and summoning all to assemble +at Jerusalem on the next feast of the Passover to execute +Jeschu, as it is written, Whosoever blasphemeth the name of +the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation +shall certainly stone him.<note place='foot'>Lev. xxiv. 16.</note></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>But the people of Girmajesa (Germany) and all that +country round, what is at this day called Wormajesa (Worms) +in the land of the Emperor, and the little council in the town +of Wormajesa, answered the King in this wise, Let Jesus go, +and slay him not! Let him live till he die and perish.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>But when the feast of the Passover drew nigh, it was +heralded through all the land of Judaea, that any one who +had aught to say in favour, and for the exculpation, of Jeschu, +should declare it before the King. But all the people with +one consent declared that Jeschu must die.<note place='foot'>This is taken from Sanhedrim, fol. 43.</note></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Therefore, on the eve of the Passover, Jeschu was brought +out of the prison, and they cried before him, So may all thine +enemies perish, O Lord! And they hanged him on a tree +outside of Jerusalem, as the King and elders of Jerusalem had +commanded.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And all Israel looked on and praised and glorified God.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Now when even was come, Judas took down the body of +Jeschu from the tree and laid it in his garden in a conduit.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>But when the people of Ai heard that Jeschu had been +hung, they became enemies to Israel. And the people of Ai +attacked the Israelites, and slew of them two thousand men. +And the Israelites could not go to the feasts because of the +men of Ai. Therefore the King proclaimed war against Ai; +but he could not overcome it, for mightily grew the multitude +of those who believed in Jeschu, even under the eyes of the +King in Jerusalem.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And some of these went to Ai, and declared that on the +third day after Jeschu had been hung, fire had fallen from +<pb n='111'/><anchor id='Pg111'/> +heaven, which had surrounded Jeschu, and he had arisen +alive, and gone up into heaven.<note place='foot'>It is worth observing how these two false witnesses disagree in almost +every particular about our blessed Lord's birth and passion.</note></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And the people of Ai believed what was said, and swore +to avenge on the children of Israel the crime they had committed +in hanging Jeschu. Now when Judas saw that the +people of Ai threatened great things, he wrote a letter unto +them, saying, There is no peace to the ungodly, saith the +Lord; therefore do the people take counsel together, and the +Gentiles imagine a vain thing. Come to Jerusalem and see +your false prophet! For, lo! he is dead and buried in a conduit.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Now when they heard this, the men of Ai went to Jerusalem +and saw Jeschu lying where had been said. But, +nevertheless, when they returned to Ai, they said that all +Judas had written was false. For, lo! said they, when we +came to Jerusalem we found that all believed in Jeschu, and +had risen and had expelled the King out of the city because he +believed not; and many of the elders have they slain. Then +the men of Ai believed these words of the messengers, and +they proclaimed war against Israel.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Now when the King and the elders saw that the men of +Ai were about to encamp against them, and that the numbers +of these worthless men grow—they were the brethren and +kinsmen of Jeschu—they took counsel what they should do +in such sore straits as they were in.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And Judas said, Lo! Jeschu has an uncle Simon, son +of Kalpus, who is now alive, and he is an honourable old +man. Give him the incommunicable Name, and let him +work wonders in Ai, and tell the people that he does them in +the name of Jesus. And they will believe Simon, because +he is the uncle of Jeschu. But Simon must make them +believe that Jeschu committed to him all power to teach them +not to ill-treat the Israelites, and he has reserved them for his +own vengeance.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>This counsel pleased the King and the elders, and they +went to Simon and told him the matter.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='112'/><anchor id='Pg112'/> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Then went Simon, when he had learned the Name, and +drew nigh to Ai, and he raised a cloud and thunder and +lightning. And he seated himself on the cloud, and as the +thunder rolled he cried, Ye men of Ai, gather yourselves +together at the tower of Ai, and there will I give you commandments +from Jeschu.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>But when the people of Ai heard this voice, they were +sore afraid, and they assembled on all sides about the tower. +And lo! Simon was borne thither on the cloud; and he +stepped upon the tower. And the men of Ai fell on their +faces before him.<note place='foot'>This is probably taken from the story of Simon Magus in the Pseudo-Linus. +Simon flies from off a high tower. In the Apocryphal Book of +the Death of the Virgin, the apostles come to her death-bed riding on +clouds. Ai is here Rome, not Capernaum.</note> Then Simon said, I am Simon Ben +Kalpus, uncle of Jeschu. Jeschu came and sent me unto +you to teach you his law, for Jesus is the Son of God. And +lo! I will give you the law of Jesus, which is a new commandment.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Then he wrought before them signs and wonders, and he +said to the people of Ai, Swear to me to obey all that I tell +you. And they swore to him. Then said Simon, Go to +your own homes. And all the people of Ai returned to their +dwellings.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Now Simon sat on the tower, and wrote the commandments +even as the King and elders had decided. And he +changed the Alphabet, and gave the letters new names, as +secretly to protest that all he taught written in those letters +was lies. And this was the Alphabet he wrote: A, Be, Ce, +De, E, Ef, Cha, I, Ka, El, Em, En, O, Pe, Ku, Er, Es, Te, +U, Ix, Ejed, Zet.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And this is the interpretation: My father is Esau, who +was a huntsman, and was weary; and lo! his sons believed +in Jesus, who lives, as God.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And Simon composed for the deception of the people of +Ai lying books, and he called them <q>Avonkelajon</q> (Evangelium), +which, being interpreted, is the End of Ungodliness. +<pb n='113'/><anchor id='Pg113'/> +But they thought he said, <q>Eben gillajon,</q> which means +Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. He also wrote books in the +names of the disciples of Jeschu, and especially in that of +Johannes, and said that Jeschu had given him these.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>But with special purpose he composed the Book of +Johannes (the Apocalypse), for the men of Ai thought it contained +mysteries, whereas it contained pure invention. For +instance, he wrote in the Book of Johannes that Johannes saw +a beast with seven heads and seven horns and seven crowns, +and the name of the beast was blasphemy, and the number of +the beast 666. Now the seven heads mean the seven letters +which compose in Hebrew the words, <q>Jeschu of Nazareth.</q> +And in like manner the number 666 is that which is the sum +of the letters composing this name. In like way did Simon +compose all the books to deceive the people, as the King and +the elders had bidden him.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And on the sixth day of the third month Simon sat on +the cloud, and the people of Ai were gathered together before +him to the tower, and he gave them the book Avonkelajon, +and said to them, When ye have children born to you, ye +must sprinkle them with water, in token that Jeschu was +washed with the water Boleth, and ye must observe all the +commandments that are written in the book Avonkelajon. +And ye must wage no war against the people of Israel, for +Jeschu has reserved them to avenge himself on them himself.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Now when the people of Ai heard these words, they +answered that they would keep them. And Simon returned +on his cloud to Jerusalem. And all the people thought he +had gone up in a cloud to heaven to bring destruction on the +Israelites.<note place='foot'>The author probably saw representations of the Ascension and of the +Last Judgment, with Christ seated with the Books of Life and Death in his +hand on a great white cloud, and composed this story out of what he saw, +associating the pictures with the floating popular legend of Simon Magus.</note></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Not long after this, King Herod died, and was succeeded +by his son in the kingdom of Israel. But when he had +obtained the throne, he heard that the people of Ai had made +<pb n='114'/><anchor id='Pg114'/> +images in honour of Jesus and Mary, and he wrote letters to +Ai and ordered their destruction; otherwise he would make +war against them.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Then the people of Ai sent asking help of the Emperor +against the King of Israel. But the Emperor would not +assist them and war against Israel. Therefore, when the +people of Ai saw that there was no help, they burned the +images and bound themselves before the sons of Israel.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And about this time Mirjam, the mother of Jeschu, died. +Then the King ordered that she should be buried at the foot +of the tree on which Jeschu had hung; and there he also +had the brothers and sisters of Jeschu hung up. And they +were hung, and a memorial stone was set up on the spot.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>But the worthless men, their kinsmen, came and destroyed +the memorial stone, and set up another in its stead, on which +they wrote the words, <q>Lo! this is a ladder set upon the +earth, whose head reaches to heaven, and the angels of God +ascend and descend upon it, and the mother rejoices here in +her children, Allelujah!</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Now when the King heard this, he destroyed the memorial +they had erected, and killed a hundred of the kindred +of Jeschu.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Then went Simon, son of Kalpus, to the King and said, +Suffer me, and I will draw away these people from Jerusalem. +And the King said, Be it so; go, and the Lord be +with thee! Therefore Simon went secretly to these worthless +men, and said to them, Let us go together to Ai, and +there shall ye see wonders which I will work. And some +went to Ai, but others seated themselves beside Simon on +his cloud, and left Jerusalem with him. And on the way +Simon cast down those who sat on the cloud with him upon +the earth, so that they died.<note place='foot'>In the story of Simon the Sorcerer, it is at the prayer of Simon Peter +that the Sorcerer falls whilst flying and breaks all his bones. Perhaps +the author saw a picture of the Judgment with saints on the cloud with Jesus, +and the lost falling into the flames of hell.</note></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And when Simon returned to Jerusalem, he told the King +<pb n='115'/><anchor id='Pg115'/> +what he had done, and the King rejoiced greatly. And Simon +left not the court of the King till his death. And when he +died, all the Jews observed the day as a fast, and it was the +9th of the month Teboth (January).</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>But those who had gone to Ai at the word of Simon believed +that Simon and those with him had gone up together +into heaven on the cloud.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>And when men saw what Simon had taught the people +of Ai in the name of Jesus, they followed them also, and they +took them the daughters of Ai to wife, and sent letters into +the furthest islands with the book Avonkelajon, and undertook +for themselves, and for their descendants, to hold to all +the words of the book Avonkelajon.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'>Therefore they abolished the Law, and chose the first day +of the week as the Sabbath, for that was the birthday of +Jesus, and they ordained many other customs and bad feasts. +Therefore have they no part and lot in Israel. They are +accursed in this world, and accursed in the world to come. +But the Lord bless his people Israel with peace.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q>These are the words of the Rabbi Jochanan, son of +Saccai, in Jerusalem.</q> +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +That this second version of the <q>Life of Jeschu</q> is +later than the first one, I think there can be little doubt. +It is more full of absurdities than the first, it adopts +German household tales, and exhibits an ignorance of +history even more astounding than in the first Life. The +preachers of the <q>Evangelium</q> marry wives, and there +is a burning of images of St. Mary and our Lord. These +are <emph>perhaps</emph> indications of its having been composed after +the Reformation. +</p> + +<p> +Luther did not know anything of the Life published +later by Huldrich. The only Toledoth Jeschu he was +acquainted with was that afterwards published by Wagenseil. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='118'/><anchor id='Pg118'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Part II. The Lost Petrine Gospels.</head> + +<p> +Under this head are classed all those Gospels whose tendency is +Judaizing, which sprang into existence in the Churches of Palestine +and Syria. +</p> + +<p> +These may be ranged in two sub-classes— +</p> + +<lg> +<l>a. Those akin to the Gospel of St. Matthew.</l> +<l>b. Those related to the Gospel of St. Mark.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +To the first class belong— +</p> + +<lg> +<l>1. The Gospel of the Twelve, or of the Hebrews.</l> +<l>2. The Gospel of the Clementines.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +To the second class belong, probably— +</p> + +<lg> +<l>1. The Gospel of St. Peter.</l> +<l>2. The Gospel of the Egyptians.</l> +</lg> + +<pb n='119'/><anchor id='Pg119'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>I. The Gospel Of The Hebrews.</head> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>1. The Fragments extant.</head> + +<p> +Eusebius quotes Papias, Irenaeus and Origen, as authorities +for his statement that St. Matthew wrote his +Gospel first in Hebrew. +</p> + +<p> +Papias, a contemporary of Polycarp, who was a disciple +of St. John, and who carefully collected all information +he could obtain concerning the apostles, declares that +<q>Matthew wrote his Gospel in the Hebrew dialect,<note place='foot'>Ἑβραΐδι διαλέκτῳ.</note> and +that every one translated it as he was able.</q><note place='foot'>Euseb. Hist. Eccl. lib. iii. c. 39.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Irenaeus, a disciple of Polycarp, and therefore also +likely to have trustworthy information on this matter, +says, <q>Matthew among the Hebrews wrote a Gospel in +their own language, while Peter and Paul were preaching +the gospel at Rome, and founding the Church there.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> lib. v. c. 8.</note> +</p> + +<p> +In a fragment, also, of Irenaeus, edited by Dr. Grabe, +it is said that <q>the Gospel according to Matthew was +written to the Jews, for they earnestly desired a Messiah +<pb n='120'/><anchor id='Pg120'/> +of the posterity of David. Matthew, in order to satisfy +them on this point, began his Gospel with the genealogy +of Jesus</q>.<note place='foot'>Spicileg. Patrum, Tom. I.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Origen, in a passage preserved by Eusebius, has this +statement: <q>I have learned by tradition concerning the +four Gospels, which alone are received without dispute +by the Church of God under heaven, that the first was +written by St. Matthew, once a tax-gatherer, afterwards +an apostle of Jesus Christ, who published it for the +benefit of the Jewish converts, composed in the Hebrew +language.</q><note place='foot'>Euseb. Hist. Eccl. vi. 25.</note> And again, in his Commentary on St. John, +<q>We begin with Matthew, who, according to tradition, +wrote first, publishing his Gospel to the believers who +were of the circumcision.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Eusebius, who had collected the foregoing testimonies +on a subject which, in that day, seems to have been undisputed, +thus records what he believed to be a well-authenticated +historical fact: <q>Matthew, having first +preached to the Hebrews, delivered to them, when he +was preparing to depart to other countries, his Gospel +composed in their native language.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> iii. 24.</note> +</p> + +<p> +St. Jerome follows Papias: <q>Matthew, who is also +Levi, from a publican became an apostle, and he first +composed his Gospel of Christ in Judaea, for those of +the circumcision who believed, and wrote it in Hebrew +words and characters; but who translated it afterwards +into Greek is not very evident. Now this Hebrew Gospel +is preserved to this day in the library at Caesarea which +Pamphilus the martyr so diligently collected. I also +obtained permission of the Nazarenes of Beraea in Syria, +who use this volume, to make a copy of it. In which +it is to be observed that, throughout, the Evangelist when +<pb n='121'/><anchor id='Pg121'/> +quoting the witness of the Old Testament, either in his +own person or in that of the Lord and Saviour, does not +follow the authority of the Seventy translators, but the +Hebrew Scriptures, from which he quotes these two +passages, <q>Out of Egypt have I called my Son,</q> and, +<q>Since he shall be called a Nazarene.</q></q><note place='foot'>St. Hieron. De vir. illust., s.v. Matt.</note> And again: +<q>That Gospel which is called the Gospel of the Hebrews, +and which has lately been translated by me into Greek and +Latin, and was used frequently by Origen, relates,</q> &c.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> s.v. Jacobus.</note> +Again: <q>That Gospel which the Nazarenes and Ebionites +make use of, and which I have lately translated into +Greek from the Hebrew, and which by many is called +the genuine Gospel of Matthew.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> in Matt. xii. 13.</note> And once more: +<q>The Gospel of the Hebrews, which is written in the +Syro-Chaldaic tongue, and in Hebrew characters, which +the Nazarenes make use of at this day, is also called the +Gospel of the Apostles, or, as many think, is that of +Matthew, is in the library of Caesarea.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> Contra. Pelag. iii. 1.</note> +</p> + +<p> +St. Epiphanius is even more explicit. He says that +the Nazarenes possessed the most complete Gospel of +St. Matthew,<note place='foot'>Ἔχουσι δὲ (οἱ Ναζαραῖοι) τὸ κατὰ Μαθαῖον εὐαγγέλιον πληρέστατον +ἑβραιστι.—Haer. xxix. 9.</note> as it was written at first in Hebrew;<note place='foot'>Καθῶς ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐγράφη.—<hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi></note> and +<q>they have it still in Hebrew characters; but I do not +know if they have cut off the genealogies from Abraham +to Christ.</q> <q>We may affirm as a certain fact, that +Matthew alone among the writers of the New Testament +wrote the history of the preaching of the Gospel in +Hebrew, and in Hebrew characters.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> xxx. 3.</note> This Hebrew +Gospel, he adds, was known to Cerinthus and Carpocrates. +</p> + +<p> +The subscriptions of many MSS. and versions bear +<pb n='122'/><anchor id='Pg122'/> +the same testimony. Several important Greek codices +of St. Matthew close with the statement that he wrote +in Hebrew; the Syriac and Arabic versions do the same. +The subscription of the Peschito version is, <q>Finished +is the holy Gospel of the preaching of Matthew, which +he preached in Hebrew in the land of Palestine.</q> That +of the Arabic version reads as follows: <q>Here ends the +copy of the Gospel of the apostle Matthew. He wrote +it in the land of Palestine, by the inspiration of the Holy +Spirit, in the Hebrew language, eight years after the +bodily ascension of Jesus the Messiah into heaven, and +in the first year of the Roman Emperor, Claudius Caesar.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The title of Gospel of the Hebrews was only given to +the version known to Jerome and Epiphanius, because +it was in use among the Hebrews. But amongst the +Nazarenes it was called <q>The Gospel of the Apostles,</q><note place='foot'>Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ τοὺς ἀποστόλους.</note> +or <q>The Gospel of the Twelve.</q><note place='foot'>Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ τοὺς δώδεκα. Origen calls it <q>The Gospel of the +Twelve Apostles,</q> Homil. i. in Luc. St. Jerome the same, in his Prooem. +in Comment. sup. Matt.</note> St. Jerome expressly +says that <q>the Gospel used by the Nazarenes is also +called the Gospel of the Apostles.</q><note place='foot'>Adv. Pelag. iii. 10.</note> That the same +Gospel should bear two names, one according to its reputed +authors, the other according to the community +which used it, is not surprising. +</p> + +<p> +Justin Martyr probably alludes to it under a slightly +different name, <q>The Recollections of the Apostles.</q><note place='foot'>Ἀπομνημονεύματα τῶν Ἀποστόλων.</note> +He says that these Recollections were a Gospel.<note place='foot'><q>Ἐν τοῖς γεγομένοις ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν ἀπομνημονεύμασιν, ἅ καλεῖται +Εὐαγγέλια.</q> And <q>ἐν τῷ λεγομένῳ Εὐαγγελίῳ,</q> when speaking of these +Reminiscences, Dialog. cum Tryphon. §11. Just. Mart. Opera, ed. Cologne, +p. 227.</note> He +adopted the word used by Xenophon for his recollections +of Socrates. What the Memorabilia of Xenophon were +<pb n='123'/><anchor id='Pg123'/> +concerning the martyred philosopher, that the Memorabilia +of the Apostles were concerning the martyred Redeemer. +</p> + +<p> +It is probable that this Hebrew Gospel of the Twelve +was the only one with which Justin Martyr was acquainted. +</p> + +<p> +Justin Martyr was a native of Samaria, and his +acquaintance with Christianity was probably made in +the communities of Nazarenes scattered over Syria. By +family he was a Greek, and was therefore by blood +inclined to sympathize with the Gentile rather than the +Jewish Christians. This double tendency is manifest in +his writings. He judges the Ebionites, even the narrowest +of their sectarian rings, with great tenderness; +but he proclaims that Gentiledom had yielded better +Christians than Jewdom.<note place='foot'>1 Apol. ii.</note> Justin distinguishes between +the Ebionites. There were those who in their own practice +observed the Mosaic Law, believing in Christ as the +flower and end of the Law, but without exacting the +same observance of believing Gentiles; and there were +those, who not only observed the Law themselves, but +imposed it on their Gentile converts. His sympathies +were with the former, whom he regards as the true followers +of the apostles, and not with the latter. +</p> + +<p> +Justin's conversion took place circ. A.D. 133. He is a +valuable testimony to the divisions among the Nazarenes +or Ebionites in the second century, just when Gnostic +views were infiltrating among the extreme Judaizing +section. +</p> + +<p> +Justin Martyr's Christian training took place in the +Nazarene Church, in the orthodox, milder section. He +no doubt inherited the traditional prejudice against St. +Paul, for he neither mentions him by name, nor quotes +any of his writings. That he should have omitted to +<pb n='124'/><anchor id='Pg124'/> +quote St. Paul in his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew is +not surprising; but one cannot doubt that had he seen +the Epistles of the Apostle of the Gentiles, he would +have cited them, or shown that they had influenced the +current of his thoughts in his two Apologies addressed +to Gentiles. He quotes <q>the book that is called the +Gospel</q> as if there were but one; but what Gospel was +it? It has been frequently observed that the quotations +of Justin are closer to the parallel passages in St. Matthew +than to those of the other Canonical Gospels. But +the only Gospel he names is the Gospel of the Twelve. +</p> + +<p> +Did Justin Martyr possess the Gospel of St. Matthew, +or some other? +</p> + +<p> +It is observable that he diverges from the Gospel narrative +in several particulars. It is inconceivable that +this was caused by defect of memory. Two or three +of those texts in which he differs from our Canonical +Gospels occur several times in his writings, and always +in the same form.<note place='foot'>Justin Mart. Opp. ed. Cologne; 2 Apol. p. 64; Dialog. cum Tryph. +p. 301; <hi rend='italic'>ibid.</hi> p. 253; 2 Apol. p. 64; Dial. cum Tryph. p. 326; 2 Apol. +pp. 95, 96.</note> Would it not be strange that his +memory should fail him each time, and on each of these +passages? But though his memory may have been inaccurate +in recording exact words, the differences that +have been noticed between the citations of Justin Martyr +and the Canonical Gospel of St. Matthew are not confined +to words; they extend to particulars, to facts. Verbal +differences are accountable for by lapse of memory, but +it is not so with facts. One can understand how in +quoting by memory the mode of expressing the same +facts may vary, but not that the facts themselves should +be different. If the facts cited are different, we are forced +to conclude that the citations were derived from another +source. And such is the case with Justin. +</p> + +<pb n='125'/><anchor id='Pg125'/> + +<p> +Five or six times does he say that the Magi came from +Arabia;<note place='foot'>Οἱ ἐξ Ἀραβίας μάγοι, or μάγοι ἀπὸ Ἀραβίας.—Dialog. cum Tryph. +pp. 303, 315, 328, 330, 334, &c.</note> St. Matthew says only that they came from +the East.<note place='foot'>Matt. ii. 1.</note> +</p> + +<p> +He says that our Lord was born in a cave<note place='foot'>Ἐν σπηλαίῳ τινὶ σύνεγγυς τῆς κώμης κατέλυσε.—Dialog. cum. Tryph. +pp. 303, 304.</note> near Bethlehem; +that, when he was baptized, a bright light shone +over him; and he gives words which were heard from +heaven, which are not recorded by any of the Evangelists. +</p> + +<p> +That our Lord was born in a cave is probable enough, +but where did Justin learn it? Certainly not from St. +Matthew's Gospel, which gives no particulars of the birth +of Christ at Bethlehem. St. Luke says he was born in +the stable of an inn. Justin, we are warranted in suspecting, +derived the fact of the stable being a cave from +the only Gospel with which he was acquainted, that of +the Hebrews. +</p> + +<p> +The tradition of the scene of Christ's nativity having +been a cave was peculiarly Jewish. It is found in the +Apocryphal Gospels of the Nativity and the Protevangelium, +both of which unquestionably grew up in Judaea. +That Justin should endorse this tradition leads to the +conclusion that he found it so stated in his Gospel. +</p> + +<p> +I shall speak of the light and voice at the baptism +presently. +</p> + +<p> +St. Epiphanius says that the Ebionite Gospel began +with, <q>In the days of Herod, Caiaphas being the high-priest, +there was a man whose name was John,</q> and so +on, like the 3rd chap. St. Matthew. But this was the +mutilated Gospel of the Hebrews used by the Gnostic +Ebionites, who were heretical on the doctrine of the +<pb n='126'/><anchor id='Pg126'/> +nativity of our Lord, and whom Justin Martyr speaks +of as rejecting the supernatural birth of Christ.<note place='foot'>Dial. cum Tryph. p. 291.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Among the Nazarenes, orthodox and heretical, but one +Gospel was recognized, and that the Hebrew Gospel of +the Twelve; but the Gospel in use among the Gnostic +Ebionites became more and more corrupt as they +diverged further from orthodoxy. +</p> + +<p> +But the primitive Hebrew Gospel was held <q>in high +esteem by those Jews who received the faith.</q><note place='foot'>Euseb. Hist. Eccl. iii. 25.</note> <q>It is +the Gospel,</q> says St. Jerome, <q>that the Nazarenes use +at the present day.</q><note place='foot'>Adv. Pelag. iii. 1.</note> <q>It is the Gospel of the Hebrews +that the Nazarenes read,</q> says Origen.<note place='foot'>Comm. in Ezech. xxiv. 7.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Was this Gospel of the Twelve, or of the Hebrews, +the original of St. Matthew's Canonical Greek Gospel, or +was it a separate compilation? This is a question to be +considered presently. +</p> + +<p> +The statement of the Fathers that the Gospel of St. +Matthew was first written in Hebrew, must of course +be understood to mean that it was written in Aramaic +or Palestinian Syriac. +</p> + +<p> +Now we have extant two versions of the Gospels, +St. Matthew's included, in Syriac, the Peschito and the +Philoxenian. The latter needs only a passing mention; +it was avowedly made from the Greek, A.D. 508. But +the Peschito is much more ancient. The title of +<q>Peschito</q> is an emphatic Syrian term for that which +is <q>simple,</q> <q>uncorrupt</q> and <q>true;</q> and, applied from +the beginning to this version, it strongly indicates the +veneration and confidence with which it has ever been +regarded by all the Churches of the East.<note place='foot'><q>De versione Syriacâ testatur Sionita, quod ut semper in summâ +veneratione et auctoritate habita erat apud omnes populos qui Chaldaicâ +sive Syriacâ utuntur linguâ, sic publicè in omnibus eorum ecclesiis antiquissimis, +constitutis in Syriâ, Mesopotamiâ, Chaldaeâ, Aegypto, et denique +in universis Orientis partibus dispersis ac disseminatis accepta ac lecta +fuit.</q>—Walton: London Polyglott, 1657.</note> When this +<pb n='127'/><anchor id='Pg127'/> +version was made cannot be decided by scholars. A +copy in the Laurentian Library bears so early a date as +A.D. 586; but it existed long before the translation was +made by Philoxenus in 508. The first Armenian version +from the Greek was made in 431, and the Armenians +already, at that date, had a version from the Syriac, +made by Isaac, Patriarch of Armenia, some twenty years +previously, in 410. Still further back, we find the Peschito +version quoted in the writings of St. Ephraem, +who lived not later than A.D. 370.<note place='foot'>In Matt. iii. 17; Luke i. 71; John i. 3; Col. iii. 5.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Was this Peschito version founded on the Greek +canonical text, or, in the case of St. Matthew, on the +<q>Hebrew</q> Gospel? I think there can be little question +that it was translated from the Greek. There can be no +question that the Gospels of St. Mark, St. Luke, St. John, +the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles of St. Paul, and +those of the other Epistles contained in this version,<note place='foot'>It omits the 2nd and 3rd Epistles of St. John, the Epistle of Jude, and +the Apocalypse.</note> +are from the Greek, and it is probable that the version +of St. Matthew was made at the same time from the +received text. The Syrian churches were separated from +the Nazarene community in sympathy; their acceptance +of St. Paul's Epistles is a proof that they were so; and +these Epistles were accepted by them at a very early age, +as we gather from internal evidence in the translation. +</p> + +<p> +The Syrian churches would be likely, moreover, when +seeking for copies of the Christian Scriptures, to ask for +them from churches which were regarded as orthodox, +rather than from a dwindling community which was +thought to be heretical. +</p> + +<pb n='128'/><anchor id='Pg128'/> + +<p> +The Peschito version of St. Matthew follows the +canonical Greek text, and not the Gospel of the Hebrews, +in such passages as can be compared;<note place='foot'>As in the food of the Baptist, in the narrative of the baptism, in the +mention of Zacharias, son of Barachias, in place of Zacharias, son of Jehoiada, +the instruction to Peter on fraternal forgiveness, &c. It interprets +the name Emmanuel.</note> not one +of the peculiarities of the latter find their echo in the +Peschito text. +</p> + +<p> +The Gospel of the Hebrews has not, therefore, been +preserved to us in the Peschito St. Matthew. The translations +made by St. Jerome in Greek and Latin have +also perished. It is not difficult to account for the loss +of the book. The work itself was in use only by converted +Jews; it was in the exclusive possession of the +descendants of those parties for whose use it had been +written. The Greek Gospels, on the other hand, spread +as Christianity grew. The Nazarenes themselves passed +away, and their cherished Gospel soon ceased to be +known among men. +</p> + +<p> +Some exemplars may have been preserved for a time +in public libraries, but these would not survive the +devastation to which the country was exposed from the +Saracens and other invaders, and it is not probable that +a solitary copy survives. +</p> + +<p> +But if the entire Gospel of the Hebrews has not been +preserved to us, we have got sufficiently numerous fragments, +cited by ancient ecclesiastical writers, to permit +us, to a certain extent, to judge of the tendencies and +character of that Gospel. +</p> + +<p> +It is necessary to observe, as preliminary to our quotations, +that the early Fathers cited passages from this +Gospel without the smallest prejudice against it either +historically or doctrinally. They do not seem to have +considered it apocryphal, as open to suspicion, either +<pb n='129'/><anchor id='Pg129'/> +because it contained doctrine at variance with the +Canonical Greek Gospels, or because it narrated circumstances +not found in them. On the contrary, they refer +to it as a good, trustworthy authority for the facts of our +Lord's life, and for the doctrines he taught. +</p> + +<p> +St. Ignatius, in his Epistle to the Smyrnians,<note place='foot'>Ignat. Ad. Smyrn. c. 3.</note> has inserted +in it a passage relative to the appearance of our +Lord to his apostles after his resurrection, not found in +the Canonical Gospels, and we should not know whence +he had drawn it, had not St. Jerome noticed the fact and +recorded it.<note place='foot'>Catal. Script. Eccl. 15.</note> +</p> + +<p> +St. Clement of Alexandria speaks of the Gospel of +the Hebrews in the same terms as he speaks of the +writings of St. Paul and the books of the Old Testament.<note place='foot'>Clem. Alex. Strom. ii. 9.</note> +Origen, who makes some quotations from this +Gospel, does not, it is true, range it with the Canonical +Gospels, but he speaks of it with great respect, as one +highly esteemed by many Christians of his time.<note place='foot'>Hom. xv. in Jerem.</note> +</p> + +<p> +In the fourth century, no agreement had been come to +as to the value of this Gospel. Eusebius tells us that +by some it was reckoned among the Antilegomena, that +is, among those books which floated between the Canonical +and the Apocryphal Gospels.<note place='foot'>Hist. Eccl. iii. 25. Some of those books of the New Testament now +regarded as Canonical were also then reckoned among the Antilegomena.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The Gospel of St. Matthew and the Gospel of the +Hebrews were not identical. It is impossible to doubt +this when we examine the passages of the latter quoted +by ecclesiastical writers, the majority of which are not +to be found in the former, and the rest differ from the +Canonical Gospel, either in details or in the construction +of the passages which correspond. +</p> + +<p> +Did the difference extend further? This is a question +<pb n='130'/><anchor id='Pg130'/> +it is impossible to answer positively in one way or +the other, since we only know those passages of the +Gospel of the Nazarenes which have been quoted by the +early Fathers.<note place='foot'>Ἄρτι ἔλαβε μέ ἡ μήτηρ μοῦ τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα, ἐν μιᾷ τῶν τριχῶν +μοῦ, καὶ ἀνήνενκε μὲ εἰς τὸ ὅρος τὸ μέγα Θαβὼρ.—Origen: Hom. xv. in +Jerem., and in Johan.</note> +</p> + +<p> +But it is probable that the two Gospels did not differ +from each other except in these passages; for if the +divergence was greater, one cannot understand how +St. Jerome, who had both under his eyes, could have +supposed one to have been the Hebrew original of the +other. And if both resembled each other closely, it is +easy to suppose that the ecclesiastical writers who quoted +from the Nazarene Gospel, quoted only those passages +which were peculiar to it. +</p> + +<p> +Let us now examine the principal fragments of this +Gospel that have been preserved. +</p> + +<p> +There are some twenty in all, and of these only two +are in opposition to the general tone of the first Canonical +Gospel. +</p> + +<p> +With one of these I shall begin the series of extracts. +</p> + +<p> +<q><hi rend='italic'>And straitway</hi>,</q> said Jesus, <q><hi rend='italic'>the Holy Spirit [my +mother] took me, and bore me away to the great mountain +called Thabor</hi>.</q><note place='foot'>Ἄρτι ἔλαβε μέ ἡ μήτηρ μοῦ τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα, ἐν μιᾷ τῶν τριχῶν +μοῦ, καὶ ἀνήνενκε μὲ εἰς τὸ ὅρος τὸ μέγα Θαβὼρ.—Origen: Hom. xv. in +Jerem., and in Johan.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Origen twice quotes this passage, once in a fuller +form. <q>(She) <hi rend='italic'>bore me by one of my hairs to the great +mountain called Thabor</hi>.</q> The passage is also quoted +by St. Jerome.<note place='foot'><q>Modo tulit me mater mea Spiritus Sanctus in uno capillorum +meorum.</q>—Hieron. in Mich. vii. 6.</note> Origen and Jerome take pains to give +this passage an orthodox and unexceptionable meaning. +Instead of rejecting the passage as apocryphal, they +labour to explain it away—a proof of the high estimation +in which the Gospel of the Twelve was held. The +<pb n='131'/><anchor id='Pg131'/> +words, <q>my mother,</q> are, it can scarcely be doubted, a +Gnostic interpolation, as probably are also the words, +<q>by one of my hairs;</q> for on one of the occasions on +which Origen quotes the passage, these words are omitted. +Probably they did not exist in all the copies of the +Gospel. +</p> + +<p> +Our Lord was <q>led by the Spirit into the wilderness</q> +after his baptism.<note place='foot'>Matt. iv. 1.</note> Philip was caught away by the +Spirit of the Lord from the road between Jerusalem and +Gaza, and was found at Azotus.<note place='foot'>Acts viii. 39.</note> The notion of transportation +by the Spirit was therefore not foreign to the +authors of the Gospels. +</p> + +<p> +The Holy Spirit was represented by the Elkesaites as +a female principle.<note place='foot'>Τὴν δε θήλειαν καλεῖσθαι ἅγιον πνεῦμα.—Hippolyt. Refut. ix. 13, +ed. Dunker, p. 462. So also St. Epiphanius, εἶναι δὲ καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα +θηλεῖαν.—Haeres. xix. 4, liii. 1.</note> The Elkesaites were certainly one +with the Ebionites in their hostility to St. Paul, whose +Epistles, as Origen tells us, they rejected.<note place='foot'>Ap. Euseb. Hist. Eccles. vi. 38.</note> And that +they were a Jewish sect which had relations with Ebionitism +appears from a story told by St. Epiphanius, that +their supposed founder, Elxai, went over to the Ebionites +in the time of Trajan.<note place='foot'>Haeres. xix. 1, xxx. 17.</note> They issued from the same +fruitful field of converts, the Essenes. +</p> + +<p> +The term by which the Holy Spirit is designated in +Hebrew is feminine, and lent itself to a theory of the +Holy Spirit being a female principle, and this rapidly +slid into identification of the Spirit with Mary. +</p> + +<p> +The Clementines insist on the universe being compounded +of the male and the female elements. There +are two sorts of prophecy, the male which speaks of the +world to come, the female which deals with the world +that is; the female principle rules this world, the body, +<pb n='132'/><anchor id='Pg132'/> +all that is visible and material. Beside this female principle +stands Christ, the male principle, ruling the spirits +of men, and all that is invisible and immaterial.<note place='foot'>Homilies, iii. 20-27.</note> The +Holy Spirit, brooding over the deep and calling the world +into being, became therefore the female principle in the +Elkesaite Trinity. +</p> + +<p> +In Gnosticism, this deification of the female principle, +which was represented as Prounikos or Sophia among +the Valentinians, led to the incarnation of the principle +in women who accompanied the heresiarchs Simon and +Apelles. Thus the Eternal Wisdom was incarnate in +Helena, who accompanied Dositheus and afterwards +Simon Magus,<note place='foot'>In the <q>Refutation of Heresies</q> attributed by the Chevalier Bunsen +and others to St. Hippolytus, Helena is said in Simonian Gnosticism to +have been the <q>lost sheep</q> of the Gospels, the incarnation of the world +principle—found, recovered, redeemed, by Simon, the incarnation of the +divine male principle.</note> and in the fair Philoumena who associated +with Apelles. +</p> + +<p> +The same influence seems imperceptibly to have been +at work in the Church of the Middle Ages, and in the +pictures and sculptures of the coronation of the Virgin. +Mary seems in Catholic art to have assumed a position +as one of the Trinity. +</p> + +<p> +In the original Gospel of the Hebrews, the passage +probably stood thus: <q>And straightway the Holy Spirit +took me, and bore me to the great mountain Thabor;</q> +and Origen and Jerome quoted from a text corrupted by +the Gnostic Ebionites. The words <q>bore me by one of +my hairs</q> were added to assimilate the translation to +that of Habbacuc by the angel, in the apocryphal addition +to the Book of Daniel. +</p> + +<p> +We next come to a passage found in the Stromata of +Clement of Alexandria, who compares it with a sentence +<pb n='133'/><anchor id='Pg133'/> +from the Theaetetus of Plato: <q><hi rend='italic'>He who wondereth shall +reign, and he who reigneth shall rest.</hi></q><note place='foot'>Ὁ θαυμάσας βασιλεύσει, γεγράπται, καὶ ὁ βασιλεύσας ἀναπαύσεται. +Clem. Alex. Stromata, i. 9.</note> +</p> + +<p> +This, like the preceding quotation, has a Gnostic hue; +but it is impossible to determine its sense in the absence +of the context. Nor does the passage in the Theaetetus +throw any light upon it. The whole of the passage in +St. Clement is this: <q>The beginning of (or search after) +truth is admiration,</q> says Plato. <q>And Matthias, in +saying to us in his Traditions, Wonder at what is before +you, proves that admiration is the first step leading upwards +to knowledge. Therefore also it is written in the +Gospel of the Hebrews, He who shall wonder shall reign, +and he who reigns shall rest.</q> +</p> + +<p> +What were these Traditions of Matthias? In another +place St. Clement of Alexandria mentions them, and +quotes a passage from them, an instruction of St. Matthias: +<q>If he who is neighbour to one of the elect sins, +the elect sins with him; for if he (the elect) had +conducted himself as the Word requires, then his neighbour +would have looked to his ways, and not have sinned.</q><note place='foot'>Strom. lib. vii. This was exaggerated in the doctrine of the Albigenses +in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The <q>Perfects,</q> the ministers +of the sect, <q>reconciled</q> the converted. But if one of the Perfect +sinned (<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> ate meat or married), all whom he had reconciled fell with him +from grace, even those who were dead and in heaven.</note> +And, again, he says that the followers of Carpocrates +appealed to the authority of St. Matthias—probably, +therefore, to this book, his Traditions—as an excuse for +giving rein to their lusts. +</p> + +<p> +These Traditions of St. Matthias evidently contained +another version of the same passage, or perhaps a portion +of the same discourse attributed to our Lord, which ran +somehow thus: <q><hi rend='italic'>Wonder at, what is before your eyes</hi> +<pb n='134'/><anchor id='Pg134'/> +(<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> the mighty works that I do); <hi rend='italic'>for he that wondereth +shall reign, and he that reigneth shall rest</hi>.</q> +</p> + +<p> +It is not impossible that this may be a genuine reminiscence +of part of our Lord's teaching. +</p> + +<p> +Justin Martyr, in his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, +says that Jesus exercised the trade of a carpenter, and +that he made carts, yokes, and like articles.<note place='foot'>Dial. cum Tryph. § 88.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Where did he learn this? Not from St. Matthew's +Gospel; probably from the lost Gospel which he quotes. +</p> + +<p> +St. Jerome quotes as a saying of our Lord, <q><hi rend='italic'>Be ye +proved money-changers.</hi></q><note place='foot'><q>Sicut illud apostoli libenter audire: Omnia probate; quod bonum est +tenete; et Salvatoris verba dicentis: Esto probati nummularii.</q>—Epist. +ad Minervium et Alexandrum.</note> He has no hesitation in calling +it a saying of the Saviour. It occurs again in the Clementine +Homilies<note place='foot'>Homil. ii. 51, iii. 50, xviii. 20. Γίνεσθε τραπεζίται δόκιμοι.</note> and in the Recognitions.<note place='foot'>Recog. ii. 51.</note> It is +cited much more fully by St. Clement of Alexandria in +his Stromata: <q><hi rend='italic'>Be ye proved money-changers; retain that +which is good metal, reject that which is bad.</hi></q><note place='foot'>Stromat. i. 28.</note> Neither +St. Jerome, St. Clement of Alexandria, nor the author +of the Clementines, give their authority for the statement +they make, that this is a saying of the Lord; but we +may, I think, fairly conclude that St. Jerome drew it +from the Hebrew Gospel he knew so well, having translated +it into Greek and Latin, and which he looked upon +as an unexceptionable authority. +</p> + +<p> +Whence the passage came may be guessed by the use +made of it by those who quote it. It probably followed +our Lord's saying, <q>I am not come to destroy the Law, +but to fulfil it.</q> <q>Nevertheless, be ye proved exchangers; +retain that which is good metal, reject that which is +bad.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='135'/><anchor id='Pg135'/> + +<p> +Another passage is not given to us verbatim by St. +Jerome; he merely alludes to it in one of his Commentaries, +saying that Jesus had declared him guilty of a +grievous crime who saddened the spirit of his brother.<note place='foot'><q>Inter maxima ponitur crimina qui fratris sui spiritum contristaverit.</q> +St. Hieron. Comm. in Ezech. xvi. 7.