CONCLUSION.

We have now reached the end of our survey and comparison of the Gospel narratives. We have examined every portion and have seen that the features in each are capable of being accounted for on the principles laid down in the earlier part of this book. We have seen that there is valid reason to believe, not only that the original materials of which the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke were composed were written in Aramaic, but that the longer addresses recorded in those Gospels were spoken in that tongue. We have seen, on the other hand, that there is good ground for assuming that our Lord's discourses in John, whether delivered in Judea or Galilee, and to whomsoever addressed, were spoken in Greek. We have seen that the peculiarities which appear on comparing among themselves the parallel parts of the Synoptic Gospels may all be explained on the theory that they are separate reports of the same utterances, or of the united testimony of the Apostles to the facts narrated. And we have seen that the chronological confusion in Matthew, and the greater chronological confusion in Luke, may have been caused by the difficulty which editors may have experienced in rearranging, after a lapse of many years, the slips of papyrus on which the original notes were written-a difficulty increased probably in the case of Luke through his being unable to obtain the assistance of the writer thereof. And for this hypothesis we have found strong confirmation in the fact that in numerous instances the displaced portions are of nearly equal length and of dimensions about sufficient to fill a small page of paper.

The reader must now judge for himself whether the facts presented demonstrate the case which it is the aim of this work to prove. To me the argument seems so complete and consistent, that, if it fails to convince, it must be owing, not to any weakness in itself, but to the author's inability to do it justice. Nor can I escape the conviction that, when time enough has elapsed to allow adequate consideration of the

evidence, the conclusion will be generally accepted, that we have, in the four Gospels, reports of sayings and records of events made at the very time the sayings were spoken and the events occurred, and that, with the exception of a few short editorial notes, no part of them was written subsequently to the Pentecost which followed the Ascension of our Lord.

Assured as I am of this ultimate result, let me, before parting from the reader, say a word or two with reference to its practical significance. The question is often asked: Is there such evidence for the Gospel miracles, and especially for the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, as would be admissible, and be deemed sufficient, in a court of justice? It may now be maintained that there is such evidence-evidence which cannot be gainsaid or impeached-the testimony of at least four witnesses, recorded at the very time, and in such circumstances as exclude the possibility of deception or mistake, and preserved in such a manner as to prove its authenticity beyond dispute.

There is one other point. All parts of the Bible are so closely related that any new light upon one portion cannot fail to assist in the elucidation of the rest. May it not be that the true solution of the problems of the Old Testament is to be attained on lines bearing some resemblance to those on which it is herein claimed that the solution of the Gospel problems has been reached? It cannot be pretended that, so far, any final results to command confidence have been arrived at with reference to such questions as the origin of those books of the Old Testament concerning which the old beliefs have of late years been impugned. To all whose judgment is free from the anti-supernatural bias, so spicuous in much of the critical literature of the day, it must be apparent that even the negative results which have been announced, respecting the origin of the writings referred to, are curiously inconsistent, both with the ethical character of the writings themselves, and with the educational conditions of the times in which they are said to have made their appear

ance. There is plainly a fallacy somewhere. May it not consist in the striving to separate by an ever-widening interval the record from the fact, whereas the true path lies in the direction of bringing back the record closer to the fact? May it not be that the books in question require for a right understanding to be regarded as contemporary records, modernised perhaps in language, and arranged by the hands of redactors, but none the less in their essence faithful narratives, written at the time the events occurred, of God's dealings with the people whom He chose to be the channel for the communication of His will and purposes to men?

THE END.

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