ignored, should ever be kept in mind when studying this important problem.

Only those whose faith is of the feeblest type can doubt that the cause of Christ is identical with the cause of truth; and that blind reverence for traditional opinion is as harmful to Christianity as indifference or mocking incredulity.

The student of the Synoptic Problem who rejects certain statements of the evangelists, is only doing consciously and scientifically what the majority of Christians do unconsciously and haphazard; for, however energetically they may deny it, it is impossible for them to believe contradictions, and the majority accept, not the gospel statements, but unconscious modifications of them.

Every friend of truth and Christianity must hope that the circle of students will grow until it is co-extensive with the Christian Church. If this book in any way helps to that end it will have achieved its purpose.

APPENDIX A

DIAGRAM OF GENESIS OF THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS

IN A.D. 60 there were still living many who had seen and heard Jesus. Nevertheless it seems probable that even then some inaccurate traditions about incidents in His life and details of His teaching were becoming current. Twenty years later these traditions had gained far greater currency, and had increased in number if not in accuracy; whilst those who had themselves seen and heard the Saviour must, with few exceptions, have passed away. This transition, and the fact that the gospels took shape in an atmosphere saturated with tradition, is indicated by the numerous dotted lines. The lines, single, double, or treble, indicate the more or less close relations between the apostles and the gospels, and between the gospels themselves. No line connects James and P.G., but it is placed near him, as reproducing teaching closely resembling his.

The diagram may also emphasise the fact that our gospels were at first regarded merely as

About

A.D. 60

records of tradition: that for many Christians
traditions not so recorded had a greater value, as
is evident from some of the earlier of the second-

Personal Reminiscences
mingled with some traditions.

80

mingled with some personal reminiscences.

century heresies; and that through being read, at first occasionally and then regularly, at Christian worship, they gradually came to be regarded as divinely inspired works, whose statements it

was sin to doubt, whilst their true value as records of Christian belief in the period 67-80 A.D. was forgotten.

APPENDIX B

THE TEXT OF THE SYNOPTICS

The text underlying our A.V. of the gospels, though substantially accurate, is defaced by many errors of detail. The marginal notes in the R.V. will make this sufficiently clear to English readers. It is not unusual for two very ancient MSS. to differ in the wording of a particular passage; and the external testimony being equal, it is by no means certain which, if either, reproduces accurately the original text. A note as to these various readings will be found on p. 39.

That there are passages in which the true reading is doubtful ought not to surprise any one who thinks a little about the origin of the gospels. The original MSS. were written on papyrus paper, and with frequent handling would soon be worn out. At a comparatively early date copies were freely multiplied, and every transcription is a possible source of error. We know that by the middle of the second century they were regularly read at public worship; and it is probable that at that time there were scattered over the many countries in which Chris

tianity had taken root, thousands of copies of the gospels. The original MSS. had been worn out or lost long before; and, unless every one who copied a gospel MS. had been miraculously endowed with a more than Papal or even Apostolic freedom from fallibility, it is reasonable to suppose that there would be a large number of discrepancies between the thousands of copies then in use. Errors of transcription were probably slight though numerous. Editorial revision has produced more serious though fewer modifications of the original text. There is, however, no reason to believe that any of the gospels has suffered very extensively either from omissions, additions, or alterations. Their early and wide circulation, whilst a source of small errors, has been a safeguard against serious ones; and such interpolations as John v. 4, viii. 1-11, are very

rare.

The opinion that the last twelve verses of St. Mark A.V. did not form part of the original gospel, but have been added by a later hand, seems probable, and is held by the majority of modern scholars, orthodox and heterodox. There is, however, a small but by no means insignificant minority who maintain that they are an integral part of the gospel; whether spurious or not, the disputed verses are very ancient. If not genuine they must have been added early in the second century, for they were certainly known to Irenæus, and probably to Justin Martyr.