</note> It +probably occurred in the portion of the Gospel of the +Hebrews corresponding with the 18th chapter of St. Matthew, +and may be restored somewhat as follows: <q>Woe +unto the world because of offences! for it must needs +be that offences come; <hi rend='italic'>but woe to that man by whom the +offence cometh, and the soul of his brother be made sore</hi>. +Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee,</q> &c. +</p> + +<p> +Another passage is in perfect harmony with the teaching +of our Lord, and, like that given last, may very +possibly have formed part of his teaching. It is also +given by St. Jerome, and therefore in Latin: <q><hi rend='italic'>Be never +glad unless ye are in charity with your brother</hi>.</q><note place='foot'><q>Nunquam læti sitis nisi cum fratrem vestrum videritis in charitate.</q></note> +</p> + +<p> +St. Jerome, in his treatise against Pelagius, quotes +from the Gospel of the Hebrews the following passage: +<q><hi rend='italic'>If thy brother has sinned in word against thee, and has +made satisfaction, forgive him unto seven times a day. +Simon, his disciple, said unto him, Until seven times! +The Lord answered, saying, Verily I say unto thee, until +seventy times seven</hi>;</q> and then probably, <q><hi rend='italic'>for I say +unto thee, Be never glad till thou art in charity with thy +brother</hi>.</q><note place='foot'><q>Si peccaverit frater tuus in verbo, et satis tibi fecerit, septies in die +suscipe eum. Dixit illi Simon discipulus ejus: Septies in die? Respondit +Dominus et dixit ei: Etiam ego dico tibi, usque septuagies septies.</q>—Adv. +Pelag. i. 3.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The Gospel of the Nazarenes supplied details not +found in that of St. Matthew. It related of the man +with the withered hand, healed by our Lord,<note place='foot'>Matt. xxvii. 16.</note> that he +<pb n='136'/><anchor id='Pg136'/> +was a mason,<note place='foot'><q>Homo iste qui aridam habet manum in Evangelio quo utuntur +Nazaraei caementarius scribitur.</q>—Hieron. Comm. in Matt. xii. 13.</note> and gave the words of the appeal made to +Jesus by the man invoking his compassion: <q><hi rend='italic'>I was a +mason, working for my bread with my hands. I pray +thee, Jesus, restore me to soundness, that I eat not my bread +in disgrace.</hi></q><note place='foot'><q>Homo iste ... scribitur istius modi auxilium precans, Caementarius +eram, manibus victum quaeritans; precor te, Jesu, ut mihi restituas sanitatem, +ne turpiter manducem cibos.</q>—<hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi></note> +</p> + +<p> +It relates, what is found in St. Mark and St. Luke, +but not in St. Matthew, that Barabbas was cast into +prison for sedition and murder;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> xxvii. 16.</note> and it gives the interpretation +of the name, <q>Son of a Rabbi.</q><note place='foot'><q>Filius Magistri eorum interpretatus.</q>—<hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi></note> These particulars +may be correct; there is no reason to doubt them. +The interpretation of the name may be only a gloss which +found its way into the text. +</p> + +<p> +Eusebius says that Papias <q>gives a history of a woman +who had been accused of many sins before the Lord, +which is also contained in the Gospel according to the +Hebrews.</q><note place='foot'>Hist. Eccl. iii. 39.</note> Of this we know nothing further, for the +text is not quoted by any ancient writers; but probably +it was the same story as that of the woman taken in +adultery related in St. John's Gospel.<note place='foot'>viii. 3-11.</note> But then, why +did not Eusebius say that Papias gave <q>the history of +the woman accused of adultery, which is also related in +the Gospel of St. John</q>? Why does he speak of that +story as being found in a Gospel written in the Syro-Chaldaean +tongue, with which he himself was unacquainted,<note place='foot'>He probably knew it through a translation.</note> +when the same story was in the well-known +Canonical Greek Gospel of St. John? The conclusion +one must arrive at is, either that the stories were sufficiently +<pb n='137'/><anchor id='Pg137'/> +differently related for him not to recognize them +as the same, or that the incident in St. John's Gospel is +an excerpt from the Gospel of the Hebrews, or rather +from a translation of it, grafted into the text of the +Canonical Gospel. The latter opinion is favoured by +some critics, who think that the story of the woman +taken in adultery did not belong to the original text, +but was inserted in it in the fourth or fifth century. +</p> + +<p> +Those passages of the Gospel of the Nazarenes which +most resemble passages in the Gospel of St. Matthew +are not, however, identical with them; some differ only +in the wording, but others by the form in which they +are given. +</p> + +<p> +And the remarkable peculiarity about them is, that +the lessons in the Gospel of the Hebrews seem preferable +to those in the Canonical Gospel. This was apparently +the opinion of St. Jerome. +</p> + +<p> +In chap. vi. ver. 11 of St. Matthew's Gospel, we have +the article of the Lord's Prayer, <q>Give us this day our +daily bread.</q> The words used in the Greek of St. Matthew +are, τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον. The word ἐπιούσιος +is one met with nowhere else, and is peculiar. The +word οὐσία means originally that which is essential, and +belongs to the true nature or property of things. In +Stoic philosophy it had the same significance as ὕλη, +matter; ἐπιούσιον ἄρτον would therefore seem most justly +to be rendered by <emph>supersubstantial</emph>, the word employed +by St. Jerome. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Give us this day our supernatural bread.</q> But in +the Gospel of the Nazarenes, according to St. Jerome, +the Syro-Chaldaic word for ἐπιούσιον was מחד, which +signifies <q>to-morrow's,</q> that is, our <q>future,</q> or <q>daily</q> +bread. <q><hi rend='italic'>Give us this day the bread for the morrow</hi>,</q><note place='foot'>Comm. in Matt. i. 6.</note> certainly +was synonymous with, <q>Give us this day our +<pb n='138'/><anchor id='Pg138'/> +daily bread.</q> It is curious that the Protestant Reformers, +shrinking from translating the word ἐπιούσιον according +to its apparently legitimate rendering, lest they should +give colour to the Catholic idea of the daily bread of +the Christian soul being the Eucharist, should have +adopted a rendering more in accordance with an Apocryphal +than with a Canonical Gospel. +</p> + +<p> +In St. Matthew, xxiii. 35, Jesus reproaches the Jews +for their treatment of the prophets, and declares them +responsible for all the blood shed upon the earth, <q>from +the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, +son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the Temple and +the altar.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Now the Zacharias to whom our Lord referred was +Zechariah, son of Jehoiada, and not of Barachias, who +was stoned <q>in the court of the house of the Lord</q> by +order of Joash.<note place='foot'>2 Chron. xxiv. 20.</note> Zacharias, son of Barachias, was not +killed till long after the death of our Lord. He was +massacred by the zealots inside the Temple, shortly +before the siege, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> about A.D. 69. +</p> + +<p> +Either, then, the Greek Gospel of St. Matthew was +not written till after the siege of Jerusalem, and so this +anachronism passed into it, or the error is due to a +copyist, who, having heard of the murder of Zacharias, +son of Barachias, but who knew nothing of the Zacharias +mentioned in Chronicles, corrected the Jehoiada of the +original into Barachias, thinking that thereby he was +rectifying a mistake. +</p> + +<p> +Now in the Gospel of the Nazarenes the name stood +correctly, and the passage read, <q><hi rend='italic'>from the blood of +righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, the son of +Jehoiada</hi>.</q><note place='foot'><q>In Evangelis quo utuntur Nazareni, pro filio Barachiae, filium Jojadae +reperimus scriptum.</q>—Hieron. in Matt. xxiii. 35.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='139'/><anchor id='Pg139'/> + +<p> +In both these last quoted passages, the preference is +to be given to the Nazarene Gospel, and probably also +in that relating to forgiveness of a brother. The lost +Gospel in that passage requires the brother to make +satisfaction. It is no doubt the higher course to forgive +a brother, whether he repent or not, seventy times seven +times in the day; but it may almost certainly be concluded +that our Lord meant that the forgiveness should be +conditional on his repentance, for in St. Luke's Gospel +the repentance of the trespassing brother is distinctly +required. <q>If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke +him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass +against thee seven times a day, and seven times in a +day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive +him.</q><note place='foot'>Luke xvii. 3, 4.</note> In St. Luke this is addressed to all the +disciples; in St. Matthew, to Peter alone; but there +can be little doubt that both passages refer to the same +instruction, and that the fuller accounts in St. Luke and +the Gospel of the Hebrews are the more correct. There +may be less elevation in the precept, subject to the two +restrictions, first, that the offence should be a verbal +one, and secondly, that it should be apologized for; but +it brings it more within compass of being practised. +</p> + +<p> +We come next to a much longer fragment, which shall +be placed parallel with the passage with which it corresponds +in St. Matthew. +</p> + +<table rend="latexcolumns: 'p{3.5cm} p{3.5cm}'; tblcolumns: 'lw(30) lw(30)'"> +<row><cell>THE GOSPEL OF THE HEBREWS.</cell><cell>ST. MATTHEW xix. 16-24</cell></row> +<row><cell><q><hi rend='italic'>Another rich man said +unto him: Master, what good +thing shall I do that I may +live? He said unto him: O +man, fulfil the Laws and the +Prophets. And he answered +him, I have done so. Then +said he unto him, Go, sell all +that thou hast, and give to the +poor, and come, follow me. +Then the rich man began +to smite his head, and it +pleased him not. And the +Lord said unto him, How +sayest thou, I have fulfilled +the Law and the Prophets, +when it is written in the Law +Thou shalt love thy neighbour +as thyself; and lo! many of +thy brethren, sons of Abraham, +are covered with filth, +and dying of hunger, and +thy house is full of many good +things, and nothing therefrom +goeth forth at any time unto +them. +And turning himself about, +he said unto Simon, his disciple, +sitting near him, Simon, +son of Jonas, it is easier for +a camel to go through the eye +of a needle, than for a rich +man to enter into the kingdom, +of heaven</hi>.</q><note place='foot'><q>Dixit ad eum alter divitum: Magister, quid bonum faciens vivam? +Dixit ei: Homo, leges et prophetas fac. Respondit ad eum: Feci. +Dixit ei: Vade, vende omnia quae possides et divide pauperibus, et veni, +sequere me. Caepit autem dives scalpere caput suum et non placuit ei. +Et dixit ad eum Dominus: Quomodo dicis: Legem feci et prophetas, +quoniam scriptum est in lege: Dilige proximum tuum sicut teipsum, et +ecce multi fratres tui filii Abrahae amicti sunt stercore, morientes prae fame, +et domus tua plena est multis bonis et non egreditur omnino aliquid ex ea +ad eos. Et conversus dixit Simoni discipulo suo sedenti apud se: Simon +fili Joannae, facilius eat camelum intrare per foramen acus quam divitem +in regnum coelorum.</q>—Origen, Tract. viii. in Matt. xix. 19. The Greek +text has been lost.</note></cell> +<cell> +<q>And, behold, one came +and said unto him, Good +Master, what good thing shall +I do, that I may have eternal +life? +And he said unto him, +Why callest thous me good? +there is none good but one, +that is, God: but if thou wilt +enter into life, keep the commandments. +He saith unto him, Which? +Jesus said, Thou shalt do no +murder, Thou shalt not commit +adultery, Thou shalt not +steal, Thou shalt not bear +false witness. +Honour thy father and +thy mother: and, Thou shalt +love thy neighbor as thyself. +The young man saith unto +him, All these things have +I kept from my youth up; +what lack I yet? +Jesus said unto him, If +thou wilt be perfect, go and +sell that thou hast, and give +to the poor, and thou shalt +have treasure in heave: and +come and follow me. +But when the young man +heard that saying, he went +away sorrowful: for he had +great possessions. +Then said Jesus unto his +disciples, Verily I say unto +you, That a rich man shall +hardly enter into the kingdom +of heaven. +And again I say unto +you, It is easier for a camel +to go through the eye of a +needle, than for a rich man +to enter into the kingdom of +God.</q></cell></row> +</table> + +<pb n='141'/><anchor id='Pg141'/> + +<p> +The comparison of these two accounts is not favourable +to that in the Canonical Gospel. It is difficult to +understand how a Jew could have asked, as did the rich +young man, what commandments he ought to keep in +order that he might enter into life. The Decalogue was +known by heart by every Jew. Moreover, the narrative +in the lost Gospel is more connected than in the +Canonical Gospel. The reproach made by our Lord is +admirably calculated to bring home to the rich man's +conscience the truth, that, though professing to observe +the letter of the Law, he was far from practising +its spirit; and this leads up quite naturally to the declaration +of the difficulty of a rich man obtaining salvation, +or rather to our Lord's repeating a proverb probably +common at the time in the East.<note place='foot'>It is found in the Talmud, Beracoth, fol. 55, <hi rend='italic'>b</hi>; Baba Metsia, fol. +38, <hi rend='italic'>b</hi>; and it occurs in the Koran, Sura vii. 38.</note> +</p> + +<p> +And lastly, in the proverb addressed aside to Peter, +instead of to the rich young man, that air of harshness +which our Lord's words bear in the Canonical Gospel, +as spoken to the young man in his sorrow, entirely disappears. +<pb n='142'/><anchor id='Pg142'/> +The proverb is uttered, not in stern rebuke, +but as the expression of sad disappointment, when the +rich man has retired. +</p> + +<p> +Another fragment from the Gospel of the Hebrews +relates to the baptism of our Lord. +</p> + +<p> +The Gospel of St. Matthew gives no explanation of +the occasion, the motive, of Jesus coming to Jordan to +the baptism of John. It says simply, <q>Then cometh +Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized +of him.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. iii. 13.</note> But the Nazarene Gospel is more explicit. +</p> + +<p> +<q><hi rend='italic'>Behold, his mother and his brethren said unto him, +John the Baptist baptizeth for the remission of sins; let +us go and be baptized of him. But he said unto them, +What sin have I committed, that I should be baptized of +him, unless it be that in saying this I am in ignorance?</hi></q><note place='foot'><q>In Evangelio juxta Hebraeos ... narrat historia: Ecce, mater +Domini et fratres ejus dicebant ei, Joannes Baptista baptizat in remissionem +peccatorum, eamus et baptizemur ab eo. Dixit autem eis; quid +peccavi, ut vadam et baptizer ab eo? Nisi forte hoc ipsum, quod dixi, +ignorantia est.</q>—Cont. Pelag. iii. 2.</note> +</p> + +<p> +This is a very singular passage. We do not know +the context, but we may presume that our Lord yields +to the persuasion of his mother. Such is the tradition +preserved in another apocryphal work, the <q>Preaching +of St. Paul,</q> issuing from an entirely different source, +from a school hostile to the Nazarenes.<note place='foot'><q>Ad accipiendum Joannis baptisma paene invitum a Matre sua Maria +esse compulsum.</q>—In a treatise on the re-baptism of heretics, published +by Rigault at the end of his edition of St. Cyprian.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Another fragment continues the account after a gap. +</p> + +<p> +<q><hi rend='italic'>And when the Lord went up out of the water, the whole +fountain of the Holy Spirit descended and rested upon +him, and said unto him, My Son, I looked for thee in all +the prophets, that thou mightest come, and that I might +<pb n='143'/><anchor id='Pg143'/> +rest upon thee. For thou art my rest, thou art my first-begotten +Son, who shalt reign throughout eternity.</hi></q><note place='foot'><q>Factum est autem cum ascendisset Dominus de aqua, descendit fons +omnis Spiritus Sancti, et requievit super eum et dixit illi, Fili mi, in +omnibus prophetis expectabam te, ut venires et requiescerem in te. Tu +es enim requies mea, tu es filius meus primogenitus, qui regnas in sempiternum.</q>—In +Mich. vii. 6.</note> +</p> + +<p> +But this is not the only version we have of the narrative +in the Gospel of the Hebrews. St. Epiphanius +gives us another, which shall be placed parallel with +the corresponding account in St. Matthew. +</p> + +<table rend="latexcolumns: 'p{3.5cm} p{3.5cm}'; tblcolumns: 'lw(30) lw(30)'"> +<row><cell>GOSPEL OF THE HEBREWS.</cell><cell>ST. MATTHEW iii 13-17.</cell></row> +<row><cell><q><hi rend='italic'>The people having been +baptized, Jesus came also, and +was baptized by John. And +as he came out of the water, +the heavens opened, and he +saw the Holy Spirit of God +descending under the form of +a dove, and entering into him. +And a voice was heard from +heaven, Thou art my beloved +Son, and in thee am I well +pleased. And again, This +day have I begotten thee. And +suddenly there shone a great +light in that place. And John +seeing it, said, Who art thou, +Lord? Then a voice was +heard from heaven, This is +my beloved Son, in whom I +am well pleased. Thereat +John fell at his feet and said, +I pray thee, Lord, baptize me. +But, he would not, saying, +Suffer it, for so it behoveth +that all should be accomplished.</hi></q><note place='foot'>St. Epiph. Haeres. xxx. § 13. Τοῦ λαοῦ βαπτισθέντοσ, ἦλθε καὶ +Ἰησοῦς καὶ ἐβαπτίσθη ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰωάννου. Καί ὡς ἀνῆλθεν ἀπὸ τοῦ +ὕδατος, ἠνοίχησαν οἱ οὐρανοὶ, καὶ εἴδε τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸ ἅγιον +εἶδει ἐν περιστερὰς κατελθούσης καὶ εἰσελθούσης εἰς αὐτόν. Καὶ φωνὴ +ἐγένετο ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, λέγουσα: Σύ μου εἴ ὁ ἀγαπητὸς, ἔν σοὶ +ηὐδόκησα. Καὶ πάλιν; Ἐγω σήμερον γεγέννηκα σε. Καὶ εὐθὺς περιέλαμψε +τὸν τόπον φῶς μέγα. Ὂ ἰδὼν ὁ Ἰωάννης λέγει αὐτῷ: Σύ τίς εἵ, +κύριε? Καὶ πάλιν φωνὴ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ πρὸς αὐτόν: Οὗτος ἐστιν ὁ υἱός μου +ὁ ἀγαπητὸς, ἐφ᾽ ὂν ηὐδόκησα. Καὶ τότε ὁ Ἰωάννης προσπεσὼν αὐτῷ +ἔλεγε: Δέομαι σου, κύριε, σύ με βάπτισον. Ὁ δὲ ἐκώλυεν αὐτῷ, λέγων: +Ἄφες, ὅτι οὔτως ἐστι πρέπον πληρωθῆναι πάντα.</note></cell> +<cell><q>Then cometh Jesus from +Galilee to Jordan unto John, +to be baptized of him. +But John forbad him +saying, I have need to be +baptized of thee, and cometh +thou to me? +And Jesus answering, +said unto him, Suffer it to be +so now: for thus it becometh +us to fulfill all righteousness. +Then he suffered him. +And Jesus, when he was +baptized, went up straightway +out of the water: and, lo, the +heavens were opened unto +him, and he saw the Spirit of +God descending like a dove, +and lighting upon him: +And lo a voice from +heaven, saying, This is my +beloved Son, in whom I am +well pleased.</q></cell></row> +</table> + +<pb n='144'/><anchor id='Pg144'/> + +<p> +That the Gospel stood as in this latter passage quoted +in the second century among the orthodox Christians +of Palestine is probable, because with it agrees the brief +citation of Justin Martyr, who says that when our Lord +was baptized, there shone a great light around, and a +voice was heard from heaven, saying, <q>Thou art my +Son, this day have I begotten thee.</q> Both occur in the +Ebionite Gospel; neither in the Canonical Gospel.<note place='foot'><p>I put them in apposition: +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Justin.</hi> Καὶ πῦρ ανήφθη ἐν τῷ Ἰορδάνῃ.—Dial. cum Tryph. § 88. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Epiphan.</hi> Καὶ εὐθὺς περιέλαμψε τὸν τόπον φῶς μέγα.—Haeres. +xxx. § 13. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Justin.</hi> Υἱος μου εἴ συ; ἐγὼ σήμερον γεγέννηκα σε.—Dial. cum +Tryph. § 88 and 103. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Epiphan.</hi> Ἐγω σήμερον γεγέννηκα σε.—Haeres. xxx. § 13. +</p></note> +</p> + +<p> +This Gospel was certainly known to the writer of the +Canonical Epistle to the Hebrews, for he twice takes +this statement as authoritative. <q>For unto which of +the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this +day, have I begotten thee?</q> and more remarkably, +<q>Christ glorified not himself to be made an high-priest; +but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to-day +have I begotten thee.</q><note place='foot'>Heb. i. 5, v. 5.</note> In the latter passage the +<pb n='145'/><anchor id='Pg145'/> +author is speaking of the calling of priests being miraculous +and manifest; and then he cites this call of +Christ to the priesthood as answering these requirements. +</p> + +<p> +The order of events is not the same in the Gospel of +Twelve and in that of St. Matthew: verses 14 and +15 of the latter, modified in an important point, come +in the Ebionite Gospel after verses 16 and 17. +</p> + +<p> +There is a serious discrepancy between the account of +the baptism of our Lord in St. Matthew and in St. John. +In the former Canonical Gospel, the Baptist forbids +Christ to be baptized by him, saying, <q>I have need to +be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?</q> But +Jesus bids him: <q>Suffer it to be so now, for thus it +becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.</q> Then Jesus is +baptized, and the heavens are opened. But in St. John's +Gospel, the Baptist says, <q>I knew him not: but he that +sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, +Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and +remaining upon him, the same is he which baptizeth +with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record, that +this is the Son of God.</q><note place='foot'>John i. 29-34.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Now the account in the Gospel of the Twelve removes +this discrepancy. John does not know Jesus till after +the light and the descent of the dove and the voice, and +then he asks to be baptized by Jesus. +</p> + +<p> +It is apparent that the passage in the lost Gospel is +more correct than that in the Canonical one. In the +latter there has been an inversion of verses destroying +the succession of events, and thus producing discrepancy +with the account in St. John's Gospel. +</p> + +<p> +With these passages from the Gospel of the Twelve +may be compared a curious one from the Testament of +the Twelve Patriarchs. It occurs in the Testament of +<pb n='146'/><anchor id='Pg146'/> +Levi, and is a prophecy of the Messiah. <q>The heavens +shall open for thee, and from above the temple of glory +the voice of the Father shall dispense sanctification upon +him, as has been promised unto Abraham, the father of +Isaac.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The passage quoted by St. Epiphanius is wholly unobjectionable +doctrinally. It is not so with that quoted +by St. Jerome; it is of a very different character. It +exhibits strongly the Gnostic ideas which infected the +stricter sect of the Ebionites. +</p> + +<p> +It was precisely on the baptism of the Lord that they +laid the greatest stress; and it is in the account of that +event that we should expect to find the greatest divergence +between the texts employed by the orthodox and +the heretical Nazarenes. Before his baptism he was +nothing. It was then only that the <q>full fount of the +Holy Ghost</q> descended on him, his election to the +Messiahship was revealed, and divine power was communicated +to him to execute the mission entrusted to +him. A marked distinction was drawn between two +portions in the life of Jesus—before and after his baptism. +In the first they acknowledged nothing but the +mere human nature, to the entire exclusion of everything +supernatural; while the sudden accruing of supernatural +aid at the baptism marked the moment when he +became the Messiah. Thus the baptism was the beginning +of their Gospel. +</p> + +<p> +Before that, he is liable to sin, he suggests that his +believing himself to be free from sin may have precipitated +him into sin, the sin of ignorance. And <q><hi rend='italic'>even in +the prophets, after they had received the unction of the +Holy Ghost, there was found sinful speech</hi>.</q><note place='foot'><q>Etiam in prophetis quoque, postquam uncti sunt Spiritu sancto, inventus +est sermo peccati.</q>—Contr. Pelag. iii. 2.</note> This quotation +follows, in St. Jerome, immediately after the saying +<pb n='147'/><anchor id='Pg147'/> +cited above enjoining forgiveness, but it in no way +dovetails into it; the passage concerning the recommendation +by St. Mary and the brethren that they should +go up to be baptized of John for the remission of sins, +comes in the same chapter, and there can be little doubt +that this reference to the prophets as sinful formed part +of the answer of the Virgin to Jesus when he spoke of +his being sinless. +</p> + +<p> +St. Jerome obtained his copy of the Gospel of the +Hebrews from Beraea in Syria, and not therefore from +the purest source. Had he copied and translated the +codex he found in the library of Pamphilus at Caesarea, +instead of that he procured from Beraea, it is probable +that he would have found it not to contain the passages +of Gnostic tendency. +</p> + +<p> +These interpolations were made in the second century, +when Gnostic ideas had begun to affect the +Ebionites, and break them up into more or less heretical +sects. +</p> + +<p> +Their copies of the Gospel of the Hebrews differed, +for the Gnostic Ebionites curtailed it in some places, +and amplified it in others. +</p> + +<p> +In reconstructing the primitive lost Gospel of the +Nazarenes, it is very necessary to note these Gnostic +passages, and to withdraw them from the text. We +shall come to some more of their additions and alterations +presently. It is sufficient for us to note here that +the heretical Gospel in use among the Gnostic Ebionites +was based on the orthodox Gospel of the Hebrews. The +existence of these two versions explains the very different +treatment their Gospel meets with at the hands of +the Fathers of the Church. Some, and these the earliest, +speak of this Gospel with reverence, and place it almost +on a line with the Canonical Gospels; others speak of +<pb n='148'/><anchor id='Pg148'/> +it with horror, as an heretical corruption of the Gospel +of St. Matthew. The former saw the primitive text, the +latter the curtailed and amplified version in use among +the heretical Ebionites. +</p> + +<p> +St. Paul, in his first Epistle to the Corinthians, alludes +to one of the appearances of our Lord after his resurrection, +of which no mention is made in the Canonical +Gospels: <q>After that, he was seen of James.</q><note place='foot'>1 Cor. xv. 7.</note> But +according to his account, this appearance took place +after several other manifestations, viz. after that to +Cephas, that to the Twelve, and that to five hundred +brethren at once. But it preceded another appearance +to <q>all the apostles.</q> If we take the first and second to +have occurred on Easter-day, and the last to have been +the appearance to them again <q>after eight days,</q> when +St. Thomas was present, then the appearance to St. +James must have taken place between the <q>even</q> of +Easter-day and Low Sunday. +</p> + +<p> +Now the Gospel of the Hebrews gives a particular +account of this visit to James, which however, according +to this account, took place early on Easter-day, certainly +before Christ stood in the midst of the apostles in the +upper room on Easter-evening. +</p> + +<p> +St. Jerome says, <q>The Gospel according to the Hebrews +relates that after the resurrection of the Saviour, +<q><hi rend='italic'>The Lord, after he had given the napkin to the servant +of the priest, went to James, and appeared to him. Now +James had sworn with an oath that he would not eat +bread from that hour when he drank the cup of the Lord, +till he should behold him rising from amidst them that +sleep.</hi></q> And again, a little after, <q><hi rend='italic'>The Lord said, Bring +a table and bread</hi>.</q> And then, <q><hi rend='italic'>He took bread and blessed +and brake, and gave it to James the Just, and said unto +<pb n='149'/><anchor id='Pg149'/> +him, My brother, eat thy bread, for the Son of Man is +risen from among them that sleep.</hi></q></q><note place='foot'><q>Evangelium ... secundum Hebraeos ... post resurrectionem Salvatoris +refert:—Dominus autem, cum dedisset sindonem servo sacerdotis, +ivit ad Jacobum et apparuit ei. Juraverat enim Jacobus, se non comesturum +panem ab illa hora, qua biberat calicem Domini, donec videret eum resurgentem +a dormientibus.—Rursusque post paululum: Afferte, ait Dominus, +mensam et panem. Statimque additur:—Tulit panem et benedixit, ac +fregit, et dedit Jacobo justo, et dixit ei: Frater mi, comede panem tuum, +quia resurrexit Filius hominis a dormientibus.</q>—Hieron. De viris illustribus, +c. 2.</note> +</p> + +<p> +This touching incident is quite in keeping with what +we know about St. James, the Lord's brother. +</p> + +<p> +James the Just, according to Hegesippus, <q>neither +drank wine nor fermented liquors, and abstained from +animal food;</q><note place='foot'>Euseb. H. E. lib. ii. c. 23.</note> and though the account of Hegesippus +is manifestly fabulous in some of its details, still there +is no reason to doubt that James belonged to the ascetic +school among the Jews, as did the Baptist before him, +and as did the orthodox Ebionites after him. The oath +to abstain from food till a certain event was accomplished +was not unusual.<note place='foot'>Acts xxiii. 14.</note> +</p> + +<p> +What is meant by <q>the Saviour giving the napkin to +the servant of the priest,</q> it is impossible to conjecture +without the context. The napkin was probably that +which had covered his face in the tomb, but whether the +context linked this on to the cycle of sacred sindones +impressed with the portrait of the Saviour's suffering +face, cannot be told. The designation of <q>the Just</q> as +applied to James is for the purpose of distinguishing +him from James the brother of John. He does not bear +that name in the Canonical Gospels, but the title may +have been introduced by St. Jerome to avoid confusion, +or it may have been a marginal gloss to the text. +</p> + +<p> +The story of this appearance found its way into the +<pb n='150'/><anchor id='Pg150'/> +writings of St. Gregory of Tours,<note place='foot'>Hist. Eccl. Francorum, i. 21.</note> who no doubt drew +it from St. Jerome; and thence it passed into the +Legenda Aurea of Jacques de Voragine. +</p> + +<p> +If the Lord did appear to St. James on Easter-day, as +related in this lost Gospel, then it may have been in the +morning, and not after his appearance to the Twelve, or +on his appearance in the evening he may have singled +out and addressed James before all the others, as on that +day week he addressed St. Thomas. In either case, St. +Paul's version would be inaccurate as to the order of +manifestations. The pseudo-Abdias, not in any way +trustworthy, thus relates the circumstance: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q>James the Less among the disciples was an object of +special attachment to the Saviour, and he was inflamed with +such zeal for his Master that he would take no meat when +his Lord was crucified, and would only eat again when he +should see Christ arisen from the dead; for he remembered +that when Christ was alive he had given this precept to him +and to his brethren. That is why he, with Mary Magdalene +and Peter, was the first of all to whom Jesus Christ appeared, +in order to confirm his disciples in the faith; and that he +might not suffer him to fast any longer, a piece of an honeycomb +having been offered him, he invited James to eat +thereof.</q><note place='foot'>The <q>History of the Apostles</q> purports to have been written by +Abdias B. of Babylon, disciple of the apostles, in Hebrew. It was translated +into Greek, and thence, it was pretended, into Latin by Julius +Africanus. That it was rendered from Greek has been questioned by +critics. As we have it, it belongs to the ninth century; but the publication +of Syriac versions of the legends on which the book of Abdias was +founded, Syriac versions of the fourth century, which were really +translated from the Greek, show that some Greek originals must have existed at an +early age which are now lost.</note> +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +Another fragment of the lost Gospel of the Hebrews +also relates to the resurrection: +</p> + +<pb n='151'/><anchor id='Pg151'/> + +<p> +<q><hi rend='italic'>And when he had come to [Peter and] those that were +with Peter, he said unto them, Take, touch me, and see +that I am not a bodiless spirit. And straightway they +touched him and believed.</hi></q><note place='foot'>Καὶ ὅτε πρὸς τοὺς περὶ Πέτρον ἦλεν ἔφη αὐτοῖς: λάβετε, ψηλαφήσατε +με, καὶ ἴδετε, ὅτι οὺκ εἰμί δαιμόνιον ἀσώματον. Καὶ εὐθύς αὐτοῦ +ἥψαντο και ἐπιστεύσαν.—Ignat. Ep. ad Smyrn. c. 3. St. Jerome also: <q>Et +quando venit ad Petrum et ad eos qui cum Petro erant, dixit eis: Ecce +palpate me et videte quia non sum daemonium incorporale. Et statim +tetigerunt eum et crediderunt.</q>—De Script. Eccl. 16. Eusebius quotes +the passage after Ignatius. Hist. Eccl. iii. 37.</note> +</p> + +<p> +St. Ignatius, who cites these words, excepting only +those within brackets, does not say whence he drew +them; but St. Jerome informs us that they were taken +from the Gospel of the Hebrews. At the same time he +gives the passage with greater fulness than St. Ignatius. +</p> + +<p> +The account in St. Matthew contains nothing at all +like this; but St. Luke mentions these circumstances, +though with considerable differences. The Lord having +appeared in the midst of his disciples, they imagine that +they see a spirit. Then he says, <q>Why are ye troubled? +and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my +hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and +see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me +have.</q><note place='foot'>Luke xxiv. 37-39.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The narrative in St. Luke's Gospel is fuller than that +in the Gospel of the Hebrews, and is not derived from +it. In the Nazarene Gospel, as soon as the apostles +see and touch, they believe. But in the Canonical Gospel +of St. Luke, they are not convinced till they see Christ +eat. +</p> + +<p> +Justin Martyr cites a passage now found in the +Canonical Gospel of St. John, but not exactly as there, +evidently therefore obtaining it from an independent +source, and that source was the Gospel of the Twelve, +<pb n='152'/><anchor id='Pg152'/> +the only one with which he was acquainted, the only one +then acknowledged as Canonical in the Nazarene Church. +</p> + +<p> +The passage is, <q><hi rend='italic'>Christ has said, Except ye be regenerate, +ye cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.</hi></q><note place='foot'>Καὶ γὰρ ὁ Χριστὸς εἶπεν: ἄν μὴ ἀναγεννηθῆτε, οὐ μὴ εἰσελθῆτε +εἰς τὴν Βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν.—1 Apolog. § 61. Oper. p. 94.</note> +</p> + +<p> +In St. John's Gospel the parallel passage is couched +in the third person: <q>Except a man be born again, he +cannot see the kingdom of God.</q><note place='foot'>Ἐὰν μήτις γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν, οὐ δύναται ἰδεῖν τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ +Θεοῦ.—John iii. 3.</note> The difference stands +out more clearly in the Greek than in English. +</p> + +<p> +We may conjecture that the primitive Gospel of the +Hebrews contained an account of the interview of Nicodemus +with our Lord. When we come to consider the +Gospel used by the author of the Clementine Homilies +and Recognitions, we shall find that the instruction on +new birth made to Nicodemus was familiar to him, but +not exactly in the form in which it is recorded by St. +John. +</p> + +<p> +St. Jerome informs us that the lost Gospel we are +considering did not relate that the veil of the Temple +was rent in twain when Jesus gave up the ghost, but +that the lintel stone, a huge stone, fell down.<note place='foot'><q>In Evangelio ... legimus non velum templi scissum, sed superliminare +templi mirae magnitudinis corruisse.</q>—Epist. 120, Ad Helibiam.</note> +</p> + +<p> +That this tradition may be true is not unlikely. The +rocks were rent, and the earth quaked, and it is probable +enough that the Temple was so shaken that the great +lintel stone fell. +</p> + +<p> +St. Epiphanius gives us another fragment: +</p> + +<p> +<q><hi rend='italic'>I am come to abolish the sacrifices: if ye cease not +from sacrificing, the wrath of God will not cease from +weighing upon you.</hi></q><note place='foot'>Ἔλθον καταλῦσαι τὰς θυσίας, καὶ ἐαν μή ταύσασθε τοῦ θυεῖν, οῦ +παύσεται ἀφ᾽ ὑμῶν ἡ ὀργή.—Epiphan. Haeres. xxx. § 16.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='153'/><anchor id='Pg153'/> + +<p> +In the Clementine Recognitions, a work issuing from +the Ebionite anti-Gnostic school, we find that the abolition +of the sacrifices was strongly insisted on. The abomination +of idolatry is first exposed, and the strong hold +that Egyptian idolatry had upon the Israelites is pointed +out; then we are told Moses received the Law, and, in +consideration of the prejudices of the people, tolerated +sacrifice: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q>When Moses perceived that the vice of sacrificing to idols +had been deeply ingrained into the people from their association +with the Egyptians, and that the root of this evil could +not be extracted from them, he allowed them to sacrifice indeed, +but permitted it to be done only to God, that by any +means he might cut off one half of the deeply ingrained evil, +leaving the other half to be corrected by another, and at a +future time; by him, namely, concerning whom he said himself, +A prophet shall the Lord your God raise unto you, +whom ye shall hear, even as myself, according to all things +which he shall say to you. Whosoever shall not hear that +prophet, his soul shall be cut off from his people.</q><note place='foot'>Recog. i. 36.</note> +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +In another place the Jewish sacrifices are spoken of +as sin.<note place='foot'>Recog. i. 54.</note> +</p> + +<p> +This hostility to the Jewish sacrificial system by +Ebionites who observed all the other Mosaic institutions +was due to their having sprung out of the old sect +of the Essenes, who held the sacrifices in the same +abhorrence.<note place='foot'>Joseph. Antiq. xviii. 1, 5; Philo Judaeus. Περὶ τοῦ πάντα σπουδαῖον +εἶναι ἐλεύθερον. See what has been said on this subject already, p. 16.</note> +</p> + +<p> +That our Lord may have spoken against the sacrifices +is possible enough. The passage may have stood thus: +<q>Think not that I am come to destroy the Law and the +Prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil; nevertheless, +I tell you the truth, I am come to destroy the +<pb n='154'/><anchor id='Pg154'/> +sacrifices. But be ye approved money-changers, choose +that which is good metal, reject that which is bad.</q> +</p> + +<p> +It is probable that in the original Hebrew Gospel +there was some such passage, for St. Paul, or whoever +was the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, apparently +alludes to it twice. He says, <q>When he cometh into +the world he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst +not, but a body hast thou prepared me.</q><note place='foot'>Heb. x. 5.</note> The plain +meaning of which is, not that David had used those +words centuries before, in prophecy, but that Jesus had +used them himself when he came into the world. If +the writer of the Epistle did quote a passage from the +Hebrew Gospel, it will have been the second from the +same source. +</p> + +<p> +In the Ebionite Gospel, <q>by a criminal fraud,</q> says +St. Epiphanius, a protestation has been placed in the +mouth of the Lord against the Paschal Sacrifice of the +Lamb, by changing a positive phrase into a negative +one. +</p> + +<p> +When the disciples ask Jesus where they shall prepare +the Passover, he is made to reply, not, as in St. Luke, +that with desire he had desired to eat this Passover, but, +<q><hi rend='italic'>Have I then any desire to eat the flesh of the Paschal +Lamb with you?</hi></q><note place='foot'>(Μὴ) ἐπιθυμίᾳ ἐπεθύμησα (κρέας) τοῦτο τό πάσχα φαγεῖν μεθ᾽ ὑμῶν; +Epiph. Heræs. xxx. 22. The words added to those in St. Luke are placed +in brackets; cf. Luke xxii. 15.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The purpose of this interpolation of two words is +clear. The Samaritan Ebionites, like the Essenes, did +not touch meat, regarding all animal food with the +greatest repugnance.<note place='foot'>Epiphan. Haeres. xxx. 15.</note> By the addition of two words +they were able to convert the saying of our Lord into a +sanction of their superstition. But this saying of Jesus +<pb n='155'/><anchor id='Pg155'/> +is now found only in St. Luke's Gospel. It must have +stood originally without the Μὴ and the κρέας in the +Gospel of the Twelve. +</p> + +<p> +Another of their alterations of the Gospel was to the +same intent. Instead of making St. John the Baptist +eat locusts and wild honey, they gave him for his nourishment +wild honey only, ἐγχρίδας, instead of ἀχρίδας +and μελί ἄγριον. +</p> + +<p> +The passage in which this curious change was made +is remarkable. It served as the introduction to the +Gospel in use among the Gnostic Ebionites. +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>A certain man, named Jesus, being about thirty years +of age, hath chosen us; and having come to Capernaum, +he entered into the house of Simon, whose surname was +Peter, and he said unto him, As I passed by the Sea of +Tiberias, I chose John and James, the sons of Zebedee, +Simon and Andrew, Thaddaeus, Simon Zelotes and Judas +Iscariot; and thee, Matthew, when thou wast sitting at +thy tax-gatherer's table, then I called thee, and thou didst +follow me. And you do I choose to be my twelve apostles +to bear witness unto Israel.</hi></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q><hi rend='italic'>John baptized; and the Pharisees came to him, and +they were baptized of him, and all Jerusalem also. He +had a garment of camels' hair, and a leathern girdle +about his loins, and his meat was wild honey, and the +taste thereof was as manna, and as a cake of oil.</hi></q> +</p> + +<p> +Apparently after this announcement of his choice of +the apostles there followed something analogous to the +preface in St. Luke's Gospel, to the effect that these +apostles, having assembled together, had taken in hand +to write down those things that they remembered concerning +Christ and his teaching. And it was on this +account that the Gospel obtained the name of the +<q>Recollections of the Apostles,</q> or the <q>Gospel of the +Twelve.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='156'/><anchor id='Pg156'/> + +<p> +The special notice taken of St. Matthew, who is +singled out from the others in this address, is significant +of the relation supposed to exist between the Gospel and +the converted publican. If we had the complete introduction, +we should probably find that in it he was said +to have been the scribe who wrote down the apostolic +recollections. +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>2. Doubtful Fragments.</head> + +<p> +There are a few fragments preserved by early ecclesiastical +writers which we cannot say for certain belonged +to the Gospel of the Hebrews, but which there +is good reason to believe formed a part of it. +</p> + +<p> +Origen, in his Commentary on St. Matthew, quotes +a saying of our Lord which is not to be found in the +Canonical Gospels. Origen, we know, was acquainted +with, and quoted respectfully, the Gospel of the Hebrews. +It is therefore probable that this quotation is taken from +it: <q><hi rend='italic'>Jesus said, For the sake of the weak I became weak, +for the sake of the hungry I hungered, for the sake of the +thirsty I thirsted</hi>.</q><note place='foot'>Καὶ Ἰησοῦς γοῦν φησὶ, Διὰ τοὺς ἀσθενοῦντας ἠσθένουν, καὶ διὰ τοὺς +πεινῶντας ἐπείνων, καὶ διὰ τοὺς διψῶντας ἐδίψων. In Matt. xvii. 21.</note> +</p> + +<p> +That this passage, full of beauty, occurred after the +words, <q>This kind goeth not out but by prayer and +fasting,</q> in commenting on which Origen quotes it, is +probable. It is noteworthy that it is quoted in comment +on St. Matthew's Gospel, the one to which the lost +Gospel bore the closest resemblance, and one which +Origen would probably consult whilst compiling his +Commentary on St. Matthew.<note place='foot'>Perhaps this passage was in the mind of St. Paul when he wrote of +himself, <q>To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak.</q> +1 Cor. ix. 22.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='157'/><anchor id='Pg157'/> + +<p> +The saying is so beautiful, and so truly describes the +love of our Lord, that we must wish to believe it comes +to us on such high authority as the Gospel of the Twelve. +</p> + +<p> +Another saying of Christ is quoted both by Clement +of Alexandria and by Origen, without saying whence +they drew it, but by both as undoubted sayings of the +Saviour. It ran: +</p> + +<p> +<q><hi rend='italic'>Seek those things that are great, and little things will +be added to you.</hi></q> <q><hi rend='italic'>And seek ye heavenly things, and the +things of this world will be added to you.</hi></q><note place='foot'>Αἰτεῖσθε γάρ, φησί, τὰ μεγάλα, καὶ τὰ μικρὰ ὑμῖν προστεθήσαται. +Clemens Alex. Stromatae, i. Καὶ αἰτεῖτε τὰ ἐπουράνια, καὶ τὰ ἐπίγεια +ὑμῖν προστεθήσεται.—Origen, De Orat. 2 and 43.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It will be seen, the form as given by St. Clement is +better and simpler than that given by Origen. It is +probable, however, that they both formed members of +the same saying, following the usual Hebrew arrangement +of repeating a maxim, giving it a slightly different +turn, or a wider expansion. In two passages in other +places Origen makes allusion to this saying without +quoting it directly.<note place='foot'>Cont. Cels. vii. and De Orat. 53.</note> +</p> + +<p> +In the Acts of the Apostles, St. Luke puts into the +mouth of St. Paul a saying of Christ, which is not given +by any evangelist, in these words: <q>Remember the +words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, <hi rend='italic'>It is more blessed +to give than to receive</hi>.</q><note place='foot'>Acts xi. 35. It is also quoted as a saying of our Lord in the Apostolic +Constitutions, iv. 3.