the Literature of the New Testament, p. 193.
3 See James MofFatt, Introduction to the Literature of the New Testament,
for a modern and conservative presentation of the various views of scholars
in regard to the authors and contents of the New Testament.
58
A BOOK ABOUT THE ENGLISH BIBLE
The Epistles of Paul
to the Seven Churches
The Epistle to the Romans.
The First Epistle to the Corinthians.
The Second Epistle to the Corinthians.
The Epistle to the Galatians.
The Epistle to the Ephesians.
The Epistle to the Philippians.
The Epistle to the Colossians.
The First Epistle to the Thessalonians.
The Second Epistle to the Thessa-
lonians.
„, r, j P . j7 [The First Epistle to Timothy.
The Pastoral Epistles Jhe g^j £pisde ^ Timothv>
ojfaul [The Epistle to Titus.
A n 7 T J r n t fThe Epistle to Philemon (a letter
A Personal Letter of Paul { y r\ - \
J [ about Onesimus, a servant).
Anonymous — The Epistle to the Hebrews.
The Epistle of James "to the twelve tribes
which are of the Dispersion."
The First Epistle of Peter "to the Elect
who are sojourners of the Dispersion."
The Second Epistle of Peter to them of
"like precious faith."
The First Epistle of John, a Christian
tract.
The Second Epistle of John, the elder to
"the elect lady and her children."
The Third Epistle of John, the elder unto
Gaius.
The Epistle of Jude, "to them that are
called, beloved in God the Father, and
kept for Jesus Christ."
| The Revelation of John, to show "the
/ he A P ocaL yP se \ things which must shortly come to pass."
The Catholic or
General Epistles
THE BACKGROUND OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 59
The Gospels
Preserved as the most important of the Sacred
Scriptures of the New Testament are the four books
called, from the word of the Angel to the Shepherds,
Luke 2:10, the "Evangels" (evayyeXi^ofxat^ "I bring
you good tidings," see also Matthew 4:23, Mark 1:15)
or in the Saxon equivalent the "God-spells," the good-
story, or Gospels. What was immediately back of
the Gospels? In the Apology of Aristides (125-160?
A. d.), discovered in a Syriac version on Mount Sinai,
in 1889, by Dr. J. Rendel Harris, and edited by him,
are many statements concerning the early Christians.
Aristides mentions the twelve apostles, and says that
the Christians had writings which they called "evan-
gelic scripture." This and the statements of Papias,
discussed below, are the earliest references to what
were probably our Gospels. Tatian, in the latter part
of the second century, prepared a Diatessaron or
Harmony of the four canonical Gospels. Its purpose
was to give one complete record of the life and teachings
of Jesus by arranging and combining the four separate
accounts.
The four books assigned to Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John have from early times, owing to the nature
of their contents, been classified in two groups as the
Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, and
the Fourth Gospel, John, because the last differs so
greatly in many respects from the other three, and
particularly in its religious philosophy, in presenting
the person and work of Jesus. Clement of Alexandria
(d. about 220 a. d.) said "that John, last of all, per-
ceiving that only outward and bodily facts were related
in the existing Gospels, being urged on by the skilled
60 A BOOK ABOUT THE ENGLISH BIBLE
in divine things, and inspired by God's spirit, com-
posed a Spiritual Gospel." 1
Although we are concerned in this volume with a
presentation of some of the facts concerning the Eng-
lish Bible and its originals and relations as litera-
ture, it will not be out of place to repeat here con-
cerning the Gospels the following sentences from a
well-known book: — "If, after a century of modern
criticism of the Gospels, it is found that, despite all
differences, the four mutually supplement and mutually
interpret one another, so that from their complex com-
bination there emerges one narrative, outlining a dis-
tinct historical figure, and producing upon the mind
an irresistible impression of reality, it is difficult to
imagine a more convincing attestation of the records on
which the Christian Church bases its faith in the person
and work of its Founder than is furnished by this very
fact." 2
Irenaeus, Tertullian and Clement, all of whom lived
towards the end of the second century, quote from the
four Gospels. The Old Latin and the Syriac, (Peshitto,)
the oldest versions we have of the New Testament,
both of which are as early as the second century, con-
tained our four Gospels. These facts have an important
bearing on the dates at which the written accounts of
Jesus were prepared.
Earlier than the written Gospels there must have
existed versions of the incidents and words. Many
stories became current, which had little or no founda-
tion in fact, and many spurious or apocryphal gospels
came into existence quite early in the history of the
1 Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. II, p. 580.
