The question of the origin and dates of the several gospels is treated under the separate articles Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The Tubingen school, and the modern critics who follow them, put the dates for- ward into the second centurj'. See Tueingen School. On the questions involved, see Fisher, Essai/s, alreadj' cited ; Westcott, On the Canon of the N. T. (Cambridge, 1855) ; Tischendorf, Wann wurden tinsere Evangelien verfasst (Leipsig, 1865 ; transl. by W. L. Gage, under the title Origin of the four Gospels, Lond. 1868; Amer. Tract Society, 1868).
Literature. — For a pretty copious account of the lit- erature of the subject, see Apologetics ; Apology. We add here the following : Translation of Luthardt's Ajwl. Vortriige (noticed in vol. i, p. 305 ), entitled Apol- ogetic Lectures on the fundament(d Truths of Christian- ity (1867, crown 8vo) ; and Auberlen's Offenbarnng (see our vol. i, p. 301), entitled The Divine Revelation (Ed- inburgh, 1867) ; Norton's Genuineness of the Gospels, abridged edit. (Boston, 1867, 12mo); Barnes, Lectures on the Evidences of Christianity in the Nineteenth Cen- tury (New York, 18()8, 12mo); M'Cosh, The Supernat- ural in its Relations to the Natural ; Westcott, Introduc- tion to the Study of the Gospels (Boston, 1867), chap, iii ; Schaff, Person of Christ (Am. Tract Society); Plump- tre, Christ and Christendom (Lond. 1867, 8vo) ; Gratrj-, Les Sophistes et la Critique (Paris, 1864, 8vo) ; Prince- ion Review, April, 1852, art. vi; Bartlett on "Christi-
anity and prominent Forms of Assault," in Bibliotheca Sacra, January, 1868 ; Brit, and For. Evung. Review, July, 1868, art. vi. See Apologetics ; Apology ; Imspiratiox ; Jesus ; Miracles,
Evil is discord or disturbance in the order of the universe. Leibnitz divides it into metaphysical evil, i. e. imperfection ; phj'sical evil, i. e. suffering ; moral evil, i. e. sin. Origen defined evil to Ije the negation of good ; and in this he has been followed by many Christian thinkers. The distinction into natural and moral evil is the only one now generallj' recognised. 1. "Natural evil is whatever destroys or any waj' dis- turbs the perfection of natural beings, such as lilind- ness, diseases, death, etc. But as all that we call nat- ural evil is not the penaltj' of sin, nor, as some have supposed, only the penalty of it, such disturbance is not necessarily an evil, inasmuch as it maj' be counter- poised, in the whole, with an equal if not greater good, as in the afflictions and sufferings of good men. W^hen such disturbance occurs as the penalty of transgres- sion, it is tlie necessarj' consequence of moral evil." The tendency of modern thought is towards the doc- trine that the (apparent) disturbances of the physical world are likely to be reconciled with universal law as science advances. 2. "Moral evil is the disagree- ment between the actions of a moral agent and the rule of those actions, whatever it be. Applied to choice, or acting contrary to the revealed law of God, it is termed wickedness or sin. Applied to an act contrary to a mere rule of fitness, it is called a fault" (Buck, s. v.).
On the origin of evil, and its relations to the gov- ernment of God, see Sin ; Theodicy.
E'vil-mer'odach (Heb. Evil' Merodak', b'^'X Tit?"'''? ) Sept. EviaXpapujSeK, OuXaipaSdxcp), son and successor of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babj'lon, who, on his accession to the throne (B.C. 561), released the captive king of Judah, Jehoiachin, from prison, after 37 years of incarceration, treated him with kindness and distinction, and set his throne above the other con- quered kings who were detained at Babj-lon (2 Kings XXV, 27 ; Jer. Hi, 31-34). See Chald.ean. A Jew- ish tradition (noticed by Jerome on Isa.xiv, 29) ascribes this kindness to a personal friendship whicli Evil-mer- odach had contracted with the Jewish king when he was himself consigned to prison bj- Nebuchadnezzar, who, on recovering from his seven j-ears' monomania, took offence at some part of the conduct of his son, by whom the government had in the mean time been ad- ministered. This story was probably invented to ac- count for the fact. His name is variouslj' written by other ancient authors (EiitLXftapaliovKoi; by Berosus, in Josephus, Apion, i, 20 ; JLinXpaXoiipoi'xoQ by Megas- thenes and Abydenus, in Euseb. Chron. Armen. p. 28; ' Ajiikf^iapMCaxoc bj' Josephus, Ant. x, 11, 2). Hales identifies him with the king of Babjion who formed a powerful confederacy against the Medes, which was broken up, and the king slain by Cj-rus, then acting for his uncle Cyaxares. But this rests on the author- ity of Xenophon's Cyropmdia, the historical value of which he estimates far too highly. See Cyrus. He is doubtless the same as the Ilvoradam of Ptolemy's '"Canon," who reigned but a short time, having' ascended the throne on the death of Nebuchadnezzar in B.C. 561, and being himself succeeded l)y Neriglis- sar in B.C. 559. See Babylox. He thus appears to have reigned but two years, which is the time assign- ed to him by Abydenus {Fr. 9) and Berosus {Fr. 14)., At the end of this brief space Evil-merodach was murdered by Neriglissar [see Nergal-siiarezer], a Babvlonian noble married to his sister, who then seized the crown. The other ancient authorities as- sign him different lengths of reign. According to Berosus, Evil-merodach provoked his fate by lawless government and intemperance. Perhaps the depar- ture from the policy of his father, and the substitution