</note> It is curious that this saying +should not have been inserted by St. Luke in his Gospel. +Whether this saying found its way into the Hebrew +Gospel it is impossible to tell. +</p> + +<p> +In the Epistle of St. Barnabas another utterance of +Christ is given. This Epistle is so distinctly of a +Judaizing character, so manifestly belongs to the Nazarene +<pb n='158'/><anchor id='Pg158'/> +school, that such a reference in it makes it more +than probable that it was taken from the Gospel received +as Canonical among the Nazarenes. The saying +of St. Barnabas is, <q>All the time of our life and of our +faith will not profit us, if we have not in abhorrence +the evil one and future temptation, even as the Son of +God said, <hi rend='italic'>Resist all iniquity and hold it in abhorrence</hi>.</q><note place='foot'>Ep. 4.</note> +Another saying in the Epistle of St. Barnabas is, <q><hi rend='italic'>They +who would see me, and attain to my kingdom, must possess +me through afflictions and suffering</hi>.</q><note place='foot'>Οὕτοι, φαεσὶν, ὁι θέλοντές με ἰδεῖν, καὶ ἅψασθαί μου τῆς βασιλείας, +ὀφείλουσι θλιβέντες καί παθόντες λαβεῖν με.—Ep. 7.</note> +</p> + +<p> +In the second Epistle of St. Clement of Rome to the +Corinthians occurs a very striking passage: <q>Wherefore +to us doing such things the Lord said, <hi rend='italic'>If ye were with +me, gathered together in my bosom, and did not keep my +commandments, I would cast you out, and say unto you, +Depart from me, I know not whence ye are, ye workers of +iniquity</hi>.</q><note place='foot'>Διὰ τοῦτο ταῦτα ἡμῶν πρασσόντων, εἶπεν ὁ κύριος, ᾽Εὰν ἦτε μετ᾽ +ἐμου συνηγμένοι ἐν τῷ κόλπῳ μου, καὶ μὴ ποιεῖτε τὰς ἐντολάς μου, ἀποβαλῶ +ὑμᾶς καὶ ἐρῶ ὑμῖν, ὑπάγετε ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ, οὐκ οἶδα ὑμᾶς, ἐργάται ἀνομίας. +2 Ep. ad Corinth. 4.</note> +</p> + +<p> +We can well understand this occurring in an anti-Pauline Gospel. +</p> + +<p> +Again. <q>The Lord said, <hi rend='italic'>Be ye as lambs in the midst +of wolves. Peter answered and said unto him, But what +if the wolves shall rend the lambs? Jesus said unto Peter, +The lambs fear not the wolves after their death; and ye +also, do not ye fear them that kill you, and after that +have nothing that they can do to you, but fear rather him +who, after ye are dead, has power to cast your soul and +body into hell fire.</hi></q><note place='foot'>Λέγει γὰρ ὁ κύριος, ἔσεσθε ὡς ἀρνία ἐν μέσῳ λύκων. Ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ +ὁ Πέτρος αὐτῷ λέγει, Ἐαν οὖν διασπαράξωσιν οἱ λύκοι τὰ ἀρνία? Εἶπεν +ὁ Ἰησοῦς τῷ Πέτρῳ. Μὴ φοβείσθωσαν τὰ ἀρνία τοὺς λύκους μετὰ τὸ +ἀποθανεῖν αὐτά. Καὶ ὑμεῖς μὴ φοβεῖσθε τοὺς ἀποκτέινοντας ὑμᾶς, καὶ +μηδὲν ὑμῖν δυναμένου ποιεῖν, ἀλλὰ φοβεῖσθε τὸν μετὰ το ἀποθανεῖν +ὑμας ἔχοντα ἐξουσίαν ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος τοῦ βαλεῖν εἰς γέενναν πυρὸς. +<hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> 5.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='159'/><anchor id='Pg159'/> + +<p> +This is clearly another version of the passage, Matt. +x. 16-26. In one particular it is fuller than in the +Canonical Gospel; it introduces St. Peter as speaking +and drawing forth the exhortation not to fear those +who kill the body only. But it is without the long +exhortation contained in the 17-27th verses of St. +Matthew. +</p> + +<p> +Another saying from the same source is, <q>This, therefore, +the Lord said, <hi rend='italic'>Keep the flesh chaste and the seal +undefiled, and ye shall receive eternal life</hi>.</q><note place='foot'>Ἄρα οὖν τοῦτο λέγει: Τηρήσατε τὴν σάρκα ἁγνὴν καί τὴν σφραγίδα +ἄσπιλον, ἵνα τὴν αἰώνιον ξωὴν ἀπολάβητε.—<hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> 8.</note> The seal is +the unction of confirmation completing baptism, and in +the primitive Church united with it. It is the σφραγίς +so often spoken of in the Epistles of St. Paul.<note place='foot'>Rom. iv. 11 2 Cor. i. 22; Eph. i. 13, iv. 30; 2 Tim. ii. 19.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Justin Martyr contributes another saying. We have +already seen that in all likelihood he quoted from the +Gospel of the Hebrews, or the Recollections of the +Twelve, as he called it. He says, <q>On this account +also our Lord Jesus Christ said, <hi rend='italic'>In those things in which +I shall overtake you, in those things will I judge you</hi>.</q><note place='foot'>Ἐν οἶς ἀν ὑμᾶς καταλάβω, ἐν τούτοις καὶ κρινῶ.—Just. Mart. in +Dialog. c. Trypho. Ἐφ᾽ οἶς γὰρ εὕρω ἡμᾶς, φησὶν, ἐπὶ τούτοις καὶ κρινῶ. +Clem. Alex. Quis dives salv. 40.</note> +Clement of Alexandria makes the same quotation, +slightly varying the words. Justin and Clement apparently +both translated from the original Hebrew, but +did not give exactly the same rendering of words, though +they gave the same sense. +</p> + +<p> +Clement gives us another saying, but does not say +<pb n='160'/><anchor id='Pg160'/> +from what Gospel he drew it. <q>The Lord commanded +in a certain Gospel, <hi rend='italic'>My secret is for me and for the children +of my home</hi>.</q><note place='foot'>Μυστήριον ἐμὸν ἐμοὶ καὶ τοῖς υἱοῖς τοῦ οἴκου μου.—Clem. Alex. +Strom. v.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<div> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>3. The Origin of the Gospel of the Hebrews.</head> + +<p> +We come now to a question delicate, and difficult to +answer—the Origin of the Gospel of the Hebrews; +delicate, because it involves another, the origin of the +Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark; difficult, because +of the nature of the evidence on which we shall have to +form our opinion. +</p> + +<p> +Because the Gospel of the Hebrews is not preserved, +is not in the Canon, it does not follow that its value +was slight, its accuracy doubtful. Its disappearance is +due partly to the fact of its having been written in +Aramaic, but chiefly to that of its having been in use +by an Aramaic-speaking community which assumed +first a schismatical, then a heretical position, so that the +disfavour which fell on the Nazarene body enveloped +and doomed its Gospel as well. +</p> + +<p> +The four Canonical Gospels owe their preservation to +their having been in use among those Christian communities +which coalesced under the moulding hands of +St. John. Those parties which were reluctant to abandon +their peculiar features were looked upon with coldness, +then aversion, lastly abhorrence. They became more +and more isolated, eccentric, prejudiced, impracticable. +Whilst the Church asserted her catholicity, organized +her constitution, established her canon, formulated her +creed, adapted herself to the flux of ideas, these narrow +<pb n='161'/><anchor id='Pg161'/> +sects spent their petty lives in accentuating their peculiarities +till they grew into monstrosities; and when +they fell and disappeared, there fell and disappeared +with them those precious records of the Saviour's words +and works which they had preserved. +</p> + +<p> +The Hebrew Gospel was closely related to the Gospel +of St. Matthew; that we know from the testimony of +St. Jerome, who saw, copied and translated it. That +it was not identical with the Canonical first Gospel is +also certain. Sufficient fragments have been preserved +to show that in many points it was fuller, in some less +complete, than the Greek Gospel of St. Matthew. The +two Gospels were twin sisters speaking different tongues. +Was the Greek of the first Gospel acquired, or was it +original? This is a point deserving of investigation +before we fix the origin and determine the construction +of the Hebrew Gospel. +</p> + +<p> +According to a fragment of a lost work by Papias, +written about the middle of the second century, under +the title of <q>Commentary on the Sayings of the Lord,</q><note place='foot'>Λογίων κυριακῶν ἐξηγήσεις.</note> +the apostle Matthew was the author of a collection of +the <q>sayings,</q> λόγια, of our blessed Lord. The passage +has been already given, but it is necessary to quote it +again here: <q>Matthew wrote in the Hebrew dialect the +sayings, and every one interpreted them as best he was +able.</q><note place='foot'>Ματθαῖος μὲν οὖν Ἑβραΐδι διαλέκτῳ τὰ λόγια συνεγράψατο, ἡρμήνευσε +δὲ αὐτὰ ὡς ἦν δυνατὸς ἕκαστος.</note> These <q>logia</q> could only be, according to the +signification of the word (Rom. iii. 2; Heb. v. 12; +Pet. iv. 11; Acts vii. 38), a collection of the sayings of +the Saviour that were regarded as oracular, as <q>the +words of God.</q> That they were the words of Jesus, +follows from the title given by Papias to his commentary, +Λόγια κυριακὰ. +</p> + +<pb n='162'/><anchor id='Pg162'/> + +<p> +This brief notice is sufficient to show that Matthew's +collection was not the Gospel as it now stands. It was +no collection of the acts, no biography, of the Saviour; +it was solely a collection of his discourses. +</p> + +<p> +This is made clearer by what Papias says in the same +work on St. Mark. He relates that the latter wrote not +only what Jesus had <emph>said</emph>, but also what he <emph>did</emph>;<note place='foot'>τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἢ λεχθέντα ἢ πραχθέντα; and οὐ ποιούμενος +σὺνταξιν τῶν κυριακῶν λογίων.</note> +whereas St. Matthew wrote only what had been <emph>said</emph>.<note place='foot'>συνεγράψατο τὰ λόγια.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The work of Matthew, therefore, contained no doings, +πραχθέντα, but only sayings, λεχθέντα, which were, according +to Papias, written in Hebrew, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> the vernacular +Aramaic, and which were translated into Greek by every +one as best he was able. +</p> + +<p> +This notice of Papias is very ancient. The Bishop of +Hierapolis is called by Irenaeus <q>a very old man.</q><note place='foot'>ἀρχαῖος ἀνήρ.</note> and +by the same writer is said to have been <q>a friend +of Polycarp,</q> and <q>one who had heard John.</q><note place='foot'>Iren. c. Haeres. v. 33.</note> That +this John was the apostle is not certain. It was questioned +by Eusebius in his mention of the Prooemium of +Papias. John the priest and John the apostle were +both at Ephesus, and both lived there at the close of +the first century. Some have thought the Apocalypse +to have been the work of the priest John, and not of +the apostle. Others have supposed that there was only +one John. However this may be, it is certain that +Papias lived at a time when it was possible to obtain +correct information relating to the origin of the sacred +books in use among the Christians. +</p> + +<p> +According to the Prooemium of Papias, which Eusebius +has preserved, the Bishop of Hierapolis had obtained +his knowledge, not directly from the apostles, nor from +<pb n='163'/><anchor id='Pg163'/> +the apostle John, but from the mouths of men who +had companied with old priests and disciples of the +apostles, and who had related to him what Andrew, +Peter, Philip, Thomas, James, John and other disciples +of the Lord had said (εἶπεν). Besides the testimony of +these priests, Papias appealed further to the evidence of +Aristion and the priest John, disciples of the Lord,<note place='foot'>Scarcely actual disciples and eye-witnesses.</note> still +alive and bearing testimony when he wrote. <q>And,</q> +says Papias, <q>I do not think that I derived so much +benefit from books as from the living voice of those that +are still surviving.</q><note place='foot'>Euseb. Hist. Eccl. iii. 39.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Papias, therefore, had his information about the +apostles second-hand, from those <q>who followed them +about.</q> Nevertheless, his evidence is quite trustworthy. +He takes pains to inform us that he used great precaution +to obtain the truth about every particular he +stated, and the means of obtaining the truth were at his +disposal. That Papias was a man <q>of a limited comprehension</q><note place='foot'>σφόδρα σμικρὸς τὸν νοῦν.</note> +does not affect the trustworthiness of his +statement. Eusebius thus designates him because he +believed in the Millennium; but so did most of the +Christians of the first age, as well as in the immediate +second coming of Christ, till undeceived by events. +</p> + +<p> +The statement of Papias does not justify us in supposing +that Matthew wrote the Gospel in Hebrew, but +only a collection of the logia, the sayings of Jesus. +Eusebius did not mistake the Sayings for the Gospel, +for he speaks separately of the Hebrew Gospel,<note place='foot'>καθ᾽ Ἑβραιοὺς εὐαγγέλιον. H. E. iii. 25, 27, 39; iv. 22.</note> without +connecting it in any way with the testimony of Papias. +</p> + +<p> +According to Eusebius, Papias wrote his Commentary +in five books.<note place='foot'>συγγράμματα πέντε.</note> It is not improbable, therefore, that the +<pb n='164'/><anchor id='Pg164'/> +<q>Logia</q> were broken into five parts or grouped in five +discourses, and that he wrote an explanation of each +discourse in a separate book or chapter. +</p> + +<p> +The statement of Papias, if it does not refer to the +Gospel of St. Matthew as it now stands, does refer +to one of the constituent parts of that Gospel, and +does explain much that would be otherwise inexplicable. +</p> + +<p> +1. St. Matthew's Gospel differs from St. Mark's in +that it contains long discourses, sayings and parables, +which are wanting or only given in a brief form in +the second Canonical Gospel. It is therefore probable +that in its composition were used the <q>Logia of the +Lord,</q> written by Matthew. +</p> + +<p> +2. If the collection of <q>Sayings of the Lord</q> consisted, +as has been suggested, of five parts, then we find +traces in the Canonical Matthew of five groups of discourses, +concluded by the same formulary: <q>And it +came to pass when Jesus had ended these sayings</q> +(τοὺς λόγους τούτους), or <q>parables,</q> vii. 28, xi. 1, +xiii. 53,. xix. 1, xxvi. 1. It is not, however, possible +to restore all the <q>logia</q> to their primitive positions, +for they have been dispersed through the Canonical +Gospel, and arranged in connection with the events +which called them forth. In the <q>Sayings of the Lord</q> +of Matthew, these events were not narrated; but all the +sayings were placed together, like the proverbs in the +book of Solomon. +</p> + +<p> +3. The <q>Logia</q> of the Lord were written by Matthew +in Hebrew, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> in the vernacular Aramaic. If they +have formed the groundwork, or a composite part of the +Canonical Gospel, we are likely to detect in the Greek +some traces of their origin. And this, in fact, we are +able to do. +</p> + +<p> +α. In the first place, we have the introduction of +<pb n='165'/><anchor id='Pg165'/> +Aramaic words, as Raka (v. 22),<note place='foot'>Aram. ריקא.</note> Mammon (vi. 22),<note place='foot'>Aram. ממונא.</note> +Gehenna (v. 22),<note place='foot'>Aram. גהנם.</note> Amen (v. 18).<note place='foot'>Aram. אמן.</note> Many others might +be cited, but these will suffice. +</p> + +<p> +β. Next, we have the use of illustrations which are +only comprehensible by Hebrews, as <q>One jot and one +tittle shall in no wise fall.</q> The Ἰῶτα of the Greek +text is the Aramaic Jod (v. 18); but the <q>one tittle</q> is +more remarkable. In the Greek it is <q>one horn,</q> or +<q>stroke.</q><note place='foot'>μιά κεραὶα, Aram. קוץ or עוקץ.</note> The idea is taken from the Aramaic orthography. +A stroke distinguishes one consonant from +another, as ח and ה from ד. +With this the Greeks had nothing that corresponded. +</p> + +<p> +γ. We find Hebraisms in great number in the discourses +of our Lord given by St. Matthew.<note place='foot'>vi. 7, βαττολογεῖν; v. 5, κληρονομεῖν τὴν γῆν; v. 2, ἀγνοίγειν τὸ +στόμα; v. 3, πτωχοί; v. 9, υἱοὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ; v. 12, μισθὸς πολύς; v. 39, +τῷ πονηρῷ; vi. 25; x. 28, 39, ψυχὴ, for life; vi. 22, 23, ἀπλοῦς and +πονηρὸς, sound and sick; vi. 11, ἄρτος, for general food; the <q>birds of +heaven,</q> in vi. 25, &c. &c.</note> +</p> + +<p> +δ. We find mistranslations. The Greek Canonical +text gives a wrong meaning, or no meaning at all, +through misunderstanding of the Aramaic. By restoration +of the Aramaic text we can rectify the translation. +Thus: +</p> + +<p> +Matt. vii. 6, <q>Give not that which is holy to dogs, +neither cast ye your pearls before swine.</q> The word +<q>holy,</q> τὸ ἅγιον, is a misinterpretation of the Aramaic +קרשא, a gold jewel for the ear, head or neck.<note place='foot'>Targum, Gen. xxiv. 22, 47; Job xlii. 11; Exod. xxxii. 2; Judges +viii. 24; Prov. xi. 22, xxv. 12; Hos. ii. 13.</note> The +translator mistook the word for קורשא, or קרשא without +ו <q>the holy.</q> The sentence in the original therefore +<pb n='166'/><anchor id='Pg166'/> +ran, <q>Give not a gold jewel to dogs, neither cast pearls +before swine.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Matt. v. 37, <q>Let your conversation be Yea, yea, Nay, +nay.</q> This is meaningless. But if we restore the construction +in Aramaic we have יהןא לכם הן הן, לאו לאו, +and the meaning is, <q>In your conversation let your yea +be yea, and your nay be nay.</q> The yea, yea, and nay, +nay, in the Hebrew come together, and this misled the +translator. St. James quotes the saying rightly (v. 12), +<q>Let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay; lest ye fall +into condemnation.</q> It is a form of a Rabbinic maxim, +<q>The yea of the righteous is yea, and their nay is nay.</q> +It is an injunction to speak the truth. +</p> + +<p> +We have therefore good grounds for our conjecture +that St. Matthew's genuine <q>Sayings of the Lord</q> form +a part of the Canonical Gospel. +</p> + +<p> +We have next to consider, Whence came the rest of +the material, the record of the <q>doings of the Lord,</q> +which the compiler interwove with the <q>Sayings</q>? +</p> + +<p> +We have tolerably convincing evidence that the compiler +placed under contribution both Aramaic and Greek +collections. +</p> + +<p> +For the citations from the Old Testament are not +taken exclusively from the Hebrew Scriptures, nor from +the Greek translation of the Seventy; but some are +taken from the Greek translation, and some are taken +from the Hebrew, or from a Syro-Chaldaean Targum or +Paraphrase, probably in use at the time. +</p> + +<p> +Matt. i. 23, <q>A virgin shall be with child, and shall +bring forth a son.</q> This is quoted as a prophecy of the +miraculous conception. But it is only a prophecy in the +version of the LXX., which renders the Hebrew word +παρθένος, <q>virgin.</q> The Hebrew word does not mean +virgin exclusively, but <q>a young woman.</q> We may +therefore conclude that verses 22, 23, were additions by +<pb n='167'/><anchor id='Pg167'/> +the Greek compiler of the Gospel, unacquainted with +the original Hebrew text. +</p> + +<p> +Matt. ii. 15, <q>Out of Egypt have I called my son.</q> +This is quoted literally from the Hebrew text. That of +the LXX. has, <q>Out of Egypt have I called my children,</q> +τὰ τέκνα. This made the saying of Hosea no +prophecy of our Lord; consequently he who inserted this +reference can have known only the Hebrew text, and +not the Greek version. But in ii. 18, the compiler follows +the LXX. And again, ii. 23, <q>He shall be called +a Nazarene,</q> Ναζωραῖος. The Hebrew is כזר of which +Ναζωραῖος is no translation. The LXX. have Ναζιραῖος. +The compiler was caught by the similarity of sounds. +</p> + +<p> +Matt. iii. 3. Here the construction of the LXX. is +followed, which unites <q>in the wilderness</q> with <q>the +voice of one crying.</q> The Hebrew was therefore not +known by the compiler. +</p> + +<p> +Matt. iv. 15. Here the LXX. is not followed, for the +word γῆ is used in place of χώρα. The quotation is not, +moreover, taken exactly from Isaiah, but apparently from a Targum. +</p> + +<p> +Matt. viii. 17. This quotation is nearer the original +Hebrew than the rendering of the LXX. +</p> + +<p> +Matt. xii. 18-21. In this citation we have an incorrect +rendering of the Hebrew לתורתו <q>at his teaching,</q> +made by the LXX. <q>in his name,</q> adopted without +hesitation by the compiler. He also accepts the erroneous +rendering of <q>islands,</q> made <q>nation,</q> <q>Gentiles,</q> +by the LXX. +</p> + +<p> +But, on the other hand, <q>till he send forth judgment +unto victory,</q> is taken from neither the original Hebrew +nor from the LXX., and is probably derived from a +Targum. +</p> + +<p> +Thus in this passage we have apparently a combination +<pb n='168'/><anchor id='Pg168'/> +of two somewhat similar accounts—the one in +Greek, the other in Aramaic. +</p> + +<p> +Matt. xiii. 35. This also is a compound text. The +first half is from the LXX., but the second member is +from a Hebrew Targum. +</p> + +<p> +Matt. xxvii. 3. In the Hebrew, the field is not a +<q>potter's,</q> nor is it in the LXX., who use χωνευτήριον +<q>the smelting-furnace.</q> The word in the Hebrew signifies +<q>treasury.</q> The composer of the Gospel, therefore +must have quoted from a Targum, and been ignorant +both of the genuine Hebrew Scriptures and of the +Greek translation of the Seventy. +</p> + +<p> +These instances are enough to show that the material +used for the compilation of the first Canonical Gospel +was very various; that the author had at his disposal +matter in both Aramaic and Greek. +</p> + +<p> +We shall find, on looking further, that he inserted +two narratives of the same event in his Gospel in different +places, if they differed slightly from one another, +when coming to him from different sources. +</p> + +<p> +The following are parallel passages: +</p> + +<table rend="latexcolumns: 'p{3.5cm} p{3.5cm}'; tblcolumns: 'lw(30) lw(30)'"> +<row><cell>iv. 23 And Jesus went +about all Galilee, teaching in +their synagogues, and preaching +the gospel of the kingdom, +and healing all manner +of sickness and all manner of +disease among the people.</cell> +<cell>ix. 35 And Jesus went +about all the cities and villages, +teaching in their synagogues, +and preaching the +gospel of the kingdom, and +healing every sickness and +every disease among the +people.</cell></row> +<row><cell>v. 29 And if thy right eye +offend thee, pluck it out, and +cast it from thee: for it is +profitable for thee that one of +thy members should perish, +and not that thy whole body +should be cast into hell.</cell> +<cell>xviii. 9 And if thine eye +offend thee, pluck it out, and +cast it from thee: it is better +for thee to enter into life with +one eye, rather than having +two eyes to be cast into hell fire.</cell></row> +<pb n='169'/><anchor id='Pg169'/> +<row><cell>30 And if thy right hand +offend thee, cut it off, and +cast it from thee: for it is +profitable for thee that one of +thy members should perish, +and not that thy whole body +should be cast into hell.</cell> +<cell>8 Wherefore if thy hand or +thy foot offend thee, cut them +off, and cast them from thee: +it is better for thee to enter into +life halt or maimed, rather +than having two hands or two +feet to be cast into everlasting +fire.</cell></row> +<row><cell>32 But I say unto you, +That whosoever shall put away +his wife, saving for the cause +of fornication, causeth her to +commit adultery: and whosoever +shall marry her that is +divorced committeth adultery.</cell> +<cell>xix. 9 And I say unto you, +Whosoever shall put away his +wife, except it be for fornication, +and shall marry another, +committeth adultery: and whoso +marrieth her which is put +away doth commit adultery.</cell></row> +<row><cell>vi. 14 For if ye forgive +men their trespasses, your +heavenly Father will also forgive +you:</cell> +<cell>xviii. 35 So likewise shall +my heavenly Father do also +unto you, if ye from your +hearts forgive not every one +his brother their trespasses.</cell></row> +<row><cell>15 But if ye forgive not +men their trespasses, neither +will your Father forgive your +trespasses.</cell><cell></cell></row> +<row><cell>vii. 16 Ye shall know them +by their fruits. Do men +gather grapes of thorns, or +figs of thistles?</cell> +<cell>xii. 33 Either make the tree +good, and his fruit good; or +else make the tree corrupt, and +his fruit corrupt: for the tree +is known by his fruit.</cell></row> +<row><cell>17 Even so every good tree +bringeth forth good fruit; but +a corrupt tree bringeth forth +evil fruit.</cell><cell></cell></row> +<row><cell>18 A good tree cannot bring +forth evil fruit, neither can a +corrupt tree bring forth good +fruit.</cell><cell></cell></row> +<pb n='170'/><anchor id='Pg170'/> +<row><cell>ix. 13 But go ye and learn +what that meaneth, I will +have mercy, and not sacrifice.</cell> +<cell>what this meaneth, I will +have mercy, and not sacrifice.</cell></row> +<row><cell>ix. 34 But the Pharisees +said, He casteth out devils +through the prince of the +devils.</cell> +<cell>xii. 24 But when the Pharisees +heard it, they said, This +fellow doth not cast out devils, +but by Beelzebub the prince +of the devils.</cell></row> +<row><cell>x. 15 Verily I say unto +you, It shall be more tolerable +for the land of Sodom and +Gomorrha in the day of judgment, +than for that city.</cell> +<cell>xi. 24. But I say unto you, +That it shall be more tolerable +for the land of Sodom in +the day of judgment, than for +thee.</cell></row> +<row><cell>17 But beware of men: for +they will deliver you up to +the councils, and they will +scourge you in their synagogues;</cell> +<cell>xxiv. 9 Then shall they +deliver you up to be afflicted, +and shall kill you: and ye +shall be hated of all nations +for my name's sake.</cell></row> +<row><cell>22 And ye shall be hated +of all men for my name's sake.</cell><cell></cell></row> +<row><cell>xii. 39 But he answered and +said unto them, An evil and +adulterous generation seeketh +after a sign; and there shall +no sign be given to it; but the +sign of the prophet Jonas.</cell> +<cell>xvi. 4 A wicked and adulterous +generation seeketh after +a sign; and there shall no sign +be given unto it, but the sign +of the prophet Jonas.</cell></row> +<row><cell>xiii.12 For whosoever hath, +to him shall be given, and he +shall have more abundance: +but whosoever hath not, from +him shall be taken away even +that he hath.</cell> +<cell>xxv. 29 For unto every one +that hath shall be given, and +he shall have abundance: but +from him that hath not shall +be taken away even that which +he hath.</cell></row> +<row><cell>xiv. 5 And when he would +have put him to death, he +feared the multitude, because +they counted him as a prophet.</cell> +<cell>xxi. 26 But if we shall say, +Of men; we fear the people; +for all hold John as a prophet.</cell></row> +<pb n='171'/><anchor id='Pg171'/> +<row><cell>xvi. 19 And I will give +unto thee the keys of the +kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever +thou shalt bind on earth +shall be bound in heaven: and +whatsoever thou shalt loose +on earth shall be loosed in +heaven.</cell> +<cell>xviii. 18 Verily I say unto +you, Whatsoever ye shall bind +on earth shall be bound in +heaven: and whatsoever ye +shall loose on earth shall be +loosed in heaven.</cell></row> +<row><cell>xvii. 20 And Jesus said +unto them, Because of your +unbelief: for verily I say unto +you, If ye have faith as a +grain of mustard seed, ye shall +say unto this mountain, Remove +hence to yonder place; +and it shall remove; and nothing +shall be impossible unto +you.</cell> +<cell>xxi. 21 Jesus answered and +said unto them, Verily I say +unto you, If ye have faith +and doubt not, ye shall not +only do this which is done to +the fig tree, but also if ye shall +say unto this mountain, Be +thou removed, and be thou +cast into the sea; it shall be +done.</cell></row> +<row><cell>xxiv. 11 And many false +prophets shall rise, and shall +deceive many.</cell> +<cell>xxiv. 24 For there shall +arise false Christs, and false +prophets and shall shew great +signs and wonders: insomuch +that, if it were possible, they +should deceive the very elect.</cell></row> +<row><cell>xxiv. 23 Then if any man +shall say unto you, Lo, here +is Christ, or there; believe it +not.</cell> +<cell>xxiv. 26 Wherefore if they +shall say unto you, Behold, +he is in the desert, go not +forth: behold, he is in the secret +chamber; believe it not.</cell></row> +</table> + +<p> +The existence in the first Canonical Gospel of these +duplicate passages proves that the editor of it in its present +form made use of materials from different sources, +which he worked together into a complete whole. And +these duplicate passages are the more remarkable, because, +where his memory does not fail him, he takes +pains to avoid repetition. +</p> + +<pb n='172'/><anchor id='Pg172'/> + +<p> +It would seem therefore plain that the compiler of St. +Matthew's Gospel made use of, first, a Collection of the +Sayings of the Lord, of undoubted genuineness, drawn +up by St. Matthew; second, of two or more Collections +of the Sayings and Doings of the Lord, also, no doubt, +genuine, but not necessarily by St. Matthew. +</p> + +<p> +One of these sources was made use of also by St. Mark +in the composition of his Gospel. +</p> + +<p> +According to the testimony of Papias: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q>John the Priest said this: Mark being the interpreter of +Peter, whatsoever he recorded he wrote with great accuracy, +but not, however, in the order in which it was spoken or done +by our Lord, for he neither heard nor followed our Lord, but, +as before said, he was in company with Peter, who gave him +such instruction as occasion called forth, but did not study to +give a history of our Lord's discourses; wherefore Mark has +not erred in anything, by writing this and that as he has remembered +them; for he was carefully attentive to one thing, +not to pass by anything that he heard, nor to state anything +falsely in these accounts.</q><note place='foot'>Euseb. Hist. Eccl. iii. 39.</note> +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +It has been often asked and disputed, whether this +statement applies to the Gospel of St. Mark received by +the Church into her sacred canon. +</p> + +<p> +It can hardly be denied that the Canonical Gospel of +Mark does answer in every particular to the description +of its composition by John the Priest. John gives five +characteristics to the work of Mark: +</p> + +<p> +1. A striving after accuracy.<note place='foot'>ἀκριβῶς ἔγραψεν, and σποιήσατο πρόνοιαν τοῦ μηδέν παραλιτεῖν ἢ +ψεύδασθαι.</note> +</p> + +<p> +2. Want of chronological succession in his narrative, +which had rather the character of a string of anecdotes +and sayings than of a biography.<note place='foot'>Οὐ μέντοι τάξει, and ἕνια γράφας, ὡς ἀπεμνημόνευσεν.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='173'/><anchor id='Pg173'/> + +<p> +3. It was composed of records of both the sayings and +the <emph>doings</emph> of Jesus.<note place='foot'>λεχθέντα καὶ πραχθέντα.</note> +</p> + +<p> +4. It was no syntax of sayings (σύνταξις λογίων), like +the work of Matthew.<note place='foot'>Μαθαῖος τὰ λόγια συνετάξατο—. Μάρκος ... οὐκ ὥσπερ σύνταξιν +τῶν κυριακῶν λογίων ποιούμενος.</note> +</p> + +<p> +5. It was the composition of a companion of Peter.<note place='foot'>Μάρκος ἑρμηνευτὴς Πέτρου γενόμενος ἔγραφεν.</note> +</p> + +<p> +These characteristic features of the work of Mark +agree with the Mark Gospel, some of the special features +of which are: +</p> + +<p> +1. Want of order: it is made up of a string of episodes +and anecdotes, and of sayings manifestly unconnected. +</p> + +<p> +2. The order of events is wholly different from that +in Matthew, Luke and John. +</p> + +<p> +3. Both the sayings and the doings of Jesus are related +in it. +</p> + +<p> +4. It contains no long discourses, like the Gospel of +St. Matthew, arranged in systematic order. +</p> + +<p> +5. It contains many incidents which point to St. Peter +as the authority for them, and recall his preaching. +</p> + +<p> +To this belong—the manner in which the Gospel +opens with the baptism of John, just as St. Peter's +address (Acts x. 37-41) begins with that event also; +the many little incidents mentioned which give token +of having been related by an eye-witness, and in which +the narrative of St. Matthew is deficient.<note place='foot'>Mark i. 20, <q>they left their father Zebedee in the ship <hi rend='italic'>with the +day-labourers;</hi></q> i. 31, <q><hi rend='italic'>he took her by the hand</hi>;</q> ii. 3, <q>a paralytic +<hi rend='italic'>borne of four</hi>;</q> 4, <q>they broke up the roof and let down the bed;</q> +iii. 10, <q>they pressed upon him to touch him;</q> iii. 20, <q>they could not +so much as eat bread;</q> iii. 32, <q>the multitude sat about him;</q> iv. 36, +<q>they took him <hi rend='italic'>even as he was</hi>,</q> without his going home first to get what +was necessary; iv. 38, <q><hi rend='italic'>on a pillow</hi>;</q> v. 3-5, v. 25-34, vi. 40, the +ranks, the hundreds, the green grass; vi. 53-56, x. 17, there came one +running, and kneeled to him; x. 50, <q>casting away his robe;</q> xi. 4, <q>a +colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met;</q> xi. 12-14, +xi. 16, xiii. 1, the disciples notice the <hi rend='italic'>great stones</hi> of which the temple +was built; xiv. 3, 5, 8, xiv. 31, <q>he spoke yet more vehemently;</q> +xiv. 51, 52, 66, <q>he warmed himself at the fire;</q> xv. 21, <q>coming out +of the country;</q> xv. 40, 41, Salome named.</note> St. Mark's +<pb n='174'/><anchor id='Pg174'/> +Gospel is also rich in indications of the feelings of the +people toward Jesus, such as an eye-witness must have +observed,<note place='foot'>Mark i. 33, 45, ii. 2, 13, iii. 9, 20, 32, iv. 10, v. 21, 24, 31, vi. 31, +55, viii. 34, xi. 18.</note> and of notices of movements of the body—small +significant acts, which could not escape one present +who described what he had seen.<note place='foot'>Mark i. 7, <q>he bowed himself;</q> iii. 5, <q>he looked round with anger;</q> +ix. 38, <q>he sat down;</q> x. 16, <q>he took them up in his arms, and laid +his hands on them;</q> x. 23, <q>Jesus looked round about;</q> xiv. 3, <q>she +broke the box;</q> xiv. 4, <q>they murmured;</q> xiv. 40, <q>they knew not +what to answer him;</q> xiv. 67, &c.</note> +</p> + +<p> +That the composer of St. Matthew's Gospel made use +of the material out of which St. Mark compiled his, that +is, of the memorabilia of St. Peter, is evident. Whole +passages of St. Mark's Gospel occur word for word, or +nearly so, in the Gospel of St. Matthew.<note place='foot'> Compare +Mark iv. 4 sq.; viii. 1 sq.; x. 42 sq.; xiii. 28 sq.; xiv. 43 sq. &c. +Matt. xiii 4 sq.; xv. 32 sq.; xx. 28 sq.; xxiv. 32 sq.; xxvi. 47 sq. &c.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Moreover, it is apparent that sometimes the author of +St. Matthew's Gospel misunderstood the text. A few +instances must suffice here. +</p> + +<p> +Mark ii. 18: <q>And the disciples of John and of the +Pharisees were fasting. And they came to him and +said to him, Why do the disciples of John, and the +disciples of the Pharisees, fast, and thy disciples fast +not?</q> It is clear that it was then a fasting season, +which the disciples of Jesus were not observing. The +<q>they</q> who came to him does not mean <q>the disciples +<pb n='175'/><anchor id='Pg175'/> +of John and of the Pharisees,</q> but certain other persons. +Καὶ ἔρχονται is so used in St. Mark's Gospel in several +places, like the French <q>on venait.</q> +</p> + +<p> +But the compiler of St. Matthew's Gospel did not +understand this use of the verb without a subject expressed, +and he made <q>the disciples of John</q> ask the +question. +</p> + +<p> +Mark vi. 10: Ὅπου ἂν εἰσέλθητε εἰς οἰκίαν, ἐκεῖ μένετε +ἕως ἄν ἐξέλθητε ἐκεῖθεν. That is, <q>Wherever (<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> in whatsoever +town or village) ye enter into a house, therein +remain (i.e. in that house) till ye go away thence (<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> +from that city or village).</q> By leaving out the word +<emph>house</emph>, Matthew loses the sense of the command (x. 11), +<q>Into whatsoever town or village ye enter—remain in +it till ye go out of it.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Mark vii. 27, 28. The Lord answers the Syro-Phoenician +woman, <q>Let the children first be filled: for it is +not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto +the dogs.</q> The woman answers, <q>Yes, Lord; yet the +dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs.</q> The +meaning is, God gives His grace and mercy first to the +Jews (the children); and this must not be taken from +the Jews to be given to the heathen (the dogs). True, +answers the woman; but the heathen do partake of the +blessings that overflow from the portion of the Jews. +</p> + +<p> +But the so-called Matthew did not catch the signification, +and the point is lost in his version (xv. 27). He +makes the woman answer, <q>The dogs eat of the crumbs +which fall from <emph>their masters'</emph> table.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Mark x. 13. According to St. Mark, parents brought +their children to Christ, probably with some superstitious +idea, to be touched. This offended the disciples. <q>They +rebuked those that brought them.</q> But Jesus was displeased, +and said to the disciples, <q>Suffer the little +<pb n='176'/><anchor id='Pg176'/> +children to come unto me.</q> And instead of fulfilling +the superstitious wishes of the parents, he took the +children in his arms and blessed them. But the text +used by St. Matthew's compilator was probably defective +at the end of verse 13, and ended, <q>and his disciples +rebuked....</q> The compiler therefore completed it +with αὐτοῖς instead of τοῖς προσφέρουσιν, and then misunderstood +verse 14, and applied the ἄφετε differently: +<q>Let go the children, and do not hinder them from +coming to me.</q> In St. Mark, the disciples rebuke the +parents; in St. Matthew, they rebuke the children, and +intercept them on their way to Christ. +</p> + +<p> +Mark xii. 8: <q>They slew him and cast him out,</q> <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> +cast out the dead body. The compiler of St. Matthew's +Gospel did not see this. He could not understand how +that the son was killed and then cast out of the vineyard; +so he altered the order into, <q>They cast him out +and slew him</q> (xxi. 38).<note place='foot'>For more examples, see Scholten, Das älteste Evangelium, Elberfeld, +1869, pp. 66-78.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Examples might be multiplied, but these must suffice. +If I am not mistaken, they go far to prove that the +author of St. Matthew's Gospel used the material, or +some of the material, out of which St. Mark's Gospel +was composed. +</p> + +<p> +But there are also other proofs. The text of St. Mark +has been taken into that of St. Matthew's Gospel, but +not without some changes, corrections which the compiler +made, thinking the words of the text in his +hands were redundant, vulgar, or not sufficiently explicit. +</p> + +<p> +Thus Mark i. 5: <q>The whole Jewish land and all +they of Jerusalem,</q> he changed into, <q>Jerusalem and all +Judaea.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='177'/><anchor id='Pg177'/> + +<p> +Mark i. 12: <q>The Spirit driveth,</q> ἐκβάλλει, he softened +into <q>led,</q> ἀνήχθη. +</p> + +<p> +Mark iii. 4: <q>He saith, Is it lawful to do good on the +Sabbath-days, or to do evil?</q> In St. Matthew's Gospel, +before performing a miracle, Christ argues the necessity +of showing mercy on the Sabbath-day, and supplies +what is wanting in St. Mark—the conclusion, <q>Wherefore +it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath-days</q> +(xii. 12). +</p> + +<p> +Mark iv. 12: <q>That seeing they might not see, and +hearing they might not hear.</q> This seemed harsh to +the compiler of St. Matthew. It was as if unbelief and +blindness were fatally imposed by God on men. He +therefore alters the tenor of the passage, and attributes +the blindness of the people, and their incapability of +understanding, to their own grossness of heart (xiii. 14, +15). +</p> + +<p> +Mark v. 37: <q>The ship was freighted,</q> in St. Matthew, +is altered into, <q>the ship was covered</q> with the waves +(viii. 34). +</p> + +<p> +Mark vi. 9 <q>Money in the girdle,</q> changed into, +<q>money in the girdles</q> (x. 9). +</p> + +<p> +Mark ix. 42: <q>A millstone were put on his neck,</q> +changed to, <q>were hung about his neck</q> (xviii. 6). +</p> + +<p> +Mark x. 17: <q>Sell all thou hast;</q> Matt. xix. 21, <q>all +thy possessions.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Mark xii. 30: <q>He took a woman;</q> Matt. xxii. 25, +<q>he married.</q> +</p> + +<p> +But if it be evident that the author of St. Matthew's +Gospel laid under contribution the material used by St. +Mark, it is also clear that he did not use St. Mark's +Gospel as it stands. He had the fragmentary memorabilia +of which it was made up, or a large number of +them, but unarranged. He sorted them and wove them +<pb n='178'/><anchor id='Pg178'/> +in with the <q>Logia</q> written by St. Matthew, and <emph>afterwards</emph>, +independently, without knowledge, probably, of +what had been done by the compiler of the first Gospel, +St. Mark compiled his. Thus St. Matthew's is the first +Gospel in order of composition, though much of the +material of St. Mark's Gospel was written and in circulation +first. +</p> + +<p> +This will appear when we see how independently of +one another the compiler of St. Matthew and St. Mark +arrange their <q>memorabilia.</q> +</p> + +<p> +It is unnecessary to do more to illustrate this than to +take the contents of Matt. iv.—xiii. +</p> + +<p> +According to St. Matthew, after the Sermon on the +Mount, Christ heals the leper, then enters Capernaum, +where he receives the prayer of the centurion, and +forthwith enters into Peter's house, where he cures the +mother-in-law, and the same night crosses the sea. +</p> + +<p> +But according to St. Mark, Christ cast out the unclean +spirit in the synagogue at Capernaum, then healed +Peter's wife's mother, and, not the same night but long +after, crossed the sea. On his return he went through +the villages preaching, and then healed the leper. +</p> + +<p> +The accounts are the same, but the order is altogether +different. The deutero-Matthew must have had the +material used by Mark under his eye, for he adopts it +into his narrative; but he cannot have had St. Mark's +Gospel, or he would not have so violently disturbed the +order of events. +</p> + +<p> +The compiler has been guilty of an inaccuracy in the +use of <q>Gergesenes</q> instead of Gadarenes. St. Mark is +right. Gadara was situated near the river Hieromax, +east of the Sea of Galilee, over against Scythopolis and +Tiberias, and capital of Peraea. This agrees exactly with +what is said in the Gospels of the miracle performed +<pb n='179'/><anchor id='Pg179'/> +in the <q>country of the Gadarenes.</q> The swine rushed +violently down a steep place and perished in the lake. +Jesus had come from the N.W. shore of the Sea to +Gadara in the S.E. But the country of the Gergesenes +can hardly be the same as that of the Gadarenes. Gerasa, +the capital, was on the Jabbok, some days' journey +distant from the lake. The deutero-Matthew was therefore +ignorant of the topography of the neighbourhood +whence Levi, that is Matthew, was called. +</p> + +<p> +St. Mark says that Christ healed one demoniac in the +synagogue of Capernaum, then crossed the lake, and +healed the second in Gadara. But St. Matthew, or +rather the Greek compiler of St. Matthew's Gospel, has +fused these two events into one, and makes Christ heal +both possessed men in the country of the Gergesenes. +In like manner we have twice the healing of two blind +men (ix. 27 and xx. 30), whereas the other evangelists +know of only single blind men being healed on both +occasions. How comes this? The compiler had two +accounts of each miracle of healing the blind, slightly +varying. He thought they referred to the same occasion, +but to different persons, and therefore made Christ +heal two men, whereas he had given sight to but one. +</p> + +<p> +In the former case the compiler had not such a circumstantial +account of the restoration to sound mind of +the demoniac in the synagogue as St. Mark had received +from St. Peter. He knew only that on the occasion of +Christ's visit to the Sea of Tiberias he had recovered +two men who were possessed, and so he made the healing +of both take place simultaneously at the same spot. +</p> + +<p> +An equally remarkable instance of the fact that St. +Matthew's Gospel was made up of fragmentary <q>recollections</q> +by various eye-witnesses, is that of the dumb +man possessed with a devil, in ix. 32. At Capernaum, +<pb n='180'/><anchor id='Pg180'/> +after having restored Jairus' daughter to life and healed +the two blind men, the same day the dumb man is +brought to him. The devil is cast out, the dumb speaks, +and the Pharisees say, <q>He casteth out devils through +the prince of the devils.</q> +</p> + +<p> +This is exactly the same account which has been used +by St. Luke (xi. 14). But in xii. 22 we have the same +incident over again. There is brought unto Christ one +possessed with a devil, blind and dumb; him Christ +heals; whereupon the Pharisees say, <q>This fellow doth +not cast out devils but by Beelzebub the prince of the +devils.</q> Then follows the solemn warning against blasphemy. +</p> + +<p> +It is clear that the Greek compiler of St. Matthew's +Gospel must have had two independent accounts of this +miracle, one with the warning against blasphemy appended +to it, the other without. He gives both accounts, +one as occurring at Capernaum, the other much later, +after Jesus had gone about Galilee preaching, and the +Pharisees had conspired against him. +</p> + +<p> +St. Matthew says that after the healing of Peter's +wife's mother, Jesus, that same evening, cured many +sick, and in the night crossed to the country of the Gergesenes. +But St. Mark says that he remained that night +at Capernaum, and rose early next morning before day, +and went into a solitary place. According to him, this +crossing over the sea did not occur till long after. +</p> + +<p> +The following table will show how remarkably discordant +is the arrangement of events in the two evangels. +The order of succession differs, but not the events and +teaching recorded; surely a proof that both writers composed +these Gospels out of similar but fragmentary accounts +available to both. The following table will show +this disagreement at a glance. +</p> + +<pb n='181'/><anchor id='Pg181'/> + +<table rend="latexcolumns: 'p{3.5cm} p{3.5cm}'; tblcolumns: 'lw(30) lw(30)'"> +<row><cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>St. Matthew.</hi></cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>St. Mark.</hi></cell></row> +<row><cell>(At Capernaum), iv. 13.</cell><cell>(At Capernaum), i. 21.</cell></row> +<row><cell>1. Goes about preaching in the +villages of Galilee (23), 1.</cell><cell>Heals man with unclean spirit +(23-28).</cell></row> +<row><cell>2. Sermon on the Mount (v.-vii.).</cell> + <cell>5. Peter's mother-in-law healed (30, 31).</cell></row> +<row><cell>3. Leper cleansed (viii. 2-4).</cell> + <cell>6. At even heals the sick (32-34).</cell></row> +<row><cell>4. Centurion's servant healed (5-13).</cell><cell></cell></row> +<row><cell>5. Peter's wife's mother healed (14, 15).</cell> + <cell>Next day rises early and goes into a solitary place (35-37). +(Leaves Capernaum).</cell></row> +<row><cell>6. At even cures the sick (16).</cell> + <cell>1. Goes about the villages of Galilee (38-39).