2 W. A. Stevens and E. D. Burton, A Harmony of the Gospels for Historical
Study, New York, 191 1, p. iv.
THE BACKGROUND OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 6l
Christian Church. Some of these have been preserved
and may be found in The Apocryphal New Testament. 1
They are the Gospel of the Birth of Mary, attributed to
Matthew, the Protevangelion, attributed to James,
and often referred to in the early Church Fathers, the
Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ, purporting to be
accounts of Jesus taken "from the book of Joseph the
High Priest, called by some Caiphas," the Gospel of
the Infancy of Jesus Christ, attributed to Thomas, the
Gospel of Nicodemus, also called the Acts of Pontius
Pilate. There was also a gospel to the Hebrews, not
now extant. These so-called gospels are all of them
early. There were yet others later.
The differences between these gospels and the four
contained in the New Testament are so evident that
no discussion is necessary to show why they were not
also included. These non-canonical gospels show,
however, something of the mass of material which soon
came to exist, both oral and written, concerning Jesus.
It has been conjectured that among the immediate
followers of Jesus, and in the various groups of Chris-
tians, which, as time went on, came to be formed, there
must have been some substantially consistent and
uniform account of the life and teachings that was pro-
mulgated orally from the testimony of those who had
actually seen and heard the things whereof they spoke.
1 Printed, London, 1820, for William Hone and reprinted 1906. Other
writings included in The Apocryphal New Testament are the Apostles' Creed
in its ancient state, the Apostles' Creed in its present state, Laodiceans,
Paul and Seneca, Paul and Thecla, I Corinthians, II Corinthians (Epistles
of Clement), Barnabas, Ephesians (Epistle of Ignatius), Magnesians (Epistle
of Ignatius), Trallians (Epistle of Ignatius), Romans (Epistle of Ignatius),
Philadelphians (Epistle of Ignatius), Polycarp (Epistle of Ignatius), Philip-
pians (Epistle of Polycarp), The Shepherd of Hermas I, II, and III. In an
appendix will be found a list of other apocryphal Christian "Scriptures"
and references to passages in the Church Fathers in which they are men-
tioned.
62 A BOOK ABOUT THE ENGLISH BIBLE
In the opening verses of Luke we have a prefatory
note addressed to one, Theophilus, to whom also the
book of the Acts of the Apostles is addressed, in which
mention is made of a number of different accounts of
the life and teachings of Jesus, even thus early in
existence: —
"Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to draw up a
narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled
among us, even as they delivered them unto us, who from
the beginning were eye-witnesses and ministers of the word,
it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all
things accurately from the first, to write unto thee in order,
most excellent Theophilus; that thou mightest know the
certainty concerning the things wherein thou wast in-
structed. "
The Gospel of John closes with these words: —
"And there are also many other things which Jesus did,
the which if they should be written every one, I suppose that
even the world itself would not contain the books that should
be written." John 21:25.
This is however doubtless to be taken with John's
idea of Jesus as the creative Logos of God, which was
from the beginning with God, and was God.
Luke was concerned with the human life of Jesus.
He consulted the best authorities. Several interesting
inferences may be drawn from his statement, and they
concern directly the literary background of the New
Testament.
1. The "eye-witnesses and ministers of the word"
were probably not the ones of whom Luke speaks as
the "many" who have "taken in hand to draw up a
THE BACKGROUND OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 63
narrative," doubtless meaning a written account, as
distinguished from oral teachings.
2. The "eye-witnesses and ministers" to whom
canonical Gospels are attributed were Matthew and
John, who were Apostles. If Mark is the work, as some
believe, of the John Mark mentioned in Acts 12:12,
he may have been the "young man" of Mark 14:51
who witnessed the arrest of Jesus, and may have wit-
nessed some other incidents.
3. Luke probably cannot refer to what we call the
apocryphal gospels, for he speaks of these "narratives"
as containing matters "fulfilled" (or surely believed)
among us, and much that appears in the apocryphal
gospels finds no place in Luke or in any other canonical
book. Moreover, Luke was probably writing at a date
earlier than that of any of the apocryphal gospels.
"John" was, as Clement said, "last of all" and there-
fore later than Luke.
Luke would probably not have used the word " many "
if he had been referring to Matthew and Mark, although
there is nothing in his statement that would exclude
them. Modern scholars believe that back of Luke
and Matthew are Mark and a source designated as Q.
