10. Eelation between the canonical Gospels and recent
literary discoveries.
11. Discussion of the evidence from Papias as to an original
Hebrew Gospel.
12. Other considerations bearing on an original Hebrew
Gospel.
13. A possible theory of the Synoptic Gospels.
1. The word ' Gospels ' in Christian terminology, and as employed in this article, signifies accounts
of til..; earthly life of our Lord Jesus Christ, of His iiiaiiili-~lation in llir liistorical sphere, narratives of III- words and works, it being unimportant \\ hrllirr sucii nairati\cs were delivered by word of mouth or committed to writing.
The term iiotyj-iXios occurs for the first time, in extant Chris- tian literature, in the well-known passage in .Tustin Martyr's First Apolopy, c. 66, where he refers to it as Lfinf tlu- usual designation of the Memoirs of the Apostli s, , > .t. , , „.
K.T.x. Justin'G language here certainly iinjl! hi-
wrote, the term 'Gospels ' was in common u-i i nn-M.iti
Church. The phrase ri i.-rtfi,-„/i,>,a,u^roc ti,i .:. r^. .-.,...> i,c. GT; is intended only as a description, intelligible to heathen readers, of the nature and authority of the tiiKyyiKioi,
2. The first question that presents itself is, Whattvasit that rail,;! (;,,s,,.ls iiifn h-inrf? The answer is to be f<ninil in llial 1 liaiailcristic of Christianity by wbii.li it i- ili-i iiijin-lail from all other religions, viz., Iliat il rommis the relation of mankind to a Person, n<.t the lelaiion of man- kind to a new system of morals or |.lnloM.|iliy. Jesus Christ was, of course, a ,i;real - we wonM .-ay the greatest — moral teaelier of mankind ; yet tlie
1 (.Hiristian consciousness has always felt that what •lusus was, and did, and suffered, has an import- ance and significance far transcending that which lie taught. Christian ethics is tleri\ed from and <le|iemlent upon the Person of Jesus the Son of I Joil manifested in time. If it be permissible to Use ill this connexion the metaphor in which the Nicene Creed endeavours to set forth the relation of the Second Person of the Trinity to tlie First, the ethical teaching of Christ is light generated from light. It is not that Jesus Christ is important and significant to the historian as the originator ami jiroiuulgator of a singularly lofty code of morals. Imt rather that in the days of CiBsar .Aii^iisiiis, 'the eternal life which was with the Father was manifested unto us' (1 Jn V-) ; and from that life so manifested certain new commandments of love resulted as a necessary consequence, and ' old commandments which we had from the begin- niiiL! ' (2') awoke into new life, and put on a strength wlinh iliey kail not had before.
.\oi liiii-, |iei li.i[is, more clearly proves the truth oi \\li.ii ha- lieeii just said as to the importance III llie rlin-liiii -\"steiii of tlie l,ei-onaniistory of
.le,ns, IlianllHl.Hl' Ihal 111- 1 :, eon audBis
ileal h are I real! -0 III 1 he ( ;o-]iel 1 l,i I 1 , M n o :e- liaviug
a si'^nilieaiiee oul \\ei^liiii-- all el-e. In I he ease of
664
GOSPELS
GOSPELS
all other great men, birth and death, which are universal and inevitable, have for the most part only a chronological importance. But in Apostolic references to the life of Jesus Christ His human ancestry is co-ordinated wth His resurrection, e.<jf. Ko V-* 'the gospel of God . . . concerning his Son, who was born of the seed of David . . . , who was declared to be the Son of God ... by the resurrection of the dead ' ; and 2 Ti 2^ ' Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, of the seed of David, according to my gospel.' Acknowledgment of the Lordship of Jesus, and belief in the historical fact of His resurrection, are declared to have saving efficacy (Ro 10^). It is evident, therefore, that a narrative of the main facts in the liistory of Jesus must have been from the very first the foundation or framework of the preaching of those who propa- gated His religion. These preachers met inquirers for the way of salvation, not with a recitation of the SaWour's gracious words, but with ' truth em- bodied in a tale ' : ' Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved' (Ac 16*'). A little considera- tion will make it clear that a proclaiming of the resurrection of One who had been slain entails of necessity an account of who and what manner of man He was, and why He was put to death.
From indications scattered through the Book of the Acts, we gather that an evangelic narrative described Jesus as fulfilling in His lineage, char- acter, and actions the various foreshadowings of Messianic prophecy as hitherto accejited ; while the fact that He had suffered, and died, and been raised the third day, was shown to reveal the Messianic character of passages of the OT wUch had not been liitherto clearly understood. The Resurrection, again, was declared to constitute an authentication by God Himself of the prediction of Jesus tliat He would come again to judge the living and the dead ; and salvation from the terrors of the judgment to come was offered on the conditions of repentance, followed by baptism into the name of Jesus. This is the barest outline of the main featui-es in the first Christian preaching : the accomplislunent in Jesus of all that was hoped for in the Christ ; His death and resurrection illumi- nating the dark places of prophecy, and proving the truth of His own claims ; judgment ; repentance ; baptism.