</cell></row> +<row><cell>7. Same night crosses the sea (18-27).</cell> + <cell>3. Heals the leper (40, 41).</cell></row> +<row><cell>(In the country of Gergesenes).</cell><cell>(Outside the town of Capernaum), 45.</cell></row> +<row><cell>8. Heals two demoniacs (28-39).</cell><cell></cell></row> +<row><cell>(Returns to Capernaum), ix. 1.</cell><cell>(Returns to Capernaum), ii. 1.</cell></row> +<row><cell>9. Sick of the palsy healed (2-8).</cell><cell>9. Sick of the palsy healed (2-13).</cell></row> +<row><cell>10. Calls Matthew (9).</cell><cell></cell></row> +<row><cell>11. Hemorrhitess cured (20-22).</cell><cell>10. Levi called (14).</cell></row> +<row><cell>12. Jairus' daughter restored (18-26).</cell><cell>19. Plucks the ears of corn (23-28).</cell></row> +<row><cell>13. Two blind men healed (27-30).</cell><cell>20. Heals the withered hand (iii. 1-5).</cell></row> +<row><cell>14. Dumb man healed (32, 33).</cell><cell>21. Consultation against Jesus (6). (Leaves Capernaum), 7.</cell></row> +<row><cell>15. Warning against blasphemy (34).</cell><cell>6. Heals many sick (10-12).</cell></row> +<row><cell>(Goes about Galilee), 35 and xi. 1.</cell><cell>Goes into a mountain and</cell></row> +<row><cell>16. Sends out the Twelve (x).</cell><cell>chooses the Twelve (13-19).</cell></row> +<row><cell>(Probably at Capernaum).</cell><cell>15, 23. The Pharisees blaspheme;</cell></row> +<row><cell>17. John's disciples come to him (xi. 2-6).</cell><cell>warning against blasphemy (22-30).</cell></row> +<row><cell>18. Denunciation of cities of Galilee (20-24).</cell><cell>24. Mother and brethren seek him (31-35).</cell></row> +<row><cell>19. Plucks the ears of com (xii. 1-9).</cell><cell>25. Teaches from the ship; parable +of the sower (iv. 1-20).</cell></row> +<row><cell>20. Heals the withered hand (10-13).</cell><cell>7. Crosses the lake in a storm (35-41).</cell></row> +<row><cell>21. Consultation against Jesus (14).</cell><cell>(In the country of Gadarenes).</cell></row> +<row><cell>(Leaves Capernaum), 15.</cell><cell>8. Heals the demoniac (v. 1-20).</cell></row> +<row><cell>22. Heals deaf and dumb man (22).</cell><cell>(Returns to Capernaum), 21.</cell></row> +<row><cell>23. Denunciation of blasphemy (24-32).</cell><cell>11. Hemorrhitess healed (25-34).</cell></row> +<row><cell></cell><cell>12. Jairus' daughter restored (22-43).</cell></row> +<pb n='182'/><anchor id='Pg182'/> +<row><cell>24. Mother and brethren seek Jesus (46-50).</cell><cell>16. Sends out the Twelve (vi. 7-13).</cell></row> +<row><cell>25. Teaches from the ship; parable +of sower (xiii. 1-12).</cell><cell></cell></row> +<row><cell>(Returns to his own country), 53.</cell><cell></cell></row> +</table> + +<p> +The order in St. Luke is again different. Jesus calls +Levi, chooses the Twelve, preaches the sermon on the +plain, heals the Centurion's servant, goes then from place +to place preaching. Then occurs the storm on the lake, +and after having healed the demoniac Jesus returns to +Capernaum, cures the woman with the bloody flux, raises +Jairus' daughter and sends out the Twelve. +</p> + +<p> +In the Gospel of St. Mark, the parable of the sower is +spoken on <q>the same day</q> on which, in the evening, +Jesus crosses the lake in a storm. +</p> + +<p> +In the Gospel of St. Matthew, this parable is spoken +long after, on <q>the same day</q> as his mother and brethren +seek him, and this is after he has been in the +country of the Gadarenes, has returned to Capernaum, +gone about Galilee preaching, come back again to Capernaum, +but has been driven away again by the conspiracy +of the Pharisees. +</p> + +<p> +It would appear from an examination of the two Gospels +that articles 23, 24 and 25 composed one document, +for both St. Matthew and St. Mark used it as it is, in a +block, only they differ as to where to build it in. +</p> + +<p> +19, 20 and 21 formed another block of Apostolic +Memorabilia, and was built in by the deutero-Matthew +in one place and by St. Mark in another. 5 and 6, and +again 9 and 10, were smaller compound recollections +which the compiler of St. Matthew's Gospel and St. +Mark obtained in their concrete forms. On the other +hand, 3 and 16 formed recollections consisting of but +one member, and are thrust into the narrative where the +two compilers severally thought most suitable. We are +<pb n='183'/><anchor id='Pg183'/> +therefore led by the comparison of the order in which +events in our Lord's life are related by St. Matthew and +St. Mark, to the conclusion, that the author of the first +Gospel as it stands had not St. Mark's Gospel in its +complete form before him when he composed his record. +</p> + +<p> +We have yet another proof that this was so. +</p> + +<p> +St. Matthew's Gospel is not so full in its account of +some incidents in our Lord's life as is the Gospel of St. +Mark. +</p> + +<p> +The compiler of the first Gospel has shown throughout +his work the greatest anxiety to insert every particular +he could gather relating to the doings and sayings of +Jesus. This has led him into introducing the same event +or saying over a second time if he found more than one +version of it. Had he all the material collected in St. +Mark's Gospel at his disposal, he would not have omitted +any of it. +</p> + +<p> +But we do not find in St. Matthew's Gospel the following +passages: +</p> + +<p> +Mark iv. 26-29, the parable of the seed springing +up, a type of the growth of the Gospel without further +labour to the minister than that of spreading it abroad. +The meaning of this parable is different from that in +Matt. xii. 24-30, and therefore the two parables are not +to be regarded as identical. +</p> + +<p> +Mark viii. 22-26. By omitting the narrative of what +took place at Bethsaida, an apparent gap occurs in the +account of St. Matthew after xvi. 4-12. The journey +across the sea leads one to expect that Christ and his +disciples will land somewhere on the coast. But Matthew, +without any mention of a landing at Bethsaida, +translates Jesus and the apostolic band to Caesarea +Philippi. But in Mark, Jesus and his disciples land at +Bethsaida, and after having performed a miracle of healing +there on a blind man—a miracle, the particulars of +<pb n='184'/><anchor id='Pg184'/> +which are very full and interesting—they go on foot to +Caesarea Philippi (viii. 27). That the compiler of the +first Gospel should have left this incident out deliberately +is not credible. +</p> + +<p> +Mark ix. 38, 39. In St. Matthew's collection of the +Logia of our Lord there existed probably the saying of +Christ, <q>He that is not with me is against me</q> (Matt. +xii. 30). St. Mark narrates the circumstances which +called forth this remark. But the deutero-Matthew +evidently did not know of these circumstances; he +therefore leaves the saying in his record without explanation.<note place='foot'><p>Mark ix. 37-50 is another instance of difference of order of sayings +between him and St. Matthew. +</p> +<p>With Mark ix. 37 corresponds Matt. x. 40.<lb/> +With Mark ix. 40 corresponds Matt. xii. 30.<lb/> +With Mark ix. 41 corresponds Matt. x. 42.<lb/> +With Mark ix. 42 corresponds Matt. xviii. 6.<lb/> +With Mark ix. 43 corresponds Matt. v. 29 and xviii. 8.<lb/> +With Mark ix. 47 corresponds Matt. xvii. 9.<lb/> +With Mark ix. 50 corresponds Matt. v. 13. +</p></note> +</p> + +<p> +Mark xii. 41-44. The beautiful story of the poor +widow throwing her two mites into the treasury, and +our blessed Lord's commendation of her charity, is not +to be found in St. Matthew's Gospel. Is it possible that +he could have omitted such an exquisite anecdote had +he possessed it? +</p> + +<p> +Mark xiv. 51, 52. The account of the young man following, +having the linen cloth cast about his naked body, +who, when caught, left the linen cloth in the hands of +his captors and ran off naked—an account which so +unmistakably exhibits the narrative to have been the +record of some eye-witness of the scene, is omitted in +St. Matthew. On this no stress, however, can be laid. +The deutero-Matthew may have thought the incident +too unimportant to be mentioned. +</p> + +<pb n='185'/><anchor id='Pg185'/> + +<p> +Enough has been said to show conclusively that the +deutero-Matthew, if we may so term the compiler of the +first Canonical Gospel, had not St. Mark's Gospel before +him when he wrote his own, that he did not cut up +the Gospel of Mark, and work the shreds into his own +web. +</p> + +<p> +Both Gospels are mosaics, composed in the same way. +But the Gospel of St. Mark was composed only of the +<q>recollections</q> of St. Peter, whereas that of St. Matthew +was more composite. Some of the pieces which were +used by Mark were used also by the deutero-Matthew. +This is patent: how it was so needs explanation. +</p> + +<p> +It is probable that when the apostles founded churches, +their instructions on the sayings and doings of Jesus were +taken down, and in the absence of the apostles were read +by the president of the congregation. The Epistles which +they sent were, we know, so read,<note place='foot'>Col. iv. 16; 1 Thess. v. 27.</note> and were handed on +from one church to another.<note place='foot'>Col. iv. 16.</note> But what was far more +precious to the early believers than any letters of the +apostles about the regulation of controversies, were their +recollections of the Lord, their Memorabilia, as Justin +calls them. The earliest records show us the Gospels +read at the celebration of the Eucharist.<note place='foot'>Apost. Const. viii. 5.</note> The ancient +Gospels were not divided into chapters, but into the +portions read on Sundays and festivals, like our <q>Church +Services.</q> Thus the Peschito version in use in the Syrian +churches was divided in this manner: <q>Fifth day of the +week of the Candidates</q> (Matt. ix. 5-17), <q>For the +commemoration of the Dead</q> (18-26), <q>Friday in the +fifth week in the Fast</q> (27-38), <q>For the commemoration +of the Holy Apostles</q> (36-38, x. 1-15), <q>For +the commemoration of Martyrs</q> (16-33), <q>Lesson for +the Dead</q> (34-42), <q>Oblation for the beheading of +<pb n='186'/><anchor id='Pg186'/> +John</q> (xi. 1-15), <q>Second day in the third week of +the Fast</q> (16-24). +</p> + +<p> +To these fragmentary records St. Luke alludes when +he says that <q>many had taken in hand to arrange in a +consecutive account (ἀνατάξασθαι διήγησιν) those things +which were most fully believed</q> amongst the faithful. +These he <q>traced up from the beginning accurately one +after another</q> (παρηκολουθηκότι ἄνωθεν πᾶσιν ἀκριβῶς +καθεξῆς). Here we have clearly the existence of records +disconnected originally, which many strung together in +consecutive order, and St. Luke takes pains, as he tells +us, to make this order chronological. +</p> + +<p> +Some Churches had certain Memorabilia, others had a +different set. That of Antioch had the recollections of +St. Peter, that of Jerusalem the recollections of St. James, +St. Simeon and St. Jude. St. Luke indicates the source +whence he drew his account of the nativity and early +years of the Lord,—the recollections of St. Mary, the +Virgin Mother, communicated to him orally. He speaks +of the Blessed Virgin as keeping the things that happened +in her heart and pondering on them.<note place='foot'>Luke ii. 19, 51.</note> Another +time it is contemporaries, Mary certainly included.<note place='foot'>Luke i. 66.</note> On +both occasions it is in reference to events connected +with our Lord's infancy. Why did he thus insist on her +having taken pains to remember these things? Surely +to show whence he drew his information. He narrates +these events on the testimony of her word; and her +word is to be relied on; for these things, he assures us, +were deeply impressed on her memory. +</p> + +<p> +The <q>Memorabilia</q> in use in the different Churches +founded by the apostles would probably be strung together +in such order as they were generally read. How +early the Church began to have a regulated order of +seasons, an ecclesiastical year, cannot be ascertained +<pb n='187'/><anchor id='Pg187'/> +with certainty; but every consideration leads us to suspect +that it grew up simultaneously with the constitution +of the Church. With the Church of the Hebrews this +was unquestionably the case. The Jews who believed +had grown up under a system of fasts and festivals +in regular series, and, as we know, they observed these +even after they were believers in Christ. Paul, who +broke with the Law in so many points, did not venture +to dispense with its sacred cycle of festivals. He hasted +to Jerusalem to attend the feast of Pentecost.<note place='foot'>Acts xx. 16.</note> At +Ephesus, even, he observed it.<note place='foot'>1 Cor. xvi. 8.</note> St. Jerome assures us +that Lent was instituted by the apostles.<note place='foot'>Epist. xxvii. ad Marcellam.</note> The Apostolic +Constitutions order the observance of the Sabbath, the +Lord's-day, Pentecost, Christmas, Epiphany, the days of +the Apostles, that of St. Stephen, and the anniversaries +of the Martyrs.<note place='foot'>Apost. Const. viii. 33.</note> Indeed, the observance of the Lord's-day, +instituted probably by St. Paul, involves the principle +which would include all other sacred commemorations; +for if one day was to be set apart as a memorial +of the resurrection, it is probable that others would be +observed in memory of the nativity, the passion, the +ascension, &c. +</p> + +<p> +As early as there was any sort of ecclesiastical year +observed, so early would the <q>Memorabilia</q> of the +apostles be arranged as appropriate to these seasons. +But such an arrangement would not be chronological; +therefore many took in hand, as St. Luke tells us, to +correct this, and he took special care to give the succession +of events as they occurred, not as they were read, +by obtaining information from the best sources available. +</p> + +<p> +It is probable that the <q>Recollections</q> of St. Peter, +written in disjointed notes by St. Mark, were in circulation +through many Churches before St. Mark composed +<pb n='188'/><anchor id='Pg188'/> +his Gospel out of them. From Antioch to Rome they +were read at the celebration of the divine mysteries; +and some of them, found in the Churches of Asia Minor, +have been taken by St. Luke into his Gospel. Others +circulating in Palestine were in the hands of the deutero-Matthew, +and grafted into his compilation. But as St. +Luke, St. Mark, and the composer of the first Gospel, acted +independently, their chronological sequences differ. Their +Gospels are three kaleidoscopic groups of the same pieces.<note place='foot'>St. Luke, however, has much that was not available to the deutero-Matthew, +and St. Mark rigidly confined himself to the use of St. Peter's +recollections only.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Had St. Matthew any other part in the composition +of the first Canonical Gospel than contributing to it his +<q>Syntax of the Lord's Sayings</q>? Of that we can say +nothing for certain. It is possible enough that many +of the <q>doings</q> of Jesus contained in the Gospel may +be memorabilia of St. Matthew, circulating in <emph>anecdota</emph>. +</p> + +<p> +A critical examination of St. Matthew's Gospel reveals +<emph>four</emph> sources whence it was drawn, three threads +of different texture woven into one. These are: +</p> + +<p> +1. The <q>Memorabilia</q> of St. Peter, used afterwards +by St. Mark. These the compiler of the first Gospel +attached mechanically to the rest of his material by +such formularies as <q>in those days,</q> <q>at that time,</q> +<q>then,</q> <q>after that,</q> <q>when he had said these things.</q> +</p> + +<p> +2. The <q>Logia of the Lord,</q> composed by St. Matthew. +</p> + +<p> +3. Another series of sayings and doings, from which +the following passages were derived: iii. 7-10, 12, iv. +3-11, viii. 19-22, ix. 27, 32-34, xi. 2-19. Some of +these were afterwards used by St. Luke.<note place='foot'>St. Luke's Gospel contains Hebraisms, yet he was not a Jew (Col. iv. +11, 14). This can only be accounted for by his using Aramaic texts which +he translated. From these the Acts of the Apostles are free.</note> Were these +by St. Matthew? It is possible. +</p> + +<pb n='189'/><anchor id='Pg189'/> + +<p> +4. To the fourth category belong chapters i. and ii., +iii. 3, xiv. 15, the redaction of iv. 12, 13, 14, 15, v. 1, 2, +19, vii. 22, 23, viii. 12, 17, x. 5, 6, xi. 2, xii. 17-21, +xiii. 35-43, 49, 50, the redaction of xiv. 13<hi rend='italic'>a</hi>, xiv. +28-31, xv. 24, xvii. 24<hi rend='italic'>b</hi>-27, xix. 17<hi rend='italic'>a</hi>, 19<hi rend='italic'>b</hi>, 28, xx. 16, +xxi. 2, 7, xxi. 4, 5, xxiii. 10, 13, 15, 23, 25, 27, 29, 35, +the redaction of xxiv. 3, 20, 51<hi rend='italic'>b</hi>, xxv. 30<hi rend='italic'>b</hi>, xxvi. 2, 15, +25, xxvii. 51-53, xxvii. 62-66, xxviii. 1<hi rend='italic'>a</hi>, 2-4, 8, 9, +11-15. +</p> + +<p> +Was this taken from a collection of the recollections +of St. Matthew, and the series 3 from another set of +Apostolic Memorabilia? That it is not possible to +decide. +</p> + +<p> +Into the reasons which have led to this separation of +the component parts 3, 4, the peculiarities of diction +which serve to distinguish them, we cannot enter here; +it would draw us too far from the main object of our +inquiry.<note place='foot'>Cf. Scholten: Das älteste Evangelium; Elberfeld, 1869. See also +on St. Matthew's and St. Mark's Gospels, Saunier: Ueber der Quellen +des Evang. Marc., Berlin, 1825; De Wette: Lehrb. d. Hist. Krit. Einleit. +in d. N.T., Berl. 1848; Baur: Der Ursprung der Synop. Evang., Stuttg. +1843; Köstlin: Das Markus Evang., Leipz. 1850; Wilke: Der Urevang., +Dresd. 1838; Réville: Etudes sur l'Evang. selon St. Matt., Leiden, +1862, &c.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The theory that the Synoptical Gospels were composed +of various disconnected materials, variously united +into consecutive biographies, was accepted by Bishop +Marsh, and it is the only theory which relieves the +theologian from the unsatisfactory obligation of making +<q>harmonies</q> of the Gospels. If we adopt the received +popular conception of the composition of the Synoptical +Gospels, we are driven to desperate shifts to fit them +together, to reconcile their discrepancies. +</p> + +<p> +The difficulty, the impossibility, of effecting such a +harmony of the statements of the evangelists was felt +<pb n='190'/><anchor id='Pg190'/> +by the early Christian writers. Origen says that the +attempt to reconcile them made him giddy. Among +the writings of Tatian was a Diatessaron or harmony of +the Gospels. Eusebius adventured on an explanation, +<q>of the discords of the Evangelists.</q> St. Ambrose +exercised his pen on a concordance of St. Matthew with +St. Luke; St. Augustine wrote <q>De consensu Evangelistarum,</q> +and in his effort to force them into agreement +was driven to strange suppositions—as that when +our Lord went through Jericho there was a blind man +by the road-side leading into the city, and another by +the road-side leading out of it, and that both were healed +under very similar circumstances. +</p> + +<p> +Apollinaris, in the famous controversy about Easter, +declared that it was irreconcilable with the Law that +Christ should have suffered on the great feast-day, as +related by St. Matthew, but that the Gospels disagreed +among themselves on the day upon which he suffered.<note place='foot'>Chron. Paschale, p. 6, ed. Ducange. Τῆδε μεγάλη ἡμέρᾳ τῶν ἀζύμων +αὐτὸς ἔπαθεν, καὶ διηγοῦνται Ματθαῖον οὕτω λέγειν, ὅθεν ἀσύμφωνος, +τῷ νόμῳ ἡ νόησις αὐτῶν, καὶ στασιάζειν δοκαῖν κατ᾽ αὐτοὺς τὰ εὐαγγελία.</note> +The great Gerson sought to remove the difficulties in a +<q>Concordance of the Evangelists,</q> or <q>Monotessaron.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Such an admission as that the Synoptical Gospels +were composed in the manner I have pointed out, in no +way affects their incomparable value. They exhibit to +us as in a mirror what the apostles taught and what +their disciples believed. Faith does not depend on the +chronological sequence of events, but on the verity of +those events. <q>See!</q> exclaimed St. Chrysostom, <q>how +through the contradictions in the evangelical history +in minor particulars, the truth of the main facts transpires, +and the trustworthiness of the authors is made +manifest!</q> +</p> + +<p> +In everything, both human and divine, there is an +<pb n='191'/><anchor id='Pg191'/> +union of infallibility in that which is of supreme importance, +and of fallibility in that which concerns not salvation. +The lenses through which the light of the world +shone to remote ages were human scribes liable to error. +Θεῖα πάντα καὶ ἀνθρώπινα πάντα, was the motto Tholuck +inscribed on his copy of the Sacred Oracles. +</p> + +<p> +Having established the origin of the Gospel of St. +Matthew, we are able now to see our way to establishing +that of the Gospel of the Twelve, or Gospel of the +Hebrews. +</p> + +<p> +No doubt it also was a mosaic made out of the +same materials as the Gospel of St. Matthew. There +subsisted side by side in Palestine a Greek-speaking +and an Aramaic-speaking community of Christians, the +one composed of proselytes from among the Gentiles, +the other of converts from among the Jews. This +Gentile Church in Palestine was scarcely influenced by +St. Paul; it was under the rule of St. Peter, and therefore +was more united to the Church at Jerusalem in +habits of thought, in religious customs, in reverence +for the Law, than the Churches of <q>Asia</q> and Greece. +There was no antagonism between them. There was, +on the contrary, close intercourse and mutual sympathy. +</p> + +<p> +Each community, probably, had its own copies of +Apostolic Memorabilia, not identical, but similar. Some +of the <q>recollections</q> were perhaps written only in +Aramaic, or only in Greek, so that the collection of one +community may have been more complete in some particulars +than the collection of the other. The necessity +to consolidate these Memorabilia into a consecutive narrative +became obvious to both communities, and each +composed <q>in order</q> the scraps of record of our Lord's +sayings and doings they possessed and read in their sacred +mysteries. St. Matthew's <q>Logia of the Lord</q> was used +in the compilation of the Hebrew Gospel; one of the +<pb n='192'/><anchor id='Pg192'/> +translations of it, which, according to Papias, were +numerous, formed the basis also of the Greek Gospel. +</p> + +<p> +The material used by both communities, the motive +actuating both communities, were the same; the results +were consequently similar. That they were not absolutely +identical was the consequence of their having +been compiled independently. +</p> + +<p> +Thus the resemblance was sufficient to make St. Jerome +suppose the Hebrew Gospel to be the same as the +Greek first Gospel; nevertheless, the differences were as +great as has been pointed out in the preceding pages. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='193'/><anchor id='Pg193'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>II. The Clementine Gospel.</head> + +<p> +We have now considered all the fragments of the +Gospel of the Hebrews that have been preserved to us +in the writings of Justin Martyr, Origen, Jerome and +Epiphanius. +</p> + +<p> +But there is another storehouse of texts and references +to a Gospel regarded as canonical at a very +early date by the Nazarene or Ebionite Church. This +storehouse is that curious collection of the sayings and +doings of St. Peter, the Clementine Recognitions and +Homilies. +</p> + +<p> +That the Gospel used by the author or authors of the +Clementines was that of the Hebrews cannot be shown; +but it is probable that it was so. +</p> + +<p> +The Clementines were a production of the Judaizing +party in the Primitive Church, and it was this party +which, we know, used the Gospel of the Twelve, or of +the Hebrews. +</p> + +<p> +The doctrine in the Clementine Recognitions and Homilies +bears close relations to that of the Jewish Essenes. +The sacrificial system of the Jewish Church is rejected. +It was not part of the revelation to Moses, but a tradition +of the elders.<note place='foot'>Homil. iii. 45.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Distinction in meats is an essential element of religion. +Through unclean meats devils enter into men, +and produce disease. To eat of unclean meats places +men in the power of evil spirits, who lead them to +<pb n='194'/><anchor id='Pg194'/> +idolatry and all kinds of wickedness. So long as men +abstain from these, so long are the devils powerless +against them.<note place='foot'>Homil. ix. 9-12.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The observance of times is also insisted on—times at +which the procreation of children is lawful or unlawful; +and disease and death result from neglect of this distinction. +<q>In the beginning of the world men lived +long, and had no diseases. But when through carelessness +they neglected the observance of the proper times +... they placed their children under innumerable +afflictions.</q><note place='foot'>Homil. xix. 22.</note> It is this doctrine that is apparently combated +by St. Paul.<note place='foot'>Gal. iv. 10.</note> He relaxes the restraints which +Nazarene tradition imposed on marital intercourse. +</p> + +<p> +The rejection of sacrifices obliged the Nazarene Church +to discriminate between what is true and false in the +Scriptures; and, with the Essenes, they professed liberty +to judge the Scriptures and reject what opposed their +ideas. Thus they refused to acknowledge that <q>Adam +was a transgressor, Noah drunken, Abraham guilty of +having three wives, Jacob of cohabiting with two sisters, +Moses was a murderer,</q> &c.<note place='foot'>Homil. ii. 38, 50, 52.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The moral teaching of the Clementines is of the most +exalted nature. Chastity is commended in a glowing, +eloquent address of St. Peter.<note place='foot'>Homil. xiii. 13-21.</note> Poverty is elevated into +an essential element of virtue. Property is, in itself, an +evil. <q>To all of us possessions are sins. The deprivation +of these is the removal of sins.</q> <q>To be saved, no +one should possess anything; but since many have possessions, +or, in other words, sins, God sends, in love, +afflictions ... that those with possessions, but yet +having some measure of love to God, may, by temporary +inflictions, be saved from eternal punishments.</q><note place='foot'>Homil. xv. 9; see also 7.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='195'/><anchor id='Pg195'/> + +<p> +<q>Those who have chosen the blessings of the future +kingdom have no right to regard the things here as +their own, since they belong to a foreign king (<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> the +prince of this world), with the exception only of water +and bread, and those things procured by the sweat of +the brow, necessary for the maintenance of life, and also +one garment.</q><note place='foot'>Homil. xv. 7.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Thus St. Peter is represented as living on water, bread +and olives, and having but one cloak and tunic.<note place='foot'>Homil. xii. 6.</note> And +Hegesippus, as quoted by Eusebius, describes St. James, +first bishop of Jerusalem, as <q>drinking neither wine +nor fermented liquors, and abstaining from animal food. +A razor never came upon his head, he never anointed +himself with oil, and never used a bath. He never wore +woollen, but linen garments.</q><note place='foot'>Hist. Eccl. ii. 23.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The Ebionites looked upon Christ as the Messiah +rather than as God incarnate. They gave him the title +of Son of God, and claimed for him the highest honour, +but hesitated to term him God. In their earnest maintenance +of the Unity of the Godhead against Gnosticism, +they shrank from appearing to divide the Godhead. +Thus, in the Clementines, St. Peter says, <q>Our Lord +neither asserted that there were gods except the Creator +of all, nor did he proclaim himself to be God, but he +pronounced him blessed who called him the Son of that +God who ordered the universe.</q><note place='foot'>Homil. xvi. 15.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The Ebionitism of the Clementines is controversial. +It was placed face to face with Gnosticism. Simon +Magus, the representative of Gnosticism, as St. Peter is +the representative of orthodoxy, in the Recognitions and +Homilies, contends that the God of the Jews, the Demiurge, +the Creator of the world, is evil. He attempts +to prove this by showing that the world is full of pain +<pb n='196'/><anchor id='Pg196'/> +and misery. The imperfections of the world are tokens +of imperfection in the Creator. He takes the Old Testament. +He shows from texts that the God of the Jews +is represented as angry, jealous, repentant; that those +whom He favours are incestuous, adulterers, murderers. +</p> + +<p> +This doctrine St. Peter combats by showing that present +evils are educative, curative, disguised blessings; +and by calling all those passages in Scripture which +attribute to God human passions, corruptions of the +sacred text in one of its many re-editions. <q>God who +created the world has not in reality such a character as +the Scriptures assign Him,</q> says St. Peter; <q>for such a +character is contrary to the nature of God, and therefore +manifestly is falsely attributed to Him.</q><note place='foot'>Homil. xviii. 22.</note> +</p> + +<p> +From this brief sketch of the doctrines of the Ebionite +Church from which the Clementines emanated, it will +be seen that its Gospel must have resembled that of the +Hebrews, or have been founded on it. The <q>Recollections +of the Twelve</q> probably existed in several +forms, some more complete than others, some purposely +corrupted. The Gospel of the Hebrews was in use in +the orthodox Nazarene Church. The Gospel used by +the author of the Clementines was in use in the same +community. It is therefore natural to conclude their +substantial identity. +</p> + +<p> +But though substantially the same, and both closely +related to the Canonical Gospel of St. Matthew, they +were not completely identical; for the Clementine +Gospel diverged from the received text of St. Matthew +more widely than we are justified in concluding did that +of the Gospel of the Hebrews. +</p> + +<p> +That it was in Greek and not in Hebrew is also probable. +The converts to Christianity mentioned in the +Recognitions and Homilies are all made from Heathenism, +<pb n='197'/><anchor id='Pg197'/> +and speak Greek. It is at Caesarea, Tripolis, Laodicaea, +that the churches are established which are +spoken of in these books,—churches filled, not with +Jews, but with Gentile converts, and therefore requiring +a Gospel in Greek. +</p> + +<p> +The Clementine Gospel was therefore probably a +sister compilation to that of the Hebrews and of St. +Matthew. The Memorabilia of the Apostles had circulated +in Hebrew in the communities of pure Jews, in +Greek in those of Gentile proselytes. These Memorabilia +were collected into one book by the Hebrew +Church, by the Nazarene proselytes, and by the compiler +of the Canonical Gospel of St. Matthew. This will +explain their similarity and their differences. +</p> + +<p> +From what has been said of the Clementines, it will +be seen that their value is hardly to be over-estimated +as a source of information on the religious position +of the Petrine Church. Hilgenfeld says: <q>There is +scarcely any single writing which is of such importance +for the history of the earliest stage of Christianity, and +which has yielded such brilliant disclosures at the hands +of the most careful critics, with regard to the earliest +history of the Christian Church, as the writings ascribed +to the Roman Clement, the Recognitions and the Homilies.</q><note place='foot'>Hilgenfeld: Die Clementinischen Recognitionen und Homilien; Jena, +1848. Compare also Uhlhorn: Die Homilien und Recognitionen; Göttingen, +1854; and Schliemann: Die Clementinen; Hamburg, 1844.</note> +</p> + +<p> +No conclusion has been reached in regard to the author +of the Clementines. It is uncertain whether the Homilies +and the Recognitions are from the same hand. +Unfortunately, the Greek of the Recognitions is lost. +We have only a Latin translation by Rufinus of Aquileia +(d. 410), who took liberties with his text, as he +informs Bishop Gaudentius, to whom he addressed his +<pb n='198'/><anchor id='Pg198'/> +preface. He found that the copies of the book he had +differed from one another in some particulars. Portions +which he could not understand he omitted. There is +reason to suspect that he altered such quotations as he +found in it from the Gospel used by the author, and +brought them, perhaps unconsciously, into closer conformity +to the received text. In examining the Gospel +employed by the author of the Clementines, we must +therefore trust chiefly to those texts quoted in the +Homilies. +</p> + +<p> +Various opinions exist as to the date of the Clementines. +They have been attributed to the first, second, +third and fourth centuries. If we were to base our +arguments on the work as it stands, the date to be +assigned to it is the first half of the third century. A +passage from the Recognitions is quoted by Origen in +his Commentary on Genesis, written in A.D. 231; and +mention is made in the work of the extension of the +Roman franchise to all nations under the dominion of +Rome, an event which took place in the reign of Caracalla +(A.D. 211). The Recognitions also contain an +extract from the work <hi rend='italic'>De Fato</hi>, ascribed to Bardesanes, +but which was really written by one of his scholars. +But it has been thought, not without great probability, +that this passage did not originally belong to the Recognitions, +but was thrust into the text about the middle of +the third century.<note place='foot'>Merx, Bardesanes von Edessa, Halle, 1863, p. 113. That the <q>Recognitions</q> +have undergone interpolation at different times is clear from +Book iii., where chapters 2-12 are found in some copies, but not in the +best MSS.</note> +</p> + +<p> +I have already pointed out the fact that the Church +in the Clementines is never called <q>Christian;</q> that the +word is never employed. It belonged to the community +established by Paul, and with it the Church of Peter had +<pb n='199'/><anchor id='Pg199'/> +no sympathy. To believe in the mission of Christ is, in +the Clementine Homilies, to become a Jew. The convert +from Gentiledom by passing into the Church passes +under the Law, becomes, as we are told, a Jew. But the +convert is made subject not to the Law as corrupted by +the traditions of the elders, but to the original Law as +re-proclaimed by Christ. +</p> + +<p> +The author of the Recognitions twice makes St. Peter +say that the only difference existing between him and +the Jews is in the manner in which they view Christ. +To the apostles he is the Messiah come in humility, to +come again in glory. But the Jews deny that the Messiah +was to have two manifestations, and therefore reject +Christ.<note place='foot'>Recog. i. 43, 50.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Although we cannot rely on the exact words of the +quotations from the Gospel in the <q>Recognitions,</q> there +are references to the history of our Lord which give indications +of narratives contained in the Gospel used by +the pseudo-Clement, therefore by the Ebionite Christians +whose views he represents. We will go through all +such passages in the order in which they occur in the +<q>Recognitions.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The first allusion to a text parallel to one in the Canonical +Gospels is this: <q>Not only did they not believe, +but they added blasphemy to unbelief, saying he was a +gluttonous man and slave of his belly, and that he was +influenced by a demon.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> i. 40.</note> The parallel passage is in St. +Matthew xi. 18, 19. It is curious to notice that in the +Recognitions the order is inverted. In St. Matthew, +<q>they say, He hath a devil.... They say, Behold a +man gluttonous, and a wine-bibber;</q> and that the term +<q>wine-bibber</q> is changed into <q>slave of his belly.</q> +Probably therefore in this instance the author of the +<pb n='200'/><anchor id='Pg200'/> +Clementines borrowed from a different text from St. +Matthew. +</p> + +<p> +In the very next chapter the Recognitions approaches +St. Matthew closer than the lost Gospel. For in the +account of the crucifixion it is said that <q>the veil of the +Temple was rent,</q> whereas the Gospel of the Hebrews +stated that the lintel of the Temple had fallen. But +here I suspect we have the hand of Rufinus the translator. +We can understand how, finding in the text an +inaccuracy of quotation, as he supposed, he altered it. +</p> + +<p> +The next passage relates to the resurrection. <q>For +some of them, watching the place with all care, when +they could not prevent his rising again, <hi rend='italic'>said that he was +a magician</hi>; others pretended that he was stolen away.</q><note place='foot'>Recog. i. 42.</note> +The Canonical Gospels say nothing about this difference +of opinion among the Jews, but St. Matthew states that +it was commonly reported among them that his disciples +had stolen his body away. Not a word about any suspicion +that he had exercised witchcraft, a charge which +we know from Celsus was brought against Christ later. +</p> + +<p> +The next passage is especially curious. It relates to +the unction of Christ. <q>He was the Son of God, and +the beginning of all things; he became man; <hi rend='italic'>him God +anointed with oil that was taken from the wood of the +Tree of Life</hi>; and from this anointing he is called +Christ.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> 45.</note> Then St. Peter goes on to argue: <q>In the present +life, Aaron, the first high-priest, was anointed with +a composition of chrism, which was made after the pattern +of that spiritual ointment of which we have spoken +before.... But if any one else was anointed with +the same ointment, as deriving virtue from it, he became +either king, or prophet, or priest. If, then, this temporal +grace, compounded by men, had such efficacy, <hi rend='italic'>consider +<pb n='201'/><anchor id='Pg201'/> +how potent was that ointment extracted by God from a +branch of the Tree of Life</hi>, when that which was made +by men could confer so excellent dignities among men.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Here we have trace of an apparent myth relating to +the unction of Jesus at his baptism. Was there any +passage to this effect in the Hebrew Gospel translated +by St. Jerome? It is hard to believe it. Had there +been, we might have expected him to allude to it. +</p> + +<p> +But that there was some unction of Christ mentioned +in the early Gospels, I think is probable. If there were +not, how did Jesus, so early, obtain the name of Christ, +the Anointed One? That name was given to him before +his divinity was wholly believed in, and when he was +regarded only as the Messiah—nay, even before the +apostles and disciples had begun to see in him anything +higher than a teacher sent from God, a Rabbi founding a +new school. It is more natural to suppose that the surname +of the Anointed One was given to him because of +some event in his life with which they were acquainted, +than because they applied to him prophecies at a time +when certainly they had no idea that such prophecies +were spoken of him. +</p> + +<p> +If some anointing did really accompany the baptism, +then one can understand the importance attached to the +baptism by the Elkesaites and other Gnostic sects; and +how they had some ground for their doctrine that Jesus +became the Christ only on his baptism. It is remarkable +that, according to St. John's Gospel, it is directly +after the baptism that Andrew tells his brother Simon, +<q>We have found the Messias, which is ... the Anointed.</q><note place='foot'>John i. 41.</note> +Twice in the Acts is Jesus spoken of as the Anointed: +<q>Thy holy child Jesus, whom Thou hast anointed.</q><note place='foot'>Acts iv. 27.</note> +The second occasion is remarkable, for it again apparently +associates the anointing with the baptism. +<pb n='202'/><anchor id='Pg202'/> +St. Peter <q>opened his mouth and said ... The word +which God sent unto the children of Israel ... that +word ye know, which was published throughout all +Judaea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which +John preached; how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth +with the Holy Ghost and with power.</q><note place='foot'>Acts x. 34-38.</note> I do not say +that such an anointing did take place, but that it is probable +it did. When Gnosticism fixed on this anointing +as the communication to Christ of his divine mission +and Messiahship, then mention of it was cut out of the +Gospels in possession of the Church, and consequently +the Canonical Gospels are without it to this day. But +the Christian ceremonial of baptism, which was founded +on what took place at the baptism of the Lord, maintained +this unction as part of the sacrament, in the +Eastern Church never to be dissociated from the actual +baptism, but in the Western Church to be separated +from it and elevated into a separate sacrament—Confirmation. +</p> + +<p> +But if in the original Hebrew Gospel there was mention +of the anointing of Jesus at or after his baptism, as +I contend is probable, this mention did not include an +account of the oil being expressed from the branch of +the Tree of Life; that is a later addition, in full agreement +with the fantastic ideas which were gradually permeating +and colouring Judaic Christianity. +</p> + +<p> +After the baptism, <q><hi rend='italic'>Jesus put out</hi>, by the grace of +baptism, <hi rend='italic'>that fire which the priest kindled for sins</hi>; for, +from the time when he appeared, the chrism has ceased, +by which the priesthood or the prophetic or the kingly +office was conferred.</q><note place='foot'>Recog. i. c. 48.</note> The Homilies are more explicit: +<q>He put out the fire on the altars.</q><note place='foot'>Πῦρ βώμων ἐσβέννυσεν, Homil. iii. 26.</note> There was +therefore in the Gospel used by the author of the +<pb n='203'/><anchor id='Pg203'/> +Clementines an account of our Lord, after his anointing, +entering into the Temple and extinguishing the altar +fires. +</p> + +<p> +In St. John's Gospel, on which we may rely for the +chronological sequence of events with more confidence +than we can on the Synoptical Gospels, the casting of the +money-changers out of the Temple took place not long +after the baptism. In St. Matthew's account it took +place at the close of the ministry, in the week of the +Passion. That this exhibition of his authority marked +the opening of his three years' ministry rather than the +close is most probable, and then it was, no doubt, that +he extinguished the fires on the altar, according to the +Gospel used by the author of the Clementines. Whether +this incident occurred in the Gospel of the Hebrews it +is not possible to say. +</p> + +<p> +We are told that <q>James and John, the sons of +Zebedee, had a command ... not to enter into their +cities (<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> the cities of the Samaritans), nor to bring the +word of preaching to them.</q><note place='foot'>Recog. i. c. 57.</note> <q>And when our Master +sent us forth to preach, he commanded us, But into +whatsoever city or house we should enter, we should +say, Peace be to this house. And if, said he, a son of +peace be there, your peace shall come upon him; but if +there be not, your peace shall return unto you. Also, +that going from house to city, we should shake off upon +them the very dust which adhered to our feet. But it +shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and +Gomorrha in the day of judgment than for that city or +house.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> ii. 30, also ii. 3.</note> The Gospel of the Clementines, it is plain, +contained an account of the sending forth of the apostles +almost identical with that in St. Matthew, x. +</p> + +<p> +<q>And ... Jesus himself declared that John was +<pb n='204'/><anchor id='Pg204'/> +greater than all men and all the prophets.</q><note place='foot'>Recog. i. c. 60.</note> The corresponding +passage is in St. Matthew.<note place='foot'>Matt. xi. 9, 11.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The Beatitudes, or some of them, were in it. <q>He +said, <hi rend='italic'>Blessed are the poor</hi>; and promised earthly rewards; +and promised that those who maintain righteousness +shall be satisfied with meat and drink.</q><note place='foot'>Recog. i. c. 61, ii. c. 28.</note> <q>Our Master, +inviting his disciples to patience, impressed on them the +blessing of peace, which was to be preserved with the +labour of patience.... He charges (the believers) to +have peace among themselves, and says to them, <hi rend='italic'>Blessed +are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the very sons +of God</hi>.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> ii. 27, 29.</note> <q>The Father, whom only those can see who +are pure in heart.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> ii. 22, 28.</note> Again strong similarity with slight +difference. <q>He said, <hi rend='italic'>I am not come to send peace on +earth, but a sword; and henceforth you shall see father +separated from son, son from father, husband from wife, +and wife from husband, mother from daughter, and +daughter from mother, brother from brother, father-in-law +from daughter-in-law, friend from friend</hi>.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> ii. 28, 32.</note> This is +fuller than the corresponding passage in St. Matthew.<note place='foot'>Matt. x. 34-36.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<q><hi rend='italic'>It is enough for the disciple to be as his master.</hi></q><note place='foot'>Recog. ii. 27; Matt. x. 25.</note> +<q>He mourned over those who lived in riches and luxury, +and bestowed nothing upon the poor; showing that they +must render an account, because they did not pity their +neighbours, even when they were in poverty, whom they +ought to love as themselves.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> 29.</note> <q>In like manner he +charged the Scribes and Pharisees during the last period +of his teaching ... with hiding the key of knowledge +which they had handed down to them from Moses, by +which the gate of the heavenly kingdom might be +<pb n='205'/><anchor id='Pg205'/> +opened.</q><note place='foot'>Recog. ii. 30.</note> The key of knowledge occurs only in St. +Luke's Gospel. Had the author of the Clementines any +knowledge of that Gospel? I do not think so, or we +should find other quotations from St. Luke. St. Matthew +says, <q>Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! +for ye shut up (κλείετε) the kingdom of heaven.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. xxiii. 13.</note> St. +Luke says, <q>Ye have taken away the key (τὴν κλεῖδα) of +knowledge.</q><note place='foot'>Luke xi. 52.