And as it was with His treatment of this form of cruelty practised by the strong upon the help- less, so it was with the mutilation of the body self- inflicted for so-called religious purposes. To the present writer it seems probable that Jesus made a conscious and deliberate reference to this practice (see Driver's 'Deuteronomy' in hiternat. Crit. Com. on Dt 23'). Here, too, there is no condemnation expressed of an inadequate and artificial method which was the outcome of a legalistic conception of moral purity. It is rather by His positive teach- ing on the subject of purity that we are led to understand (o Svva)ievo^ x^P"'' X'^P^^^w) what are the lines along which we must move in order to reach the goal of perfect self-renunciation. Tliere is another and a more excellent way of i.litaiiiiii- tlie mastery of the sexual passion than liy liti-raiij' 'cutting off' the oft'ending fleshly imiulper (if. Mt 528f. .where the words ^Xiirav and 6<p0a\fj.oi point to the radical character of the treatment insisted on by Jesus). The peculiarity about His method of treating this particular question is its loving cautiousness. It is not possible for all, but it is possible for some, to obtain as complete an ascend- ency over this strong instinct as if they were physically sexless ; while, of course, the resultant moral victory is of infinitely more value than the merely negative, unmoral condition produced by self-emasculation. Those who adopt His method I make themselves eunuchs' with a definite purpose in view (5ia Ti)v ^aviXelav tuv oipavOiv), and the in- terests which are created bj' that purpose are so absorbing that neither time nor opportunity is given to the ' fleshly lusts which war against the sour(l P2").
The clear and definite teaching of Jesus on the subject of marriage will help to elucidate the words under review. The Divine idea (utrTc ovKiri. daXv bio dXXa Alio ffdpf, Mk lO^), on which He laid special stress, invohes mutual eflbrt and restraint. It is not possible but that even under the most favourable circumstances duties will arise which will prove irksome, and not less so because they are peculiar to the married state. Indeed, the Hebraistic iaovTon tU (Heb. h n;ri) emphasizes the truth that perfect union does not follow at once on the consummation of marriage. It is a gradual process, and, because it is so, it involves some amount of mutual self-abnegation. The cares and responsibilities which follow in the wake of those who are married necessarily mean absorption both of time and attention which may clash with the work given to some to do (cf. 1 Co 7^'-). It is for this reason that these find themselves debarred from ever undertaking the duties attaching to marriage. They voluntarily uiideitake eunuchism because they are completely immersed in, and en- grossed by, the work of 'the kingdom of heaven.' "There is no need to suppose, as Keim does, that Jesus is here deliberately referring to Himself and to the Baptist. At the same time, we are able to see -in His life the highest expression of that ' blessed eunuchism ' (Bengel, Gnomon of the NT, in loc.) which renounced all earthly ties for the sake of the work He was given to do * (cf. Jii l'*) ; • .See Clem. Alex. Strmn. iii. § Iff.
EVANGELIST
EVANGELIST
549
and if 8t. Paul, in view of a wteru emergency, felt justified in enjoining upon even tlie married the necessity of adojiting this condition (see 1 Co 7-"), we know that he was speaking from tlie plane on which he himself stood (cf. 1 Co 9= 7"-)- At the same time, the apparent liarslmess of his asceticism is softened by his repeated expressions of regard for the gift peculiar to each {!Slov x'^P'^'^I'-''-)- '^^^' further, art. Marriage.
Literature. — aicy. Brit.^ art. 'Eunuch'; Neander, Ch. Hist. [Clark's ed.) ii. 493 ; Morison, Com. on ML in loc. \ Wendt, Teaching of Jesus, ii. 72 ff.; Expositor, iv. vii. [1893] 294 ff.
J. R. Willis.
EVANGELIST.— Although the word 'evangelist' (ei'ci77eXi(rT^s) does not occur in the Gospels, it justly finds a place in this work because it is the name commonly given to the authors of the four Gospels. The verb (vayycKlieadai., from which the substantive ' evangelist ' is derived, signifies to proclaim good tidings. The corresponding verbs m Hebrew and Aramaic (Dalman, NHWB, s.v. -ie^. Words of Jcsu.i, 103) sometimes bear only the meaning 'announce,' but their prevailing import is to announce good tidings. There is no reason to doubt that the Aramaic word or words used by our Lord concerning His message to mankind described it as the proclamation of good news. Hence in Christian circles the term acquired the specific sense of announcing the gospel. The word 'evan- gelist' is not found in classical Greek or in the LXX, nor has it as yet been found in any papyri. So far as our present knowledge goes, it belongs only to the NT and to ecclesiastical Greek. It is used thrice in the NT, and in none of the instances is its meaning doubtful. It is apidied to Philip (Ac 21*), either because of the laljours described in Ac 8, or because he belonged to a class or order of Christian labourers whose function was to go abroad proclaiming the gospel to those who had not heard it. In the Epistle to the Ephesians, ' evangelists ' are mentioned (4") as an order or class, after the Apostles and prophets, and before pastors and teachers. Here, too, the most probable view is that those spoken of were missionary preachers. Again, Timothy is charged by St. Paul (2 Ti #) to ' do the work of an evangelist.' Wliether Timothy is here called an evangelist is open to discussion, but the nature of the work he is bidden to perform is clear : he is to visit new comnmnities in order to preach the gospel to them. The force of the word suggested by its etymology is, therefore, the mean- ing attaching to it in the three passages of the NT where it is found. This is the view of all modern scholars of any note. Some of the Greek ex^josi- tors, misled by the usage of their own time, assigned, at least to the passayr in l'",phrsi.iiis, the sense which it came tr bear miIimm|iic'ii(, to NT time.s, that of author or writei of -., (;,,~|i,-l; but this interpretation has no supporters to-day.