The meaning probably is, as Dean Alford states it: —
"that many persons, in charge of Churches, or other-
wise induced, drew up, here and there, statements
{narratives) of the testimony of eye-witnesses and min-
isters of the word . . . so far as they themselves had
been able to collect them." — "It is probable that in
almost every Church where an eye-witness preached,
his testimony would be taken down and framed into
some narrative, more or less complete, of the life and
sayings of the Lord." l I John I :i~3, is written by one
1 Henry Alford, New Testament for English Readers, Note on Luke 1:1-4.
64 A BOOK ABOUT THE ENGLISH BIBLE
who speaks of himself as having both "seen and heard"
what he writes.
We may distinguish two states earlier than any
Gospel we possess, 1. the oral accounts of eye-witnesses
and others, and, 2. written accounts more or less com-
plete and accurate. The last stage of the purely his-
torical writing is represented by the author of Luke,
who utilizes all existing sources of information in the
preparation of a narrative that shall be both orderly
and accurate, concerning the things wherein Theophilus,
a Christian, had been "instructed" or catechized.
Luke presents even to the casual reader some very
interesting points of difference when compared with
any other of the Gospels. Irenaeus calls attention to
this fact. 1 It is Luke alone who tells of the promise to
Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth, a kinswoman of
Mary's, of the birth of John the Baptist. Luke alone
tells of the annunciation to Mary, of the visit of Mary
to Elizabeth, of the circumcision of John, and the
prophesy of Zacharias, of the Angels and Shepherds,
of the birth in the manger, of the circumcision, the
presentation in the Temple, of the visit to Jerusalem
when Jesus was twelve years old, when he disputed
with the doctors in the Temple, of his years at Nazareth
during which he was subject to his parents, of his
mother's keeping in her heart the incidents and sayings
in the life of her son. Luke alone gives the Magnificat,
the Prophecy of Zacharias, the Song of the Angels, and
the Song of Simeon. Whence did he obtain these
poems? There are reasons for thinking as modern
critics do, owing to questions of style and continuity
of the narrative, that Luke made use of some earlier
Palestinian account, in Greek, or in Aramaic, in which
1 AnU-Nicene Fathers, vol. I, p. 438.
THE BACKGROUND OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 65
was contained the material, found in Luke, but not in
the other gospels. Many similarities between Matthew
and Luke are attributed to a discourse-source used
by both, and known as Q, or to the Matthsean Logia.
These similarities occur in passages and sayings that are
not found in the other Gospels. Almost the whole
of Luke 10-18 is attributed to Q. There is no corre-
sponding passage in Matthew, Mark, or John, but
nearly all of it is contained in various passages in
Matthew, which are obviously from the same source.
There are many other things peculiar to Luke.
There alone do we find the story of the Good Samaritan,
and the incident of the healing of Malchus's ear. The
ministry of Jesus and his disciples is frequently referred
to in Luke as one of healing. It is thought that this
is because Luke was a physician.
Matthew and Luke, with their genealogies and their
accounts of the birth and early years, are in contrast to
Mark, which begins with the baptism of Jesus by John.
The concluding verses of Mark 16:9-20, are evidently
not part of the original book but an addition to supply
a portion that had been lost, the verse 16:8, as we have
it, ending with an apparently unfinished sentence.
Jerome said that nearly all the Greek manuscripts of
his time did not contain the passage 16:9-20.
The Gospel of John differs fundamentally from the
other three but, like Mark, begins with the baptism by
John, having opened with a passage about the eternal
Logos, who had appeared in the flesh as Jesus Christ.
A statement of Irenaeus, which was very generally
believed, because Luke was associated with Paul in his
travels (see II Timothy 4:11, and Philemon v. 24) is,
that "Luke, the follower of Paul, set down in a book
the Gospel preached by that Apostle." This state-
66 A BOOK ABOUT THE ENGLISH BIBLE
ment does not agree with Luke's own statement, since
Paul was not "from the beginning" an "eye-witness,"
and the sources of information open to Paul were
equally open to Luke. His statement that he had
"traced the course of all things accurately from the
first, to write unto thee [Theophilus] in order," is
significant when taken in connection with the words
of Papias, quoted below, that Mark did not write "in
order."