</note> The author of the Clementines says, <q>Ye +have hidden the key,</q> not <q>taken away.</q> I do not +think, when the expression in St. Matthew suggests the +<q>key,</q> that we need suppose that the author of the +Recognitions quoted from St. Luke; rather, I presume, +from his own Gospel, which in this passage resembled +the words in St. Luke rather than those in St. Matthew, +without, however, being exactly the same.<note place='foot'>Recog. ii. c. 46: <q>They must seek his kingdom and righteousness +which the Scribes and Pharisees, having received the key of knowledge, +have not shut in but shut out.</q> The same Syro-Chaldaic expression has +been variously rendered in Greek by St. Matthew and St. Luke. See +Lightfoot: Horae Hebraicae in Luc. xi. 52.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<q><hi rend='italic'>Every kingdom divided against itself shall not stand.</hi></q><note place='foot'>Recog. ii. 31, 35.</note> +<q><hi rend='italic'>Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, +and all these things shall be added to you.</hi></q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> iii. 41, 37, 20.</note> The writer +knew, in the same terms as St. Matthew, our Lord's +sayings: <q><hi rend='italic'>Give not that which is holy to dogs, neither +cast your pearls before swine.</hi></q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> iii. i.</note> <q><hi rend='italic'>Whosoever shall look +upon a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery +with her in his heart.... If thy right eye offend thee, +pluck it out, and cast it from thee; for it is profitable for +thee that one of thy members perish, rather than thy whole +body be cast into hell-fire.</hi></q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> vii. 37.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='206'/><anchor id='Pg206'/> + +<p> +The woes denounced on the Scribes and Pharisees,<note place='foot'>Recog. vi. 11.</note> +and the saying that the Queen of the South should <q>rise +in judgment against this generation,</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> vi. 14.</note> are given in the +Recognitions as in St. Matthew, as also that <q>the +harvest is plenteous,</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> iv. 4.</note> <q>that no man can serve two +masters,</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> v. 9.</note> and the saying on the power of faith to move +mountains.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> v. 2.</note> +</p> + +<p> +We have the parables of the goodly pearl,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> iii. 62.</note> of the +marriage supper,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> iv. 35.</note> and of the tares,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> iii. 38.</note> but also that of the +sower,<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> iii. 14.</note> which does not occur in St. Matthew, but in St. +Luke. This therefore was found in the Gospel used by +the author of the Recognitions. There are two other +apparent quotations from St. Luke: <q><hi rend='italic'>I have come to send +fire on the earth, and how I wish that it were kindled</hi></q>;<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> vi. 4.</note> +and the story of the rich fool.<note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> x. 45.</note> The first, however, is +differently expressed from St. Luke. There are just two +more equally questionable quotations: <q><hi rend='italic'>Be ye merciful, +as also your heavenly Father is merciful, who makes his +sun to rise upon the good and the evil, and rains upon the +just and the unjust.</hi></q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> v. 13, iii. 38.</note> We have the Greek in one of the +Homilies.<note place='foot'>Hom. iii. 57.</note> In St. Luke it runs, <q>Be ye therefore merciful, +as your Father also is merciful.</q><note place='foot'>Luke vi. 36.</note> In St. Matthew, +<q>Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good +to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully +use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the +children of your Father which is in heaven: for he +maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and +<pb n='207'/><anchor id='Pg207'/> +sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. v. 44-46.</note> Is it not +clear that either the pseudo-Clement condensed the direction, +<q>Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, +do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that +despitefully use you, and persecute you,</q> into the brief +maxim, <q>Be ye good and merciful,</q>—or that, and this is +more probable, there were concurrent traditional accounts +of our Lord's saying, and that St. Matthew, St. +Luke, and the writer of the Gospel used by the pseudo-Clement, +made use of independent texts in their compilations? +</p> + +<p> +The next passage is a saying of our Lord on the cross, +which is given in the Recognitions: <q><hi rend='italic'>Father, forgive +them their sin, for they know not what they do.</hi></q><note place='foot'>Recog. vi. 5.</note> In the +Homilies we have the original Greek: <q>Father, forgive +them their sins, for they know not what they do.</q><note place='foot'>Πάτερ ἄφες αὐτοῖς τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν οὐγὰρ οἴδασιν ἅ ποιούσιν. +Hom. xi. 20. In St. Luke it runs, Πάτερ ἄφες αὐτοῖς; οὐ γὰρ οἴδασι τί +ποιοῦσι.—Luke xxiii. 34.</note> +Rufinus has unconsciously altered the text in translating +it by making <q>sins</q> singular instead of plural. +</p> + +<p> +It is not necessary to note the insignificant difference +of the word ἅ in the Homily and the word τί in the +Gospel. But who cannot see that the addition of the +words, <q>their sins,</q> completely changes the thought of +the Saviour? Jesus prays God to forgive the Jews the +crime they commit in crucifying him, and not to pardon +all the sins of their lives that they have committed. +The addition of these two words not merely modify the +thought; they represent another of an inferior order. +They would not have been introduced into the text if +the author of the Gospel used by the pseudo-Clement +had had the Gospel of St. Luke before him. These words +were certainly not derived from St. Luke; they are due +<pb n='208'/><anchor id='Pg208'/> +to a separate recollection or tradition of the sayings of +the Saviour on the cross. Those sayings we may well +believe were cherished in the memory of the early disciples. +Tradition always modifies, weakens, renders +commonplace the noblest thoughts and most striking +sayings, and colours the most original with a tint of +triviality.<note place='foot'>M. Nicolas: Etudes sur les Evangiles Apocryphes, pp. 72, 73.</note> +</p> + +<p> +We find in both the Recollections and Homilies a +passage which has been thought to be a quotation from +St. John: <q><hi rend='italic'>Verily I say unto you, That unless a man is +born again of water, he shall not enter into the kingdom +of heaven.</hi></q><note place='foot'>Recog. vi. 9.</note> Here, again, the hand of Rufinus is to be +traced. The same quotation is made in the Homilies, +and it stands there thus: <q><hi rend='italic'>Verily I say unto you, Unless +ye be born again of the water of life</hi> (or <hi rend='italic'>the living water</hi>) +<hi rend='italic'>in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the +Holy Ghost, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.</hi></q><note place='foot'>Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἒαν μὴ ἀναγεννηθῆτε ὕδατι ζωῆς (in another place +ὕδατι ζῶντι), εἰς ὄνομα πατρὸς, υἱοῦ καὶ ἁγίου πνεύματος, οὐ μὴ +εἰσελθῆτε εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν.—Homil. xi. 26.</note> +</p> + +<p> +That the narrative of the interview with Nicodemus +was in the Gospel of the Hebrews, we learned from +Justin Martyr quoting it. We will place the parallel +passages opposite each other: +</p> + +<table rend="latexcolumns: 'p{3.5cm} p{3.5cm}'; tblcolumns: 'lw(30) lw(30)'"> +<row><cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Gospel of the Hebrews.</hi></cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Gospel of St. John.</hi></cell></row> +<row><cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Justin Martyr</hi>, 1 Apol. 61.</cell> + <cell>c. iii. 3, 5.</cell></row> +<row><cell><q><hi rend='italic'>Christ said, Except ye +be born again, ye cannot +enter into the kingdom of +heaven.</hi></q></cell> + <cell><q>3. Jesus answered and +said unto him, Verily, verily, +I say unto thee, Except a +man be born again, he cannot +see the kingdom of God.</q></cell></row> +<pb n='209'/><anchor id='Pg209'/> +<row><cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Pseudo-Clement</hi>, Hom. xi. 26.</cell><cell></cell></row> +<row><cell><q><hi rend='italic'>And Christ said (with +an oath),<note place='foot'>Recognitions vi. 9: <q>For thus hath the true prophet testified to us +with an oath: Verily I say unto you,</q> &c. The oath is, of course, the +Ἀμὴν, ἀμὴν.</note> Verily I say unto +you, Unless ye are born again +of the water of life (in the +name of the Father, and of +the Son, and of the Holy +Ghost), ye cannot enter into +the kingdom of Heaven.</hi></q></cell> +<cell><q>5. Jesus answered, Verily, +verily, I say unto thee, +Except a man be born of +water and spirit, he cannot +enter into the kingdom of God.</q></cell></row> +</table> + +<p> +The fragment in the Homilies clearly belongs to the +same narrative as the fragment in Justin's Apology. +Both are addressed in the second person plural, <q>Except +ye be born again;</q> in the Gospel of St. John the first is, +<q>Except a man be born again;</q> the second, <q>Except a +man be born of water and spirit;</q> both in the third +person singular. The form of the first answer in Justin +differs from that in St. John: <q>he cannot enter the +kingdom,</q> <q>he cannot see the kingdom.</q> +</p> + +<p> +That these are independent accounts I can hardly +doubt. The words, <q>in the name of the Father, and of +the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,</q> are an obvious interpolation, +perhaps a late one, in the text of the Homilies; +for Rufinus would hardly have omitted to translate this, +though he did allow himself to make short verbal alterations. +</p> + +<p> +There is another apparent quotation from St. John in +the fifth book of the Recognitions: <q><hi rend='italic'>Every one is made +the servant of him to whom he yields subjection.</hi></q><note place='foot'>Recog. v. 13; John viii. 34.</note> But +here again the quotation is very questionable. St. John's +version of our Lord's saying is, <q>Whosoever committeth +sin is the servant of sin.</q> St. Paul is much nearer: +<pb n='210'/><anchor id='Pg210'/> +<q>Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants +to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; +whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?</q><note place='foot'>Rom. vi. 16.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The quotation in the Recognitions is not from St. +Paul, for the author expressly declares it is a saying of +our Lord. St. Paul could not have had St. John's Gospel +under his eye when he wrote, for that Gospel was not +composed till long after he wrote the Epistle to the +Romans. He gives no hint that he is quoting a saying +of our Lord traditionally known to the Roman Christians. +He apparently makes appeal to their experience when +he says, <q>Know ye not.</q> Yet this fragment of an +ancient lost Gospel in the Clementine Recognitions +gives another colour to his words; they may be paraphrased, +<q>Know ye not that saying of Christ, To whom +ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye +are?</q> It appears, therefore, that this is an earlier recorded +reminiscence of our Lord's saying than that of +St. John. +</p> + +<p> +There is one, and only one, apparent quotation from +St. Paul in the Recognitions: <q>In God's estimation, he +is not a Jew who is a Jew among men, nor is he a +Gentile that is called a Gentile, but he who, believing +in God, fulfils his law and does his will, though he be +not circumcised.</q><note place='foot'>Recog. v. 34; Rom. ii. 28.</note> St. Paul's words are: <q>He is not a +Jew which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision +which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew +which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the +heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter.</q> +</p> + +<p> +There is no doubt a resemblance between these passages. +But it is probable that the resemblance is due +solely to community of thought in the minds of both +<pb n='211'/><anchor id='Pg211'/> +writers. It would be extraordinary if this were a quotation, +for the author of the Recognitions nowhere quotes +from any Epistle, not even from those of St. Peter; and +that he, an Ebionite, should quote St. Paul, whose +Epistles the Ebionites rejected, is scarcely credible. +</p> + +<p> +The Recognitions mention the temptation: <q>The +prince of wickedness ... presumed that he should +be worshipped by him by whom he knew that he was +to be destroyed. Therefore our Lord, confirming the +worship of one God, answered him, It is written, Thou +shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt +thou serve. And he, terrified by this answer, and fearing +lest the true religion of the one and true God should +be restored, hastened straightway to send forth into this +world false prophets and false apostles and false teachers, +who should speak, indeed, in the name of Christ, but +should accomplish the will of the demon.</q><note place='foot'>Recog. iv. 34. The same in the Homilies, xi. 35.</note> Here we +have Christ indicated as the one who was to restore +that true worship of God which Moses had instituted, +but which the Ebionites, with their Essene ancestors, +asserted had been defaced and corrupted by false traditions. +And in opposition to this, the devil sends out +false apostles, false teachers, to undo this work, calling +themselves, however, apostles of Christ. There can be +little doubt who is meant. The reference is to St. Paul, +Silas, and those who accepted his views, in opposition +to those of St. James and St. Peter. +</p> + +<p> +In Homily xii. is a citation which seems to indicate +the use of the third Canonical Gospel. At first sight it +appears to be a combination of a passage of St. Matthew +and a parallel passage of St. Luke. It is preceded in +the Homily by a phrase not found in the Canonical +Gospels, but which is given, together with what follows, +<pb n='212'/><anchor id='Pg212'/> +as a declaration of the Saviour. The three passages are +placed side by side for comparison: +</p> + +<table rend="latexcolumns: 'p{2.2cm} p{2.2cm} p{2.2cm}'; tblcolumns: 'lw(20) lw(20) lw(20)'"> +<row><cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Homily</hi> xii. 19.</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Matt.</hi> xviii. 7.</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Luke</hi> xvii. 1.</cell></row> +<row><cell><q><hi rend='italic'>It must be that +good things come, +and happy is he by +whom they come. +In like manner it +must be that evil +things come, but +woe to him by whom +they come.</hi></q><note place='foot'>Τὰ ἀγαθὰ ἐλθεῖν δέι, μακάριος δὲ δι᾽ οὗ ἔρχεται ὅμοιως καὶ τὰ κακὰ +ἀνάγκη ἐλθεῖν, οὐαι δὲ δι᾽ οὖ ἔρχεται.</note></cell> + <cell><q>It must needs +be that offences +come; but woe to +that man by whom +the offence +cometh.</q></cell> + <cell><q>It is impossible +but that offences +will come; but woe +to him through +whom they come.</q></cell></row> +</table> + +<p> +The passage in the Homily is more complete than +those in St. Matthew and St. Luke. The two Canonical +Evangelists made use of imperfect fragments destitute +of one member of the sentence. One cannot but wish +to believe that our Lord pronounced a benediction on +those who did good in their generation. +</p> + +<p> +<q>There is amongst us,</q> says St. Peter in his second +Homily, <q>one Justa, a Syro-Phoenician, a Canaanite by +race, whose daughter was oppressed with a grievous +disease. And she came to our Lord, crying out and +entreating that he would heal her daughter. But he, +being asked by us also, said, <q><hi rend='italic'>It is not lawful to heal the +Gentiles, who are like unto dogs on account of their using +various meats and practices, while the table in the kingdom +has been given to the sons of Israel.</hi></q> But she, hearing +this, and begging to partake as a dog of the crumbs that +fall from this table, having changed what she was (<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> +having given up the use of forbidden food), by living +like the sons of the kingdom, obtained healing for her +<pb n='213'/><anchor id='Pg213'/> +daughter as she asked. For she being a Gentile, and +remaining in the same course of life, he would not +have healed her had she persisted to live as do the +Gentiles, on account of its not being lawful to heal a +Gentile.</q><note place='foot'>Hom. ii. 19.</note> +</p> + +<p> +That the Ebionites perverted the words of our Lord +to make them support their tenets on distinction of +meats is obvious. +</p> + +<p> +In the Clementine Homilies we have thrice repeated +a saying of our Lord which we know of from St. Jerome +and St. Clement of Alexandria, who speak of it as undoubtedly +a genuine saying of Christ, <q><hi rend='italic'>Be ye good money-changers</hi>.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> ii. 51.</note> +</p> + +<p> +This text is used by the author of the Clementines +to prove the necessity of distinguishing between the +gold and the dross in Holy Scripture. And to this he +adds the quotation, <q><hi rend='italic'>Ye do therefore err, not knowing +the true things of the Scriptures; and for this reason ye +are ignorant also of the power of God</hi>.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> ii. 51, xviii. 20.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The following are some more fragments from the +Clementine Homilies: +</p> + +<p> +<q><hi rend='italic'>He said, I am he of whom Moses prophesied, saying, +A prophet shall the Lord your God raise unto you of your +brethren, like unto me: him hear ye in all things; and +whosoever will not hear the prophet shall die.</hi></q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> ii. 53.</note> This +saying of Moses is quoted by both St. Peter and St. +Stephen in their addresses, as recorded in the Acts. +It is probable, therefore, that our Lord had claimed this +prophecy to have been spoken of him. But St. Luke +had never heard that he had done so, as he makes no +allusion to it in his Gospel or in the speeches he puts in +the mouths of Peter and Stephen in the Acts. +</p> + +<pb n='214'/><anchor id='Pg214'/> + +<p> +<q><hi rend='italic'>It is thine, O man, said he, to prove my words, as +silver and money are proved by the exchangers.</hi></q><note place='foot'>Homil. ii. 61.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<q><hi rend='italic'>Give none occasion to the evil one.</hi></q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> xix. 2.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Twice repeated we have the text, <q><hi rend='italic'>Thou shalt fear the +Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve</hi>.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> viii. 21. In the Hebrew תירא rendered by the LXX. φοβηθήση. +The word in St. Matthew is προσκυνήσεις.</note> +</p> + +<p> +In St. Matthew's Gospel (iv. 10) it runs, <q>Thou shalt +worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou +serve.</q> +</p> + +<p> +In the Clementines: <q>He alleged that it was right to +present to him who strikes you on one cheek the other +also, and to give to him who takes away your cloak +your <emph>hood</emph> also, and to go two miles with him who +compels you to go one.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> xv. 5.</note> This differs from the account +in St. Matthew, by using for the word χιτῶνα, <q>tunic,</q> +of the Canonical Gospel, the word μαφόριον, <q>hood.</q> +</p> + +<p> +There are other passages identical with, or almost +identical with, the received text in St. Matthew's Gospel, +which it is not necessary to enter upon separately. +</p> + +<p> +They are: Matt. v. 3, 8, 17, 18, 34, 35, 37, 39, 40, 41, +vi. 8, 13, vii. 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 21, viii. 11, 24, 25, 26, +27, 28, 29, 30, 31, ix. 13, x. 28, 34, xi. 25, 27, 28, xii. 7, +26, 34, 42, xiii. 17, 39, xv. 13, xvi. 13, 18, xix. 8, 17, +xxii. 2, 32, xxiii. 25, xxiv. 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, xxv. 41. +In all, some fifty-five verses, almost and often quite the +same as in St. Matthew's Gospel. +</p> + +<p> +There is just one text supposed to be taken from St. +Mark's Gospel, four from St. Luke's, and two from St. +John's. But I do not think we are justified in concluding +that these quotations are taken from the three +last-named Canonical Gospels. That they are not taken +<pb n='215'/><anchor id='Pg215'/> +from St. Luke we may be almost certain, for that Gospel +was not received by the Judaizing Christians. When +we examine the passages, the probability of their being +quotations from the Canonical Gospels disappears. +</p> + +<p> +We find, <q>He, the true Prophet, said, <hi rend='italic'>I am the gate of +life; he that entereth through me entereth into life</hi>.</q><note place='foot'>Homil. iii. 52.</note> +The words in St. John's Gospel are, <q>I am the door: by +me if any man enter in, he shall be saved.</q><note place='foot'>John x. 9.</note> The idea +is the same, but the mode of expression is different. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Again he said, <hi rend='italic'>My sheep hear my voice</hi>.</q><note place='foot'>Homil. iii. 52; cf. John x. 16.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The quotation from St. Mark is too brief for us to be +able to form any well-founded opinion upon it. It is +this: <q>But to those who were misled to imagine many +gods, as the Scriptures say, he said, <hi rend='italic'>Hear, O Israel; the +Lord your God is one Lord</hi>.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> iii. 57; Mark xii. 29.</note> +</p> + +<p> +No prejudice would exist among the Ebionites against +the Gospel of St. Mark, but the Christology of the +Johannine Gospel, its doctrine of the Logos, would not +accord with their low views of Christ. The Ebionites +who denied the Godhead of Jesus could hardly acknowledge +as canonical a Gospel which contained the words, +<q>And the Word was with God, and the Word was +God.</q> +</p> + +<table rend="latexcolumns: 'p{3.5cm} p{3.5cm}'; tblcolumns: 'lw(30) lw(30)'"> +<row><cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Hom.</hi> xix. 22.</cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>John</hi> ix. 1-3.</cell></row> +<row><cell><q>Our Master replied to those +who asked him concerning +him that was born blind, and +to whom he restored sight, if +it was he or his parents who +had sinned, in that he was +born blind. <hi rend='italic'>It is not that he +hath sinned in anywise, nor +his parents; but in order that +the power of God may be manifested, +who healeth sins of +ignorance.</hi></q><note place='foot'><p><hi rend='smallcaps'>Homil.</hi> ix. 27. +</p> +<p> +Οὔτε οὗτος τι ἥμαρτεν, οὗτε οἱ +γονεῖς αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα δι᾽ αὐτοῦ +φανερωθῇ ἡ δύναμις τοῦ Θεοῦ τῆς +ἀγνοίας ἰωμένη τὰ ἁμαρτήματα. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>John.</hi> ix. 3. +</p> +<p> +Οὔτε οὗτος ἥμαρτεν, οὗτε οἱ +γονεῖς αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα φανερωθῇ +τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ. +</p></note></cell> +<cell><q>And as Jesus passed by, +he saw a man which was +blind from his birth. +And his disciples asked +him, saying, Master, who did +sin, this man, or his parents, +that he was born blind? +Jesus answered, Neither +hath this man sinned, nor his +parents: but that the works +of God should be made manifest +in him.</q></cell></row> +</table> + +<pb n='216'/><anchor id='Pg216'/> + +<p> +The resemblance is striking. Nevertheless I do not +think we have a right to conclude that this passage in +the Clementine Homilies is necessarily a citation from +St. John. +</p> + +<p> +The text is quoted in connection with the peculiar +Ebionite doctrine of seasons and days already alluded +to. When our Lord says that he heals the sins of ignorance, +he is made in the Clementine Gospel to assert +that the blindness of the man was the result of disregard +by his parents of the new moons and sabbaths, not wilfully, +but through ignorance. <q>The afflictions you mentioned,</q> +says St. Peter in connection with this quotation, +<q>are the result of ignorance, but assuredly not of wickedness. +Give me the man who sins not, and I will show +you the man who suffers not.</q> +</p> + +<p> +But though this is the interpretation put on the words +of our Lord by the Clementine Ebionite, it by no means +flows naturally from them; it is rather wrung out of +them. +</p> + +<p> +The words, I think, mean that the blindness of the +man is symbolical; its mystical meaning is ignorance. +Our Lord by opening the eyes of the blind exhibits himself +as the spiritual enlightener of mankind. He is come +to unclose men's eyes to the true light that he sheds +abroad in the world. +</p> + +<p> +In St. John's Gospel, after having declared that blindness was +not the punishment of sin in the man or his +<pb n='217'/><anchor id='Pg217'/> +parents, our Lord continues, <q>I must work the works of +Him that sent me, while it is day; the night cometh, +when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, +I am the light of the world.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Put this last declaration in connection with the saying, +<q>I am come to heal the sins of ignorance,</q> and the +connection of ideas is at once apparent. The blindness +of the man is symbolical of the ignorance of the world. +<q>I am the light of the world, and I have come to dispel +the darkness of the ignorance of the world.</q> And so +saying, <q>he spat on the ground, and made clay of the +spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with +the clay.</q> +</p> + +<p> +A few important words in Christ's teaching had +escaped the memory of St. John. But they had been +noted down by some other apostle, and the recollections +of the latter were embodied in the Gospel in use among +the Ebionites. +</p> + +<p> +The texts resembling passages in St. Luke are four, +but all of them are found in St. Matthew's Gospel as +well. +</p> + +<p> +<q><hi rend='italic'>Blessed is that man whom his Lord shall appoint to +the ministry of his fellow-servants.</hi></q><note place='foot'>Homil. iii. 64; cf. Luke xii. 43, but also Matt. xxiv. 46.</note> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'><hi rend='italic'>The Queen of the South shall rise up with this generation, +and shall condemn it; because she came from the +extremities of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; +and behold, a greater than Solomon is here, and ye do not +believe him.</hi></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q><hi rend='italic'>The men of Nineveh shall rise up with this generation +and shall condemn it, for they heard and repented at the +preaching of Jonas: and behold, a greater is here, and no +one believes.</hi></q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> xi. 33; cf. Luke xi. 31, 32, but also Matt. xii. 42, 41. The +order in Matt. reversed.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='218'/><anchor id='Pg218'/> + +<p> +The compiler of St. Matthew's Gospel had this striking +passage in an imperfect condition. St. Luke had it with +both its members. So had also the compiler of the +Clementine Gospel. The wording is not exactly identical +with that in St. Luke, but the difference is not material, +<q>Ye do not believe him,</q> <q>And no one believes,</q> +exist in the Ebionite, not in the Canonical text. +</p> + +<p> +<q><hi rend='italic'>For without the will of God, not even a sparrow can +fall into a gin. Thus even the hairs of the righteous are +numbered by God.</hi></q><note place='foot'>Homil. xii. 31; cf. Matt. x. 29, 30; Luke xii. 6, 7.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='219'/><anchor id='Pg219'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>III. The Gospel Of St. Peter.</head> + +<p> +Serapion, Bishop of Antioch, in 190, on entering his +see, learned that there was a Gospel attributed to St. +Peter read in the sacred services of the church of Rhosus, +in Cilicia. Taking it for granted, as he says, that all in +his diocese held the same faith, without perusing this +Gospel, he sanctioned its use, saying, <q>If this be the +only thing that creates difference among you, let it be +read.</q> +</p> + +<p> +But he was speedily made aware that this Gospel +was not orthodox in its tendency. It favoured the +opinions of the Docetae. It was whispered that if it had +an apostolic parentage, it had heretical sponsors. Serapion +thereupon borrowed the Gospel, read it, and found +it was even as had been reported. <q>Peter,</q> said he, +<q>we receive with the other apostles as Christ himself,</q> +but this Gospel was, if not apocryphal as to its facts, +at all events heretical as to its teaching. +</p> + +<p> +Thereupon Serapion, regretting his precipitation in +sanctioning the use of the Gospel, wrote a book upon it, +<q>in refutation of its false assertions.</q><note place='foot'>Euseb. Hist. Eccl. vi. 12.</note> +</p> + +<p> +This book unfortunately has been lost, so that we are +not able to learn much more about the Gospel. What +was its origin? Was it a forgery from beginning to +end? This is by no means probable. +</p> + +<p> +The Gospel of St. Mark, as we have seen, was due to +St. Peter, and by some went by the name of the Gospel +<pb n='220'/><anchor id='Pg220'/> +of St. Peter. It was a Gospel greatly affected by the +Docetae and Elkesaites. <q>Those who distinguish Jesus +from Christ, and who say that Christ was impassible, +but that Jesus endured the sufferings of his passion, +prefer the Gospel of Mark,</q> says Irenaeus.<note place='foot'><q>Qui Jesum separant a Christo et impassibilem perseverasse Christum, +passum vero Jesum dicunt, id quod secundum Marcum est praeferunt Evangelium.</q>—Iren. +adv. Haeres. iii. 2. The Greek is lost.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It was likely that they should prefer it, for it began at +the baptism, and this event it stated, or was thought to +state, was the beginning of the Gospel; to Docetic minds +an admission, an assertion rather, that all that preceded +was of no importance; Jesus was but a man as are other +men, till the plenitude of the Spirit descended on him. +The early history might be matter of curiosity, but not +of edification. +</p> + +<p> +That matter is evil is a doctrine which in the East +has proved the fertile mother of heresies. Those infected +with this idea—and it is an idea, like Predestinarianism, +which, when once accepted and assimilated, pervades the +whole tissue of belief and determines its form and complexion—could +not acknowledge frankly and with conviction +the dogma of the Incarnation. That God should +have part with matter, was as opposed to their notions +as a concord of light with darkness. Carried by the +current setting strongly that way, they found themselves +landed in Christianity. They set to work at once to +mould Christianity in accordance with their theory of +the inherent evil in matter. Christ, an emanation from +the Pleroma, the highest, purest wave that swept from +the inexhaustible fountain of Deity, might overshadow, +but could not coalesce with, the human Jesus. The +nativity and the death of our Lord were repugnant to +their consciences. They evaded these facts by considering +that he was born and died as man, but that the +<pb n='221'/><anchor id='Pg221'/> +bright overshadowing cloud of the Divinity, of the Christ, +reposed on him for a brief period only; it descended at +the baptism, it withdrew before the passion. +</p> + +<p> +Such were the party—they were scarcely yet a sect—who +used the Gospel of St. Peter. Was this Gospel a +corrupted edition of St. Mark? Probably not. We have +not much ground on which to base an opinion, but there +is just sufficient to make it likely that such was not the +case. +</p> + +<p> +To the Docetae, the nativity of our Lord was purely +indifferent; it was not in their Gospel; that it was +miraculous they would not allow. To admit that Christ +was the Son of God when born of Mary, was to abandon +their peculiar tenets. It was immaterial to them whether +Jesus had brothers and sisters, or whether James and +Jude were only his cousins. The Canonical Gospels +speak of the brothers and sisters of Christ, and we are +not told that they were not the children of Mary.<note place='foot'>Matt. xii. 47, 48, xiii. 55; Mark iii. 32; Luke viii. 20; John vii. 5.</note> When +the Memorabilia were committed to writing, there was +no necessity for doing so. The relationship was known +to every one. Catholics, maintaining the perpetual virginity +of the mother of Jesus, asserted that they were +children of Joseph by a former wife, or cousins. The +Gospel of St. Peter declared them to be the children of +Joseph by an earlier marriage. Origen says, <q>There are +persons who assure us that the brothers of Jesus were +the sons whom Joseph had by his first wife, before he +married Mary. They base their opinion on either the +Gospel entitled the Gospel of Peter, or on the Book of +James (the Protevangelium).</q><note place='foot'>Origen, Comment. in Matt. c. ix.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Such a statement would not have been intruded into +the Gospel by the Docetae, as it favoured no doctrine of +<pb n='222'/><anchor id='Pg222'/> +theirs. It must therefore have existed in the Gospel +before it came into their hands. +</p> + +<p> +We know how St. Mark's Gospel was formed. After +the death of his master, the evangelist compiled all the +fragmentary <q>Recollections</q> of St. Peter concerning our +Lord. But these recollections had before this circulated +throughout the Church. We have evidence of this in +the incorporation of some of them into the Gospels of +St. Matthew and St. Luke. Others, besides St. Mark, +may have strung these fragments together. One such +tissue would be the Gospel of St. Peter. It did not, +perhaps, contain as many articles as that of St. Mark, +but it was less select. Like those of St. Matthew and +St. Luke, on the thread were probably strung memorabilia +of other apostles and disciples, but also, perhaps, +some of questionable authority. +</p> + +<p> +This collection was in use at Rhosus. It may have +been in use there since apostolic days; perhaps it was +compiled by some president of the church there. But +it had not been suffered to remain without interpolations +which gave it a Docetic character. +</p> + +<p> +Its statement of the relationship borne by the <q>brothers +and sisters</q> to our Lord is most valuable, as it is wholly +unprejudiced and of great antiquity. The Gospel, held +in reverence as sacred in the second century at Rhosus, +was probably brought thither when that church was +founded, not perhaps in a consecutive history, but in +paragraphs. The church was a daughter of the church +of Antioch, and therefore probably founded by a disciple +of St. Peter. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='223'/><anchor id='Pg223'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>IV. The Gospel Of The Egyptians.</head> + +<p> +The Gospel known by this name is mentioned by +several of the early Fathers.<note place='foot'>Τὸ αἰγύπτιον Εὐαγγέλιον; Epiphan. Haeres. lxii. 2; Evangelium +secundum Ægyptios; Origen, Hom. i. in luc.; Evangelium juxta Aegyptios; +Hieron. Prolog. in Comm. super Matth.</note> It existed in the second +half of the second century; and as it was then in use +and regarded as canonical by certain Christian sects, it +must have been older. We shall not be far out if we +place its composition at the beginning of the second +century. +</p> + +<p> +To form an idea of its tendency, we must have recourse +to two different sources, the second Epistle of +Clemens Romanus, the author of which seems to have +made use of no other Gospel than that of the Egyptians, +and Clement of Alexandria, who quotes three passages +from it, and refutes the theories certain heretics of his +time derived from them. +</p> + +<p> +The second Epistle of St. Clement of Rome is a +Judaizing work, as Schneckenburg has proved incontestably.<note place='foot'>Schneckenburg, Ueber das Evangelium der Aegypter; Berne, 1834.</note> +It is sufficient to remark that the Chiliast +belief which transpires in more than one place, the +analogy of ideas and of expressions which it bears to the +Clementine Homilies, and finally the selection of Clement +of Rome, a personage as dear to the Ebionites as +the apostles James and Peter, to place the composition +under his venerated name, are as many indications of +<pb n='224'/><anchor id='Pg224'/> +the Judaeo-Christian character and origin of this apocryphal +work. +</p> + +<p> +The Gospel cited by the author of this Epistle, except +in two or three phrases which are not found in any +of our Canonical Gospels, recalls that of St. Matthew. +Nevertheless, it is certain that the quotations are from +the Gospel of the Egyptians, for one of the passages cited +in this Epistle is also quoted by Clement of Alexandria, +who tells us whence it comes—from the Egyptian +Gospel. We may conclude from this that the Gospel +of the Egyptians presented great analogy to our first +Canonical Gospel, without being identical with it, and +consequently that it was related closely to the Gospel of +the Hebrews. +</p> + +<p> +If the second Epistle of Clement of Rome determines +for us the family to which this Gospel belonged, the +passages we shall extract from the Stromata of Clement +of Alexandria will determine its order. There are three +of these passages, and very curious ones they are. +</p> + +<p> +The first is cited by both Clement of Rome and +Clement of Alexandria, by one more fully than by the +other. +</p> + +<p> +<q><hi rend='italic'>The Lord, having been asked by Salome when his +kingdom would come, replied, When you shall have +trampled under foot the garment of shame, when two shall +be one, when that which is without shall be like that which +is within, and when the male with the female shall be +neither male nor female.</hi></q><note place='foot'><p><hi rend='smallcaps'>Clement of Alexandria.</hi> Stromat. iii. 12. +</p> +<p> +Πυνθανομένης τῆς Σαλωμῆς πότε +γνωσθήσεται τὰ περὶ ὦν ἥρετο, ἔφη +ὁ κύριος; ὅταν τὸ τῆς αἰσχύνης +ἔνδυμα πατήσητε, καὶ ὅταν γένηται +τὰ δύο ἕν, καὶ τὸ ἄῤῥεν μετὰ τῆς +θηλείας οὔτε ἄῤῥεν οὔτε θῆλυ. +</p> +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Clement of Rome.</hi> 2 Epist. c. 12. +</p> +<p> +Ἐπερωτηθείς γάρ αὐτὸς ὁ κύριος +ὑπὸ τινος πότε ἥξει αύτοῦ ἡ βασιλεία? +ὅταν ἔσται τὰ δύο ἕν, καὶ +τὸ ἔξω ὡς ἔσω, καὶ τὸ ἄρσεν μετὰ +τῆς θηλείας οὔτε ἄρσεν οὔτε θῆλυ. +</p></note> +</p> + +<pb n='225'/><anchor id='Pg225'/> + +<p> +The explanation of this singular passage by Clement +of Rome is, <q>Two shall be one when we are truthful +with each other, and when in two bodies there will be +but one soul, without dissimulation and without disguise. +That which is without is the body; that which +is within is the soul. Just as your body appears externally, +so should your soul manifest itself by good +works.</q> The explanation of the last member of the +phrase is wanting, as the Epistle has not come down to +us entire. +</p> + +<p> +But this is certainly not the real meaning of the passage. +Its true signification is to be found in the bloodless, +passionless exaltation at which the ascetic aimed +who held all matter to be evil, the body to be a clog to +the soul, marriage to be abominable, meats to be abstained +from. It points to that condition as one of perfection +in which the soul shall forget her union with the +body, and, sexless and ethereal, shall be supreme. +</p> + +<p> +It was in this sense that the heretics took it. Julius +Cassianus, <q>chief of the sect of the Docetae,</q><note place='foot'>Ὅ τῆς δοκήσεως ἐξάρχων.—Stromat. iii. 13.</note> invoked +this text against the union of the sexes. This interpretation +manifestly embarrassed St. Clement of Alexandria, +and he endeavours to escape from the difficulty +by weakening the authority of the text. +</p> + +<p> +He does this by pointing out that the saying of our +Lord is found only in the Gospel of the Egyptians, and +not in those four generally received. But as Julius Cassianus +appealed at the same time to a saying of St. +Paul, the authenticity of which was not to be contested, +the Alexandrine doctor did not consider that he could +avoid discussing the question; and he gives, on his side, +an interpretation of the saying of Jesus in the Apocryphal +Gospel, and of that of St. Paul, associated with it by +Julius Cassianus. The words of St. Paul quoted by the +<pb n='226'/><anchor id='Pg226'/> +heretic were those in Galatians (iii. 28): <q>There is +neither Jew nor Greek, neither bond nor free, male or +female.</q> Cassianus paid no regard to the general sense +of the passage, which is, that the privileges of the gospel +are common to all of every degree and nation and sex, +but fastening on the words <q>neither male nor female,</q> +contended that this was a prohibition of marriage. St. +Clement pays every whit as little regard to the plain +sense of the passage, and gives the whole an absurd +mystic signification, as far removed from the thought +of the apostle as the explanation of Julius Cassianus. +<q>By male,</q> says he, <q>understand anger, folly. By +female understand lust; and when these are carried out, +the result is penitence and shame.</q> +</p> + +<p> +It has been thought that the words <q>when two shall +be one</q> recall the philosophic doctrine of the Pythagoreans +on the subject of numbers and the dualism +which was upheld by many of the Gnostics. St. Mark, +according to Irenaeus, taught that everything had sprung +out of the monad and dyad.<note place='foot'>Adv. Haeres. i. 11.</note> But it is not so. The +teaching was not philosophic, but practical. It may be +thus paraphrased: <q>The kingdom of heaven shall have +come when the soul shall have so broken with the passions +and feelings of the body, that it will no longer be +sensible of shame. The body will be lost in the soul, +so that the two shall become one; the body which is +without shall be like the soul within, and the male with +the female shall be insensible to passion.</q> +</p> + +<p> +It was a doctrine which infected whole bodies of men +later: the independence of the soul from the body led +to wild asceticism and frantic sensuality running hand +in hand. Holding this doctrine, the Fraticelli in the +thirteenth century flung themselves into the most fiery +temptations, placed themselves in the most perilous +<pb n='227'/><anchor id='Pg227'/> +positions; if they fell, it mattered not, the soul was not +stained by the deeds of the body; if they remained unmoved, +the body was indeed mastered, <q>the two had +become one.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The garment of shame is to be trampled under foot. +Julius Cassianus explains this singular expression. It +is the apron of skins wherewith our first parents were +clothed, when they blushed at their nakedness. They +blushed because they were in sin; when men and women +shall cease to blush at their nudity, then they have +attained to the spiritual condition of unfallen man. +</p> + +<p> +We see in embryo the Adamites of the Middle Ages, +the Anabaptists of the Reformation. +</p> + +<p> +But the garment of skin has a deeper signification. +Philo taught<note place='foot'><q>Ad mentem vero tunica pellicea symbolice est pellis naturalis, id +est corpus nostrum. Deus enim intellectum condens primum, vocavit +illum Adam; deinde sensum, cui vitae (Eva) nomen dedit; tertio ex +necessitate corpus quoque facit, tunicam pelliceam, illud per symbolum +dicens. Oportebat enim ut intellectus et sensus velut tunica cutis induerent +corpus.</q>—Philo: Quaest. et Solut. in Gen. i. 53, trans. from the +Armenian by J. B. Aucher; Venice, 1826.</note> that it symbolized the human body that +clothed the nakedness of the Spirit. Gnosticism caught +at the idea. Unfallen man was pure spirit. Man had +fallen, and his fall consisted in being clothed in flesh. +This garment of skin must be trodden under foot, that +the soul may arise above it, be emancipated from its +bonds. +</p> + +<p> +The second passage is quite in harmony with the first: +<q><hi rend='italic'>Salome having asked how long men should die, the Lord +answered and said, As long as you women continue to +bear children.<note place='foot'>Clem. Alex. Stromat. iii. 6.</note> Then she said, I have done well, I have +never borne a child. The Lord answered, Eat of every +herb, but not of that containing in itself bitterness.</hi></q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> 9.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Cassian appealed to this text also in proof that marriage +<pb n='228'/><anchor id='Pg228'/> +was forbidden. But Clement of Alexandria refused +to understand it in this sense. He is perhaps +right when he argues that the first answer of our Lord +means, that as long as there are men born, so long men +will die. But the meaning of the next answer entirely +escapes him. When our Lord says, <q>Eat of every herb +save that in which is bitterness,</q> he means, says Clement, +that marriage and continence are left to our choice, and +that there is no command one way or the other; man +may eat of every tree, the tree of celibacy, or the tree +of marriage, only he must abstain from the tree of evil. +</p> + +<p> +But this is not what was meant. Under a figurative +expression, the writer of this passage conveyed a warning +against marriage. Death is the fruit of birth, birth +is the fruit of marriage. Abstain from eating of the +tree of marriage, and death will be destroyed. +</p> + +<p> +That this is the meaning of this remarkable saying +is proved conclusively by another extract from the +Gospel of the Egyptians, also made by Clement of +Alexandria; it is put in the mouth of our Lord. <q><hi rend='italic'>I +am come to destroy the works of the woman; of the woman, +that is, of concupiscence, whose works are generation and +death.</hi></q><note place='foot'>Clem. Alex. Stromat. iii. 9.</note> This quotation bears on the face of it marks +of having been touched and explained by a later hand. +<q>Of the woman,—that is, concupiscence, whose works +are generation and death,</q> are a gloss added by an +Encratite, which was adopted into the text received +among the Egyptian Docetae. The words, <q>I am come +to destroy the works of the woman,</q> <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> Eve, may have +been spoken by our Lord. By Eve came sin and death +into the world, and these works Christ did indeed come +to destroy. +</p> + +<p> +But the gloss, as is obvious, alters the meaning of the +saying. The woman is no longer Eve, but womankind +<pb n='229'/><anchor id='Pg229'/> +in general; and by womankind, that is, by concupiscence, +generation and death exist. +</p> + +<p> +Clement of Alexandria was incapable of seizing the +plain meaning of these words. He says, <q>The Lord +has not deceived us, for he has indeed destroyed the +works of concupiscence, viz. love of money, of strife, +glory, of women ... now the birth of these vices +is the death of the soul, for we die indeed by our +sins.