IMAGlNATlOlsr
IMITATION
779
the home, — marriage ceremonies, feasts, saluta- tions, journeyings ; and even from hodily life and sensations, — the eye, ear, bones, feet, hunger and thirst, laughing, mournin", sickness, sleep, etc. Our Lord's use of natural imagery may oe put into words -written elsewhere by the present writer .
'Nature is interesting to Him onh as t
nreituiP^ or of Him is the Cieator rf 1 The Id Hinelbonal attitude of tlK
Him IS thL Mluck of truth as appi I bundli- of analoties m the sense ot tht j
e handiwork ot Got)
1 nl 1 nrc for His
'is ilh
Two worlds are curb tis a
Forbids us to de'scrv The nn stio earth and heav
in alone n within
In this thenis
iiched and im at ions lesolve t liuinan dutj
Th( fmally.
W 1
the r,?/isf>< i(i 'f/n He spoke m tlie dialeit of Uit < i m ii | | k oi (occa-sionallj at least) m thxt tcniii i 1 ( u < k which ■nas commonly known m Palestine, in which the Gospels have come down to us, it is unquestionable that even if we have His discourses only in trans- lation, they are full of characteristic qualities of vividness, terseness, and colour. His use of popular proverbs in fi-esh applications (Mt 9'^ '^ 1^ 5" 6=' H15 123V 162S, Mk 10=»-2' etc.) ; His love of paradox (see Mt 5^-*- for four striking instances of this ; also Mk 10=3 and Jn 6'>') ; the exquisite grace of some of His descriptions of natural jiroccsses (Mt 628ff. 7248-.)^ and of social functions (Mt 25'-'=), to- gether -with the symmetrical build of many of His sentences and discourses (esp. Mt ^o^'"^"), show a mastery over the resources of lano;uage to which onljr a poet wliose natural gift had been carefully disciplined to high uses could attain. The more the form of our Lord's teaching is studied, the more does this verbal skill impress the reader as complete and minute.
2. Practical uses of this i/inii/iii'i/in- clement in our Lord's discourses.- 'I'lic im-i iK.d <>( .Jesus being exclusivelj^ oj-a^, it is c.i-y In ~'c liow valuable is this pictorial, dramatic, \ivi(Uy ixjin^sed quality that runs through them all. In i.r.lcr th:it tliis method should lie effective umlcr the rinum stances of the time, it was essenti.il l!i:i(. it should have the marks of simplicity, roiirrc/ciicss, vivid- ness, and brevity. It must be siiiqilc, as it was meant to become cun-ent not amongst scholars, disciplined in the use of complicated trains of thought, well used to nl^tract lines of reasoning, and capable of rii.iinin j l\ii-~c in their memory for a long time, hnl unioiijsi thi; common crowd of listeners who h.ul ikmI cjnly an elementary educa- tion, and were iiicajialilc ol giving a close and sus- tained attention to any train of thought. It must be concrete, because such people always thought and spoke in sucli terms as were closely allied to their daily cx]H-vicii,e. T( must l,r ;■;,•/,/, because othcrwis,. ,,.. .lrr|, .,!■ l,'is|iii.j- iiii|,icssi,,iL cuuld lie made cm -nf\i i.crii-iiiii.-il and inisinilied oppor- tunities .-ls ,,iir Lord li.Ml.ilu;illv iis.-d lo di.ss,.iniiiate His teaching, And it must lie hrirf and pm-tuhlr, for it was meant not merely for those who listiMied to Him at the time, but also for those who slionl.l afterwards 'believe in his name' tlirounh the ' preaching and teaching ' of tlie eye-witnesses and auditors of His earthly ministry. All these ends were perfectly served by the imaginative method of presenting truth chosen by the Great Teacher, and consisl. 'Idly followed by Him throughout His public life. His \\isdoiii i's shown by the event. It was ]'icd..ildy iii.niy years before any large por- tion of His disrouises and life-story was committed
to writing. But there are clear indications that great care was taken to give the general outlines of the teaching accurately and without admixtme, and that the utmost reverence w-as felt for the ipsissima verba of their Lord's utterances by the Apostles and their first pupils. Converts were carefully taught fiom the earliest times in catechumen classes m the ' doctrine of Christ ' (cf. 1 Co 15", Col 2" Lk 1' -), and they were counselled to be sped ill J ( tieful to retain and transmit the exact toriii 111 whuh the teaching (the 'fair deposit 'of tiuth) h id been delivered to them (cf. 2 Ti 1", a very si^iuhcant passage). It was only as these first witnesses were one by one removed by death, or so scattered as to be beyond the reach of appeal, that any need for a written version of the Gospel began to be felt Then the immediate disciples of the Apostles w ould endeavour to perpetuate their lecord of the words and deeds of Christ by com- mitting it to writing. In this way the first two Synoptic Gospels may have taken shape, using the common basis of the oral Gospel as a foundation on w Inch to build In time various versions would ause, which were collated and welded together into a nioie accurate whole by scholarly men such as St. Luke (1'"^). Finally, as the last survivor of the original group passed away, his followers would have a strong desire to rescue his personal reminiscences from oblivion ere it was too late, and thus the Fourth Gospel arose as a supplement to the others.