The statement of Papias 1 is the starting point of all
discussion concerning the authorship of Mark. Papias
who lived about 130 a. d. claimed to have received
information concerning the Gospels from John the
Presbyter. He is quoted by Eusebius as saying: —
"This also the Presbyter said: — 'Mark who was Peter's
interpreter, wrote down accurately, though not in order, all
that he recollected of what Christ had said or done. For he
was not a hearer of the Lord nor a follower of his; he followed
Peter, as I have said, at a later date, and Peter adapted his
instructions to practical needs, without any attempt to give
the Lord's words systematically. So that Mark was not
wrong in writing down some things in this way from memory,
for his one concern was neither to omit nor to falsify any-
thing he had heard.'" Such is Papias's account of Mark;
this is what he says about Matthew: — "So then Matthew
composed the Logia in the Hebrew language, and every one
interpreted them as he was able." 2
1 For a discussion of the statements of Papias and other early writers see
Introduction to the Literature of the New Testament, James Moftatt, p. 185;
The Canon of the New Testament, B. F. Westcott, p. 69; New Testament for
English Readers, Henry Alford, Introduction to the several books. The
statement of Papias is found in his works in Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. I,
pp. 154-155.
2 Eusebms, Ecclesiastical History, III, 39. The Matthaean Logia is prob-
ably what is commonly called the Q source. The original writing of Mark,
to which Papias refers, is known as the Ur-Marcus, on which the canonical
Gospel of Mark was based. See James Moffatt, Introduction to the Litera-
ture of the New Testament, pp. 185-206.
THE BACKGROUND OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 6j
Words of early Christian Fathers have been quoted
concerning the writing of each of the four Gospels.
Papias speaks of Matthew and Mark, Irenseus of Luke,
and Clement of John.
The Sayings of Jesus
The statement attributed to Papias, concerning
certain Logia (\6yia) or "Sayings," composed by
Matthew, assumes new interest in the light of recent
discoveries, which suggest wonderful possibilities. At
Oxyrhynchus in Egypt have been found by Dr. B. P.
Grenfell and Dr. A. S. Hunt, two leaves of papyrus,
one in 1897, the other in 1904, each of which contains
" Sayings of Jesus," * some of which are to be found in
our Gospels, while others are not so found. A frag-
ment of an uncanonical Gospel also was found in
1908. Another fragment from Oxyrhynchus, preserved
in the University of Pennsylvania Museum, contains
perhaps the oldest known manuscript of any part of
the New Testament. It is probably of the third century
and contains verses from the first chapter of Matthew.
The "Sayings" found in 1897 are, as translated from
the Greek in which they are written: —
1 B. P. Grenfell and A. S. Hunt, Sayings of Our Lord, 1897; New Sayings
of Jesus and Fragment of a Lost Gospel from Oxyrhynchus, 1904; Fragment of
an Uncanonical Gospel from Oxyrhynchus, 1908, Oxford University Press,
1908.
The Oxyrhynchus papyri and others, which have heen found in great num-
bers, and of which only a few concern directly the contents of the New Tes-
tament, are of importance in the study of the Greek of the New Testament
and also of the Septuagint. They show that the idioms of so-called New
Testament Greek are in many cases simply those of the colloquial Greek
of the time. The Hebraisms were probably such as might be expected in
Greek written by Jews, or in translations of Hebrew books. The light
thrown on the Greek of the Septuagint and of the New Testament by such
discoveries has led to the writing of new grammars such as, A Grammar of
New Testament Greek, by J. H. Moulton, Oxford, 1906; and Grammatik der
Septuaginta, by R. Helbing, Gottingen, 1907.
68 A BOOK ABOUT THE ENGLISH BIBLE
"[Jesus saith, Cast out first the beam that is in thine own
eye], and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote that
is in thy brother's eye.' , (See Matthew 7:5, and Luke 6:42.)
"Jesus saith, Except ye fast to the world, ye shall in no
wise find the kingdom of God; and except ye keep the
sabbath, ye shall not see the Father."
"Jesus saith, I stood in the midst of the world, and in the
flesh was I seen of them, and I found all men drunken, and
none found I athirst among them, and my soul grieveth over
the sons of men, because they are blind in their heart [and
see not], poor, and know not their poverty."
"Jesus saith, Wherever there are two they are not without
God, and if one is alone anywhere, I say I am with him.
Raise the stone, there thou shalt find me; cleave the word,
and there I am." (Matthew 18:20 is suggested.)
"Jesus saith, A prophet is not acceptable in his own coun-
try, neither doth a physician work cures upon them that
know him." (See Matthew 13 .-57; Mark 6:4; Luke 4:23-24;
John 4:44.)
"Jesus saith, A city built on the top of a high hill and
firmly established can neither fall nor be hid." (See Matthew
5:14, and 7:24-25.)
"[Jesus saith] Thou hearest with one ear, but the other
thou hast closed."