</q> +</p> + +<p> +We must look to Philo for the key. The woman, +Eve, means, as he says, the sense; Adam, the intellectual +spirit. The union of soul and body is the degradation +of the soul, the fertile parent of corruption and death.<note place='foot'><q>Sensus, quae symbolice mulier est.</q>—Philo: Quaest. et Solut. i. 52. +<q>Generatio ut sapientum fert sententia, corruptionis est principium.</q>—<hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> +10.</note> +Out of Philo's doctrine grew a Manichaeanism in the +Christian community before Manes was born. +</p> + +<p> +The work of Jesus was taught to be the emancipation +of the soul, the rational spirit, Νοῦς, from the restraints +of the body, its restoration to its primitive condition. +Death would cease when the marriage was dissolved +that held the spirit fettered in the prison-house of flesh. +</p> + +<p> +Philonian philosophy remained vigorous at Alexandria +in the circle of enlightened Jews. It struck deep +root, and blossomed in the Christian Church. +</p> + +<p> +A Gospel, <emph>which</emph> we do not know—it may have been +that of Mark—was brought into Egypt. The author of +the Epistle to the Hebrews, an Epistle clearly addressed +to the Alexandrine Jews, prepared their minds to fuse +Philonism with Christianity. We see its influence in +the Gospel of St. John. That evangelist adopted Philo's +doctrine of the Logos; the author of the Gospel of the +Egyptians, that of the bondage of the spirit in matter. +</p> + +<pb n='230'/><anchor id='Pg230'/> + +<p> +The conceptions contained in the three passages which +Clement of Alexandria has preserved are closely united. +They all are referable to a certain theosophy, the exposition +of which is to be found in the writings of Philo, +and which may be in vain sought elsewhere at that +period. Not only are there to be found here the theosophic +system of the celebrated Alexandrine Jew, but +also, what is a still clearer index of the source whence +the Egyptian Gospel drew its mystic asceticism, we find +the quaint expressions and forms of speech which belonged +to Philo, and to none but him. No one but +Philo had thought to find in the first chapters of Genesis +the history of the fall of the soul into the world of sense, +and to make of Eve, of the woman, the symbol of the +human body, and starting from this to explain how the +soul could return to its primitive condition, purely +spiritual, by shaking off the sensible to which in its +present state it is attached. When we shall have +trampled under foot our tunics of skins wherewith we +have been covered since the fall, this garment, given to +us because we were ashamed of our nakedness,—when +the body shall have become like the soul,—when the +union of the soul with the body, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> of the male and the +female, shall exist no more,—when the woman, that is +the body, shall be no more productive, shall no more +produce generation and death,—when its works are destroyed, +then we shall not die any more; we shall be as +we were before our fall, pure spirits; and this will be +the kingdom of the Lord. And to prepare for this transformation, +what is to be done? Eat of every herb, +nourish ourselves on the fruit of every tree of paradise,—that +is, cultivate the soul, and not occupy it with +anything but that which will make it live; but abstain +from the herb of bitterness,—the tree of the knowledge +<pb n='231'/><anchor id='Pg231'/> +of good and evil, that is,—reject all that can weave closer +the links binding the soul to the body, retain it in its +prison, its grave.<note place='foot'><p>Nicolas: Études sur les Evangiles apocryphes, pp. 128-130. M. +Nicolas was the first to discover the intimate connection that existed +between the Gospel of the Egyptians and Philonian philosophy. +</p> +<p> +The relation in which Philo stood to Christian theology has not, as yet, +so far as I am aware, been thoroughly investigated. Dionysius the Areopagite, +the true father of Christian theosophy, derives his ideas and +terminology from Philo. Aquinas developed Dionysius, and on the Summa of the +Angel of the Schools Catholic theology has long reposed.</p></note> +</p> + +<p> +It is easy to see how Philonian ideas continued to +exert their influence in Egypt, when absorbed into +Christianity. It was these ideas which peopled the +deserts of Nitria and Scete with myriads of monks +wrestling with their bodies, those prison-houses of their +souls, struggling to die to the world of matter, that +their ethereal souls might shake themselves free. Their +spirits were like moths in a web, bound by silken +threads; the spirit would be choked by these fetters, +unless it could snap them and sail away. +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +<pb n='234'/><anchor id='Pg234'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>Part III. The Lost Pauline Gospels.</head> + +<p> +Under this head are classed such Gospels as have a distinct +anti-Judaizing, Antinomian tendency. They were in use among +the Churches of Asia Minor, and eventually found their way into +Egypt. +</p> + +<p> +This class may probably be subdivided into those which bore +a strong affinity to the Canonical Gospel of St. Luke, and those +which were independent compilations. +</p> + +<p> +To the first class belongs— +</p> + +<lg> +<l>1. The Gospel of the Lord.</l> +</lg> + +<p> +To the second class— +</p> + +<lg> +<l>1. The Gospel of Eve.</l> +<l>2. The Gospel of Perfection.</l> +<l>3. The Gospel of Philip.</l> +<l>4. The Gospel of Judas.</l> +</lg> + +<pb n='235'/><anchor id='Pg235'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>I. The Gospel Of The Lord.</head> + +<p> +The Gospel of the Lord, Εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Κυρίου, was +the banner under which the left of the Christian army +marched, as the right advanced under that of the Gospel +of the Hebrews. +</p> + +<p> +The Gospel of the Lord was used by Marcion, and +apparently before him by Cerdo.<note place='foot'>Tert. De praescr. haeretica, c. 51. <q>Cerdon solum Lucae Evangelium, +nec tamen totum recipit.</q></note> +</p> + +<p> +In opposition to Ebionitism, with its narrow restraints +and its low Christology, stood an exclusive Hellenism. +Ebionitism saw in Jesus the Son of David, come to re-edit +the Law, to provide it with new sanction, after he +had winnowed the chaff from the wheat in it. Marcionism +looked to the Atonement, the salvation wrought +by Christ for all mankind, to the revelation of the truth, +the knowledge (γνῶσις) of the mysteries of the Godhead +made plain to men, through God the good and merciful, +who sent His Son to bring men out of ignorance into +<pb n='236'/><anchor id='Pg236'/> +light, out of the bondage of the Law into the freedom of +the Gospel.<note place='foot'>For an account of the doctrines of Marcion, the authorities are, The +Apologies of Justin Martyr; Tertullian's treatise against Marcion, i.-v.; +Irenaeus against Heresies, i. 28; Epiphanius on Heresies, xlii. 1-3; and +a <q>Dialogus de recta in Deum fide,</q> printed with Origen's Works, in the +edition of De la Rue, Paris, 1733, though not earlier than the fourth +century.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The Gospel, in the eyes of Marcion and the extreme +followers of St. Paul, represented free grace, overflowing +goodness, complete reconciliation with God. +</p> + +<p> +But such goodness stood contrasted with the stern +justice of the Creator, as revealed in the books of the +Old Testament; infinite, unconditioned forgiveness was +incompatible with the idea of God as a Lawgiver and a +Judge. The restraint of the Law and the freedom of +the Gospel could no more emanate from the same source +than sweet water and bitter. +</p> + +<p> +Therefore the advanced Pauline party were led on to +regard the God who is revealed in the Old Testament +as a different God from the God revealed by Christ. +Cerdo first, and Marcion after him, represented the God +of this world, the Demiurge, to be the author of evil; +but the author of evil only in so far as that his nature +being incomplete, his work was incomplete also. He +created the world, but the world, partaking in his imperfection, +contains evil mixed with good. He created +the angel-world, and part of it, through defect in the +divinity of their first cause, fell from heaven. +</p> + +<p> +The germs of this doctrine, it was pretended, were to +be found in St. Paul's Epistles. In the second to the +Corinthians, after speaking of the Jews as blinded to +the revelation of the Gospel by the veil which is on +their faces, the apostle says: <q>The God of this world +hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest +the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the +<pb n='237'/><anchor id='Pg237'/> +image of God, should shine unto them.</q><note place='foot'>1 Cor. iv. 4.</note> St. Paul had +no intention of representing the God of the Jews who +veiled their eyes as opposed to Christ; but it is easy +to see how readily those who followed his doctrine of +antagonism between the Law and the Gospel would be +led to suppose that he did identify the God of the Law +with the principle of obstructiveness and of evil. +</p> + +<p> +So also St. Paul's teaching that sin was produced by +the Law, that it had no positive existence, but was called +into being by the imposition of the Commandments, +lent itself with readiness to Marcion's system. <q>The +Law entered, that the offence might abound.</q><note place='foot'>Rom. v. 20.</note> <q>The +motions of sins are by the Law.</q><note place='foot'>Rom. vi. 5.</note> <q>I had not known +sin, but by the Law: for I had not known lust, except +the Law had said, Thou shalt not covet.</q><note place='foot'>Rom. vii. 7.</note> +</p> + +<p> +This Law, imposed by the God of the Jews, is then +the source of sin. It is imposed, not on the spirit, but +on the flesh. In opposition to it stands the revelation +of Jesus Christ, which repeals the Law of the Jews. +<q>The Law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath +made me free from the law of sin and death.</q><note place='foot'>Rom. viii. 2.</note> <q>Therefore +we conclude that a man is justified without the +deeds of the Law.</q><note place='foot'>Rom. iii. 28.</note> <q>Before faith came, we were kept +under the Law, shut up unto the faith which should +afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the Law was our +schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be +justified by faith; but after that faith is come, we are +no longer under a schoolmaster.</q><note place='foot'>Gal. iii. 23-25.</note> +</p> + +<p> +We find in St. Paul's writings all the elements of +Marcion's doctrine, but not compacted into a system, +because St. Paul never had worked out such a theory, +<pb n='238'/><anchor id='Pg238'/> +and would have shrunk from the conclusions which +might be drawn from his words, used in the heat of +argument, for the purpose of opposing an error, not of +establishing a dogmatic theory. +</p> + +<p> +The whole world lay, according to Marcion, under the +dispensation of the Demiurge, and therefore under a +mixed government of good and evil. To the Jewish +nation this Demiurge revealed himself. His revelation +was stern, uncompromising, imperfect. Then the highest +God, the God of love and mercy, who stood opposed +to the inferior God, the Creator, the God of justice and +severity, sent Jesus Christ for the salvation of all (ad +salutem omnium gentium) to overthrow and destroy +(arguere, redarguere, ἐλέγχειν, καταλεύειν) <q>the Law and +the Prophets,</q> the revelation of the world-God, the God +of the Jews. +</p> + +<p> +The highest God, whose realm and law were spiritual, +had been an unknown God (deus ignotus) till Christ +came to reveal Him. The God of this world and of the +Jews had a carnal realm, and a law which was also +carnal. They formed an antithesis, and true Christianity +consisted in emancipation from the carnal law. The +created world under the Demiurge was bad; matter was +evil; spirit alone was pure. Thus the chain unrolled, +and lapsed into Manichaeism. Cerdo and Marcion stood +in the same relation to Manes that Paul stood in to +them. Manichaeism was not yet developed; it was developing. +</p> + +<p> +Gnosticism, with easy impartiality, affected Ebionitism +on one side and Marcionism on the other, intensifying +their opposition. It was like oxygen combining here to +form an alkali, there to generate an acid. +</p> + +<p> +The God of love, according to Marcion, does not +punish. His dealings with man are, all benevolence, +communication of free grace, bestowal of ready forgiveness. +<pb n='239'/><anchor id='Pg239'/> +For if sin be merely violation of the law of the +God of this world, it is indifferent to the highest God, +who is above the Demiurge, and regards not his vexatious +restrictions on the liberty of man. +</p> + +<p> +Yet Marcion was not charged by his warmest antagonists +with immorality. They could not deny that +the Marcionites entirely differed from other Pauline +Antinomians in their moral conduct—that, for example, +in their abhorrence of heathen games and pastimes they +came fully up to the standard of the most rigid Catholic +Christians. While many of the disciples of St. Paul, +who held that an accommodation with prevailing errors +was allowable, that no importance was to be attached +to externals, found no difficulty in evading the obligation +to become martyrs, the Marcionites readily, fearlessly, +underwent the interrogations of the judges and +the tortures of the executioner.<note place='foot'>Euseb. Hist. Eccles. iv. 15, vii. 12. De Martyr. Palaest. 10.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Marcion, there is no doubt, regarded St. Paul as the +only genuine apostle, the only one who remained true +to his high calling. He taught that Christ, after revealing +himself in his divine power to the God of this world, +and confounding him unto submission, manifested himself +to St. Paul,<note place='foot'>Cf. 1 Col. ix. 1, xv. 8; 2 Cor. xii.</note> and commissioned him to preach the +gospel. +</p> + +<p> +He rejected all the Scriptures now accounted canonical, +except the Epistles of St. Paul, which formed with +him an <q>Apostolicon,</q> in which they were arranged +in the following order:—The Epistle to the Galatians, +the First and Second to the Corinthians, the Epistles to +the Romans, the Thessalonians, Ephesians, Colossians, +Philemon, and to the Philippians.<note place='foot'>Epiphan. Haeres. xlii. 11.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Besides the Epistles of St. Paul, he made use of an +<pb n='240'/><anchor id='Pg240'/> +original Gospel, which he asserted was the evangelical +record cited and used by Paul himself. The other Canonical +Gospels he rejected as corrupted by Judaizers. +</p> + +<p> +This Gospel bore a close resemblance to that of St. +Luke. <q>Marcion,</q> says Irenaeus, <q>has disfigured the +entire Gospel, he has reconstructed it after his own +fancy, and then boasts that he possesses the true Gospel.</q><note place='foot'>Iren. adv. Haeres. iii. 11.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Tertullian assures us that Marcion had cut out of St. +Luke's Gospel whatever opposed his own doctrines, and +retained only what was in favour of them.<note place='foot'><q>Contraria quaeque sententiae emit, competentia autem sententiae +reservarit.</q>—Tertul. adv. Marcion, iv. 6.</note> This statement, +as we shall see presently, was not strictly true. +</p> + +<p> +Epiphanius is more precise. He goes most carefully +over the Gospel used by Marcion, and discusses every +text which, he says, was modified by the heretic.<note place='foot'>Epiphan. Haeres. xlvii. 9-12.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The charge of mutilating the Canonical Gospels was +brought by the orthodox Fathers against both the Ebionites +on one side, and the Marcionites and Valentinians +on the other, because the Gospels they used did not +exactly agree with those employed by the middle party +in the Church which ultimately prevailed. But the +extreme parties on their side made the same charge +against the Catholics.<note place='foot'><q>Ego meum, (Evangelium) dico verum, Marcion suum. Ego Marcionis +affirmo adulteratum, Marcion meum. Quis inter nos disceptabit?</q>—Tert. +adv. Marcion, iv. 4.</note> It is not necessary to believe +these charges in every case. +</p> + +<p> +If the Gospels<note place='foot'>Not St. John's Gospel; that is unique; a biography by an eye-witness, +not a composition of distinct notices.</note> were compiled as in the manner I +have contended they were, such discrepancies must have +occurred. Every Church had its own collection of the +<pb n='241'/><anchor id='Pg241'/> +<q>Logia</q> and of the <q>Practhenta</q> of Christ. The more +voluminous of these collections, those better strung +together, thrust the earlier, less complete, collections +into the back-ground. And these collections were continually +being augmented by the acquisition of fresh +material; and this new material was squeezed into the +existing text, often without much consideration for the +chain of story or teaching which it broke and dislocated. +</p> + +<p> +Marcion was too conscientious and earnest a man wilfully +to corrupt a Gospel. He probably brought with +him to Rome the Gospel in use at Sinope in Pontus, of +which city, according to one account, his father was +bishop. The Church in Sinope had for its first bishop, +Philologus, the friend of St. Paul, if we may trust the +pseudo-Hippolytus and Dorotheus. It is probable that +the Church of Sinope, when founded, was furnished by +St. Paul with a collection of the records of Christ's life +and teaching such as he supplied to other <q>Asiatic</q> +churches. And this collection was, no doubt, made by +his constant companion Luke. +</p> + +<p> +Thus the Gospel of Marcion may be Luke's original +Gospel. But there is every reason to believe that Luke's +Gospel went through considerable alteration, probably +passed through a second edition with considerable additions +to it made by the evangelist's own hand, before it +became what it now is, the Canonical Luke. +</p> + +<p> +He may have found reason to alter the arrangement +of certain incidents; to insert whole paragraphs which +had come to him since he had composed his first rough +sketch; to change certain expressions where he found a +difference in accounts of the same sayings, or to combine +several. +</p> + +<p> +Moreover, the first edition was published in the full +heat of the Pauline controversy. Its strong Paulinianism +lies on the surface. But afterwards, when this +<pb n='242'/><anchor id='Pg242'/> +excitement had passed away, and the popular misconception +of Pauline sola-fidianism had become a general +offence to morals and religion, then Luke came under +the influence of St. John, and tempered his Gospel by +adding to it incidents Paul did not care to have inserted +in the Gospel he wished his converts to receive, or the +accuracy of which, as disagreeing with his own views, +he was disposed to question. +</p> + +<p> +Of this I shall have more to say presently. It is necessary, +in the first place, briefly to show that Marcion's +Gospel contained a different arrangement of the narrative +from the Canonical Luke, and was without many passages +which it is not possible to believe he wilfully excluded. +For instance, in Marcion's Gospel: <q>And as he entered +into a certain village, there met him ten men that were +lepers, which stood afar off: and they lifted up their +voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And +when he saw them, he said unto them, Go, show yourselves +unto the priests. And it came to pass, that as +they went, they were cleansed. And many lepers were +in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of +them was cleansed saving Naaman the Syrian. And one +of them, when he saw that he was healed,</q> &c. Here +the order is Luke xvii. 12, 13, 14, iv. 27, xvii. 15. Such +a disturbance of the text in the Canonical Gospel could +serve no purpose, would not support any peculiar view +of Marcion, and cannot therefore have been a wilful +alteration. And in the first chapter of Marcion's Gospel +this is the sequence of verses whose parallels in St. Luke +are: iii. 1, iv. 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 16, 20 +21, 22, 23, 28, 29, 30, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44. +</p> + +<p> +Thus the order of events is different in the two Gospels. +Christ goes first to Capernaum in the <q>Gospel of +the Lord,</q> and afterwards to Nazareth, an inversion of +the order as given in the Gospel of St. Luke. Again, in +<pb n='243'/><anchor id='Pg243'/> +this instance, no purpose was served by this transposition. +It is unaccountable on the theory that Marcion +corrupted the Gospel of Luke; but if we suppose that +Luke revised the arrangement of his Gospel after its +first publication, the explanation is simple enough. +</p> + +<p> +But what is far more conclusive of the originality of +Marcion's Gospel is, that his Gospel was without several +passages which occur in St. Luke, and which do apparently +favour his views. Such are Luke xi. 51, xiii. 30 +and 34, xx. 9-16. These contain strong denunciations +of the Jews by Jesus Christ, and a positive declaration +that they had fallen from their place as the elect +people. Marcion insisted on the abrogation of the Old +Covenant; it was a fundamental point in his system; +he would consequently have found in these passages +powerful arguments in favour of his thesis. He certainly +would not have excluded them from his Gospel, +had he tampered with the text, as Irenaeus and Tertullian +declare. +</p> + +<p> +Yet Marcion would not scruple to use the knife upon +a Gospel that came into his hands, if he found in it +passages that wholly upset his doctrine of the Demiurge +and of asceticism. For when the Church was full of +Gospels, and none were as yet settled authoritatively as +canonical, private opinion might, unrebuked, choose one +Gospel and reject the others, or subject any Gospel to +critical supervision. The manner in which the Gospels +were composed laid them open to criticism. Any +Church might hesitate to accept a saying of our Lord, +and incorporate it with the Gospel with which it was +acquainted, till satisfied that the saying was a genuine, +apostolic tradition. And how was a Church to be satisfied? +By internal evidence of genuineness, when the apostles +themselves had passed away. Consequently, each Church +was obliged to exert its critical faculty in the composition +<pb n='244'/><anchor id='Pg244'/> +of its Gospel. And that the churches did exert +their judgment freely is evidenced by the mass of +apocryphal matter which remains, the dross after the +refining, piled up in the Gospels of Nicodemus, of the +Infancy of Thomas, and of Joseph the Carpenter. All +of which was deliberately rejected as resting on no apostolic +authority, as not found in any Church to be read +at the sacred mysteries, but as mere folk-tales buzzed +about, nowhere producing credentials of authenticity. +</p> + +<p> +Marcion, following St. Paul, declared that the Judaizing +Church had <q>corrupted the word of God,</q><note place='foot'>2 Cor. ii. 17, and iv. 2.</note> meaning +such <q>logia</q> as, <q>I am not come to destroy the Law +or the Prophets.</q> <q>Till heaven and earth pass, one +jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law, +till all is fulfilled.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. v. 17, 18.</note> These texts would naturally find +no place in the original Pauline Gospels used by the +Churches he had founded. In St. Luke's Gospel, accordingly, +the Law and the Prophets are said to have been +until John, and since then the Gospel, <q>the kingdom of +God.</q><note place='foot'>Luke xvi. 16.</note> But the following verse in St. Luke's Gospel +is, <q>It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one +tittle of the Law to fail</q>—a contradiction of the immediately +preceding verse, which declares that the Law +has ceased with the proclamation of the Gospel. This +verse, therefore, cannot have existed in its present form +in the original Gospel of St. Luke, and must have been +modified when a reconciliation had been effected between +Petrine and Pauline Christianity. +</p> + +<p> +It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that the verse +should read differently in Marcion's Gospel, which contains +the uncorrupted original passage, and runs thus +<q>It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than for one +<pb n='245'/><anchor id='Pg245'/> +tittle of my words to fail;</q> or perhaps, <q>It is easier for +heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the words of +the Lord to fail;</q> for in this instance we have not the +exact words.<note place='foot'>Tert.: <q>Transeat coelum et terra citius quam unus apex verborum +Domini;</q> but Tertullian is not quoting directly, so that the words may +have been, and probably were, τῶν λόγων μου, not τῶν λόγων τοῦ θεοῦ.</note> +</p> + +<p> +But though Marcion certainly endured the presence +of texts in his Gospel which militated against his system, +he may have cut out other passages. Passages, or words +only, which he thought had crept into the text without +authority. This can scarcely be denied when the texts +are examined which are wanting in his Gospel. No strong +conservative attachment to any particular Gospels had +grown up in the Church as yet; no texts had been authoritatively +sanctioned. As late as the end of the second +century (A.D. 190), the Church of Rhossus was using its +own Gospel attributed to Peter, till Serapion, bishop of +Antioch, thinking that it contained Docetic errors, probably +because of omissions, suppressed it,<note place='foot'>Euseb. Hist. Eccl. vi. 12; Theod. Fabul. haeret. ii. 2.</note> and substituted +for it, in all probability, one of the more generally +approved Gospels. +</p> + +<p> +The Church of Rhossus was neither heretical nor +schismatical; it formed part of the Catholic Church, and, +no objection was raised against its use of a Gospel of +its own, till it was suggested that this Gospel contained +errors of doctrine. No question was raised whether it +was an authentic Gospel by Peter or not; the standard +by which it was measured was the traditional faith of +the Church. It did not agree with this standard, and +was therefore displaced. St. Epiphanius and St. Jerome +assert, probably unjustifiably, that the orthodox did not +hesitate to amend their Gospels, if they thought there +were passages in them objectionable or doubtful. Thus +<pb n='246'/><anchor id='Pg246'/> +they altered the passage in which Jesus is said to have +wept over Jerusalem (Luke xix. 41). St. Epiphanius +frankly tells us so. <q>The orthodox,</q> says he, <q>have +eliminated these words, urged to it by fear, and not +feeling either their purpose or force.</q><note place='foot'>Epiphan. Ancor. 31.</note> But it is more +likely that the weeping of Jesus over Jerusalem was +inserted by Luke in his Gospel at the time of reconciliation +under St. John, so as to make the Pauline Gospel +exhibit Jesus moved with sympathy for the holy city, +the head-quarters of the Law. The passage is not in +Marcion's Gospel; and though it is possible he may have +removed it, it is also possible that he did not find it in +the Pauline Gospel of the Church at Sinope. +</p> + +<p> +St. Jerome says that Luke xxii. 43, 44, were also +eliminated from some copies of the Canonical Gospel. +<q>The Greeks have taken the liberty of extracting from +their texts these two verses, for the same reason that +they removed the passage in which it is said he wept.... +This can only come from superstitious persons, +who think that Jesus Christ could not have become as +weak as is represented.</q><note place='foot'>Hieron. adv. Pelag. ii.</note> St. Hilary says that these +verses were not found in many Greek texts, or in some +Latin ones.<note place='foot'>Hilar. De Trinit. x.</note> +</p> + +<p> +But here, also, the assertion of St. Jerome and St. +Hilary cannot be taken as a statement of fact, but rather +as a conclusion drawn by them from the fact that all +copies of the Gospel of St. Luke did not contain these +two verses. They are wanting in the Gospel of our +Lord, and may be an addition made to the Gospel of St. +Luke, after it had been first circulated. There is reason +to suppose that after St. Luke had written his Gospel, +additional matter may have been provided him, and +that he published a second, and enlarged, edition of his +<pb n='247'/><anchor id='Pg247'/> +Gospel. Thus some Churches would be in possession of +the first edition, and others of the second, and Jerome and +Epiphanius, not knowing this, would conclude that those +in possession of the first had tampered with their text. +</p> + +<p> +The Gospel of Marcion has been preserved to us +almost in its entirety. Tertullian regarded Marcionism +as the most dangerous heresy of his day. He wrote +against it, and carefully went through the Marcionite +Gospel to show that it maintained the Catholic faith, +though it differed somewhat from the Gospel acknowledged +by Tertullian, and that therefore Marcion's doctrine +was untenable.<note place='foot'><q>Christus Jesus in evangelio tuo meus est.</q></note> He does not charge Marcion with +having interpolated or curtailed a Canonical Gospel, for +Marcion was ready to retort the charge against the Gospel +used by Tertullian.<note place='foot'>See note 4 on p. <ref target='Pg240'>240</ref>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It is not probable that Tertullian passed over any +passage in the <q>Gospel of the Lord</q> which could by +any means be made to serve against Marcion's system. +This is the more probable, because Tertullian twists the +texts to serve his purpose which in the smallest degree +lend themselves to being so treated.<note place='foot'>As xix. 10 <q>Filius hominis venit, salvum facere quod perfit ... +elisa est sententia haereticorum negantium <hi rend='italic'>carnis</hi> salutem;—pollicebatur +(Jesus) <hi rend='italic'>totius</hi> hominis salutem.</q></note> +</p> + +<p> +St. Epiphanius has gone over much the same ground +as Tertullian, but in a different manner. He attempts +to show how wickedly Marcion had corrupted the Word +of God, and how ineffectual his attempt had been, inasmuch +as passages in his corrupted Gospel served to +destroy his system. +</p> + +<p> +With these two purposes he went through the whole +of the <q>Gospel of the Lord,</q> and accompanied it with a +string of notes, indicating all the alterations and omissions +<pb n='248'/><anchor id='Pg248'/> +he found in it. Each text from Marcion's Gospel, +or Scholion, is accompanied by a refutation. Epiphanius +is very particular. He professes to disclose <q>the +fraud of Marcion from beginning to end.</q> And the +pains he took to do this thoroughly appear from the +minute differences between the Gospels which he notices.<note place='foot'>Sch. 4. ἐν αὐτοῖς for μετ᾽ αὐπῶν. Sch. 1, ὑμῖν for αὐτοῖς. Sch. 26, +κλῆσιν for κρίσιν. Sch. 34, πάτερ for πάτερ ὑμῶν, &c.</note> +At the same time, he does not extract long passages +entire from the Gospel, but indicates their subject, +where they agreed exactly with the received text. It +is possible, therefore, that other slight differences may +have existed which escaped his eye, but the differences +can only have been slight. +</p> + +<p> +The following table gives the contents of the Gospel +of Marcion. It contains nothing that is not found in +St. Luke's Gospel. But some of the passages do not +agree exactly with the parallel passages in the Canonical +Gospel. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>The Gospel</hi> (Τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον).<note place='foot'>Marcion called his Gospel <q>The Gospel,</q> as the only one he knew and +recognized, or <q>The Gospel of the Lord.</q></note> +</p> + +<p> +Chap. i.<note place='foot'>The division into chapters is, of course, arbitrary.</note> +</p> + +<p> +1. Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, +Pontius Pilate ruling in Judea, Jesus came down to Capernaum, +a city of Galilee, and straightway on the Sabbath days, +going into the synagogue, he taught.<note place='foot'>Ἐν ἔτει πεντεκαιδεκάτῳ τῆς ἡγεμονίας Τιβερίου Καίσαρος, ἡγεμονεύοντος +(St. Luke, ἐπιτροπεύοντος), Ποντίου Πιλάτου τῆς Ἰουδαίας, κατῆλθεν +ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰς Καπερναούμ, πόλιν τῆς Γαλιλαίας, καὶ εὐθέως τοῖς σάββασιν +εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὴν συναγωγὴν ἐδίδασκε (St. Luke, καὶ διδάσκων αὐτοὺς ἐν +τοῖς σάββασιν).</note> +</p> + +<p> +2. And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word +was with power. +</p> + +<pb n='249'/><anchor id='Pg249'/> + +<p> +3. And in the synagogue there was a man, which had +a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud +voice, +</p> + +<p> +4. Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, +Jesus?<note place='foot'>Ναζαρηνέ omitted.</note> Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who +thou art; the Holy One of God. +</p> + +<p> +5. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and +come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in +the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not. +</p> + +<p> +6. And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, +saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power +he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out. +</p> + +<p> +7. And he arose out of the synagogue,<note place='foot'>St. Luke iv. 37 omitted here, and inserted after iv. 39.</note> and entered into +Simon's house. And Simon's wife's mother was taken with +a great fever; and they besought him for her. +</p> + +<p> +8. And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever, and it +left her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto +them. +</p> + +<p> +9. And the fame of him went out into every place of the +country round about. +</p> + +<p> +10. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of +all.<note place='foot'>Luke iv. 15 inserted here.</note> +</p> + +<p> +11. And he came to Nazareth;<note place='foot'>οὗ ἦν τεθραμμένος omitted.</note> and, as his custom was, he +went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day,<note place='foot'>ἀνέστη ἀναγνῶσαι omitted, and Luke iv. 17-20.</note> and he began +to preach to them.<note place='foot'>καὶ ἤρξατο κηρύσσειν αὐτοῖς. St. Luke has, Ἤρξατο δὲ λέγειν πρὸς +αὐτούς, ὅτι σήμερον πεπλήρωται ἡ γραφὴ αὕτη ἐν τοῖς ὠσὶν ὑμῶν.</note> +</p> + +<p> +12. And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious +words which proceeded out of his mouth.<note place='foot'>The rest of the verse (22) omitted.</note> +</p> + +<p> +13. And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me +<pb n='250'/><anchor id='Pg250'/> +this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have +heard done in Capernaum, do also here.<note place='foot'>ἐν τῇ πατρίδι σου omitted.</note> +</p> + +<p> +14. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel +in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years +and six months, when great famine was throughout the land; +</p> + +<p> +15. But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto +Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. +</p> + +<p> +16. And many lepers were in the time of Eliseus the prophet +in Israel,<note place='foot'>ἐν τῷ Ἰσραήλ after ἐπὶ Ἐλισσαίου τοῦ προφήτου.</note> and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman +the Syrian. +</p> + +<p> +17. And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these +things, were filled with wrath, +</p> + +<p> +18. And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led +him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, +that they might cast him down headlong. +</p> + +<p> +19. But he passing through the midst of them, went his +way to Capernaum.<note place='foot'>ἐπορεύετο εἰς Καπερναούμ. St. Luke has, ἐπορεύετο καὶ κατῆλθεν +εἰς Καπερναούμ.</note> +</p> + +<p> +20. And when the sun was setting, all they that had any +sick with divers diseases brought them unto him, &c. (as St. +Luke iv. 40-44). +</p> + +<p> +Chap. ii. +</p> + +<p> +Same as St. Luke v. +</p> + +<p> +Verse 14 differed slightly. For εἰς μαρτύριον αὐτοῖς, +Marcion's Gospel had ἵνα τοῦτο ἦ μαρτύριον ῦμιν, <q>that +this may be a testimony to you.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Chap. iii. +</p> + +<p> +Same as St. Luke vi. +</p> + +<p> +Verse 17, for μετ᾽ αὐτῶν, Marcion read ἐν αὐτοῖς; +<q>among them</q> for <q>with them.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Chap. iv. +</p> + +<p> +Same as St. Luke vii. +</p> + +<p> +Verses 29-35 omitted. +</p> + +<pb n='251'/><anchor id='Pg251'/> + +<p> +Chap. v. +</p> + +<p> +Same as St. Luke viii. +</p> + +<p> +But verse 19 was omitted by Marcion. +</p> + +<p> +And verse 21 read: <q>And he answering, said unto +them, Who is my mother, and who are my brethren?<note place='foot'>τίς μου ἡ μήτηρ καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοί.</note> +My mother and my brethren are these which hear the +word of God, and do it.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Chap vi. +</p> + +<p> +Same as St. Luke ix. +</p> + +<p> +But verse 31 was omitted. +</p> + +<p> +Chap. vii. +</p> + +<p> +Same as St. Luke x. +</p> + +<p> +But verse 21 read: <q>In that hour he rejoiced in the +Spirit, and said, I praise and thank thee, Lord of Heaven, +that those things which were hidden from the wise and +prudent thou hast revealed to babes: even so, Father; +for so it seemed good in thy sight.</q><note place='foot'>Εὐχαριστῶ καὶ ἐξομολογοῦμαί σοι, κύριε τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ὅτι ἅτινα ἦν +κρυπτὰ σοφοῖς καὶ συνετοῖς ἀπεκάλυψας, &c. St. Luke has, ἐξομολογοῦμαί +σοι, πάτερ, κύριε τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς, ὅτι ἀπέκρυψας ταῦτα ἀπὸ +σοφῶν καὶ συνετῶν καὶ ἀπεκάλυψας, &c.</note> +</p> + +<p> +And verse 22 ran: <q>All things are delivered to me of +my Father, and no man hath known the Father save +the Son, nor the Son save the Father, and he to whom +the Son hath revealed;</q><note place='foot'>οὐδεὶς ἔγνω τὸν πατέρα εἰ μὴ ὁ υἱὸς, οὐδε τὸν υἱόν τις γινώσκει εἰ μὴ +ὁ πατήρ, καὶ ῷ ἂν ὁ υἱός ἀποκαλύψη.</note> in place of, <q>All things are +delivered to me of my Father; and no man knoweth +who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, +but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.</q> +</p> + +<p> +And verse 25: <q>Doing what shall I obtain life?</q> +<q>eternal,</q> αἰώνιον, being omitted. +</p> + +<p> +Chap. viii. +</p> + +<p> +Same as St. Luke xi. +</p> + +<pb n='252'/><anchor id='Pg252'/> + +<p> +But verse 2: <q>When ye pray, say, Father, may thy +Holy Spirit come to us, thy kingdom come,</q> &c., in +place of <q>Hallowed be thy name.</q><note place='foot'>In some of the most ancient codices of St. Luke, <q>which art in heaven</q> +is not found. Πάτερ, ἐλθέτω πρὸς ἡμᾶς τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμά σου.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Verse 29: in Marcion's Gospel it ended, <q>This is an +evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no +sign be given it.</q> What follows in St. Luke's Gospel, +<q>but the sign of Jonas the prophet,</q> and verses 30-32, +were omitted. +</p> + +<p> +Verse 42: <q>Woe unto you, Pharisees! ye tithe mint +and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over the +calling<note place='foot'>κλῆσιν instead of κρίσιν.</note> and the love of God,</q> &c. +</p> + +<p> +Verses 49-51 were omitted by Marcion. +</p> + +<p> +Chap. ix. +</p> + +<p> +Same as St. Luke xii. +</p> + +<p> +But verses 6, 7, and <q>τῶν ἀγγέλων</q> in 8 and 9 omitted. +</p> + +<p> +Verse 32 read: <q>Fear not, little flock; for it is the +Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.</q><note place='foot'>ὑμῶν omitted.</note> +</p> + +<p> +And verse 38 ran thus: <q>And if he shall come in +the evening watch, and find thus, blessed are those +servants.</q><note place='foot'>τῇ ἑσπερινῇ φυλακῇ, for ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ φυλακῇ καὶ ἐν τῇ τρίτῃ φυλακῇ.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Chap. x. +</p> + +<p> +Same as St. Luke xiii. 11-28. +</p> + +<p> +Marcion's Gospel was without verses 1-10. +</p> + +<p> +Verse 28: for <q>Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all +the prophets,</q> Marcion read, <q>all the righteous,</q><note place='foot'>πάντας τοὺς δικαίους.</note> and +added <q>held back</q> after <q>cast.</q><note place='foot'>ἐκβαλλομένους καὶ κρατουμένους ἔξω.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Verses 29-35 of St. Luke's chapter were not in Marcion's +Gospel. +</p> + +<pb n='253'/><anchor id='Pg253'/> + +<p> +Chap. xi. +</p> + +<p> +Same as St. Luke xiv. +</p> + +<p> +Verses 7-11 omitted. +</p> + +<p> +Chap. xii. +</p> + +<p> +Same as St. Luke xv. 1-10. +</p> + +<p> +Verses 11-32 omitted. +</p> + +<p> +Chap. xiii. +</p> + +<p> +Same as St. Luke xvi. +</p> + +<p> +But verse 12: <q>If ye have not been faithful in that +which is another man's, who will give you that which +is mine?</q><note place='foot'>ἐμόν for ὑμέτερον.</note> +</p> + +<p> +And verse 17: for <q>One tittle of the Law shall not +fall,</q> Marcion read, <q>One tittle of my words shall not +fall.</q><note place='foot'>ἢ τῶν λόγων μου μίαν κεραίαν πεσεῖν.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Chap. xiv. +</p> + +<p> +Same as St. Luke xvii. +</p> + +<p> +But verse 2: εἰ μὴ ἐγεννήθη, ἢ μύλος ὀνικὸς,<note place='foot'>Some codices of St. Luke have, λίθος μυλικὸς; others, μύλος ὀνικός.</note> <q>if he had +not been born, or if a mill-stone,</q> &c. +</p> + +<p> +Verses 9, 10: Marcion's Gospel had, <q>Doth he thank +that servant because he did the things that were commanded +him? I trow not. So likewise do ye, when ye +shall have done all those things that are commanded +you.</q> Omitting, <q>Say, We are unprofitable servants; +we have done that which was our duty to do.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Verse 14: <q>And he sent them away, saying, Go show +yourselves unto the priests,</q> &c., in place of, <q>And when +he saw them, he said unto them,</q> &c.<note place='foot'>Ἀπέστειλεν αὐτοὺς λέγων.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Verse 18 ran: <q>These are not found returning to give +glory to God. And there were many lepers in the time +<pb n='254'/><anchor id='Pg254'/> +of Eliseus the prophet in Israel; and none of them was +cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.</q><note place='foot'>μὴ ὁ ἀλλογενὴς ουτος omitted; the previous question, Οὐχ εὑρέθησαν +κ.τ.λ., made positive; and Luke iv. 27 inserted.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Chap. xv. +</p> + +<p> +Same as St. Luke xviii. 1-30, 35-43. +</p> + +<p> +Verse 19: <q>Jesus said to him, Do not call me good; +one is good, the Father.</q><note place='foot'>Μή με λέγε ἀγαθόν, εἷς ἐστιν ἀγαθός, ὁ πατήρ.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Verses 31-34 were absent from Marcion's Gospel. +</p> + +<p> +Chap. xvi. +</p> + +<p> +Same as St. Luke xix. 1-28. +</p> + +<p> +Verses 29-48 absent. +</p> + +<p> +Verse 9: <q>For that he also is a son of Abraham,</q> was +not in Marcion's text. +</p> + +<p> +Chap. xvii. +</p> + +<p> +Same as St. Luke xx. 1-8, 19-36, 39-47. +</p> + +<p> +Verses 9-18 not in Marcion's Gospel. +</p> + +<p> +Verse 19: <q>They perceived that he had spoken this +parable against them,</q> not in Marcion's text. +</p> + +<p> +Verse 35: <q>But they which shall be accounted worthy +of God to obtain that world,</q> &c.<note place='foot'>ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ inserted.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Verses 37, 38, omitted. +</p> + +<p> +Chap. xviii. +</p> + +<p> +Same as St. Luke xxi. 1-17, 19, 20, 23-38. +</p> + +<p> +Verses 18, 21, 22, were not in Marcion's Gospel. +</p> + +<p> +Chap. xix. +</p> + +<p> +Same as St. Luke xxii. 1-15, 19-27, 31-34, 39-48, +52-71. +</p> + +<p> +Verses absent were therefore 16-18, 28-30, 35-38, +45-51. +</p> + +<p> +Chap. xx. +</p> + +<p> +Same as St. Luke xxiii. +</p> + +<pb n='255'/><anchor id='Pg255'/> + +<p> +Verse 2: <q>And they began to accuse him, saying, We +found this one perverting the nation, and destroying the +Law and the Prophets, and forbidding to give tribute to +Caesar, and leading away the women and children.</q><note place='foot'>Καὶ καταλύοντα τὸν νόμον καὶ τοὺς προφήτας after διαστρέφοντα τὸ +ἔθνος, and καὶ ἀναστρέφοντα τὰς γυναῖκας καὶ τὰ τέκνα after φόρους μὴ +δοῦναι.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Verse 43: <q>Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou +be with me.</q><note place='foot'>ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ omitted. Possibly the whole verse was omitted.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Chap. xxi. +</p> + +<p> +Same as St. Luke xxiv. 1-26, 28-51. +</p> + +<p> +Verse 25: <q>O fools and sluggish-hearted in believing +all those things which he said to you,</q> in place of, <q>in +believing all those things which the prophets spake.</q><note place='foot'>οἷς ἐλάλησεν ὑμῖν, instead of ἐλάλησαν οἱ προφῆται. Volckmar thinks +that in v. 19, <q>of Nazareth</q> was omitted, but neither St. Epiphanius nor +Tertullian say so.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Verse 27 was omitted. +</p> + +<p> +Verse 32: <q>And while he opened to us the Scriptures,</q> +omitted. +</p> + +<p> +Verse 44: <q>These are the words which I spake unto +you, while I was yet with you.</q> What follows in St. +Luke, <q>that all things must be fulfilled, which were +written in the Law of Moses, and the Prophets, and the +Psalms, concerning me,</q> was omitted. +</p> + +<p> +Verse 45 was omitted. +</p> + +<p> +Verse 46 ran: <q>That thus it behoved Christ to suffer,</q> +&c.; so that the whole sentence read, <q>These are the +words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with +you, That thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise +from the dead the third day.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Verses 52 and 53 were omitted. +</p> + +<pb n='256'/><anchor id='Pg256'/> + +<p> +I shall now make a few remarks on some of the +passages absent from Marcion's Gospel, or which, in it, +differ from the Canonical Gospel of St. Luke. +</p> + +<p> +1. It was not attributed to St. Luke. It was Τὸ +Εὐαγγέλιον, not κατὰ Λουκᾶν. Tertullian explicitly says, +<q>Marcion inscribes no name on his Gospel,</q><note place='foot'>Tert. adv. Marcion, iv. 2. <q>Marcion evangelio scilicet suo nullum +adscribit nomen.