02. THE SECOND GOSPEL

BY

HOWARD HEBER EVANS, B.A.

LATE VIVAR OF MAPPERLEY,

AND FORMERLY SCHOLAR OF LINCOLN COLLEGE, OXFORD;

Author of "St. Paul the Author of the Acts of the Apostle and of the

Third Gospel"

"I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. — EPH. III. 1.

"The Gospel of the Uncircumcision was committed unto me." GALL. II. 2.

"I laboured more abundantly than they all."—1 COR. XV. 10.

"Inasmuch as I am the Apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine often."

ROM. XI. 13.

"That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles . . . so that to in Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ." ROM. XV. 16. 19.

"Paul declared particularly what things God had wrought among the

Gentiles by his ministry." ACTS XXI. 14.

LONDON:

JAMES NISBET & CO., 21 BERNERS STREET.

MDCCCLXXXVII.

[All rights reserved.]

"It was Francis Bacon who gave dignity to the slow and patient processes of investigation, of experiment, of comparison, to the sacrificing of hypothesis to fact, to the single aim after Truth, which was to be the law of modern science."—J. R. GREEN, History of the English People.

"It is the comparative spirit which is at work everywhere, and which has achieved the greatest triumphs in modern times." - Professor MAX MULLER.

"Language, the great confessional of the human heart."—Rev. JAMES MARTINEAU.

"Language is Fossil History."—ARCHBISHOP TRENCH.

"To us Probability is the very guide of Life.

"From these things it follows that in questions of difficulty, or such as are thought so, where more satisfactory evidence cannot be had, or is not seen; if the result of examination be, that there appears upon the whole any the lowest presumption on one side, and none on the other, or a greater presumption on one side, though in the lowest degree greater, this determines the question, even in matters of speculation."—BISHOP BUTLER, The Analogy.

CONTENTS.

...

PAGE

I. THESE LAST TWELVE VERSES ORIGINALLY DID NOT FORM PART OF THE SECOND GOSPEL . . . . 11

II. THE FOLLOWING FACTS RESPECTING THE AUTHOR APPEAR FROM AN EXAMINATION OF THE INTERNAL EVIDENCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

(a.) The Author was a Jew familiar with the Septuagint Version of the Old Testament Scriptures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(b.) The Author was a Christian—a Jewish Christian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(c.) The Author wrote for Gentile readers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(d.) The Author wrote especially for the Gentile Christians at Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(e.) The Author must have been possessed of literary ability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(f.) The Author wrote many years after the first preaching of the Gospel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(g.) The Author wrote in the Apostolic Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(h.) The Author must have been possessed of Apostolic authority, or at least he must have obtained Apostolic sanction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

VIII

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III. THERE IS A CLOSE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE LAST TWELVE VERSES OF THE SECOND GOSPEL AND THE WRITINGS OF THE AUTHOR OF THE THIRD GOSPEL AND THE ACTS . . . . . 27

- (a) The phraseology of these verses has a marked resemblance to the phraseology of the Third Gospel and the Acts . . . . . 27

- (b) The Author of the Third Gospel and the Acts was familiar with the subject-matter of these verses . . . . . 30

- (c) The Author of the Third Gospel and the Acts was a Jew familiar with the Septuagint Version of the Old Testament . . . . . 38

- (d) The Author of the Third Gospel and the Acts was a Christian—a Jewish Christian . . . . . 39

- (e) The Author of the Third Gospel and the Acts wrote for Gentile readers . . . . . 39

- (f) The Author of the Third Gospel and the Acts wrote especially for the Gentile Christians at Rome . . . . . 40

- (g) The Author of the Third Gospel and the Acts was possessed of literary ability . . . . . 40

- (h) The Author of the Third Gospel and the Acts wrote many years after the first preaching of the Gospel . . . . . 41

- (i) The Author of the Third Gospel and the Acts wrote in the Apostolic age . . . . . 41

- (j) The Author of the Third Gospel and the Acts was possessed of Apostolic authority, or at least he obtained Apostolic sanction . . . . . 42

CONTENTS.

ix

PAGE

IV. THERE IS A VERY CLOSE AND INTIMATE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE AUTHOR OF THE THIRD GOSPEL (AND THE ACTS) AND ST. PAUL . . . 44

(a.) Testimony of the early Christian Fathers . . . 44

(b.) Statements of modern critics and commentators . 45

(c.) St. Paul himself the Author of the Third Gospel and the Acts . . . . . . . . . 46

V. ST. PAUL HIMSELF WAS THE AUTHOR OF THESE LAST TWELVE VERSES OF THE SECOND GOSPEL . 49

(a.) The phraseology is Pauline . . . . . . 49

(b.) The subject-matter of these verses must have been well known to St. Paul . . . . . 54

(c.) St. Paul fulfilled the other conditions of authorship, for he was a Jewish Christian writing in the Apostolic age to the Gentile Christians at Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

(d.) St. Paul had the literary ability . . . . . . 58

(e.) St. Paul had the motive for writing . . . . . 58

(f.) St. Paul possessed the necessary materials . . . 59

(g.) St. Paul had the opportunity of writing these concluding verses, and of adding them to the Second Gospel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

(h.) St. Paul possessed the needful authority . . . 60

(i.) St. Mark and St. Luke were, both together, with St. Paul during his imprisonment at Rome, A.D. 61-63 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

(j.) The Third Gospel constantly follows the Second, where the Second differs from the First, in the common sections of the three Synoptic Gospels 62

(k.) St. Paul at Rome had a presentiment that he had finished his course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

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(l.) St. Paul at Rome was anxious that the Gospel should, after his impending death, be handed down pure and free from corruption and misrepresentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

(m.) St. Paul at Rome was contemplating engaging in some literary undertaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

(n.) This view not inconsistent with the documentary evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

(o.) This view not inconsistent with Dean Burgon's conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

(p.) The time and place of writing, as well as the Author, not unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

(q.) These last twelve verses, consequently, can claim Apostolic authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

VI. RESULTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 i. The Gospel according to St. Mark must have been in existence before A.D. 64 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 ii. The prophecy in St. Mark xiii. as to the destruction of Jerusalem must have been both written and read several years before the event (A.D. 70) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 iii. The prophecy in St. Matthew xxiv. must have been in circulation still earlier, probably before A.D. 50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 iv. The contents of St. Mark's Gospel must have received the general sanction of St. Paul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 v. The first Three Gospels are successive adaptations to the circumstances of the Church of the same narrative, St. Matthew's being the earliest, and St. Luke the latest of these, the Synoptic Gospels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

VII. NOTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

On the Alleged Discrepancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

ST. PAUL

THE AUTHOR OF