The Gospels and the Gospel; A Study in the Most Recent Results of the Lower and Higher Criticism (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1902 edition. Excerpt: ...development of the inner school from the original ordering into Three, into one of Twelve and subsequently into one of Seventy, and, more important still, the tradition of the continued teaching of the " disciples" and " apostles" after the death of Jesus. We pass next to the famous Muratorian Fragment, a barbarous Latin translation of some earlier Greek text; its date is purely conjectural, but the original is generally assigned to about 170 A.d. This fragment presumably mentioned all four Gospels, for after a few concluding words relating to another book, it begins by speaking of "the third book of the Gospel--(the book) according to Luke." Luke is here called a physician, is supposed to have been a follower of Paul, and is said to have written in his own name, and according to his own private judgment (ex opinione). As criticism (we shall see further on) has to reject this ascription of our third Gospel to Luke, the subordinate question which here arises is whether or not this statement was born of conflict with the Marcionite claims, for Marcion asserted that his Gospel was based on the Gospel of Paul, while later Church Fathers asserted that it was a "mutilation " of our Lk. Marcion's Gospel apparently treated of the ministry only, beginning, "He went down to Capernaum." The Muratorian account of the genesis of the Fourth Gospel is, however, far more explicit. This is said to have been written down by a certain John, who was "of the disciples." His "fellow-disciples and his bishops " had apparently urged him to write a Gospel, but John hesitated to accept the responsibility, and proposed that they should all fast together for three days, and tell one another if anything...