</q></note> and in the +<q>Dialogue on the Right Faith</q> it is asserted that he +protested his Gospel was <emph>the</emph> Gospel, the only one; and +that the multiplicity of Gospels used by Catholics, and +their discrepancies, were a proof that none of these other +Gospels were genuine. He even went so far as to assert +that his Gospel was written by Christ,<note place='foot'>Ἕν ἐστι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον, ὃ ὁ Χριστὸς ἔγραψεν.</note> and when closely +pressed on this point, and asked whether Christ wrote +the account of his own passion and resurrection, he said +it was so, but afterwards hesitated, and asserted that it +was probably added by St. Paul. +</p> + +<p> +This shows plainly enough that Marcion had received +the Gospel, probably from the Church of Sinope, where +it was the only one known, and that he had heard +nothing about St. Luke as its author; indeed, knew +nothing of its origin. He treated it with the utmost +veneration, and in his veneration for it attributed its +authorship to the Lord himself; supposing the words of +St. Paul, <q>the Gospel of Christ,</q><note place='foot'>Rom. i. 16, xv. 19, 29; 1 Cor. ix. 12, 18; 2 Cor. iv. 4, ix. 13; +Gal. i. 7.</note> <q>the Gospel of his +Son,</q><note place='foot'>Rom. i. 9.</note> <q>the Gospel of God,</q><note place='foot'>Rom. i. 1, xv. 16; 1 Thess. ii. 2, 9; 1 Tim. i. 11.</note> to mean that Jesus Christ +was the actual author of the book. +</p> + +<p> +Marcion, it may be remarked, would have had no +objection to acknowledging St. Luke as the compiler of +<pb n='257'/><anchor id='Pg257'/> +the Gospel, as that evangelist was a devoted follower of +St. Paul. If he did not do so, it was because at Sinope +the Gospel read in the Church was not known by his +name. +</p> + +<p> +2. Marcion's Gospel was without the Preface, Luke i. +1-4. +</p> + +<p> +This Preface is certainly by St. Luke, but was added, +we may conjecture, after the final revision of his Gospel, +when he issued the second edition. Its absence +from Marcion's Gospel shows that it did not accompany +the first edition. +</p> + +<p> +3. The narrative of the nativity, Luke i. ii., is not in +Marcion's Gospel. +</p> + +<p> +It has been supposed by critics that he omitted this +narrative purposely, because his Christ was descended +from the highest God, had no part with the world of the +Demiurge, and had therefore no earthly mother.<note place='foot'>Volckmar: Das Evangelium Marcions; Leipzig, 1852, p. 54.</note> But +if so, why did Marcion suffer the words, <q>Thy mother +and thy brethren stand without desiring to see thee</q> +(Luke viii. 20), to remain in his Gospel? +</p> + +<p> +And it does not appear that Marcion denied the +incarnation <hi rend='italic'>in toto</hi>, and went to the full extreme of +Docetic doctrine. On the contrary, he taught that +Christ deceived the God of this World, by coming into +it as a man. The Demiurge trusted he would be his +Messiah, to confirm the Law for ever. But when he +saw that Christ was destroying the Law, he inflicted on +him death. And this was only possible, because Christ +was, through his human nature, subject to his power. +</p> + +<p> +It is a less violent supposition that in the Church of +Sinope the Gospel was, like that of St. Mark, without a +narrative of the nativity and childhood of Jesus. It is +probable, moreover, that the first two chapters of St. +Luke's Gospel were added at a later period. The +<pb n='258'/><anchor id='Pg258'/> +account of the nativity and childhood is taken from the +mouths of the blessed Virgin Mary, of eye-witnesses, or +contemporaries. <q>Mary kept all these things and pondered +them in her heart,</q> and <q>His mother kept all +these sayings in her heart.</q><note place='foot'>Luke ii. 19, 51.</note> This is our guaranty that +the story is true. Mary kept them in memory, and the +evangelist appeals to her memory for them. So with +regard to the account of the nativity of the Baptist, +<q>All they that heard these things laid them up in their +hearts.</q><note place='foot'>Luke i. 66.</note> To their recollections also the evangelist +appeals as his authority. +</p> + +<p> +Now it is not probable that St. Luke or St. Paul were +brought in contact with the Virgin and the people about +Hebron, relatives of the Baptist. Their lives were spent +in Asia Minor. But St. John, we know, became the +guardian of the blessed Virgin after the death of Christ.<note place='foot'>John xix. 26.</note> +Greek ecclesiastical tradition declares that she accompanied +him to Ephesus. But be that as it may, St. John +almost certainly would have tenderly and reverently +collected the <q>memorabilia</q> of the blessed Mother concerning +her Divine Son's birth and infancy. +</p> + +<p> +St. John had the organizing and disciplining of the +<q>Asiatic</q> churches founded by St. Paul after the removal +of the Apostle of the Gentiles. When he came +to Ephesus, and went through the Churches of Asia +Minor, he found a Gospel compiled by St. Luke in +general use. To this he added such particulars as were +expedient to complete it, amongst others the <q>recollections</q> +of St. Mary, and the relatives of the Baptist. It +is most probable that he gave them to St. Luke to work +into his narrative, and thus to form a second edition +of his Gospel.<note place='foot'>This was some time prior to the composition of St. John's Gospel. +The first two chapters of St. Luke's Gospel were written apparently by the +same hand which wrote the rest. Similarities, identity of expression, +almost prove this. Compare i. 10 and ii. 13 with viii. 37, ix. 37, xxiii. 1; +also i. 10 with xiv. 17, xxii. 14; i. 20 with xxii. 27, and i. 20 with xii. 3, +xix. 44; i. 22 with xxiv. 23; i. 44 with vii. 1, ix. 44; also i. 45 with +x. 23, xi. 27, 28; also i. 48 with ix. 38; i. 66 with ix. 44; i. 80 with +ix. 51; ii. 6 with iv. 2; ii. 9 with xxiv. 4; ii. 10 with v. 10; ii. 14 with +xix. 18; ii. 20 with xix. 37; ii. 25 with xxiii. 50; ii. 26. with ix. 20.</note> That the Gospel of St. Luke was retouched +<pb n='259'/><anchor id='Pg259'/> +after the abatement of the anti-legal excitement +can hardly be doubted. We shall see instances as we +proceed. +</p> + +<p> +4. The section relating to the Baptist (Luke iii. 2-19), +with which the most ancient Judaizing Gospels +opened, was absent from that of Marcion. +</p> + +<p> +John belonged to the Old Covenant; he could not +therefore be regarded as revealing the Gospel of the +unknown God. This is thought by Baur, Hilgenfeld +and Volckmar, to be the reason of the omission. But +the explanation is strained. I think it probable, as +stated above, that St. Luke when with St. Paul had not +got the narrative of those who had heard and seen the +birth of the Baptist and his preaching beyond Jordan. +Had Marcion, moreover, objected to the Baptist as belonging +to the Old Covenant, he would not have suffered +the presence in his Gospel of the passage, Luke vii. 24-28, +containing the high commendation of John, <q>This is +he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger +before thy face, which shall prepare the way before +thee.</q> +</p> + +<p> +5. There is no mention in Marcion's Gospel of the +baptism of our Lord (Luke iii. 21, 22). This is given +very briefly in St. Luke's Gospel. To the Nazarene +Church this event was of the utmost importance; it was +regarded as the beginning of the mission of Jesus, the +ratification by God of his Messiahship, and therefore the +Gospels of Mark and of the Hebrews opened with it. +But the significance was not so deeply felt by the +<pb n='260'/><anchor id='Pg260'/> +Gentile converts, and therefore the circumstance is +despatched in a few words. +</p> + +<p> +6. The genealogy of Joseph is not given (Luke iii. +23-38). This is not to be wondered at. It is an +evidently late interpolation, clumsily foisted into the +sacred text, rudely interrupting the narrative. +</p> + +<p> +(21): <q>Now when all the people were baptized, it +came to pass that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, +the heaven opened, (22) and the Holy Ghost descended +in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a +voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved +Son; in thee I am well pleased. (iv. 1): And Jesus +being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and +was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.</q> Such is the +natural order. But it is interrupted by the generation +of Joseph, the supposed father of Jesus, from Adam. +This generation does not concern Jesus at all, but it +came through some Jewish Christians into the hands of +the Church in Asia Minor, and was forced between the +joints of the sacred text, to the interruption of the narrative +and the succession of ideas.<note place='foot'>The descent of the Holy Ghost in bodily shape explains why in iv. 1 +he is said to have been full of the Holy Ghost. I suspect the narrative of +the unction occurred here. This was removed to cut off occasion to Docetic +error, and the gap was clumsily filled with an useless genealogy.</note> Marcion had it not +in the Gospel brought from Pontus. +</p> + +<p> +7. The narrative of the Temptation is not in Marcion's +Gospel. It can have been no omission of his, for it +would have tallied admirably with his doctrine. He +held that the God of this world believed Christ at first +to be the Messiah, but finally was undeceived. In the +narrative of the Temptation the devil offers Christ all +the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. He +takes the position which in Marcion's scheme was occupied +by the Demiurge. Had he possessed the record of +<pb n='261'/><anchor id='Pg261'/> +the Temptation, it would have mightily strengthened +his position. +</p> + +<p> +8. The <q>Gospel of our Lord</q> opens with the words, +<q>In the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate +ruling in Judaea (ἡγεμονεύοντος in place of ἐπιτροπεύοντος, +an unimportant difference), Jesus came down to Capernaum, +a city of Galilee, and straightway on the Sabbath +days, going into the synagogue, he taught</q> (εἰσελθὼν εἰς +τὴν συναγωγὴν ἐδίδασκε in place of καὶ διδάσκων αὐτοὺς ἐν +τοῖς σάββασιν), again an unimportant variation. +</p> + +<p> +9. The words <q>Jesus of Nazareth</q><note place='foot'>Ναζωραῖος for Ναζαρηνός omitted.</note> are in Marcion's +Gospel simply <q>Jesus.</q> This may have been done +by Marcion on purpose. But there is no evidence that +it was omitted in xxiv. 19. +</p> + +<p> +10. The order of events, as given in Luke iv., is +changed. Jesus, in Marcion's Gospel, goes first to +Capernaum, and then to Nazareth, reversing the order in +St. Luke. +</p> + +<table rend="latexcolumns: 'p{3.5cm} p{3.5cm}'; tblcolumns: 'lw(30) lw(30)'"> +<row><cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>The Gospel of the Lord.</hi></cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>The Gospel of St. Luke,</hi> iv. 14-40.</cell></row> +<row><cell>9. Christ goes to Capernaum, +and enters the synagogue to +teach.</cell><cell>1. Christ comes into Galilee, and +the fame of him goes round +about (14).</cell></row> +<row><cell>10. All are astonished at his doctrine +and power.</cell><cell>2. He teaches in the synagogues +of Galilee, being glorified of +all (15).</cell></row> +<row><cell>11. He heals the demoniac.</cell><cell></cell></row> +<row><cell>12. All are amazed at his power.</cell><cell>3. He comes to Nazareth, and +goes into the synagogue (16).</cell></row> +<row><cell>14. He enters Simon's house, and +heals his wife's mother.</cell><cell>4. He opens Esaias, and interprets +his prophecy (17-21).</cell></row> +<row><cell>13. His fame spreads.</cell><cell></cell></row> +<row><cell>2. He teaches in the synagogues, +being glorified of all.</cell><cell>5. All bare him witness, and +wonder at his gracious words, +but ask if he is not Joseph's +son (22).</cell></row> +<row><cell>3. He comes to Nazareth, and goes +into the synagogue.</cell><cell></cell></row> +<row><cell>5. All bare him witness, and +wonder at his gracious words.</cell><cell>6. Christ quotes a proverb, and +combats it (23-27).</cell></row> +<pb n='262'/><anchor id='Pg262'/> +<row><cell>6. Christ quotes a proverb, and +combats it.</cell><cell>7. The Nazarenes seek to throw +him down a precipice (28, +29).</cell></row> +<row><cell>7. The Nazarenes seek to throw +him down a precipice.</cell><cell></cell></row> +<row><cell>8. He escapes, and goes to Capernaum.</cell><cell>8. He escapes, and goes to Capernaum +(30, 31).</cell></row> +<row><cell>15. At sunset he heals the sick.</cell><cell>9. He teaches in the synagogue at +Capernaum (31).</cell></row> +<row><cell></cell><cell>10. All are astonished at his doctrine +and power (32).</cell></row> +<row><cell></cell><cell>11. He heals the demoniac (33-35).</cell></row> +<row><cell></cell><cell>12. All are amazed at his power (36).</cell></row> +<row><cell></cell><cell>13. His fame spreads (37).</cell></row> +<row><cell></cell><cell>14. He enters Simon's house, and +heals his wife's mother (38, 39).</cell></row> +<row><cell></cell><cell>15. At sunset he heals the sick (40).</cell></row> +</table> + +<p> +By placing the subject-matter of the two narratives +side by side, and numbering that of St. Luke consecutively, +and giving the corresponding paragraphs, with +their numbers as in Luke's order, arranged in the Marcionite +succession, the reader is able at once to see the +difference. No doctrinal question was touched by this +transposition. The only explanation of it which is satisfactory +is that each Gospel contained fragments which +were pieced together differently. One block consisted +of paragraphs 2-8; another, of paragraphs 9-14; +another 15. Besides these blocks, there were chips, +splinters, the paragraphs 1, 13, 15. Marcion's Gospel +was without 1 and 4. +</p> + +<p> +Par. 2, verse 15: <q>He taught in their synagogues, +being glorified of all,</q> was common to both Gospels. In +Marcion's, most appropriately, it came after Christ has +performed miracles; less judiciously in Luke's does it +come before the performance of miracles. +</p> + +<p> +Par. 13: <q>And the fame of him went out into every +place of the country round about.</q> St. Luke put this +<pb n='263'/><anchor id='Pg263'/> +after Christ had taught in Nazareth and Capernaum; in +Marcion's Gospel it was before he had been to Nazareth, +but immediately after the healing of Simon's wife's +mother. It ought probably to occupy the place assigned +it in Marcion's text. The fame of Christ spreads. They +in Nazareth hear of it, and say, <q>What we have heard +done in Capernaum, do also here.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Par. 15: <q>Now when the sun was setting, all they +that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto +him,</q> &c., as in St. Luke iv. 40, 41. This Marcion's +Gospel has immediately after the healing of the sick wife +of Simon, as though the rumour of the miracle attracted +all who had sick relations to bring them to Christ. No +doubt the paragraph should rightly stand in connection +with this miracle of healing the fevered woman. +</p> + +<p> +But there are omissions supposed to have been made +purposely by Marcion. In verse 16 of St. Luke's Gospel, +c. iv.: <q>He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought +up,</q> in the <q>Gospel of the Lord</q> ran, <q>He came to Nazareth</q> +only. But it is not improbable that <q>where he had +been brought up</q> was a gloss which crept into the text +after the addition of the narrative of the early years of +Christ had been added to the Canonical Gospel. +</p> + +<p> +All the reading from the prophet Esaias, and the exposition +of the prophecy (Luke iv. 17-21) was omitted, +there can be small question, by Marcion, because it +mutilated against his views touching the prophets as +ministers, not of the God of Christ, but of the God of +this world. +</p> + +<p> +Luke iv. 23: <q>Do also here in thy country,</q> changed +into, <q>Do also here.</q> It is possible that <q>in thy +country</q> may be a gloss which has crept into a later +text of St. Luke's Gospel, or was inserted by Luke in +his second edition. +</p> + +<p> +11. Luke vii. 29-35 are wanting in Marcion's Gospel. +<pb n='264'/><anchor id='Pg264'/> +That verses 29-32 should have been purposely excluded, +it is impossible to suppose, as they favoured +Marcion's tenets. It has been argued that the rest of +the verses, 33-35, were cut out by Marcion because in +verse 34 it is said, <q>The Son of Man is come eating and +drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man and a +winebibber.</q> But the <q>Gospel of the Lord</q> contained +Luke v. 33: <q>Why do the disciples of John fast often, +and make long prayers, and likewise the disciples of the +Pharisees; but thine eat and drink;</q> and the example +of Christ going to the feast prepared by Levi is retained +(v. 29). +</p> + +<p> +12. Luke viii. 19: <q>Then came to him his mother +and his brethren,</q> &c., omitted; but the next verse, +<q>And it was told him by certain which said, Thy mother +and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee.</q> +This cannot be admitted as a mutilation by Marcion. +Had he cut out verse 19, he would also have removed +verse 20. Rather is verse 19 an amplification of the +original text. The <q>saying</q> of Jesus was known in +the <q>Asiatic</q> churches; and when Luke wove it into +the text of his Gospel, he introduced it with the words, +<q>Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and +could not come at him for the press,</q> words not necessary, +but deducible from the preserved text, and useful +as introducing it. +</p> + +<p> +13. Luke x. 21: <q>In that hour he rejoiced in the +spirit, and said, I praise and thank thee, Lord of heaven, +that those things which are hidden from the wise and +prudent thou hast revealed to babes.</q> The version in +Luke's Gospel may have been tampered with by Marcion, +lest God should appear harsh in hiding <q>those +things from the wise and prudent.</q> But it is more +likely that Marcion's text is the correct one. Why +should Christ thank God that he has hidden the truth +<pb n='265'/><anchor id='Pg265'/> +from the wise and prudent? The reading in Marcion's +Gospel is not only a better one, but it also appears to +be an independent one. He has, <q>I praise and thank +thee.</q> The received text differs in different codices; in +some, Jesus rejoices <q>in the Spirit;</q> in others, <q>in the +Holy Spirit.</q> +</p> + +<p> +14. Luke x. 22: <q>All things are delivered to me of +my Father, and no man hath known the Father save +the Son, nor the Son save the Father, and he to whom +the Son hath revealed him.</q> No doctrinal purpose was +effected by the change. It is therefore probable that +the Sinope Gospel ran as in Marcion's text. +</p> + +<p> +15. Luke x. 25: <q>Doing what shall I obtain life?</q> +<q>eternal</q> being omitted, it is thought, lest Jesus should +seem to teach that eternal life was to be obtained by +fulfilling the Law.<note place='foot'>Tertul. adv. Marcion, iv. c. 25, <q>ut doctor de ea vita videatur consuluisse +quae in lege promittitur longaeva.</q></note> But Marcion did not alter the same +question when asked by the ruler, in Luke xviii. 18; for +then Christ, after he has referred him to the Law, goes +on to impose on him a higher law—that of love. But +<q>eternal</q> may be an addition to Luke's text in the +second edition. +</p> + +<p> +16. The first petition in the Lord's Prayer differs in +Marcion's Gospel from that in St. Luke. Marcion has, +<q>Father! may thy Holy Spirit come to us, Thy kingdom +come,</q> &c., instead of, <q>Father! (which art in heaven—not +in the most ancient copies of St. Luke) Hallowed +be thy name,</q> &c. No purpose was served by this difference; +and we must not attribute to Marcion in this +instance wilful alteration of the sacred text. It is apparent +that several versions of the Lord's Prayer existed +in the first age of the Church, and that this was the +form in which it was accepted and used in Pontus, perhaps +throughout Asia Minor. +</p> + +<pb n='266'/><anchor id='Pg266'/> + +<p> +That the Lord's Prayer in St. Luke's Gospel stood +originally as in Marcion's Gospel is made almost certain +by verse 13. After giving the form of prayer, xi. 2-4, +Christ instructs his disciples on the readiness of God +to answer prayer. <q>And,</q> he continues, <q>if ye then, +being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your +children; how much more shall your heavenly Father +give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?</q> How +ready will He be to give that which you have learned +to ask in the first petition of the prayer I have just +taught you! The petition was altered in the received +text later, to accommodate it to the form given in St. +Matthew's Gospel. +</p> + +<p> +17. Luke xi. 29: <q>There shall no sign be given.</q> +What follows in St. Luke's Gospel, <q>but the sign of +the prophet Jonas,</q> and verses 30-32, were not found +in Marcion's Gospel. Perhaps all this was inserted in +the second edition of St. Luke's Gospel. But also perhaps +the allusions to the Ninevites and the Queen of the +South were omitted, because of the condemnation pronounced +on the generation which received not Christ +through them; and Jesus was not the manifestation of +the God of judgment, but of the God of mercy. +</p> + +<p> +18. So also <q>judgment</q> was turned into <q>calling,</q> in +verse 42; and also the verses 49-51, in which the blood +of the prophets is said to be <q>required of this generation.</q> +</p> + +<p> +19. Luke xii. 38: <q>The evening watch</q> is perhaps +an earlier reading than the received one: <q>If he shall +come in the second watch, or come in the third watch;</q> +which has the appearance of an expansion of the simpler +text. +</p> + +<p> +The evening watch was the first watch. The Christians +in the first age thought that our Lord would come +again immediately. But as he did not return again in +<pb n='267'/><anchor id='Pg267'/> +glory in the first watch, they altered the text to <q>the +second watch or the third watch.</q> Consequently Marcion's +text is the original unaltered one. +</p> + +<p> +20. Luke xii. 6, 7: <q>Are not five sparrows sold for +two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before +God? But even the very hairs of your head are all +numbered. Fear not therefore; ye are of more value +than many sparrows.</q> Perhaps Marcion omitted this +because he did not hold that the Supreme God concerned +Himself with the fate of men's bodies. +</p> + +<p> +But more probably the passage did not occur in the +original Pauline Gospel, but was grafted into it afterwards +when St. Matthew's Gospel came into the hands +of the Asiatic Christians, when it was transferred from +it (x. 29-31) verbatim to Luke's Gospel. +</p> + +<p> +21. Marcion's Gospel was without Luke xiii. 1-10. +</p> + +<p> +The absence of the account of the Galilaeans, whose +blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices, and of +those on whom the tower in Siloam fell, which occurs in +the received text, removes a difficulty. St. Luke says, +<q>There were present at that season some that told him +of the Galilaeans, whose blood,</q> &c., as though it were a +circumstance which had just taken place, whereas this +act of barbarity was committed when Quirinus, not +Pilate, was governor, twenty-four years before the appearance +of Jesus. And no tower in Siloam is mentioned +in any account of Jerusalem. The mention of +the Galilaeans in the canonical text has the appearance +of an anachronism, and probably did not exist in the +Gospel which Marcion received, and was a late addition +to the Gospel of Luke. +</p> + +<p> +The parable of the fig-tree which follows may, however, +have been removed by Marcion lest the Supreme +God should appear as a God of judgment against those +who produced no fruit, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> did no works. But it is +<pb n='268'/><anchor id='Pg268'/> +more probable that this parable, which has an anti-Pauline +moral, was not in the original edition of Luke's +Gospel. +</p> + +<p> +22. Luke xii. i 28: <q>There shall be weeping and +gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and +Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom +of God, and you yourselves thrust out,</q> altered into, +<q>when ye shall see all the righteous in the kingdom of +God, and ye yourselves cast and held back without.</q><note place='foot'>ὅταν ὄψησθε πάντας τοὺς δικαίους ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὑμᾶς δὲ +ἐκβαλλομένους καὶ κρατουμένους ἔξω.—Epiph. Schol. 40; Tertul. c. 30.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The change of <q>the righteous</q> into <q>Abraham, and +Isaac, and Jacob,</q> in the deutero-Luke, clearly disturbs +the train of thought. Ye Jews shall weep when ye see +the δικαίοι, those made righteous through faith, by the +righteousness which is <emph>not</emph> of the Law, Gentiles from East +and West, in the kingdom, and ye yourselves cast out. +</p> + +<p> +Hilgenfeld thinks that the account of the Judgment +by St. Matthew and St. Luke is couched in terms +coloured by the respective parties to which the evangelists +belonged, and that the sentences on the lost are +sharpened to pierce the antagonistic party. Thus, in the +Gospel of St. Luke, Christ dooms to woe those who are +workers of unrighteousness, ἐργάται ἀδικίας,<note place='foot'>Luke xiii. 25-30.</note> using the +Pauline favourite expression to designate those who are +cast out to weeping and gnashing of teeth, as men who +have not received the righteousness which is of faith; +whereas, in St. Matthew it is the workers of anomia, +οἱ ἐργαζόμενοι τὴν ἀνομίαν,<note place='foot'>Matt. vii. 13.</note> by which Hilgenfeld thinks +the Pauline anti-legalists are not obscurely hinted at, +who are hurled into outer darkness. In St. Luke it is +curious to notice how the lost are described as Jews: +<q>We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou +hast taught in our streets;</q> whereas the elect who +<pb n='269'/><anchor id='Pg269'/> +<q>sit down in the kingdom of God</q> come <q>from the east +and from the west, and from the north and from the +south,</q> that is to say, are Gentiles. +</p> + +<p> +In Marcion's text we have therefore the ἀδικαίοι shut +and cast out, and the δικαίοι sitting overthroned in the +kingdom of God. It can scarcely be doubted that this +is the correct reading, and that <q>Abraham, Isaac and +Jacob,</q> was substituted for δικαίοι at a later period with +a conciliatory purpose. +</p> + +<p> +The rest of the chapter, 31-35, is not to be found in +Marcion's Gospel. The first who are to be last, and the +last first, not obscurely means that the Gentiles shall +precede the Jews. This was in the <q>Gospel of the +Lord,</q> which was, however, without the warning given +to Christ, <q>Get thee out, and depart hence; for Herod +will kill thee,</q> and the lamentation of the Saviour over +the holy city, <q>O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest +the prophets,</q> &c. Why Marcion should omit this is +not clear. It was probably not in the Gospel of Sinope. +</p> + +<p> +23. Luke xiv. 7-11. The same may be said of the +parable put forth to those bidden to a feast, when Christ +marked how they chose out the chief rooms. It has been +supposed by critics that Marcion omitted it, lest Jesus +should seem to sanction feasting; but this reason is far-fetched, +and it must be remembered that he did retain +Luke v. 29 and 33. +</p> + +<p> +24. Luke xv. 11-32. The parable of the Prodigal +Son is omitted. That it is left out, as is suggested by +some critics, because the elder son signifies mystically +the Jewish Church, and the prodigal son represents the +Heathen world, is to transfer such allegorical interpretations +back to an earlier age than we are justified in +doing. Marcion was not bound to admit such an interpretation +of the parable, if received in his day. Marcion, +<pb n='270'/><anchor id='Pg270'/> +moreover, opposed allegorizing the sayings of Scripture, +and insisted on their literal interpretation. Neander +says, <q>The other Gnostics united with their theosophical +idealism a mystical, allegorizing interpretation of the +Scriptures. Marcion, simple in heart, was decidedly +opposed to this artificial method of interpretation. He +was a zealous advocate of the literal interpretation +which prevailed among the antagonists of Gnosticism.</q><note place='foot'>Hist. of the Christian Religion, tr. Bohn, ii. p. 131.</note> +It is therefore most improbable that a popular interpretation +of this parable, if such an interpretation existed +at that time, should have induced Marcion to omit the +parable. +</p> + +<p> +25. Luke xvi. 12: <q>If ye have not been faithful in +that which is another man's, who will give you that +which is mine?</q> Surely a reading far preferable to that +in the Canonical Gospel, <q>who will give you that which +is your own?</q> +</p> + +<p> +26. Luke, xvi. 17: <q>One tittle of my words shall not +fall,</q> in place of, <q>One tittle of the Law shall not fall.</q> +As has been already remarked, the reading in St. Luke +is evidently corrupt, altered deliberately by the party of +conciliation. Marcion's is the genuine text. +</p> + +<p> +27. Luke xvii. 9, 10. The saying, <q>We are unprofitable +servants; we have done that which was our duty to +do,</q> was perhaps omitted by Marcion, lest the Gospel +should seem to sanction the idea that any obligation +whatever rested on the believer. The received text is +thoroughly Pauline, inculcating the worthlessness of +man's righteousness. Hahn and Ritschl argue that +the whole of the parable, 7-10, was not in Marcion's +Gospel; and this is probable, though St. Epiphanius +only says that Marcion cut out, <q>We are unprofitable +servants; we have done that which was our duty to +<pb n='271'/><anchor id='Pg271'/> +do.</q><note place='foot'>παρέκοψε τό: λέγετε, ἀχρεῖοι δοῦλοί ἐσμεν: ὃ ὠφείλομεν ποιῆσαι +πεποιήκαμεν, Sch. 47.</note> The whole Parable has such a Pauline ring, that +it would probably have been accepted in its entirety by +Marcion, if his Gospel had contained it; and the parable +is divested of its point and meaning if only the few +words are omitted which St. Epiphanius mentions as +deficient. +</p> + +<p> +28. Luke xvii. 18: <q>There are not found returning to +give glory to God. And there were many lepers in the +time of Eliseus the prophet in Israel; and none of them +was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.</q> In the +Gospel of the Lord, this passage concerning the lepers in +the time of Eliseus occurs <emph>twice</emph>; once in chap. i. v. 15, +as already given, and again here. It has been preserved +in St. Luke's Gospel in only one place, in that corresponding +with Marcion i. 15, viz. Luke iv. 27. +</p> + +<p> +It is clear that this was a fragmentary saying of our +Lord drifting about, which the compiler of the Sinope +Gospel inserted in two places where it thought it would +fit in with other passages. When St. Luke's Gospel was +revised, it was found that this passage occurred twice, +and that it was without appropriateness in chap. xvii. +after verse 18, and was therefore cut out. But in Marcion's +Gospel it remained, a monument of the manner in +which the Gospels were originally constructed. +</p> + +<p> +29. Luke xviii. 19. Marcion had: <q>Jesus said to +him, Do not call me good; one is good, the Father;</q> +another version of the text, not a deliberate alteration. +</p> + +<p> +30. Luke xviii. 31-34. The prophecies of the passion +omitted by Marcion. +</p> + +<p> +31. Luke xix. 29-46. The ride into Jerusalem on +an ass, and the expulsion of the buyers and sellers from +the Temple, are omitted. +</p> + +<p> +Why the Palm-Sunday triumphal entry should have +<pb n='272'/><anchor id='Pg272'/> +been excluded does not appear. In St. Luke's Gospel +Jesus is not hailed as <q>King of the Jews</q> and <q>Son of +David.</q> Had this been the case, these two titles, we +may conclude, would have been eliminated from the +narrative; but we see no reason why the whole account +should be swept away. It probably did not exist in the +original Gospel Marcion obtained in Pontus. +</p> + +<p> +Did Marcion cut out the narrative of the expulsion of +the buyers and sellers from the Temple? I think not. +St. John, in his Gospel, gives that event in his second +chapter as occurring, not at the close of the ministry of +Christ, but at its opening. +</p> + +<p> +St. John is the only evangelist who can be safely relied +upon for giving the chronological order of events. +St. Matthew, as has been already shown, did not write +the acts of our Lord, but his sayings only; and St. Mark +was no eye-witness. +</p> + +<p> +A Pauline Gospel would not contain the account of +the purifying of the Temple, and the saying, <q>My +house is the house of prayer.</q> But when St. Matthew's +Gospel, or St. Mark's, found its way into Asia Minor, +this passage was extracted from one of them, and interpolated +in the Lucan text, in the same place where it +occurred in those Gospels—at the end of the ministry, +and therefore in the wrong place. +</p> + +<p> +32. Luke xx. 9-18. The parable of the vineyard +and the husbandmen. This Marcion probably omitted +because it made the Lord of the vineyard, who sent +forth the prophets, the same as the Lord who sent his +son. The lord of the vineyard to Marcion was the +Demiurge, but the Supreme Lord sent Christ. +</p> + +<p> +33. Luke xx. 37, 38, omitted by Marcion, because a +reference to Moses, and God, as the God of Abraham, +Isaac and Jacob. +</p> + +<p> +34. Luke xxi. 18: <q>There shall not an hair of your +<pb n='273'/><anchor id='Pg273'/> +head perish,</q> omitted, perhaps, lest the God of heaven, +whom Christ revealed, should appear to concern himself +about the vile bodies of men, under the dominion of the +God of this world; but more probably this verse did +not exist in the original text. The awkwardness of its +position has led many critics to reject it as an interpolation,<note place='foot'>Baur calls it an <q>ungeschickte Zusatz.</q></note> +and the fact of Marcion's Gospel being without it +goes far to prove that the original Luke Gospel was +without it. +</p> + +<p> +35. Luke xxi. 21, 22. The warning given by our +Lord to his disciples to flee from Jerusalem when they +see it encompassed with armies. Verse 21 was omitted +no doubt because of the words, <q>These be the days of +vengeance, that all things which are written may be +fulfilled.</q> This jarred with Marcion's conception of the +Supreme God as one of mercy, and of Jesus as proclaiming +blessings and forgiveness, in place of the +vengeance and justice of the World-God. +</p> + +<p> +36. Luke xxii. 16-18. The distribution of the paschal +cup among the disciples is omitted. +</p> + +<p> +37. Luke xxii. 28-30. The promise that the apostles +should eat and drink in Christ's kingdom and judge the +twelve tribes, was omitted by Marcion, as inconsistent +with his views of the spiritual nature of the heavenly +kingdom; and that judgment should be committed by +the God of free forgiveness to the apostles, was in his +sight impossible. Why Luke xxiii. 43, 47-49, were not +in Marcion's Gospel does not appear; they can hardly +have been omitted purposely. +</p> + +<p> +38. Luke xxiii. 2. In Marcion's Gospel it ran: <q>And +they began to accuse him, saying, We found this one +perverting the nation, and destroying the Law and the +Prophets, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, and +leading away the women and children.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='274'/><anchor id='Pg274'/> + +<p> +It is not possible that Marcion should have forced +the words <q>destroying the Law and the Prophets</q> into +the text, for these are the accusations of <emph>false</emph> witnesses. +And this is precisely what Marcion taught that Christ +had come to do. Both this accusation and that other, +that he drew away after him the women and children +from their homes and domestic duties and responsibilities, +most probably did exist in the original text. It +is not improbable that they were both made to disappear +from the authorized text later, when the conciliatory +movement began. +</p> + +<p> +39. Luke xxiv. 43. In Marcion's Gospel, either the +whole of the verse, <q>Verily, I say unto thee, To-day +shalt thou be with me in Paradise,</q> was omitted, or +more probably only the words <q>in Paradise.</q> Marcion +would not have purposely cut out such an instance of +free acceptance of one who had all his life transgressed +the Law, but he may have cancelled the words <q>in +Paradise.</q> +</p> + +<p> +40. Luke xxiv. 25 stood in Marcion's Gospel, <q>O +fools, and in heart slow to believe all that he spake unto +you;</q> and 27 and 45, which relate that Jesus explained +to the two disciples out of Moses and the Prophets how +he must suffer, and that he opened their understanding +to understand the Scriptures, were both absent. +</p> + +<p> +41. Luke xxiv. 46. Instead of Christ appealing to +the Prophets, Marcion made him say, <q>These are the +words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with +you, that thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise +from the dead the third day.</q> This was possibly Marcion's +doing. +</p> + +<p> +The other differences between Marcion's Gospel and +the Canonical Gospel of St. Luke are so small, that +the reader need not be troubled with them here. For +a fuller and more particular account of Marcion's Gospel +<pb n='275'/><anchor id='Pg275'/> +he is referred to the works indicated in the footnote.<note place='foot'>The Gospel is printed in Thilo's Codex Apocryph. Novi Testamenti, +Lips. 1832, T.I. pp. 401-486. For critical examinations of it see +Ritschl: Das Evangelium Marcions und das Kanonische Ev. Lucas, +Tübingen, 1846. Baur: Kritische Untersuchungen über die Kanonischen +Evangelien, Tübingen, 1847, p. 393 sq. Gratz: Krit. Untersuchungen +über Marcions Evangelium, Tübing. 1818. Volckmar: Das Evangelium +Marcions, Leipz. 1852. Nicolas: Etudes sur les Evangiles Apocryphes, +Paris, 1866, pp. 147-160.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It will be seen from the list of differences between +the <q>Gospel of our Lord</q> and the Gospel of St. Luke, +that all the apparent omissions cannot be attributed to +Marcion. The Gospel he had he regarded with supreme +awe; it was because his Gospel was so ancient, so hallowed +by use through many years, that it was invested +by him with sovereign authority, and that he regarded +the other Gospels as apocryphal, or at best only deutero-canonical. +</p> + +<p> +It is by no means certain that even where his Gospel +has been apparently tampered with to suit his views, +his hands made the alterations in it. What amplifications +St. Luke's Gospel passed through when it underwent +revision for a second edition, we cannot tell. +</p> + +<p> +The Gospel of our Lord, if not the original Luke +Gospel—and this is probable—was the basis of Luke's +compilation. But that it was Luke's first edition of his +Gospel, drawn up when St. Paul was actively engaged +in founding Asiatic Churches, is the view I am disposed +to take of it. As soon as a Church was founded, the +need of a Gospel was felt. To satisfy this want, Paul +employed Luke to collect memorials of the Lord's life, +and weave them together into an historical narrative. +</p> + +<p> +The Gospel of our Lord contains nothing which is +not found in that of St. Luke. The arrangement is so +similar, that we are forced to the conclusion that it was +<pb n='276'/><anchor id='Pg276'/> +either used by St. Luke, or that it was his original composition. +If he used it, then his right to the title of +author of the third Canonical Gospel falls to the ground, +as what he added was of small amount. Who then +composed the Gospel? We know of no one to whom +tradition even at that early age attributed it. +</p> + +<p> +St. Luke was the associate of St. Paul; ecclesiastical +tradition attributes to him a Gospel. That of <q>Our +Lord</q> closely resembles the Canonical Luke's Gospel, +and bears evidence of being earlier in composition, +whilst that which is canonical bears evidence of later +manipulation. All these facts point to Marcion's Gospel +as the original St. Luke—not, however, quite as it came +to Marcion, but edited by the heretic. +</p> + +<p> +That the first edition of Luke bore a stronger Pauline +impress than the second is also probable. The Canonical +Luke has the Pauline stamp on it still, but beside it is +the Johannite seal. More fully than any other Gospel +does it bring out the tenderness of Christ towards sinners, +a feature which has ever made it exceeding precious +to those who have been captives and blind and bruised, +and to whom that Gospel proclaims Christ as their deliverer, +enlightener and healer.<note place='foot'>Luke iv. 18.</note> +</p> + +<p> +It is not necessary here to point out the finger-mark +of Paul in this Gospel; it has been often and well done +by others. It is an established fact, scarcely admitting +dispute, that to him it owes its colour, and that it +reflects his teaching.<note place='foot'>Luke iv. 28; compare vi. 13 with Matt. x. and Luke x. 1-16, vii. +36-50, x. 38-42, xvii. 7-10, xvii. 11-19, x. 30-37, xv. 11-32; +Luke xiii. 25-30, compared with Matt. vii. 13; Luke vii. 50, viii. 48, +xviii. 42, &c.</note> +</p> + +<p> +And it was this Gospel, in its primitive form, before +it had passed under the hands of St. John, or had been +<pb n='277'/><anchor id='Pg277'/> +recast by its author, that I think we may be satisfied +Marcion possessed. That he made a few erasures is +probable, I may almost say certain; but that he ruthlessly +carved it to suit his purpose cannot be established. +</p> + +<p> +Of the value of Marcion's Gospel for determining the +original text of the third Gospel, it is difficult to speak +too highly. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='278'/><anchor id='Pg278'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>II. The Gospel Of Truth.</head> + +<p> +Valentine, by birth an Egyptian, probably of Jewish +descent, it may be presumed received his education at +Alexandria. From this city he travelled to Rome (circ. +A.D. 140); in both places he preached the Catholic +faith, and then retired to Cyprus.<note place='foot'>He died about A.D. 160.</note> A miserable bigotry +which refused to see in a heretic any motives but those +which are evil, declared that in disgust at not obtaining +a bishopric which he coveted, and to which a confessor +was preferred, Valentine lapsed into heresy. We need +no such explanation of the cause of his secession from +orthodoxy. He was a man of an active mind and ardent +zeal. Christian doctrine was then a system of facts; +theology was as yet unborn. What philosophic truths +lay at the foundation of Christian belief was unsuspected. +Valentine could not thus rest. He strove to +break through the hard facts to the principles on which +they reposed. He was a pioneer in Christian theology. +</p> + +<p> +And for his venturous essay he was well qualified. +His studies at Alexandria had brought him in contact +with Philonism and with Platonism. He obtained at +Cyprus an acquaintance with the doctrines of Basilides. +His mind caught fire, his ideas expanded. The Gnostic +seemed to him to open gleams of light through the facts +of the faith he had hitherto professed with dull, unintelligent +submission; and he placed himself under the inspiration +and instruction of Basilides. +</p> + +<pb n='279'/><anchor id='Pg279'/> + +<p> +But he did not follow him blindly. The speculations +of the Gnostic kindled a train of ideas which were peculiarly +Valentine's own. +</p> + +<p> +The age was not one to listen patiently to his theorizing. +Men were called on to bear testimony by their +lives to facts. They could endure the rack, the scourge, +the thumbscrew, the iron rake, for facts, not for ideas. +That Jesus had lived and died and mounted to heaven, +was enough for their simple minds. They cared nothing, +they made no effort to understand, what were the causes +of evil, what its relation to matter. +</p> + +<p> +Consequently Valentine met with cold indifference, +then with hot abhorrence. He was excommunicated. +Separation embittered him. His respect for orthodoxy +was gone; its hold upon him was lost; and he allowed +himself to drift in the wide sea of theosophic speculation +wherever his ideas carried him. +</p> + +<p> +Valentine taught that in the Godhead, exerting creative +power were manifest two motions—a positive, the evolving, +creative, life-giving element; and the negative, +which determined, shaped and localized the creative +force. From the positive force came life, from the +negative the direction life takes in its manifestation. +</p> + +<p> +The world is the revelation of the divine ideas, gradually +unfolding themselves, and Christ and redemption +are the perfection and end of creation. Through creation +the idea goes forth from God; through Christ the +idea perfected returns to the bosom of God. Redemption +is the recoil wave of creation, the echo of the fiat +returning to the Creator's ear. +</p> + +<p> +The manifestation of the ideas of God is in unity; but +in opposition to unity exists anarchy; in antagonism +with creation emerges the principle of destruction. The +representative of destruction, disunion, chaos, is Satan. +The work of creation is infinite differentiation in perfect +<pb n='280'/><anchor id='Pg280'/> +harmony. But in the midst of this emerges discord, an +element of opposition which seeks to ruin the concord +in the manifestation of the divine ideas. Therefore +redemption is necessary, and Christ is the medium of +redemption, which consists in the restoration to harmony +and unity of that which by the fraud of Satan is thrown +into disorder and antagonism. +</p> + +<p> +But how comes it that in creation there should be a +disturbing element? That element must issue in some +manner from the Creator; it must arise from some +defect in Him. Therefore, Valentinian concluded, the +God who created the world and gave source to the being +of Satan cannot have been the supreme, all-good, perfect +God. +</p> + +<p> +But if redemption be the perfecting of man, it must +be the work of the only perfect God, who thereby +counteracts the evil that has sprung up through the imperfection +of the Demiurge. +</p> + +<p> +Therefore Jesus Christ is an emanation from the +Supreme God, destroying the ill effects produced in the +world by the faulty nature of the Creator, undoing the +discord and restoring all to harmony. +</p> + +<p> +Jesus was formed by the Demiurge of a wondrously +constituted ethereal body, visible to the outward sense. +This Jesus entered the world through man, as a sunbeam +enters a chamber through the window. The +Demiurge created Jesus to redeem the people from the +disorganizing, destructive effects of Satan, to be their +Messiah. +</p> + +<p> +But the Supreme God had alone power perfectly to +accomplish this work; therefore at the baptism of Christ, +the Saviour (Soter) descended on him, consecrating him +to be the perfect Redeemer of mankind, conveying to +him a mission and power which the Demiurge could not +have given. +</p> + +<pb n='281'/><anchor id='Pg281'/> + +<p> +In all this we see the influence of Marcion's ideas. +</p> + +<p> +We need not follow out this fundamental principle +of his theosophy into all its fantastic formularies. If +Valentine was the precursor of Hegel in the enunciation +of the universal antinomy, he was like Hegel also in +involving his system in a cloud of incomprehensible +terminology, in producing bewilderment where he sought +simplicity. +</p> + +<p> +Valentine accepted the Old Testament, but only in +the same light as he regarded the great works of the +heathen writers to be deserving of regard.