The "Sayings" found in 1904 are written in the back
of a list of measurements of a land surveyor. As
translated from the Greek they are: —
"These are the [wonderful?] words which Jesus the living
Lord spake [to his disciples?] and to Thomas, and he said
to them: Every one that hearkens to these words shall never
taste of death." (See John 8:51-52.)
"Jesus saith, Let not him who seeks . . . cease until he
finds, and when he finds he shall be astonished; astonished,
he shall reach the kingdom, and having reached the kingdom
he shall rest." (See Matthew 6:33, 7:7, 13:44, Luke 5:9.)
THE BACKGROUND OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 69
"Jesus saith, [Ye ask, who are those] that draw us [to the
kingdom, if] the kingdom is in heaven? — fowls of the air
jand all the beasts that are under the earth or upon the earth,
and the fishes of the sea, [these are they which draw] you, and
the kingdom of heaven is within you; and whosoever shall
know himself shall find it. [Strive therefore] to know your-
selves, and ye shall be aware that ye are the sons of the
[Almighty] Father; [and (?)] ye shall know that ye are in
[the city of God?] and ye are [the city?]." (See Job 12:7-8,
Luke 17:21, 20:36.)
"Jesus saith, A man shall not hesitate ... to ask . . .
concerning his place [in the kingdom. Ye shall know] that
many that are first shall be last and the last first and [they
shall have eternal life.]" (See Mark 10:31, Matthew 19:30,
Luke 13 :30, also John 3 :i6, 36, 5:24.)
"Jesus saith, Everything that is not before thy face and
that which is hidden from thee shall be revealed to thee. For
there is nothing hidden which shall not be made manifest,
nor buried which shall not be raised." (See Matthew, 10:26,
Mark 4:22, Luke 12:2.)
"His disciples question him and say, How shall we fast
and how shall we [pray (?)] . . . and what [commandment]
shall we keep ? Jesus saith, ... do not ... of truth . . .
blessed is he." (See Matthew 6:16, Luke 11:1, for similar
situations.) *
1 The version of "The Sayings of Jesus" here given is that of Dr. G. A.
Barton, and is taken by permission of the Sunday School Union, from his
volume Archeology and the Bible > pp. 428-431.
CHAPTER IV
POETIC FORMS IN THE BIBLE
Parallelism of thought and of structure in succes-
sive lines had long been recognized as the special rhetor-
ical characteristic of Hebrew poetry as distinguished
from prose. It was not until 1741, however, that any
systematic study of the subject seems to have been
made. In that year Robert Lowth, then Professor
of Poetry at Oxford, afterwards Bishop of London,
began a series of lectures, in Latin, entitled De Sacra
Poesi Hebr&orum Prcelectiones Academics. They were
published in 1753, and, later, edited and published
in an English version, which was reprinted a number
of times. This was the most important contribution
made, up to that time, to the study of the contents of
the Bible as literature, in which, as in other literature,
a knowledge of form, and a critical study of the kind
of material used is essential to interpretation and
appreciation.
Of Bishop Lowth's lectures his translator, Dr. G.
Gregory, said in his Preface: — " . . . this work will
be found an excellent compendium of all the best rules
of taste, and of all the principles of composition, illus-
trated by the boldest and most exalted specimens of
genius (if no higher title be allowed them) which antiq-
uity has transmitted to us; and which have hitherto sel-
dom fallen under the inspection of rational criticism."
To Bishop Lowth critics turn even yet, for what he
said, though familiar to us now, had not been said be-
70
POETIC FORMS IN THE BIBLE 71
fore. The most important passage is Lecture 19, in
which are found the following statements: — "The
poetical conformation of the sentences which has been
so often alluded to as characteristic of the Hebrew
poetry, consists chiefly in certain equality, resem-
blance, or parallelism, between the members of each
period; so that in two lines (or members of the same
period) things shall for the most part answer to things,
and words to words, as if fitted to each other by a
kind of rule or measure. This parallelism has much
variety and many gradations; it is sometimes more
accurate and manifest, sometimes more vague and
obscure; it may, however, on the whole be said to con-
sist of three species. " * These are explained and illus-
trated as Synonymous, Antithetic, and Synthetic, or
Constructive. Similar parallelism is found in Babyl-
onian and Egyptian poetry.
Examples are: —
1. Synonymous. The second line, or half line, repeats
the idea of the first.
"Oh that my vexation were but weighed,
And all my calamity laid in the balances !" Job 6:2.
2. Antithetic. The second line is a contrast to the
first.
"A soft answer turneth away wrath;