<note place='foot'>Clem. Alex. Strom. vi.</note> Both contained +good, noble examples, pure teaching; but in both +also was the element of discord, contradictory teaching, +and bad example. Ptolemy, the Valentinian who least +sacrificed the moral to the theosophic element, scarcely +dealt with the Old Testament differently from St. Paul. +He did not indeed regard the Old Testament as the +work of the Supreme God; the Mosaic legislation +seemed to him to be the work of an inferior being, because, +as he said, it contained too many imperfections +to be the revelation of the Highest God, and too many +excellences to be attributed to an evil spirit. But, like +the Apostle of the Gentiles, he saw in the Mosaic ceremonies +only symbols of spiritual truth, and, like him, he +thought that the symbol was no longer necessary when +the idea it revealed was manifested in all its clearness. +Therefore, when the ideas these symbols veiled had +reached and illumined men's minds, the necessity for +them—husks to the idea, letters giving meaning to the +thought—was at an end. +</p> + +<p> +Like St. Paul, therefore, he treated the Old Testament +as a preparation for the New one, but as nothing more. +We ascertain Ptolemy's views from a letter of his to +<pb n='282'/><anchor id='Pg282'/> +Flora, a Catholic lady whom he desired to convert to +Valentinianism.<note place='foot'>Epiphan. Haeres. xxx. 3-7.</note> +</p> + +<p> +In this letter he laboured to show that the God of +this world (the Demiurge) was not the Supreme God, +and that the Old Testament Scriptures were the revelation +of the Demiurge, and not of the highest God. To +prove the first point, Ptolemy appealed to apostolic tradition—no +doubt to Pauline teaching—which had come +down to him, and to the words of the Saviour, by which, +he admits, all doctrine must be settled. In this letter +he quotes largely from St. Paul's Epistles, and from the +Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John. +</p> + +<p> +Like Marcion, Ptolemy insisted that the Demiurge, +the God of this world, was also the God who revealed +himself in the Old Testament, and that to this God belonged +justice, wrath and punishment; whereas to the +Supreme Deity was attributed free forgiveness, absolute +goodness. The Saviour abolished the Law, therefore he +abolished all the system of punishment for sin, that the +reign of free grace might prevail. +</p> + +<p> +According to Ptolemy, therefore, retributive justice +exercised by the State was irreconcilable with the nature +of the Supreme God, and the State, accordingly, was +under the dominion of the Demiurge. +</p> + +<p> +To the revelation of the old Law belonged ordinances +of ceremonial and of seasons. These also are done away +by Christ, who leads from the bondage of ceremonial to +spiritual religion. +</p> + +<p> +Another Valentinian of note was Heracleon, who +wrote a Commentary on the Gospel of St. John, of which +considerable fragments have been preserved by Origen; +and perhaps, also, a Commentary on the Gospel of St. +Luke. Of the latter, only a single fragment, the exposition +<pb n='283'/><anchor id='Pg283'/> +of Luke xii. 8, has been preserved by Clement of +Alexandria.<note place='foot'>Strom. iv.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Heracleon was a man of deep spiritual piety, and +with a clear understanding. He held Scripture in profound +reverence, and derived his Valentinian doctrines +from it. So true is the saying: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> +<lg> +<l><q rend='pre'>Hic liber est in quo quærit sua dogmata quisque,</q></l> +<l><q rend='post'>Invenit pariter dogmata quisque sua.</q></l> +</lg> +</quote> + +<p> +His interpretation of the narrative of the interview of +the Saviour with the woman of Samaria will illustrate +his method of dealing with the sacred text. +</p> + +<p> +Heracleon saw in the woman of Samaria a type of all +spiritual natures attracted by that which is heavenly, +godlike; and the history represents the dealings of the +Supreme God through Christ with these spiritual natures +(πνευματικοί). +</p> + +<p> +For him, therefore, the words of the woman have a +double meaning: that which lies on the surface of the +sacred record, with the intent and purpose which the +woman herself gave to them; and that which lay beneath +the letter, and which was mystically signified. +<q>The water which our Saviour gives,</q> says he, <q>is his +spirit and power. His gifts and grace are what can +never be taken away, never exhausted, can never fail +to those who have received them. They who have received +what has been richly bestowed on them from +above, communicate again of the overflowing fulness +which they enjoy to the life of others.</q> +</p> + +<p> +But the woman asks, <q>Give me this water, that I +thirst not, neither come hither to draw</q>—hither—that +is, to Jacob's well, the Mosaic Law from which hitherto +she had drunk, and which could not quench her thirst, +satisfy her aspirations. <q>She left her water-pot behind +<pb n='284'/><anchor id='Pg284'/> +her</q> when she went to announce to others that she had +found the well of eternal life. That is, she left the +vessel, the capacity for receiving the Law, for she had +now a spiritual vessel which could hold the spiritual +water the Saviour gave. +</p> + +<p> +It will be seen that Valentinianism, like Marcionism, +was an exaggerated Paulinism, infected with Gnosticism, +clearly antinomian. Though the Valentinians are not +accused of licentiousness, their ethical system was plainly +immoral, for it completely emancipated the Christian +from every restraint, and the true Christian was he who +lived by faith only. He had passed by union with +Christ from the dominion of the God of this World, a +dominion in which were punishments for wrong-doing, +into the realm of Grace, of sublime indifference to right +and wrong, to a region in which no acts were sinful, no +punishments were dealt out. +</p> + +<p> +If Valentinianism did not degenerate into the frantic +licentiousness of the earlier Pauline heretics, it was +because the doctrine of Valentine was an intellectual, +theosophical system, quite above the comprehension of +vulgar minds, and therefore only embraced by exalted +mystics and cold philosophers. +</p> + +<p> +The Valentinians were not accused of mutilating the +Scriptures, but of evaporating their significance. <q>Marcion,</q> +says Tertullian, <q>knife in hand, has cut the Scriptures +to pieces, to give support to his system; Valentine +has the appearance of sparing them, and of trying rather +to accommodate his errors to them, than of accommodating +them to his errors. Nevertheless, he has curtailed, +interpolated more than did Marcion, by taking from the +words their force and natural value, to give them forced +significations.</q><note place='foot'>Tertul. De Præscrip. 49.</note> +</p> + +<p> +The Pauline filiation of the sect can hardly be mistaken. +<pb n='285'/><anchor id='Pg285'/> +The relation of Valentine's ideas to those of +Marcion, and those of Marcion to the doctrines of St. +Paul, are fundamental. But, moreover, they claimed a +filiation more obvious than that of ideas—they asserted +that they derived their doctrines from Theodas, disciple +of the Apostle of the Gentiles.<note place='foot'>Tertul. De Praescrip. 38.</note> The great importance +they attributed to the Epistles of St. Paul is another +evidence of their belonging to the anti-judaizing family +of heretics, if another proof be needed. +</p> + +<p> +The Valentinians possessed a number of apocryphal +works. <q>Their number is infinite,</q> says Irenaeus.<note place='foot'>Iren. Adv. Haeres. i. 20.</note> +But this probably applies not to the first Valentinians, +but to the Valentinian sects, among whom apocryphal +works did abound. Certain it is, that in all the extracts +made from the writings of Valentine, Ptolemy and +Heracleon, by Origen, Epiphanius, Tertullian, &c., though +they abound in quotations from St. Paul's Epistles and +from the Canonical Gospels, there are none from any +other source. +</p> + +<p> +Nevertheless, Irenaeus attributes to them possession +of a <q>Gospel of Truth</q> (Evangelium Veritatis). <q>This +Scripture,</q> says he, <q>does not in any point agree with +our four Canonical Gospels.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> iii. 11.</note> To this also, perhaps, +Tertullian refers, when he says that the Valentinians +possessed <q>their own Gospel in addition to ours.</q><note place='foot'><q>Suum praeter haec nostra.</q>—Tertull. de Praescrip. 49.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Epiphanius, however, makes no mention of this Gospel; +he knew the writings of the Valentinians well, and +has inserted extracts in his work on heresies. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='286'/><anchor id='Pg286'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>III. The Gospel Of Eve.</head> + +<p> +The immoral tendency of Valentinianism broke out +in coarse, flagrant licentiousness as soon as the doctrines +of the sect had soaked down out of the stratum +of educated men to the ranks of the undisciplined and +vulgar. +</p> + +<p> +Valentinianism assumed two forms, broke into two +sects,—the Marcosians and the Ophites. +</p> + +<p> +Mark, who lived in the latter half of the second +century, came probably from Palestine, as we may +gather from his frequent use of forms from the Aramaean +liturgy. But he did not bring with him any of the +Judaizing spirit, none of the grave reverence for the +moral law, and decency of the Nazarene, Ebionite and +kindred sects sprung from the ruined Church of the +Hebrews. +</p> + +<p> +He was followed by trains of women whom he corrupted, +and converted into prophetesses. His custom +was, in an assembly to extend a chalice to a woman +saying to her, <q>The grace of God, which excels all, and +which the mind cannot conceive or explain, fill all your +inner man, and increase his knowledge in you, dropping +the grain of mustard-seed into good ground.</q><note place='foot'>Epiphan. Haeres. xxxiv. 1; Iren. Haer. i. 9.</note> A scene +like a Methodist revival followed. The woman was +urged to speak in prophecy; she hesitated, declared her +inability; warm, passionate appeals followed closely one +on another, couched in equivocal language, exciting the +<pb n='287'/><anchor id='Pg287'/> +religious and natural passions simultaneously. The end +was a convulsive fit of incoherent utterings, and the +curtain fell on the rapturous embraces of the prophet +and his spiritual bride. +</p> + +<p> +Mark possessed a Gospel, and <q>an infinite number of +apocryphal Scriptures,</q> says Irenaeus. The Gospel contained +a falsified life of Christ. One of the stories from +it he quotes. When Jesus was a boy, he was learning +letters. The master said, <q>Say Alpha.</q> Jesus repeated +after him, <q>Alpha.</q> Then the master said, <q>Say Beta.</q> +But Jesus answered, <q>Nay, I will not say Beta till you +have explained to me the meaning of Alpha.</q><note place='foot'>Iren. i. 26.</note> The +Marcosians made much of the hidden mysteries of the +letters of the alphabet, showing that Mark had brought +with him from Palestine something akin to the Cabbalism +of the Jewish rabbis. +</p> + +<p> +This story is found in the apocryphal Gospel of St. +Thomas. It runs somewhat differently in the different +versions of that Gospel, and is repeated twice in each +with slight variations. +</p> + +<p> +In the Syriac: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q>Zacchaeus the teacher said to Joseph, I will teach the boy +Jesus whatever is proper for him to learn. And he made +him go to school. And he, going in, was silent. But Zacchaeus +the scribe began to tell him (the letters) from Alaph, +and was repeating to him many times the whole alphabet. +And he says to him that he should answer and say after him; +but he was silent. Then the scribe became angry, and struck +him with his hand upon his head. And Jesus said, A +smith's anvil, being beaten, can (not) learn, and it has no +feeling; but I am able to say those things, recited by you, +with knowledge and understanding (unbeaten).</q><note place='foot'>Wright: Syriac Apocrypha, Lond. 1865, pp. 8-10.</note> +</p> + +</quote> + +<pb n='288'/><anchor id='Pg288'/> + +<p> +In the Greek: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q>Zacchaeus said to Joseph ... Give thy son to me, that +he may learn letters, and with his letters I will teach him +some knowledge, and chiefly this, to salute all the elders, and +to venerate them as grandfathers and fathers, and to love +those of his own age. And he told him all the letters from +Alpha to Omega. Then, looking at the teacher Zacchaeus, +he said to him, Thou that knowest not Alpha naturally, how +canst thou teach Beta to others? Thou hypocrite! if thou +knowest, teach Alpha first, and then we shall believe thee +concerning Beta.</q><note place='foot'>Tischendorf: Codex Apocr. N. T.; Evang. Thom. i. c. 6, 14.</note> +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +Or, according to another Greek version, after Jesus +has been delivered over by Joseph to Zacchaeus, the +preceptor +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q>—wrote the alphabet in Hebrew, and said to him, Alpha. +And the child said, Alpha. And the teacher said again, +Alpha. And the child said the same. Then again a third +time the teacher said, Alpha. Then Jesus, looking at the +instructor, said, Thou knowest not Alpha; how wilt thou +teach another the letter Beta? And the child, beginning at +Alpha, said of himself the twenty-two letters. Then he said +again, Hearken, teacher, to the arrangement of the first letter, +and know how many accessories and lines it hath, and marks +which are common, transverse and connected. And when +Zacchaeus heard such accounts of one letter, he was amazed, +and could not answer him.</q><note place='foot'><hi rend='italic'>Ibid.</hi> ii. c. 7; Latin Evang. Thom. iii. c. 6, 12.</note> +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +Another version of the same story is found in the +Gospel of the pseudo-Matthew: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q>Joseph and Mary coaxing Jesus, led him to the school, +that he might be taught his letters by the old man, Levi. +When he entered he was silent; and the master, Levi, told +one letter to Jesus, and beginning at the first, Aleph, said to +<pb n='289'/><anchor id='Pg289'/> +him, Answer. But Jesus was silent, and answered nothing. +Wherefore, the preceptor Levi, being angry, took a rod of a +storax-tree, and smote him on the head. And Jesus said to +the teacher Levi, Why dost thou smite me? Know in truth +that he who is smitten teacheth him that smiteth, rather than +is taught by him.... And Jesus added, and said to Levi, +Every letter from Aleph to Tau is known by its order; +thou, therefore, say first what is Tau, and I will tell thee +what Aleph is. And he added, They who know not Aleph, +how can they say Tau, ye hypocrites? First say what Aleph +is, and I shall then believe you when you say Beth. And +Jesus began to ask the names of the separate letters, and said, +Let the teacher of the Law say what the first letter is, or +why it hath many triangles, scalene, acute-angled, equilinear, +curvi-linear,</q> &c.<note place='foot'>Pseud. Matt. c. 31.</note> +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +At the root of Mark's teaching there seems to have +been a sort of Pantheism. He taught that all had +sprung from a great World-mother, partook of her soul +and nature; but over against this female principle stood +the Deity, the male element. +</p> + +<p> +Man represents the Deity, woman the world element; +and it is only through the union of the divine and the +material that the material can be quickened into spiritual +life. In accordance with this theory, they had a ceremonial +of what he called spiritual, but was eminently +carnal, marriage, which is best left undescribed. +</p> + +<p> +Not widely removed from the Marcosians was the +Valentinian sect of the Ophites. Valentinianism mingled +with the floating superstition, the fragments of the wreck +of Sabianism, which was to be found among the lower +classes. +</p> + +<p> +The Ophites represented the Demiurge in the same +way as did the Valentinians. They called the God of +this world and of the Jews by the name of Jaldaboth. +<pb n='290'/><anchor id='Pg290'/> +He was a limited being, imposing restraint on all his +creatures; he exercised his power by imposing law. As +long as his creatures obeyed law, they were subject to +his dominion. But above Jaldaboth in the sublime +region without limit reigns the Supreme God. When +Adam broke the Law of the World-God, he emancipated +himself from his bondage, he passed out of his realm, he +placed himself in relation to the Supreme God. +</p> + +<p> +The world is made by Jaldaboth, but in the world is +infused a spark of soul, emanated from the highest God. +This divine soul strives after emancipation from the +bonds imposed by connection with matter, created by +the God of this world. This world-soul under the form +of a serpent urged Eve to emancipate herself from +thraldom, and pass with Adam, by an act of transgression, +into the glorious liberty of the sons of the +Supreme God. +</p> + +<p> +The doctrine of the Ophites with respect to Christ +was that of Valentine. Christ came to break the last +chains of Law by which man was bound, and to translate +him into the realm of grace where sin does not +exist. +</p> + +<p> +The Ophites possessed a Gospel, called the <q>Gospel +of Eve.</q> It contained, no doubt, an account of the Fall +from their peculiar point of view. St. Epiphanius has +preserved two passages from it. They are so extraordinary, +and throw such a light on the doctrines of this +Gospel, that I quote them. The first is: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q>I was planted on a lofty mountain, and lo! I beheld a +man of great stature, and another who was mutilated. And +then I heard a voice like unto thunder. And when I drew +near, he spake with me after this wise: I am thou, and thou +art I. And wheresoever thou art, there am I, and I am dispersed +through all. And wheresoever thou willest, there +<pb n='291'/><anchor id='Pg291'/> +canst thou gather me; but in gathering me, thou gatherest +thyself.</q><note place='foot'>Epiph. Hæres. xxvi. 3.</note> +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +The meaning of this passage is not doubtful. It expresses +the doctrine of absolute identity between Christ +and the believer, the radiation of divine virtue through +all souls, destroying their individuality, that all may be +absorbed into Christ. Individualities emerge out of God, +and through Christ are drawn back into God. +</p> + +<p> +The influence of St. Paul's ideas is again noticeable. +We are not told that the perfect man who speaks with +a voice of thunder, and who is placed in contrast with +the mutilated man, is Christ, and that the latter is the +Demiurge, but we can scarcely doubt it. It is greatly +to be regretted that we have so little of this curious +book preserved.<note place='foot'>The second passage and its meaning are: Εἶδον δένδρον φέρον δώδεκα +καρποὺς τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ, καὶ εἶπέ μοι; τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ ξύλον τῆς ζωῆς, ὃ αὐτοῖ +ἀλληγορούσιν εἰς τὴν κατὰ μῆνα γινομένην γυναικείαν ῥύσιν. Μισγόμενοι +δὲ μετ᾽ ἀλλήλων τεκνοποιΐαν ἀπαγορεύουσιν. οὐ γὰρ εἰς τὸ τεκνοποιῆσαι +παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς ἡ φθορὰ ἐσπούδασται, ἀλλ᾽ ἡδονῆς χάριν.—Epiph. Haeres. +xxvi. 5.</note> The second passage, with its signification, +had better repose in a foot-note, and in Greek. +It allows us to understand the expression of St. Ephraem, +<q>They shamelessly boast of their Gospel of Eve.</q><note place='foot'>Epiphan. Haeres. xxvi. 2. He says, moreover: οὐκ αἰσχυνόμενοι +αὐτοῖς τοῖς ῥήμασι τὰ τῆς πορνείας διηγεῖσθαι πάλιν ἐρωτικὰ τῆς κύπριδος +ποιητούματα.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='292'/><anchor id='Pg292'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>IV. The Gospel Of Perfection.</head> + +<p> +The Gospel of Perfection was another work regarded +as sacred by the Ophites. St. Epiphanius says: <q>Some +of them (<hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> of the Gnostics) there are who vaunt the +possession of a certain fictitious, far-fetched poem which +they call the Gospel of Perfection, whereas it is not a +Gospel, but the perfection of misery. For the bitterness +of death is consummated in that production of the devil. +Others without shame boast their Gospel of Eve.</q> +</p> + +<p> +St. Epiphanius calls this Gospel of Perfection a poem, +ποιήμα. But M. Nicolas justly observes that the word +ποιήμα is used here, not to describe the work as a poetical +composition, but as a fiction. In a passage of Irenaeus,<note place='foot'>Iren. Haeres. i. 35.</note> +of which only the Latin has been preserved, the Gospel +of Judas is called <q>confictio,</q> and it is probable that the +Greek word rendered by <q>confictio</q> was ποιήμα.<note place='foot'>Nicolas: Etudes sur les Evangiles Apocryphes, p. 168.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Baur thinks that the Gospel of Perfection was the +same as the Gospel of Eve.<note place='foot'>Baur: Die Christliche Gnosis, p. 193.</note> But this can hardly be. +The words of St. Epiphanius plainly distinguish them: +<q>Some vaunt the Gospel of Perfection ... others +boast ... the Gospel of Eve;</q> and elsewhere he +speaks of their books in the plural.<note place='foot'>ἐν ἀποκρύφοις ἀναγινώσκοντες.—Haeres. xxvi. 5.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='293'/><anchor id='Pg293'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>V. The Gospel Of St. Philip.</head> + +<p> +This Gospel belonged to the same category as those +of Perfection and of Eve, and belonged, if not to the +Ophites, to an analogous sect, perhaps that of the Prodicians. +St. Philip passed, in the early ages of Christianity, +as having been, like St. Paul, an apostle of +the Gentiles,<note place='foot'>Euseb. Hist. Eccl. ii. 1.</note> and perhaps as having agreed with his +views on the Law and evangelical liberty. But tradition +had confounded together Philip the apostle and Philip +the deacon of Caesarea, who, after having been a member +of the Hellenist Church at Jerusalem, and having been +driven thence after the martyrdom of Stephen, was the +first to carry the Gospel beyond the family of Israel, +and to convert the heathen to Christ.<note place='foot'>Acts viii. 5, 13, 27-39, xxi. 8.</note> His zeal and +success caused him to be called an Evangelist.<note place='foot'>Acts xxi. 8.</note> In the +second century it was supposed that an Evangelist +meant one who had written a Gospel. And as no +Gospel bearing his name existed, one was composed for +him and attributed to him or to the apostle—they were +not distinguished. +</p> + +<p> +St. Epiphanius has preserved one passage from it: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q>The Lord has revealed to me the words to be spoken by +the soul when it ascends into heaven, and how it has to +answer each of the celestial powers. The soul must say, I +have known myself, and I have gathered myself from all +parts. I have not borne children to Archon (the prince of +<pb n='294'/><anchor id='Pg294'/> +this world); but I have plucked up his roots, and I have +gathered his dispersed members. I have learned who thou +art; for I am, saith the soul, of the number of the celestial +ones. But if it is proved that the soul has borne a son, she +must return downwards, till she has recovered her children, +and has absorbed them into herself.</q><note place='foot'>Epiphan. Haeres. xxvi. 13.</note> +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +It is not altogether easy to catch the meaning of this +singular passage, but it apparently has this signification. +The soul trammelled with the chains of matter, created +by the Archon, the Creator of the world, has to emancipate +itself from all material concerns. Each thought, +interest, passion, excited by anything in the world, is a +child borne by the soul to Archon, to which the soul +has contributed animation, the world, form. The great +work of life is the disengagement of the soul from all +concern in the affairs of the world, in the requirements +of the body. When the soul has reached the most +exalted perfection, it is cold, passionless, indifferent; +then it comes before the Supreme God, passing through +the spheres guarded by attendant aeons or angels, and +to each it protests its disengagement. But should any +thought or care for mundane matters be found lurking +in the recesses of the soul, it has to descend again, and +remain in exile till it has re-absorbed all the life it gave, +the interest it felt, in such concerns, and then again +make its essay to reach God. +</p> + +<p> +The conception of Virtues guarding the concentric +spheres surrounding the Most High is found among the +Jews. When Moses went into the presence of God +to receive the tables of stone, he met first the angel +Kemuel, chief of the angels of destruction, who would +have slain him, but Moses pronounced the incommunicable +Name, and passed through. Then he came to the +sphere governed by the angel Hadarniel, and by virtue +<pb n='295'/><anchor id='Pg295'/> +of the Name passed through. Next he came to the +sphere over which presided the angel Sandalfon, and +penetrated by means of the same Name. Next he +traversed the river of flame, called Riggon, and stood +before the throne.<note place='foot'>Jalkut Rubeni, fol. 107. See my <q>Legends of Old Testament +Characters,</q> II. pp. 108, 109.</note> +</p> + +<p> +St. Paul held the popular Rabbinic notion of the +spheres surrounding the throne of God, for he speaks of +having been caught up into the third heaven.<note place='foot'>2 Cor. xii. 2.</note> In the +apocryphal Ascension of Isaiah there are seven heavens +that the prophet traverses. +</p> + +<p> +The Rabbinic ideas on the spheres were taken probably +from the Chaldees, and from the same source, perhaps, +sprang the conception of the soul making her ascension +through the angel-guarded spheres, which we find in the +fragment of the Gospel of St. Philip. +</p> + +<p> +Unfortunately, we have not sufficient of the early +literature of the Chaldees and Assyrians to be able to +say for certain that it was so. But a very curious +sacred poem has been preserved on the terra-cotta +tablets of the library of Assurbani-Pal, which exhibits a +similar belief as prevalent anciently in Assyria. +</p> + +<p> +This poem represents the descent of Istar into the +Immutable Land, the nether world, divided into seven +circles. The heavenly world of the Chaldees was also +divided into seven circles, each ruled by a planet. The +poem therefore exhibits a descent instead of an ascent. +But there is little reason to doubt that the passage in +each case would have been analogous. We have no +ancient Assyrian account of an ascent; we must therefore +content ourselves with what we have. +</p> + +<p> +Istar descends into the lower region, and as she +traverses each circle is despoiled of one of her coverings +<pb n='296'/><anchor id='Pg296'/> +worn in the region above, till she stands naked before +Belith, the Queen of the Land of Death. +</p> + +<p> +i. <q rend='pre'>At the first gate, as I made her enter, I despoiled her; +I took the crown from off her head.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'><q>Hold, gatekeeper! Thou hast taken the crown from off +my head.</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'><q>Enter into the empire of the Lady of the Earth, to this +stage of the circles.</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +ii. <q rend='pre'>At the second gate I made her enter; I despoiled her, +and took from off her the earrings from her ears.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'><q>Hold, keeper of the gate! Thou hast despoiled me of +the earrings from my ears.</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'><q>Enter into the empire of the Lady of the Earth, to this +stage of the circles.</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +iii. <q rend='pre'>At the third gate I made her enter; I despoiled her +of the precious jewels on her neck.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'><q>Hold, keeper of the gate! Thou hast despoiled me of +the jewels of my neck.</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'><q>Enter into the empire of the Lady of the Earth, to this +stage of the circles.</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +iv. <q rend='pre'>At the fourth gate I made her enter; I despoiled her +of the brooch of jewels upon her breast.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'><q>Hold, keeper of the gate! Thou hast despoiled me of +the brooch of jewels upon my breast.</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'><q>Enter into the empire of the Lady of the Earth, to this +stage of the circles.</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +V. <q rend='pre'>At the fifth gate I made her enter; I despoiled her of +the belt of jewels about her waist.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'><q>Hold, keeper of the gate! Thou hast despoiled me of +the belt of jewels about my waist.</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'><q>Enter into the empire of the Lady of the Earth, to this +stage of the circles.</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +vi. <q rend='pre'>At the sixth gate I made her enter; I despoiled her +of her armlets and bracelets.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'><q>Hold, keeper of the gate! Thou hast despoiled me of +my armlets and bracelets.</q></q> +</p> + +<pb n='297'/><anchor id='Pg297'/> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'><q>Enter into the empire of the Lady of the Earth, to this +stage of the circles.</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +vii. <q rend='pre'>At the seventh gate I made her enter; I despoiled +her of her skirt.</q> +</p> + +<p> +<q rend='pre'><q>Hold, keeper of the gate! Thou hast despoiled me of +my skirt.</q></q> +</p> + +<p> +<q><q>Enter into the empire of the Lady of the Earth, to this +degree of circles.</q></q><note place='foot'>The cuneiform text in Lenormant, Textes cuneiformes inédits, No. 30. +The translation in Lenormant: Les premières civilizations, 1. pp. 87-89.</note> +</p> + +<p> +We have something very similar in the judgment +of souls in the Egyptian Ritual of the Dead. From +Chaldaea or from Egypt the Gnostics who used the +Gospel of St. Philip drew their doctrine of the soul +traversing several circles, and arrested by an angel at +the gate of each. +</p> + +<p> +The soul, a divine element, is in the earth combined +with the body, a work of the Archon. But her aspirations +are for that which is above; she strives to <q>extirpate +his roots.</q> All her <q>scattered members,</q> her +thoughts, wishes, impulses, are gathered into one up-tapering +flame. Then only does she <q>know (God) for +what He is,</q> for she has learned the nature of God by +introspection. +</p> + +<p> +Such, if I mistake not, is the meaning of the passage +quoted by St. Epiphanius. The sect which used such +a Gospel must have been mystical and ascetic, given +to contemplation, and avoiding the indulgence of their +animal appetites. It was that, probably, of Prodicus, +strung on the same Pauline thread as the heresies of +Marcion, Nicolas, Valentine, Marcus, the Ophites, Carpocratians +and Cainites. +</p> + +<p> +Prodicus, on the strength of St. Paul's saying that all +Christians are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, +maintained the sovereignty of every man placed under +<pb n='298'/><anchor id='Pg298'/> +the Gospel. But a king is above law, is not bound by +law. Therefore the Christian is under no bondage of +Law, moral or ceremonial. He is lord of the Sabbath, +above all ordinances. Prodicus made the whole worship +of God to consist in the inner contemplation of the +essence of God. +</p> + +<p> +External worship was not required of the Christian; +that had been imposed by the Demiurge on the Jews +and all under his bondage, till the time of the fulness of +the Gospel had come.<note place='foot'>Clem. Alex. Stromata, i. f. 304; iii. f. 438; vii. f. 722.</note> The Prodicians did not constitute +an important, widely-extended sect, and were +confounded by many of the early Fathers with other +Pauline-Gnostic sects. +</p> + +</div> + +<pb n='299'/><anchor id='Pg299'/> + +<div rend='page-break-before: always'> +<index index='toc'/> +<index index='pdf'/> +<head>VI. The Gospel Of Judas.</head> + +<p> +The Pauline Protestantism of the first two centuries +of the Church had not exhausted itself in Valentinianism. +The fanatics who held free justification and +emancipation from the Law were ready to run to greater +lengths than Marcion, Valentine, or even Marcus, was +prepared to go. +</p> + +<p> +Men of ability and enthusiasm rose and preached, and +galvanized the latent Paulinian Gnosticism into temporary +life and popularity, and then disappeared; the +great wave of natural common-sense against which they +battled returned and overwhelmed their disciples, till +another heresiarch arose, made another effort to establish +permanently a religion without morality, again to +fail before the loudly-expressed disgust of mankind, and +the stolid conviction inherent in human nature that +pure morals and pure religion are and must be indissolubly +united. +</p> + +<p> +Carpocrates was one of these revivalists. Everything +except faith, all good works, all exterior observances, all +respect for human laws, were indifferent, worse than +indifferent, to the Christian: these exhibited, where +found, an entanglement of the soul in the web woven +for it by the God of this world, of the Jews, of the +Law. The body was of the earth, the soul of heaven. +Here, again, Carpocrates followed and distorted the +teaching of St. Paul; the body was under the Law, the +soul was free. Whatsoever was done in the body did +<pb n='300'/><anchor id='Pg300'/> +not affect the soul. <q>It is no more I that do it, but sin +that dwelleth in me.</q><note place='foot'>Rom. vii. 17.</note> +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q>All depends upon faith and love,</q> said Carpocrates; <q>externals +are altogether matters of indifference. He who ascribes +moral worth to these makes himself their slave, subjects himself +to those spirits of the world from whom all religious and +political ordinances have proceeded; he cannot, after death, +pass out of the sphere of the metempsychosis. But he who +can abandon himself to every lust without being affected by +any, who can thus bid defiance to the laws of those earthly +spirits, will after death rise to the unity of that Original One, +with whom he has, by uniting himself, freed himself, even in +this present life, from all fetters.</q><note place='foot'>Iren. Haeres. i. 25.</note> +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +Epiphanes, the son of Carpocrates, a youth of remarkable +ability, who died young, exhausted by the excesses +to which his solifidianism exposed him, wrote a work +on Justification by Faith, in which he said: +</p> + +<quote rend='display'> + +<p> +<q>All nature manifests a striving after unity and fellowship; +the laws of man contradicting these laws of nature, +and yet unable to subdue the appetites implanted in human +nature by the Creator himself—these first introduced sin.</q><note place='foot'>Compare Rom. iii. 20. Epiphanes died at the age of seventeen. +Epiphan. Haeres. xxxii. 3.</note> +</p> + +</quote> + +<p> +With Epiphanes, St. Epiphanius couples Isidore, and +quotes from his writings directions how the Faithful +are to obtain disengagement from passion, so as to attain +union with God. Dean Milman, in his <q>History of +Christianity,</q> charitably hopes that the licentiousness +attributed to these sects was deduced by the Fathers +from their writings, and was not actually practised by +them. But the extracts from the books of Isidore, +Epiphanes and Carpocrates, are sufficient to show that +<pb n='301'/><anchor id='Pg301'/> +their doctrines were subversive of morality, and that, +when taught as religious truths to men with human +passions, they could not fail to produce immoral results. +An extract from Isidore, preserved by Epiphanius, giving +instructions to his followers how to conduct themselves, +was designed to be put in practice. It is impossible +even to quote it, so revolting is its indecency. In substance +it is this: No man can approach the Supreme +God except when perfectly disengaged from earthly +passion. This disengagement cannot be attained without +first satisfying passion; therefore the exhaustion of +desire consequent on the gratification of passion is the +proper preparation for prayer.<note place='foot'>Epiphan. xxxii. 4.</note> +</p> + +<p> +To the same licentious class of Antinomians belonged +the sect of the Antitactes. They also held the distinction +between the Supreme God and the Demiurge, the God +of the Jews,<note place='foot'>Clem. Strom. iii. fol. 526.</note> of the Law, of the World. The body, the +work of the God of creation, is evil; it <q>serves the law +of sin;</q> nay, it is the very source of sin, and imprisons, +degrades, the soul entangled in it. Thus the soul serves +the law of God, the body the law of sin, <hi rend='italic'>i.e.</hi> of the Demiurge. +But the Demiurge has imposed on men his law, +the Ten Commandments. If the soul consents to that +law, submits to be in bondage under it, the soul passes +from the liberty of its ethereal sonship, under the +dominion of a God at enmity with the Supreme Being. +Therefore the true Christian must show his adherence +to the Omnipotent by breaking the laws of the Decalogue,—the +more the better.<note place='foot'>It is instructive to mark how the enunciation of the same principles +led to the same results after the lapse of twelve centuries. The proclamation +of free grace, emancipation from the Law, justification by faith only, +in the sixteenth century quickened into being heresies which had lain dead +through long ages. Bishop Barlow, the Anglican Reformer, and one of the +compilers of our Prayer-book, thus describes the results of the enunciation +of these doctrines in Germany and Switzerland, results of which he was +an eye-witness: <q>There be some which hold opinion that all devils and +damned souls shall be saved at the day of doom. Some of them persuade +themselves that <hi rend='italic'>the serpent which deceived Eve was Christ</hi>. Some of them +grant to every man and woman two souls. Some affirm lechery to be no +sin, and that one may use another man's wife without offence. Some take +upon them to be soothsayers and prophets of wonderful things to come, and +have prophesied the day of judgment to be at hand, some within three +months, some within one month, some within six days. Some of them, +both men and women, at their congregations for a mystery show themselves +naked, affirming that they be in the state of innocence. Also, some hold +that no man ought to be punished or suffer execution for any crime or trespass, +be it ever so horrible</q> (A Dyalogue describing the orygynall ground +of these Lutheran faccyons, 1531). We are in presence once more of Marcosians, +Ophites, Carpocratians. Had these sects lingered on through twelve +centuries? Possibly only; but it is clear that the dissemination of the +same doctrines caused the production of these obscene sects by inevitable +logical necessity, whether an historical filiation be established or not.</note> +</p> + +<pb n='302'/><anchor id='Pg302'/> + +<p> +Was religious fanaticism capable of descending lower? +Apparently it was so. The Cainites exhibit Pauline antinomianism +in its last, most extravagant, most grotesque +expression. Their doctrine was the extreme development +of an idea in itself originally containing an element +of truth. +</p> + +<p> +Paul had proclaimed the emancipation of the Christian +from the Law. Perhaps he did not at first sufficiently +distinguish between the moral and the ceremonial +law; he did not, at all events, lay down a broad, +luminous principle, by which his disciples might distinguish +between moral obligation to the Decalogue and +bondage to the ceremonial Law. If both laws were +imposed by the same God, to upset one was to upset the +other. And Paul himself broke a hole in the dyke when +he opposed the observance of the Sabbath, and instituted +instead the Lord's-day. +</p> + +<p> +Through that gap rushed the waves, and swept the +whole Decalogue away. +</p> + +<pb n='303'/><anchor id='Pg303'/> + +<p> +Some, to rescue jeoparded morality, maintained that +the Law contained a mixture of things good and bad; +that the ceremonial law was bad, the moral law was +good. Some, more happily, asserted that the whole of +the Law was good, but that part of it was temporary, +provisional, intended only to be temporary and provisional, +a figure of that which was to be; and the rest of +the Law was permanent, of perpetual obligation. +</p> + +<p> +The ordinances of the Mosaic sanctuary were typical. +When the fulfilment of the types came, the shadows +were done away. This was the teaching of the author +of the Epistle to the Hebrews, called forth by the disorders +which had followed indiscriminating denunciation +of the Law by the Pauline party. +</p> + +<p> +But a large body of men could not, or would not, +admit this distinction. St. Paul had proclaimed the +emancipation of the Christian from the Law. They, +having been Gentiles, had never been under the ceremonial +Law of Moses. How then could they be set at +liberty from it? The only freedom they could understand +was freedom from the natural law written on the +fleshy tables of their hearts by the same finger that had +inscribed the Decalogue on the stones in Sinai. The +God of the Jews was, indeed, the God of the world. +The Old Testament was the revelation of his will. +Christ had emancipated man from the Law. The Law +was at enmity to Christ; therefore the Christian was at +enmity to the Law. The Law was the voice of the God +of the Jews; therefore the Christian was at enmity +to the God of the Jews. Jesus was the revelation of +the All-good God, the Old Testament the revelation of +the evil God. +</p> + +<p> +Looking at the Old Testament from this point of view, +the extreme wing of the Pauline host, the Cainites, +naturally came to regard the Patriarchs as being under +<pb n='304'/><anchor id='Pg304'/> +the protection, the Prophets as being under the inspiration, +of the God of the Jews, and therefore to +hold them in abhorrence, as enemies of Christ and the +Supreme Deity. Those, on the other hand, who were +spoken of in the Old Testament as resisting God, +punished by God, were true prophets, martyrs of the +Supreme Deity, forerunners of the Gospel. Cain became +the type of virtue; Abel, on the contrary, of error and +perversity. The inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah +were pioneers of Gospel freedom; Corah, Dathan and +Abiram, martyrs protesting against Mosaism. +</p> + +<p> +In this singular rehabilitation, Judas Iscariot was relieved +from the anathema weighing upon him. This +man, who had sold his Master, was no longer regarded +as a traitor, but as one who, inspired by the Spirit of +Wisdom, had been an instrument in the work of redemption. +The other apostles, narrowed by their prejudices, +had opposed the idea of the death of Christ, saying, <q>Be +it far from thee, Lord; this shall not be unto thee.</q><note place='foot'>Matt. xvi. 21, 22; Mark vii. 31.</note> +But Judas, having a clearer vision of the truth, and the +necessity for the redemption of the world by the death +of Christ, took the heroic resolution to make that precious +sacrifice inevitable. Rising above his duties as disciple, +in his devotion to the cause of humanity, he judged it +necessary to prevent the hesitations of Christ, who at +the last moment seemed to waver; to render inevitable +the prosecution of his great work. Judas therefore went +to the chiefs of the synagogue, and covenanted with +them to deliver up his Master to their will, knowing +that by his death the salvation of the world could alone +be accomplished.<note place='foot'>Ideas reproduce themselves singularly. There is an essay by De +Quincy advocating the same view of the character and purpose of Judas.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Judas therefore became the chief apostle to the Cainites. +<pb n='305'/><anchor id='Pg305'/> +They composed a Gospel under his name, τό +Εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Ἰουδα.<note place='foot'>Epiphan. Haeres. xxxviii. 1.</note> Irenæus also mentions it;<note place='foot'>Iren. Adv. Haeres. i. 31.</note> it +must therefore date from the second century. Theodoret +mentions it likewise. But none of the ancient Fathers +quote it. Not a single fragment of this curious work +has been preserved. +</p> + +<p> +<q>It is certainly to be regretted,</q> says M. Nicolas, +<q>that this monument of human folly has completely +disappeared. It should have been carefully preserved +as a monument, full of instruction, of the errors into +which man is capable of falling, when he abandons himself +blindly to theological dogmatism.</q><note place='foot'>Etudes, p. 176.</note> +</p> + +<p> +In addition to the Gospel of Judas, the Cainites possessed +an apocryphal book relating to that apostle whom +they venerated scarcely second to Judas, viz. St. Paul. +It was entitled the <q>Ascension of Paul,</q> Ἀναβατικὸν +Παύλου,<note place='foot'>Epiphan. Haeres. xxxviii. 2.</note> and related to his translation into the third +heaven, and the revelation of unutterable things he there +received.<note place='foot'>2 Cor. xii. 4.</note> +</p> + +<p> +An <q>Apocalypse of Paul</q> has been preserved, but it +almost certainly is a different book from the Anabaticon. +It contains nothing favouring the heretical views of +the Cainites, and was read in some of the churches of +Palestine. This Apocalypse in Greek has been published +by Dr. Tischendorf in his Apocalypses Apocryphae +(Lips. 1866), and the translation of a later Syriac version +in the Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. +VIII. 1864.<note place='foot'>Reprinted in the Journal of Sacred Literature and Biblical Record, +p. 372.</note> +</p> + +</div> + +</div> + +</body> +<back rend="page-break-before: right"> + <div id="footnotes"> + <index index="toc" /> + <index index="pdf" /> + <head>Footnotes</head> + <divGen type="footnotes"/> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before: right"> + <divGen type="pgfooter" /> + </div> +</back> +</text> +</TEI.2> diff --git a/45620-tei/images/cover.jpg b/45620-tei/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..df64a05 --- /dev/null +++ b/45620-tei/images/cover.jpg |
